The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-20 00:00:00

LAtEsT FottpAGN :NEWS,

CONSTANTIN OPLE.

Advices have been received from Constantinople
to the 10th inst. ,
The retreating Turkish irregulars set fire to Kos-
tendje. This, which is one of the commercial ports
of Turkey in the bobrudscha, has been reduced to
ashes.

The combined fleets were anchored between Balt-
cbik and Kavarna.
•
1,500 English troops had landed at Gallipoli,
The Porte attaches all corn cargoes from the
Danube and Odessa. Urgent necessity compels
this measure. 'Baron Bruck, the Austrian Envoy,
protests against it. A misunderstanding has in con-
sequence arisen between Baron Amok and Lord
Redclitre.
CONSTANTINOPLE, April 10.—A very large num-
ber of the subjects of King Otho resident in Tur-
key, have acknowledged allegiance to the. Sultan,
•
and will reitain in the country.
Omer Pacha is at BardSchik, which is now his
bead-quarters. The C 056.66 show themselves at
Trajan'S Wall, but no regulars are seen.'
GA,LLIPOLI, April 11.—The Vulcan has arrived
here with the 44th Regiment, and three companits
of the 50th. -
The Kangaroo, with the 93d Regiment (High-
landers), and otherdetachments. The troops were
well. The Greeks are flying from Turkey:
, Another despatch of the same date, states that
four chiefs and 150 Greek prisoners had been
brought in from Volo.
Steamers and transports now arrive every day
from Toulon, Marseilles, Algiers, and Malta.
" GALLIPOLI, April S.—General Birowne and
Colonels Sullivan and Laurence, with the Rifle
Brigade, and. Colonel Vidtor, of the Artillery, with
100 Sappers, have arrived at the'camp of Conrail,
three leagues from Gallipoli. Four thousand
French soldiers, under the orders of General Can-
robed, are encamped there. Horses are not to be
.
had. The best understanding exists among the.
allied troops. The Pala of Adrianople does
everything in his power to facilitate our arrange-
ments. The Sappers have begun to fortify the
Isthmus.
A letter from ConStantinople,, of the 6th, states
that the Divan, in. order to provide for the subsis•
tence of the allied troops, had decided to prohibit
the re-exportation of rice, flour, and wheat im
ported into Constantinople in transitit. The French
and English ambassadors are said to have raise( no
objection to this measure, but the Austrian minister
presented some few obiervations. The French am-
bassador is said to have made an application to the
Divan, whidh had been favourably received, but
at which, the orthodox Greeks showed some dis-
content. General Baraguay d'Hilliers demanded
an exemption for a hundred poor Greek Catholic
families; for the most part' natives of Syra 'and of
Hucos, who were formerly under French -protec-
tion. M. 'de Wildenbruck, the Prussian Minister,
is; it is‘said, about to quit Constantinople: He is a
man full of moderation and straightforwardness, and
who, throughout the grave questions which have
been in agitation for the last twelve months, has
always expressed himself very energetically against
the violence and arbitrary conduct of Russia.
Another letter states that, in conseqience of a
rumour-set afloat by some of the Greek-partisans
of Russia, that there was a conspiracy on foot for a
general:massacre of the Christians by the Turks; a
panic took place among the Christian inhabitants,
and there was a great rush for passports : 9,000
were, it is said, granted in two days, and of these,
a considerable number having been obtained fraudu-
lently bly Christian subjects of the Porte, an order
was issued to annul the passports granted, and a
commission was appointed, composed of two Chris-
tians and two Tifrks; who could alone grant pass-
ports in future: At the same time, a notice was'
posted up, that any subject of the kingdom of.
Greece who wished to become a subject of the
Sultan might be allowed to do so, on finding two
respectable persons to guarantee his good conduct.
CONSTANTINOPLE, "April 7.—The declaration of
war by the allied Posiers has reached us, and
though an event long foreseen and hourly expected,
yet it is of so momentous a nature that the excite-
ment and interest equal that produced by the most
startling surprise. At last the anomalous period
of inertness and expectation is at an end, the tran-
sition state from peadi to war has been traversed,
the labours of diplomacy are past, and nothing re-
mains but the swift and stew ly prosecution of a
vigorous war. The world must be made to see
that hostilities, though long delayed and unwil-
lingly undertaken, can be efficiently conducted,
and that, though civilised and peace-loving nations
shrink froin deluging a continent in blood, they
are restrained, not by fear
,of the enemy, but by a
sense of the responsibility incurred by those who
'rashly enter into strife, even though temptee as we
have been. Among those who rejoice most at the
ultimate decision of the. Western PoWers are our
allies the Turks ; for, to say the truth, some doubts
have till nOw been hidden in the depths of their
hearts as to the sincerity of their defenders—doubts
perhaps strengthened by the plain speaking of
4
Parliament and the press as to Christian wrongs I
and Ottoman misgovermient.
The French force which. has• arrived at Gallipoli
includes two Lieutenant-Generals and three Gene-
rals of 'Brigade. They have turned the dervishes
out of their convent, which they are about to con-
vert into an hospital. The men are
.at present
engaged in sinking wells and preparing for the re-
ception of a considerable force. Yet officers, both
French and English, are far from satisfied with
the position of affairs. They complain that neither
the Governments nor the people of the two na-
tions appreciate the magnitude of the struggle,
the vastness of the resources required, the back-
Wardness lof our preparations, and the time that
must elapse before our" armies can act efficiently.
The few French troops -at .Gallipoli are all who
are as yet on Turkish ground ; and even this hand-
ful of men are obliged to borrow Turkish tents to
defend themselves from the weather. The town
itself is not large enough to accommodate 10,0,)0
men without a general expulsion of the inhabitants.
3,000 horses are daily expected, and no place has
been prepared for them—it is even recommended
that a detachment should be sent to cut wood at
Lampsaki, for the purpose of constructing stables.
Three months is considered the shortest time which
must elapse before a, force can be concentrated at
Varna able to take the field with fair prospects, and
if hesitation or timidity find a place in the counsels
of statesmen or generals, the summer may
,be
passing -away before a campaign begins, which
must close, again in October. From the number of
military men here, and the active part which almost
all will have to taxa in the coming struggle, these
matters are continually discussed", and in a closer
and more practical manner than is usual in general
society at home. There certainly does not prevail
in this capital that overweening confidence and that
contemptuous estimate of the Russian power which
are universal at present in London society. On the
contrary, men who know the Danube and .the
Dobrudschaas wellas.the neigh bourhoo, I ofCliaring-
cross are forced to confess the skill and foresight of
the Russian .tactics ; and it is among such chiefly
that I find alarm experienced at the slight concern
which the British public; give themselves as to the
means of carrying on an offensive war against over
whelming numbers, in the heart of a desblate(

