The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-12 00:00:00

CONSTANTINOPLE.

CONSTANTINOPLE, APRIL s.—The city has been
illuminated for a victory over the Russians.
Fears are entertained of a rising of the Greek
population.
The fleet is at Baltshik.

The news of the declaration of war by England
and France against Russia has produced the
greatest enthusiasm here.
A letter from Constantinople of the 30th ult.
states that the news of the passage of the Danube
by the Russians was known there. The English
and French Admirals on reaching Kavarna on the
25th learnt that a corps of 30,000 Russians, com-
manded by General Luders, had crossed the Da-
nube at Hirsova, near Matchin, on the 21st and
22d. They immediately despatched an English
steamer to Constantinople with the news, where
she arrived on the 27th. It was at once commu-
nicated to the Council, which was then sitting at
the Porte.

This event having been foreseen caused less sen-
sation than it would otherwise have done ; the
Greeks, however, and the Russian party put the
most aosurd reports in circulation. Among others
that the army of Omer Pasha had been completely
destroyed, and that the Russians were in full march
on Constantinople.
The movement of the Russians is not regarded
by military men as one which would cause any un-
easiness, as if Omer Pasha remains on the defen-
sive, it will be easy for him, with the forces at his
disposal, to oppose the progress of the enemy.
An aide-de-camp of Omer Pasha arrived at Con-
stantinople on the 29th, and had an immediate
conference with the Seraskier. It was said that he
had come for the purpose of obtaining from the
Government an authorisation to give battle to the
Russian troops who have crossed the river, and to
attempt to drive them back to the other side. The
Superior Military Council was convoked in the
night to consider the proposition of Omer Pasha,
but no decision had been come to when the latter '
left.
The English Ambassador, on receiving the ac.
count of the movement of the Russians, despatched
a steamer to Malta, to hasten the departure of the
troops remaining there, and those which might ar-
rive. The allied squadrons quitted the anchorage
'AU-Tama, and prooggdoed t 9 th 9 Jiioky of 1141,0 thick,

3t) III:4 few miles to the southw,rd, a 8 the former
place was not sufficiently safe for the ships. cs-e-
-ral vessels had, it is said, been sent to Odessa to
demand the release of some merchant vessels, which
had been illegally detained in that port.
Accounts had reached Constantinople that the
Greek insurgents in the Epirus had been de-
feated, and that for the moment the insurrec-
tion was making no further progress in the in.
teflon When M. Metaxa, the Greek Envoy at
Constantinople, was told that be might have his
passports, and that he must inform his fellow
subjects that they had to quit Constantinople in
three weeks, he went successively to the ambassa-
dors of England and France to beg them, in the
name of his Sovereign, to take the Greek subjects
under their protection ; but his application was re-
jected in a manner to prove to him that the con-
duct of his Government had inspired a strong feel-
ing of dissatisfaction. It was thought that the
Belgian Minister would be charged with the tem-
porary protection of the Greek subjects.
On the 29th the Porte addressed a memorandum
to all the ambassadors, informing them that under
existing circumstances it was necessary that the
police should be organised on a new footing, and
begging them to second the Turkish Government in
the execution of that useful project.
The Journal de Constantinople of the 29th states
that, on the 24th, an English steamer appeared
before the port of Varna, but the usual signals not
having been at first understood, a shot was fired at
her, as she was suspected to be a Russian one under
false colours. Explanations were at length ex-
changed, and she entered the port. On the fol-
lowing day two other French and English steamers
arrived, each bringing a battalion of Turkish
infantry formed on the model of the Chasseurs de
Vincennes. The Egyptian corps which were at
Schumla have been sent to the Dobrutscha, and
are to take up their quarters at Kousgoun.