The Sun.
London, England, 1855-09-25 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY 14:IV:ENING--; SEPTEMBER 25, 1855

troops that would otherwise have been fully oc-
cupied to th e Crimea. She deliberately refused
to proceed ally further, or to fulfil her obligations,
declaring tb at " the eventualities of the War"
should decide ). They have decided, and she cannot
resume the position she formally and definitively
abandoned.

Whatever ` then may be her wishes she is de-
barred by b ,er own acts from further interference.
She must co ,ntinue to observe the neutrality which
she advised! ly professed. Nor can she again retard
the mov era ants of the Ottoman or Allied troops
across the Principalities. In that respect she is
bound toe firmly to permit of any diplomatic
quibbles o: r special pleading. Nothing but the
culpable yr eakness of the Governments of France
and England could enable her again to interfere ;
and we ca nnot think so badly of the Cabinets of
Paris or of London as to suppose that they, or
either of them, could fall into so grievous an
error—'ma rso destructive to their own reputation,
i and that stability of their power and influence.

The atmosphere of official life is not good even
for a brisk constitution. Some men's, it is true,
are made of iron, and will pass unharmed through
anything ; while others, by early training, have
acclimatised themselves after a fashion to a moral
Sierra Leone. The true test, however, is the
effect produced on individuals of at least average
health and mature age, wholly unused to it. If
they are found generally to suffer, as they noto-
riously are, fail to be injured by it who may, tha
inference is obvious—an official atmosphere is not
wholesome.

Look at Sir BRILTIMIN HALL by way of illus-
tration. That sturdy Welsh Baronet, whose Ra-
dical constitution seemed capable of resisting any-
thing, what havoc the atmosphere has been play-
ing with him ! You would have thought a
people's champion with a better stamina was not
to be found anywhere. Yet no sooner is he made
Right Honourable than he begins to grow tottery,
and his prowess of yesterday is put to shame by
his recreantcy of to-day. He carries away like a
SAMSON the gates of Hampton Court, and fills,
with his wand of power, like PROSPERO in his
enchanted isle, the verdant Gardens of Ken-
sington with exquisite music (of a Sunday after-
noon). Presto ! the scene is changed—the de-
scendant of Princes, whose genealogy no mortal
Englishman would presume to question unless
suicidally disposed,' and therefore unappalled by
the certainty of lock-jaw or insane bewilderment
—the people's man, who comprehends their
wishes, is acquainted with their necessities, de-
lights to fight their battles, and cares not
how many of their enemies he slaugh-
ters at the hustings the SAMSON, the
PROSPERO, the knight of ST. DAVID, become the
Right Honourable, is caught appropriating a por-
tion of one of the people's conservatories, to grow
not leeks, but a patent of nobility therein ; and
when be is asked how he came to " try it on,"
1 replies "he never did try it on, and if he did,
1 he did it for the best."

