Volitint &Innings.
TERMS or PrakcE WITH Russia.—Every year that the strife continues will lead us to a clearer comprehension of the deep-laid projects of Russia, and the extent of her means and preparations for carrying them into effect, and the nature of the measures which will be needed to counteract them. At present two points only seem to us imperative and clear,—the Crimea must, under no circumstances and on no conditions, be restored to Russia ; and her Trans-Caucasian conquests must be wrested from her. To give back the Crimea, after we have wrenched it from the grasp of the aggressor, would be to announce to the world, either that we had never been in earnest in our purpose of restraining him, or that we are utterly blind as to the means of doing so. The Crimea commands both the Sea of Azoff and the Euxine. Sebastopol is the only harbour in that stormy and inclement ocean wherein a powerful navy can ride in safety. Whoever holds that, holds actual possession of all the bordering provinces, and can menace them or ravage them at pleasure. As long as Russia kept it, she could issue from it during the fine weather, descend on the coast of Circassia, Turkey, or Asia Minor, commit any devastation or foray that she pleased, and retire to her stronghold before tidings of her expedition had reached the Bosphorus. From it she could at any moment send forth a force sufficient to seize or to destroy Constantinople ; and that once done, it would not be difficult for her, by sinking vessels, fixing chains, and laying down other impediments, to make it nearly impossible for the Allies of Turkey to force their way up the nar- row strait between the Seraglio Point and Scutari. At Sebastopol she may accumulate (as she has done) such vast materials of war, she may there complete in silence and at leisure such enormous preparations for conquest, as would defy any resistance that Turkey could make, and might almost set at nought (as we have found to our cost) the most strenuous efforts of the Western Powers. In a word, it is now notorious that Sebastopol has not only been the great arsenal of Southern Russia, but the instrument to which she has always looked for the accomplishment of her far-seeing project of ambition and aggrandizement. It is that without which she is powerless— with which she is irresistible. Place it in the hands of a neutral, or a rival, and Turkey is safe from future seizure ; restore it to Russia, and nothing but an European war, :sr sangidnariand as &huh as this, can rescue her victim.-21-orth .13rit1sk Review.
BETTLEMMIT OF THE PianrereAmms.---The Danubian Principalities are as they were months ago. The Austrians are still at Bucharest ; nobility and people still show their diSlike, and make known their complaints pub- licly or secretly, according to their station or courage. The political condi- tion of the country is as unsettled as ever. There is a Hospodar with no power but for petty. oppression or intrigue, and a Turkish Commmaioner who makes known no wishes, because he knows that they would not be attended to. The Austrian officers are supreme over all but their own soldiers, who still commit excesses of which it is useless and even dangerous to complain. It is now nearly a year since the Four Points of the Allies were made known to the world ; more than six months have elapsed since the first of them was accepted by all the belligerent Powers. The united protectorate of four empires over those provinces is now morally part of the public law of Eu- rope. The sovereign of the country, his two allies, and the state which es- sayed the part of a mediator, have now to decide the future condition of 4,000,000 of souls, the inhabitants of a most fertile land, placed in a posi- tion of importance and danger, desirous of some independence, and co- veted by the great military monarchy against which the West is in arms.