country, anti amid' a disaffected population. It
must bb remembere I that Bulgaria has been eaten
up by the _Ottoman armies. For a space of 10
mouths provisions of all kinds have* been taken

from the peasantry, who have not received one
piastre in exchange. Ou this subject misconception
prevails in England, an'il has penetrated even into
the House of Commons. It has been asserted that

the Turks have paid for all they have received. It
is true that acknowledgments have been given, and
that the Bulgarian peasant has a claim on the Trea-
sury of. Constantinople ; but what has taken place
a hundred times will probably occur again. The
unfortunate creditors, sick with deferred hope will
be glad to part with their securities at a tenth of
their value. Then the Armenians tVill go aniong
them, buy up the paper, and offer it to the Porte
at perhaps 25 per cent. of its nominal worth. The
Pashas in power will be induced to accede to the
arrangement -by an offer of half the Armenian's pro-
fits, and everyone will be contented, except the
unhappy peasant who tees the little earnings of
years swept away, and knows that rich men are
growing richer by his own misfortunes. This is
the country through which our armies must pass,
and whence it is expected by some to draw sup-
plies. That it is exhausted is beyond doubt, and
should it xemain tranquil, such a result will be
chiefly due to the recollection' of the Russian atro
cities in 1828, and a feeling. that the little finger of
Muscovite despotism is thicker than the loins of
Ottoman misrule. The necessity of preparations
nn the largest scale for a war of unexampled Obsti-:.
,navy is admitted ^by-all here, and, though the Go-_
verntnent is doubtless well-informed as to the ne-,
cessities of the case, it is to be feared that the
English public, in their admiration of the vast dis-
plays of naval power exhibited by-their fleets, are
Somewhat disposed to forget that the real conflict
must be decided on the Danube, that the offcnsivd

Must bo taken by us, and that anything short of
complete victory is for us a defeat. The measures
aattinst the Hellenic population are being oar-
rred out with unexampled eeverity. Every steamer
that-1som; ~f 9; ayrs, .10 cgoirdlid wat, tiwavw

• VIII 41.

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