The Sun.
London, England, 1855-12-27 00:00:00

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[PRICE 4D. STAMPED 5E1,1

a change—the fruits of policy have become sicli
ing. Both Palmerston and Marcy have lost
mcusely in the recent flurry. It is 'easier, e
now, to bo a statesman than a politician. •

I. SCRAPS FROM RUSSIA.-t:'"s('

• 'l'l

An American journal contains the followit
under the heading " Scraps from the Journal
an American Ex-Consul in Russia" :
" PEEP AT CRONSTADT.—Ho first visited Cronsta
and found this place as strong as it had been represent
but more so from its natural position than from anythl
extraordinary in the defences. He found there an
mouse foundry, 600 feet long, which had remained'
active from want of men capable of putting the wol
into operation. They had been waiting for form
from America, whe were expected to arrive daily. I
Russians are not themselves capable of conducting p
perly the casting of large ordnance, having always he
tofore dependedlupon foreigners, mostly Englishmen.,
" Moscow.--After frequent and annoying infierrC
tions on the part of the police he at length arrived
Moscow. If St. Petersburg is the most splendid, t
grandest city in the world, he thinks Moscow the,mc,
interesting. It is here that the Russian is seen in
native purity. The city is full of churches, and

perhaps, the most devotional city in the world.
"GENERAL LUDERS.—Our traveller was at Ode
when the news arrived of the evacuation of the soi

side of Sebastopol. The first day three or four arrel
of individuals were made by the police for the circu
tion of what they then deemed false news. It was n
fully credited for three days, although reportsto th
effect continued to arrive. At this city he had an inti
duction to General Luders, dined with him, and hat
long conversation on the state of affairs. General I

der; is a violent personal enemy of Prince Gortschak
and condemned the evacuation of Sebastopol as infant,
on the part of that officer. He said that the Attu,

people would not sustain Gortachakoff in the act, al
that with 180,000 men, the number which Luders stati
to be uto'er Gcrtschakoff's command, ho ought to hal
held the place. Our consul, however, found by int 4,
course with Other Russian officers that the opinion
Luders was peculiar to himself in all except as regard/
the number of men under Gortschakoff's command, an
that his criticisms arose from jealousy.
TODTLEBEN AT NICOLAIEFF. —At Nicolaieff
saw a rev►ew of 130,000 men by the Grand Dukes Coi

stantine and }fichela9. He does not believe 4 this pia<
can be taken by the allies, although a land fOrce ma
besiege it, and, after a long contest, carry it.= 'lt will
impossible for the allied fleets ever to reach the tow
Todtleben had arrived and commenced operations in it
_ .

proving and strengthening the defences of the plat
which were very insignificant at the moment our travel
left. The 130,000 men at Nicolaieff were neatly
infantry, and would be retained there for the defence

. ,
the place.
" CHERSON.—He visited Cherson, and found it a bemi-
tiful modern-built city, full of summer residences of the
nobility, handsomely located on the hills, which overlo4
a romantic sea coast. It is an exposed position, and will
undoubtedly be destroyed by the allied fleets.
" VILLAGE AND ISTHMUS OF PEREKOP.—Perekop is t
miserable, filthy, desolate place on the narrowest point
of the peninsula, and contains only three houses. It ha
no fortifications worthy the name, its entire defensiv
works consisting of two earthworks in a miserable con
dition, mounting 20 guns each. He was astonished a
the position in which he found this place. There are
ho ,vever, at Perekop 48,000 men, of which' 15,000 ar
cavalry, Grenadiers, and Cuirassiers of the imperia
Guard. The tents of this division of the army line th
coast for a distance of 15 miles towards Simpheropo
from the point called Perekop. From the latter poin
to Simpheropol the country is a barren, sandy steppe
.;
hut, arrived in the neighbourhood of Sirnpheropol, it al
at once becomes beautiful and fertile in the highest
degree, and before the war was inhabited by man.
wealthy families. These facts, however, in regard to
the interior of the Crimea, he learnt from the Itessilus
officers with whom he associated at Perekop, for be was
not allowed to go any further than this point. Both here,
at Nicolaisff, and at Odessa, ho was the only stranger
in the town at the moment, and was in consequence the
object of a good deal of cariosity.
" LINE OF CAVALRY.—Passing back through Podolia,
he saw on the west banks of the Dniester, moving slowly)
towards the Crimea, 13,000 cavalry of the Imperial
Guard, 6,000 Grenadiers, and 4,000 Cuirassiers—all,
finely dressed and finely mounted men.
" RUSSIAN OPINION OF THE FALL OF SEBASTOPOL.—

