The Sun.
London, England, 1855-09-19 00:00:00

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1855.

THE FALL OF SEBASTOPOL.

The Indus, which left Constantinople on the
11th inst., has just arrived at Marseilles. She
brings the full particulars of the capture of the
Malakhoff, and the subsequent evacuation of
Sebastopol. We may therefore reasonably hope
that by to-morrow wo may be enabled• to
communicate these interesting documents to the
public, to show the enormous difficulties that
have been so brilliantly overcome, and the vast
importance of the great conquest achieved by the
united arms of France and England.

The capture of Sebastopol is apparently " the
beginning of the end " of the War with Russia ;
that is to say, if the Western Powers be only true
to themselves, and determined to obtain the legiti-
mate results of the successes already achieved. It
is perfectly clear that the fate cf the Russian
stronghold is decisive as to that of the entire
Peninsula, and that the undisputed possession of
the Crimea must necessarily follow that of Sebas-
topol. Already we are told that " the Russian
troops are retreating from Bakshi-Serai and
Simpheropol to Perekop ;" and, although the in-
telligence has not as yet received official confirma-
tion, there is about it a vraisemblance sufficient to
induce us to lend an easy credence to' the state-
ment. It is the course to which we have so re-
peatedly alluded since the glad tidings of the
glorious result of the irresistible assault on the
Bth, and the subsequent evacuation of the be-
leaguered city on the 9th, was received—a course
which should in like manner have been foreseen
and which could easily have been turned to the
advantage of the gallant victors. But the great-
est promptitude was indispensable. Every clay,
nay, more, every hour, was of vital importance,
pregnant with the fate not only of the Crimea,
but of the Russian Empire.

The great question at issue seems to be—Are
we to follow, or to intercept the Russian army ?
Their retreat, under the most favourable circum-
stances, across the arid Steppes between Simphero-
pol and Perekop, would be a work of extraordi-
nary difficulty, which would require more than
the qualities of a Xenophon to accomplish, and
it is needless to say how greatly that difficulty
would be enhanced by the rapid pursuit of a
hostile army. Under such circumstances, the
retreat would speedily degenerate into an ignomi-
nious flight, and a large proportion of the Rus-
sians would leave their bones bleaching in the
dreadful wilderness. But some might escape. A
"skeleton," of the once powerful army might make
good their retreat, and some foundation would
still be supplied for the mendacious proclamations
of the Cabinet at St. Petersburg, and
the assertion that the evacuation had only been
occasioned by strategetical considerations ! Now,
it is of the utmost importance that Russia should
be deprived of that plausible excuse, and that her
prestige, which has been so long maintained by
enormous sacrifices, should be completely broken.
To do so the Western Power 3 should not only
obtain possession of the territory, but enforce the
submission of the army by which it was garrisoned
and defended. Policy as welt as humanity sug-
gests that the triumph should be without draw-
back—that its sterling character should be wsth-
out the smallest portion of alloy.
It has been truly remarked that the exigencies
of the War have compelled the CZAR to throw the
whole of his available forces into the Crimea.
He was enabled to do so by the duplicity and
insincerity of Austria, and the consequence was
that Sebastopol was "the crucible iu which all
his resources were absorbed." lie staked his
own fate on that of his quasi impregnable
fortress, and the issue havinr,
him his
, the full penalty of turned against
failure must be en-
forced ! Pursuit beyond a certain distance is, if I
Dot impossible, by no means advisable. It would
b 3 to involve our own gallant troops, who have I
already sustained so many arduous trials and pri-
he oufferings that must inevitably be
vations, in t