The Sun.
London, England, 1854-10-28 00:00:00

TURKEY.

CONSTANTINOPLE, Oct. 15.—The Landon papers
of the 3d of October, which I have before me, give
a strikinginstance of the credulity and over-anxiety
of the people in England. Because a battle had
been gained in the Crimea, Sebastopol itself must
needs have been taken on the following day.
The last accounts from the Crimea reach to the
13th, and are, I am sorry to say, scarcely favourable
enough to meet the expectations of a sanguine
British public. The telegraph will already have
announced to you that Eupatoria has again fallen
into the possession of Russia.
The French Government has spent 40,0001. in
appropriating the hospitals here. They have three—
one at Pera, and two over at Constantinople.
Every place in France has been drained of mili-
tary surgeons, where they at all times have a large
staff. For instance, at the 116pital de Lille there
are usually four surgeons and ten assistant sur-
geons. At present they have only left one military
surgeon there, giving over the care of the wards to
the civil practitioners of the town. The Val de
Grace great military school and hospital, at Paris,
has been entirely drained, the whole of its personnel
having been sent to Constantinople, to attend
upon the army of the East. This hospital was
established for preparing men already possessed
of the usual diploma for the particular service of
military surgery and medicine. Four of its pro-
fessors and all the pupils have been sent out here.
Altogether there are upwards of 100 French physi-
cians and surgeons in attendance iu their hospitals,
• whilst our medical staff over at Scutari scarcely
numbers 20. The French hospitals are in excellent
order, and nothing is wanting. The cause of all
this does not lie with the personnel or the chiefs of
our medical department, but must be traced to our
antiquated and unpractical system.
=We read in the Moniteur :—" The Minister of
Foreign Affairs has received through the French
Charg6 d'Affaires at Constantinople, under date of
the 14th October, a report from M. M. Levy,
director of the hospital service of the East, con-
taining the most satisfactory information as to the
state of the sick and wounded."
The Indus steamer left Constantinople on the

11th for the Crimea with 500 French and English
soldiers on board, who had been cured of the
wounds they had received in the battle of the
Alma.

THE WAR ON THE DANUBE.
The Lloyd of Vienna says :—" A letter from
Jassy of the 20th states that the two Grand-Dukes
Nicholas and Michael arrived on the previous day
at the head-quarters of Prince Gortschakoff, com-
mander-in-chief of the troops concentrated on the
Austrian frontier at Kichenew, in Bessarabia, and
that they are to assume the command of divisions.
From a Berlin letter of the 25th we find the
following :—" The reports of the Russians having
again assumed the offensive, by throwing a body
of troops across the Danube, can surprise no
one save those who, like the framers of the last
Prussian note, deem it impossible that Russia
will depart from her strictly defensive decla-
rations. The report has, it is said, caused
great embarrassment here, not only because it
casts ridicule upon the tranquillising confidence
of the Prussian Cabinet, but because the change
from defence to offence tends directly to revive
the eventualities of the April treaty, which
tilt Prussian note looks upon as beyond the
range of recurrence. But it is rumoured that,
supposing the report to be verified, the Cabinet
intends to set this offensive movement down
to the score of defensive strategical measures ;
to make a distinction between offensive action in
the Dobrudscha and demonstrations againstVarna,
and offensive action in the principalities, or across
the Danube higher up. It was natural (said the
note of the 13th) that Russian territory being
invaded (at the distance of several hundred
miles in the Crimea), and the frontier menaced
elsewhere, the Imperial Guards and all disposable
troops should be thrown forward to the Austro-
Polish and Austro-Russian frontier. Even the
belligerents (added the note) could see no cause for
apprehension of aggression from these innocent
movements. So, no doubt, similar arguments will
be employed in case the Russians should advance
towards Varna ; and at all events the eventualities
laid down in the April treaty will be turned by
falling back upon the two absolute cases
bclli—
that is, the passage of the Balkan and the incorpo-
ration of the principalities."