The Sun.
London, England, 1853-12-31 00:00:00

(From the Morning Chronicle.) .
The Emperor Nicholas persists, it appears, in
defying the opinion and braving the hostility of
Europe. It will be seen from our Paris Corre-
spondent's letter of Thursday evening, that he has
formally rejected the Protocol and Note agreed to
by the Four Powers at Vienna on the sth instant..
He will have no objection to receive and examine
any propositions which the Conference may forward
to him on behalf of Turkey ; but ho explicitly re-
fuses to accept the intervention of other Powers
between himself and his victim. In other words,
Europe may, if it will, amuse itself in concocting
projects of pacification, but, in the meanwhile,
" Minn arnj,ee marche." As for the fleets of the
'Western Powers, the Czar affects total indifference
to their menaced movements in the Euxine. In
a word, all disguise is at an end ; and.nothing is •
now left for Englan d and France butte make the war, .
which appears inevitable, as short and' decisive
possible.
While Russian diplomacy thus finally refuses
to European opinion even the honiage of hypo-
crisy, it naturally seeks the more congenial alli-
ance of Asiatic barbarism and corruption ; and we
are by no means disposed to deny the credit to which
it is entitled for the success which has attended its
intrigues at the Court of Teheran. It is not_ sur-
prising that a power which stands alone in Europe
—which cannot rely upon the assistance, or even
the sympathy, of a single civilised nation in the
quarrel which it has provoked—should seek allies
in regions even more barbarous than its Own ; and
the consideration, whatever it may be, which has
purchased the friendship of the Shah and .his ad-
visers, will be well repaid, by any'annoyanoe which
his arms may occasion to our Indian possessions.
As a wise preparation for .hostilities,_ the Versian.
Sovereign has, it appears, decided on Clisthissing
" the English, French, German, and Italian officers
serving in his army." There can be no doubt that
the war department of St. Petersburg will be able
to supply the vacancies thus created ; and it is pro-
bable enough that the progress which the Shah's
troops haVe; as yet made in the military art may
not be such as to render it safe that their barbarian
energy should, in actual warfare, be restrained by
the strict rules of European discipline. It is,
moreover, at the present moment, not very unlikely
that their first contest may be with Asiatic forces,
and that, far from proving useful , auxiliaries
to their imperial ally, they may, before* long,
have to invite his assistance to secure them in
their own possessions. In our Second Edition of
yesterday, we mentioned a rumour that Dost Ma-
homed, who is notorious for his enmity to Russia,
has made demands on Persia which can hardly be
conceded, but which, if refused, will be enforced
with all the strength of the extensive territory
which he governs. Should this intelligence be cor-
rect, a move, which at first sight appeared a mas-
terstroke of Imperial policy, may turn out to have
been a most serious mistake, and maybe productive
of no small embarrassment to both the contracting
parties. It would be a signal and satisfactory in-
stance of prompt retribution, if Russian finesse
should thus prove " overstrong against itself," and
if resources designed for the subjugation of Europe
should be drained for the support of an impotent
Asiatic ally.
Time alone can prove the correctness of these
anticipations. In the meanwhile, active operations
appear to be suspended, tor the present, in Georgia
as well as on the Danube ; and it is even stated, in
the despatch from Vienna which we publish else-
where that Turkish bulletins acknowledge the entire
evacuation •of the Russian territory in Asia. This
can scarcely be correct, since by all our most recent
accounts, the Ottomans still retain their important
acquisition. of Fort St. Nicholas ; but there seems
to be little doubt, from our Constantinople de-
spatch of the 19th inst., that the Turks have found
it impracticable to continue the sieges of Achalzik
and Alexandropol. We are still, however, without
any authentic details respecting either Prince
Andronikoff's " unheard-of' achievements of the
26th of November, or the alleged rout of Abdi
Paella by Prince Beboutoff on the 2d inst. Our
present accounts show that the Ottoman arms have
sustained a check at both of those places ; but they
certainly contain nothing which can be readily
identified with the brilliant and decisive Russian
victories described in the Imperial bulletins. It
may not improbably turn out that the boasted
Russian successes simply consist in repulsing, for
the present, an attack which menaced the Czar's
tenure of Georgia • and it is certain that, unless
his forces have achieved some very substantial tri-
umph, their position may again, at no distant
period, become exceedingly critical. In Daghcstun,
Schainyl and his warlike mountaineers are in vigo-
rous action, prepared, as opportunity may serve,
to co-operate effectively with the Turkish generals;
and Prince Woronzoff may well strain every effort
to avert a junction, which, if once effected, would
gravely imperil his position at Tiflis.

