The Express.
London, England, 1859-10-24 00:00:00

LONDON. MONDAY, OCT. IL

At alliance between Frazee sad Spain against
Morocco--or, at any rate, a war eimultansoutly
threatened by both those Powers gable her—is by
no means reassuring to Great Brittle. It is felt that'
France has no appreciable pretext for such a war ;
and that although Spain may have had • pretext,
nevertheless the Government of Morocco has evinced
a :dispoeitioa to r.deese the grievanese of Spain,
which ought to preclude the Cabinet of Madrid
from • resod to hostilities. This country is always
jealous of ware waged without adequate saucers.
When England perceives a war to be entered into
upon insignificant and almost illusory groanle,"ll
Of coarse concludes that there WO motives foe sash
a war which are held in the background. This
couatry has a threefold interest in the indepeadenee
OT SOlfZlLlify of the territories which command the
entrance to the :Mediterranean. There la the Rook
of Gibraltar; then there are oar dependencies of
Malta and the lonian Islands; and, finally, awe is
a third British interest of still more vital import,
connected with our power on the Rock and in the
Straits, and now yearly rising in force—our com-
munications with India by way of Alexandria.
We are reminded of this third consideration by
what is perhaps the simple coincidence of the
audience just granted at Paris by the Emperor
of the Favicti to M. DE Lustre and his eaiteagaea,
who are identified with the project of the Sees
Canal, which the British Government has, under
every Ministry, firmly and consistently opposed.
And, without committing ourselves to any
view of the actual motives of the French
and Spanish Governments, we cannot beget
that the acquisition of influence along the
seaboard of the :Mediterranean has been pe-
eraineatly •s !die AapolefenWeese. Nor is it leav
certain that, daring the last few years, the Mass.
of France along that seaboard, both in the Levant
and the Western Mediterranean, has attained an
extraordinary development. The late Italian war
has just produced that ttfeet so far u the meats of
Italy are concerned, and nearly the mane any be
said at Constantinople, at Alexandria, and in
Algeria ; while the French navy has wily is.
creased. We can hardly, perhspe, blame the French
for taking advantage of recent years, in which we
have been too supine to keep pace with them. But
it is clear that Great Britain has three distinct In-
tonate at stake in a war waged by France and
Spain against Morocco, which it must be her duty to
watch with anxious care.

Five French steam-frigates are reported to have
just sailed from Totdot, for the cooveysace of
French troops against Morocco ; the Spanish prepa-
ration have been made with opal determination
sad Marshal O.I)ONNILL homily announced on
Friday last the withdrawal of the Spanish Consul
from Tangiers. This last event approve to preen&
further negotiation. In regard to Spain, why is
Cl'HuNsi.t . in such extravagant haste fee the
commesoment of hostilities ? His grievance, each
as it is, is a area= ow. Tet he takes the opporta-
city fee was just ea the old Emperor I. deed, and
the sew Emmet is straggling for his authority
against • heath' faction in his own dominions. He
does so, toe, in disregard of the diplomatic interpo-
sition of the British Government, who have this
extessedissry algid upon the Court of Madrid, that
they gsarainsti the Spanish monarchy. A Spanish
ministry, ass would may, would hardly ponds in
this course without nine powerful backers from
without. Indeed. a was between Spain sad Maresso
le an event almost without procadist in eiders
times, while the grievance is of perpetual standing,
We cannot therefore understand the adoption oleo\
• coon at this moment, in spite cot only of the
media:toe of this country, but of the conciliatory
disposition of Morocco itself. What the real griev-
ance of Spain spinet Morocco is, we have lately
stated at Werth. It may be briefly recapitulated to
be that certain small bands of lawless Moore
have made petty attacks upon the Spanish
town of Civic on the Africa& coast of
the Straits ; 11.1 though Spain has a right to
lionhoad that the shall not be subjected to this
aasayancie from a professedly friendly power, it
appears that the :Joi of life sustained in these en-
counters has not exceeded on or two sentries at a
tide. No Mabometan Guerin:sent has ever yet
maintaised such i tfotive secularintion as to coerce
all its wandering t nbes on the verge of its dominions.
The Court of TitLan has frankly confessed its inc*-
potty to restrain these bandits, but has shown every
dieposition to do so. The organs of the French
Government, en the other hand, pretend that these
tittle detachments of Moors make excursions into its
Algerian territeri.e; bet there is no evidence or
owensty of the fact, and it is strange that the com-
plaint Amid °Cy have been wade coincidently with
the reeoiut ion of Nnin to &vans these petty attacks
oe Ceuta.

Hut eta ranting that all is u a/laged, t3o du
Fritsch and Spanish tiontrotausta molly Woes,

that they would redress the grievance by the opt.
Minas elven th. y design f If a French army esters
Moreno from Algvne by land and deflate the
melee troops at that State, in a general action, will

that defeat reduce the Moorish bandits to estate of
subordination? On the contrary, it will redeem the
power of the Court of Tetuan to restore order.
Again, if the combined scinadrons of France and
Spain should bombard Tangiers and Ifogador, will
the destruction of life and property in those ports
oppress the robbers who come down from the hills
round Cents to fire shots at the Spanish sentries. It
would be much better that Spain and Morocco
should undertake the chastisement of these robbers

by a local expedition from Ceuta, formed of a small
force from either State. It surely would never be
tolerated that Russia should go to war with Turkey
because a few wandering Arabs should happen to
approach Tillie and occasionally shoot a Russian
sentry. But with regard to France, no pretext for
hostilities hoe ever been substantiated; and we are
in the position of spectators of a war predetermined
on the most frivolous pretences against a State with
the independence of which our Mediterranean inte-
rests us closely associated.