LATE ENGLISH NEWS.

New Zealander, Volume 11, Issue 981, 8 September 1855, Page 3

LATE ENGLISH NEWS.

(From the Special Edition of the “ Plymouth Journal," May 2 Slh.) Sebastopol. May 15 —The re were nightly sorties made hy the Russians against the English batteries lacing tin; Redan, which were vigorously repulsed. Eupatoria is tranquil. MORNING EXPRESS. Ghkat Advantage of the French. Paris, Friday.—The Patric has the following: —We are assured that a great advantage has been gained by the French army before Sebastopol. A private despatch announces between the :ii<rht of the r 2nd and 23rd of May, the French carried by assault the entrenched Russian camp, near tl.e Qunrantii e Bastion, which was defended by the whole garrison of Sebastopol. The same despatch states that the cx[ e lition against Kertch bad again sailed.” Rerun, Friday.—-A de-patch from St. Petersburg!), dated Friday 25th, reports the arrival of the following despatch from GortschnkofF, dated Sebastopol, 19th:—“The enemy’s fire is weak. Our losses are moderate. Both sides are occupied in repairing the old ami now batteries.” Seuastopoe, 2-fth, Afternoon.—Miss Nightingale lists been very ill, but is now nut of danger, A despatch to the following effect Inis been received in Paris from General Pelissier:—“ Sebastopol, 24th of May, a very lively combat directed against our important position has lasted idl night. We obtained complete success. The enemy’s loss was enormous and ours sensible.”

THE BALTIC. Bhut.tn, Friday. — The Vulture with mails, arrived last night at Dantzic. There were some large Russian men-of-war lying at Sweaborg ; they were dismantled. I'ne bulk of the English fleet were at Nargen ; crews were healthy. No new eases of small-pox had occurred on board the Duke of Wellington and Arrogant. SPAIN. MADRID, 24th.— A royal decree places Arragona, Burgos and Navarre in a state of siege. The gevernnient, to-day, demanded extraordinary powers from the eortes, to be enabled to exile suspected persons, and suppress the journals hostile to the Queen. The Times lias a leader ridiculing Earl Grey’s motion upon Mr. Disraeli’s resolution. The numbers were 219 for, and 310 against, Majority for the government, 100, The Times says that ns a party move the motion, aw it deserved, was a failure ; with regard to Sir F. Baring’s amendment, and Mr. Lowe’s addition, it Is to be regretted that so important a debate should suffer so long a delay by the adjournment of their discussion, but something is gained b\ r the opportunity thus afforded for Parliament more completely to express its own feelings and that of the nation on the great subject which it has hitherto so retrained from discussing. The debates occupy thirty-two columns and ahalf, WAR AND POLITICAL. Bkri.in, Thursday,— St. Petersburg advices of the 19th, stale that all the fortified harbours in tiie Bay of Finland bad been declared in a slate of siege. Eleven prizes had arrived at Elsinore on the 22nd. Spain.— Bayonne advices of the 23rd, state a Carlist eonspiraeyhad been discovered at Saragossa on the 22nd. An ex-Carlist chief, who had entered the Queen’s set vice after the convention of Bergaru, had deserted with sixty men of the garrison. Troops of the line and militia bad gone in pursuit. Navarre and the Varhuo provinces are tranquil, (Ft •otn the Times.) London. —The House of Commons last night only saw in Mr. Disraeli’s speech a Secretary of State. Lord John Russell made a burst of some expedient vituperations. The Times asks for two assurances from Government :—lst. That the war shall he prosecuted with the utmost vigour. The other that England

will not listen to any mig'a ory and insulting propositions from the author of that war. It were to he wished that members wooM -t v t tber m re explicitly what in their opini ms the nil cs sh I I he content ; with Mr. Gladstone appo rs ... be easily satisfied, lu another art’ek* the Times trusts that new and active improvements will iimueuia cly take place in the Crimea. At the meeting of 20.3 inemho.is of Parliament at the residence of the first Lord of the Treasury, in Downing-street, on Thursday, no reporters were present, but the Times says Lord Palmerston, in a speech of some length, indicated the policy of his government, asserted the unanimity of liis colleagues, and stoutly maintained their resolution to prosecute the war with vigour until terms should be obtained calculated to ensure a safe and honourable peace. The precise nature of those terms his lord, hip claimed for the government the right of deteriitniing, according to circumstances ; but those of his audience who expected to hear tiny definite statement on this momentous question went away no wiser than they came. Messrs. Layard, Brighß Cnbdeu, Lord