The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-17 00:00:00

THE BALTIC.

A despatch from Copenhagen says all the Russian
Baltic ports are declared under blockade.
A reserve fleet, consisting of the Austerlitz and
other ships, is in Kioge Bay.
A communication from the Danish capital of the
11th says :
Admiral Plumridge has taken the following ves-
sels with him to reconnoitre, and to cruise in the
Baltic :—The Leopard (paddle), and the screw-
steamers Imperieuse, Arrogant, Amphion, Daunt-
less, Archer, and the Lightning.
The following ships are now in Kioge Bay :
The Duke of Wellington, St. Jean d'Acre, Princess
Royal, Cressy, Caesar, Hogue, Blenheim, Edin-
burgh, Ajax, and Royal George (screws) ; the Nep-
tune, Monarch, and Boscawen (sailing vessels) ;
all of the line. - Frigates.—The Dragon, Ocean,
Valorous, Magicienne, Driver, and Gorgon (pad-
dles), the Basilisk, and the Cruiser (screw). In the
Great Belt.—The Bulldog (paddle). The Porcu-
pine (paddle) arrived this morning. The Prince
:Regent, 90 ; the St. George, 121 ; and the James
Watt, 90 (screw), are hourly expected. The Aus-
terlitz was this morning reported at Elsinore. The
fleet has orders to sail this evening, or at latest to-
morrow morning early, for Bornholm and Goth-
land.

The telegraph has already informed us of the I
departure of the fleet.
A letter written by a French naval officer in the
Baltic, received in Paris on Saturday, states that
the enthusiasm of the sailors on board the English
fleet was excited to the highest pitch by the recol-
lection of the- exploits of Nelson in that sea and
that the Russian ships opposed to them were likely
to pass a mauvais quart d'heure.
The Moniteur, of Paris, quotes a letter from
Stettin of the 13th inst., announcing that the navi-
gation was open between Swinemunde and the
mouth of the Oder, and that 19 vessels, laden with
coal and merchandise, had already entered Stettin.
A number of others had sailed with cargoes of
grain, timber, zinc, &c.
A
letter from Hamburg, llth, in the Indepen-
dance of Brussels, say s:—"lhave already announced
to you that the Emperor Nicholas, anticipating
that the works erected on the coast of the islands of
Aland would not be in a state to resist the attacks
of the English fleet, had ordered all the troops
which were in the forts to evacuate them promptly,
carrying with them all the guns, military stores,
&c. Letters of the 6th brought by the steamer
from Stockholm fully confirm this news, adding
that the Emperor had also ordered the pilots and
all men capable of bearing arms to emigrate to the
mainland in Finland, and also to remove all vessels,
large and small, boats, &c., to the ports on the
mainland, and in case that cannot be done, to sink
and destroy them so that not a vestige shall remain.
This same system of national defence and voluntary
destruction has been organised, and will be followed,
whatever may be the consequences, throughout the
whole extent of the Russian shore, commencing
from Helsingfors to Cronstadt, and on the other
part to Sebastopol."
The subjoined is dated "Off Kioge Bay, Copen-
hagen, April 10 :—I have just been in Copenhagen,
the morning being extremely fine after the stormy
night. I made my way into the city, and went to
the British Minister's residence, where I found
Sir Charles Napier busily employed in asking ques-
tions of some officers belonging to the ships em-
ployed in the transport of water and provisions for
the fleet. I afterwards returned on board the
Obotrit steamer again, and fell in with sundry
officers of the frigates lying at Copenhagen on my
way ; they all seemed anxious for work. I pro-
ceeded to Kioge Bay, and went on board the Duke
of Wellington, and was employed for a couple of
hours in looking over this splendid ship. On
my appearing on board with a bundle of Lon-
don papers under my arm, I thought the
sailors and marines would have eaten me up
for distributing among theiru a portion of my
store. A German party, who had come many miles
from the interior of Germany to visit the fleet, re-
turned on board the steamer to Copenhagen, well
satisfied with their trip. I returned myself on
board a Danish- steamer, having 200 persons on
board, ladies and gentlemen, and a band of music.
On leaving the vessel the band struck up " God
save the Queen," which was accompanied by loud
cheers from the passengers, and re-echoed by the
officers and men on board the Wellington. If I
am asked which of the two people was the most
enthusiastic in their expression of feeling on the
occasion, I may say, without either favour or affec-
tion, the Germans. On the part of the higher
classes of Danes there was an evident symptom of
curiosity evinced to view the ship, but on the part
of the Germans there was a deep interest in the
cause for which the fleet was engaged, in favour
of civilisation. On our way back we met the
Admiral returning from Copenhagen. Fm om
what I heard, he intends moving towards
Bornholm within a day or two. The principal
pilot belonging to the fleet, a Dane, was desired
by the Admiral this morning to proceed to Elsinore
to bring the French lane-of battle-ship Austerlitz
round to Kioge Bay, where she will probably be
to-morrow. The officers of our fleet are awfully
fleeced in Copenhagen in the exchange of money,
and, again, in what they purchase with it. Four-
teen days ago I could have purchased a gallon of
cherry brandy for about 16s. sterling, and this day
an officer was made to pay 325. Other things are in
proportion. In Hamburg or Kiel such a thing
would scarcely have been tolerated by the autho-
rities, and possibly not here, it the matter became
known. Gold has become very scarce, and con-
siderably higher in price, in consequence of the
officers being desirous of drawing for their pay."
COPENHAGEN, April 9. The Admiral was at
the English church to-day. He afterwards went
to the English Minister's. As far as I can learn,
he will join the fleet to-day or to-morrow, and sail
to the north on Tuesday.
The Vulture has gone to the south. The Caesar,
91, is on its way from Vingo Sound. The Auster-
litz, French liner, 100 guns, is lying in our roads,
and will doubtless make its way through the Great
Belt.

