The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-10 00:00:00

negotiations.

" He received orders to communicate it to
Prince Gortschakoff. He did so, and Gortschakoff
sent off a messenger the same evening to St,

Petersburg.

" A decree for raising 100,000 recruits, which
had been signed by the Emperor, will not at pre-
sent be published.
" Austria seems inclined to compromise
matters, if possible."

We have received the following from a cor-
respondent at Berlin :
" ST. PETERSBURG, THURSDAY.

" Prince Menschikoff reports that up to the 3d
of November, in the evening, the siege operations
of the Allies continued without any visible result.
"The fire on the side of the English had become
weaker.
" The damage done to the Russian works was
inconsiderable, and immediately repaired."

PARIS, THURSDAY.

A despatch from St. Petersburg of the 2d,
received at Hamburg, announces that the Russian
loss on the 25th at Balaklava amounted to 550

men.

THE CRIMEA.
THE PROGRESS OF THE SIEGE.

The Pays says :
" The Government has received another report from
General Canrobert, and a detailed journal of the opera-
tions of the army before Sebastopol from the let to the
22d of October. The official documents reduce to their
real value all the recitals which hays in succession agi-
tated the public, and the Russian accounts which have
sought to mislead it. It is an additional motive for be-
ing on our guard against the despatches which the pri-
vate telegraphs brings us every day, and which we pub-
lish from a motive of impartiality, in order not to hold
back any information that reaches us. We cannot
too much recommend our readers to wait patiently,
without allowing themselves to be carried away by
their first impressions, or the reports of our gene-
rals on the progress and incidents of the terrible
military drama which is taking place under the
walls of Sebastopol. These reports are distinguished
by a clearness and a tone of truth which do
not allow doubt to subsist. As to us, we must affirm
that they move us deeply. The energetic laconism, the
cool resolution, and the absence of exaggeration hich
characterise them and do them honour, have something
of the grandeur and majesty of the words which his-
torians place in the mouths of the heroes of Sparta and
of Rome. Our generals know that they are speaking to
a great'nation habituated to acts of heroism, and strong
enough not to wish to have concealed from it either the
obstacles to be overcome, or the 'perils to be braved.
General Canrobert explains with a straightforwardness,
which is the sign of a great mind, the considerable
and unforeseen difficulties which the siege of Sebas-
topol presents; he speaks without bravado of the
constancy of the Allied army in the gigantic work
which it has received the mission to accomplish.
But, above all, be appreciates and loudly announces
the value of the enemies with whom we have to con-
tend, the skill of the defence, and the intrepidity of
the Russian soldiers. Yes, it is a laborious enterprise
which our army is engaged in, at the price of its blood !
Yes, the siege and fall of Sebastopol will reckon in his-
tory amongst the noblest feats of war of our epoch !
And the more difficult the victory won, the more will
the glory of the flag of France and England be increased!
However, notwithstanding the resistance of the besieged,
the siege-works have advanced with mathematical pre-
cision towards the point of destruction necessary for suc-
cess. The formidable defences of Sebastopol are disap-
pearing in succession under the shock of our balls. Our
batteries are crumbling down the whole town, whilst
our army is ready to resist everywhere, at Balakiava
as on the 'road of Bakshi-Serai, every attempt at diver-
sion, and every attack ventured on by Prince Men-
schikofE In a few days more, the naval bulwark of
Russia, dismantled and pierced through by large breaches,
will be accessible to the assault of our troops. That is
merely a question of time, which depends altogether
on the decision of the leaders of the expedition, and on
their firm determination to spare the blood of their sol-
diers, When in face of the greatest dangers and at the

price of the most dreadful fatigue, our armies exhibit
that heroism and that cool energy which posterity will
admire, public opinion must also have patience and cou-
rage, must regard calmly the immense work of whioh it
has itself solicited the accomplishment, and must know
how to await the issue, with that patience which is the
dignity of a great people, and the mark of a sincere pa-
triotism."