Grosvenor, Sir. J. Graham, Mr. Laing, and other gentlemen, generally concurred in censuring Mr. Disraeli’s resolution. Although considerable differerence of opinion was expressed as to the amendment of Sir F. Baring, the tone ot the meeting, although hy no means harmonious, was, perhaps, as favourable to the government as could he expected, under circirenmstanecs so little calculated to inspire confidence. EVENING EXPRESS. (From the, Globe.) A meeting was held this afternoon nt the official residence of the first Lord of the Treasury, in Downing-street, which was numerously attended by all sections of the liberal party in the House of Commons. Being a private meeting we are unable to give a detailed account of the speeches delivered, hut Lord Palmerston’s explanations were considered most satisfactory, and his refutation of the insinuations brought against the Government, was most complete. The meeting was subsequently addressed by Messrs. Lowe, Bright, and Layard, Sir Janies Graham and Lord Robert Grosveimr. A cordial feeling of confidence in the Government was manifested throughout the whole procedings, and the greatest unanimity prevailed. No later from the Ci imea. The Paris Monitear of Wednesday says every measure Ims been taken to render the 1? rcncli army in the Crimea as healthy as possible, and to provide everything necessary for the men, Crimea letters to May 12th have arrived. The Times correspondent writes on the Bth, that in addition to fever which was prevalent, some fatal cases of cholera Had occurred, ami diarrhoea and dvsontry were beginning to show themselves again. The army is not only supplied with necessaries hut luxuries. Vigorous mea-ures were necessary to stop the infection of the air, caused hy the dead hollies. The siege works are in an excellent state. Miss Nightingale had visited several hospitals, and found matters much better than she expected. On the 10th there were heavy runs, with high wind. In an affair of the 10th, the Russians are supposed to have lost 150 men, onr loss was only 1-1 wounded ; among them Lieutenant Lawrence, of the 34th. On the night of the 11th there was a storm of wind and rain; the Russians made a sortie, and were beaten back; Capt. Lloyd, ot the 68th, was killed, and 22 men wounded—the Russian loss was heavy. On the 12th it was blowing hard, ami had rained till the night of the 11th; the camp was a mass of mud, and returned to its old wintry aspect. The Russians continued to strengthen their works. LONDON.

The Times again dwells on the necessity of an explicit declaration, on the part of the Government, as to the question of peace or war. The Daily Netcs says St. Petersburg!) letters of the 1 111), sta'e that Russia has extended her frontier in._Soiit.hern Siberia,and Kliatnes,huethe possession of China, is now annexed the Czar’s dominions. Southampton, Wednesday.—The “ Enxine,” (steamer) just arrived, brings dates :—Alexandria, .May 9th, Malta, 13th Melita left the latter port for Liverpool on the evening of the 17th. A horse purchase depot and an invr ltd hospital were being established at Gibraltar. Commercial —Last price of Consols on Wednesday 901 money, 90£ account. x\o distinct reason is assigned for the fall, and L was probably an ordinary reaction consequent upon realization upon profit. Abundance of money continues to increase, and rumours are circulated, which will prevail week after week, until they are accomplished, of a further immediate reduction in the Bank of England rate of discount. The transactions of the day wore moderate, though the demand for stock was less active than in the two preceding days. It was still good, and the tendency of the market, apparen from the influence of adverse rumours, indicated undimiuished buoyancy. A Defence of Peussieh. — ( Daily Neics.) A great outcry was made against General Pelissier in Europe some time ago, for having destroyed by smoke a number of Bedouin Arabs who had taken refuge in a cave, As is but too often the case in similar instances, (he tacts were at the time greatly misrepresented, if no wholly distorted. Pelissier had positive orders from his superiors either to kill or take prisoners certain chiefs who had committed many murders and other atrocities within the French settlements. I hese Arabs took refuge in a cave, in which th°y placed their families, having previously supplied themselves with provisions to stand a regular siege. The general had not supplies enough with him to feed his men more than one day, and none being procurable in the neighbourhood, he was obliged to move off (he day after lie arrived at the place, lie could not leave the Arabs in the position in which he found them, for his doing so would have left his force open to attacks in the