We put it to the reader whether a clearer case
for a sanitary inquiry was ever made out. An
individual with a vigorous moral constitution like
Sir BENJAMIN, reduced to surreptitious appropria-
tion of the property of his old friends ! It is
satisfactory, however, to perceive that he is a
little anxious about hia reputation, now he is found
out, and that he has got a friend to stand by him
in his trouble. Sir GEORGE SHELLEY has good-
naturedly taken pity on his mountain pride, and
given him an opportunity for a hearing ; and
what has the perturbed culprit to say for himself ?
"He never did try it on—it was the Secretary of
State (no less) that set him to do it." They thought
he was going to steal from them when he was not
—he was only, look you, going to see how the pit
of ground could be pest laid out, pefore he took
it, for their advantage. Really the Right Hon.
Baronet's vindication amounts to that, distressing
though it be to have such unmasticated logic from
one trained as he has been from his youth, to
grind consonants. In fact Sir BENJAMIN con-
fesses to a bridge, not an ornamental, but worse
than that, a substantial one, across St. James's
Park being in contemplation. " Great inconve-
nience," ho tells us, " has been occasioned to per-
sons
in carriages (not having the entree of St.
James's Park) being obliged to go by way of
Piccadilly and Grosvenor-place, from Pall-mall,
to Pimlico ;" and having, in his official character
as Commissioner of Public Works, been desired
by the Secretary of State to prepare a plan for a
road, he has prepared one, according to which the
road was to run direct from Pall-mall to Bird-
cage-walk, crossing the ornamental water over a
good solid bridge, and to be open to carriages
and cabs night and day. The Chief Commissioner
of Public Works confesses that the design at which
the public took alarm, and which they were
assured had no existence save in their imagina-
tion, was and is really contemplated, and origi-
nated with him. So far good ; the public know
now how to regard him. But he goes on to say
—he never intended to proceed with the road
until the meeting of Parliament. Credat Judccus,
Sic. The public owe Sir BENJAMIN too little in
this matter to be under obligation to give him
credit in return. They will interpret the long
poles in the Park by their own cipher and not his,
and trust as much as he deserves the man they
have found out. Even those who give full cre-
dit to his denial will reasonably look with suspi-
cion on his conduct when they remember how
many m.P.'s convenience the road would serve,
and how often Acts of Parliament have been
passed when only a few interested parties have
been present. And all this while nothing has
really been wanting for public accommodation
but the removal of some iron gratings and th e
widening of the entrances for carriages, &c. The
roads required exist already in the Park, and a
silly prejudice is only to be conquered to have
them thrown open.
No necessity is there what-
ever to destroy the delightful privacy of the gar-
dens, and fill with noxious dust their salubrious
retreats ; no necessity in the world to rob the
industrious poor of a privilege they dearly prize,
and which contributes to their health as well as
enjoyment. Let the right of way be granted the
public all round the Park, as a contemporary
suggests, and the thing is done. Before he was
Right Honourable Sir BENJAMIN would have been
delighted to have fulminated against instead of
concocting such a plan as his, and would have
sought with more eagerness for the required per-
mission even than he is said to do for a coronet.
So prejudicial is an official atmosphere, more
especially when radiating Court sunshine. But
a truce to Sir BENJAMIN. Her MAJESTY must bo
memorialised on the subject, and unless we are
greatly deceived that Gracious Lady is not likely
to reject the appeal. A word of hers will squa-
bash Sir BENJAMIN.

The mischievous results of that want of fore-
sight and resolution which has characterised the
policy of British statesmen during many succes-
sive Governments, were never more clearly trace-
able to their origin than during the present War.
Some seventy years ago, almost in fact within
the memory of living men, Fusga and Austria

succeeded in wresting the Crimea and a large
tract of country to the west of the Black Sea LATE S NEwQ
from the Porte. Six years afterwards, when
Austria had withdrawn from the alliance with
Russia, and apprehensions were entertained by
the more clear-sighted of the aggressive policy of
the latter power, it was proposed by the Congress
of Reichenbach that both Austria and Russia
should make certain cessions to the Porte.
Austria consented to restore a portion of what
she had feloniously appropriated, and did so ;
but the ambitious CATHERINE, who was required
on her part to restore Ockzakow, a strong position at
the mouth of the Dniester, commanding the whole
tract of sea between the Crimea and the Danu-
bian Provinces, refused. The far-seeing CZARINA
was too well aware of the value of Ockzakow, in
the furtherance of her cherished scheme, to give
it up at a word. The Congress remonstrated
but in vain, and England, a member of the Con-
gress, was called upon to see to the carrying out
of the decree. The Minister of the day resorted
to negotiation, and, that failing, appealed to Par-
liament for the means to enforce the required
cession. The Minister was too late. The CZARINA
had contrived to get the start of him, and by her
flatteries and cajoleries to array in her behalf the
GRAHAMS, GLADSTONES, COBDENS, and BRIGHTS
of the day ; and he succeeded in getting the sup-
plies for a small armament, it is true, but, to his
.mortification, found himself deprived of popular
support by the machination of the philo-Rus-
sians, and was compelled to desist. Russia
triumphed, and a vote of censure was proposed
against Mr. PITT. At that time neither Odessa
nor Sebastopol were in existence, and it is not
too much to say that, to, the blind infatuation of
the majority of the statesmen of that day we owe
the recent frightful expenditure of blood and
treasure before Sebastopol, and the• task now
before us • of driving the Russians out of the
Crimea.

