The Sun.
London, England, 1855-01-25 00:00:00

THE EXPECTED ASSAULT

ON SEBASTOPOL.

Official despatches, we have been informed,
were received iu Paris yesterday from the Crimea,
which speak in a more positive manner than such
communications have hitherto done, of the date
fixed for the " assault." From the sth to the
10th of next month it is stated that this long-
expected event will take place. It does not of
course follow that the expectations of the Allied ge-
nerals will he realised ; and the storming of SebaEs
topol has been so often promised, and so often
postponed, that not the slightest surprise would
be manifested if the present, like the preceding
announcements of the same kind, were but a false
alarm. Three feet of snow cover, it appears, the
ground occupied by the armies, and such a state
of things is not very favourable to operations. It
is said, and it is very probable, that discontent
is beginning to creep in among the French
army, notwithstanding its superior condition as
compared with that of our men. The French
are impatient for the storming, and murmur
at the delay. The presence of Omer Pasha at the
late Council of War, at which generals and ad•
mirals assisted, and the reported landing at
Eupatoria of the entire Turkish forces, are inch-
cativo of something very important being at hand.
Yet even yesterday letters had been received from
the camp which express the doubt whether Se-
bastopol will ever bo taken by the Allies. It may
be but the language of weariness and despair.
Be this as it may, the despatch alluded to above,
naming the period from the sth to the 10th for
the assault, was yesterday received in official
quarters.

A WAR UPON THE RHINE.

There are still some persons in Paris who think
that the Emperor of Russia sincerely desires
peace. We dare say ho does, provided he gets
everything he wishes; otherwise it is difficult
t• reconcile the illusion ao to his real intentions

with the accounts that reach us almost every
day of the Past armaments prepared on every
point of his empire. Tnero can, indeed, be
little doubt that the Crimea is about to be-

come the theatre of a most sanguinary
struggle. Reinforcements are said to be already
on their way. to the Russian camp, and as the
proportions of the war become enlarged, and
as it is evident that both parties are trying to
gain time, the cannon will soon become the real
negotiator. So slight is the hope of peace being
re-established that another theatre of hostilities
appears to the vision of military men as looming in
the distance. The war spirit being once roused,
the imagination revels in new and as glorious
dreams as those of Alma and Inkerman. A war
upon the Rhine is in everybody's mouth, and it is
asserted as a fact that, so convinced are they of
its being inevitable, that several officers, and not
of low rank either, aro already preparing their
equipments.

VIENNA, WzDNEsDAY EVENING.
The conferences for peaco will open on the Gth
of February.
Baron de Bruck has accepted the post of Minis-
ter of Finance..
The Press l as advices from Bucharest of the
24th.

The Military Cautte states that the Grand
Dukos Michael and Nicholas; have quitted St.
Petersburg to, rejoin the Russian army in the
Crimea.

The Allied cruisers have taken or laid an
embargo on seve)ral Tessels laden with provisions
aid ammunition for the Russian army.
The Admirals have declared all the ports in the
Black Sea and the Sea of Azoff in a state of strict
blockade.

We hare reteived the following from Mar-
sales :---

MARSRILLES, WEDNESDAY EVENING.
The Clyde, expected from Constantinople, has
not arrived.

Prince NapoL'eou, who left Constantinople on
the 12th, has itot arrived.

Generals Pelimier, Rivet, and Devilliers, left
to-day for the etrimea.

VIENNA, JAN. 23.

If the Austri,s,n proposal to mobilise the armies
of the States of Germany, and to appoint a com-
mander-in-chief of the Federal forces, is carried at
the Frankfort Diet, it is confidently expected that
the Emperor of A.ustria -will be named as com-
mander.

CHRISTIANA, JAN. 16.

Orders have been given to raise 1,000 sailors,
The Norwegian army gun-boat force is to be coil-
siderably augm,eented.

TURIN, JAN. 24.

From Alexantiiria (Egypt) nineteen fresh con
voys of material of war had been despatched to
the Crimea.

Accounts froln Bombay, of the 2d January,
announce the arrival of a detachment of Hussars,
destined for the= Crimea. They were to have left
the following wislik for Suez.