The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-18 00:00:00

ARRIVAL OF - BRITISH TROOPS IN THE

DARDANELLES.

GALLIPOLI, Wednesday night, April s.—The
screw steamer Golden Fleece, Captain Stewart,
which left Malta at 5 o'clock a.m. on Friday last,
entered the mouth of the Dardanelles at 7.50 p.m.
to-night, and anchored off Gallipoli, on the European
side of the straits, at 12 o'clock at night—all well.
The men will be disembarked to-morrow, if possible,
and encamp in th:3 neighbourhood. On board are
the following officers :—lst divigion, staff—Lieu-
tenant-General Sir George Brown; Lieutenant.-
Colonel Sullivan, Assistant Adjutant-General ;
,Captain Hallowell, 28th Regiment, Assistant
Quartermaster-General ; Captain Macdonell, Ist
battalion Rifle Brigade, A.D.C. ; Captain Whit-
more, 30th Regiment, A.D.C. ; Staff-Surgeon, Ist
class, Alexander. Of the Royal Engineers there
are Lieut.-Col. Victor (commanding), Capt. Gibb,
Capt. Hassard, Lieut. Elphinstone, Lieut. G. R.
Lempriere, Lieut. Anderson, Lieut. Graham,
Lieut. Martin, Lieut. Drake, Assistant-Staff=
Surgeon Francis Smith (attached). Royal Sappers
and Miners—ten serjeants, four buglers, 181 rank
and file. Of the Rifle Brigade (21 battalion) there
are Lieutenant.-Colonel Lawrence, Major Nor-
cott, Major Bradford, Captain Elrington, Captain
the Earl of Erroll, Captain Hammond, Captain
Inglis, Captain Fyers, Captain Hon. W. Colville,
Lieut. Hon. J. Stuart, Lieut. Nixon, Lieut.
Balfour, Lieut. Bowles, Lieut. Markham, Lieut.
Yonge, Lieut. Windham, Lieut. Alexander, Lieut.
Egerton, Lieut. Thynne, Lieut. Hon. H. Camp-
bell, Lieut. Lord F. L. Gower, Staff-Paymaster
Newbury, Lieut. and Adjutant Ross, Quartermaster
Gough, Surgeon H. Anderson, Assistant-Surgeon
F. Reynolds, Assistant-Surgeon Sanders, 39 ser-
geants, 15 buglers, 774 rank and file, Capt. New-
degate, Lieut. Warren, Lieut. Malcolm, 7 ser-
geants, 2 buglers, and 122 rank and file, are on
their way to join head-quarters in the Sir George
Pollock. There are 7 women with the Rifle Brigade
—no children. With the Sappers and Miners there
are 12 women and 5 children. No casualty of any
kind occurred during the voyage.
The following extract of a letter from Constanti-
nople, dated April 5, says :—" The turn which
events have been taking during the iast few weeks
is, to say the least, not encouraging. Complications
are on the increase. The latest news from Greece,
and from the provinces of Thessaly and Epirus, is
not favourable to the Ottoman arms, and it is to be
foreseen that the news of the passage of the Danube
by a large Russian army will give a fresh stimulus
to the insurrection. The consequences of a Russian
victory on this side of the Danube may be easily.
imagined. Bulgaria would rise, and, in fact, the in-
surrection become general throughout Turkey in
Europe. The great event of the day here is the depar-
ture of the Greek envoy, and the resolution of the
Porte to expel all subjects of Greece from the Sul-
tan's dominions. Fifteen days' time has been given
them to depart. For the last few days the resi-
dence of the Greek Minister and the Hellenic Con-
sulate has been besieged by hundreds of Greeks,
all clamorously demanding the necessary papers for
their departure. This measure is by many viewed
inaPolitie, as the bulk of these men will, it may
Lbe presumed, join the standard of revolt as soon
43 they put their hot out of the Ottoman Territory,

