The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-28 00:00:00

THE DANUBE.

We read in the Moniteur :—" A letter from the
frontiers of Transylvania, of the 17th, says—' Mar-
shal Paskiewitch arrived to-day at Jassy, and it is
stated that he will in the course of the day continue
his journey towards Bucharest. Count Sacken,
several Ministers, and some Boyards waited for him
for three days at Scouleni, on the Pruth. All the
Boyards, whether functionaries or private indi-
viduals, have been invited to assemble at the palace
to pay their homage to the Prince of Warsaw.
Various reports have been in circulation here dur-
Inc, the last week on the subject of the small band
/volunteers which left Jassy on the 3d. Some
pretend that the Monk Courtandinos (an lonian
subject), who commanded them, has disappeared
with a sum of 2,000 ducats, which had been sub-
scribed for the cause in which he had engaged,
while others say that he has arrived at Fockani
with only ten followers, all the others having
lispersed. There must be some truth in
these rumours, for the authorities have taken no
steps to contradict them ; all accounts agree on
the subject of the disorders and depredations
committed by these volunteers on their route.
Nothing positive is known here as to the operations
of the Russian army in the province of the Do-
brudscha. The accounts which circulate on this
subject are very contradictory, but they all agree
on one point, namely, that the taking of Toultcha
cost the Russians 1,800 men."
The Press of Vienna contains a letter from Bel-
grade, of the 19th, which says :—" Prince Alexan-
der arrived here six days ago in a most mysterious
manner. It is not known how long he is to re-
main amongst us. The day before yesterday the
Turkish bands in the fortre-s were playing all day.
Many persons thought that this was for some vic-
tory gained on the Danube. The Russians are
pressing Silistria sharply, but it is believed that it
will hold out until the arrival of French troops, on
the 24th. Prince Napoleon will arrive at Con-
stantinople on the 20th or 22d. He will pass the
troops in review, and then they will embark for
Varna. The Russians who occupy our frontier
from Kraguwatz to Czernez do not seem to intend
withdrawing."

The Ost Deutche Post of Vienna of the 23d says :
—" We have received intelligence from Bucharest
the 16th, which states that for a week before all
the Russian troops of the 3d, 4th, and 6th corps
were being directed from that town towards Giur-
;evo and Krajowa."
Letters. from the Danube of the 11th inst. state
that the Russians were still nearly in the same
position on the right bank, and actively employed
in raising works and fortifying their camp at Baba-
dagh. Their force at present amounts, it is and .r-
-stood, to about 30,000 men. The Turks have com-
pletely evacuated the northern tract of the Do-
;ifudscha—the regulars marching to head-quarters
,Lt Shumla ; the Bashi bazouks in the direction of
the Balkans, by order of the Commander-in-Chief.
Some of these lawless recruits have been committing
excesses on their march, and numbers detected in
flag rante delicto have been shot without much cere-
mony, conformably with the positive commands
transmitted by Omer Pacha.
The Constitutionnel purports to show that the
Russian Government is absolutely unable to send
very large armies into the field. It is possible, nay
very probable, that the military resources of that
Power have been much exaggerated in some of the
accounts given, but the estimate of the Constittt-
tionnel seems rather low indeed. It says :
" One of the pretensions of Russia is to possess an
effective military force of at least 800,000 men, and
which, according to some official returns, would even
reach the figure of 1,200,000 men. It can easily be
conceived with what idea the Russian Government
puts into circulation such figures. But if history be
considered, it will be at once seen that this force never
existed except on paper. At the period when Russia was
attacked on her own territory, when her nationality was
at stake in 1812, she had scarcely 200,000 men on foot.
In 1813, she had great difficulty in sending 150,000 men
into Germ. iny ; and in 1815 all the Russian troops
that had passed the Rhine, concentrated at the Camp
of Vertus, only gave 120,000 men. It is, therefore, only
under the force of the gravest circumstances that
Russia, for the last half-century, succeeded in once
getting into the field 200,000 men ; and even then,
as we have said, it was when she was attacked
in the very heart of her territory. In her enterprises
abroad she has never disposed of more than 150,000
men. That is about the number, we believe, of the
army charged to act in Turkey, and to meet events on
the shores of the Black Sea ; and as Russia is obliged to
defend herself beyond the Caucasus and on the Baltic,
at the same time that she is obliged to augment her
forces in Poland, we doubt that the army of the Delilah()
can easily repair its losses. Let no one consequently be
deceived by the exaggerations of a Government which is
colossal only in the extent of its territory, and which is
on that very account obliged to scatter its forces on
various points to resist Powers who dispose of the sea."