THE NEWS FROM THE SEAT OF WAR.
The Siecle says :
_

" By the letter from Constantinople in the Moniteur,
which, after all, merits as much credit as the Russian des-
patches, is confirmed the news which has come to hand
by private means. The daring movement of the Russians
on Balaklava was vigorously repulsed ; the positions, a
moment taken from the Turks, were retaken with promp-
titude ; and the English, who appear to have suffered
most, had 400 men hors de combat, a trifling loss in com-
parison to the number of men engaged on both sides.
The journal of the siege has besides corrected the exag-
g,reratious of the private telegraph relative to the number
of guns empli yed by the Allied armies, and the number
of projectiles fired by them in the course of a day
against the fortifications of Sebastopol. It results also
from the journal of the siege that the attempt at spiking
the guns, spoken of in a Russian despatch as having
succeeded, failed miserably. The Russians did not spike
any guns on the redoubts of Balaklava, but they un-
spiked some pieces, which they were unable to keep, and
turned them against the English cavalry. Far be from
us the thought of under-valuing the military merit of the
Russians. A good part of the glory of our armies
results from victories gained over them, in the time of
the first republic, at Gastricum, in Holland by General
Brune ; at Zurich, by Massena ; on the Linth by Gene-
ral Soult ; and in the time of the first empire,
at Austerlitz ; at Eylau, at Friedland, and on the
Moscowa. We were the first to direct attention to the
phrase of Marshal Ney—' The Russians are so solid that
it is not enough to kill them, they must be afterwards
pushed down in order to fall.' But we distrust their
military and other despatches, because there commences
the domain of politics, and because on that groand the
Russian Government is as firm in the practice of misre-
presentation as its soldiers are solid on the field of
battle,"

THE NECESSITY OF PATIENCE.
Gaiignani says :

" It is only now that they can reason calmly and feel
the necessity and propriety of patience. If after having
heard so much of the strength of Sebastopol, they
had not been assured that all that had been said on
this subject was false, they would never have ma-
nifested impatience of the duration of the siege.
A month, six weeks, or even two months would
not have appeared an unreasonable time for the accom-
plishment of so great a work as the taking of Sebastopol.
What would have been thought then will, we trust, be
now that the illusions so injudiciously encouraged have
been dispelled. More difficulties than were anticipated
by even the least sanguine have perhaps presented them-
selves ; but there are none to warrant discouragement.
The great danger to be feared was that the delay of the
siege would enable the Russians to bring up such large
reinforcements as to interrupt the siege operations, and
lead to a battle in which there would-be great nunserica
superiority on the side of the enemy. This fear has not
been realised. The Russians, indeed, have received
reinforcements, but not in sufficient number to cause the
least uneasiness to the Allies, and every day fresh troops
are landed to augment our force."

THE RUSSIAN TROOPS IN THE CRIMEA.

We read in the German Journal of Frankfort :

"The following, according to Russian accounts of
November 3, is an exact statement of the number of
Russian troops at present in the Crimea, in the proximity
of Sebastopol, independently of those which are at
Kertch and Perek op, and the surrounding countries.
After the battle of Alma, Prince Menschikoff's army
was reinforced by the arrival of the troops of General
Chotumoff, Liprandi, and Korff, and fresh troops are
constantly coming up. Besides the men belonging to
the ships, there are at present at Sebastopol and in
its neighbourhood the following regular troops
under the orders of the commander-in-chief of the
6th corps of infantry, General Gortschakoff 111 ; the
16th division of infantry, commanded by General Kne-
zinski, and composed of 16 battalions ; the 17th division
of infantry, composed likewise of 16 battalions, and
commanded by General Kiriakoff ; as the 18th division
of the 6th corps of infantry is at present in the Caucasus,
Prince Gortschakoff 111. has received in its place a bri-
gade of the 14th division of infantry, commanded by
General Schobokrieski, and the 13th brigade, composed
of 4 battalions with the 6th corps of infantry, to which
belong also a battalion of sharpshooters and another of
chasseurs, who are at Sebastopol. These troops, which
form 46 battalions, would be 46,000 men strong, if each
battalion had its full complement of 1,000 men. But as a
portion of them have been on the Danube, and as war
and sickness have reduced the number, the battalions can
be estimated at only from 600 to 800 men each. There
is, moreover, the division of General Liprandi at Se-
bastopol, forming part of General Dannenberg's corps,
and also composed of 4 regiments, or 16 battalions. The
infantry of the active army at the disposal of Prince
Menschikoff at Sebastopol is 62 battalions, that is,
43,300 men, allowing 700 men for each battalion ' • to
these must be added the artillery of 144 pieces. He has
a very large cavalry, comprising the 6th division of light
cavalry, composed of two regiments of Hulans and two
of Hussars under the command of Lieutenant-General
Lanskoi, the division of Hulans of Gen. Korff composed
of two regiments, and a reserve of two- regiments of light
cavalry of Gen. Ryzoff ; making in all 10 regiments of
regular cavalry of 1,000 men each, with artilery in pro-
portion. To these must be added the Cossacks of Lieut.-
Gen. Chotumoff, comprising at least 8 pulsk, or 4,000
men and 6 batteries. All these troops may be esti-
mated together to 60,000 effective men, including some
small corps, such as the squadron of Tartars, &c. They
would amount to 80,000, if the regiments bad their full
complement,