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FRANCE.—The sole news from France of public interest is the pro- jected establishment of two camps, in order that France may be ready for any emergency. The Moniteur of Sunday announced the fact in the following paragraph- " The French and English Governments have agreed in the adoption of all the measures of precaution which the present war may render necessary. With this object, the Emperor has just decided on the formation of two camps of manceuvering. The first, consisting of 100,000 men, will be esta- blished along the shore of the Manche, between Montreuil and St. Omer. The second, consisting of 50,000 men, will be formed near Marseilles. The English Government, on their side, are preparing troops and a fleet capable of transporting, in case of necessity, the forces which they may judge neces- sary either to the Baltic or to the Black Sea."
It is surmised that a French army will be sent to occupy Greece. The Russian Count Lazaref, who was arrested in Paris last week, has been ordered to quit France.
TORKEY.—The details of the bombardment of Odessa, and the quarrel of General Baraguay d'Hilliers with the Porte and his consequent recall, are the salient facts in the news from Turkey. Our readers will recollect, that when the Captain of the Furious re- ported to the Admirals of the combined fleet that his flag of truce had been fired upon at Odessa, they took counsel together as to how the offenders might be chastised ; and they forwarded a rigorous demand for explanations to General Osten-Sacken. This worthy replied by denying that the flag of truce had been fired upon : the batteries, he pretended, opened not upon the boat, but upon the Furious itself, because she was approaching within cannon-shot of the batteries. This was utterly false : the Furious did not move until the boat's crew were on board. The Admirals anchored near Odessa on the 21st April, and sent in a demand for reparation for the "indescribable aggression"; the form of that reparation being, that all the British, French, and Russian ships at Odessa, should be forthwith given up ; and if, by sunset, no answer or a negative answer were received, the Admirals promised to avenge the affront offered to the British flag by force, "although the demands of humanity induced them to adopt this alternative with regret." No answer was returned, and preparations were made for the work of de- struction. Odessa stands upon cliffs that face the North-east,. and sink into • sandy mounds towards the North. The line of the shore curves inwards and forms a shallow bay. At the lower or South-easterly end of the town, runs a fortified mole, called the Quarantine Mole, within which lay swarms of ships of all na- tions ; and at the Northern extremity a similar mole, called: the Imperial Mole, which at the time of the attack enclosed a mass of Russian ships of all sorts, and some large stores or barracks. On both moles there was a formidable array of embrasures, upwards of seventy; but, from the sea, they seemed rather badly off for guns—the Russian General enumerates but forty-eight in his account. The attack began, about half-past six in the morning ; and the attacking force was ordered to go in-shore as much as possible, to avoid firing upon the town or mer- chant-shipping in the Quarantine Mole. The first attack was made by the Sampson and Tiger, English steamers, and the Vauban and Descartes, French. The main body of the fleet lay ihree miles off, spectators. The Sampson led the way, and the order of attack was this : each steamer, when within about 2000 yards, delivered her fire, then wheeled about in a circle of about half a mile in diameter ; and thus, says an eye-witness, " they kept wheeling and twisting about like so many waltzers, without ever touching or getting into scrapes." The guns of the mole returned the fire ; and after an hour and a half, the Vauban steamed off, on fire from red-hot balls, but returned to her post when it was quenched. Soon afterwards, the second division of steam-frigates—the English Terrible, Retribution, and Furious, and the French Mogador—entered the action, and rained a pitiless sleet of shells upon the mole and the shipping. Towards noon the fire of the enemy became slow ; at one o'clock the Tongue battery blew up ; and the ships went in still nearer, to effect the- destruction of the Russian shipping. A field-battery was brought down to the beach to fire upon the gun-boats cooperating with the fleet ; but a few balls and rockets sent them scampering off, and fired a village near which they were posted. In the midst of the fight, the battery on the Quarantine Mole became troublesome, and the Arethusa was sent in to
quiet it : she stood in, hove to, delivered her fire ; filled, tacked, and again delivered her broadside, doing much damage. During the fire, she deli- berately reefed her topsails. The Terrible stood further in than the other
ships, and towards the close they were all crowded into a small apace ; but, say. the French Admiral, "not a false movement was to be observed."
Towards five o'clock, the destruction of the mole, the shipping, the bar- racks, and stores, was complete ; and signal was made to the steamers to rejoin the fleet. All this had been accomplished with a loss in the Eng- lish ships of one man killed and ten wounded, and in the French of two killed and two wounded. The Russian loss must have been very severe. The fire in the port lasted forty-eight hours.
