The Express.
London, England, 1855-03-29 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS. THURSDAY

Taa

report, Out the .French and English
have °assented ts conclude a pesos on
will leave the fortifieatiou of Sebastopol
l and in the possession of Russia, gains
gaud. Operations on the Stock Exchange by
peat capitalists, generally understood to have access
to eldiable sources of information, and the laboured
attempt of Lord PALMERSTON, in his speech on Major
Rues motion, to represent the results of our mili-
tary operations in the East as perfectly satisfactory,
are cited in corroboration of the rumour. The par-
tisans of Government attempt to vindicate the con-
soles by attributing it to an artful political
stratagem. The extremely moderate proposals of
France and England, they allege, are dictated by the
conviction that Russia will not accept them ; that
Its inveterately aggressive propensities will be thus
more unequivocally exposed; and that Austriawill then
have no excuse left for refusing to throw its sword
into the scale. We repeat these rumours and specula.
dons as they have reached us, without vouching for
their reliability. One remark, however, obtrudes'
itself with regard to them : English statesmen have
never gained anything by playing such a wily game
as is here attributed to our present rulers. What if
Russia should take them at their word, and mess
peace on the terms they are alleged to have offered P
One sad result of such an event would seem to be
inevitable. At present great and growing cordiality
and confidence animate the French and English
nations. It is only on an entente cordiale between the
peoples that we can rely for the permanence of friendly
relations between Franc, and England. The persons
of their rulers may be changed any day, or the disposi-
tions of the rulers may alter, even though the indi-
viduals remain unchanged. Now, lithe Emperor of the
Funs consent to withdraw his troops from the
Crimea re *luta there an be no doubt that his
prestige will be endangered, and the stability of his
government with It. In that case, nothing is so,
likely as that his partisans may seek to rehabilitate
him in the opinion of the French people and army by
attributing the whole blame to perficle Albion ; and
this may lead to coolness and distrust between the two
nations even while the two courts keep smiling and
grimes/is/at one another.
It is tea he hoped that cousideratiou like these may
have well* with our Government, and induce them
brawling in an honest and straightforward course,
even though they should have been tempted to try
to gain their ends by tortuous diplomatic intrigues.
The warning, however, can scarcely be said to be un-
soiled foe—go strong are the ground,s for fearing that
the dominant class in this country (through all its
shades of opinion) is so impatient for peace as to be
willing to arrive at it by concessions incompatible
with the permanent tranquillity of Europe, and the
honour and interest of England. It is not so much the
war that they fear as the consequences of the war here
at bass. In the course of one campaign the utter
salbenees of their administrative system has been laid
bow Their conscious incapacity leads them to fear
ad • isoond campaign may make the angry and
disiblad spirit which already pervades the whole
of society burst all bounds. They cannot
Mae Nue/elves to give up one iota of the monopoly
.[administrative government they have enjoyed; and

to prevest its being snatched from them they are
eager to huddle, np a peace on any terms, because
their war mismanagement shows their incapacity in
such a startling light. It is too late : • disgraceful
pesos concluded to hide their shame will aggravate
the national discontent and accelerate the termination
of their exclusive sway. _ _

The negotiations at Vienna are conducted with all
the secrecy of a Masonic lodge; and it may be long
enough ere anything transpires from that quarter.
It is believed among persons ordinarily well-informed
that the conference may not improbably be adjourned
fora short time, to give the Russian Plenipotentiary
an opportunity of ascertaining the views entertained
by his Court of the terms offered with a view to main-
tain the balance of power in the Black Sea. Turn-
ing our eyes from Vienna to the Crimea,
a similar system of dawdling and delay appears to
be at work there. Before Sebastopol there is still
the old ostentatious note of preparation, with inces-
sant postponements of active operations. From Eu-
patoria our despatches are of a less recent date than
they ought to be; because Colonel Suwon, infected
by that mania for secrecy and mystery which has
laid hold of all English official., has given orders that
no newspaper correspondent's letters shall be taken
by the same boat which conveys the official intelli-
gence of any important event to Government. It ap-
pears, however, sufficiently from our Eupatoria and
Balaklava letters, that much time has been wasted at
the former place in idle and aimless parliamenting ;
that Colonels Butitows and La Mau had been to Lord
Raowe's head-quarters to hold a "palaver ;" and that,
after they returned, ONES PACHA had sailed to
Kamiesoh for the same purpose. It is received as an
axiom in military science that " a council of war never
fights;" ►nd with half-a-dosen successive councils, the
case is, if possible, still more hopeless. From the Circas-
sian coast we have long stories of little enterprises.
The most important attempt of the British equadron—
that at Bonjuk Kaleh—bas evidently been a failure,
from the failure of the promised co-operation of the
Circassian. In abort, the_allied forces in the East
appear to be awaking from their winter slumbers,
and resuming their military tasks, like the men of
whom MILTON says, that when found asleep on their
posts, they "roues and bestir themselves ere well
awake."—Daily NOW.