The Sun.
London, England, 1854-06-23 00:00:00

A GREAT NAVAL COMBAT IMMINENT.

A letter from Lubeck of the 18th, in Von's
Gazette of Berlin, says :—" According to letters
which have .zrrived this day from Helsingfors, it
was supposed that there would soon be a naval
combat, for the Russian fleet, anchored in that
port, had put to sea. It is, however, possible that
its object is merely to go and protect the fortress
of Sweaborg."

MORE ABOUT BRAHESTAD AND ULEA-
BORG.

• The following is from a Berlin letter :—When
the Basilisk left Sir Charles Napier at Baro
Sound on the 13th, there was nothing known
there of Admiral Plumridge's doings up at the top
of the Gulf of Bothnia. It appears that on the
30th May three steam-frigates anchored in the
roads of Brahestaclt in the afternoon, and sent
about 300 men on shore in boats, who succeeded in
burning the shipbuilding yards, with five vessels of
1,000 lasts, the stock of timber lying about, the tar,
depot containing 12,000 barrels of pitch and tar,
and everything afloat or that might be construed
into connexion with floating craft. The damage at
this spot is estimated at about 350,000 silverroubles.
On the following day the said 3 frigates proceeded
further northward and paid a visit to Uleaborg. On
the first occasion they captured a schooner and some
smaller craft and put out to sea again. On the Ist
of June, however, they returned, now numbering
four frigates, and late in the evening set on fire
all the ship-building works and all the Government
buildings, eight vessels nearly completed. four
vessels somewhat aged, 18,000 barrels of tar, and
all the stock of timber. The damage here is esti-
mated at 400,000 silver roubles (63,0001.) On Ad-
miral Plumridge's approaching the town, four mer-
chants went out to meet him, under a flag of truce,
and begged him to spare the town ; they were
given to understand that all private property would
be spared, and that only Government buildings
and stores would be sacrificed, which was accord-
ingly done. Admiral Plumridge seems to have
issued a proclamation to the following effect :
" The English Admiral will neither injure private
property nor individuals. It is his sole intention to
destroy fortifications and works of defence, and the
property of the Emperor. As long as the inhabitants
remain peacefully in their houses they shall be protected,
but if they should side with the Russian tioops, they
will be treated as enemies. The English Admiral de-
sires the women and children may be sent out of the
town.

" On board her Britannic Majesty's ship Leopard,
IJleaborg, June 1, 1854.
" HENRY PLUMEIDGE, Vice• Admiral."

Accounts from Abo, in the Swedish Aftonbladet
state that it was not till after Brahestadt had been
summoned, without result, to surrender the gun
boats, that the English lauded and took them. A
Swedish brig, Kaleva, was amongst others burned
at Brahestadt. The Swedish Consul protested
against Swedish property being injured, but was
answered, six weeks time had been given for neutrals
to clear out, and uow it was too late. Gamla-Karle by,
where it was understood that 1,000 men infantry
and Cossacks were stationed, was represented in
these accounts as the next place to. be visited. The
Kreuz Zeitung tells us, however, that the English,
on hearing of this amount of garrison, turned back
and left Gamla-Karleby unmolested. Our coun-
trymen have since been to Ijo, and have sent boats
up the river to reconnoitre it, but neither here nor
at Tornea has any damage been done to the enemy.
The following is the official Russian notification
of the capture of Brahestad. and Uleaborg, given
in the Finnish Gazette of the Bth :

" BRAHESTAD.—On the 30th of May, at 9.10 a.m., the
English steam-frigates Leopard, Odin, and Tribune
arrived, each carrying from 16 to 11 guns. After enter-
ing the roads, a force of from 80 to 100 men landed, in
ten or twelve boats, some of them armed with cannon,
and set on fire the ship-wharf, the tar depot, and the
vessels lying in the harbour. The enemy, with an officer
at their head, examined all the magazines, and announced
that the town itself had nothing to fear, but that every-
thing comprehended under the term contraband of war
should be destroyed, as the wharf and tar had been.
The fire still continued at half past six p.m., when this
intelligence was sent oft. The Crown corn magazines
were still uninjured, and it was hoped that the flames
would not spread. The foe bad retired.
" ULEABORG.—At ten in the evening, on the Ist of
June, four English steamers anchored in our roads, and
at twelve a number of men wero landed by seventeen
boats. After remaining on land till one in the morning,
the enemy set fire to seven vessels which were building,
and several others which were lying at anchor, as also
the tar-depot, containing a large quantity of that ma-
terial, together with a great mass of timber, planks,
deals, beams, &c., partly for ship-building, and partly,
for exportation. At hall-past two in the morning the
fire was not quite extinguished, and the foe was still in
the roads."
Up to the 28th of May no attack had been made
against the coast. Major-General Moller had
caused some English earthworks on the Moskar,
abandoned by them, to be destroyed. They con-
tained no cannon.
Th 9 Walphemous prayer* for the mom of the

Czar in his wicked war, and for the universal
spread of the Greek religion, are read in all the
Lutheran churches.

