The Sun.
London, England, 1854-09-11 00:00:00

RUSSIAN NEW,

'Z WRITE

The Journal de St. Petcr.thourg of the 31st ult., re»
prints from the Gazette du Gouvernment d'Araangel the
following veracions (?) article on the proceedings of the
White Sea squadron, which, to jadge from the-siience
of the Gazette seems to send home no account of its
operations

"Thu recent naval proceedings of the English in the
Baltic and Black Sea are sufficiently notorious, and in the
opinion of all enlightened men, no matter what may be
their country, are little calculated to reflect honour on the
nation or its flag ; but now, in the White Sea, they are
found carrying out the same system of operations. Towards
the early part of last June English ships of war were en-
countered in that sea by the captainsof foreign vassals and
by our own sailors. On the 14th of that month two
English steam frigates, and one sailing, frigate arrived at
the bar of he port of Archangel. Since then they hays
cruised about those waters in various directions, commit.
ling acts wholly' unworthy of brave and honourable
seamen. .
en the craft
of
oue
loaded with possessr) themselves il'g
"Thus hafivseh, we
in found
order them
to sto
As to the masters and the crews of
i boats themselves.
bravery exercised itself upon
poor spoils, after which they burnt or sunk the fishing-
larger vessels (when their.
in frail boats and without provisions.
the swelling waves
vessels laden with corn, and
sue.h), they have been left to gain the shore by traversing
They have also seized various
by their Government to
tiod of the so!enin Pledge made
1 entire liberty
pledge which guarantee
that of Sweden—a
from_ ports in the White Sea, in viola-
bound fur Norway
from us all her
the latter, as is well known, receiving
1 supplies of wheA.
defenceless villages on the
of commercial intercourse between Russia and Norway,
Whenever they have seen
coasts where they were cruising
for example, the
of pouring in shut and shell. Witness,
any sense of
village a Luzrna. Not only so, but, without
' • they have made a pastime
shame or decency, they have directecltheir piratical cannon
against the monastery of Solovetsky,
known throughout
all Russia, and held in the highest veneration. On the 6th
and 7th July
of the bombs
two'steam-frigates poured a shower of shells
,
on this abode of meditation and prayer, some
it is
being
of 401 b and 801 b. weight. On the first occasion,
true, the bombardment was not of long continuance. The
assailants soon launched a boat, carrying a flag of truce'
arid bearing a written demand for the snrrenderof the con-
vent, with its guns, arms, standards, and military stores,
not forgetting, the garrison—that is, invalids—who were
its inmates. But the Archimandrite Alexander, the
superior of the convent, who had formerly filled the on*
of a military chaplain,
and who up to 1853 had been arch-
priest of the Marine Cathedral of Solombal, sincerely loved
and respected by all who knew him,
was not wanting in
his duty as a faithful son
of Russia and is worthy chief of
that illustrious monastery. He rejected the dishonourable
requisition of the enemy, and defended himself bravely ac-
corng to the extent of the means at his disposal. After
the rejection of their summons the English commanders,
y
for nine consecutive hours, maintained a tremendous firs
on the sacred edifice, which was so protected b Provia
deuce as to sustain only inconsiderable damage. A bat-
tery, hastily constructed on a headland in the vicinity of
the channel, and mounted with three 3-pounders, com-
pelled the steam-frigates to quit their anchorage, and thus
prevented them from making any further attemptto injure
the convent, the walls of which were ancient and strongly
built.

" It is evident that nothing but covetousness incited the
English in this attack. Everybody has heard, through the
description of travellers, of the great wealth of the convent
of Solovetsky, and the English crews hoped for a splendid
prize if they could suceed in taking it. They would, never-
theless, have been egregiously mistaken in their calculations
for precautions had been previously used to place all the
treasure of the convent in a place of safety.
" Nevertheless, the enemy did not go away entirely
empty-handed. Four of the ships crew landed in the little
isle of Zaiatchy, one of the Solovetsky group, and having
forcibly effected an entrance ipto the wooden church, they
broke open the sacred door of the altar, tore the consecrated
cloth which covered it, plundered the poor-box, and also
took away three small bells from the steeple, with which
they regained their ships, which then left the channel, and
steered towards the Gulf of Onega. On the Bth of July
these same vessels were signallised in sight of the village
of Liamitskaia, 65 versts from Onega. The only enemies
they found here were five old men. All the other inhabi-
tants had disappeared. Having killed two oxen, eight
sheep, and several chickens, the English threw the old
men three Russian gold pieces, of 5 roubles each, and,
loaded with provisions thus derisively paid for, they re-
turned to their ships, which on the evening of the same day
presented themselves before the Isle of Kiy, 15 versts from.
Onega. In this island the English heroes covered them-
selves with new laurels. They burnt the Custont-house,
and also the buildings in which the employes and servants
resided. By the light of this conflagration they directed
their triumphant march to the convent of St. Croix,
founded in that island by the venerable patriarch Niece.
In this ancient but poor convent they found nothing in the
shape of booty, but, to recompense themselves for their
ineffectual attempt against Solovetsky, they wished by any
means to carry away something from St. Croix. They
took, therefore, from the treasury ten gold pieces of five
roubles each, also several articles appertaining to the poor
brotherhood, and joiner' to this glorious booty a bell weigh-
ing six pounds, half-a-dozen old brass cannon, completel7
useless, having been kept for 200 years as antique speci-
mens, and 15 rampart muskets of a similar kind. Such
were the precious and glorious trophies taken by the Eng.
lish in their campaign against the monastery of St. Croix.
Soon, however, they awoke to a perception of the merits
of the c.►nnon, and, as if indignant at their blunder. they
broke oue in pieces, threw three into the convent well, and
the remainder into the sea.

" Nevertheless, it must not be believed that they can
always thus act with impunity against the inhabitants of
the coasts. Desiring one day, iu the village of Pousch-
lskhta, to make up the complement of the fresh provisions
which they bad taken in that of Liamtsa, they were dia-
-1 embarking under cover of their guns, and commenced, as
is their usual custom, by opening a discharge of musketry
upon the peasants. These latter, however to the number
of 23, directed Icy two old soldiers who had reentered the
military service, and commanded by the Government
secretary of Volkailf, in conjunction with the chief of the
district of the domains of Kholwogory, were not intimi-
dated, but, on the contrary, so well returned the enemy's
fire, that five were killed on the spot, independently of the
wounded, while our compatriots were uninjured. At
length, the smallness of their number having been dis-
covered, they were obliged to beat a retreat, which they
etre. ted with order, retiring step by step, but still main-
taining a resolute defence. The English, too fatigued to
pursue them further, to revenge themselves for this resist-
ance, set fire to the village, consisting of 40 houses, with
an unpretending wooden church, and then regained their
ships, carrying with them a great portion of the effects of
the inhabitants. The next day they burnt, near the vil-
lage of Lnzma, three fishermen's vessels laden with whoa-
-a worthy finale to all their naval exploits of this cl et
scription.
Such are become the glorious actions of English sailors
in these days !"