The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-11-14 00:00:00

embroglio

Ever since RURIK, the Scandinavian freebooter,
conquered the Slavonic and Finnish tribes on the
Baltic, and bestowed upon his newly-acquired
territory, the hateful and hated name of Russia,
has one undeviating policy been perseveringly pur-
sued towards the Ottoman Empire. Her aim,
object, and pursuit, have been aggression—aggres-
sion upon any pretext, and under any circum
stances. Those of our readers acquainted with the
black and barbarous history of Russia will not be
astonished at the character of Prince GORTSCHA-
KOFF'S Note, or the EMPEROR'S Manifesto. Nearly
a thousand years have now elapsed since the
first expedition was undertaken to the Bos-
phorus, and when the Eastern metropolis was first
attacked. Unfortunately, on that occasion, the
Russian marauders were but too successful, and
the Greeks had frequently to yield to their extor-
tionate and villanous demands. NICHOLAS in the
nineteenth, is but too faithful a copy of his pro-
totype SVIATOSLAV in the ninth, century ! Indeed,
the latter was the more honourable of the two ; for
whilst he failed not to disclose his policy, the
former has employed every secret art iu order to
conceal his. In invading Bulgaria, and advancing
upon Adrianople, SVIATOSLAV honestly avowed his
intention of spoliation, and to become possessed
of countries so rich in productiveness, and cele-
brated as commercial marts. But in occupying
the Principalities, and demanding the right of a
Protectorate over 12,000,000 of Ottoman subjects,
the CZAR NICHOLAS would hide his daring and
boundless ambition under the plea of regard for
the interests of the " orthodox Christians !" Hor-
rible hypocrisy ! True, this is no new feature in
the history of Russian craft. The Empress
CATHERINE 11., who was opposed alike to
all forms of Christianity, and whom VOLTAIRE,
and others, have eulogised in consequence, adopted
a similar pretext in order to render Poland and
Turkey subservient to her power. She, too, viola-
ted treaties—having declared Crimea a province
of her empire, and expelled the KHAN by a most
extraordinary system of stratagem, which, fortu-
nately for the OTTOMAN empire, did not prove
entirely successful, owing to the prompt inter.•-
vention of the Western Powers. Extension of
territory—diffusion of domination—unlimited ag-
grandisement—are the cherished designs of the
Imperial Muscovite. Like another ALEXANDER, he
sets no scope to his ambition—no bounds to his
designs—and would fain subdue the world by
prostrating all nations at his feet ! It has been
justly observed that, " like CATALINE, he is sui
profusus, alieni cupiens, and acts like the savage,
who hews down the tree in order to gather its
fruits."

Is it any wonder, therefore, that all "the govern-
ments of Europe should regard with a jealous
eye the progress of Russia in the East? Her past
history, and the avowed intentions of her former
CZARS, can leave no doubt as to her positive inten-
tions. In the last Will and Testament left by
PETER the Great to the Empire, that injunction is
strongly insisted upon ;—" ENCROACH AS FAR AS
POSSIBLE IN THE DIRECTION OF THE INDIES AND
CONSTANTINOPLE." We know what a servile race
the Russians are, and how superstitiously they
would regard such an Imperial requirement. On
this policy all Russia is therefore bent, from the
AUTOCRAT himself down to his meanest serf. And
the success she had experienced during the cam-
paign of 1829, on the coast of the Black Sea, has
only served to excite new efforts, and revive old
hostilities, in order to obtain this long-cherished
ultimatum of her hopes.
After the treaty of Adrianople had been con-
firmed, Count NESSELRODE, in his despatch to the
Grand Duke CONSTANTINE (dated the 12th Feb.,
1830), after eulogising the prowess of the Russian
armies, and their capability of overthrowing the
OTTOMAN Empire in Europe, observed, " But. the
EMPEROR was of opinion, that this monarchy, re-
duced to exist only under the protection of
Russia, and made to obey uo other wishes than
hers, suited better our political and commercial
interests than any new combination which would
have compelled us. either to extend our dominions

