The Sun.
London, England, 1855-08-15 00:00:00

THE-41:1N, LONDON WEDNESDAY EVEN

ROYAL OPERA, DRI7RY.LA.NE.
Lessee, Mr. E. T. Smith.
THIS EVENINO.
Will be performed MARITANA.
Ifaritana, Lucy Escott ; Lazarillo, miss F. Reeves; Don Zose.,, Mr.
Farquharson ; Charles 11., Mr. 11. Braharn ; Don Ca Jar de Bazan,
Mr. Elliot Galer.
To conclude with MIDAS.
Prices of admission:—To the two galleries, 6d.; second circle of
boxes and pit, Is.; dress circle, 2s. 6d.; stals, 45.; private boxes to
aiMit two persons, 10s. 6d.; four persons, one guinea. Box-office
open from 10 to 6 daily.

TiimATilm ROYAL IdAYMAttlita.
'Under the management of Mr. Buckstone.
THIS EVENING,
Will be presented THE SECRET AGENT. Principal characters
by Mr. Buckstone and Miss E. Chaplin.
After which, THE ABBE IN LOVE, by the Spanish Dancers.
After which, COURT FAVOUR.
To be followed by ONLY A HALFPENNY.
To conclude with THE SP,!.NIS a DANCERS.

ROYAL PRINCESi'S 12 HE ATM?, OXFOII.D-STREET.
Under the Management of Mr. Ca*was Ksaic.
THIS EVENING,
Will be performed THE WEDDING DAY.
To conclude with KING HENRY THE EIGHTH. Queen Ka-
harte, llra. C. Kean ; Cardinal %Volsey, Mr. C. Kean.

THEATRE ROYAL ADELPHL
Proprietor, Mr. B. Webstor.—Directre4s, Colette.
THIS EVENING,
Will be performed THE WRITING ON THE W 4.LL. Princi-
pal characters by Messrs. Wright, C. Selby, P. Bedford, Mrs. Leigh
Murray, Miss Wyndham, and Miss Woolgar.
After which, FRATERNISATION:
To conclude with THE SCHOOL FOR TIGERS.

AsTLEY'S- ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.
Lessee and Manner, Mr. Wm. Cooke.
Progressive attraction
ny of
Williams Mazeppa. Mr.
n George Wild and Miss
Fan every ight.
THIS EVENING,
Lord Byron's MAZEPPA and the WILD HORSE, with all the
original thrilling effects, and for which Mr. William Cooke has trained
his unrivalled stud of horses.
After which the first Equestrians of the day will appear in the
EVOLUTIONS of the CIRCLE. Also, a variety of Enterts.iments.
To conclude with a Laughable Farce entitled, MY UNCLE'S
CARD, in which Mr. 0. Wild and Miss Fanny Williams will appear.
flux office open from Eleven till Four. Stage Manager, Mr. W.
West. Acting; Manua, Mr. Nelson Lee. Equestrian Director,
lir. W. Cooke, jun.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON TitliiD
T t•N bly --lfornin; 32 ^fon. 3 f Evening 48 min. aft. 3
T Morninz 2 min. after 4 Evening 17 min. aft. 4

FELE WgATITEII.—Sum OTIMAI, Aug. 15
TEIZEMOMETICR, IN THN SRAM
72 highest since noon yesterday.
62 —lowest this morning and during the night.
70 —this day, at noon.

3A ROMMTER, 30.35.
WIND, W.N.W.—Light, with dull sultry weather.

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PRICE OF
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are forwarded by the News-Agents, The
Sun, which formerly cost Fivepence-half-
penny for the Latest Edition, containing
Parliamentary Debates of the same even-
ing, together with the List of Army' and
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with Official Despatches from the Seat of
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San-office, 112, Strand, London,
9th July, 1855.

9.37)

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1855.

---o --

At length we have news, glorious, soul-stirring

news, from the Baltic ! A_heayy body blow has

been inflicted
,on Russia. ,Sweaborg, the invin-
cible (!) Sweaborg, has fallen. Her frowning
impregnable fortresses are demolished. They have
been swept down like grass before the mower by
the fire of the British fleet ! The granite forts of
Russia have again yielded to " the wooden wall
of Old England," combined with the fleet of oui•
gallant Allies ! And the national exultation for
this brilliant triumph will be the greater, from the

fact that it has, been achieved almost without in-
jury on our side. We learn that while " the
enemy has sustained a terrible blow, and suffered
enormous losses, ours has been insignificant in
men, and nothing whatever in material." The
victory is therefore unalloyed by the regrets that
must inevitably accompany a sanguinary triumph.
The tears of the widow and orphan will not dim
its lustre or tarnish its brilliancy by individual
mourning !. miofeilf;

