upon the Turkish line. The Turkish batteries now
opened up a tremendous fire of grape, every shot telling
with fearful effect upon the close ranks of the column,
sweeping them away one after the other as fast as they
were filled up. The infantry at the same time becoming
impatient, the order was given to advance, and the whole
line came forward, the right wing entering the enclosure,
and fired and loaded as they marched, and shouting out
their national war-cry. The Russians for some minutes
bore up bravely, but at last the head of the column
began to waver. In vain the officers urged the men to
move onward. Human nature was gaining the ascendency;
and at last, broken by the iron shower from the
batteries, and the close and raking fire of the musketry,
they fell into disorder, and turned and fled pell-mell
across the plain, casting aside everything,—muskets, and
even musical instruments. The order was instantly
sent to the cavalry to pursue, but the aide-de-camp was
unable to find the commanding-officer in time for the
charge to be made with effect, and unfortunately the
Russians were allowed to return and carry away their
artillery, which they had at first abandoned. It was
now about half-past two or three o'clock, the ammunition
was running short, and the troops were
exhausted by nearly eight hours of combat, standing
up to their knees in mud. Two attacks had
been made upon the redoubt, but had been
repulsed, and Achmet Pacha deemed it prudent,
on the whole, to retire. The march was begun shortly
after three o'clock, and early on the following morning
the last battalion had reached its quarters. The loss of
the Turks, according to the official reports, is 338 killed
and 700 wounded; that of the Russians 1,500 dead;
but it is impossible to give an accurate estimate of the
number of their wounded, but it cannot have been less
than 2000. It was in the village that the Turks
suffered most. In the combat on the plain they only
lost 15 men in killed, and 69 wounded; while whole
companies of the Russians were swept away by single
discharges. In the streets of the village the Russian
dead lay in heaps, and amongst them great numbers
of officers of every rank. During the following night
the force which had taken refuge in the redoubt
abandoned it, and having hastily buried their dead
retired from the village altogether. The same movement
has taken place along the whole Russian line, and
not one of their troops is now to be found in the village
recently occupied by their outpost. The Turkish
wounded were brought into Kalafat in carts during the
following day and night, and passed across the river to
Widdin to be placed in the hospitals. The poor fellows
seemed to treat their misfortune very lightly, talking
and laughing in the boats with so much hilarity that
but for the blood and bandages one would scarcely
imagine that they were not sound, both in wind and
limb. Nothing can exceed the joy and enthusiasm of
the army. Every soldier has carried off a trophy of
some kind,—scarfs, swords, muskets, &c.; and groups
may be seen standing at every corner in Kalafat,
discussing with animated gestures the various details of the
action, and crowing over the rout of the 'Moscoviz.'
One great encouraging fact has at all events been
established by the victory—the complete superiority of the
Turkish infantry and artillery to that of the Russians,
not behind entrenchments merely, as so many people
imagine, but in the open plain and under many
disadvantages as to number and position."

Attempts continue to be made to settle the question by
negotiation. On the 15th of December, the following
joint note, signed by the representatives of the Four
Powers at Constantinople, was presented to the Divan:
"The undersigned,——, in accord with the representatives
of——, has the honour to make known to the
Sublime Porte that their Governments, having still
reason to believe that the Emperor of Russia does not
regard the thread of the negotiations as broken by the
declaration of war and the facts which have been the
consequence of it, and knowing, moreover, from the
declaration of his Imperial Majesty, that he only desires
to see secured a perfect equality of rights and immunities
granted by the Sultan and his ancestors to the Christian
communities, subjects of the Sublime Porte; and on its
side the Sublime Porte, replying to that declaration by
the declaration that it regards it as being for its honour
to continue to maintain the said rights and immunities,
and that it is constantly disposed to put an end to the
differences which have arisen between the two empires;
the negotiation to be followed shall be based, 1st. on
the evacuation of the Principalities as promptly as
possible; 2d. on the renewal of old treaties; 3d. on the
communication of the firmans relative to the spiritual
advantages granted by the Sublime Porte to all its non-
Mussulman subjects—a communication which, when
made to the Powers, shall be accompanied by suitable
assurances given to each of them. The arrangement
already made to complete the accord relative to the
Holy Places and to the religious establishments at
Jerusalem shall be definitively adopted. The Porte shall
declare to the representatives of the Four Powers that
it is ready to name a plenipotentiary, to establish
armistices, and to negotiate on the bases above mentioned,
with the concurrence of the Powers, and in a neutral
city, which shall be suitable to them. The declarations
made in the preamble of the 13th of July 1841 shall be
solemnly confirmed by the same Powers in the interest
of the independence and the integrity of the Ottoman
empire and that of the European concert; and the
Sublime Porte on its side shall declare, in the same
interest, its firm resolution to more efficaciously develop
its administrative system, and the internal ameliorations
which may satisfy the wants and the just expectations of
its subjects of all classes. S. DE REDCLIFFE, BARAGUAY
D'HILLIERS, L. DE WILDENBRUCK, DE BRUCK. Pera,
Dec.12, 1853."

To this note the Sublime Porte has made the following
reply:—"His Majesty the Sultan has perused with
attention the British Ambassador's note of Dec.12,
respecting the bases proposed for a treaty of peace, and
identical with those of his colleagues, the representatives
of France, Austria, and Prussia, sent in collectively on the
same day, and it results therefrom that his Majesty the
Emperor of Russia manifests pacific intentions. The
Sublime Porte has waged war solely in its own defence
—in defence of its sacred rights and sovereignty—and
as there is nothing to affect them in this proposal, it
has been deemed expedient to adopt it with a view
to the restoration of peace—his Imperial Majesty,
moreover, being actuated in this circumstance by the
highest consideration for his august allies, by an ardent
desire of conforming to their wishes, and by implicit
faith in their councils. Accordingly, on resuming
the negotiations, the first point to establish will be the
evacuation of the Principalities within the shortest
possible delay; and the second, the renewal of the
treaties, to which the Sublime Porte assents in deference
to the advice of the Allied Powers, and in the
undeviating spirit of moderation by which it has been
guided throughout in these transactions. With regard
to the religious privileges and immunities of the various
non-Mussulman communions, subject to the Ottoman
government, these have been accorded in ancient times
by the illustrious ancestors of his Imperial Majesty, and
reconfirmed by himself in virtue of a hatti-sheriff
recently emanated to that effect. These grants and.
franchises, moreover, the Sublime Porte has been ever
anxious to maintain—and will maintain perpetually—
as has been long since solemnly proclaimed to all Europe
by the promulgation of the Tanzimat. Moreover, should
any one of those communions possess advantages
unenjoyed by the others, and these desire to participate
therein—the Ottoman government, animated by
sentiments of justice and impartiality, will never refuse
to dispense equal rights and equal privileges to all.
Neither can there be the slightest objection to notify the
sincerity and loyalty of these intentions to every government
in Europe, and to furnish each—and necessarily
the cabinet of St. Petersburg—with a copy of the
aforesaid firmans. The project of settlement, concerning
the measures required to complete the decision relative
to the Holy Places, will be accepted definitively.
Hence, the Sublime Porte is ready to conclude a treaty
of peace, in the manner traced out by its august allies—
and consents, accordingly, to appoint a plenipotentiary,
who, with a Russian plenipotentiary, will finally
regulate this affair, and settle the terms of an armistice,
in any neutral town at the choice of the Allied Powers