The Sun.
London, England, 1855-12-22 00:00:00

RUSSIA.

A letter received from Berlin, dated Dec. 19,
says :—The greatest possible activity and excite-
ment is observable in the different Government
offices at St. Petersburg, as is said, in consequence
of the new arrangements and the forcible impulse
given to the machinery of Government by the ex-
traordinary Military Council that is now sitting
there—sometimes at the Admiralty and sometimes
at the War-office. The Emperor himself is indefa-
tigable in inspecting the troops. Among the nu-
merous high officers who have repaired to the
capital in conne,:tion with this Council are Vice-
Admiral Novosilskoi, who was lately nominated to
the command of Cronstadt and its har-
bours, and also General Count Armfeldt, chef
of the colonies of Finland Sharpshooters, who
has lately been superseded in his command hy
General Baron Koten, Member of the Senate. The
former had the honour of an audience with the
Emperor. General Gecevitch, who seems to be the
Imperial courier for Russia, as Duke George of
Mecklenburg-Strelitz is for Germany, has just set
off again for a circuit through the provinces, charged
with a load of commissions and orders.

The report so long current of a conference 01
diplomatists to be held in St. Petersburg or War•
saw is admitted now to have been unfounded.

The Emperor has, at the suggestion of the Minis-
ter of Finance, relieved manufacturers of salt in
the Crimea for the space of three years, ,:aid only as
a trial from the restrictions on the commerce and
transport of that article.
Official reports which have been received in St.
Petersburg from New Karleby, Jacobstadt, Wass,
and Abo, of the latter half of last month, mention
a number of attempts made by the Allies to damage
the towns on the coast as having been foiled.
Since the enemy's cruisers had left those waters
the traders of those ports had fetched their boats
from their secure hiding places among the outlying
rocks, and, after cutting a way for them through
the ice, had succeeded in bringing them into har-
bour. They pretend, also, to have prevented an
enemy's frigate in her attempts to burn the said
boats by their dexterous management of two field
pieces, which compelled the boats that had been
sent out by the frigate to put back.
Considerable contributions are flowing in to the
Ministry of Marine in consequence of a subscrip-
tion opened throughout the empire for the benefit
of those who have lost their property in Sebastopol
The population of Poland has not hitherto shown
any inclination to contribute to similar subscrip-
tions, to the great annoyance of the Russian Go-
vernment.

In order to make the most of the few Minie
rifles the Russians have been able to procure from
Liege, they have arranged battalions of sharp-
shooters, with about 80 or 90 men armed with
Minies and the others, all good shots, armed with
ordinaryNinie is muskets ; whenever the possessor of a
I struck down by an enemy's ball one of the
less fortunate possessors of a musket is to throw
away Brown Bess, and appropriate to himself the
Minie of his comrade.

The Emancipation of Brussels quotes the follow-
ing passage of a letter from Vienna, of the nth :
" It is a notorious fact that there is a general desire
for peace in Russia, from the highest classes down
to the lowest. Only a few fanatics still persist in
calling for the continuance of the war, although it
will complete the ruin of their country. The follow-
ing fact will give you an idea of the want of money
in the country :—The Imperial Princesses of Rus-
sia have sold their diamonds and paid the amount
received for them into the coffers of the State. All
the Russian families living at Vienna, most of
whom belong to the nobility, complain bitterly of
the war, and loudly call for its cessation, well
aware of the terrible consequences it may lead to
if continued for another year. Were I at liberty
to inform you of what I have heard respecting a
certain condition prescribed by the adversaries of
Russia—viz., the neutralisation of the Black Sea,
I can tell you that that clause, although rejected by
Prince Gortschakoff at the Vienna Conferences, no
longer appears unacceptable to the Russian Pleni-
potentiary. Had Prince Gortschakoff any definite
object in view in expressing that opinion before
some high personages at Vienna ? Ido not know.
I mention the fact without examining it ; for, in
diplomacy, words often have an opposite meaning
to that generally understood."

SARDINIA.
The war budget of the kingdom of Sardinia, just
presented to the Piedtriontese Chambers, fixes the
expenses of the Eastern war during 1855 and
1856 at 74,239,532 f., including 11,475,401 f. for
the navy.
A private letter from Florence mentions that the
Grand Ducal Government has issued a decree most
rigorous against persons attempting to enlist Tus-
can subjects for foreign service.
Notwithstanding this, however, the Anglo-
Italian Legion progresses rapidly. The whole of
the first regiment, consisting of 1,070 men, is now
at Novara, under the command of Major Pinelli,
during the temporary absence of Colonel Sir
Coutts Lindsay, and is as fine a body as any in the
British service.

The second regiment, which is now forming at
Chiavasso, under Colonel Craufurd, is to be a rifle
regiment.

A second and a third regiment will be formed
without difficulty in Piedmont.

THE BALTIC FLEET.
The Independance Belga publishes the following,
dated Hamburg, 17th inst. :--

" Letters from Elsinore of the 15th state that only
four corvettes of the flying squadron remained in that
port, all the others having sailed fit England. The Re-
tribution, Rear-Admiral Baynes, expected there fur some
days, bad not yet been signalled. This delay caused un-
-046/11(10 to the English officers, who, having with consi_