- 11 4; „
We felt convincediromAhe beginning that all
that was zequired was to give full scope to our
navy; to detrour jolly tars at the enemy, to show
them the work they bad to do, to ensure its ac-
complishment ! We have not been disappointed !
The victory has been even more complete and
more bloodless, and the damage to the enemy
greater, than we could have anticipated. Although
we have not as yet received the full details, it is
ascertained on indisputable authority that " the
town itself is burnt to the ground, scarcely a single

house left standing"—that " the dockyards are

completely destroyed," an immense conflagration,
which lasted 45 hours, having consumed the store-
houses and magazines of the arsenal, which is a com-
plete ruin. No less than six magazines and stores of
projectiles blew up. All may be summed up in
the emphatic words, " Sweaborg no longer.
eliafr:S." The second strongest naval station of
Russia in'the north has been demolished 'in a

few dips, if not without difficulty, certainly with
comparatively trivia/ loss to its assailants, and we
earnestlylope that the experiment which has_
. proved soa successful in that quarter may be re-
pentad with equal success, and with no greater

damage •to ourselves, at Cronstadt, which will
complete the 'discomfiture of Russia in that.
and possibly
quarter, induce Austria to regret
the duplicity and insincerity of which she has
" been guilty, and which has proved anything but
serviceable to her friend the AUTOCRAT !
As we have stated, we have not yet obtained
the full details of this brilliant action. We know
that the intention was that the mortar-vessels
and gun-boats were to " open the at a con-
siderable distance, so that the enemy's- woiks
would be tos great extent dismantled before thi
men-bf-war Aimed in and lent their hand tcH
complete the work. This course was probably
carried out,und we have no doubt that it will very
shortly be our pleasing duty to congratulate the
nation on the efficiency and power of the class of
vessels which we have earnestly demanded since
the despatch of the first expedition last year, and
from which,
after thiS taste of their quality, wt
may expect even more brilliant exploits against
Cronstadt, the Russian fleet, and possibly the
Russian Capital (!) itself.

It is quite clear that those who have done sc
much will not rest satisfied without doing wore,
and that they will be anxious, by their present

energy and activity, to atone for their previous
apathy and inaction. The defence of Helsingfors
being overthrown, it is more than probable, in-
deed we may consider it certain, that Helsingfors
itself will follow, and that its demolition will be
as complete as that of Sweaborg ! The work of
destruction is, perhaps, going on at this moment,
if it has not already been accomplished, and the
massacre of Hango—the brutal, and dastardly,
and treacherous murder of unarmed men, pro-
tected by a flag of truce which would have been
respected by any but uncivilised barbarians—
fearfully avenged.
But there is more to be done—Russia does
not appreciate generosity or leniency. She is
incapable of understanding such qualities, and can
only be dealt with by good hard knocks. The
Russian fleet must be destroyed. The strong-
hold that protects the entrance to the Neva and
the Muscovite Capital must be completely de-
molished, so that not one stone shall stand on
another of its once vaunted fortresses. The
mortar-vessels and gun-boats having finished their
works at Helsingfors, and left nothing very for-
midable behind them, may run down along the
coast of Finland and take Cronstadt in the rear,
destroying the Russian fleet from that unexpected
quarter, while the liners are occupying the batte-
ries on the St. Petersburg side, and ready to
receive the fleet, if those who have so long
skulked behind stave walls, and under quasi im-
pregnable batteries, should dare to come out and
fight like men rather than be destroyed like
noxious vermin in their dens.

We'do not underrate the difficulty of the task.
it will unquestionably be a glorious achievement,
equal to anything ever recorded of the British
Navy, and we cannot utter a higher eulogium !
But it can be done. We have faith in our ships, in
our officers; and in our men, and we would
wish that the Peerage and pension which
will probably be the meed of the gallant
and successful Admiral should be fully earned,
so that there should not be a single dissentient
voice to his well-merited rewards. We shall not
at present go farther than the destruction of the
Russian fleet and of Cronstadt, although we
would fain hope that sufficient time may remain
before the setting in of the frost to strike a blow
at St. Petersburg itself, to beard the bear in his
very Capital; and teach him that even Imperial
robbers will not be tolerated by the indignant
world, and that justice will be enforced against
leviathan as well as against petty criminals.
It would have been a splendid winding up to
the Session had the intelligence arrived before
the delivery of the Royal Speech. It was mani-
festly anticipated and waited for. The proroga-
tiou was delayed at least an hour waiting for the
glad tidings. But they waited in vain. The
Premier had not the gratification of an-
nouncing the triumph of our fleet—the
heavy blow -and great discouragement to
the enemy. The joyous news speedily followed
the. _departure of the wearied legislators ; and
The Sun which conveyed her MAJESTY'S Speech
to the provinces, although it could not announce
the complete destruction of Sweaborg, told thk t
the bombardment had actually commenced, and
that, with such men as ours, was almost tanta-
mount to the declaration of a felicitous• result,
the work having been half accomplished in its
good beginning.

