SERIOUS STATE OF AFFAIRS IN RUSSIA.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XIII, Issue 899, 8 February 1856, Page 3

SERIOUS STATE OF AFFAIRS IN RUSSIA.

Private letters from St. Petersbug affirm that the Emperor's mind is becoming affected ; and, in proof of this, that his train includes more priests than generals ; that he prays the whole day ; and that great alarm prevails among the nobility in consequence of the general distrust of the Czar's ability to cope w ith the oyerwelming difficulties with which his father's ambition has loaded him. As regards the supply of soldier?, which: was said to bo inexhaustible, the most authentic accounts show that the waste of" the raw material " is beginning to he felt in Russia much more than it is in France or England. The kingdom of Poland has been already drained of its last men, and is now perfectly exhausted. None bui women and children of tender age are now left to do the heavy work. The Grand Duchy of Finland also is considerably drained of its population, as great numbers of young; men have been draughted into the different regiments on active service in the south, and the local battalions of sharp shooters for tho defence of the province have been again reinforced by fresh levies. The following letter from St. Petersburg, which appears in the 'Constitutionnel' of Wednesd*ylast, show* what the feeling of the people is m that quarter :— " St. Petersburg, 15th Oct. "Unfavourable accounts succeed each other with I such rapidity here that the greatest despondency has seized on all classes. "We had scarcely learned the defeat of General Korff, near Eupatoria, when we were* informpd by telegraph of the arrival cf the Allied fleets before Odessa. On the other hand, the anxiety ob • served among the upper classes, and even the members of the Imperial family, has contributed in no small degree to increase the public alarm. A report prevailed duringjthejday that the Empress had commanded Geneal Gezeviteh to proceed express to Nicholaieff with a letter to the Emperor, in which she entreats him to return to St. Petersburg. The approach of the enemy ha* aroused the fears of both Empresses. The Czar is no longer safe at|the extremity of the liman on which Nicholaieff is built, and the Metropolitan has ordered general prayers to be offered in churches for the Emperor* security. I have this day assisted at one Of these een~ monies in the church of Kasan, and the serious countenances of the masses thronged round the images of the saints convinced me that they were beginning. t«

feel the gravity of the ciisn«. Bcsidia, the Government openly admitu that fresh sacrifices must be submitted to. In the western part of the empire preparations ore already nuking for the fourteenth le\y, *hich is to take place before next March. The diplomatic accounts ai c not less unpleasant than ih<i milituiy icpojtb. Ihe ie presentatives of Russia at foreign courts are by no means satisfied with the attitude assumed by the different Cabinets, faking, for instance, the neighbouring States, it has been observed that in Sweden the King i*. more and more disposed eveiy day to adhere to thp policy of the Western Powers ; and Count Nesselrode has determined to send to Stockholm an Envoy Extraordinary, with a view to counterbalance the constantly growing influence of the ministers of France and England. At the other extremity of the empire the conduct of Persia does not inspire more confidence. Notwithstanding the honours paid to General Bronstloff, the Russian Envoy at Teneran, it is not considered probable at the Home-office that, with the victories of the Allies before him, the Shah will persevere in a strict Ineutialitv. On the other hand, the very marked reception given by Persia to the representative of France must be regarded as a most significant fact, and nobody any longer talks here of the Persian Embassy, whose arrival was so pompously announced about a month since. As to Austria, be assured that the Russian Government does not flatter itself the Cabinet of Vienna will long persevere in its present neutrality. The Cabinet of St. Petersburg has directed its agents in foreign countries to state that it is reducing the army in Poland, in order to show how little she has to fear from Austria. 13 ut that statement is totally unfounded. According to a recent decision, of Prince Ddgorouki, the army of Poland is not to be diminished by a single regiment. In point of fact, all the acts of the Russian Government indicate a resolution to continue the war. _You will soon have an additional proof of it. lam informed that the Privy Council has just decreed the raising of a militia of reserve intended to defend the territory without actually engaging in the war. As I was about closing my letter lie mt the of a courier for Stockholm, with important despatches for the Russian Minister, Jakow-Andrewitch DaschkofF, accredited to that Court."