It is no doubt true that the Court of St. Peters-
burg is prepared, in Asia as well as in the Da-
nubian provinces, for a prolonged and obstinate
conflict. The Imperial policy has never been too
regardful of human life, and it seems to have
adopted as its maxim the answer of a wit, who,
when told of a battle in which thousands of
Russians had been sacrificed, replied that " there
was no harm done—it was so easy for Providence
refaire les Busses." But, should events once' dispel
-the 'prestige attaching to a name feared and detested
by many a half-subjugated tribe—should the trans-
Caucasian provinces once succeed in assertin ,
even partially and temporarily, their independeuce
of Muscovite rule, multitudes will be found to follow
the example, and the more recent accessions to the
overgrown Empire will form a source of weakness
rather than of strength. It is at least certain
that Prince •Woronzoff's reinforcements must in
future arrive either -by laud or by the Caspian ;
for the instructions given to the commanders
of the combined fleets distinctly require them to
confine the Imperial fleet in the Euxine within the
' harbour of Sebastopol. We may, therefore, assure
ourielves that, in any case, the repetition of such a
tragedy as the Sinope butchery is impossible. Each
detail which we receive relative to that much-
vannted " victory" aggravates the guilt of those by
whdm it was achieved ; and the official account is-
sued by the Porte mentions two circumstances
which we have not before noticed, one of which
peculiarly concerns English readers. It is stated
that burning pieces of oiled linen were thrown into
the town for the purpose of destroying it by fire—
a humane intention which was, to a considerable
extent, accomplished ; and the fact affords an in-
structive commentary on the letter addressed by
Admiral Nachimoff to the Austrian Consul, in
which be gives &full and particular .account of the
" sole end of the arrival of the Imperial fleet in the
roads of Sinope." He had learned, it seems, that
the Turkish ships, " which had been continually to
the coast of Abassie, in order to cause the people
submitted to Russia to revolt, had taken refuge
in the harbour, and thus he had been reduced to
the deplorable necessity of attacking them, at
the • risk of causing damage to the city and
port." Like a true servant of his veracious So-
vereign, the admiral claims, and probably ex-
pects, credit for professions as utterly inconsistent
with his conduct as ever was any apology which
Russian craft has invented for Russian brutality.
The other circumstance to which we have refer-
red is infinitely more niaterial to the British go-
vernment and people. It appears that an English
merchant vessel, with the English colours flying
at
her mast head, was fired upon and sunk by the
aggressors. We know not what pretex.t, of " de-
plorable necessity" or the like, mayun be invented to
pt tiersess
we
trespassers arers uponglossonceourselvesa Russian lake, and justly punished for our intru-
sion, it is an insult, not to be " explained," but to,
be atoned for. It is significant that the accounts
from St. Petersburg have not, that we recollect,
mentioned this fact, although it might have been
expected that the very earliest opportunity would
have been taken for offering some apology for so
flagrant an outrage. If, however, the Czar has
made up his mind to war, it is, perhaps, not amiss
that it should begin with ;wanton
urjr to our
commerce and an audacious insult to our fla
offered by an enemy whose treacherous professions
have hitherto induced us to abstain from adopting
those measures which would adequately have se-
cured both the safety of the one and the honour of
the other.

ST. JAMES'S, CLERICENWELL. -On the day after
Christmas-day a large hamper was delivered to the
master of the Clerkenwell Workhouse, containing 13
turkeys- and a round of beef ;, a note aceomnanying it,
from Messrs. Clark and Ingles, of Apsley-liouse, Pen-
tonville:hill, requested the master's acceptance of the
contents for the poor in the workhouse, in consideration
of this inclement season. On the matter being reported
to the guardians, some difficulty arose as to the distri-
bution of this Christmas fare, the number in the work-
house precluding the possibility of giving a share to
every inmate. The decision was that it should be sup-
plied to the sick, the old, and the infirm, as a treat on
New Year's-day.