The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-18 00:00:00

cessarily becomes in a short time foul ; the offal and
filth accumulate, and even though buried with care,
yet infect the ground. The men are for the most
part idle ; they eat fruit and trash of all kinds, sleep
half the day in the sun, and expose themselves with-
out caution to all the most dangerous influences of
the climate. Therefore it has been resolved to keep
them moving, even though without any definite
aim. They are marched so many miles in the day,
and the encampments aro being changed—all, it is
said, with the best effect. It is to be hoped that
more earnest occupation will put an end to the sick-
ness which the unhealthy Bulgarian plains have
produced, and though we cannot replace the brave
men already lost, still there is some consolation in
knowing that the mortality among our troops has
been, on the whole, extremely low, and that they
suffer much less than either of the three armies
which are occupying the same the same territory.
As to our French allies, it may be some satisfaction
to those who are always complaining of the inferi-
ority of British discipline and military science to
know that the arrangements of our army excite
great admiration among the most experienced offi-
cers of the Gallio force. Indeed, it is considered that
they have more to learn from us than we from them,
particularly in the details of regimental discipline,
IThe deaths among the French contingent are much
more numerous than in the British army. Much
less attention is paid to cleanliness, and the state of
their cantonments is said to be insufferable to a
stranger. Discipline is much more 'lax among
them • the officers make no attempt to hinder the
men irom wandering through Varna or whatever
village they may be near ; they have acquired a most
unfortunate taste for raki, which they drink in such
quantities that the old characters of the two nations
seem reversed, and the French are declared to be
much more addicted to intoxication than our own
men. The deaths in the British force, which some
days ago amounted to from 16 to 20 per day, are
now, it is said, not more than five or six. Those
among the French are als) diminished in number,
but the mortality is still much greater than our
own.

Preparations still go on for the'', great enterprise
which occupies the attention of all. It is hardly
disguised that the destination of this force is the
Crimea, and that the blockade, if not the siege, of
Sebastopol is what the allied commanders have in
view. It is a bold thing to give an opinion in such
a case, knowing as we do how diffident even a mili•
tary man ought to be in forming a judgment unless
he has served under the Duke in the late Penin-
sular war, but common conversation among those
resident in the country seems to declare that the
season is almost too far advanced for a regular
siege, unless some means of success unknown to
the world has been discovered by the Generals.
However, even if this be so, it would be no
slight thing to impede the preparations and mili-
tary works which are being pushed forward with
such speed in the neighbourhood of the fortress.
These are evident even to the unpractised eye, and
created much sensation on the last visit of the Fury
and Terrible to the mouth of the harbour. Stores
of provisions, re-inforcements of men, supplies of
clothing, ammunition and arms, are continually
being added to the resources of the city, and every
nerve is strained by the Russian Government to add
to the security of the place whose fall would be
the ruin of Russian influence in the East for many
years. During the autumn months these efforts
will be redoubled. The ice of the Baltic and the un-
fitness of the Polish plains for military movements
will free Russia from the danger of an attack in her
northern provinces, and will enable her to despatch
even greater reinforcements to the southern seat of
war. Not even the region of a Russian winter will
prevent the addition of many thousand men to
the Crimean army, and the strengthening of Se-
bastopol by works the skill of which cannot be
denied. It is of great consequence, therefore, that
the further preparations for attack should be im-
peded, if possible; and even though the stronghold
should not fail until next spring, it would be no
slight achievement to master the province by a
short and brilliant autumn campaign, and for the
expeditionary force to spend their first winter on
the soil of a beaten enemy. The occupation of
the Crimea may be the prelude to the fall of Se-
bastopol ; and if the views of the Commanders
are limited to this achievement, success is cer-
tain ; but if a regular siege of this great fortress
is attempted at such a season, the event may be
more than doubtful. It would hardly be pru-
dent to trust our transports and their living
freights to the mer cies of the Euxine up to the last
moment when the sea is safe for the purposes of
navigation, which is the middle of November, and
if our splendid vessels are endangered by such a
course, what must be he situation of the little
French craft—puny brigs of 150 or 200 tons, fit
only for the tabotage along the banks of the Chan-
nel. The French have no less than 380 of these
boats collected at Varna, and iu fine weather it
may be very well to string eight or nine of them
together and tow them across the piece of sea
which divides the Crimea from the Turkish
plains, but that they will be fit for more
stormy navigation no one believes. On the whole,
however, without presuming either to promise
or to prophecy, it was stated with con-
fidence that Sebastopol will be in the hands of
the Allies before the summer of next year ; and it
would be as well for the public to acquiesce in the
j Lidgment of the skilful men at the head of the com-
bined army, and, should it be their opinion that
the operation of the present year should be con-
fined to a land and sea blockade of the fortress, not
to repine at the slow movement of affairs, nor to
think that either inertness or treachery have any
place in the counsels of their leaders, Ministerial
or military.