rear whilst lie was tracing his steps. Under these circumstances ho deemed it best to summon the Bedouins to surrender, and this he thought could bo done quickly by smoking them out. Not only had ho no Mention whatever of destroying the man, but he had no notion that either women or children were present with the warriors of the tribe. Instead of surrendering, the Arabs contrary to Pelissier’s expectation, remained in the cave; and, with the determination so often witnessed in Mussulman, preferred dying where they were to the pretty certain chance of being condemned by the French courts for the atrocities they had committed. It cannot, perhaps, lie said that the general was altogether blann less in the matter, although the true version of the affair is very different from that criven out. in England some years ago. This is the only act, of Pelissier’s which can in any way he cavilled at ; and when wo Englishmen remember some similar acts which the stern necessity of war with a savage enemy lias occasionally obliged our commanders in India to commit, we should neither wonder at nor too vehemently denounce whar, on a solitary occasion, took place in Northern Africa. Those who know Pelissier best describe him as anything hut a cruel ora hard hearted man; and by every French soldier whatever his rank may he—who has served in Algeria, he is looked upon as the very best practical o(licer holding a superior commission in the imperial army, RENEWAL OF THE VIENNA CONFERENCES. [From tho •* Sun,” M*y Sfah] Vienna, Friday Morning. A Conference will be held to-morrow, without the Russian Plenipotentaries; and another on Monday, at which those Plenipotentaries will probably be present. 1 J Berlin, May 24th. The Gazette P-mtsknne says that the new con-

dilions pops.l tl towgh tire mediation of Austria I arc . A special treaty determining the number of j ships, Rtssian and Turkish, that shall be per- j milted to navigate the Black Sea. France and England to have the right to maintain two ships of war each in the Bosphorus. The Porte to communicate to the Allied Powers any treat}' concluded with Russia. “ The Torpid Hands” op the LnOLISh Covurnm kn r. Sometime ago Professor Wheatsone invented an important instrument, or means, hy an electric wire attached to a gun and a target, of measuring with a degree of accuracy never before attained the time occupied in the flight of projectiles. For the improvement of ordnance practice it is acknowledged to be an invention of value. Before the war broke out it was adopted in Russia, mid used for experimental trials; it was also adopted in Prussvi, where the artillery practice is reput 1 ( o he the heat in the world, and records are printed ofthe experimental results obtained by its use. It is now , wo are informed, about to he adopted hy the Board of Ordnance. Two tons of clothing for the Grenadier Gaurds in the Crimea arrived yesterday at Southampton, to he sent out in the steam-transport Orinoco. The screw-ship Severn is finished, and will he the next vessel launched from her Majesty’s Dockyard, Chatham. She carries fitfy gun9 v The sum paid since the Ist ot January lor expense of transport from Marseilles alone to the East, and for purposes connected with the war, amounts to £1 7,000,000. The Cape of Good Hope.—Plymouth, Thursday.—The barque Poss Smit, Captain Swart, which left Adelaide on the Ist of February, with copper ore and wool, for London, has arrived in the Channel. She touched at the Cape, and left on the 4th of April. The Cape Parliament, which was in session, is said to be negotiating with the Home Government for the re-establish-ment of a steam postal service. The Kaffirs are quiet. The tram-road is not yet commenced. More wool will be exported this year than was ever known. Tonnage is scarce. War Department, May 24th. Lord Pannmre has this day received a despatch and its enclosures, of which the following tire addressed to Ids lordship Lord Raglan. Be.ore Sebastopol, May 12th, 1855. Mv lord, — Ido my self the honor to acquaint your lordship that General de la Marmora, with ti portion of the Sardinian contingent, arrived off Balaklavn on the night ot the Bth instant, and he came up to head quarters the following mornning. The very unfavourable state ot the weather since the Och has prevented any material part of the force being landed ; and it has been found necessary to send tlie vessels that brought it, and which could not he got into the harbour, to Kazatch bay, until it should moderate. Five troops of the 12th lancers landed on the 9th from the Himalaya, which performed the voyage from Alexandria to Balaklavft in ninetytour hours. The enemy made two serious assults upon our most advanced parallel of the right attack on the night ofohe 9th, but