too rapidly by conquest, or to substitute, in place
of the OTTOMAN Empire, other States which might
soon become 'our rivals in power, civilisation,
industry and riches. . . . Since we thus
do not wish the ruin of the Turkish government,
we seek the means of maintaining it in its present
dependent state As this government cannot be
useful to us except by its dependence, we must
demand from it a strict observance of its engage-
ments, and A PROMPT REALIZATION OF OUR WISHES."
Here is the key to the AUTOCRAT'S real intentions.
We suspected his aim from the first moment that
he not only demanded but enforced "material
guarantees." His dilatory policy has proved ad-
mirably successful ; and whilst he has been fooling
the mediating Powers with hopes of an amicable
arrangement, he has been perfecting his plans—
consolidating his armies—and gaining a greater
conquest by the lapse of time than he could pos-
sibly have obtained by the bloodiest pitched
battle. The daring hardihood and flagrant false-
hood exhibited in the Imperial " Manifesto " itself
cannot be surpassed. NICHOLAS upon the flimsiest
and falsest pretensions declares war with the
PORTE. A casus belli has been established ; and
the peace of Europe is again jeopardised after a
period of forty years tranquility. And is this, in
sober truth, the issue of diplomatic truckling and
shuffling—by courtesy called "friendly interven-
tion !" Surely the GREAT WIZARD of the North must
have had all the diplomatists of Europe in his Impe
rial conjuring-box, where they have been fairly jug-
gled out of their senses; or else this mighty and wily
Mesmerist has been practising his art upon them;
and by his subtle " seances, " charmed them into
a state of " coma," when they became transmog-
rified into ready instruments of his omnipotent
will ! We know not otherwise how to regard
such extraordinary oversight as they have exhibit-
ed ; and the nationalities of Europe will have to
require a faithful account of those into whose
hands they have committed their respective des-
tinies. Russian cajolery has been no secret; and
the other Powers should have known what degree
of credit was proper to bestow upon professions
emanating from such a quarter.
Judging from the Manifesto issued from the
Imperial palace of NICHOLAS I. "by the grace of
GOD," one would suppose that the SULTAN himself
was the aggressor—that it was Turkey which
violated international treaties, and held possession
of Russian " material guarantees"—and that the
Danube had been crossed by hordes of Ottoman
invaders, in order to subjugate the Russian Empire,
and make it tributary to their own ! One would
further be led to believe that the CZAR was one of
the most ill-used beings in the world—that, since
the days of JOB, so exemplary an example of
patience was never manifested—that, in fact, he had
employed every stratagem, and used the utmost
solicitations to cause Turkey "to respond to the
pacific efforts of .Europe, as well as his own
spirit of long-suffering !" and that the " Infidel"
being inexorable and bent upon spoliation and
carnage, no other course was left for Russia than
to put her trust in Gon, and have recourse to force
of arms." Does NICHOLAS really mean to experi-
inentalize upon us, by making us believe that black
is white? He has played his game successfully
in some quarters. Has this success increased his
daring, and does he mean to play the knave further ?
If this be the case, we tell him " 'tis no go !'—a
phrase for which he will find no suitable word in
his own language, and which ho will be necessi-
tated to learn, like most other good things, by ex-
perience. The first broadside he receives from
our British Navy he might regard as the inaugural
lesson in " Saxon Synonyms."
The closing paragraph or this extraordinary
Manifesto is a piece of sheer blasphemous assump-
tion— the very quintessence of falsehood and hy-
pocrisy—the crowning act of Russian perfidy
and rascality. After stating the case between
both Powers in as false a light as it
could well be represented—having taken cre-
dit for a policy which he did not pursue—for vir-
tues which he did not possess—for good faith
whioh he violated—this arch-hypocrite solemnly
conjures the ALMIGHTY " to bless his hand and his
arms in so holy a cause !" and positively profanes
the language of DAVID by adopting it as his own :
" In. to Domine speravi, non Confundar in aternum."
If this be not enough to damn NICHOLAS in the
eyes of all the civilized world, we know not what
is. He it was who first flung down the gauntlet—
and now after humbugging the Four Powers for six.
months together, strengthening, in the meantime,
his armies of occupation in the Turkish territory,—
he comes out with a Declaration of War ! and no
longer conceals his direct intentions. War a
outrance is his arrogant and ambitious policy
He had hitherto provoked it. He next professed
anxiety to avert it. He now calls for it. Then,
" GOD defend the Right !"