It is, however, impossible to foresee the turn of
events ; and after all, the presence of from 20,000
to 25,000 known enemies at the capital is not an
agreeable circumstance for the Turks to reflect upon.
Great fears are entertained that something may be
attempted by the Greeks before they leave Con-
stantinople. Yesterday several intendiaries were
arrested, and a regular conspiracy is said to have
been discovered. It were an easy matter to burn
down this vast wooden city, and, once litin several
places it could not be put out, but would soon
crackle up into one hue() blaze, and there would be
an end to Stamboul. hug()
of the Greeks will
be ruined by this sudden order to leave a place in
which they were bred and born. Though Greeks,
and subjects of King Otho, they know no other
home. It will fall heavily and be felt severely by
all classes, but mostly so by the small trading peo-
ple, whose every resource is thus cut off. The
rabble do not care. They have nothing to apse. A
good many have already left. They have received
money from a Greek fund. What will all these
people do when they arrive in Greece ? Men with-
out private fortune will find no resource there.
What can they do ? In all probability they will
join the insurrection. This Greek revolution is a
very serious matter, and seems to be only at its
commencement. With reference to the Greek in-
surrection, it were useless to enter into lengthy re-
flections. The war with Russia is not a question
of nationalities ; and though patriotic feeling will
be drawn, and religious zeal and fanaticism be
made" a handle of, the solution of these problems
is not at issue. England and France are at war
with Russia. We are at the commencement of
a gigantic struggle with a powerful empire. Let
Englishmen bear in mind that every Greek
insurgent adds another soldier to the army
of the Czar ; and that, practically speak-
ing, our brave troops will have to meet greater
odds in proportion as the insurrection spreads
through the Turkish provinces. The calamities
of a war such as the present are dreadful to
think of. Already populations are being put
to the sword, villages burnt, and whole pro-
vinces exposed to rapine and plunder ; and we are
only at the very beginning of a contest which will
be prolonged, God knows how long, and the end of
which no man can foresee. National animosities
and fanaticism will play a great part in the tragedy;
and whilst the great Powers are contending for the
mastery, the whole of Europe may be plunged into
intestine discord. The Czar is preaching a crusade.
His iegions are led on in the name of Christianity.
Ho is stirring up the religious element throughout
the Ottoman empire. The great question is, how-
ever, not to be lost sight of ; and religion has in
reality nothing to do with it. Is Europe to
look calmly on, whilst a great empire tramples
upon the international rights of nations ? Can
wholesale aggression be permitted ? The Western
Powers must oppose the progress of Russia in the
East,'and it is to be hoped that they will effectually
succeed in doing so. The time which has been threat-
ening for many a year has come sooner than was
generally anticipated. Better now than later.
Constantinople may be said to be in a state of
siege. The strictest police regulations are being
enforced. Everybody has to be at home by eleven
o'clock at night. If any one be out after that time, he
is taken to the guard-house, and kept a prisoner
for the night. After dark everybody must have a"
lantern. These measures are strictly necessary.
The place is full of villains and thieves. The
night before last three men were murdered, and
for the last three months the houses at Pera have
been broken into by the dozen. Last week the
head of a bashi-bozouk (irregular horseman) was
found in a well near one of the mosques, over at
Stamboul. They stuck it on a barrel for general
inspection and recognition. A commission has
been named to superintend the departure of the
Greeks, and I am happy to say that the Porte
has, to a certain extent, modified the order of ex-
pulsion. Those persons will be allowed to remain
who can certify their good conduct, and pro-
duce two good sureties. In that case they will be
regarded as Christian subjects of the Porte,
‘4 rayahs," with some especial considerations.
This has been obtained in order to prevent,the down-
right ruin of some of the resepectable families.
It will, however, have a very limited application.
The thousands of Greeks who came to Constanti-
nople, and have been established here for the last
sixty years, will have to pay for the hostile acts of
their fellow-countrymen. These are the evils of war
and insurrection. The Russians in the forts or.
the Danube have been amusing themselves by fir-
ing at British merchant vessels. Three were seri-
ously damaged by them. One, I believe the Bed-
lington, was sunk, and a sailor shot through the leg.
Everybody here is eagerly looking out for the arri-
val of the troops ; and it is said that the Turkish
ladies have expressed much curiosity, and are very
anxious to see the Caledonian mountaineers sans
cullotte.