Latest European News.

New Zealander, Volume 10, Issue 878, 13 September 1854, Page 3

Latest European News.

]From the Correspondent of the " Sydney Hercld."] London, Monday, June 5. The aspect of affairs on the continent and the East shows that the plot is thickening, and a crisis near. All eyes are now turned towards Silistria. There can he no doubt that unless the Russians either take the place, or raise the seige, that Omar Pacha will soon he there, and quickly followed by the combined English and French Troops, namely—2s,ooo French, and 15,000 English. The telegraphic news received to-day maybe condensed as follows : Viennn, June 4. The note recently forwarded by the Austrian Government to St. Petersburg requires that Russia shall fix a date for the evacuation of the Principalities ; and in case of a refusal, Austria is prepared to move a force, not far short of 300,0<»0 men, upon the Danube. It is credibly asserted that all personal relations between the Austrian and Russian court* have been interrupted during the last fortnight. Bucharest, May 20. Sililtria was stormed from the north-eastern, southern, and western sides. The Russian loss was enormous. The enemy still holds the outwork*,

The citadel can resist three weeks longer. Bucharest, May 31. An action lias taken glace at. Urankowani, near Slaiina. The Russians lost 500 men killed ami wounded, and retreated. Vienna, Sunday, Evening. On the 20th the Russians made a combined attack on the s>„th-east, south, and west fronts of Silistria. According to the Kussian accounts they were repulsed with the loss of 1800 rren. . , I he allies are advancing with all speed to the seat of war, by way of Varna, Advices from Schumla of the 27th May state that 15,000 KnjrlUh troops had saded for Varna, and t>lat 25.000 F.ench troops had inarched to Adrianoplc to suppoit Omir Pacha's operations to relieve Silistria. Constantinople, May 23. Marshal St. A maud has been chosen Commander-in-Chief of the combined armies. tiO.OOO Russians are advancing on the two roads leading from Silis'uia to Schumla ; and 40,000 are investing Silistria. Pera, May 2r>.

The Porte has transmitted orders to the Ottoman authorities in Albania to afford e\ery facility to the Austrian taoops Paris, Monday.

The Uoniteur states that an attack was made- on the !6th of May, upon Silistria, by the llussians, who were victoriously repulsed by the garrison, with a loss of UKX) Russians. Athens, May 20.

The new cabinet has recalled the insurgent chiefs: it will remodel the Court, dismiss all public functionaries who may have been compromised, and require that Athens shall not be occupied, Mavrocnrdale is expected. Athens remains tranquil. The population is opposed to Russia. The Monks of Mount Athos have repulsed the insurgents. The accounts from Greece show that King Utlio has eaten " humble pie" most extensively. He received the envoys from England and France on the 26th May, and spoke to them as follows : I declare that' i will faithfully observe a strict neutrality to wards Turkey ; that I will without delay take all the necessary measures to effect it ! and that for this object I will call to my counsel new ministers, who, by their character and their intelligence, are the best calculated to carry this engagement of mine into opera'ion.

Mr. Wyse, as the senior minister, replied— Sire, —we shall ha t:n to report to our governments the words which yottr Majesty has just addie*ssd tons, and we doubt l '. thv by giving your support to the new councillors wl on your Majesty has deigned to call to your id, we shall no longer have to transmit to our courts any information but what will be very satisfactory a> re; a ds Greece. The Coiistitutionnel gives the following sketch of the plan of the allied i r nies on the Danube : We are informed that it has been determined to occupy Varna by two divisions, whose arrival alone will suffice to inspire the Russian left wing on the IJobrudscha with a wholesome respect. The army of occupation at Varna Will not be, as was first said, exclusively composed of English troops. Prince Napoleon, who, as we learn from our correspondence, went to Gallipoli to fetch his division, will rind, on his arrival at Constantinople an order to embark with his troops for Varna. At the same time. Marshal St. Amaud, with the main body of his army, will march tu Adrianople, and i theme tr> Widdiu, where he will form the loft wing of the f<:rces of the three powers, The English troops will succeisively assemble in the Dobrudscha, to form the right wing. Supported by these powerful auxiliaries, Omer Pacha will find himself fiee to act, and the result of the campaign canuot be doubted.

