The Sun.
London, England, 1854-05-03 00:00:00

OMER PACHA AT SHUMLA.

The loss or sickness of Omer Pacha at this tine
would be a calamity of incalculable magnitude to
the cause of Turkey. There is no other _man in
the army who is not immeasurably below him in
all the qualificatiohs requisite for a military com-
mander. The amount of labour that he undergoes
is immense. During the day he is occupied, not
only with riding along the vast chain of works, and
in attending to the discipline of the army, but in
looking at the quarters of the troops, and in visiting
the hospitals. He leaves nothing entirely to subor-
dinates. He may be said to be not only military
chief, but adjutant-general, quartermaster-general,
and physician-general. During the night, the cor-
respondence that he has to read, and the despatches
lie has to write and send off deprive him
of much of the time that shouldle given to the re-
storation of nature's exhausted energies. So over-
worked has he been that lately he had a serious de-
rangement of the stomach or bowels, and he was
apprehensive his system was giving way. Notwith-
standing his unwearied attention to his professional
duties, he is not a man who prefers war to peace,
or whose ideas are confined entirely to battle fields.
In a conversation which a friend of mine had with
him the other day, he expressed himselfvery anxious
to see the present contest brought to a close, and
has made up his mind, should he get out of it, to
travel through Europe. He has his eye particu-
larly on England, and is anxious, in the mean-
time, to make himself acquainted with the cha-
racter of her public men. A man of his inquir-
ing and liberal mind could iaot fail to appreciate
the superior system of Government and style of
manners prevailing in your quarter of the world ;
and on his return to his adopted country his great
influence would undoubtedly be employed in en-
deavouring to get Turkey to start on the same
career of civilisation. Every day confirms us in
the opinion that here the stand against the Rus-
sians will be made. All the troops along the
Danube will be marched up, excepting a portion of
the force at Kalafat and Widdin, and the garrisons
of Rutschuk and Silistria. These latter places will
certainly fall into the hands of the Russians, should
they attack them ; the former will hold out for
three or four weeks at least, and the latter for
three months. It is considered that the time that
will be thus gained for the concentration of the
allied and Turkish forces will be quite ecint_a'
to the sacrifice submitted to. Although toe
Russians are good at handling field artillery,
yet they are very slow in their besieging operations.
In that line they have had very little experience,
except in attacking old Turkish towns and fortifi-
cations, which were not nearly so capable of defence
as those of the present day. If Omer Pacha were
to follow the counsels and orders of the Govern-
ment at Constantinople, in all probability the arnaY
would soon be annihilated and the country lost;
for I am told, upon the best authority, that the
instructions of the ministers there were to recover
all the posts along the Danube. He, however,
stands so well with the army and the nation, and
the foreign powers, that he can afford to act for
himself.

THE BRITISH TROOPS AT SCUTARI.
SCUTARI, April 20.
This town, which is situated in front of Cone