Oun local taxes on bread to which we directed
attention in the NORTHERN DAILY TIMES of Satur-
day is one of those glaring commercial anomalies
which belong more to the days of Gog and Magog,
than to the present era. In treating of such sub-
jects we are bound, in justice to parties, to trace
out the true source from whence such evils take
their date and assume the force of mischief. That
certain predilections influence the thoughts and
actions of those who preside over our local affairs
no one will pretend to deny, and the past and cur
rent history of this Borough may be fairly cited to
show that in ascribing to the dominant party the
existence of the iniquitous imposts which effec t
the prices of both grain and flour in our market,
we did no more than was necessary to lay the
blame on the right shoulders.
Apart altogether from political considerations,
however, the injurious effects of heavy Dock
dues and other excessive charges on produce
shipped to this port are so unmistakeable that we
shall not cease to agitate the abrogation of one,
and the remodeling of the other, until we see both
placed on a rational and commercial basis. If the
Birkenhead Dock Company have so managed the
capital employed in the construction of their Docks
as to be able to calculate on a dividend from their,
dock charges against ships, and without demand
ing exorbitant dues on cargo, the fact simply shows
that the capital expended by the Liverpool Dock
Committee has not been employed with a due re-
gard to the real interests of our port, or with the
same commercial views, and that their enormous
expenditure is but the beginning of the end, of a
bad and reckless principle.
- The Dock accommodations at Birkenhead are by
no means inferior to those on this side of the river,
and yet they can afford to admit millions of quar-
ters of wheat and flour free of Dock charges, and
to cart and warehouse them at one-third the charges
demanded in our Docks. And what is still more
astounding they can insure merchandise against
the risks of fire, for one-third the rates of insurance
demanded in Liverpool. Now as we do not believe
in the existence of witchcraft among the good
people of Birkenhead, we are not a little puzzled
to find a sound and legitimate reason on which to
found a belief, that by proper management
the Dock Committee could not accomplish all that
lies within the reach of our near neighbours. The
dynamics involved in the elucidation of the phe-
nomena of railways, or steam navigation are matters
much easier to comprehend, than that profound

inuendoism which- surround all questions con-
nected with the
.propriety of reductions in charges
On those matters the butcher, baker, grocer, and
tailor, are all perfect Chancellors of the Exche-
quer. Spectacles, ready reckoners, receipts for taxes,
church rates, lighting, water, and police, are all
brought out to explain the innumerable pros -and
cons in favour of a slight advance or excess of
charge. The utmost show of respect for the
pockets of their customers seldom answer, however,
for more than the purpose of the moment. The
excessive charge is paid, but the payee takes care
to remove his custom to some cheaper shops.
And this we are inclined to believe will be the
case with shippers to this port. Short of a grave
necessity, such as the convenience merchants feel
in having their ships close to their counting-houses
and stores, nothing will keep shippers from availing
themselves of the advantages offered to them on
the other side of the Mersey.

