The Sun.
London, England, 1854-05-18 00:00:00

TIIE WAR IN TILE EAST.

The balance is already turning against Russia. The
Russian soldiers in the Dobrudscha (as we foretold
some time ago) are dying off like rotten sheep. The
inhabitants of Fokschany have risen in their rear, and
burned their military stores. The accounts we published
some days ago of victories gained over them at several
points on the Danube are confirmed. The military de-
fences and military stores at the Russian Liverpool on
the Euxine—Odessa —have been destroyed. The Russian
Black Sea fleet is cooped up in Sebastopol. The Cir-
cassians have, without losing a moment, occupied and
begun to repair the forts on their coast dismantled and
deserted by their invaders. The French have already
sent arms to these gallant mountaineers, and the English
Are about to send an accredited agent to Scharhyl. These
multiplying disasters of Russia in the South, if earnestly
and promptly ,turned to account by the allies, will soon
disabuse the Russian people of any misconcep,tions in-
stilled into them by official reports of their Government
representing defeats as victorie-. In -the North, too,
i affairs look louring on the Autocrat. He has declared
St. Petersburg in a state of siege, and the suffering and
discontent of the nobles and merchants there grow daily
more alarming; a state of min-I not likely to be paci-
fied by any event reported to us from St. Petersburg—
that on the 9th instant the British fleet had been seen
within thirty miles of Cronstadt, and that a number of
Russian gun-boats had been captured.
In this dawn of promise for the good cause, every in-
dication of increased alacrity and improved organisation
at head-quarters, is hailed with joy. Nor are such in-
dications wanting on this side of the Channel. Under
the new Post-office management measures have already
been adopted for redressing the complaints from the
Baltic fleet of the postage charges and tardy and irre-
gular delivery of letters. A reinforcement of gun-boats
will immediately-be sent off..to the fleet. - -In short, care
is' evidently being taken to increase the efficiency of our
armaments, and to keep our gallant crews in good spirits
and temper. On the part of France, too, some not un-
important movements have to be chronicled. Prince
Napoleon has arrived at Constantinople, where he ap-
pears to be winning golden opinions ; Marshal St.
Arnaud was at Smyrna on the 6th inst., and was ex-
pected to reach Gallipoli on the morning of the 7th ;
and the arrival of M. Bourke, " Minister Plenipoten-
tiary en mission to Constantinople," at Marseilles, is an-
nounced. We have no desire to press hard on a brave
and skilful soldier, but it is re-assuring to learn that
Gen. Baraguay d'Hilliers has been called back to his
professional duties, where he is qualified to be of eminent
service, instead of being allowed to remain at Constanti-
nople, where be has shown himself destitute alike of the
tact and temper required in a diplomatist. " Let bygones
be bygones" has been our maxim throughout these trans-
actions, whenever errors have been put in the way of
amendment, and therefore we will not too critically
scrutinise the palliations alleged for the strangely frac-
tious conduct of the General ; though—with the informa-
tion contained in a letter from Constantinople which we
publish to-day, respecting the vexatious part acted by
him in frustrating the transmission of 5,000 British
troops to Varna and Kustendje—we cannot but rejoice
heartily that others of his countrymen, endowed with
more happy tempers, are about to supersede him in his
present mission. This would• be welcome news, were it
only that it shows that the General's eccentricities are
strictly personal, and have given quite as much annoy-
ance to his own Government as to its allies. But more
important immediate results may be looked for. Forces
under the control of one will have an immense advan-
tage over antagonists whose instructions emanate from
more centres of authority than one ; and the utmost
mutual concession and temper are required on the part
of co-operating allies to neutralise the inequality apt to
arise from this source. _

But while we do justice to the indications of aug-
mented energy and improved management, visible in
some more recent operations of our homy Government,
it world be a dereliction of duty not to continue to prt-ss
upon them the reparation of errors where no amend-
ment is yet apparent. When arguing tho plea-
tion of the comparative efigiblity of steamers and
sailing vessels, as transports for the horses of the
cavalry and artillery, we urged the danger of the animals
being landed in a bad conditien (even such of them as
survived), after being subj cie i to the tedious enleel of
a tardy and uncertain pa'sage in a sailing transport. If
the information conveyed to our Constautineple corres-
pondent be correct, our worst fears in this respect have
beea more than realised. He states that he is iefornied
that the mortality among the horses, on board of one
transport only, hail risen, by the time it reached Malta,
to an average of no less than from 10 to 12 daily. We
would fain nourish the hope that there is exaggeration
here, or that the case will prove exceptional ; but there
is a fact stated in the letter referred to—respecting
which our correspondent cannot have been misinformed,
inasmuch as it has fallen under his own personal appre-
hensiop-calculated, to awaken livel3eut)ea,aittess in con-
riertitin with such it repoit.' Theehirrsi3 Markets, in Con-
.atantinaple and'
known,s.tenat no time supply Cattle of power and blood
equal to the average of the horses required for our cav-
alry and artillery ; and our correspondent adds that these
markets have already been drained of the most available
animals to an extent that will render retnanets costly
and difficult in the event of his news from Malta
proving strictly accurate.- These are considerations
which ought to have the effect of inducing Govern-
ment to revise its judgment as to the class of transports
that ought to be employed for the conveyance of horses
to the East. It will be seen that the French know what
they are about in such matters, for they have bought
three huge English steamers for use as transports.
Another point that cannot be too often or too strongly
insisted upon is the urgent necessity that whatever is to
be done in Greece and the Greek waters should he un-
dertaken without delay. Piracy, with all its old atro-
cities, is making giant strides there. The blood of
peaceful English traders has already been shed, and if
stringent measures of repression are not immediately
adopted, who can tell how much more will be poured
out ! It is enough that the blood of our soldiers and
sailors is freely drained in just and inevitable warfare ;
it is not to he tolerated that the blood of our unoffending
and industrious non-combatants should be added to
the crimson stream. No weight can be attached to
allegations that the reports of piracies in the Archipe-
lago may be exaggerated. We know by sad experience
of old that its creeks and narrow and intricate channels
swarm with ruffians as unscrupulous as ever haunted
the pirate resorts of Cuba. And the mere belief that
Greek piracy is again rearing its head in the Levant
may paralyse the operations of our merchants there to a
far greater extent than any war with Russia. It will
never do to repeat the blunder of 1830, and attempt to
buy off the Greek pirates by adding to the territories of
their race. The measures which effectually put an end
to Spanish piracies in the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of
Mexico, and the adjoining waters, are the only measures
worthy of England, and calculated to afford real protee-
tion,to our trade, that can be adopted in the Grecian
Archipelago.
The puny guerilla marauders and accomplices of
Russia in Greece require only to be earnestly grappled
with in order to their being crushed. And the indica-
tions enumerated in the outset of these remarks prove
that their great instigator may be effectually and spee-
Ry crushed in the same manner. The bear is the typi-
cal animal for Russia as the lion is for England. When
Norwegian huntsmen see the bear advancing to attack
them, they hold the handle of a long sharp knife to their
breast, and commit themselves to his hug. This is a
lesson for us how to deal with the Russian Bruin. Brutes
are no inat:th for men, if men have the courage, self-pos-
session, and alacrity which alone can render them
worthy of the name. Close with the Russian and he
will soon be conquered.—Daily News.