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

GREAT REDUCTION IN THE

PRICE OF
"THE SUN,"
FROM

FIVEPENCE-HALFPENNY
TO
FOURPENCE.

FOR THE THIRD OR LATEST EDITION.

In consequence of the abolition of the Stamp
Duty on Newspapers the public in all
large cities and towns to which parcels
are forwarded by the News-Agents, The
Bun, 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
Navy Promotions in the London Gazette,
with Official Despatches from the Seat of
War, the Latest Sporting, and all other
Commercial News, List of Bankrupts,
do., &c., can now be had for Fowrpence,
being a saving of nearly one-third.
Hitherto the price of the paper was nomi-
nally Fivepence, but all Late Editions
posted after six o'clock were charged a
fee of One Halfpenny by the Post-office,
which made the price to the Subscriber
Fivepence-Halfpenny. This charge must
still be made to those in remote places
unless the Postmaster-General have the
•nagnanimity to forego such a paltry
source of revenue.
Suyipoilice, 112, Strand, London,
9th July, 1855.

, ”v„.
?0,

-

~~ nn,

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1855

-

At length we Lave news, glorious, soul-stirring
news, from the Baltic ! A heavy body blow has
been inflicted on Russia. Sweaborg, the invin-
cible (!) Sweaborg, has fallen. Her frowning
it pregnable fortresses are demolished. They have
been swept clown like grass before the mower by
the fire of the British fleet ! The granite forts of
Russia have again yielded to " the wooden walls
of Old England," combined with the fleet of our
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
enenayihas 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 !
We felt convinced from the beginning that al,
that was required was to give full scope to our
navy, to let our jolly tars at the enemy, to show
them the work they bad to do, to ensure its ac-
complishnent ! 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 'no tas yet received the full details, it is
ascertained on indisputable authority that "the
town itself is burnt to the ground, scarcely a single
rouse left Standing"—that "the dockyards are
completely destroyed," an immense conflagration,
which lasted 45 hours, having consumed the store-
housesatid 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
exists, ' The second strongest naval station of
Russia Jae north , has been demolished in a
few-daysiif not without difficulty, certainly with
comparatively trivial loss to its assailants, and we
earnestly,4pe
,that the experiment which has
proved sUcCeSsfa in that quarter may be re-
peated with equal success, and with no greater
damage 0-iglu/salves, at Cronstadt, which will
comPletl 'the d i3ecraflture of Russia in that
quarter, and possibly 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. AUTOCItAT
As wehave stated, we have not yet obtained
the full details of this brilliant action. We know
that the intention was that the 'mortar-vessels
andgull,-boats. were to "open the ball" at a onn.
siderable distance,' so that the enemy's works
would. I:* to a..great extent dismantled before the
men-of-war chimed in and lent their hand to
complete 'the'
was probably
work- This course
carried out,_ and we have no doubt that it will very
shortly he 9' PlePaing
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, w 4
may expect even more brilliant exploits against
Cronstadt, the Ruisian fleet, and possibly the
Russian".CiiPital (!) itself.
It is-quite clear that those who have done 60
much will not rest satisfied without doing more,
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 stone 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-
tion 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 that
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 Rnbicons to the life of every nation.
Events 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 ADOLPHITS laid before the Diet of Sweden

his plan for taking part with the Protestant
; cause in Germany, and for fighting the battle of
freedom against the Imperialists. But for the
enthusiasm with which his proposal was received,
the Reformation 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
willing 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
at stake, are the turning-points of their existence.
W hen they prefer convenience to honour, and
under shelter of the name of prudence endeavour
to embarrass the points at issue, and to find excuses
for turning back when they should advance—
when they prefer ease to duty, and submission
to greatness—they sink, as they deserve to sink.
While, on the other hand, when they take a
magnanimous decision—staking their existence
on the success of their policy, relying on the jus-
tice of their cause, and en the ultimate triumph
of free, humane, generous, and beneficent prin-
ciples—victory has gathered round their colours,
and ultimate triumph rewarded their efforts.
Can it be doubted that a turning-point has
now: 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,
Austria, a
with just enough of variation to aggrandise
nd extend and perpetuate her iniquitous
rule ; or shall it be a war for civilisation, for
liberty, for the fall and complete security of
Europe. thj.a.‘i3 really the question. the-people'
have to decide. A slight check to Russia, on the
principle laid down by Lord JOHN RUSSELL of
preserving her honour unimpaired
impression created by
extend her power as the would really
,
the display of her enormous t s rength would re-
main, and it would be impossible, With the Go-
vernments of Germany constituted
as they are at
present, hem f •
to, prevent t from falling completely
under her influence. Their aims and hers would
be the same—to rule despotically, and to check
every germ of freedom in thought and action ;
and in' any contest with their people they Would
be as ready to solicit her aid, and barter such in-
dependence as they possessed for her protection,
as Austria was in 1848.

If our people, with a full knowledge of wba
Austria is, permit our Government to play her
game, this war, whatever must be its fQrtunes,
must have an inglorious end. Substantially, the
interests of Austria and Russia are the same.
Their governments are equally despotic—they
equally fear and hate liberty—,They have the same
mistrust of the liberal ideas of the West. The
diplomacy of the .Court of Vienna has been oxen
cised solely to attain a position in which she may
be able to cry balves when Russia executes her
long-meditated design of disposing of the sick man's
kingdOm by seizing
holds on Constantinople. Austria
militarY Possession of the Principalities.
But is Austria less al .
thless than Russia ? We
appeal to history, What
all perfidious, powers ever kept?
treaty has this most
to think of her faith, after the nego-
perfidious of
What are we
tiations of the last two years? We talk of barr-
ing the way of Russia, to Constantinople by limit--
ing the number of her armed ships, and at the'