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

THE FALL OF SEBASTOPOL.

The Augibitrg Gaiette, a journal •rarely inclined
to exaggerate the successes of the allies, delivers, in
its number of the 20th inst., au opinion on the con-
sequences of the taking of Sebastopol. The follow-
ing is an:extract from its article on the subject :----
Sebastop-1 has fallen—after a struggle indeed, the
like of wh'e't is not to be found in the history of war,
but has nevertheless fallen—and we have now to take
account of the importance of this event, and of its con-
sequences, for it may well happen that now more press-
ing and sserious endeavours will be made to induce Ger-
many to exchange its position of expectant neutrality
for one of participation in 'the war. The Russians
have "voluntarily evacuated". the south side of Sebas-
topol, and upon this voluntariness they lay great
stress, as if they had any choice between withdraw-
ing and being buried under smoking ruins.
Since the receipt of 'that despatch of Prince Gort-
scbakoff, endirg with the words "the fortiflcati ins re-
ceive consiierab*A3raapia," the
_Fogless towards the
-final catastrophe might -68 iitifirated- in day's, and the
attack on Traktir bridge was the last desperate attempt
to avert it. The attack miscarried, Sebastopol was vir-
tually taken, and if Le Nord, undertakes to demonstrate
that the army has now for ths first time arrived at unity
of movement and action since its concentration in the
north of the fortress we can only say that even tragedy
has its comic side. We will not exaggerate the event of
September 8, but -we must not underrate it. The north
of Sebastopol may be a stronger, a much stronger fort-
ress, but the southern part included all which Sebasto-
pol bad to defend—the Russian fleet and all that Iva%
necessary for its support. That is now annihilated,
and for the next half century may be left out of the ac-
count. Without any treaty stipulations, the limita-
ti ni of th- Russian power in the Euxine is an a-coin-
plished fact. Yet more. The nimbus of Russia's im-
pregnability has vanished—vanished in the east and
in the west, and its very posit:on as a great power
is shaken. It were idle now to inquire whether it was
or was not possible to take Sebastopol by coup de main
immediately after the landing in the Crimea ; in that
case, however, only Sebastopol would have fallen, and
Sebastopol is not the Crimea, and still less Russia. But
since then Russia has striven her utmost to hold the
place. A great army, always aq strong, sometimes
stia.n;er; than the united f irces of the Allies, has fought
with constant bravery—all the means of art and all the
pportunities of nature have been employed, and yet the
strife was iri vain. A miscellaneous army, with no re-
treat but the sea, has defeated a homogeneous army
which bad an immense empire behind it. The milit iry
honour of Russia is saved, since only ruins and dead
.bodies were left behind; but her military power has not
the less on that account suffered a deathblow.

The following order of the day was issued by
General MacMahon to his division on the eve of
the attack upon the Malakhoff
_ _

Soldiers of the First Division of Zouaves of the Guard,
—You are at last about to quit your parallels to attack
the enemy hand to hand. On this decisive day our
General has confided to you the most important task—
the taking of the Malakhoff Redan—the key of Sebas-
topol... . _

Soldiers,—The entire army has its eyes upon you, and
your colours planted upon the ramparts of that citadel
will he the answer to the signal given for the general
assault. •

Twenty thousand English and twenty thousand French
on your left will support yon; by throwing themselves
into that side of the place.

Zminves Chasceurs-a-Pied, Soldiers of the 7th, 20th,
and 27th Of the Ligne, yen? bravery is a guarantee for
the success which will immortalise the numbers of your

regiments.
In a few hours the Emperor will tell France what the
soldiers of Alma and Inkerman can do.

I will give the sinal by the cry of Vive l'Empereur.
Our rallying word shall be Honneitr et Patric.
The General of Division commanding the attack
on the Malakhoff Tower. MACMAHON.