The number of Russians hesieging Silistria is r ported to be 70,000. Lett.rs from St. Petersburg mention that the hostility between the two courts of Russia and Austria" increases Jay by day, and that the Emperor Nicholas is grievously disappointed with what he would call the disaffection of his neighbour. One letter says—

The Emperor is reported to have said—"the Austrian Govern,n ent makes public opinion an excuse for its policy ; but when • entered Hungary, in Ul-i'.l I did not trouble myself about Public opinion." The excitement of his Majesty is so great •hat fi w peisons can venture to address him; indeed it is fiared lhat his religious faanticiem will take a bad end. In spite of the assertions of some of the RussO-German organs to the ontrary, there is a great concentration of troops in Russian Poland. The Grenadier Corps—about 03,000 or 40.1100 strong vill be forwarded from Warsaw to the Aus'r an frontier by railroad. On the frontiers of the Uukoviua and Transylvania there aie between 150,000 and 170,000 men. In the course of next month there will be annher levy—the fourth in one year —in Poland. The Russian agents have discovered a singular document at Montenegro, which they are about to publish. It bears date 17»(> (Joseph II.). and is a kind of convention made with Austria, by which the Vladika binds itself in case of a war between any Christian power and the Porte, " to art against the latter in the Montenegrin fashion," which means to rob, plunder, and decapitate. It is credibly related that when the 05,000 recruits are raised in Austria, there will be a second levy of 76,000 men. " Yesterday morning," says the St. Petersburgh correspondent of the Vienna I'reue, writing on the 31st ult, " there {appeared an order of the Minister of Police prescribing what the inhabitants of St Petersburgh are to do in the event of siege, or rather a blockade of that city. If Cronstadt should fail into the power of the ollied fleets, women, children, and old men are immediately to leave the capital. The troops are to be removed from the houses, the streets are to he unpaved, and the bells of the holy churches and the images of the saints are to be removed to Moscow. Notwithstanding all these precautions, the order expresses the assurance that the enemy's fleet will perish on the rocks, and under the cannon ofCronstadt, All mcasuresjieccssitated by a long and energetic war are being taken here. Roth sides of the mouth of the Neva are being protected with strong defensive works." The accounts from the Danube continue to report the Russians to be suffering most severely in all their contests with the Turks, and even the Russians are themselves obliged to acknowledge it, as appears by the (allowing telegraphic message from Vienna, dated Vicuna, yesterday evening.

We learn fn.m Russian sources that on the 89th ultimo, 30,000 Russians made a fresh and vigorous attack on Silisuia, but were repulsed with the loss of ,'tOOO men. The eldest sou of Count Orion* was among the slain. The troops are to be in their positions on the Oalician frontier by the 19th of JuneFrovision has been made in Galicia for 120,000 troops and 40,080 horses.

Another rjport is as under : Vienna, Tuesday Morning, 10 o'clock, The telegraphic despatches from the Danube are contradictory. The following is probably correct; Towards the rrui of Mav, 6000 Tuikish horse look the Russians bv at Turnu.

Only lt'7 of the latter escaped to the left bank of the Aluta, General of Division Baumgarten has been missing ever since the affair.

The attack on Silistria on the 29tb, Lieutenant-General Sylvan was killed, and Count OrlorTshot in the eye.

On the loth, at 4 in the morning, the Turks made a sally, and a fearful massacre took place in the Russian entrenchments. Many of the besiegers' guns were spiked. It is calculated that the Russians have lost 0000 men on the Danube since the2oth of May.

There is a report that the Circassians have surrounded atid cut to pieces the Russian troops which lately evacuated the forts on tho coast of Abasia.

The Potty German States have unanimously agreed upon a general declaration of adherence to the Austro-Prussian treaty. '. The Swedish squadron is reported as about to join the combined fleets of France and England in the Baltic.

There has to-day been great excitement at the Stock, Exchange. Consols, in consequence of a heavy bear account, having to be closed, when stock is unprecedentedly sctirce, have been risen up to 04 ; making a rise since the last settlement of no less than 7 per cent. They closed at 93 and at 92$ for the July account. London, Wednesday, June 7. The Daily News this morning gives the following : Tint \Vah Minisi mi-It is now understood that the Duke (f Newcastle, and not Lord Palmerslon, is to be War Minister Th? secretaryship of the colonies will thus soon be vacant. It is rumoured that if Sir William Molesworth doe* not step into this vacancy, he will be. offered s seat In the House of Lords. Should a peerage fall to the lot of the only radical member of the cabinet, the electors of Southwark will of course be called upon to select a new representative.