COPENHAGEN, June 17.—The " Royal Swedish
College of Commerce" has now been pleased to de-
clare LiMerick and. the other Irish harbours free
from cholera, with th 3 exception of all the ports in
Cork and Waterford. The cholera has never yet
left Stockholm, and this the King and his " Royal
Swedish College of Commerce " know well enough.
The proposed abolition of the liberty of the press
by the present reactionary Swedish Government
has produced an immense and most melancholy
sensation all over the country. In the Gulf of
Bothnia, Lapmark, &c., there is now full spring,
or rather full summer, which has arrived a fort-
night earlier than usual. The steam-corvette
Oradd will leave Carlskrona, in full trim, in a day
or two.

The fortifications of Enholmen, the little island
which protects Slitey harbour, in Gotland, are ra-
pidly proceeding. The bastion is quite ready, and
is armed with six 7-inch bomb cannon, and twenty-
four 24-pounders. The two casemated strand bat-
teries are being proceeded with, and, when finished,
each of them will receive 12 bomb cannon.
The fleet which carried King Oscar to Gothlaud
consisted of the liners Carl XIII., Gefle, and Prince
Oscar ; the frigates Eugenie, Desiree Desideria,
and Freja ; the steam-corvettes Thor, iTidaros, and
Valkyrian ; the corvettes Ellida and ordstjernan ;
and the cutter-brig Norden-Skiold. It is 230 years
4uce Gothland was visited by a crowned head, and
it was then under Denmark ; it had the honour of
receiving the Danish King Christian IV.
On the Ist inst. the Pigmy came into Farey
Sound, and left for the fleet on the 2d.
On the 2d, the steam-frigate Cruiser, Captain
Douglas, came in from the fleet, and returned on
the 4th ; as also the steam-corvette Rosamond,
Captain Woodhare, which returned on the 3d, and
came back to Farey on the sth. On the same day
three prizes were brought in—the Norwegian
schooner Nornen, Captain Dahl, bound to Bergen,
with rye and hemp ; the Dutch koff Jeane Marie,
Captain Hallo, homeward-bound, with rye and
hemp ; and the Dutch koff Junge Alberts, Captain
Wandezee, homeward-bound, with timber and
hemp ; all three from Riga.
On the sth, the Royal George, Captain Cod-
rington ; the Rosamond ; the frigate Nile, Captain
Martin ; and the frigate James Watt, Captain
Elliot, 'arrived here. They rejoined the fleet on
the 6th, after having coaled. The Rosamond also
took 40 live oxen.

On the 7th, the Magicienne, to fetch 60 living
oxen ; the Ajax, Captain Warden ; and the Ma-
jestic, Captain Hope, arrived at this place.

ST. PETERSBURG.
Private letters from the Russian capital state
that, in his intercourse with his aides-de-camp and
chief military officers, the Czar gives full scope to
his feelings of irritation and disappointment, and
renews the bitter reflections on the character of
Russian functionaries which were so common in
the mouth of the late Emperor Alexander. To
others, however, the Czar assumes a tone more
confident than ever, speaks of the noble spectacle
of calm, majestic self-reliance which Russia is
about to present to the world, and promises the
most glorious results for the Russian arms.
The National Gazette of Berlin has the following
from St. Petersburg, 11th :
" For some days the troops are being withdrawn from
the Narwa, and concentrating themselves round St.
Petersburg. It is said that Hogiand is occupied by
Russian troops. The rich inhabitants of the Russian
capital have been lately making excursions as far as
Helsingfors and Ekness, and even as far as Revel and
Ballisch port in order to obtain information as to the
operations of the Anglo-French fleet. This curiosity has
given rise to very severe observations on the part of the
police. In addition to the division of the guard, there
are also at St. Petersburg and neighbourhood the re-
serve of the light artillery, the third and fourth batta-
lions of the reserve, and the fifth and sixth battalions of
the grenadiers, of whom two divisions are in Poland.
Two divisions of the Russian Baltic fleet are at Cron-
stadt, and one division near Sweaborg. Tho Gulf of
Finland is' full of small vessels of war. The troops sta-
tioned on the southern coast as far as Baltic-port, and
on the northern coast as far as Helsingfors, are ready to
march at the first call."

WHAT AUSTRIA AND PRUSSIA WILL
DEMAND FROM RUSSIA.

A letter from Vienna of the 17th, in the Breslau
Gazette, says :

"It is remarkable that, although the reply of the
Cabinet of St. Petersburg to the Austrian note has not
yet arrived, rumours are spread here that the Czar will
be disposed to make concessions, which have for their
object to sound official circles as to whether the
Vienna Cabinet will not content itself with the evacu-
ation of the Principalities and with not exacting guar-
antees for the future. Thus the report is spread to-day
that Prince Paskiewitsch has received from St, Peters-
burg orders to cause his army to retire to the Russian ter-
ritory, under shelter of the frontier fortresSes. Those per-
sons, however, who spread these rumours may convince
themselves that the Cabinet of Vienna, in accord with
the Cabinet of Berlin, will not content itself with a
simple evacuation of the Principalities ; but that it will
require with the Western Powers that those provinces.
shall cease to be under the arbitrary power of Russian
policy, and shall be placed under the protection and
guarantee of a European treaty. They might also con-
vince themselves that the question of the expenses of the
war will be of difficult solutiOn, as the Western Powers
persist in making it one of the first demands on Russia.
We are assured, besides, from a good source, that even
the complete evacuation of the Principalities will not
embarrass Austria, for she has come to an understanding
oa this eventuality both with Prussia and the Western
Powers ; and the communications on the subject in the
interview at Teschen were satisfactory."