PARIS, TUESDAY, 'T.3O A.M.

The Moniteur publishes the reports of the 11th
of September of Marshal Pelissier and of General

Niel of the capture of Sebastopol, also the order
of the day of the former announcing the great fact

to the army.

General Niel says the enemy made immense
efforts to regain the Malakhoff, and their failure

;o do so decided their course.

The French Ambassador at Constantinople had
placed. the Palace of the Embassy at the disposal

of the commandant of the town, for the reception
and treatment of the sick and wounded officers
from Sebastopol.

MARSEILLES, MONDAY.

By the arrival of the Carmel, which left Con-
stantinople on the 17th, we learn that General
Bezaine has been appointed Governor 6f SabaE-
topol.

The reported suicide of General Osten-Sacken is

not confirmed.

Immense stores of military clothing have been
discovered at Sebastopol.
Three divisions, under General Herbillon, are
to reinforce the troops occupying the Tchernaya
Valley. An attack by the Allies is supposed to
be impending.

The Journal de Constantinople affirms that
Prince Gortschakoff inquired whether, if the Rus-
sians should retreat, would General Pelissier take
charge of 1,500 wounded, whom he would be
compelled to leave behind. The French Com-
mander assented to this arrangement, but on
condition that the Russian army physicians should
remain with their regiments, and that they should
destroy nothing on their retreat.
The exhibition of a flag of truce from Fort
Constantine led many to believe that proposals for

This leads us to the inquiry, in every one's
mouth, now that the south side of Sebastopol has
fallen—What is to he done next ? In other words,
how are the Russians to be dispossessed of the
Crimea ? As a matter of course, numerous plans,
each surpassing the other, are in circulation.
Among those most questionable is one by Colonel
SHAW, who appears to have spared no
pains in arriving at a conclusion. The gallant
Colonel, leaving a force of 60,000 men to protect
the Tchernaya, and also our harbours of Bala-
klava and Kamiesh, calculates on having a dis-
posable force of 120,000 bayonets—all arms, we
suppose he means. This he would divide into
three separate corps d'armge, to advance from
Eupatoria, Kaffa, and Aloushta, the second of
which we have not got, thanks to the wisdom and
foresight of Government, and thus hem in the
Russian forces, and compel them to fight or sur-
render, and those in Sebastopol to capitulate.
Against this scheme it is urged, and the objection
is fortified by a reference to the campaigns of the
Great FREDERICK and NAPOLEON, that the dividing
of a force little mere than equal to the enemy at
the best would be attended with considerable
danger ; that Kaffa is not taken, and could fur-
nish no supplies of men or provisions ; that
owing to the road from Aloushta passing over
the skirts of the Tchatir Dugh, the loftiest point
of which huge mountain is 2,800 feet high, the
detachment to Aloushta must be given up, it
being impracticable for artillery and cavalry to
pass over such heights ; and that with regard to
Eupatoria, the beat thing that can be done would
be to land a force of 100,000 men at that point,
instead of the number contemplated. This, it is
said, would leave a force sufficient to hold our
present position on the Tchernaya,• and would at
once render the Russian position on the Mackenzie
heights utterly untenable ; so that nothing would
be left the enemy but to operate against the army
of Eupatoria or starve. The latter they are not
likely to do ; and if they adopt the former they
will have to abandon Khutor Mackenzie, with
our troops pressing on their rear. Of these
objections, that arising from apprehension of dan-
ger from the proposed division of the Allied
Forces is the least tenable, General LINIANDI
being neither a NAPOLEON nor a FREDERICK, and
the Russian Forces being demoralised. Tho re-
maining two seem to possess considerable force,
since however complete the plan of operations
would be if successfully carried out, they go to
show that this is impracticable—the movement
from Aloushta—because of the impossibility of
the services of artillery and cavalry being avail-
able in the expedition ; and that from Kaffa, be-
cause Kaffa is not taken, and no supplies of
men or provisions can be anticipated from it.
The operation with a force of 100,000 men from
Eupatoria would doubtless insure success if our
Government had been gifted with the necessary
foresight and discretion for the successful con-
duct of the War. There are no means available,
however, it appears, for supporting a corps
of .half the above number at the distance of
three days' march from the sea. The fatuity that
characterised the direction of the War at the out-
set characterises it, if in a less degree, still.
Nothing is provided till it almost ceases to be
needed. Yet the ultimate necessity of marching
into the interior ought long ago to have been
contemplated and provided for. If it had been,
Sebastopol would have fallen without a stroke,
aid we would not have had to contemplate, as
we do now, the probability of another winter
being spent on its plateau preliminary to another
spring campaign.