Yet no advance is made to a solution of the difficulty It may be said that the Allies are sufficiently engaged in fighting the Russians, and that these things must be settled afterwards. But there is no reason that statesmen should neglect certain branches of public affairs because the in- terest of the world is not warm on the subject. Let the War Secretary and his subordinates, the Commander-in-chief and his officers, devote themselves to the struggle about which the public reads, talks, and thinks; but Ministers for Foreign Affairs, Ambassadors, and Consuls, may well employ their time in arranging those matters which more especially concern the future settle- ment of the countries which are the seat of war or occupation Russian power is for the time at an end ; but if the form of government and the habits if not the sympathies of the people have any force, it will be revived as soon as the pressure of the war ceases. It is therefore the duty of the Western Powers to settle the future political position of the country, and the present time is remarkably opportune for the purpose. Stirbey and Ghika, the Hospodars of the two provinces, were raised to power in 1849, in accord- ance with the convention of Balta Liman, made at the time of the so-called revolution which led to the penultimate Russian occupation. They were appointed for seven years, and their term of office expires next May. Six months remain for the creation of a respectable government and the rein- statement of civil authority. It is obvious that such an opportunity of legiti- mate change should not be lost. The Allies are now not only able, but bound to interfere; if they allow the question to be settled without them,they commit
a positive abdication of rights assented to by five Powers of Europe The interest of Austria, i no less than her duty, should urge her to settle Moldo- Wallachian affairs. It s necessary for her safety that she should be a strong Danubian Power, not by incorporation of outlying provinces, but by their insured safety and neutrality. In any future protectorate, her part must be great, and will be greater in proportion as she shows her views to be in ac- cordance with the real welfare of the protected state. It is thus only that she can count on a free outlet for her commerce in the Black Sea, and de- velopthe communications she has already begun to establish with Asia and the remote East. We think, therefore, that the Allies may justly and with- out suspicion call the attention of the Viennese Cabinet to the affairs of a territory valuable in itself and important as a barrier against the common enemy. Every one must recognize that the present is the most suitable mo- ment, as it precedes the cessation of a rule which, when adopted, was de- clared to be temporary. It is propitious, as following upon a great victory, and being full of the promise of future successes. It is also convenient, as it marks the commencement of a period of military inaction, during which the thoughts of men will willingly turn to the less exciting but not less im- portant labours of political arrangement.—Times, Nov. 16.
Paussiest NanTRALITY.—It is an admitted principle of international law, that a neutral state has no right to organize and carry on, in time of war, a trade which was not known in time of peace. Tried by this rule, the con- duct of the Prussian Government is quite inconsistent with the professions of honourable neutrality which it holds out to the Western Powers. It is stated that, though the sympathies of the Prussian authorities are with Russia, the great mass of the people are friendly disposed towards England and France. The Prussian merchants, a very important and influential class, have every possible inducement to perpetuate this lucrative transit trade. In all probability, they derive double profits for each transaction in which they are engaged ; one from the conveyance of the goods to Memel, and another upon the remittance of the English purchase-money to the Russian producer. A system of certificates of origin, showing that in each case the neutral owner was a bond fide purchaser, would, no doubt, entail many inconveniences upon commerce, and open a wide door to fraud. But these inconveniences and evils are nothing in comparison with the absolute folly of permitting English gold to be received, scarcely with impediment, by the enemy. Prussia, by its selfish and unworthy policy, has frustrated the humane and enlightened rule with regard to neutral commerce, which the British Government was anxious to incorporate in the general international code of Europe. We trust that the Orders in Council in this respect will undergo revision, and that some more stringent provision will be introduced, so as to destroy this traffic, which is invaluable to the enemy and profitable to its friend, Prussia. This object can easily be effected by requiring certifi- cates of origin, or by restoring the ancient common law rule, which prohibits all British subjects from trading, either directly or indirectly, with the enemy.-21forning Post, Nov. 16.
POSMON OF SWEDEN.—The next campaign should see more active pressure brought to bear on Russia in the North as well as in the South. To this end, the aid of Sweden would be most valuable. And really, the question whether Sweden should give her aid, or no, is tantamount to the question, whether Sweden means, or not, to remain independent. "Present timidity," it has been justly remarked on the part of that power, "will have this effect—it will, if the Allied armies prosper, consign her to perpetual insignificance; and if the Russian cause prevail, to immediate annexation." It may be re- membered that, at the opening of our first Baltic campaign, the Swedish de- clarations of neutrality were answered by Russia with a sort of covert me- nace, conveyed in the intimation that she hoped her neighbour would find the course she took beneficial. If the Allies triumph over Russia, Sweden runs no risk by taking their part—the less so, indeed, that it will be her ac- cession that will secure their triumph. If Russia (by a violent supposition) triumphs over the Allies, Sweden escapes no risk by not taking their part, and not securing their triumph, so essential to her safety. For Russia, having no further measures to keep with Western Europe, would have no further need of forbearance from finishing that annexation of Sweden which she began so roundly with Swedish Finland in 1809. One does not really see why Sweden with Norway altogether should make more than one enormous mouthful for a power which should have come out un- scathed from her struggle with England and France united. At all events, whether at one gulp, or by those successive processes of gradual absorption more habitual to the great Boa Constrictor of the North, Sweden is doomed, if Russia comes out harmless from that colossal conflict in which she is now • I involved. It is reallY;now the question for Sweden, whether that series of
conquests—part by force, part by fraud—begun by Peter, pursued by Cathe- rine through the agency of a recklessand shameless diplomacy, stirring up revolt in the Swedish capital itself, and crowned (for the time) by Alexander with the prodigious surprise of all Swedish Finlandan almost unregarded episode in the war of Europe—shall be completed in the next quarter or half century ; and Russia suspend her "standing menace" over all Europe on the Baltic and German Ocean, as over all Asia from the Caspian and Aral. Every member of the old European family of independent and civi- lized states has one and the same interest in forcing her back from the ad- vanced poets she has seized to their common detriment.—Globe, Nov. 13.