All Russian officers (with the exception of Luders) con
curred in saying that Sebastopol, as Gort:chakoff says,
had been given up from the day of the taking of the fort.
Kamtchatka, or, as the French call it, the Mamelon
Vert. They say that from that day, the 7th of June,l,
Gortschakoll commenced building the Fort Paul-bridge,l,
and moving all his ambulances and valuables to the
north aide, in anticipation of an evacuation. They
confess that Sebastopol was from that moment at the
mercy of the allies, and that they could have taken
it at any time they made a vigorous assault, but that
the allies did not know the real state of affairs, and 1,
were unable to procure reliable spies. They say that
at two or three periods during the progress of
the bombardment (after the capture of the Kamtchatka
works), the allies had taken the city, but they did not
know it : that is, the Russians were driven back from
their works, and dispirited to such an extent that the
allies might have marched in with trifling opposition.
Finding, however, that Polissier was afraid to give the
assault, and that they were enabled to kill vast numbers
of his army daily in the trenches, they held on as long ,
as possible. They contend that the Malakhoff was not !
taken—it was evacuated ; that they held portions of it
till evening (and this assertion is sustained by the allied
reports), when it was evacuated voluntarily ; they were
ri,t driven out. But this is only a quibble to save na-
tional pride.
" EVACUATION OF THE CRIMEA. —Our Consul believes
that the Crimea must soon be evacuated, or Go' theha
koff will be forced into a pitched battle, defeated, and
driven out. There is Le possibility of holding it long.
He could not find a Russian officer who had seen their
own works on the line of the Tchernaya, so particular
are they not to allow the condition of those defences to
become known. He could not, therefore, form an esti-
mate of what was the present weak point of the Russian
army in the Crimea. The Russians, however, con-
tended that their defences on the Tchernaya, now
menaced by Pelissier'e own command, were so strong
that they had no fears on that side. It was rather to
wards Perekop or Eupatoria that they anticipated
defeat.
" RUSSIAN SUPPLIES AND WANTS.—Russia has
plenty of men and plenty of provisions to carry on' the
war indefinitely, but she lacks money, powder, salt-
petre, and cannon, and she will continue to suffer more
or less from these deficiencies, since she has no ready
means of supplying them in the required quantities.
" BELIEVES RUSSIA A GIGANTIC IMPOSTURE.—Our
Consul considers Russia—as a military Power—a colos-
sal humbug. The miserable attempts at fortification he saw
elsewhere than at Cronstadt, the general inefficiency of
the army arrangements everywhere, and the ignorance of
officers on military matters proves it. She has plenty
of men, and that is all ; but such men ! Of the 110,000
men under the command of Gortschakoff 60,000 are
cavalry.
" OPINION Or GORTSCHAKOPF.—Gurtschakoff is repre-
sented as a general who changes his plans frequently,
and who is so vacillating that his officers are always at
fault, and cannot co-operate efficiently. The discretion.
ary power just given to him by the Emperor is consi-
dered equivalent to a command to retire, since it removes
the responsibility of the measure from the shoulders of
his Majesty and places it on a man who is well lcnewl
to be fond of new movements, and who is already tired
with the campaign.
"THE GRAND ADMIRAL.---The Grand Duke Constan-
tine is a short, thin, light-complexioned, impudent,
dandyish-looking MD, who carries a lorgnette to his
eye, and looks impertinently at everybody. He is irri-
table, and, without doubt, possesses more character than
hie brother, the Emperor."