The Sun.
London, England, 1854-07-06 00:00:00

A SAILOR'S LETTER.

" BMW SOUND, FINLAND, June 21.—" Dear Sir—l
have just read your kind letter, and I humbly beg par-
don to answer it at once, although it is past time at
night, and lam writing on the upper deck. Dear Sir,
I must tell you we are under sailing orders for to go to
sea to-morrow. We are going to blockade Revel, a port
about 40 miles above here. The whole fleet is lying
here, with the exception of Admiral Plumridge's squa-
dron. The whole fleet is the finest that was ever seen
by the oldest man living. To see the implements of
destruction on such a scale, it really looks something
awful grand. They are the finest ships that men can
build. I wish you could have the beautiful view this
evening. The sun is getting low over the trees ;on
shore it really is splendid. Thank God, you are not
here, for this is no place for you, Sir. Here we are, like
dogs tied by the neck, all ready to fight when let go.
To-day we have had a bard day's work. Admiral Chads
had us all on shore, with our gunboats and field pieces
and marines, to exercise. We have had a very hot
day. What with the heat of the powder and the sun, it
made us sweat pretty fair. But, thank God, we are all
returned on board without any accident. To tell you,
Sir, what we hear, Sir (but I don't know that it is
altogether true, although we expect it every day)—sve
hear the whole fleet is going some day this week to
engago Sweaborg, the entrance to Helsingfors. It is a
very strong place to take. It has three batteries
mounting altogether 800 guns, and 12 sail of men-of-
war line-of-battle-ships. So you see, Sir, we have our
work cut out for us to do ; but we shall do it, with the
blessing of God. The Vulture is just arrived to our
Admiral with the melancholy news of losing 28 men
killed and a great many wounded. The Vulture and
some other of Plumridge's squadron engaged the port
up the Gulf. They got possession, and took some mer-
chant shipping out of the port without much loss, and
two days after the Vulture went on shore, not far froni
the same place, to get some water. The men were all on
shore, hard at work, and some of the steamers' paddle
boats were sent to protect them, but the Russians came
down by hundreds and murdered the poor fellows like
dogs. The boat went in and fired at the troops, when a
Russian gunboat that had been lying in a creek with six
guns, the first time she fired at our' poor fellows they
killed 1 lieutenant, 2 midshipmen, and 12 men. Then
they were forced to give in by being overpowered. They
have lost altogether about 60 men killed, and a great
many wounded. The whole fleet is raving mad to have
revenge. The whole fleet want to be at it, and
settle the dispute ; but our Admiral has something in
the wind that makes him so quiet. We expect he
will break loose every day. We are going to leave
the fleet in the morning ; but we shalt be close to
the place of action ; so it is very likely by the time
you get this Sweaborgwill be no more, nor any of its
shipping. I hope to have the pleasure of fetching some of
them to Sheerness, to show you all what we can do. But I
must come to a conclusion, for I can scarce keep my eyes
open, for I am very tired. But I must tell you, sir, I
thought of you most of any time on Easter Sunday ' • it
blew a bitter gale of wind, and the snow and ice was fit to
cut my poor face to pieces, for I was at the wheel for
two hours, from six to eight in the morning. Another
day was the 6th of May, a sorrowful day for us, for we
lost one of our young men, off our topsail yard. Poor
fellow ; I do not know, if you recollect him, but he was
the young man that went with poor —'s widow to the
grave when we buried him. They called him ---, and
a smart young man he was. I was in the greatest of
danger for 30 minutes ; but thank God he spared our
lives for this time, and I hope it will be a warning to us
for the future. I often think of many remarks I heard
you make, and many passages in the Bible I could point
out. They are a very great comfort to me, particularly
of a night, when walking the deck alone. That is the
only time for me to meditate. I often run my
thoughts as far as —, and think of days gone by.
I hope and trust to God they will return. He only
knows. I am afraid I shall have many ups and
downs before that time. But never mind, sir, I must
not begin to think of home. Here we are, and we must
'do our duty, and trust to Providence to protect us.
hsi an
ld—ren wasd
aas t ot
oy you and
aarn
thed M
children
family. Most happy we
We all send our kind respecwt
well. I hope and trust the babes I may
write mu be as good as the
father ; this is my pray. can notch about
women and children, for it makes me anything but com-
fortable ; and so, sir, I shall conclude, wishing you may
be so kind as to tell my and —'s wife we are all well
and hearty. You must excuse my writing ; I have had
a very bad thumb, and I can scarce hold the pen, so I
must give over and go to bed. So good night, and may
God bless you and Mrs. and the children is the
prayer of
" Your obedient and humble servant,
" The Rev. * * *."

66 * * -*
* ft

SPANISH INSURRECTION.
REPORTED DEFEAT ORTHE INSURGENTS.
Advices from Madrid, received by way of Paris,
state that on the 30th a sanguinary combat took
place between the troops who remained faithful to
the Royal cause and the insurgents near the village
of Vicalvaro. The insurgents, it is said, three
times charged the Royal troops, and were each
time repulsed with loss.
They were at last entirely routed, and retired
upon Toledo, leaving the field of battle covered
with dead and wounded and the bodies of horses.
Colonel Garriago, many officers, and a consider-
able number of soldiers have been made prisoners
by the Royal troops.
Later advices to the 3d inst. state that a con-
siderable number of workmen and soldiers have
abandoned the rebels, and made their submission.
The news from the provinces is said to be satis-
factory. _

lAt the latest dates, 6 o'clock on the evening of
the 4th, the Government was expecting reinforce-
ments from Saragossa and Valladolid, with which
they hoped soon to reduce the insurgents.
Madrid was said to be tranquil, and there was
no rising in the provinces.
Notwithstanding the favouraLle accounts given
by the telegraphic despatches received from Madrid,
the state of affairs in Spain seems to be very pre-
carious. • The Messager de Bayonne, and private
letters from Madrid, give a direct contradiction to
the telegraph. They say that the_ aneen's troops,
commanded by the. Minister of War, so far from
being victorious, were driven back precipitately,
into the city of Madrid, after having lost their ar-
tillery and 50 men. Half the garrison of Madrid
is said to have joined the movement. Great
anxiety is felt as to the part to be taken by General
Narvaez and General Serano.
SAN SEBASTIAN, July 2.—Although the Govern-
ment is doing all it can to prevent the circulation
of intelligence respecting the movements of Generals
O'Dounel and Dulce, it is known that the present
pronunciamiento will most probably lead to the
downfall of the Sartorius Cabinet, if not to changes
of much greater importance. The insurgents call
for the proclamation of the Constitution of 1837 ;
but, depend upon it, their exigencies will not be
confined to this demand. The conspiracy has ex-
tensive ramifications, and we are in hourly expec-
tation of hearing of risings at Barcelona, Saragossa,
(to. ; in which case San Sebastian (where the exist-
ing Government is very unpopular) will soon follow
their example. Much importance is attached to
the fact that the Bourbon regiment is quartered
here. This corps was sent to San Sebastian in dis-
grace after the, late unsuccessful attempt at Sara-
gossa, and its colonel (Hore) is now in prison here,
whilst most of the officers have been changed ; but
if anything takes place at Saragossa, and Colonel
Hore is liberated, it is expected that he will find
means to put himself at the head of his regiment.