The Sun.
London, England, 1855-09-17 00:00:00

unanimity and persistence with which the organs
of Russia in the European press continue to repre-
sent the war in the East as calculated to promote
the exclusive interests of England, and to insist
that France: is beguiled into subserviency to the
ambitious views of this country, has for its object
the weakening of the alliance between those Power's
by awakening mutual jealousy and distrust. The
device is stale : it was exposed by Talleyrand in
1831, as is apparent from a letter of that statesman
which we published a few days ago.
It is, however, worthy of remark that the idea
of alienating France from England by systematic
misrepresentations of this kind originated with an
Austrian Minister. Talleyrand directly charges
Metternich with having suggested this insidious
policy to Russia. And now, as then, we find Aus-
trian diplomacy hunting in couples with that of
Russia. The frantic King of Naples makes no
secret of his Russian partisanship; and Austrian
agents are indefatigable in their preParations to
protect that monarch from the consequences of the
indignation which his conduct has excited through-

out Italy. "An Imperial Commissary," so writes
our Roman correspondent ®n the 10th inst., "has
been recently visiting the frontier city of Ascoli,
which would be on the line of march from the Le-

gations, through La Marca, to the Neapolitan pro-
vince of Aquila, to see what supplies of provisions
and forage can be depended on for 'the Austrian
forces to be detached in support of .King Bomba's
throne." Our correspondent adds that Count
Esterhazy, brother to the Austrian Charge d'Af-
faires at the Papal Court, paid a flying visit to
Rome about ten days ago, and, after an inter-
view with the Pope and Cardinal Antonelli, de-
parted in haste for Naples.. In connection with
these incidents must be taken theustematic endea-
vours of the Austrian' press in binnibardy-to dis-
seminate groundless suspicions as to the ulterior
objects of the English Government in raising an
Italian legion in Piedmont. Austria is conspiring
with the King of Naples to find work for France
and Englind in Italy that may create a diversion
in favour of Russia. This is no more than might

have been expected. The interests of Austria and
Russia—as understood by these Governments—are
in a great measure identical. Both are insatiable
in their desire to aggrandise themselves at the
expense of their neighbours, and both are morbidly
afraid of the progress of liberal opinions. Slight
differences do occur between them at times, when
unluckily both have set their hearts on the acqui-
sition• of the same • territory ; but these are soon
got over from, a conviction that their interests are
in the main the same. We have just had an ex-
ample of this in the conduct of Austria with regard
to the Danubian Principalities. The (Austrian Go-
vernment coveted and attempted to gain possession
of these provinces -long before Russia had made
sufficient progress in the Ukraine and the Crimea
to be able to• lay her hands upon them. Austria
still covets them, and hence she has played fast and
loose with Trance, England and Turkey, until she
has been allowed to take military ocoupatio u of them.

Confident that they cannot now be rescued from
her grasp—no longer afraid of seeing Russia get
hold of them before her—Austria returns to her
alliance with the Czar, who, hard pressed by the
Western Powers, is obliged to wink at tho trick
which has been played him by the Cabinet of
Vienna.

To a Sardinian Government belongs the honour
of hating been the first to call the attention of the
European Powers to the complicity of Austria and
Russia in the project of despoiling the Ottoman
Government: In 1783 Austria and Russia were
availing themselves of the discord which prevailed
among the Western Powers to extend their joint
spoliation of the Sultan. The war between France
and England, which arose out of the American Re-
volution, was terminated in that year but peace
sometimes implies merely a cessation of hostilities,
not the establishment of friendship and concert. In
this state of affairs it was the effort of the Sardinian
Government of the day to unite the Western Powers
in opposition to the ambitious designs of Austria
and Russia failed, but its indefatigable efforts to
this end are apparent from an interesting collection
of diploniatic papers that have recently been pub-
lished at Turin. As a sample of these documents
we invite attention to the following extract from a
despatch to Count Foralana, extraordinary envoy
of Sardinia at the Court of Berlin, which is dated
the 29th of September, 1783, signed by the King
Victor Amadeus 111., and countersigned by his
Minister for Foreign Affairs :
As in the actual crisis of Europe your mission to Ber-
lin becomes daily more important, we have deemed it
time to giye you a precise idea of the view which we take
of affairs now on the tap is, in order that you may be in
a condition to act and speak as circumstances may de-
mand.
To this end we begin by informing you that, whatever
reports may have been spread to the contrary, we are
unhampered by any engagement. But as it might have
happened that Rome of the European Power-i, who have
a more direct interest than we have in averting the storm
which threatens the Ottoman Empire, and imposing a
check on the vast projects of the two Imperial Courts,
should have claimed our co-operation without leaving us
time to see what turn affairs were likely to take, we
deemed it necessary to give urgent orders, a few months
ago, to place our troops, arsenals, and magazines, on
such a footing that we should have at our disposal an
army of 25,000 men. We also took measures for the
augmentation of this corps as soon as it should be neces-
sary.

