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

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SlR,—There is one point connected with the " War
Question," like many others on the same subject, en-
veloped in a cloud of mystery, which undoubtedly may
be highly proper in some cases, but which in my opinion
migl.t, without detriment to the secret service, in this
case have official publicity given to it for the satisfaction
of the public, inure especially that part, whose neare:t
and dearest interests are connected with it. I allude to
the provision made by the Government for the safety of
our Australian mercantile marine, and the emigrant
ships with their precious freights, from Capture by the
Russian frigates now at large, two of which of 50 guns
each, you will be awzire were at Valparaiso by the last.
advices. What would be more easy for them than to
put themselves in the track of our homeward bound ships
by Cape Horn, with their valuable gold freights, and the
capture of one of these galleons would amply repay them
the trouble, and act as a very strong incentive to recom-
mence operations ? A few days more sail would also
bring them in the route of our "outward bounders,"
with their large living cargoes, and from what we know
of the Russians from recent events, their treatment, in
the event of being taken, would be none of the tenderest,
devoid as their captors are both of honour and common
humanity.
I do not assume in these remarks that our interests
are not attended to in this respect, but I certainly think
there should be some definite assurance given that they
really are so, for the tranquilising of a large number of
individuals in this question, amongst whom is—Your
obedient servant, X.
Scarborough, May, 1854.

LETTERS, &c., FOR TILE BRITISH FORCES IN

TURKEY AND THE BLACK SEA.

The French Government having liberally offered to
place the British forces in Turkey and the Black Sea
upon the same advantageous footing with the French
Mediterranean packets, and her Majesty's Government
having accepted this offer, closed mails will hereafter be
sent to the British forces in Turkey by the route of
France ; and all letters and newspapers upon which the
requisite amount of postage has been prepaid will be
sent in these mails, unless otherwise addressed. Upon
the correspondence so conveyed, the followinot. combined
British and French rates of postage must be paid in
advance, viz.

For a letter addressed to an officer of the British army
or navy, or to a noncommissioned officer or private
soldier or seaman in Turkey or the Black Sea—weighing
under oz. 3d. ; weighing oz. and under 1 oz., 6d. ;
exceeding 1 oz , and not exceeding 1 oz., ls. ; exceeding
1 oz. and not exceeding 2 oz., ls 2d. ;
exceeding 2 oz.
and not exceeding 3 oz., is. 4d. ; exceeding 3 oz. an d
under 31 oz., ls. 6d. ; exceeding 31 oz., and not exceed-
ing 4 oz., 2s. 4d. And so on, adding 2d. British for
each additional ounce, and 10d. French postage for
every 31 ounces.
Newspapers will be liable to a postage of 2d. each,
which must also be paid in advance.
As the French mode of charging postage is by the
quarter ounce, it is necessary that a letter should be
under a quarter of an ounce in weight, in order to secure
the advantage of the lowest rate.
The French mail packets leave Marseilles for Constan-
tinople on the Ist, 6th, 11th, 16th, 21st, and 26th of
each month, and the latest period for posting in London
letters and newspapers intended to be forwarded by these
packets will be the evenings of the 3d, Bth, 13th, 18th,
23d, and 28th ; but when the month has 31 days,
letters, &c., may be posted on the 29th instead of the
28th.
Letters must be posted on the previous evenings
when any of the above dates fall on a Sunday.
Letters for soldiers and seamen serving in the British
army or navy in Turkey or the Black Sea may still be
forwarded under the usual regulations for a postage of
one penny, in the British packets by the route of South-
ampton and Malta, and thence by a vessel of war ; but
the opportunities for the transmission of these letters
beyond Malta are necessarily uncertain.

TRANSPORTS SPOKEN.—The Taurus screw steamer,
just arrived at Liverpool front Malta, spoke the follow-
ing transport ships : viz., The Pride of the Ocean (tpt.)
and Melbourne (s.s), both 4th May, 37 N. 6 E.
_,* Arno
(s.s.), 7th, off Malaga; Dunbar, same day, off Gibraltar;
Medway (s.), same day, Gibraltar Bay ; Transport, No.
47, 10th, off Oporto.
THE PORTLAND BAZAAR.—Yesterday and the two
preceding days the committee of the London Ragged
Schools had a fancy fair, under the patronage of the
Earl and Countess of Shaftesbury, at the above well-
known b .zaar, Messrs. Cremer, the proprietors of the
Portland Bazaar, having generously placed at the dis-
posal of the committee for the three days above men-
tioned both ends of their gallery for the sale of the new
patent art toys, made exclusively by the children of the
schools, and also the whole of the profits arising from
the sale of their own valuabse stock during that
period. On Saturday most of the articles made by
the children were privately exhibited at the resi.
deuce of the Earl of Shaftesbury. On Monday the
admission being Is., the attendance was not large,
but 301. were taken at the doors, in addition to a
very considerable sale which was effected in the Bazaar.
On Tuesday the galleries were thrown open to the
public, and above 6,000 persons, among whom were
many members of the aristocracy, visited the Bazaar.
Nearly the whole of the articles manufactured by the
children, and the greater portion of the stock were dis-
posed of during the day. Yesterday, though the at-
tendance was not so largo As on the previous day, the
1 galleries were thronged during the hours ofadmission,
and the whole of the patent toys and remainder of the
stock were sold before the evening. The committee con-
sider the undertaking eminently successful, and arrange
ments are expected to be shortly made with M •ssrs.
Cremer to keep a portion of their bazaar exclusively for
the sale of articles made by the children of the ragged
schools.