The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-23 00:00:00

RUSSIA.

A letter from St. Petersburg, of the 10th, in the
German Journal of Frankfort, says
" The instructions of the central authority relative to
the recruitment of this year of 12 men out of 1,000 have
just been forwarded to the governors of the western por-
tion of the empire. The commissions ,of recruitment,
the number of which has been tripled, in virtue of decrees
issued at the commencement of the year, have received
orders to carry on their operations with the greatest
possible activity. Neither of the last four levies made
under the Emperor Nicholas was so considerable as
this, although the Jews are exempted from it, in con-
sequence of their having furnished to the, preceding
army 3 men over and above the 10 demanded out of
evtry 1,000. The Public Treasury is using the most
strenuous efforts to collect the sums necessary for
these armaments, and even subscriptions have
been opened in different places for this object. The
governor of Kursk has addressed a circular on the sub-
ject to the bourgeoise of that place, and a M. Tschumis-
chew, a contractor for supplying the army, has headed
the subscription list by putting down his natne for
25,000 silver roubles."

We have received the St. Petersburg journals of
the 15th of May. The Invalicle Busse publishes
the following report from Prince Gortschakoff,
dated 24th of April (6th of May) :

" The enemy, making extraordinary efforts, and suf-
fering (according to the accounts received) considerable
losses, pushes forward his approaches with obstinacy.
Having taken by assallt the lodgment in front of Bag.
tien No. 5, he has approached his works up to the for-
tifications of the place; however, the new batteries erect-
ed by and which strengthen in an important manner
the defence of the point attacked—the immediate repair
during the night of the damage done by the enemy in
the day—the precision of the fire of our artillery, which
on the 23cl and 24th of April (sth and 6th of May) blew
up three powder magazines,—and finally the complete
success of our mining operations, all united, give the
hope of delaying the advance of the works of the be-
siegers, which are executed under a most heavy fire
within a very short range of the fortifications, and must
occasion them great loss.

" Already, to evade loss, the enemy has only occu-
pied the trench abandoned by us on the 19th of April
(Ist of May) by a small number of riflemen, and has not
erected any works there. As regards his fire it is di-
rected chiefly against Bastions 4 and 5, and against the
Schwartz redoubt, situate between the two latter, as also
against the Selinghinsk and Volhynia redoubts, but does
not do us much harm."

To the above general summary Prince Gortscba-
koff adds the following details of the march of mili-
tary operations :
"On the 13th (30th April), at 2.30 p.m., we twice at-
tempted to smoke out the enemy in the entonnoir to
the left of Bastion 4. The effect of the explosion wag
so great that from the fortress men were seen blown up
into the air. _

" In the night between the 18th and 19th (30th April
to Ist May), having driven back a detachment of the
enemy, which had left tire trenches to storm our ap-
proaches, we made a small sortie in the direction of the
entonnoirs of the enemy, situate in front of Bastion 4,
to attract considerable forces to that point, where five
mines were ready for firing ; the operation was attended
with complete success. The works of the besiegers were
destroyed, and after the second explosion the cries of
the wounded were heard in the second entonnoir.
"On the 19th of April (Ist of May), at 10.30 p.m ,
the enemy, having assembled nearly 10,G00 men, left
the trenches, preceded by about 600 volunteers, and with
hurrahs thre w themselves upon the lodgments in advance of
Bastion 5. Despite a heavy fire of musketry, and a charge
with the bayonet by two battalions of the Ouglitch Chas-
seurs, the enemy occupied the lodgments, and then ad-
vanced against the Schwartz redoubt, but were stopped
by a heavy fire of grape. At daybreak the enemy returned
to the trenches, leaving onlya few volunteers and riflemen
in the lodgments they had taken possession of.
" The loss of the assailants must have been very con-
siderable, for, according to the statements of prisoners,
their reserves came up within range of the grape of our
cannon ; the trenches were full of corpses.of the enemy.
"On the 20th of April (2d of May), at 11 a.m., we
fired two mines, the explosion of which destroyed the
works of the besiegers meant to crown the entonnoirs
in front of Bastion 4.