peace were made. This is an error.
General Pelissiei's order, dated Head-quarters,
Malakhoff, Sept. 14, says that the bulwark of
Russian power in the Euxine had ceased to exist.

The success is immense. It enlarges our position
in the Crimea, and promises a speedy close of the

war.

At the time when the courier left the Generals

and Admirals were assembled in council. The

Turkish army will remain in the Crimea.

Omer Pasha has left for Asia.

The British Contingent will remain at Constan-
tinople. The Journal de Constantinople says it
will be increased to 50,000 men. Lord Strat-
ford de Redcliffe presents the officers to the Sultan
on their arrival.

General Dulac has arrived by the Carmel
Admiral Pamphiloff is killed.

According to letters brought by the Simois
from the Crimea, the northern fort and the Rus-
sian ships had opened a violent fire on the Bth,
against the positions conquered by the Allies.

BERLIN, SErr. 24.

General Prince Gortschakoff, writing from the
Crimea on the l'7th, says that the Allies had done
nothing against the north of Sebastopol, but
were concentrated between Balaklava and the

Tchernaya, and were making reconnaissances in
the valley of Baidar.

WARSAW, SEPT. 22.

A new general recruitment in Russia is imm

vent.
All the regular troops in Poland and Lithuania

are marching on Odessa and Nicolaiefi.

STOCKHOLM, SErr. 24.

A decree by the King abolishes all descriptions

of quarantine for ships and persons coming from

'reign ports.

THE FALL OF SEBASTOPOL.

We Times (Second Edition) have not yet re-
ceived the letters of "Our Own Correspondent,"
with the details of the storming and capture of
Sebastopol. The Simois has brought the official
despatches of the French Commander-in-Chief,
and the letters by the Carmel may be hourly ex-
pected.
The following additional details brought by
the above-named steamers have been received by
telegraph :

" MARSEILLES, SEPT. 23.

" The Simois has arrived here with news from
Constantincpl® of the 14th of September. She
brings the following particulars :

"On the 9th of September, the day after the
evacuation of Sebastopol iay the Russians, a white
flag was hoisted by the latter on Fort Constantine,
situate on the north side of the roadstead.
"A conference took place between Prince Gort-
schakoff and Captain Drummond, R.N.

" This conference led to the false rumour that
Prince Gortschakoff had made overtures for peace,
and this error is to be found in the numerous
letters and journals from Constantinople brought
by the Simois.
" It has also been prematurely announced that
a body of 90,000 French had advanced on the
Tchernaya. General Larchey, who commands the
French corps of occupation at Constantinople, an-
nounced on the 13th that no news relative to such
a movement had been received.

His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge has ar-
rived at St. James's Palace, from visiting the Duke and
Duchess of Hamilton at Brodick Castle, Isle of Arran,
and the Duke and Duchess of Richmond at Gordon
Castle, near Fochaber', N.B.
The Marquis and Marchioness of Westminster will
give a grand reception to the nobility and gentry of
Cheshire and the adjoining counties to-day at Eaton
Hall, near Chester.

Another communique, published at the same
date at Constantinople, says that no official list of
killed and wounded (French) had as yet been re-
ceived there.

The Marquis and Marchioness of Drogheda have ar•
rived at Moore Abbey, Kildare, from visiting Lord and
Lady Wharncliffe at Wortley Hall, Yorkshire.
The Earl and Countess of Bective have joined the
circle visiting the Marchioness (Dow.) of Londonderry.
at Garron Tower, her ladyship's seat in the north of
Ireland.

