The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-21 00:00:00

and concurrence of all civilised nations nor more
speedily effect the final triumph of the sacred
cause they defend."
The IVloniteur publishes a notice that the Minis-
ter of Foreign Affairs has received an official com-
munication of a despatch addressed to the English
Admiralty, by Rear-Admiral Chads, the Com-
mander of the English naval forces in the Baltic,
announcing the raising of the blockade of the
Russian ports in that sea and on the coast of Fin-
land.

The Minister of the'SMarine has received a de-
spatch from Rear-Admiral de SuM, the commander-
in-chief of the French naval division on the Brazil
and La Plata station, dated on board the Andro-
meda frigate, at Rio Janeiro, the 14th ult., in
which he states that the captains of French and
English merchant -vessels navigated those seas in
the fullest security, feeling sure that they would
everywhere meet with efficacious and energetic pro-
tection.

BOURSE, DEC. 20.—CLOSING PRICES.
Cash. in ,;. End of Month.
4:1 per Carts 94 —94 f. —c.
3 per Cents 63 50 68 75
Credit Mebilier 740 Roman
Credit Foncier 560 Austrian
Belgian Fives ...... .. 91i Spanish Threes
Pied montese ...... ... 87 Home Debt

. 34

RAILWAYS-FOR CASH.

fr. c. fr. c.
Orleans
Western... 630 -- Rouen 992 50
CAtte 5BO -- Strasburg -
AleditelTanean B6O Havro 535
Northern

ITALY.
CORONATION OF THE MADONNA BY

THE POPE.

ROME, DEC. 10.—The extraordinary solemnity,
which has called together so many Catholic digni-
taries from various parts of the world to this centre
of Catholicism, took place at St. Peter's on the
morning of the Bth inst., with all the pomp and
splendour for which the papal court is so justly
celebrated.

For five days preceding the ceremony, by express
command of his Holiness, the relics of the holyface,
the lance, the cross, the inscription of the cross,
the cradle of our Saviour, and the chains of St.
Peters; were exhibited to the veneration of the
faithful, with due advantage of indulgences at-
tached, and triduos and fasts prepared the way for
the great event.
-
Earl on the morning of the Bth, the ponderous
equipages of cardinals and prelates shook the streets
of the city in all directions, rattling hastily towards
the castle of St. Angelo and the Vatican, whilst the
multifarious vehicles of foreigners, and of polio/
citizens, crowded along the prescribed line of the
Lungara. Fortunately the day was very fine, so
that enormous numbers of pedestrians contributed
to the vain effort to fill the unfillable vastness of
St. Peter's. It must be candidly confessed, how-
ever, by the oldest habitues and sight-seers of Rome,
that the ample church was never seen so nearly
full as on the present occasion. The procession,
having been duly marshalled in the halls of the
Vatican, descended by the Sala Regia into the
church, presenting an unexampled train ofinitred
bishops, archbishops, patriarchs, and cardinals,
followed by the Pope himself, on foot and un-
crowned.

His Holiness gave utterance to the all-important
bull during high mass, after the reading of the
gospel. It took him about a quarter of an hour to
get through, but ho was so much affected in vari-
ous parts of the document that he was obliged to
interrupt the reading of it to dry his tears with a
pocket handkerchief. With the exception of this
and an occasional shriek from some one squeezed
or fainting in the crowd no particular emotion was
observable. The decorations of the church were
most gorgeous.
The next ceremony was that of crowning the
Madonna, which seemed to interest the mass of
spectators more than the previous dogmatical de-
claration. The procession of bishops once more led
the way to the cardinals' chapel, where a crimson
platform had been prepared before the altar-piece,
so as to allow of the Pope's ascending to the figure
of the Virgin, as depicted in the clouds in the
upper part of the picture. The cannon of St.
Angelo thundered out applause as his Holiness at-
tached the precious diadem to the painting, and
the crowd, kept at bay by a Battalion of Chasseurs,
reeked and panted in vain endeavours to catch a
sight of the proceeding. It is not for me to hazard
an opinion whether.curiosity or devotion urged the
thousands of spectators on this occasion ; but cer-
tainly the numbers collected together far exceeded
anything I ever beheld before in St. Peter's.
In the evening the cupola of St. Peter's, and the
facades of most of the other churches, as well as
public buildings and private residences, were abun-
dantly illuminated.

THE BALTlC.—lnformation was received yes-
terday, from Memel, that several Russian steam
gun-boats have been seen cruising off that port
since the raising of the blockade.
The Wanderer of Vienna has the following from
Sebastopol dated the sth :—" The besiegers and
the besieged have received considerable reinforce-
ments, the latter principally in cavalry and Cos-
sacks of the Don. General Liprandi has fallen
into disgrace."
The Prussian Minister of War has ordered tele-
graphic wires to be laid down to connect all the
principal fortresses with Berlin ; also the military
stations situated along the coast.
Some of the German papers announce with con-
fidence that Omer Paella's army will land at Eupa-
toria and march to Perekop, there to intercept the
Russian supplies and reinforcements.
The Madrid journals of the 16th contain no
news of importance.

A MERICA. •

LIVERPOOL, DEC. 21, 1 A.M.
The steamer Baltic has arrived, with the mail
from New York of the 9th inst.
She has brought no specie.
The Union, from Southampton, arrived on the
Bth.
The proceedings in the Congress were unimpor-
tant. Mr. Bright had been elected President of
the Senate.
Secretary Dobbin in his annual report on the
navy, demands an increase of war vessels.
Several disasters by fire and storm had occurred.
There was no confirmatory news relative to the
discovery of the remains of Sir John Franklin and
his party.
A Washington letter of the Bth states that the
motion for the total repeal of the duty on coals will
be carried by a large majority in Congress.
A party of Sioux Indians had attacked the mail
from Salt Lake, murdered the men in charge, and
rifled the la;gs of their contents.
The New York money-market showed a slight
improvement.
The stock market was better, with extensive
transactions.
Exchange heavy ; bills on London, 106 k to 108 ;
Paris, 5 15 to 5 20.
Cotton declined lc. ; business limited.
Flour had advanced. The cold weather had closed
the rivers and canals in the neighbourhood of New
York, and the winter stock was lighter than for
many years past.
Provisions without change.

Iron dull.
Freights were a shade lower. To London—flour,
2s. to 2s. 3d. ; heavy goods, 20s. to 255. ToLiver-
pool—cotton, 5-32 to 3-16 ; flour, ls. 9d. to ls.
; grain, Gd. to Gid. To lavre—Cotton,
1.48 c. to 3c. ; grain, 10c.
NEW ORLEANS, DEC. 8.
Cottol. declined 1- c. to lc. The increased receipts
at this port over last year at this time are 44,000
bales.

DIiPARTURE OP FRENCH MEDITER-