were on each occasion most nobly met and repulsed with eonsiderabls loss. . The arrangements of Colonel Trollope, who had charge of the right attack, and Lieutenant-colonel Munday, the field officer of the trenches, were most judicious ; and Captain Turner, of the royal fusilier’s, and Captain Jordan, of the 34th regiment, are reported to have done their duty in the most gallant manner. They opened a powerful fire on our trenches on the following night, and exposed their columns to a heavy musketry fire liiorn the troops on duty. They did not however, reach the parapets, nor indeed come very near them. Last night a very determined sortie was made upon the advance of our left attack. The enemy moved forward in two colours from the Woron-zow-road. Our advanced sentries having slowly retired, the guard of the trenches was prepared to receive them, and consequently drove them hack in the most determined manner. A few Russians only got into the parallel, and five were t ft dead close outside. The conduct of both officers and men was admirable, and it is with deep concern that I have to report the death of Capt. Edwards, of the 68th foot, and that of five men. I have also the pain of saying that the wounded amounted to thirty. Owing to the great quantity of rain which has fallen during the last tew days, the service in the trenches has again been most arduous and severe upon onr men, who deserve all praise for their energy and untiring persevcrenc’. I enclose the returns of casualties to tire 10th instant. 1 have, Ac., Raglan. The Lord Panmure, Ac. A letter from St. Petersburg, of May the 11, says :—“ I have just, learned that the journey of the express dowager to Prussia bos been definitely settled. Her majesty is to go by Warsaw, Myscowitz, and Breslau. The King of Prussia is to receive his sister on the frontier of his states, to which the Emperor, it is thought will conduct her majesty. The departurs take place in the beginning of J tine-” A political object is supposed not to be unconnected with this family meeting. The King of Portugal was so much better in health as to enable his majesty to leave for France on the 20th of this month. We learn from Smyrna that the recruitment of men for our “ Turkish contingent” is proceeding with success in the provinces. Eight hundred cavaliersnrrived on the 10th at. Smyrna. TheSt.Petersburgjounials publish letters from the interior of Sebastopol, stating that the public edifices of the town are uninjured. No houses are destroyed, except those nearest the bastions. The town has been been so changed by the engineers that the streets have been turned into so many citadels, which the allies must take in succession. It is calculated at Berlin that the additou to the Russian army to be made under the last ukase will consist of about 250,000 men. Twelve in a thousand is the ratio, and the area includes the most populous governments to the empire. Arrangements are about to be made for issuing passports, free of charge, to continue in force for one month, to all British subjects visiting the Paris Industrial Exhibition. Prince Gortschakoff engages that Sebastopol will hold out fur a year, although the high road of supplies shall be stopped. This is trom a Russian source. Letters from Oddessa state that the artificers of the dockyards at Nicoluieff are working early ami late at the new ships for the Russianßlack sea fleet. Every vessel will have a screw propeller. The instructions of the Russian central authority relative to the recruitment of this year of twelve men out of every 1,006 have just been forwarded to the governors of the western portion of the empire. The commissions of recruitment, the number of which has been tripled, in virtue of decrees issued at the commencement of the year, have received orders to carry on their operations with the greatest possible activity. Lord Dunoonald’s Plans.— We trust that the following annoucement, in the Athenaeum, will he timnd correct: —‘‘it is said, and we believe correctly by well informed persons, that the scientific commission appointed to consider the feasibility olLurd Dundomtld’s plan for distroying the arsenals and fortress of the Russians, havereported in favour of the project, to certain conditions, which will have to be decided by military engineers.” Berlin, April 17.-—M. Ilochusson, Dutch minister, has arrived here on an extraordinary mission. The Gazette deta Croix says the Allies intend to make an assault on Sebastopol immediately' after the bombardment. A report is current here that Russia, while refusing to accede to the third point, has offered to pledge herself hy a separate treaty with Austria on the two first points, but that the cabinet of Vienna Las positively rejected the proposition.