The Russian account is a most wonderful specimen of the Russian bul- letin. General Osten-Sacken informs his Imperial master, that he was attacked by nine steamers, one carrying 54 guns and the others, for the most part, 32, by a screw-steamer of 84 guns; and, using a line indefinite expression, he tells that "the enemy's line of battle ships left their line " to fire at the house of General Laden, but retreated again after exchang- ing a few shots with certain batteries. Thus the Arethusa is magnified into "line of battle ships " ; and the Vauban, which quitted her post for a short time as already described, is "two or three steamers, taken in
tow." During the fight, some of the merchant-ships escaped from the pratique- port and joined the fleet. It is remarked that the Russian batteries car- ried no flag or ensign of any kind. The allied fleets have captured twelve transports on their way from Odessa to the Danube. General Baraguay d'Hilliers has been recalled from his post at Con- stantinople, to command the camp at Boulogne. The reason of this step appears to be, that the General, jealous of Lord Stratford, quarrelled with Redschid Pasha, and made demands beyond his instructions. It would seem that General Baraguay d'Hilliers, acting on the belief that Lord Stratford had shielded some Greeks, demanded permission for the Greek Catholics to remain in Turkey ; and it is said that Redschid Pasha yield- ed. But it was found to be inconvenient to comply with the demand ; and Redschid Pasha declined to sign the order permitting them to remain. This exasperated General Baraguay d'Hilliers, and he sent in an ultima- tum stating that if the demands were not complied with in four-and- twenty hours he would depart. He packed up his goods, sold his horses, and ordered a steamer to be in readiness. Everybody was amazed. Redsehid Pasha offered to resign, or actually did resign ; but he was begged to remain. The dispute has been brought to an amicable termi- nation by treating the whole transaction as null and void—forgetting and forgiving on both sides ; and the irascible General renewed relations with the Porte on the 30th April—much regretting that he had sold his horses. He will be surprised to hear that he has been recalled. There is little that need be said about the war-operations. Both armies seem to be where they were last week. Omar Pasha has consented
to serve under the French and British commanders; awaits them at Schumla. Lord Raglan, Prince Napoleon, General Evans, and other officers, have arrived at Constantinople. The troops at Scutari and at Gallipoli have been exercised in brigades, much to the delight of the Turks. The last new arrivals at Scutari were the Guards.
Russre.—A letter from the Baltic, dated the 25th April, and published by the Paris Moniteur, states that the thaw of the Neva was expected on the 27th ; that the ice bad broken up in the gulf ; and that Cronstadt would be accessible by the end of the month. Great alarm was felt in the Russian capital, and four new batteries had been erected on the Neva. After the 27th, St. Petersburg would be under four military governors. The Emperor is described as unwell. In another letter, the Russian force in Finland is estimated at 50,000; the number of troops on the Southern coast of the Baltic at 45,000 • and the corps d'armde at Cronstadt at 30,000. It is reported that the Russians intend to surrender to Austria any subjects of that power whom they may capture, but to treat strangers and Christians serving in the Turkish ranks as felons.
GERMANY.—The telegraph has reported a renewal of negotiations at Vienna; but it has net been confirmed as yet. The story is, that during last week, Count Buol, Lord Westmoreland, and M. de Bourqueney, held several conferences, resulting in the drawing up of conditions to be offered to Russia after Austria shall have evacuated Bosnia, the Herzegovina, and Upper Albania. Baron Meyendorff, we are told, found these condi- tions acceptable ; and they are further said to have been looked upon as " being probably the final attempt of Austria to restore peace before she declares herself.' Another Viennese report is, that a Russian army, 70,000 strong, is to be posted on the frontiers of the Bukowina and Transylvania.
Gasses.—Xing Otho dissolved the Chambers on the 2d instant. Al- though the recent accounts from the insurgent districts represent the in- surrection as beaten on every point, the Greek Government, according to the Paris Moniteur, has been organizing a new attempt, aided by a monthly subscription of a million francs, which it is positively asserted were sup- plied by Russia. The relations of Greece with England, France, and Austria, grow more critical every day.
ORANGE SOVEREIGNTY.—The new Government has been set on its legs. At starting, a demand was made on Sir George Clerk for 20,0001. to begin business ; but be declined to furnish more than 60001., and 30001. on ac- count of the Boem Pleats fines. The new Government has purchased gunpowder, shot, &c., belonging to the British Government; and it has been presented with the three guns on the Queen's fort, with ammunition to work them. The new Government has also received from the Special Commissioner, gratis, all the Government buildings and office-furniture in the different towns of the Sovereignty.
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