The Press. — London, England, 1856-08-16 00:00:00

THE WEEK. Tax perfidy of Russia is still the theme of Ministerial journals. The Times of yesterday has a leader on the subject. " The old inveterate obstinacy revives ;" " the old cunning is once more to be tried." Two of the grounds on which this invective is founded is the asserted occu pation of Serpents Island, and the delay in the evacuation of Kars. On the first head we are told : It is certain that the conduct of the Russians has induced England again to occupy the Black Sea. The Hannibal has been sent to Serpents Island, and sufficient intima• tion has been given that in the opinion of the Allies something like a breach of faith bai taken place. As to Kars— Russia is still there, playing the despot, after the fashion of Warsaw or Tiflis. Fortunately it happens that in this same Times there is a letter from Constantinople, enabling us to judge what value is to be at tiched to the denunciations of Russian bad faith. It is worth while to quote what " Our own Correspondent " writes concerning the Ser pents Isle affair : Constantinople, Aug. 4. In the afternoon of the day before yesterday her Majesty's ship Gladiator, Captain Hilliard, returned from Serpents' Island, where, as I mentioned in my last, she hal been sent to inquire into the exact nature of the Russian occupation. She found there fifty Turks and eight Russians, the latter unarmed. As the island is nothing but a bare rock of very limited size, and contains only one building, Turks and Russians are living there together. and the latter are treated by the former as their guests and supplied with everything. This is done in consequence of the orders of the Turkish Government, which, of course, is anxious to avoid a collision. The only thing which the Turks do not share with the Russians is the lighthouse ; the latter are not allowed to enter it, and the lighthouse is just the reason which the Russians allege for their coming to the island. Last night the Gladiator left again for the Black Sea, with new instructions of $ more positive nature. We said last week that the island was scarcely larger than the area of St. Paul's Churchyard. It is without harbour or anchorage. Its only erection is a lighthouse to mark the site of the rock and to render the na vigation secure. To this rock the Russians sent an army of occupation, consisting of eight unarmed men ! We do not pretend to know the purpose of their visit. Probably it was to settle some details for the regulation of the lighthouse. In• any case, to make this act a pretext for sending a British squadron into the Black Sea, seems an absurd and unworthy piece of bravado, and so it is treated by the Constitu tionnel in an article which has been supposed to have been inspired by the Emperor himself : The treaty of the 30th March is at this moment being executed with that spirit of moderation and loyalty which was to have been expected from the powers that signed it. The demonstration which appears to have been made by Admiral Stewart in the Black Sea will soon be unnecessary. The affair of the Serpents Isle cannot warrant such a demonstration. It does not offer the slightest gravity, and belongs to the jurisdiction of diplomacy. The Serpents Island is nothing but a sterile rock, without anchorage or roads ; in itself, its possession is therefore of no importance, only there exists on its surface a lighthouse which is equally useful to vessels entering or leaving the Danube, and to the Russian vessels bound for Odessa. Now that the navigation of the Danube is placed under the protection of the European powers, and that the Black Sea is neutra. lised, the only question is to see that this lighthouse is properly kept up, and measures will be taken to carry out the essential point. The latter once settled, it matters little whether the Serpents Island shall belong to Turkey or Russia. It seems most unlikely that Russia could have had any thought of evading the treaty by her conduct with regard to Serpents Isle, and in any case we could have imaginedithat inquiry should have preceded the extraordinary step of sending British ships to reoccupy the Black Sea, lately evacuated in compliance with the terms of the treaty. The assertions respecting the wish of the Russians to delay the evacuation of Kars are also, singularly enough, disposed of in a con clusive manner by the Berlin letter in yesterday's Times:— On the 18th of July General Mouravieff gave notice to the Commander.in-Chief of the Turkish forces at Erzeroum that, in consequence of the evacuation of the Crimea, the Russian troops were about to evacuate Kars and the entire Ottoman territory, and that it was perfectly open to the Turkish authorities to take possession of the territories so evacuated. At the same time General Mouravieff instructed the commanders of the different Russian detachments in those parts to evacuate Kars and the Turkish territory, to cross the Arpatschai, and to concentrate themselves upon the fortress of Alexandropol. These statements, in the very number of the journal which attempts to excite a prejudice against Russia for non-fulfilment of the treaty, are remarkable. These does not appear any good reason that Russia deserves the reproaches showered on her by our Ministerial journals. Two months of the time yet remain within which the evacuation of the territory was to be complete. and it will be time enough to accuse Russia of bad faith should she attempt (which we do not for a moment imagine she will do) to evade the stipulations of the treaty she has signed. In connection with the precipitate and ill-judged demonstration of Admiral STEWART in the Black Sea, and the dignified reproof of a French journal of semi-official character, a glance at our foreign rela tions presents little ground for congratulation. The Central American dispute is still unsettled, and this country unrepresented at Washington. The reconcilement anticipated with Russia when the treaty was signed has been very partially effected. The Court of St. Petei 4burg considers that the conduct of our Government towards it has been designedly offensive, and shows a marked inclination to cultivate an intimate alliance with France. In Constantinople the insulting despatches of Lord CLARENDON arc neither forgotten nor forgiven. British influence is disregarded, while the greatest deference is made to every suggestion proceeding from the repro