London, January 23. The Western powers have declared that 
negotiations at Vienna must not for one moment interrupt their 
military operations. What immediate military advantage could Russia 
therefore gain by sham negotiations? This question, raised by the 
Sun, permits of a very positive answer. The sixth and part of the 
fifth (Russian) army corps formed the original garrison of the 
Crimea. The fourth corps arrived a few days before the battle of 
Balaklava; at this moment, the third corps is in the peninsula; the 
eighth division arrived at Bakshiserai on December 18, and the 
seventh and eighth divisions, together with the first division of 
Dragoons and about 240 cannon and four Cossack regiments are 
drawn up at Perekop. The Light Cavalry division, part of the third 
army corps, has been thrown out towards Eupatoria, which it 1s 
observing. Thus about half of the active Russian army (not 
counting reserves) is either in the Crimea or in garrison at Odessa, 
Kherson and Nikolayev, and sections of the second corps 
(Panyutin) are to march up to support them. It cannot, of course, 
be determined how great is the actual strength of these twelve 
infantry and six cavalry divisions following on the losses of an 
unsuccessful campaign and enormous marches, since we do not 
know whether the losses have been made good by fresh 
reinforcements. But, in any case, they must number at least 
100,000 troops fit for active service, not counting the soldiers, 
marines and sailors there may be at Sevastopol. This great troop 
concentration in the Crimea, which absorbs at least a quarter of 
the entire Russian striking force, shows how important it is for 
Tsar Nicholas to involve Austria in renewed negotiations until the 
gaps in his Volhynian and Podolian armies, caused by the latest 
movements, have again been filled. 

The Aims of the Negotiations.—Polemic Against Prussia 599 

On the eve of the regular parliamentary session, the publication 
of the latest Prussian, Austrian and French dispatches is being 
exploited just as the treaty of December 2*° had been on the eve 
of special parliamentary . session. It is very convenient for 
pro-government newspapers to reply to attacks on the English 
conduct of the war by attacks on Prussian diplomacy. The Globe 
and The Morning Chronicle, the two papers with the strongest 
pro-government bias, adopt the most violent tone in the polemic 
against Prussia. 

A snowball riot which took place here last Sunday supplies new 
proof of how the importunate presumption of the ecclesiastical 
party and the Bill for the stricter observance of Sunday it 
smuggled through .Parliament have only provoked the English 
people to hold somewhat rough, high-spirited and facetious 
demonstrations. Last Sunday, during morning service, a crowd of 
about 1,500 people assembled in Trafalgar Square near St. 
Martin’s[in-the-Field], where they amused themselves by bombard- 
ing buses, cabs and pedestrians with snowballs. Because of the 
noise outside the church doors, the service had to be discontinued. 
As soon as the police intervened, they became the main object of 
attack, and within a few minutes, some constables were unable to 
look either left or right because of the piles of snow which had 
collected on their shoulders, helmets, etc. Soldiers who wanted to 
return to their barracks from church, were definitely forced to 
retreat, and their English phlegm was put to a severe test. About 
100 special constables had to be sent to the scene of battle. 
Eventually the police made use of their truncheons, and fierce 
fighting ensued. Four ringleaders were captured and dragged to 
the police station in spite of several attempts in Chandos Street 
and Russell Street to free them from the arm of the law. 
Yesterday these gentlemen appeared before the police magistrate 
at Bow Street. The churchwardens of St. Martin’s appeared also, 
to give evidence against them. Each hero was sentenced to forty 
shillings, or fourteen days’ imprisonment, and here end the 
records of the snowball riot. At any rate it has served to refute the 
Prince de Ligne who, at the time of the revolt in the Nether- 
lands**' against Joseph II, refused his assistance because it was 
winter, snow and insurrection being mutually exclusive.