THE JERSEY REM:MRS.—The extent of the offence and of the so-called punishment of these unhappy and ill-judging men is, at least apart from legal dubieties, a matter not in the least complicated. No Man can say that political exiles receive in this country, a grudging welcome or unduly re- stricted liberties. Men of all nations and opinions are here, saying and doing very much as they like, very much more as they like than was almost ever permitted to any of them in their own countries, and even a good deal more than is permitted to the born citizens of this country. Kossuth publishes regularly every Saturday a document exculpating our enemies, reviling our allies, and ridiculing ourselves ; while Marcum and Ledru-Rollin are known to sit in London concocting proclamations calling on all the world to rime in rebellion. We say this not complainingly or invidiously, but as affording at least a very strong presumption that the Jersey exiles have not been punialied for nothing, or for a trifle, or indeed for anything lees than an intolerable outrage. The country and Government which systematically tolerate the al- most unbounded licence taken by political exiles, would not permit or approve any act of expulsion which did not at least appear to be justified or necessitated by an offence beyond all bounds of toleration. And such the Jersey case ap- pears to be on the face of the known facts. Certain exiles, through a news- paper of their own published in the French language, in the island of Jamey, issued a document in which they insultingly addressed the Queen—insulting her not merely as a sovereign, but as a woman ; and in which they not merely denounced the French Emperor as an usurper, a murderer, and so forth, but instigated, and by anticipation defended, his assassination. Surely these were neither light offences in themselves, nor palliated by any cirouna- stancea in the position of the offenders. . . . . The other portion of the of- fence was, in its possible consequences, more serious. It would be carrying the system of sheltering refugees a little too far to permit them to make such a use of our territory and our freedom as to sit down at the very door, as it were, of our ally, and keep calling upon the inmates and passers-by to put him to death by murder. Possibly enough, this too may have excited nothing but contempt on the part of the person assailed, and we do not be- lieve that the Emperor made any representation on the subject to the British Government. But, whatever may have been its own intentions, or whether it had any, the British Government, so far as it has moved at all, was forced into motion by what took place on the scene of the offence But it is said that to expel these men from Jersey was illegal or unconstitu- tional. Now, whatever may be the precise legal rights of aliens in such a case as the present, it is sheer nonsense to say that they are the same as those of born citizens : in various respects, and for various reasons, they are widely different. Wherein the differences consist, and how far they affect a case such as the present, are points of legal difficulty—there is perhaps no part of the English law in greater confusion and dubiety, both as to the letter and the practice. But we much more than suspect that, even though the case were clear or settled as to England, we should have settled nothing re- levant to the matter in hand. Amid all this loud and loose talk about Eng- lish law, it seems forgotten that English law is not Jersey law. Jersey has a system of law ,s a judicature, a legislature, and a governor of her own; and what is law at Westminster is not necessarily law at St. Helier's, any more than at St. Jago.—.Daily Scotsman, Nov. 15.