Prussia.— Travellers v st returned from R’gi state that 2000 men, jiau.y troops, are working most assiduously and uninteiruptedly attheforti-jtu-nti- 'iis ii tho harhmr} new works are being added to ilioso already in existence. Guns of heavy calibre are arriving every day for th« armainent-of tl. s; works, and additional troops are to arrive veiy shortly. A number of Visaeis that had been freighted during the winter at , Dunamunde and Riga, in the hopes of their getI ting oil' early in the spring, are now being uu--1 loaded aga : n, and their c irir> es in process of being conveyed to the land frontier ; nevertheless, there are at least *IO,OOO hales of llax, each weighing four hunredweight, lying there waiting for conveyance, for the most part of Corn-land and Esthland growth. There are still larger quantities of goods lying at St- Petersburg, and in places further removed, the conveyance of which to the f 'ontier has been made all hut impossible by the high prices of carriage; it is intended, however, in the spring, to cause them to be conveyed inland, for the benefit of canal navigation. Marseilles, April 10. —The Ganges has arrived with advices from Sebastopol to the 9tb. Six thousand men have already arrived at the camp of Maslak. The Duguesclin and St. Louis, the line of battle ships, the Androniaque frigate, and Tonnerre steamer, were preparing to start for France f• • troops. Preparations for the reception of the Emperor Napoleon were still going on. The Turkish vessels in the Bosphorus have all been provided with rockets and Bengal fires. Tlie Constantinople journals contradict, as premature, the announcement of the reforms wlu%h have been talked of. These projects are ready, but they all remain as yet secret. The squadron before Kamiesch has been reinforced. Affairs at St. Petersburg — The Polish paper Czas states that all the bridges on the Lower Neva, which are built of granite have been thrown down, and their materials cast into the stream, so as to make it impassable for vessels of any depth. The Russ : an fleet is armed ready for battle, and well stocked with provisions; two divisions are in Cronstadt, and one at Sweahorg and Revel. A flotilla of thK) row-boats currying guns was being fitted out with all diligence. Along that part of the Baltic coast, where the approach to Gatshina is protected by only two petty fortresses—• Narwa and Jamberg—there is an army of 120,000 men concentrated, consisting of a portion of the Grenadier eorps, and of the Ist armee corps, with their reserves, the reserves of the Gth armee corps and of the infantry as the Guard, and irregular cavalry ; these forces are stationed en echelon along the coast, and fortitied camps arc being erected at the most important points. The Emperor Alexander is expected in Warsaw towards tlie close of this month, in company with his brother the Grand Duke Nicholas. The Sardinian Contingent. —The King of Sardinia reviewed 7000 of his troops who are to assist the English and French in the Crimea, on the Plain of Marengo, on the 11th of April. He was attended by the English and French ambassadors, and at the conclusion of tlie r view he addressed the soldiers as follows :—“ Officers, Subalterns, and Soldiers, —A war founded on justice, on which depends +l ie tranquillity of Europe, and the fate of our country, calls you to the East. You will see far lands, where the cross of the Savoy is not unknown. You will see brave people and armies whose fame fills the world. Their example will he a stimulus to you, to show to all that you have no le-s valour than our fathers. On other occasions I have led you on the field of honour, and I remember with pride sharing da: gers and fatigues with you, I now grieve to separate myself from you for a time My wishes follow with you everywhere, and it will be happy day for me when I shall be reunited to you. Soldiers,—-there are your colors. G-n----erofisly unfurled by the magnanimous Carlo Alberto, they record a distant country and eight centime of noble traditions. You know how to defend them.—Br' g them back crowned with fresh glory, and your sacrifices will be biassed by ihe present and i'u.ure generations.’*