People in Gothenburg are daily expecting the
French fleet and the rest of Admiral Corry's squa-
dron.

As the Baltic is now entirely open, it cannot be
long before active operations take place, for every
day lost allows our enemy to strengthen his forti-
fications and discipline his troops. As Aland is
evacuated, its occupation can at once take place ;
and it will form a station of the utmost import-
ance for operations in the Gulf of Bothnia and the
north of Finland. As it is our own possession, so
long as the war lasts we can at once use it, with-
out asking ourselves what is or what is not " con-
traband of war." We shall also be able to find
excellent pilots and other assistance there.
As yet no new Ministry is formed. We shall
know in a few hours whether the present Cabinet
will take back their portfolios, or whether the men
and the system will be changed.

THE READING OF THE OFFICIAL DECLA-
RATION OF WAR, AND HOW IT WAS RE-
CEIVED BY THE FLEET.
We (Plymouth Afail) have been favoured with the
following interesting extract from a private letter
of an officer of the Dnke of Wellington to his
friends in England
.--
"April 4th. At noon to-day the Old Duke looked a'
if she was dressed for a holiday—she was covered with
flags, forming a general signal to the fleet which had
anything but a holiday signification—it was the corn-
mander-m-chief's declaration of war, and it ran, word
for word, as follows
" `Lads ! War is declared, with a bold and numerous
enemy to meet. Should they offer us battle, you will
know what to do with them. Success depends on the
precision and quickness of your fire. Also, lads ! shar-
pen your cutlasses, and the day is your own.'
" The Blenheim, Captain the Hon. F. T. Pelham,
immediately answered, ' Ready and willing ;" the Nep-
tune, Captain Smith, Ready'—and every ship manned
her rigging and gave three such cheers as are seldom
heard in those waters. Ourselves and all the ship's
company were then called upon deck, and Commodore
Seymour read the signal to us ; and the men were
beginning to follow the example of the other ships, when
the old admiral came forward, and, leaning over the
poop railing, said—
"! Now, my lads ! You have just heard what the
;