There are Rubicons to the life of every nation.
Tlventr, will not always wait the tardy' movements
of politicians, nor principles submit to the emas-
culating guidance of time-servers. There are
periods when, from the pressing necessity of cir-
cumstances, a country has to decide between
opposite courses of action ; and it is in the choice
then made that the destiny of the State, and,
perhaps, in no small degree, the destinies of man-
kind depend. Such a time it was when the
great ADOLPHUS laid before the Diet of Swechn
his plan for taking part with the Protestant
cause in Germany, and for fighting the battle cf
freedom..pgainst the' Imperialists. But for the
enthusiasm with which his proposal was received,
the Reforination, would probably have been ex-
tinguished in Germany by the numbers and fury
of its opponents. It was such a time when the
first,. Congress of America declared their fixed
resolve to work out their independence, having
"counted the cost •of the contest," and being,
iiilliig to. stake their lives on the issue. History
,is.full of like instances. The resolves of a people'
-in those Conjunctures, when great principles are
*,stake,, are the turning-points of their existence.
When they prefer convenience to honour, and
.under shelter of the name of prudence endeavour
to embarrass the points at issue, and to find excuses
;;Or turning back when they should advanee----
when they prefer ease to duty,- and submission
to g,reatness--Lthey sink, as they deserve to sink.
While, on the other hand, when they take a
magnanimous decision—stakin; their existence
on the success of their policy, relying on the jus-
-I.ice of their cause, and on the ultimate triumph
of free, humane, generous, and beneficent prin-
ciples-Victory has gathered round their colours,
;tnd ultimate triumph rewarded their efforts.

Clan it be doubted that a turning-point has
ear occurred, at least equal in importance to any
recorded in history. The great question for us to
consider is, what character this war shall assume.
Shall it be a war to maintain the old status quo,
vith just enough of variation to aggrandise
Austria, and extend and perpetuate her iniquitous
rule; or shall it be a war for civilisation, for
liberty,-- for the full and complete security of
Europe. This is really the question the people
have decide. A slight check to Russia, on the
F) iuci~l~r.ltud clown by Lord JOHN RUSSELL of
preserving _her,honour unimpaired, would really
,xtend her power, as the impression created by
;he display of herenormous strength would re-
f nain,•ard-.it would b 3 impossible, with the GO-
,rernments of Germany constituted as tchoeypalreetealyt
to prevent them from falling
m
'-ficiicteiiier influence. Their aims and hers would
41A.M0-.—ta rule despotically, and to cheCk
iveiy germ of freedom in thought and action;
~,Tatirriarircontest with their people they would
heas. ready.to solicit her aid, and barter such in-
lependence as they possessed for aer protection,
Ls Austria was in 1848.

• . , .
Tf our people, with a full knowledge of wba
Austria is, permit our Government to play her
4441.0).2 this war, whatever must be its fortunes,
must have an inglorious end. Substantially, the
titerestS—Of Austria and Russia are the same.
Their governments are equally despotic—they
equally fear and hate liberty—they have the same
-aiistrtist of the liberal ideas of the West. • The
:410mac3r:of the Court of Vienna has been exer-
, ..
:...ised solely to attain a position in which she may
6"b16. to cry-halves when Russia executes her
cl-zig-Ilkedjtateci design of disposing of the sick man's
kingdom by seizing '
on Constantinople. Austria
holds military
possession of the Principalities. ,
I
3 at. i 7 Austria kegs. faithless than Russia ? We
,pp 9,41 to history. What treaty has this most
hiPnekrtiiiher faith, after the ne'°-
verhfia,'-tliaot: u.wo a
'we
tol
thinker
us powers ever kept ?
,: •
• tiations of the last two years? We talk of burr-I
:ng the way of Russia to Constantinople by limit-
and at the
ing the number of her armed ships,

