F O R E I G N N E W S

Publishing Committee · Rochester, N. Y. · Sep 12, 1854

F O R E I G N N E W S .

EUROPE.—The U. S. M. steamer Pacific, from Liverpool 11½ o'clock morning of Wednesday the 23d ult., arrived at New York on Sunday at 2½ o'clock P. M., bringing dates from London of 23d, and from Paris of the 22d.

FROM THE BALTIC—CAPTURE OF BOMARSUND.

Our Liverpool correspondent succeeded in procuring in time to be telegraphed per Europa via Halifax, the earliest intelligence of the surrender of Bomarsund to the allies on the 16th, with its garrison of 2,000 men as prisoners of war.

The allied armies have at length begun to act. They have taken Bomarsund. On the 3d or 4th ult., the French troops and British marines were landed on the island of Aland; on the 10th, the place was invested; on three succeeding days the batteries were erected and armed; on the 14th the fire was opened; on the 15th the two round towers were taken by storm, one by the French, the other by the English; on the 16th, after a short engagement in which the allies lost very few men, the large casemated fort surrendered.

The papers by the Pacific confirm the announcement. On Saturday, 19th, the English steamer Basilisk and the French steamer Rein Hortense arrived at Dantzic with the intelligence that at 12½ P. M. on the 16th the fortress of Bomarsund capitulated, when the garrison, numbering 2,000, was immediately embarked on board the allied fleet. There was little loss of life on either side, the French having lost 120 in killed, and the British only three or four. The round towers behind Bomarsund, named Forts Tzee and Nottieh, had been previously reduced—no very difficult task, as they were garrisoned by only 120 men each. The handful of artillerymen in Tzee made a stout defense, fifty being killed and only thirty-five taken unhurt. Nottieh was carried without loss. Both forts when captured were blown up, and the main assault was then directed on the fortress of Bomarsund itself, of which the walls were badly damaged before the garrison consented to surrender. No other result could have been expected, for it was impossible that 2,000 could long have held out against a besieging army of 12,000, supported by a fleet in force. The honor of the victory, such as it is, belongs wholly to the French, and therefore on Sunday, the 20th, the guns of the Invalides announced to the citizens of Paris the first victory of the war.

From the circumstance that Admiral Napier had issued a notice warning all neutral vessels to leave the port of Riga before the first of August, it was surmised that Riga would be the next point of attack. An account of the Bomarsund affair, from Stockholm, 20th, mentions that a bombardment was kept up from 5 o'clock morning of the 15th to 2 o'clock afternoon of the 16th, and that part of their works were blown up, before proposals were made to surrender. The prisoners will be sent to France on board English ships. Gen. Baraguay d'Hilliers had a narrow escape, a cannon ball having passed between him and the aid-de-camp with whom he was conversing.

MISCELLANEOUS WAR NEWS.—Cholera has considerably declined at Varna and Shumla, and also at Constantinople. The malady had been fearfully destructive among the French, but at latest accounts was beginning to abate.

ENGLAND.—The dispatch to which Lord Clarendon replied, on July 22, to the last communication made by Russia to the Austrian Government, also the notes exchanged on Aug. 8 between the English and French and Austrian Ministers were laid before Parliament on the last day of the session, but have only now been made public. We have already stated the substance of these dispatches, namely: 1. The Russian protectorate over the Principalities must be given up, and the privileges granted to those provinces by the Sultan be placed under the collective guarentee of Europe; 2. That the navigation of the Danube must be made free; 3. That the treaty of 13th July, 1841, be revised with reference to the balance of power; and 4. That the Russian claim to a protectorate over the Christian subjects of the Porte must be given up. All of which terms Austria is made cognizant of, and agrees not to treat except on these bases.

BELGIUM—AN INFERNAL MACHINE.—The seizure in Belgium of an infernal machine has led to the arrest of several French political refugees. The Etoile Belge says:

Several arrests, which seem connected with politics, have just been effected at Brussels. M. Victor Considerant, well known as the head of the phalansterian doctrine, has been locked up at the Petits Carmes, accused, it is said, of having purchased arms for the purpose of organizing a plot against the Government.

SPAIN.—Madrid is comparatively quiet, although not altogether tranquil. The work of disarming all citizens, except the National Guard, continues. General Prim has reached Paris on his return from the East, having hurried back on hearing of the revolution in his native country. It is calculated that the deficit bequeathed by the Sartorius Ministry to the treasury amounts to seven hundred millions of reals. M. Collado, the newly-appointed Minister of Finance, has resigned.

At a dinner given by the Editors of Madrid all the Ministry were present—a most unusual occurrence. Espartero proposed the toast of "Liberty" to which O'Donnell hastily added: "the constitutional Queen!" M. Soule was invited, but sent an apology. Several new papers have sprung into existence.

Letters of the 11th mention that Barcelona was again quiet. About 100 cases of cholera were reported a day, but the malady had resumed a milder form.

An important piece of news is published by the Paris Patrie. On the 13th a deputation composed of the leaders of the barricades and of the clubs waited on Espartero to request him to suppress the article in the decree convoking the Cortes, which lays down that the dynastic question cannot be discussed by the new Constituent Assembly. Espartero at first replied to the deputation that they ought either to share the confidence reposed in him by the nation, or else govern in his place. A long and warm discussion ensued, at the end of which Espartero, in taking leave of the deputation, recommended them to address their petition to the Council of Ministers. The delegates withdrew in great excitement. Notwithstanding these dangerous symptoms the Government is thought to be strong enough to carry out its policy.

THREE DAYS LATER.—There had been no further operations in the Baltic and none in the Black sea.

On the 20th of August the Austrian army of occupation entered Wallachia, and perhaps Moldavia, will be occupied.

The Russians are still concentrated on the Pruth and the Turks at Bucharest. No immediate battle is expected.

The Crimea expedition had not yet sailed.

The Turks met with a terrible defeat at Kars, and lost two thousand prisoners.

There was no English news of importance.