The fact of making a necessary demand for the
conveniences afforded by a public trust, or laying
a heavy tax on the mere trade necessities of the
mercantile community, is not a system which
redounds to the wisdom or justice of its pro-
pounders. The funds placed at the disposal of
the Dock Committee, are to be expended, as we
have before contended, for the public good. And
if they are disbursed in any way which requires
the payment of heavy imposts on the first neces-
saries, of life, we say, distinctly, that the expenditure
which has taken place on such hypothesis is open
to the most serious objections. A local tax upon
bread equal to three-fourths of the present duty
upon bread-stuffs, swells the tariff to Is. 9d. per
quarter. This becomes more and more intolerable
in proportion to the wants of the public at large,
and if our Dock Authorities reckon on the continu-
ance of high dock charges, which affect the great
masses, because the necessities of a few merchants
compelled them to submit to them, they will find
themselves most egregiously mistaken.
The Trust must be administered for the general
good, and the principle which lays down a string
of benefits, which are to be derived from a copious
catalogue of high imposts, must, in these days of
competition and public scrutiny, be abandoned for
some other mode of obtaining the object in view.
We may be told that we have been losing sight of
the vast benefits which the town has derived from
the constrnction of Docks and other public works;
but such is not the fact. What we contend is, the
persons undertaking these works and looking at
their magnitude, had no right to proceed on data
which embraced heavy dues on articles of general
consumption, and to reckon on an enormous
revenue from the necessities of the community.
This alone, however, has not to be done, but
other excessive charges for cartage and .insurance
have been added. Here we may be told again that
distance regulates the one, and risk the other ;
but these are both contingencies which ought to
have been foreseen in laying down a great and
comprehensive undertaking which was promoted
for the public good. It is not enough now to tell
us that our warehouses are detached from the
Docks, and whatever the distance is we must pay
for it. 'After goods have cleared our Docks and
are taken for home consumption, the cost of car-
riage is entirely an other affair; but as long as
they remain simply ships cargo, received at the
cost of the shipper, there ought not to be one
farthing more demanded in the shape of charges,
than the payment of the lowest rate of interest on
the capital sunk would allow- On the subject of
insurance generally, we shall offer a few remarks
on a future occasion.

THE NEW MAYOR:—Mr. John Buck Lloyd, the new
mayor, attended at St. Peter's church yesterday, according
to usual custom. There was an unusual attendance of gen-
tlemen connected with the 'council, and other gentlemen o
the town, amounting to about 250. Several parties could
not get into the church. The Rev. Rector Campbell
preached the sermon, after which a collection was made in
support of the Blue School.

The British and North American Mail Steam-ship Canada,
Capt. Stone, sailed from the Mersey for Boston on Saturday
with the usual mails,:a large cargo, and 112 passengers,
The Canada was to have sailed at nine o'clock, but in con-
sequence of the dense fog which prevailed she did not leave
the river until four o'clock p.m.

SUPPLEMENTARY MUNICIPAL ELECTION FOR MANCIIES-
TER.—On Wednesday next will take place the election of a
Councillor for All Saint's Ward, in the place of Mr Robert
Barnes, who has been elected an Alderman, and on the same
day an election for Collegiate Church Ward will take place
in the room of Mr. Abealeywood, who on Wednesday was
promoted to the rank of Alderman.
SUPPLEMENTARY MUNICIPAL ELECTION FOR SALFORD.—
On Thursday next the election of a Councillor for Trinity.
Ward will take place in room of Mr. Marsden, elected
alderman.