same time we actually summon an Austrian army
to the Turkish frontier. To place Turkey under
the -guardianship of Austria is to give the lamb into
castedy-of the wolf. Is the partition of Poland
to-he--forgotten ? Or is it to be supposed that
the character of Austrian policy has changed ?
It has changed, only as perfidy deepens in dye
through long practice—only as every species of
criminal atrocity, rapine, lust, cruelty, murder,
grow with unrestrained exercise, and run
riot with impunity. The young Empe-
rors are of the same standing ; they have
been reared in the same school. Their snarl
over the scent of_ the distant prey was but mo-
mentary. They are making up their dispute and
learning to hunt in couples. Their sole point of
difference can be as to the division of the spoil,
and the stray instincts of mutual rapacity will
soon accommodate that difference. We have
barred the front door against the notorious bur-
glar, and left the back entrance open to the mid•
nidnight thief. From our knowledge of what
Austria has been in past time, and from our ob-
servation of her utter faithlessness within our own
experience, we venture to predict that she waits
only a favourable opportunity to surpass all her
former treachery by some act of monstrous con-
spiracy against the rights and liberties of Europe.
Are wo to wait patiently while the plot is hatch-
ing ? If we consent to act so dastardly a part, to
forfeit the sympathies which bind us to our fel-
low-men, and to regard their oppression with
indifference—the spirit of pure and genuine
freedom no longer animates our breasts, and we
deserve to be subjugated in turn—to have a
Russian army to ravage our plains and a HAYNAII
besiege our cities. To be indifferent when the
dearest interests cf our fellow-men are at stake is
as impolitic as it is criminal.
Why is Russia so powerful at Sebastopol and
in the Baltic, but because her continental fron-
tier, through the connivance of Austria, is secure?
Apart from the effective aid afforded her by the
deadening despotism of the Austrian Government,
she would be comparatively powerless, as
the free and, active genius of the inhabi-
tants of those countries now crushed by
vindictive Austria would roll back the barbarism
of the northern hordes, and confine them within
their proper limits. It is Austria which encou-
rages the oppressive and vexatious rule of the
petty Princes of Germany, which keeps that noble
country in
.a state of perpetual distraction, and
which finis far encourages the growth of Russian
influence. It is Austria which supports the Italian
tyrants, or rather which overshadows them with
her still darker domination, treating the removal
of abuse as a crime, and applauding every act
which deepens the sufferings of the people and
sinks them into lower bondage. It is Austria
which, by keeping the wide and fertile provinces
watered by the Danube in a state of political
slavery or; profitless barbarism, smooths the path
for Russian progress in the south, and prevents
the formation of a State which would be an in-
superable obstacle to her advance in that
direction.

We know that there are a set of piping politicians
ready to denounce this language as revolutionary.
They cannot ' comprehend that Europe needs a
revolutiou-,—Such a revolution aS the earth sus-

tins when the harsh rigour of . Winter gives
place to the genial influences of Spring. The
political world will not stand still. The contest
between despotism-and liberty is in progress. It
is such a contest as in a more poetical ago angels
would be represented as stooping from Heaven to
witness. May our people rouse themselves to a
perception of its immeasurable importance, and
with generous decision adopt as their own the
cause of the nations who look anxiously to her for
aid, and aro eager to bear their part in fighting
her battle.

The wisdom of Prince ALBERT'S Trinity-house
Tee-ch.-Fill, we may hope, now be proved. Lord
PALMERSTON is liberated from that grand evil of
Constitutional Government—a Parliament which
can question the Sbvereign's Ministers. He now
enjoys most of the blessings described by the
Prince as
.the characteristics of despotism ; the
press, it is true, will use its Argus eyes, and will
reveal what it sees through its own correspon-
dents from Paris-to Sebastopol, but no member
of the ptess,can ask the Premier a question, call
or a single paper, or in any way interfere with
his free action. In the conduct of the War, or
in listening .to suggestions for peace, Lord PAL-
IERSTON is now as much an autocrat as ALEX-
ANDER. He has but the check which even a
Russian despot dreads—public opinion in his own
~;ouutry. Much as we are naturally disposed to
cesent Prin'ce ALBERT'S laudations of despotism,
we shall still not regret finding that Ministerial
tutor ack,. till the reassembling of Parliament,
exemplifies all the merits attributed by his Royal
Highness to unchecked rule. All the money
wanted is put, without stint, into the hands of
Government, an advantage for which the coun-
cillors at St. Petersburg would part with many
of the privileges of despotism. A nation stands
at their back ready to applaud them for °Ashler-
ing to any extent the incompetent at the camp or
in DoWning-street, and putting the right men
into the right places. Nothing need hinder
them from choosing the most efficient civil and
military servants which the nation can furnish.
The best Materials and best men are all at their
command; they want now, in order to beat Russia,
but thd same subordination of everything to one
object which marks the whole conduct of that
•
power.

