The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-26 00:00:00

as anything that is possible can be ; and, though set
down as an alternative, is really out of the question.
Trio second is virtually the one means ; and, therefore,
the Congress having arrived .at this vital point, the Rus-
sian Plenipotentiaries will have to accept or refuse that
which directly involves the.bumiliatio❑ of Russia.

We are afraid that nothing has yet occurred
which can give rise to any hope that Russia will
subscribe to our ternip. The late Emperor, cou'd he have
bent his will to the unplew,,ut task-, had at any rate the
power t,) make peace. The present Emperor, on the
contrary, wo fear, having the will, lacks the power.
Lnrd John Ru-sell, it is most probable, will be able
to return England in ensue 10 days, bringing, as the
Roman Ambassador of old, peace or war in the folds
of his mantle. For now it is to be decided at Vienna
whether ltnsia shall be bound within her own terri-
tories, and effectual bairi,r3 opposed to her aggresion
by land or sea ; or whether the war is to proceed on a
lager or more terrible scale than ever—whether, in one
word, we are now to secure a permanent peace, or whe-
ther it has yet to be conquered.

THE DISMANTLING OF SEBASTOPOL.-

(From the Daily News of this day.)

It was whispered on Friday—it was confidently as-
serted on Saturday—that the Allks'no longer intend to
insist upon the dismantling of Sebastopol. It was said
that Austria refused to support such a demand on the
part of the Western powers ; that the English Ministers,
after a brief demur, gave up the point; and that, lastly,
the Emperor of the French consented to a complete eva-
cuation of the Crimea, Sebastopol being left standing.
The credit given to these statements, by monetary po-
tentates, was vouched for by their large operations in
the French and English Funds. For our own part, we
confess that we cannot believe this n4iort, With the words
used by the English Plenipotentiary at Vienna, when
ho pointed to Sebastopol, last June, as a permanent me-
nace to Constantinople, fresh in
_our memory, and with

the knowledge of how much the heart of the French
Emperor is set upon the capture of that fortress, and
what a deep stake he has in the successful issue of the
attempt. Our faith in the weakness and inconsequence
of statesmen is tolerably strong, but the call to believe
that the French and English Governments will leave
Sebastopol standing, after all that has been said and
done, tries it rather too severely.
Mr. Disraeli's especial organ in the press has put forth
a laboured piece of special pleading to prove that there
would he no danger in sparing Sebastopol. Sufficient
guarantees for the stability of the Ottoman Empire, the
free navigation of the Euxine, and the peace and inde-
pendence of Europe, may be had, according to the Die-
raeli organ, without the dismantling of Sebastopol.
"An armed port is in itself only defensive." "Sebas-
topol is menacing only when it shelters a powerful fleet."
" Russia without a fleet in the Black Sea is as much
deprived of aggressive power as if Sebastopol did not
exist as an armed port." " Russia will limit her navy
in the Black Sea to a certain number of ships, and will
allow the construction of a fortress on the Asiatic shore
of the Black Sea to counterbalance the fortress of Se-
bastopol." This is the sum and substance of what the
Disraelites have to say in support of the proposal to
leave Sebastopol intact in the hands of the Czar. It
deserves attention as an indication of the terms upon
which a Derby-Disraeli Cabinet would be ready to
make peace with Russia.
For no other reason do these arguments deserve a
second thought. It is admitted that Sebastopol, with a
powerful fleet sheltered in its recesses, would gravely
menace the free navigation of the Black Sea and the se-
curity of Constantinople. And how long can Europe be
certain that it will not shelter such a fleet whilst its
crags bristle with bastions and artillery ? " Russia will
limit her navy in the Black Sea." That is, Russia will
yield to the pressure of the moment, and promise to do
so; but she will immediately set to work to build ships
in anticipation of the moment when any dissensions be-
tween the Western Powers may admit of her producing
them in the Euxine with better prospects of success.
At Nicolaieff—where the Russian men-of-war for the
Euxine are built—no consuls of foreign powers are al-
lowed to establish themselves. Its arsenals and dock-
yards are closed against the inspection of strangers. A
more numerous fleet than Russia has ever yet had in
the Euxine may be prepared there, and not a whisper
of the matter be heard in Europe. From Nicolaieff to
the sea the river is tortuous in its course, and full of
shallows and sand-banks ; the ships of war, when built,
have to be floated down by the aid of what are
called " camels." The reaches of the river are
protected by forts and batteries. The new
navy would be inaccessible in its dockyards, even
though its -existence were discovered ; and Sebastopol
—strengthened as it doubtless will be if lett in the
possession of Russia— would afford the fleet a secure
asylum as soon as an opportunity was obtained of get-
ting it safely into the waters of the Black Sea. Sebes-
tepid is of no use to Russia except as a ground of vant-
age whence she may at any moment a;,..ssil Constantino-
ple ; and the obstinacy with which the Russian Govern-
ment clings to its possession shows that the designs of
Peter and Catherine against Turkey are not yet relin-
quished. But the most extraordinary part of this pre-
cious aTurnentation relates to the "set-off " which
Russia i 5 repre,ented as willing to concede to the Allies.
Russia " will allow the construction of a fortress on the
Asiatic shore of the Black Sea to counterbalence the
fortress of Sebastopol " We have heard of this before,
and we believe that Russia would re joie° to see such a
fortress reared and garrisoned by the Western Powers
--because it would be the first decided step towards
the partition of Turkey. The trap is too obvious to de-
ceive any but a s!atssman of the Fakreddin school.
There can be no security for the free navigation of the
Black Sea, and the development of the commerce of the
surrounding regions, so long as Russia is left in posses-
sion of the Crimea. The position of the Muscovite Go-
vernment in Sebastopol is exactly analogous to that of
the Highland caterans of the first half of last century
among the natural fastnesses around Loch Katrine.
Until practicable roads were carried through that re-
gion—after the rebellion of '4.s—the marauders who oc-
cupied these strongholds were a perpetual thorn in the
sides of the industrious lowlanders. They watched the
moment for a successful foray, and levied black-mail with
impunity, confident that even if a three greater than
they could resist were brought against them they could
fall back upon the inaccessible regions behind until the
storm blew over. In like manner, so long as Russia can
exclude foreigners from the Crimea and adjoining steppes,
she can intermit the levying of black mail in the Euxine,
and her forays in the lands of the Sultan when Europe
rises in arms to suppress them, and resume her spolia-
tions when peace is restored. The fats which crown the
crags and cover the windings and creeks of the harbour
of Sebastopol must be dismantled, and the Crimea ren-
dered accessible teethe nations of Europe, or there will
be no lasting security for peaceable traders in the Black.
Sea.