"To make certain of the number of men the enemy had
placed in the trenches evacuated by us on the 19th of
April (let of May), we made a strong reconnaissance at
6 p.m. ; 180 volunteers, supported by a battalion of the
Kolyvan Chasseurs, and by a battalion of the \Vladimir
regiment, occupied the trench nearest to us, an I com-
pelled the French to leave it. This reconnaissance
made us aware that the advanced trench was occupied
by a considerable force of the enemy, and consequently
the volunteers were recalled.

"Our losses in the combat on the night between the
19th and 20th of April (Ist and 2d of May) consisted in
one superior officer, nine subaltern officers, and 283 men
killed; two superior officers, 13 subalterns, and 540
men woundel.

"On the 21st of April (3d of May) a movement was
Visible in the enemy'a fleet, At Q a,m, different vessels

approached Bala ; troupe wero erob,,rl•7ed an,]
horses put on bo-rd two of the vu:i eis. At Nix ie the
evening all the steamers got up their steittn, and about
seven the vessels with the troops embarked stood out to
sea in a west north-werly directioe.
"In the night between the 213 t and 22d of April (3d
and 4th of May) the enemy made no further at•empts
against Bastions 4 and 5. On our ride, we constructed
four new batteries on that space ; the ramp ate of the
old works were strengthened, and on some points
heightened ; the mioing works were actively continued ;
nowhere could we hear the enemy at work in the mines.
"OA the 23d of April (sth of May), at 1 p.m., some
w&l-directed shells blew up two powder tragazii,es in
the French 8-gun battery, established opposite Bastion
5; the fire of the battery was si-!eneed.
" In the night between the 23.1 and 24th of April (sth
and 6th. of May) we made two succes,,ful little sorties in
front of Bastion 3. We took an En.,;!i:ll officer and
three men prisoners.
" On the 24th of April (6th of May), at 8.30 a.m., the
fire of a battery near ba,tion 4 caused a violent explo•
sionjn the enemy's battery, the commotion it created
was very great ; et me of the men were hurled out of
the battery and beams and stones thrown up into the
air."

"Altogether during the period from the 18th to the
24th of Isiprii (30th of April to the Gth of May) our loss
was much less than during the first days of the bom-
bardment, but we have to deplore the loss of some
very distinguished officers ; among others, the gallant
Ensign Pissareff, of the Tobolsk Infantry ; Major
Bischoff, of the Ouglitch Chasseurs ; Captain Pilenko,
of the Vblhynian regiment, killed ; and among
the wounded, Captain Prince Schirinsky-Schikhma-
toff, of the navy ; Lieutenant Lissitsyne, of the
navy ; Captain Sarytcheff, of the navy ; Captain
Vornitsky, of the navy ; Ensigns Toumanovitch and
Axenoff, of the Kolyvan Chasseurs ; Lieut. Ste-
panoff, of the Vladimir regiment ; Captain Levitsky, of
the Podolian Chasseurs ; and Captain Count Bloudoff,
of the Hesse-Cassel Hussars, temporarily acting as Aide-
de-Camp to Prince Gortschakoff.

"Nothing of importance has occurred on other points
of the peninsula."

ODESSA.

A letter from Odessa of the 7tb, in the Danube
of Vienna, says :—" The Governor-General ad
interim, has received orders to make arrangements
for sending into the government of Charkow the
persons confined in the prisons of Bessarabia. In
like manner, the prisoners in the government of
Kherson are to be removed into that of Woronesch.
General Wagner, in command of the corps of Theo-
dosia, writes word that the hospital of that town,
containing 300 beds, is altogether too small to re-
ceive all the wounded soldiers that have been of
late sent there. In consequence he has been
obliged to take measures for providing accommo-
dation for 3,000 patients."

THE BALTIC FLEET.

OFF NARGEN ISLAND, MAY 15.

