The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-15 00:00:00

THE BALTIC.

HAMBURG, Jan. 12.—Under the head of news
from St. Petersburg, of the sth instant, we have
a communication from Helsingfors, under date
of the 20th of December, stating that some ves-
sels belonging to the allied squadrons still re-
mained in the waters of the Baltic ; that on the
15th of that month three frigates and two steamers
were at anchor off Hango roads ; and finally, it is
stated that an English steamer had captured,
near a place called Ute, six Finnish vessels, send-
ing the crews thereof on shore at the same-
mentioned point, with the exception of one man
whom, for certain reasons, they had detained as
prisoner on board of the steamer.
The last of the English frigates that were known
to have been off Hango-Udd, and with some of the
officers of which I even spoke in this city on
the 11th of December, were the Imperieuse and
Euryalus, and they left the Gulf of Finland on the
2d of December, arriving at Kiel on the 10th, on
their way to England, where they arrived, / be-
lieve, on the 15th. The sudden frost at the end of
November compelled these frigates to leave the
point in question, with some difficulty through the
ice, on the 2d of December, and independently of
this, the blockade of the Russian ports had been
raised by the 10th of December.
The sudden change in the weather has been most
extraordinary this winter. On the 6th inst. we had
a hard frost, and on the 7th the glass pointed to
rain, which positively fell on the night of the 7th
and the Bth. On the 10th a change to snow oc-
curred ; and on the morning of the 11th the ground
was covered therewith some inches, snow continu-
ing to fall all day yesterday slightly, with a south-
westerly wind. This morning the windows were
covered with a firm and thick coating of ice, and it
is freezing now between 10 to 12 degrees of Reau-
mur, and the wind north.

The Moniteur de la Flotte publishes the fol-
lowing letter, dated from the Coast of the Baltic,
3d inst. :

" An extraordinary levy of seamen for the northern
fleet in the Baltic provinces has been decreed by the MEP'
peror. These seamen are principally intended to form
the crews of the flotilla which the Russian Government
is preparing, and is toarm immediately after the ice melts.
They are to be assembled at Cronstadt in the beginning
of February, and are to constitute a new naval division,
under the command of Vice-Admiral Yepanschin, who
is charged with its organi-ation. The Grand Doke
Constan:ine carefully superintends the completion of the
screw war ships he was the first to introduce into the
Russian Navy. He also bestows much attention on the
material of the artillery, which will be truly formidable.
The great foundry at St. Petersburg works day and
night. Three additional workshops have been opened
in the new arsenal, which are to commence opera-
tions in the beginning of January. There is also
very great activity observable in the pyrotechnic
department at Cronstadt, which has just been
placed under the direction of Colonel Pichelstein.
The stockade works and all those relative to the esta-
blishment of obstacles in the different passes are sus-
pended in consequence of the ice, but will be resumed
the moment the mild weather sets in. The population
along the coast appears to be alarmed at their situation,
and the Russian Government itself, notwithstanding its
strenuous exertions to organise means of defence, is a
prey to the greatest difficulties and preoccupations."