The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-25 00:00:00

public mind within the last two months. At that
period there were few who believed in the possibility
of war on an extensive scale. Now that all illusion
has vanished, only one thing surprises and afflicts
the public, and that is, that hostilities do not go on
far more rapidly . The first question asked by every
one you meet is no longer about protocols or notes
—about hopes and prospects of a compromise, or of '
the Emperor Nicholas yielding—but whether the
Russian fleet is yet destroyed, whether Cronstadt is
yet taken, or at all events bombarded—whether
Odessa has surrendered, or whether the Anglo-
French flag yet waves over the battlements of So has-
topol. It is in vain to say that such exploits are not
the work of a moment, and that regard must be
had to the distance of places, and to the difficulties
that must be encountered, and which require time
to overcome. But neither the obstacles raised up by
art nor the more formidable impediments offered by
nature are sufficient to explain the delay in the
consummation which at no period has been more
devoutly wished for than at the present. The he-
nest bourgeois of the faubourgs has seen in th e minor
theatres of the Boulevards representations (-A* vari-
ous stages of the war—Citate, Kalafat, and 01 tenitza
—in all which the Russians are, of course, ex termi-
nated to a man, and the Turks triumphantly ,mter-
inu Bessarabia ; and he is unwilling to believe that
the real campaign is, after such a length of time, 11(3tz.
yet so advancedas the mimic representation 01
them would lead him to suppose. He carries his
difficulty of belief to such a point that he atu.ally
becomes scurrilous if some one—of course a con-
cealed partisan of Russia—hints that even_ now
there may be found lingering in London or Parie
a few who should have been at Gallipoli or Shumie
long since. Sir Charles Napier appears to be the
general favourite, and one in whom the greatest
hopes are centred, and from whom the greatest
things are expected. All the other chiefs, militarY
or naval, home or foreign, sink before him. The
Paris bourgeois is intimate with all the pecul
iari-
ties of the gallant Admiral. That Napier should
fail in anything he may attempt is an idea which
has never entered his head, and if the annihilat ion
of the Russian fleet of the north, so long expected
and so long postponed, is not yet consummated,
it is because the hero of the anticipated triun2ph
must be " indisposed."
Upon the whole it is gratifying to know that not
only do the people become every day Lnore and
more convinced of the necessity and justice of the
war, but that the alliance with England becomes
daily more popular. The only parties who. oppose
the policy of England and France are the jaL trtisans
of the fallen dynasties, who looked to Russia for
the restoration of the Bourbons, and who look with
dislike on everything that can strengtheti
Napoleon in his present position.
Public securities and railway shares exhibited
much firmness yesterday. The Three per Cents. -
closed at 63f. 70c. for the end of the month ; the
Four-and-a-Half per Cents. at 901. 50c.; and the
New Loan at 64f. 35c. ; Orleans Railway Shares/
1,055 f.; Rouen, 837 f. 50c. ; Havre, 407 f. 50c.; Grunt
Northern, 740 f. ; Strasburg, 730 f. ; New Shares,
537 f. 50c.; Paris to Lyons, 807 f. 50c.; Lyons te
the Mediterranean, 663 f. 75c. ; Western of France,
557 f. 50c. ; Bordeaux to Cette, 510 f. ; Groat
Central of France, 402 f. 50c. ; Bank of Credit
Mobilier, 505 f.

ITALY.
Sardinia recently made amicable advances
Austria. The latter power demanded the dismissal
of the refugees, the regulation of the press, ani "
confiscation of conventual property, which terra°
were declined by Sardinia.
According to letters from Turin of tho 22d, the
new loan has been more than covered by- the sub'
scriptions of the capital and the provinces.
The Augsburg Gazette learns that heir Berl
Highness the Regent of Parma becomes more
popular from day to day. The possessions of eul:
ritable institutions, and even of individuals, Which
had been most unjustly seized by the Goveri meat,
have been restored, and an indemnification l'or the
loss will be given. Not only has a decree of the
late Sovereign, in virtue of which every s rabic, ev
was to have subscribed 40 per cent. of his In:
come to the forced loan, been abolished, b!:
the unlimited power of issuing exchequer bills
has been taken from the Finance Department'
A loan of 2,400,000 lire (Bd.) will now be
raised on the domain of the Crown and the private
possession of the Ducal family. The shares will he
for 500 and 1,000 lire, the whole loan to be
paid oft
in four years, at the rate of 600,000 lire per se"
num. The Royal establishment has also been
greatly reduced. The correspondent makes sore°
reflections on a sale of State domains worth
2,000,000, for 100,000 lire, which do credit neither
to the deceased Sovereign, nor to his disgraced
Minister, Baron Ward, who was the purchaser.