" The journals brought by the Simois erro-
neously state that General de la Motte-Rouge is
killed. It is also erroneously stated that Colonel
Seymour is killed ; he is wounded, and returns to
England.
" There was a report that General Osten-
Sacken had blown his brains out.

The Earl and Countws of Elgin have left Broom
Hall, Fifeshire, on a tour of visits in the north of Scot-
land.

" The number of Russian vessels sunk is 27,

The Earl and Countess Howe and the Ladies Curzon
returned to Gopsall Hall, near Atherston, at the close
of the past week, from a tour of visits.
Viscount and Viscountess Palmerston will not leave
town for any lengthened period this season.
Lord Ward has arrived at Dudley House, Park-lane,
from the seat of war.
Miss Burdett Coutts is passing the season in the south
of France, and is likely to remain absent from England
for some months.
The Right Hon. Lord Viscount Dungannon arrived
is Belfast on Wednesday evening, and proceeded to
Armagh, on a visit to his grace the Lord Primate, at
the Palace, whence bis lordship returns to Dublin.
Prince Charles Lucien Bonaparte and the Count and
Countess Campello have been on a visit at Eglinton
Castle.
The Duke and Duchess of Montrose have arrived at
Buchanan Castle, Stirlingshire.
Lord and Lady James Stuart and Miss Stuart have
returned to town from Damfries [louse, where they
have been sojourning for the last two months.
Viscount Canning has been on a visit to the Duke of
Hamilton, at Arran, and has since gone to visit Lord
Aberdeen, at Haddo.
Viscount and Viscountess Villiers have arrived in town,
to attend the marriage of Miss Peel, daughter of the late
Right Hon. Sir Robert Peel, with
.the Hon. Francis
Stoner, second son of Lord Camoys. •
The Right Hon, Sidney Herbert, M.P., and Mrs.
Herbert, returned to town early in the past week from
the continent, where they accompanied the Countess
(Dowager) of Pembroke, and have since gone to Wilton
House, near Salisbury, for the autumn,

" On the evening of Sunday, the 9th of Sep-
tember, the conflagration was still raging at Sebas-
topol.
" The Journal de Constantinople says that the
Anglo-Turkish Contingent is to be increased to
50,000 men."

Another telegraphic despatch from Marseilles,
dated the 23d inst., says—
" The forts of Sebastopol, situate on the north
side of the roadstead, opened on the evening of
the Bth of September a terrible fire against the
positions which the French army had taken pos-
session of in the afternoon. •

" The Presse d'Orient says that the Russians
have destroyed all the forts and bastions south of
the roadstead, including Forts St. Paul and Ni-
cholas. Fort Alexander blew up, and Fort
Quarantine was set fire to.
" A picked body of Sardinians fought with the
English at the attack on the Redan.

Louis at Constantinople, and public exultation
was unbounded.

" On the 9th of September Marshal Pelissier
addressed an order of the day to his troops, signed
Head-quarters, Malakhoff.' The substance of it
is as follows :

" ' The bulwark of the power of Russia in the
Black Sea no longer exists. This immense success
enlarges and gives freedom to our position in the
Crimea ; it promises a speedy return to their homes
to the soldiers whose time of service is nearly over.'

" Marshal Pelissier attended the funeral of Col.
Cassaigne, his aide-de-camp, and made a touching
•peech over his grave. Capt. Ducos de Lahitte
and two other staff officers were buried in the
same grave."
Another despatch, dated Marseilles, September
24, says :
The Carmel, which left Constantinople on the
17th, has arrived with an enormous bag of letters,
and having on board Colonel Vaubert de Geniis,
with official despatches.

