The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-04 00:00:00

CONSTANTINOPLE.

From a Constantinople letieTOl the 20th ult.,
we learn that the following arrangements have been
taken with the Porte regarding the first expedi-
tion of 10,000 British troops. The Turkish Go-
vernment is bound to furnish daily-10,0001b. of
bread (first quality) ; 10,0001 b. of meat, half beef,
half mutton ; 30,0001 b. of wood ; 15,0001 b. of bar-
ley ; and 15,0001 b. of straw. These articles will
be paid for monthly by bills on the Lon-
don Treasury. The troops are to be lodged
in the spacious barracks situated in the Turk
ish quarter called Daout Pacha, and the mili-
tary Governor of Constantinople has received
orders to repair that establishment. The troops
are expected to be here about the beginning of
April. Nothing has yet been decided about the
French expedition. The only positive informa-
tion we have is, that similar arrangements will be
made, and that the barracks of Scutari will bo
given up by the Porte. A false alarm, given out
by a merchant captain, that the Russian fleet had
quitted Sebastopol, has; been the cause that the
combined fleets prepared for the Black Sea on
Thursday afternoon, and would have sailed
immediately had it not transpired that there
was no truth whatever in the statement.
The Retribution and Caton have returned from
Sulina. It is now positively stated that the Rus-
sian authorities there have drawn a stout chain
across the Danube, and the consequence is that up-
wards of 90 vessels with grain cargoes are placed at
the disposal of Russia. The Persian post came in
two days ago, and has brought down the impor-

to r,t, il
has declared her n,m7.rality for the great question
at issue between Russ:a and Turkey. This decision
is in a great measure due to the talents of our
chargé, Mr. Thompson, who has succeeded in beat-
ing Prince Dolgorouky out and out in diplomacy.
The Shah himself, who is decidedly anti-Turk,
would have willingly played into Russia's hands ;
notwithstanding this Mr. T. carried the day.
A letter of the 10th Feb. from Tahreez, says—
Persian politics remain firm as regards Turkey,
and the Divan of Tehrau has officially announced
its neutrality in the Cosa: t Gazette. The force at
Khoi has been dismissed, andAzizKhan, the Com-
mander-in-Chief, has been recalled to Tehran. The
King has named his only son, 14 months old,
Ameer-001-Nizam. On the shores of the Caspian,
Russian agents have landed in every direction, but
no details are given of their proceedings. The Em-
peror of Russia has issue t an ukase, which is said
to be a decided crack at British trade ; we have no
particulars. It is positively asserted here that the
Daghestan chief, Sheik Schamyl, has again given
the Russians a sound thrashing—details not stated.
Prince Woronzoff is to leave Tiflis ; the cause of
his recall is not known. The Caucasian provinces
will be governed by a commission; _

The Sultan, determined that nothing shall pre-
vent or delay the ameliorations to be effected in
the condition of the Christian population, has re-
moved the Sheik•ul Islam who hesitated to issue
his fetoa in favour of the new reforms.

The commercial ports and towns of Russia begin
to feel the sad effects of the war. At Odessa, ac-
cording to the Cologne Gazette, business is in a
complete state of stagnation. The Government
has adopted the most severe measures against fo-
reigners residing in the place, or who have come
there on business. Some foreign merchants who
had requested the governor to give them some in-
formation as to the question of peace or war received
orders to quit the place within eight days. For
several weeks past travellers arriving there, even
those belonging to friendly nations, have not been
allowed to quit their vessels. A Belgian merchant,
whose papers were perfectly regular, had a sentinel
placed over him on board a Belgian vessel for six
weeks. He intended to protest against this arbi-
trary treatment, but was threatened with arrest.
He then escaped from the vessel in a boat, and was
picked up by her at 20 miles' distance from the
port.

THE BALTIC.
THE RUSSIAN FLEET AT REVEL.

An officer on board one of the ships in Sir
Charles Napier's fleet, writing to a friend in Lon-
don, says :

" GREAT BELT, March 27, 1854.--Although I wrote
a note, which I intended sending by the Vulture to
England, yet the weather was so bad on her departure
that we could not communicate. That letter will pro-
bably reach you ,•t the same time this does. The wea-
ther was beautiful yesterday, and is so to-day. The
atmosphere clear, raw, and bracing, imparting a cheer-
fulness to most of us. The Miranda, which had been
sent as a vessel of observation to the Baltic, previous ti)
our departure from Rigland, joined us yesterday morn-
ing. Her bow seemed rough and scratched about the
copper from stemming the ice, through which she forced
her way for some distance with some, difficulty. She
brought intelligence that the Russian fleet is anchored
at Revel, from which they cannot be freed by the break-
ing up of the ice until the end of April. The
Miranda left England with sealed orders, and in-
structed not- to show her colours. Part of the squadron
was detached ahead yesterday, urine!. Admiral Chads.
The Leopard steamed back abut mid-day with a Danish
admiral on board, who visited the flag ship and was, sa-
luted with 15 guns. The squadr in anchored off Wyberg
(about eight miles) in the evening. NVe got under weigh
very early this morning. Our destination has been
changed, probably resulting from the interview will the
Danish admiral. We are now proceeding to Kiel in
lieu of Kjoge, which may be owing to the intelligence
that the Russian squadron is sealed up in Revel and
must remain there until May. Sir Charles has left the
squadron this afternoon in charge of A mind Curry, and
has steamed ahead, in the Duke of Wellington, in the
direction of Kiel. It is now evident that the squadron
cannot reach that place this evening. 9 p.m. We have
just dropped anchor within three or four miles of Kiel
harbour."

