The Press.
London, England, 1853-09-17 00:00:00

written, but the deliberate opinions of men
who now hold the reins of empire.
In the same papers in which these counsels •
are given, the intelligence from Turkey empha-
tically states that " the Sultan would lose his
" life if he were to accel►t of dishonourable eon
" ditions."
Can any one doubt what his answer will be,
—what, in fact, it maxi be.? The publication
of Lord CLARENDON'ai answer to the Russian
manifesto► shows what language our Foreign
Minister held only two months back. tin tie
16th of July last Lord (Iwo:Noes: wrote to
Count NEssia.tionE—" If ancient rights exist,
" and are observed by Turkey, Russia has no
" eause of eumpluiutt against Turkey. But if she
" seeks to extend those rights, then is Turkey
" justified in closely examining the nature of such
" fresh dsro►ulndh, and IN REFUNINO THOSE FROM
" MAI INDTPIENDENcE ANI► DIGNITY Wilma)
" sLE•F•ER." In this sentence is contained a full
justification of the course the Sultan has
hitherto pursued ; and when he is requested
to abandon those modifications of the note
which he conceived essential to the dignity
and independenee of his Government, what
other reply need he make than to lay his
finger on this part of Lord CLAIIENI►ON'a des-
patch, and say,—You have my answer there !
Will England dare to withdraw from the side
of her old ally, should he ►ersist in acting on
those principles of policy which she has taught
him are essential to the ulaint.euunee of his
kingdom as a sovereign and independent
State ? No art of sophistry—no verbal jug-
gling—am get over those recorded words of our
Foreign Minister. There they stand, shaming
the dastardly counsels which are now urged
on the Sultan and justifying him in adhering
to► the views he has already firmly expressed.
He has► not taken exception to any merely
verbal formality ; it is to the substamee of cer-
tain conditions in the Vienna note, affecting
his rights of sovereignty over large bodies of
his m übjeets, th at he reasonably and consistently
objects. The proposal of the Conference is,
that those conditions should be read in a
" non-natural " sense ; that they should not be
taken to imply what the words do imply : that
the Porte should give up the point now, and
trust to the moderation of his formidable foe,
and the protection of the mediating Powers,
for an interpretation if the clauses in a sense
essentially different from their plain and ob-
vious meaning. Is it likely that this insulting
sophistry will be favourably listened to?

It is to the armies on the banks of the
Danube that attention must now be directed,
rather than to the Conference at Vienna.
The wisdom of our Government has brought
the belligerent Powers face to face. On one
side the success of unprovoked aggression has
intoxicated the troops with confideno" in the
might of their anus, and maddened them with
desire for conflict and victory. and on the
other a sense of insult and wrong has aroused
a storm of indignation which the efforts of
diplomacy will scarcely be able to repress.
While we have been deluded by expeeting
peace from negotiation. Russia and the Porte
have been actively preparing fur the last and
desperate issue of battle. At the moment
when we were assured that orders were Mend
to be given for the evacuation of the Prineipa-
lities the Russians were actively engaged in
fortifying themselves in their "conquests;"
and. as we learn by the latest telegraphic
despatches, were concentrating a vast body of