The Press.
London, England, 1856-04-26 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

efficiency of that service. We must consider
the work to be done, and then how best to get
at the manner of man who is most able to do
it. As far as the system of examination helps
us to do this, well and good ; as far as it does
not, it is worthless.
Education, to be of service to an individual,
must be one of two kinds—it must either be
such as enlarges the mind, raising it to the con-
templation of general principles and final
causes, such as sharpens the intellect and
purifies the taste, or it must be such
as teaches a man the knowledge of those
particular things with which his busi-
ness in life requires that he should be
acquainted —as tho use of his plane to
the carpenter, or of his awl to the shoemaker.
Anything between these two may be
all very well in default of something better,
but should not be regarded as an end
to be sought after in itself. To apply
this principle to the question before us, it is
doubtless an excellent thing to have men of
really liberal education in the Civil Service, or
to have men thoroughly skilled in the duties
of their particular departments. In the one
case the tone of the service will be raised, in
the other its practical efficiency. But the
public are apt to deceive themselves in this
matter. They are too apt to believe with Sir
EVERARD WAYERLEY that the mere turning
over the pages of a hook is in itself a merito-
rious and profitable thing; in other words,
that the possession of any sort of knowledge
is of necessity useful to any sort of man.
This, though in our opinion untrue, is not, as
a mere theory, productive of any harm. But
as soon as it becomes the basis of educational
operations it is fraught with mischief.
To point these remarks practically, it is only
upon certain conditions that the scheme of Civil
Service examinations is entitled to our sup-
port. As long as intellectual acquirements
are not made the only tests for admission to
the service of the State, let them be made a
sine qua non. But let us not forget that for
practical employments something more is
required—something, too, far less easily dis-
pensed with—that there may be deficiencies
more fatal to a clerk in the Treasury than
ignorance of the date of the Revolution—that
a tidewaiter may possess almost every qualifi •
cation for his post, though he should happen
to spell the first syllable of warrior with an 0,
as is mentioned in the Civil Service Report.
We have no intention of holding the balance
between Lord GODERICH and the CHANCELLOR of
the EXCHEQUER, their comparative heaviness not
being doubtful. We are simply entering our
protest against the abuse of the competitive
principle, and not the use of it. We are but
advancing substantially the same views which
have already appeared in this Journal on the
subjects of Civil Service reorganisation and
military education.
. _

But the practice of nomination has a ten-
dency to introduce a sort of half-and-half
standard of attainments beneficial neither to
the candidate himself nor to the service which
he seeks to enter. We have no hesitation in
saying that the questions proposed to candi-
dates under the present system are nine out of
ten of them farcical—sufficient to keep up the
form of an examination, and nothing more ;
whereas, if the competitions were thrown en-
tirely open, the examination would at once
become real, and the commissioners compelled
to set papers which should boa genuine test
of fitness. Now they are compelled to accom-
modate their questions to their candidates,—
then, candidates would have to raise them-
selves to the level of the questions.
But the great benefit to be expected from
the abolition of the nomination system is in
the relief of Government from the burden o
patronage. This petty kind of patronage
about which no inquiri's can be made is the
source of an infinite amount of corruption and
jobbing, and Members of Parliament, one would
think, should be the first to rejoice at their
emancipation from this bondage. There could
never be a clearer case of killing two birds
with one stone than by the proposed exten-
sion of the examination system. We should
obtain better men by a less objectionable
process. It would be just as easy to look to

SATURDAY,

.
the general fitness of candidates when taken
from the community at large as when taken
from a limited number; and it would be far
easier to insure those qualities which in
many of the lower departments of Government
are especially necessary.

APRIL 26, 1856.

THE TREATY OF PEACE.

AN unauthorised and imperfect copy of the treaty
has transpired during the week. Articles 5 to 9 are
missing, but we apprehend the text as far as it goes
is in the main correct.

[Translation.]
The Plenipotentiaries, after having exchanged
their plenary powers, found to he in good and due
form, have agreed upon the following articles :
ARTICLE 1.

From the day of the exchange of ratifications of the pre
sent treaty, there shall be peace and friendship between
his Majesty the Emperor of the French, her Majesty the
Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and lre-
land, his Majesty the King of Sardinia, his Majesty the
Sultan of the one part, and his Majesty the Emperor of
all the Rusiias of the other part, as well as between their
heirs and successors, their respective States, and subjects
in perpetuity.
ARTICLE 2.

Peace being happily established between their aforesaid
Majesties, the territories conquered or occupied by their
armies during the war shall be reciprocally evacuated.
Special arrangements shall regulate the mode of evacua-
tion, which shall be effected as sooa as possible ((laud
promple que fairs se pourra).
ARTICLE 3.
His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias engages to
restore to his Majesty the Sultan the town and citadel of
Kars, as well as all the other parts of the Ottoman terri-
tory of which the Russian troops are in possession.
ARTICLE 4.

Their Majesties the Emperor of the French, the Queen
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
King of Sardinia, and the Sultan engage to restore to his
Majesty the Emperor of all the Rosales, the towns and
ports of Sebastopol, Balaklava, Kamiesch, Eupatoria,
Kertch
[A vexations accident occurring at the last moment,
has occasioned the loss of two or three slips of this portion
of the MS.]
ARTICLE 9.

His Imperial Majesty the Sultan, in his constant
anxiety for the well-being of his subjects, having granted
(octroyi) a firman, which, in ameliorating their lot with-
out distinction of religion or race, proves his generous in-
tentions towards the Christian populations of his empire,
and, desiring to give a further proof of his sentiments in
this regar I, has resolved to communicate to the contract-
ing powers the said &man, spontaneously emanating from
his sovereign will.
The contracting powers acknowledge (constatent) the
great value of this communication. It is quite understood
that the fact of this communication cannot in any case
give to the said powers a right to interfere, either collec-
tively or separately, in the relations of his Majesty the
Sultan with his subjects, or in the internal administration
of his empire.
ARTICLE 10.

