The Sun.
London, England, 1855-09-13 00:00:00

cations of tho place, they must inevitably be forced
from their positions within a given time, which can
even now be pretty accurately calculated. In the
Constitutionnel, also, we find an article on the late

wonderful success, but of a more general character.
We extract from it the following portion :

" Our brave soldiers waited for the signal of assault
with a feverish impatience ; all the letters recently re-

ceived are unanimous on that point. The French pro-
mised themselves that they should nut have a second
day ; that they should not stop except in Sebastopol;
and they have kept their word. It is an entire army
that they went in search of behind the walls which shel-
tered it, and which they conquered in its lines, and under

the file of the most formidable artillery in the world.
Gained under such conditions, foe victory cannot but
be dearly purchased, but it has also been complete
and decisive. An army which could not find protec-
tion either from ramparts covered with obstacles, or

mines exploding one after the other, or from the fire of

500 cannon, could not be brought to the combat; and
the Russiaio had no other resource than to put an arm
of the sea between them and their adversaries. The
heroic blood which has been shed on the walis of Sebas-

topol has not, therefore, flowed in vain ; it has put an

end to the labours and to the s•ifferings of our army ; it
has added an imperishable laurel to the national glory,
and it has been a striking triumph for the arms and the
poiley of the country. The taking of Sebastopo: is a
considerable fact iu itself ; Russia there loses the fruit
of seventy years of labours and efforts, immense. trea-
sures, and ali her navy. But all this is effaced before
the political consequences of this great feat of arms.
' Will Sebastopol be taken ?' insidiously demanded the
Russian Government a few weeks since through its prin-
cipal organ, and from one end of Germany to the other
all who are favourable to Russia, all who are hostile
to the allied Powers, and to the great cause which
they represent, eagerly replied, Sebastopol will
not be taken.' In how many Courts was not the
invulnerability of Russi% descanted on, and the
weakness manifested by the allies against the Co-
lossus of the north boldly affirmed? Our soldiers
have given a contradiction to the provisions of
diplomatists and the prognostics of politicians—they
have taken Sebastopol. What will now become of the
hopes and designs which were founded on the resistance
of the Russians, and on the want of success on the
allies.? The cannon which hurled down the last wall of
Sebastopol resounded through the whole of Europe, and,
better than all protocols, of deciding the virtue of tran-
quillising the doubtful, of deciding the irresolute, and,
making the timorous adorers of force and of chance
reflect." •
The following is from the Pays :

" It is easy to comprehend the excellent situation in
which the allied troops are now placed. They are se
parated from the Russians by natural works, which
render any attack on the part of the enemy impossible.
The port, the Careening Dock, and the other interior
works prevent the latter from making any of those sof-
ties on our siege works, which kept our soldiers con-
stantly on the watch, and which cost us many struggles
and such regrett 4ble losses. The hard and fatiguing
works of the trenches are now finished. Our troops
are able to encamp more freely amidst the ruins of
the town ; it is only necessary for them t,) execute
some works of defence to protect themselves from
any projectiles which may be thrown against our
new positions by the forts on the northern side.
Hence it results that a considerably less number of men
will be necessary for the service of the siege, properly
so called, and that we may procure a restoring repose
to a great part of the army, or reinforce, if necessary,
the corps of observation on the Teheruaya, and be ready
for any eventuality, if the enemy attempts a fresh diver-
sion on this point. Master of the southern part, we
may now attack with the greatest chance of prompt
success the f o-tre-ses which form the northern part of
Sebastopol. All the foitificatnms, which have fallen
into our power, are so many works of attack which are
about to be directed against these bulwarks of the R,us.

scan town. The line of the external fortresses is at
1,90 and even at 1,500 metres from our present lives.