Those from the Crimea bear the date of the
15th of September.
The fire brigade had succeeded in extinguishing '
the conflagration in the south of Sebastopol.
General Bazaine had been appointed Governor
of Sebastopol.
Three divisions, commanded by General Her-
billon, had reinforced the troops which occupied
the positions on the Tchernaya. An engagement
was expected shortly on that point.
Another despatch, also dated Marseilles, Sept.
24, says :
We learn by the Carmel that Omer Pasha has
left for Asia Minor, but without the troops he was
to have taken with him. The Anglo-Turkish
Contingent remains at Constantinople, and the
Ottoman army remains in the Crimea.
Great uncertainty prevails respecting the pro-
bable movements of the Russian army.
The plans of the Allies also remain secret, de-
' spite all the reports in circulation. When the
steamer which brought this news to the Crimea a
grand council of war was being held by the Gene-
rals and Admirals of the Allies.

(From the Times' Malta Correspondents)

MALTA, Sept. 20.—The Telegraph screw
steam-transport, which left Constantinople ou the
12th, with despatches for England, in charge of
Major Curzon (conveying the details of the taking
of the Malakhoff and Redan, and of the retreat
of the enemy from the town and southern side of
Sebastopol, after destroying the works and out-
buildings), arrived at Malta on the afternosn of
the 16th, and left for Marseilles on the same
night, conveying the •above-named messenger and
Dr. Mackay, R.N., as my communication by that
vessel will have already announced to you.
I have just received the following letter, which
contains some additional details of that great
event :

SEBASTOPOL, Sept. 10.—" Glorious news ; Se-
bastopol is taken, and all its boasted fortifications,
dockyard, and splendid buildings are nothing more
than a heap of ruins. The explosions during the
night and the greater part of yesterday were truly
magnificent. Guns flying in the air, and immense
volumes of fire and smoke ascended like the erup-
tion of a huge volcano. It was a sad disappoint-
ment to the navy not to have been able to go in,
as they were all ready, but it blew a strong N.W.
gale, which prevented the ships getting under
way until too late to be of any service. The for-
midable Malakhoff was taken by surprise, and
carried in about 10 minutes. From its formation,
and being a perfect fortification, it was soon ren-
dered impregnable. Not so the Redan, which our
brave fellows also carried, and kept possession of for
upwards of an hour, but, from its open state in
rear, the Russians were enabled to pour in their
powerful reserves, and overpowered the few men
of ours that were able to scramble over the ditch
and parapet, and retook the work at the point of
the bayonet. The other attack on the left Redan
was equally unsuccessful, although prodigies of
valour were displayed. The key of Sebastopol
was, however, won, but such immediate results
were not expected, for the Russians in the course of
the night and yesterday evacuated the south side,
having previously set fire to the whole place, and
saved us the trouble of blowing up their fortifica-
tions. At daylight we had also the pleasing sight
of seeing the last of their boasted fleet of liners
sinking in the harbour. A regular cordon, six
miles long, has been formed outside to prevent
the Vladimir and several of their small steamers
escaping during the night, but it will be for a few
days, as they are sure to he sunk by the batteries
if they do not follow the example of the big
ships.
" The assault was made at noon on Saturday in
the midst of a flickering bombardment which had
been adopted the few days past, and by which the
Russians were deceived as to the exact time of our
attack. They were taken by surprise at all points,
and the French got immediate possession of the
Malakhoff as did our fellows the Great Redan ;
but the Malakhoff has a flat that had been
well enclosed by the Russians, and the
French being once in had good cover, and so
were able to retain it ; besides which it could not
be attacked to retake except at one point. The
Great and Little Redan, on the contrary slope from
their crests towards the harbour ; and the French
in the latter, and our fellows in the former, were
open to the fire from the north side, steamers, and
the attacking masses which were soon gathered
by the Russians. The French were also repulsed
from the Central Bastion.

The number of Russians made prisoners in
the assault of the Malakhoff is estimated at 1,500.
" There is a report that the Russians were
advancing on Mackenzie Farm. It was also re-
ported that the allied squadrons would bombard
Odessa.
" A Te Devm was chanted at the Church of St.

" The English have lost no general officers, but
there are about 500 killed and 1,600 wounded—
officers and soldiers. The French, who have the
chief glory in this affair, have five Generals killed
and 12 wounded. It is said their killed and
wounded soldiers number between 5,000 and 6,000.