The Convention of July 13, 1811, which maintains the
old regulation of the Ottoman Empire relative to the
closing of the Straits of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles,
has been revised by common accord.
The act concluded with this view, and conformably to
that principle between the high contracting parties, is and
remains annexed to the present treaty, and shall have
the same force and value as if it had formed an integral
part of it. _ _

ARTICLE 11.

The Black Sea is neutralised. Open to the mercantile
marine of all nations, its waters and ports are formally and
in perpetuity interdicted to flags of war, whether belonging
to the powers having dominion on its coasts (putssances
riveraines) or to any other power, save and except the
exceptions mentioned in Articles LI and 19 of the present
treaty.

Alt riCLE 12.
Freed from all impediments (entrare), trade in the ports
and waters of the Black Sea shall only be subjected to
regulations of health, customs, and police, conceived in a
a arit favorable to the development of commercial trans.
actions.

In order to give every desirable security to the commer-
cial and maritime interests of all nations, Russia and the
Sublime Porte will admit consuls in the ports situated on
the coasts (littoral) of the Black Sea conformably to the
principles of international law.

ARTICLE 13.
The Black Sea being neutralised according to the terms
of Article 11, the maintenance or establishment on its
coasts of military•maritime arsenals (arsenaux militaires
maritime') becomes unnecessary as without object (devient
sane nicrssiti comme sans objet). In cc.nsequence his
Majesty the Emperor of all the Ilussias and his Imperial
Majesty the Sultan engage neither to construct nor to
preserve any military•maritime arsenal upon that coast.

ARTICLE I 1.
Their Majesties the Emperor of all the Russias and the
Sultan having concluded a convention for the purpose of
determining the force and number of light vessels neces•
sary for the service of their coasts, which they reserve to
themselves the right of keeping up in the Black Sea, this
e invention is annexed to the present treaty, and shall have
the same force and value as if it had formed an integral
part of it. This convention can neither be annulled nor
modified without the assent of the powers parties to the
present treaty.

15.
The act of the Congress of Vienna having established
the principles destined to regulate the navigation of the
rivers which separate or traverse several States, the con-
tracting powers stipulate between themselves that for the
future these principles shall be also applicable to the
Danube and to its embouchures. They declare that this

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disposition constitutes henceforth a part of the public law
of Europe, and they take it (the disposition) under their
guarantee. . .

The navigation of the Danube cannot he subjected to
any hindrance (entrave) or dues (redevance) which shall
nut be expressly provided for by the stipulations contained
in the following articles. In consequence no toll (peage)
shall be taken that may be based solely upon the fact of
the navigation of the river, nor any duty (drnit) upon mer-
chandise which may be 011 board vessels. The police and
quarantine regulations to be established for the security of
the States separated or traversed by this river shall be
conceived in such a manner as to favour the circulation of
vessels as much as possible (autant Ode faire se poursa).
Save these regulations, no obstacle whatever shall be
placed in the way of the free navigation.

ARTICLE 16.
With the object of realising the dispositions of the prece-
ding article, a commission in which France, Austria, Great
Britain, Prussia, Russia, Sardinia, and Turkey, shall each be
represented by a delegate, shall be charged to design and
cause to be executed the necessary works from lsatcha
downwards (depuis Isalcha), in order to clear the mouths
of the Danube as well as the neighbouring parts of the
sea from the sand and other obstacles which obstruct
them, so as to put that part of the river and the said
parts of the sea in the best Possible state of navigability.
To cover the expenses of these works, as well as of
the establishments having for their object to assure and
facilitate the navigation of the mouths of the Danube,
fixed duties at a proper (convenable) rate, to be settled
by the commission by a majority of votes, may be levied,
on the express conditions that in this respect, as in all
others, the flags of all nations shall be treated on a footing
of perfect equality.

ARTICLE 17.
A commission shall be appointed, composed of delegates
of Austria, Bavaria, the Sublime Porte, and Wurtemburg
(one for each of these powers). to which commission the
commission of the three Danubian principalities, whose
nomination shall have been approved of by the Porte,
shall be joined. This commission, which shall be per-
manent, will first draw up the regulations of navigation
and of fluvial police ; secondly, remove the obstacles
(entrares), of whatever nature they may be, which as yet
prevent the application of the dispositions of the treaty of
Vienna to the Danube; thirdly, give orders for and cause
to be executed the necessary works throughout the whole
course of the river (aur tout le parcours du fleece) ; and
fourthly, after the dissolution of the European commis-
sion, see to the maintenance of the navigability of the
mouths of the Danube and the neighbouring parts of the
sea.

ARTICLE 18.
It is understood that the European commission will
have fulfilled its task, and that the bordering (rireraine)
commission will have terminated the works designated in
the preceding article tinder the Nos. 1 and 2, within the
space of two years. The powers parties to this treaty, as-
sembled in conference and informed of these facts, will,
after having taken note of them (apses en aroir pris side),
pronounce the dissolution of the European commission,
and thenceforth the permanent bordering (riveraine)
commission shall enjoy the same powers as those with
which the European commission will have been invested
up to that time.
ARTICLE 19.

In order to assure the execution of the regulations
which shall have been settled by common accord, in
accordance with the principles herinbefore enunciated,
each of the contracting powers shall have the right at all
times to station two light vessels at the mouths of the
Danube.