The Sun.
London, England, 1855-12-11 00:00:00

MISERY IN RDSSLI BY THE WAR.

The following letter has been received from Rus-
sian Poland ; it is dated on the 28th ult. `:—
"The incognito journey of the Czar to the Crimea,
where he made only a short stay, has revived in the
Russian press, so mute and so servile, the pre-eminence
of the governmental system in that empire over all the
other nations of Europe, and especially of France and
England. Here the deepest silence covers all acts of
Government. Troops are levied, assembled, disembodied,
marched to the north or to the south, or retrace their
steps ; diplomatic agents or secret emissaries are des-
patched in all directions ; but all is done mysteriously.
Yet, in spite of all these difficulties, in spite of all pre-
cautions, we occasionally learn sufficient to enable us to
form an opinion of the misery into which the war has
plunged Russia.
"The Chamber of Public Relief of St. Petersburg has
been obliged to sell by auction the property on which
it had made advances, but which it was impossible for the
borrowers to pay when the moment arrived';__ and the
number of inwolveut debtora increases daily. The popu-
lation itself has suffered from this state of thing?. A cen-
sus has been taken of the male population, apd though
four years have passed since the last yet the numbers re-
main still the same. On ce.ain points of the empire it is
less than in 1851, owing, doubtless, to the numerous
levies since then. It is not the loss on the field of batt'e
which is solely the cause of this decrea3e ; the general
health of the army has much to do with it, atid the last
report of General Paniutin on the mortality among the
troops is actually frightful. These unhappy wretches are
decimated by epidemic diseases'which assume every sort
of character.

" For several years past the cholera has not ceased a
single day at St. Petersburg ; the number or cases may
vary, but the malady never disappears. It is not in
Russia only that it exists ; it rages in Finland, in the
Baltic provinces, in Poland, in the Crimea, and in the
Caucasus, and wherever troops are assembled in num-
bers cholera is sure to be in the midst of thew.
"One fact which is now beyond dispute, and which
has particularly attracted attention, is that 'the female
population exceeded the male in proportions 'far greater
than in any other European country, and the great dif-
ference between them is now more remarkable than
ever.

" Whatever be the sacrifices made by the Allied
Powers in carrying on the war, they will never be com-
parable to those of Russia. She has now eight armies
on foot,—the first, of Finland, under Gen. Berg ; the
second, of St. Petersburg, under Gen. RUdiger ; the
third, of the Baltic, under Gen. Sievers ; the fourth, of
Poland, under Geri. Soumarakoff ; the fifth, of the centre,
under Gen. Paaiutin ; the sixth, of the centre, under
Gen. Luders ; the seventh, of the Crimea, under Gen.
Gortschakoff ; and the eighth, of the Caucasus , under
Gen, 3louravieff. Russia must possess great vitality to
meet so many claims; but these violent efforts must pro-
duce exhaustion, and that exhaustion her fall.
"It would he difficult to give an exact notion of the
misery which prevails in several provinces of the emp're,
and particularly in Poland. I have just traversed the
whole southern part of Volhynia, and I have found
everywhere the same evils. The most ordinary articles
of consumption are so dear that the peasants are de-
prived of a portion of what is most necessary, and those
who can afford to purchase a rrive in crowds to empty
markets, from which the greatest part return empty.
The harvest has not, however, been bad ; indeed it may
be said that we have had an average year, but the corn
is taken off for the Government and sent to the south,
to form immense magazines which are destined to be-
come the prey of flames, and are consequently lost to
every one. In certain provinces the grain intended for
seed has failed, and I can declare, without fear of con-
tradiction, that, at the very least, one-fourth of the
arable land will remain out of cultivation for want o
seed and of hands. The peasants are not the only class
that suffer from this state of things. The nobles—even
the richest amongst them—whose fortune consists of
corn, see their revenues reduced to proportions which, for
most of them, the continuance of the war will change into
absolute rix:n. All classes of industry are in a state of
prostration ; the national activity is paralysed, and
commerce has suffered irreparable evil. Distilleries are
the only establishments that are fully at work. As
the Russian Govezninent supplies the national enthu-
siasm of its troops with the excitement of intoxication
spirituous liquors are made in enormous quantities for
the Crimea and Bessarabia, in order to heat up the con-
staolkdeienrsa.
waAyo
llfthre grain employed by mann-
consumption,
and increases
the general misery.
" We had counted on the 'Mato crop, which at first
manu-
facturers of
rts h ies
presented a favourable aspect, bu.t the blight bas made
with it
that of the l • •
terrible ravages, and fully one-third of the Whole is
af-
fected
"To these evils is to be added
.evies, if we.
a quiet peasant, and hurries
call by that name the brutal pretshsearyeamteomtewsthhicohpei aofaefevewr
hours makes a soldier of
him off from his family without.
again beholding him dead or alive. The peasants make
thousands of instances of
the most desperate efforts to escape from the recruiting'
parties, and I could quote you
very ill. The
them. Prince Paskiewitch continues
the perseverance and audacity displayed in flying from
that for
Emperor Alexander bas just sent him another physician.
People have reached such a degree of hypocrisy
the last ten days public prayers are offered up in the
synagogues for his recovery. I leave you to judge how
far those prayers can be sincere."

Sporting Intelligence.

TATTERSALL'S-MONDAY.

Scarcely twenty subscribers were present, and the
business transacted was very limited.

CHESTER CUP.
600 to 10 agst Coroner (taken)
THE Two THOUSAND.
3to 1 agst Fly-by-Night (offered)
6to 1 agst Yellow Jack (to some money)
6to 1 agst Porto Rico (to 25/. ; 7to 1 also laid)
7 to 1 agst Polmoodie (taken to 351.)
DERBY.
Bto 1 agst Fly-by-Night (offered
18 to 1 agst Rogerthorpe (to 251.)
20 to 1 agst Artillery to 250/. ; 1,000 to 40
was also laid)
aagat Porto Rico (to 401.)
st Sugar Plum( taken)
500202t0 to
1501 g