THE Foam= Eursrma IN AMERICA.—It might seem that, with all the people of England and the largest and best portion of the people of America on the side of peace, we had little to apprehend from these firebrands ; but, unfortunately, this is not wholly so. The worst-disposed portion of the pont- munity are restless and active, well used to dealing with large and turbulent assemblies of men, and able to turn to the best account the honest pre- judices and pardonable national pride of their hearers. The better classes of America, on the other hand, absorbed in the pursuits of business., and having little taste for the turmoil and obloquy inseparable from public life under a democratic form of government, take little interest in politics, and are slow and indolent in bestirring themselves beyond the ordinary circle of their avocations. But, should they once apprehend that the turbulent ele- ments before alluded to seriously threatened the continuance of a good under- standing with England, we believe that they would arouse themselves in earnest, and, unless their self-love should be wounded by any ill-advised proceeding on our part, would speedily put an end to the efforts of those who are so pertinaciously and unfairly seeking causes of offence against us. It is for this reason that so much stress is laid upon the insult to the na- tional sovereignty implied in our attempt to recruit in Canada, because it is well known that on such a subject as this all Americans would be equally tenacious, whereas on almost every other subject of differ- ence it would be impossible to procure anything like a feeling of unanimity. Hence, as we have always maintained, the great impo- Ray of such an attempt,. not because it really was or was not intended to be any offence to American nationality, but because it gave our numerous enemies and detractors in the States the opportunity of appealing to feelings which every part of the nation possesses alike, and which, indeed, it would be highly dishonourable for it not to possess. Bearing in mind, then, the vast distinction between the feelings of the great American nation and the electioneering tactics of its expiring Government, we feel 'sanguine that existing differences may be once more smoothed over, and that the party so eager for a war with England may find that before it can carry its nefarious ends into execution, it must encounter and overcome the opposition and repugnance of the beat and wisest portion of its own fellow citizens.—limas, Nov. 17.
DECAY OF ENTERPRISE IN THE BRITISH NAVY.—Two years have passed, and it must be confessed that our fleets have not yet fulfilled our hopes. No longer ambiguous voices, but distinct statements couched in words that burn, have gone forth to the world, that the British Navy has failed—not in num- bers, ns not in skill, but in dash, in enterprise, .in elan—euphemisticn—euphemistio expres- jo, under which we seek to shroud a humiliating idea. It is not in the hardy pluck of the sailor that we have failed—he will still go anywhere, and do anything ; nor in the native courage of the English gentleman, which no inaction can undermine ; but it is in the higher courage which dares to command, to conceive, and decide on a fearless enterprise—to organize a i bold and energetic system—to incur loan and damage in order to secure a victory—to brave humiliation and censure in case of defeat The comparative inactivity of our fleet must be traced to other sources ; and it is not without reluctance that we are led to the conviction that the person- nel of our Navy has been found in some measure unequal to the occasion. In venturing upon such a startling assertion, we bring no imputation upon our sailors,—they are, I believe, the best in the world,--still lm upon our officers : but definite causes have produced their natural results. The ea service is in a state of transition. Men educated in one system, especially -old men, do not very readily accommodate their thoughts and modes of ac- tion to an altered state of things ; and unless some commanding intellect appear among us-some officer of the Bt. 'Vincent breed, with force of cha- racter to organize and to command-we must wait till the old generation has away, and younger and more pliant minds have taken their place, fore we shall have what leThgland requires, an active and efficient marine. -Cambridge Bess is.
ltiv ems OF THE CRIMEA LtreltX ON TILE WHOLE.-A review of the past convinces'me that, with the means we had, the course taken was a right one, and that we may consider ourselves fortunate in having been impelled into it. Throughout the war very little foresight is apparent, if any has been used : there has been little opportunity for free action, and once begun, all seems the result of sheer necessity, like the descent of a Montagne Ruase. The chance character of the campaign is notably illustrated by the state of the weather on the day and hour when I write this--noon, on the anniver- sary of the Alma. Last night, the anniversary of our bivouac on the Dui- ganak was a night of winter's cold, storm, and rain ; and today the dreary drenched plains are thick with mud, while over them still whistles a chilling 'wind driving sharp showers before it. Had that season been as this, we should have advanced upon the foe, not as then, with a bright sun and a firm soil, but over boggy plains, our limbs, ()ramped bythe stresses of the previous sight, scarcely enabling us to lift our mud-laden feet to the margin of the Alma ; where we should have found a turbid, swollen flood, instead of a clear stream ; while the vineyards on its overflowed banks would have been a vast swamp. Such circumstances might well have changed the fate of the day and of the war.-Ifernierje Campaign of Sebastopol.
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