ARRIVAL OF THE DECLARATION OF
WAR.

KIEL, March 30.—0 n the evening of the 28th
the Bulldog steamer brought to Admiral Sir Charles
Napier the important intelligence of the declara-
tion of war. The_ next morning, at 5 o'clock, the
Dragon steamer, Captain Willcox, commander,
came from the station to fetch her Majesty's
consul-general in Hamburgh, Colonel Hodges, who
had arrived here the day before. This steamer
landed the colonel again at about four o'clock in
the afternoon, and proceeded without. delay to
Wingo Bay, to convey orders to the ships of her
Majesty, that might have arrived there in the
meantime, to go through the Belt to join the fleet
at Kjoge Bay. Yesterday afternoon, about four
o'clock, the whole fleet left the anchor-ground out-
side of our bay. This morning some ships have
been seen between Fehmern and Laoland. The
Odin steam-ship joined the fleet yesterday morning.
Our town has had complete holidays on Tuesday
and yesterday. Thousands go down in small
steamers, yachts, and boats to see the British fleet.
Nearly every ship was cheered by these spectators.
"God save the Queen" and "Rule Britannia"
was sung by those conversant with the English
language, and " Old England for ever" was a fre-
quent cry. Although the population of Holstein
knows what a war means, yet the sympathy which
is felt in the cause in which Great Britain is
engaged would assure the aid of hundreds of its
sons, were it required. From Berlin, Saxony,
Hanover, and many parts of the interior of Ger-
many, many hundreds of spectators have travelled
hither to see the fleet. It is not to satisfy so much
curiosity that they come, as to admire the vast
means at the disposal of a free country for the de-
struction of despotism.

The following is an extract of a letter from an
officer in Sir Charles Napier's fleet to a friend in
England :

" At anchor, Great Belt, March 25, 1854 —I rinder-
Oand the Dauntless, Ivo:LI twist one of her boilers, is
about to proceed to England, and I believe site is to
carry our letters. I take advantage of her departure to
drop you a few lines, as I know you follow all our move-
ments with interest. We left Wingo Sound on the 23d
inst. We started very early in the morning, having
taken a Danish pilot to navigate us through the Great
Belt. Two steamers, under command of Admiral Plum-
ridge, went on before us, as a light squadron, to mark
our course through the " Belt." In the aftern on
the Neptune, Monarch, Bulldog. and Vulture joined
the fleet. The ships coming to an anchor about mid-
night on the following day, the signal was made for us
to get under weigh. We had a beautiful fresh breeze,
and the admiral, forming the ships into one line, led u,
through the Belt. We passed two steamers that had
been placed to buoy the passage, under the command of
Admiral Pluniridge, who, in the Leop ,rd, conducted
the ships to the anchorage. It blew very fresh on yes-
terday morning, and it blows still fresher to-day. Most
of the ships seem to be p'unging heavily to the head sea.
We are about eight or ten miles of Rufness, Zealand,
where a lighthouse stands. The different ship com-
panies are being actively exercised daily, at the great
gun exercise and small arms. The admiral is keeping a
very sharp look out upon the ships, bruigu6i some of
them to task, by signal, when out of place and compli-
menting others. I have no doubt the squadron will be
shortly in a highly disciplined state. 'We feel the
atmosphere rather cold. It is about 34 deg. in the open
air to-day. We are anxious to hear the news from Eng-
land—especially to know if war be declared."
The Danish Government has issued a declara-
tion containing its definitions of contraband, which
includes horses, timber for construction of vessels,
tar, copperplates, sailcloth, canvass, hemp, cor-
dage, ttc,, but not coals ; besides, the Royal Dan-
ish ordinance of May 4, 1803, is renewed. So,
no Danish pilots, or men acqulinted with the
Danish straits and seas, are allowed to serve on
board the belligerent Powers' vessels. In the in-
structions for the commanders of the Danish guard-
ships—frigates Thor (steamer), Thetis, Bellona,
Nordenskjold ; brigs Holgar Dansko (steamer),
Galathea, Flora, Mercurius, and Valkyrien—they
are instructed to observe a strict neutrality, to
protest against the taking of captured war or mer-
chant vessels into Danish ports, but not to oppose
it by force, and only to use force againstpraivtateers
The Danish territory is to be considered to extend
one Danish sea mile from the coast, except
Kron-
borg and the river Elbe at Gluckstadt, Where the
distance is named as 3,000 ells (6,000 feet).

THE WEATHER IN THE BALTIC.
The last advices relative to the Baltic navigation
are as follows :
Gothenburg, March 24.—The weather has this week
been rather cold, but very fine.
Stockholm, March 24.—The weather continues mild,
and, although it has frozen at night, the temperature
has been constantly mild during the day,
the thermometer stood at noon at .10 deg. above zero,
with the wind strong at N.N. W. and ,m the 221
Gefle, March 20.—The weather has been so mild for
some time past that the ice has almost di-appeared, and
the river as far as the S. Wharf is perfectly free.
Revel, March 14.—The RoadA are closed; and there
is no open water to be seen. March 24.—Front Gross
m
Grund to Packerort Gru', and farther up, the ice is
still firm ; the remainder of the fair way is full of
drift ice.