CHESTER AND HOLYHEAD RAILWAY.—TraffiC for the
week ended 6th November, 1853.—Railway,(includinc,° Car-
narvon traffic), £3,672 7s. Id. Steam Boats, £423 7s.Bd.
Total—£4,o9s 14s. 9d. Corresponding week last year—
Railway £2,923 Is. 11d. Steam Boats, £256 14s. ld.
Total—£3,l79 16s. IncreaseL-L915 18s. 9d.
HOLYHEAD.—The Compeer, schooner, of Salcombe, from
Liverpool to St. Michael's, was assisted into the harbour
on the 2nd instant, in a sinking state, and with rudder un-
shipped, having struck on the Harry Furlongs Reef during
the night of October 31st.
LORD POIVIS.—We have an opportunity of knowing that
the Earl of Powis, at his recent rent receipts in Shrews-
bury and Montgomeryshire, generously returned his tenan-
try ten per cent. The noble earl has also given orders to
advance the workmen's wages on his several estates, in con-
consequence of the increased price of provisions.
POTATOES.—Within the last fortnight the potato disease
has greatly extended in the neighbourhood of Garstang.
SHOAL OF HERRINGS.—During some weeks past More-
cambe Bay has been densely filled with herrings, and some
of the boats from Fleetwood have succeeded in taking at
one "catch," as many as ten thousand.
PASSENGERS PER ROYAL MAIL STEAM SHIP ASIA.
Count de Rottemond, Countess de Rottemond ; Mrs.
Anthony ; Miss M. Monroe ; Mr. Grosser ; Mrs. Robe,
child, and servant ; Mrs. Billbrough, three children, and
nurse ; Miss E. Billbrough ; Messrs. Cunliffe, J. Firkin,
McLean, W. H. Gordon, Johnston, Markwald, W. Pun,
Drew, G. 31. Murray, F. R. Loomis, F. Krepp, Cox, J. S.
McMaster, Cheeres, Bell, Ellwell, W. F. Turner, F.
Thomas, J. L. Alfonso ; Miss Carleton ; Mr. Vandburg;
Deputy Commissary General Carpenter, Lady, two children,
and servant ; Judge Carleton ; Mrs. Carleton ; Mr. W. B.
Taylor; Mr. Miller; Mr. Pemberton ; Captain Cooper ;
Mr. Lorenz ; Mrs. Melbourne and Sister ; Father Van
Keeth, and maid servant ; Messrs. J. S. Martin, J. Sauve-
dra, Jones, Stansbury, Decie, F. Neale, J. R. Sarens ;
Miss Farrington ; Messrs. Everett, 0. Mazzin, Barbrier,
J. Brown, H. Uri, Flannery, J. Deans. Sixty-six passen-
ger,_ s and $986,000 in specie.
MISS GLYNN'S READINGS FROM SHAKSPERE.—MiSS Glynn
read the tragedy of "Sing Lear" at the Concert Hall,
on Saturday evening. The Hall was densely crowded, and
the audience listened with the deepest attention, only broke
by an occasional burst of involuntary applause to the exqui-
site reading of this singularly gifted actress. Every part in
the tragedy was delivered with an effect scarcely less than
that of an acted drama. Without either abruptness or
dramatic effect, Miss Glynn succeeded in impressing upon
the audience a distinct conception of every character. In
the sudden and wild malediction into which Lear breaks
into in the first act—in his ravings upon the heath amid the
storm, and the scenes of exquisite pathos which follows his
subsequent meeting with Cordelia, the powers of the actress
reached the climax. In the hypocrisy of Edmund, the
bitter sarcasims of the Fool, and the truthful tenderness of
Cordelia, were not less vividly embodied by the voice of the
reader. Miss Glynn was called for at the close of the per-
formance, and again enthusiastically applauded.
THE LATE LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR CHAS. NAPIER.--•
A paragraph having lately appeared in sonic of the papers,
to the effect that Sir Charles Napier's will had been proved,
and the personal estate sworn " under £200,000," it may be
right to state that probate was taken out only on Friday
week by Lieutenant-Colonel John Pitt Kennedy, joint
trustee of the will with Lady Napier, and that, instead of
£200,000, the amount was sworn under £20,000.
Preparations have been commenced for laying a second
line of rails from Bicester to the Claydon junction, on the
Bucks Railway. When finished, there will be double lines
from Oxford to Bletchley.
The premises of Messrs. Lea and Co., white-coopers,
St. James's-street, were forcibly entered into last night.
I.ast evening a person belonging to the ship. Annie Foster,
lying in the Bramley-Moore Dock was, during a quarrel,
stabbed in sevceal places, and sustained serious injury.

THE NORTHERN DAILY TIMES.