The Imperieuse sails to-day for England with
invalids from the fleet and to repair damages. She
is ordered to Sheerness, where I presume there
will be an inquiry into the cause of the late colli-
sion. She has supplied nearly the whole of her
stores and provisions to the ships of the fleet. The
ships here at present consist of the Duke of Wel-
lington, the Royal George, the Ceesar, the Nile,
the James Watt, the Exmouth, the Majestic, the
Cressy the Hogue, the Colossus, the It
the Euryalus, the Amphion, the Esk, the Merlin,
the Driver, the Firefly, the Lightning, and the
nigicienne, which arrived yesterday from Elsi-
nore; also a contract steamer, with bullocks, from
Messrs. Reynolds and Deacon.
H.M.S. --, Revel Roads, May 13.
We have been following the ice all the way up
and anchored here eight days after the roads were
cleared. Our flying squadron have some time ago
effected a blockade, and 1 am happy to say 10 to 15
prizes have already been made, chietly by the
Archer and the Geyser, off Riga.
The state of health on board, I am sorry to say,
is very bad. We have all sorts of illness in the
ship, and amongst others small-pox—feur officers
and 12 men infected by it; Le ides G 1 to 70
the list for other things.
At Revel the people are all on the alerf-. Thirty
thousand men are quartered in the town. Tile ladies
and children have taken to the country, and every
house owner has been compelled to lay in provisions
for six months. There are no men of war here. The
fleet or at least the greaterportion of the division lost
yearstationedatSveaborg has effected aj unction with
the one at Cronstadt, evidently after our departuro
last Nov., as the ice still covers the upper part of
the Gulf. The Commander in Chief has already
been beyond Sveaborg, and though we left England
a month later than last year we are in these waters
ten days earlier than Sir Charles Napier's squad-
, ron. We like our new admiral much.

We laud daily at Nargen Island, and have games
at cricket. We had a match yesterday amongst
" Dukes, Exmouths, and Royal Georges." One
side made 151, the other 110, in two innings.
We proceed to Faro Sound in a day or two.
Imperieuse and Tartar have been in contact with
each other, and the former carried away the Tartar's
mainmast and mizentopmast, and her own bow-
sprit and cutwater—each so much damaged as to
be compelled to go home.

The St. Petersburg Gazette announces that an
order from the Military Governor of St. Peters-
burg declares Cronstadt in a state of siege, and no
person is allowed to enter the town unless on duty,
or provided with a permit from the Military Go-
vernor of Cronstadt.

A letter from Frankfort, of the 17th, in the
Rhine Gazette, says :—" A new Austrian note has
just been despatched to the German States, declar-
ing that Austria remains faithful to the alliance of
the Western Powers, but that the Cabinet of
Vienna has not given up the hope of seeing peace
re-established. It is said that the question of mo-
bilisation is again brought forward in this de-
spatch."

AUSTRALIA..

PLYMOUTH, MAY 22.

The Maid of Judah, Captain Merchant, which
sailed from Sydney on the 25th of February for
London, with wool, ,coppor ore, and from 16,000/.
to 20,0001. in gold dust, was off Plymouth this
morning, and landed newspapers for the Admiralty,
12 bags of newspapers, and 4,243 letters.
Cape Horn was free from ice when she rounded
it on the 27th of March. In consequence of strong
northerly winds she did not cross the Line'till the
4th of May. She spoke off the River Plate on the
25th of February the Woolooinoolco, from Sydney,
from which place she Sailed on the 25t h of Febt wary
with a cargo of wool, ore, and traussi i:,ped-brandy;
also the Great Biitain, from Liverpool for the East
Indies. South of the Line she spoke the Hindustan,
with guano, from C.dlao for Cork ; north of the
Line the schooner Orwell, last from Rio Grande
for Falmouth.

The Star of the East, Captain Robinson, 93 thys
from Shanghai, for London, was off Plymouth this
morning.

NOTICES OF MOTION.

THE PROSECUTION OF THE WAIL-MR.
DISRAELI.

The following are the precise terms of the Lotice
placed on the books of the House of Commons last even-
ing, by the Right Hon. Member for Buckinghamshire,
and for the discussion of which Mr. Layard has con-
sented'to give way by postponing his own resolution :
"That this house cannot adjourn for the recess without
expressing its dissatisfaction with the ambiguous langmfge
and uncertain conduct of her Majesty's Governinent in re-
ference to the great question of peace or war ; and that,
under these circumstances; this house feels it a duty to de-
clare that it will continuo to give every support to her Ma-
jesty in the prosecution of the war, until her Majesty shall,
iu conjunction with her allies, obtain for this country a safe
and honourable peace."