Raving adopted these precautions, prudence dictates
that we should wait to see what part the great powers
of Europe are about to take : whether they will allow
the Russians and Austrians to ruin the Ottoman Em-
pire, or whether they will unite to hinder the too great
aggrandisement of the courts of Vienna and St. Peters-
burg. It is obvious that these two powers aim at no-
thing less than a vast ext-insion of their territories, the
monopoly of the Levant, and ultimately of that of
India. It appears, therefore, to flow from these pre-
mises that all the other European Powers have the
greatest interest in arresting designs which threaten
some of them with the decline of their trade, others
with the logs of their preponderance in the European
system, or even in part of their nat►onal independence.
The wars of the French revolution soon came to
divert attention from the warnings of Victor Ama-
deus. For a long time Austria had other things to
think of than aggrandisement at the expense of
Turkey. Russia- persevered, though at times in-
terrupted by the necessity of defending herself
against the enterprises of Napoleon I. And now at
the elei,enth hour France and England have been
obliged to arm to avert dangers pointed out to them
by the Sardinian Government of 1783. Austria,
having soothed her amour propre—disturbed by
the start Russia has got of her in the interim—by
the dexterous pieoe of legerdemain which has played
the Danubian Principalities into her hand, is now
again making common cause with the Czar. In
joining the Anglo-French alliance the King of Sar-
dinia is true to the hereditary policy of his dynasty;
and he has good cause to be so, for Austria threatens
him more nearly than she did Victor Amadeus in
1783. A cry has been attempted to be got up in
certain quarters that attention has of late been
' drawn to the troubles impending in Italy for the
purpose of diverting attention from the Ottoman
question ; but the historical retrospect in which we
have been indulging shows that the Turkish and
• Italian questions are inseparable.

MINES.—We have had nothing very. new or striking
in the market this week. The amount of business trans-
acted, as will be seen by the official list, has been
limited, and prices have been flatter with one or two
exceptions. Devon Great Consols advanced to 400.
Rosewarnes have declined. Alfred Consols, Stray Park.
South Tamar, Tincroft, Tamar Consols, Trewetba, and
North Robert inquired after. Sertridge Consols and
West Sortridge Consols have been dull, especially the
latter. The buoyancy which the news from the East
would otherwise have given to the markets generally has
been more than counterbalanced by the demand for
money; and the fear which seems to be general that it
will, before many months, be much dearer.—Mining
Journal.
THE IRON TRADE. —ln consequence of the great im-
provement which has taken place in the aspect of the
iron trade, the ironmasters of South Wales have ge-
nerally determined to advance the wages of their
workmen 10 per cent., and, in several instances, this
was carried into effect at the last pay-day,. Messrs.
Crawshay and Hill were the first to promise the in-
crease, and their example has pretty generally been
fullowed by the other works. The iron trade now is
in a very steady condition, orders being good, and
there is every prospect of the trade continuing firm.
The exports of iron still are large ; heavy shipments
of rails and bars are being sent abroad.

THE LATE LIEUT. PRESTON.—A Southampton corre-
spondent writes :—Last March a military officer, quite
a lad, took a watch to. Mr. Pegler, a watchmaker in
Southampton, to be repaired, and wished to have it again
at two o'clock, as he was going to embark for the Crimea.
It was thought he meant two o'clock the next day. Soon
after midnight he came rapping at Mr. Pegler's door,
and it was then discovered that be wanted the watch at
two o'clock in the morning, as he was about to embark
very early. This was Lieut. Horatio Preston, of the
Connaught Rangers, who fell gloriously in the Crimea,
within a few weeks after he had landed there. The
watch was returned to his family. It was in a battered
state. On the 31st .August his brother, Lieut. George
Berthon Preston, of the 97th Regiment, fell fighting in
the Crimea. Both the brothers were killed in the trenches
before the Great Redan.