How will Lord PALMERSTON use the months of
unchallenged rule ? Will he escort her MAJESTY
from place to Place, or will all his compeers but
the War Minister again take to grouse and par-
tridges ? Will there again be no Cabinet meet-
ings till:the opening of Parliament looms in sight?
Will the most important advisers of the Crown
bury themselves fifty fathoms deep in the coun-
try, and be twelve or twenty-four hours behind
the two naillious of London in their knowledge of
the latest ;news, or will they venture any distance
from the telegraphic communication with the
Crimea ? Perhaps recollections of the near past
will suggest to many queries like these.
Muchniore a.uxious questions will, however, stir
mentary
s
the breasts of , the thoughtful.. In the Parlia,-
~seuse -Lard PALMERSTON "dies and
makes nosign."
H©Lacy
EVANS yesterday to
thererr
Qfeaeeedn,s Sir DE
which
was to
'chew the stout-hearted resolves of
her I‘l4;itsfit's-a
dVisers. But no—the QUEEN'S
speech is delivered, and not a word beyond
the Ord tantalising cant about carrying on
ipi
the
as
o h vigour, and a firm and lasting peace,
v
theigllro Eoyal mouth. What her MA-
v?.:t wtt
JEsTY's.ginisters deem vigour, and what would
be the lowest condition of a firm and lasting
peace, this speech, like all Ministerial Speeches
hitherto, saitli not. The ".stout-hearted speech,"
so humbly requested by our great contemporary
as the soother of our anxieties, fears, suspicions,
apprehensions, while Parliament is silent—alas !
such speech was not vouchsafed.
What Would the country take for signs of
vigour They would naturally first think of an
unsparing use of our military and naval means ,

in the Black Sea. It may be all right, but in
the eyes of civilians it is an unaccountable s:3r'-
vigour that we have only this morning heard of
any feat parallel with the destruction of Bnlar-
sund, although the fleet is double the strength of
that intrusted to Admiral NAPIER. In the Black
Sea also we cannot account for the tardy successes
in the Sea of Azoff not being followed up elsewhere,
and the mouths of the Danube not even being
opened for the harvests of the provinces. It may
again be right, but we non-professional folk do not
think it any sign of vigour that the Russian posi-
tions on the right bank of the Tchernaya are not
molested, or even turned, and the communica-
tions with Sebastopol interrupted ; or the same
thing not attempted from the sea to the north
of the town.

If, however, we must be set down as ignorant
of the art of war, and we have no desire to im-
pugn the skill, much less the gallantry, of our
Generals and Admirals, we cannot imagine our-
selves more ignorant of the political phases of the
whole question than the Premier himself ; diplo-.
matists may know more of their fellow
diplomatists than we who have never been
in their company, and never wish to be,
but we can see probably better than those engaged
in the work its real character. Every tolerably
intelligent Englishman who reads the papers
knows the mind of Austria, Prussia, and Russia,
as well as our Cabinet Ministers. We know what
iv-mild be vigour• in this department. We have
demanded it again and again. A Polish Legion
at once—Polish emancipation, as the only basis
of a lasting European peace, and Austria bid to
march from the Principalities and mind her own
business, would be real vigour, and be hailed as
such by the nation.

Lord JOHN is gone, and another sign of vigour
would be to renounce, explicitly, his fatal declara-
tion that we did not want to deprive Russia of
any of her territories. That mischievous speech
alone, we believe, to have affected most disastrously
to our soldiers the whole character of the war.
How renovating would the declaration be, we mean
to conquer the Crimea, and we mean to keep it, and
we mean to turn it, as far as may be desirable,
into a reward for the soldiers who have conquered
it. Many of the Allied brothers in arms might
prefer a farm there to one in Canada. The idea of
a vigorous war, and a secure peace, which should
leave Russia all the territories she has nefariously
appropriated, and all the fortresses she has built
on them or strengthened, to consolidate and ex-
tend her brutal domination, is surely but a
vision of aristocratic treachery. The miserable
Vienna Conferences have revealed the ignominious
terms to which the author of that idea would
have pledged his country. We observe that
Lord PALMERSTON makes his Sovereign "sincerely
regret" the failure of those conferences. We need
something more reassuring than any regret at all
for escaping the original four points.