I also hear that Sir William has been offered the secietaryship, and, as he is eminently qualified to fill si) important an office, 1 trust he will accept the duty. You will, perhaps, remember that in one of my early letters of 18.W 1 expressed the hope that he would one day or other become the Colonial Secretary. There is, perhaps, no man, connected with the Government, better qualified for such a distinction : and, if be accepts the office, I shall entertain n better hope of the government of the Australian colonies, and, indeed, of all our colonial possessions being much better managed than has ever yet been the case. The news received to-day from the Continent is to the effect that A dispatch from Vienna states that there has been a change of Ministers at Constantinople. Mehemet Pacha, recently Minister of Marine, has been appointed Grand Vizier, and llali Pacha Minister of Marine.

Intelligence from Belgrade of the stli instant states that, on the 31st May, an affair took place at Slaltna, where the Russians, with 2000 men and four guns held a position in front of the bridge across the Aluta, they were attacked by the Turks, who killed about (100 of the Russians, and took the four guns besides some prisoners. It is stated, in a communication from Bucharest, that all attempt* to take Siliatria by assault are abandoned, and that henceforth the siege will be proceeded with in the regular manner.

The Emperor of Morocco has declared that no Russian vessel, or vessel bearing* flag friendly to Russia, shall be received in the ports of his empire during the war. A dispatch from Admiral Ilamelin, dated Ballsi hick, the 21st ult., states that after a cmise lor a month, the fleets had come

to an anchor in order to take in provisions. The Russian fleet remained shut up in Sevastopol, under the protettion of the : looi) guns of the forts and batteries. The following are the principal and most important of the telegraphic communications ; Paris, Wednesday. The • Monitcur' of this morning publishes a telegraphic dispatch from Belgrade, dated Juue 5, which confirms the news of the r<cent success of the Turks at Silistria, but gives May 27 as the date of the engagement. There were 1600 Russians slain, and ;:uuo wounded. Athens, May 20. All is now quiet in Greece. The King's adjutants, Colocotroni, Mamuri, Gardikiotti, and Grivas have been dismiss d. The greater part of the foreign vessels have left Greece. Rt.isiAMS Falling Back—Letters from Trebizonde state that on the 11th ultimo an aide-de-camp of Selim Pasha, commanding at Tchuruk-SUi arrived therewith news that the Russians had abandoned Ozurgeti, and were marching on Notais. The Georgians of the former place lost no time in informing .Selim Pasha, and the town was at once occupied by Ottoman troops. Sehm Pasha appointed one of the primates of the country as Governor. Monocco. —The Governments of France and England have informed the Court of Morocco of the state of war existing between Ihem and Russia, and the obligations resulting therefrom for neutral states. The Emperor Muley-Abder Rhamau, through his Minister Sid-Mahomed-el-Katib, has expressed to the Charges d.Aflaires of the two Governments at Tangiers the satisfaction which that communication has given him, and he has declared that no Russian vessel, or vessel bearing a flag friendly to Russia, shall be received in the ports of his empire during the war. Constantinople, May 10. Sir George Brown, with a division of the Rifles and 7oOOmen left yesterday for Varna. Meh'emet Pasha, formerly ambassador at London, replaces the Grand Vizier. lla'ni Pasli U appointed Capudan Pacha. Vienna, Tuesday Morning, June 6. Divers private despatches from Bucharest state that the Russian loss in the affair at Silistria on the 28th, wa* 186 killed and .'17!) wounded. General Silvan was killed, and General Coitlanda and Count Orloff, jun., severely wounded. The latter was shot through the eye. Under date of Shuinla, May 31, the • Presse' says —•' On the night between the 29th and 30th the Turks made a sortie from Silistria. There was a fearful carnage. The Russians lost from 1500 to MOO killed. A letter from Bucharest, of the 2nd June, says that the Ru.-sians have taken possession of some of the outworks of Silistria. The "Ost Deutsche Post' says that, since the 2nd instant, .Silistria has been completely invested by the Russians, and that three thousand Russians were advancing on the road to Busardschik. Vienna, Tuesday, J'.i:ie C. Austria has resolved to raise the military cordon on the frontier of the canton of Tessin, the Swiss Federal Council having given satisfactory assurances for a future good understanding. Semlin, June C>, A Tartar has arrived from Constantinople with the following news, without dates:— The Minister of Marine, Mehemet Pasha, is appointed Grand Vizier, in lieu of Mustapha Pacha, who is dismissed. Halil Pacha is appointed Capudan Pacha. Athens, May 2:). King Otho has signed a declaration of strict neutrality, in the presence of the ambassadors. Three thousand French have landed. The remainder have been :e t to Pali .