Under these conditions the rigorous blockade, which
was in principle impracticable against the whole town,
becomes perfectly feasible against the fortresses, and if at
a given moment the communication may be inte.rrupte I
between the garrison and the army of General L pran
the hour of the complete surrender of the oesieged
troops way from the present moment be mathematically
indicated according to the rules of a normal siege. But
we should net be astonished, if the Russian Gene-
rals, who are all essentially versed in strategy, and
who never defend except what can be defended,
were to regard as we do this eventuality and were
to retire from the place before it fatedly tails into our
hands. They would doubtless only leave us ruins, for
it is also their invariable system to burn and destroy
whatever they cannot keep. But the result would not
be the less obtained, and the proud `-',ebastopol, the bul-
wark of Russia, the sword suspended over the liberties
of Europe will net the less have ceased to exist. How-
ever this may be, and whatever may be the events in
reserve fur the future, the success just obtained by our
arms has an importance which no one can dispute ; it
will place our army on the highest step in the admira-
tion of nations, and it will give additional eclat to the
glory of our country and the grandeur of its policy.
What influence will it exercise on the resolutions of
Europe, and on the attitude of the great powers towards
Russia ? With what determination will it inspire the
Court of St. Petersburg? Will there spring from it one
of those sudden illuminations which enlighten the path
of duty and truth ? Such may he hoped, but the future
rests in the secrets of that Providence whose hand has
so visibly interfered for the last three years in all the
great questions which agitate modern society !”
The observations of the Siecle run thus :--
"After having 3ielded to the general emotion pro
dueed by the great success at Sebastopol, we must now
collect our thoughts in order to examine the probable con-
sequences of the great military feat accompiisbed on the
Bth aid 9th inst. Public opinion a,ks what will be the
result of the occupation of the r-outhern part of Sebastopol.
It says,—' The balls and shells of the northern forts
reach the town, and our soldiers will not be sole to re -
main there.' We think we may answer th it our soldiers
know perfectly well how to establish themselves within
the range of the enemy's artillery; that the forts of the
northern side are at from 1,000 to 1,200 metres from the
town of Sebastopol, which is in our hands, and that
those forts, which are of stone, have at least as much to
fear from our shells as we from theirs. Betides, the
allies do not want to live quietly at Sebastopol ; they
want to take the whole town from the Russians, to coin-
mend the port completely, and to invest the fortifications
which still exist, The siege of Sebastopol, a place whose
communications with the country bad remained open,
was an anomaly; the siege of the northern forts will be a
regular investment, the various occurrences of which
science may readily calculate. In order to effect this siege,
operations will no doubt be required which we will not now
attempt to describe. We will only observe that Prince
Gortschakoff occupies positions at Mackenzie's Farm,
where he s has been intrenching himself for months.
Those who think themselves clev..r at planning cam-
paigns will not fail to say that the positions of the Rus-
sians ought to be turned by a vast army starting from
Eupatoria. We deny no possibility ; but as we can only
judge of the ground from maps, we do not think our-
selves competent to send plans to the generals-in-chief.
We have enough to do in explaining with some clearness
tae difficulties which the allied armies have to solve.
These difficulties we will neither attempt to lessen nor
to magnify. The Russian army has just suffered a check
which must have lowered its confidence in itself. It
could not but allow our superiority In the open field, but
thought itself nearly invincible behind entrenchments.
This illusion has been cruelly destroyed. Now let us
observe that the vanquished of Sebastopol, much dimi-
nished no doubt, will go to swell the numbers of the de-
fenders of Mackenzie. The war has assumed for us a
more favourable and simple form, thanks to that thun-
derbolt which has fallen upon the Malakhoff, and trans-
formed the Karabelnaia and the ports into a lake of
fire."

Our contemporary then considers the probability
of the troops on both sides keeping the field during
the winter, and observes :
Who, for example, does not see, with a little reflec-
tion, that if we have a winter campaign the greatest pri-
vations must be on the side of the Russians, who can no
longer receive any provisions from the Sea of Azoff, and
are already reduced to the necessity of eating the oxen
that bring them supplies ? We think the question of
provisions will be decisive between the two armies. The
the land artillery which has
punished o n
fleets of England and France have been deprived of the
h a sea fight ; it is
butchers of Sinope. But in holding the
honour o f
thecommand of the sea by their patience and courage, in
furnishing our armies with provisions, and keeping the
enemy in a state of ever-increasing want, the fleets have
worthily answered the expectations of the two nations.
Do not, besides, all the future combinations of the
Eastern war depend upon the navy ? In order to act
from Eupatoria, to attack Bessarabia, to burn the docks
of Nicolaieff, we most always have recourse to the fleets.
or have them to fall back upon. Both soldiers and
sailors, therefore, equally deserve the thankful admira-
tion of their fellow-citizens."

( From the Times of this day.)

For the fifth time in the course of a twelvemonth
the last monumental list of killed and wounded is
inscribed on our pages. Alma, Balaklava, Inker-
man, the fatal 18th of June, and now Sebastopol
itself, are glorious, but dearly-purchased, titles.
The British forces that took part_in
„the last sue-
-mile is-BP:tat iTer6 but a small portion, Of the