sentative of France. Spain has shaken oft' ESPARTERO and British influence together. Austria is concentrating an immense force on her Sardinian frontier, but Austria is the only power with which our Cabinet at present appears to be in active correspondence; though at the Austrian Court, Caul its intimate relations with the Emperor of THE PRESS. SATURDAY, the FRENCH, the counsels of France must far outweigh our own. From the state of our foreign relations, it is abundantly clear that in all future points relating to the settlement of the Eastern question France must exercise a decided preponderance. Lord PALMERSTON'S bluster is little likely to improve our position. The letter from General KMETY, which we publish elsewhere, must attract public attention, and calls for a reply from Sir WILLIAM WILLIAMS. General KMETY is a Hungarian of no mean military repu tation. He is one of the heroes of Kars, though not one of the fortu nate heroes. His conduct throughout the siege was most gallant, his behaviour on the 29th of September superb—upon his skill and heroic defence of his post the fortunes of that day rested; and it is mooted about, here and there, that if Fortune's English favours for that day's work, and indeed for the defence throughout, fell fairly, KMETY'S share would not be the least; for every one has felt when reading the description of the Russian repulse on Sept. 29th, that KMETY was the real hero of the day. He calls now upon General WILLIAMS to give him at least his due, and not to forget him. How is it, has been asked on all sides, that nothing is now ever heard of KMETY? Where is he, and what became of him after his escape? KMETY lives in comparative obscurity—he has been neglected and left unrewarded by the Government, and it would also seem that he is almost forgotten by his more fortunate companions in arms. " I should bo a dirty " and a scurvy fellow " said General WINDHAM the other day, in allu sion to the Redan, "if I took all the praise myself; I don't pretend " that I did not do my duty as a soldier, but there were scores of " others who did their duty quite as well as I did." Manly words coming from an honest heart which forgot no one in its hour of triumph and rejoicing.—Palman qui meruit _Prat ! The death of Madame VESTRIS has given ample topic this week to anecdotists and lovers of gossip. Her notoriety was social as well as historical, and she had extraordinary talents. The daughter of a brilliant artist, Madame VESTRIS inherited all the chief features of the Italian mind, and her life may be assimilated to glut of the great artist of the Italian stage, with whom she had many points in com mon. The versatile intellect of the South was visible in the wide range of her gifts. She had facile dramatic power, a correct ear for music, rapid perception of scenic effect, and had considerable talents for business. In her early days, her beauty, her glorious voice, her dazzling vivacity, her brilliant eyes, her assumption of fashion able graces and follies, her social popularity in certain circles, commended her to universal celebrity. When her beauty faded, never did woman fight a more gallant battle against Time. She fell back on her resources of tact, knowledge of life, and on her ample stock of brains, of which she had a super-masculine share. In carrying things as she pleased she had rare success, and rose from reverses with repeated triumphs. Her " Olympic " rule will always figure brightly in the history of our stage ; and her " Green Room," at Covent Garden, was the nearest approach in our days to the theatrical brilliancy of the time of GARRICK. Never was " Madame" seen to more advantage than on a crowded night in her " Green Room," when peers, dandies, town wits, formed a circle round her, while she rallied the company with rare piquancy and unfailing flow of spirits. To the last she had great power over her audience, and her fine voice did wonderful service for her. Her " Memoirs," if properly penned, would be highly entertaining. Her exact prototype on the English stage is not to be found. " Peg Woffington" and Mrs. ABINGTON had many points in common with her, but VESTRIS had high intellect and a rare strength of mind, seldom given to women. Her gifts were far beyond tho common ; her life was full of vicissitudes ; and her whole story would illustrate the most hackneyed of all Dr. JoHNsoN's verses — To point a moral, and adorn a tale. A most respectable Conservative contemporary has been so indis creet as to lend countenance to the weak inventions industriously propagated by the enemy of a split among Conservative politicians. Surely, the Morning Herald cannot require to be told that men may honestly differ on many points—such as the Maynooth grant for example—without in any degree impairing the general union of their party. Our excellent contemporary's weakness—if we may be per mitted to say so—consists in thinking that it is always on the point of discovering some great treason. Tower-hill, the heads man, and the block, are rarely absent from its imagination. So long as it confined itself to threatening the Ministry for the time being with impeachment, we regarded the threat as a conventionalism necessary to give vigour to the style of its articles But now that it extends its alarms, and seems anxious that the leaders of Opposition shall be included with Ministers in one grand indictment, we Liar not, indeed, that the consequences to public men of both parties will be fatal, but that our esteemed contemporary will attach to itself some ridicule for its credulity. As to the little stir in the Conservative party at this time, it is only a sign of healthy activity. The Morning Post boasts that the Premier is at the head of an "able and strong " Conservative Government." How will the Liberal party receive this declaration of Lord PALMERSTON'S chosen organ? We agree with the Post on one point—no other than a Conservative Government can now satisfy the requirements of the country, but such a Government must be Conservative in connection and in principle, and be framed on the principle of extending and strengthening the essential institutions of the empire. The British public, Mr. MACAULAY declares, has its " periodic fi of morality." Such a crisis has just occurred to the Times. After enjoying the opera at Her Majesty's Theatre during the season, it has suddenly discovered that ouc of the representations offered, the 780