The Morning hronicle, in a second edition of to-day, furnished the following important information regarding the character of the Austrian note just addressed to Russia. Jt is contained in the letter ot* its Vienna correspondent, and is as follows —■ The Austrian Cabinet has at last addressed another very impressive note to St. Petersburg, for the purpose of urging—it may be for the last time—the necessity of evacuating the principalities. Whether the note in question may or may not be called a formal summons to Russia to do that now which she has long since refused to do, is a question that cannot be solved at present. Fiom all Hint 1 have heard on this point, I incline to think that the Austrian note is so cautiously worded that it is made to depend upon the nature of the answer ihat will tie received whether the character of an ultimatum shall be attached to it or not. My informant, who is undoubtedly well instructed hereon, assures me that the essential contents of thh note may be summed up as follows: — Austria therein formally communicates to Russia the recently concluded Austro-Prussian treaty of alliance, and states that this treaty was the natural consequence of the principles to which Austria and Prussia have given their adhesion at the Vienna Conference, and pledged themselves to the Western Powers from the beginning of the Eastern complication, viz., that the military occupation of the Bsmubian Principalities by Russia*was an act committed in defiance of all international Tights,'and that the evacuation of these provinces of the Ot'.o man territory must be regarded as a "conditio sine qua non" with the four powers represented at the Congress, whose firm resolve it was to maintain the independence of the Sultan, and the integrity of the Ottoman dominions. Furthermore, reference is made to the unceasing exertions of the German powers to bring about a peaceable solution of this unhappy Eastern complication; and profound regrets are expressed at the present disastrous disturbance of the peace of Europe, which his haplessly resulted from the natural development of events that were easily to be foreseen as the inevitable consequences of a policy deprecated by all the other great powers, and counselled and remonstrated against in the most friendly ami devoted spirit by them all, but more especially by Austria and Prussia. The document then adverts to the stern necesisty of the casa, which renders it incumbent upon Austria, in the rightful defence of her own interests and those of Germany at large, to insist now upon the evacuation of the Turkish Danubian ten itoiies. Finally, a hope is earnestly and impressively expressed that the Emperor of Russia will even now, and ere it be too late, acquiesce in this just demand, ami thus relieve Austria, and all his allies in Germany, ficm the painful consequences which the alternative —that is, a refusal —would undoubtedly entail upon them for the future. It is therefore suggested that the Czar should fix a period within which he will engage to evacuate the Ottoman tcrrif y in question. The whole note is couched in the mo«t friendly and considerate terms —but there is an unmistakeable earnestness and resolution in its tone highly creditable to the Austrian Government, and one which cannot fail to make a deep impression at St. Petersburg. The official reply to this Austrian note is expected to arrive here from St. Petersburg between the 20th and 24th of this month. Important and decisive results may fairly be expected therefrom. There are many persons here who believe that the Emperor of Ilussia will now express a readiness to yield to these last representations on the part of Austria, in order to conciliate and retain the friendship and alliance of the German powers ; and they speculate on the probability of his demanding of them in return to mediate with Turkey and the Western powers for an armistice which shall enable him to withdraw his armies from the Danube across the Prtith without molestation, and then to attempt a settlement of differences at a congress. But, of course, all this is mere premature conjecture, and therefore not worth attention —though I did hear it whispered in certain Russian friendly circles that such an answer would be a perfect godsend to Germany. If this be the substance of the note in question there is at length no mystery as to the meaning of Austria, and she must, if Nicholas persists in his mad career, join heart and hand with the Western Powers. Site has been a long time making up her mind, but better late then never. A c ,urier has arrived, it is said, with important despatches from Stockholm.