The Sun.
London, England, 1855-04-14 00:00:00

weather is fine.

PARIS, SATURDAY, 8 A.M.

Large crowds assembled on the 10th and 11th
near the palace- of the Cortes. The National
Guard maintains order. Madrid is tranquil.
A despatch from Rome of the 13th inst. says
that the flooring of a room in the Convent of St.
Agnes, where the Pope had assembled a number
of guest; gave way under the feet of the holy
father, who, however, escaped unhurt. Cardinals
An tonelli and Patrizi,. and General Montreal re-
ceived contusions which are not serious.

MADRID, 12th.

The law on the National Guard, with M.
Armiza's amendment,. was passed in yesterday's
sitting- of the Cortes by 165 votes to 28. Another
attempt of riot was made yesterday, but was put
down immediately.

THE SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL.
(From second edition of de Morning herald of this day.)
ENGLISH CAMP, HEIGHTS OF
• SEBASTOPOL, Minot" 28.
Very little of importance has occurred to-day.
One or two of the batteries on both sides have been
firing shell, but without producing particular re-
Lilts. Both with the enemy and the allies there
seems to be an evident di,.inclination to shoW forth
all their strength, until the moment for the grand
contest arrives. Thus; the Russians appear to
possess only three, or, at most, four mortars, as
• they certainly never fire from more, though I
doubt -but that as the active operations of the
siege
,are recommenced we shall find that in f tct
ther batteries are full of them. So with
many of their small works on the flanks of
Malakhoff Tower, whici, it is generally presumed,
the enemy will not have men enough to defend
against our
_bombardment, simply because we
seldom see men in theta now. But the garrison
seem resolved on showing nothing of the state or
actual condition of their preparations and means
of defence until the necessity for their use arrives.
It is this profound secrecy with which they enve-
lope all their movements which leads every one to
form different conjectures as to the warlike re-
sources of the place, and the probable time which
must elapse before its capture. Since last night
the enemy have been actively engaged in repairing
the damages which the north end of the Mamelon
battery sustained by the partial explosion of its
magazine. So well have these efforts been con-
'ducted, that by daylight this morning the whole
work presented its usual appearance, and several
shots have been since fired from the spot where the
accident occurred.

There are rumours current throughout the camp
that the enemy are preparing two new batteries,
one on the left flank of the Mamelon, near the
French works at Inkerman, and the other near the
mud fort, facing the French lines on the extreme
left. There are, I ant informed, no, grounds at
present for such reports. All that the enemy have
lately done has been to sink several freah rifle pits
in and about the Mamelon ; but, apparently, even
these are not occupied during the day. The re-
port of such new defences being in contemplation
may have arisen from the face, that each night a
very strong column of the enemy issues from the
Malakhoff Tower, and remains for the night be-
tween it and the Mamelon, and under cover of the
guns of both. This force is put forth by the
enemy to he ready to support the Mamelon at
a moment's notice, in case of a sudden at.
tack. According to present reports our final
bombardment will commence on the morning of
the 2d of April, but I have every reason to believe
that it will be some dßys later ,ere such a step is
taken. Immense quantities of shot are now at camp;
indeed so large is the quantity that we should re-
quire double our present stock of powder to fire it all
away. All that we are waiting for now is a propor-
tionate amount of shell for our mortars
are coming' up each day In fact, so forward and these
are
all our preparations that the allied, generals might
easily re-open the fire to-
morrow if theypleased, and
leave to the tramway the work of supplying the
daily stock of bombs, vrhich it could do with per-
fect ease. A telegraphic message, which Lord Rag-
Lord J. Russell at Vienna,
lan received to-day from
is said to have something to do with the delay of our
I need hardly say no one,
immediate attack, but as
excepting Lord Raglan, is even supposed to 'be
acquainted with the contents of the message, the
conjectures is just as likely to be erroneous as not.
The despatch was brought from Varna, in the Simla,
in an almost incredibly short space of time, and an
answer from Lord Raglan was despatched back by
the same vessel, within three hours after her arrival
at Kamiesh. A deserter, who came into our ad-
vanced trench yesterday evening, brought the re-
port that Prince Mensbikoff was either clango-
rously ill or dead, but which be could not say.
He also stated that all the great magazines in the
town, whether for powder or provisions, were being
filled. This would quite explain the long trains of
waggons which are seen to ,enter Sebastopol so
frequently, and it would also appear as if the
enemy contemplated an entire investment of the
place by the allies as probable, and were doing
their utinast to provide against its consequences
by provisioning the place for a long siege.
The Russians still continue in force about four
miles from Tchourgouw, and whether an attack
upon our lines is seriously expected or not I can-
not say, beyond that Sir Colin Campbell and the
French officers round Balaklatra are the most earnest
in their precautions against it. All the troops round
the heights are under arms at four a.m. Officers
are enjoined not to absent themselves from their
cantonments, sen titre- zrettioubled, - -
picqueba advanced.
Last night, or rather early this morning,
som'e
French troops, with a small force from us, made
a distant reconnaissance cf the enemy's position.
The force altogether amended to about 1,500 men,
and was under arms at 1 a.m. The morning was
fine, clear, and mild • altogether the very reverse
of that in which the last unfortunate reconnissance
started from the same place. The troops advanced
cautiously acrosss the plain, towards the old
Turkish redoubts ; the small Cossack picquets re-
tiring quietly before thew, watching their move-
ments as our men advanced. A little beyond the
last redoubt the troops halted under a small emi-
nence about two miles from the line round Bala-
klava, and so remained till dawn. From this spot
a tolerable view of the enemy
could be ob.:
tained. They appeared to be in considerable force
—probably, from 10,000 to 15,000—but the hilly
nature of the ground prevented our ascertaining
with certainty whether there were other bodies
stationed in the valleys, and what was their
strength. One Russian infantry' soldier was taken
prisoner in a little Cossack picquet-house near the
Turkish redoubts. He stated that there was a force ,
of at least 35,000 troops upon the Tchernaya and !
around Tchourgoum. They had only arrived there
within the last few days from Baksbi-Serai, where
they had wintered outsi<le the town in huts con-
structed in the earth. Ho said also that both at
Tehourgoum and Bakshi-Serai the troops. were well
supplied with provisions.
The reconnoitring party returned to our lines
soon after daybreak. No attempt of the enemy on
the heights on the right of our lines at Balaklava
is now thought possible. Every ditch and breastwork
has been deepened and strengthened in such a man-
ner as to render the hills perfectly impregnable to
any force, no 'matter what its numerical strength.
Three long 32-pounders, as well as several heavy
howitzers and-field guns, have recently been added
to the heights and redoubts occupied by the marines
and rifles; arid this point, which was formerly the I
strongest. Th
ere was only one "part of the line
weakest of the line, is now reckoned Cie very
where the defences were not considered perfect,
and thin is now being fortified by tremendous