While such weighty reasons can be adduced for the
dismantling of Sebastopol, as a sinc qua non of peace,
we cannot believe that it is in the contemplation of the
Western Powers to desist from insisting on that condi-
tion. The report that they are so disposed has possibly
had its origin in an imperfect account of an opinion, at-
tributed to the Emperor of the French, that Sebastopol
is too strong to be taken by assault ; and that its reduc-
tion must be accomplished, after the Russian armies
have been driven out of the Crimea, by the more tedious
process of a strict blockade.

DOCTORS.
upon upon the
(Prom the Examinee)
Fortune still PE
faNvoEuWrsStPheAMeeßohte
Newspaper Stamp, from which Mr. Blight, its ablest
and most pertinacious spokesman, expects " vast results."
The new Chancellor of the Exchequer, indeed, considers
such expectations to be quite erroneous, and
"does not
expect that a great number of new newspapers will be
established if the stamp duty should be removed ;"
but
roman
to
he neverthelesh gives way to the opinion of Mr. Bright
and his friends, and consents to abolish what they de-
clare to be a tax upon knowledge.
This it is to be constituted, malgro lui, physician to
aps e
thatrs.
whichl In obedience
caused
to consent prompt Nspuregwent as
the blistering of other men's backs that he might be
saved from the bruising of his own, Sir Cornewall Lewis
advances to Mr. Bright's rescue. Our Chancellor of the
Exchequer came into office, as we all know, fresh from
the Edinburgh. Reiiew, a journal which is supposed,
justly or unjustly, to possess still some influence. What
use had ha made of that influence, in regard to this
particular question / Why, under his editorship, the
Edinburgh Review laughed at the whole thing. yes, at
the fallacy involved in denouncing the newspaper stamp
As a tax on knowledge, Sir Cornewall Lewis's Review'
went so far out of its usual way as even to make merry.
It called the cry for repeal a Tadpole cry. The false
reasoning of the predominating party in the committee
of the house, and the onesidedness of the witnesses, were
by the same grave authority exposed ; and public opinion
was directed strongly against interference- with a system
which had every consideration of right and good policy
on its side. We are not recalling all this to charge the
Chancellor of the Exchqeuer with any grievous incon-
sistency. The simple fact is, that having no real in-
terest whatever in the subject, he has manifestly never
thought about it seriously. He is quite as satisfied,
therefore, to take his opinions in the first place from a
contributor to his Review, as, in the next place, when
the matter presses in that direction, from Messrs. Bright
and Cobden.
It is remarkable, too, that this measure, which pro-
poses—at any rate—a most serious interference with a
large commercial interest, is taken up thus at sight not
• by Sir Come wall Lewis only. Mr. Gladstone also coin-
p!ained the other night that his introduction of the bill
had not been voluntary. He, too, was a medicin meg re
lui. "It was rather," he said upon this point of doc-
toring the newspapers, "in deference to the strong and
unanimous opinion of the house that the Government
gave way, and not because they thought that the pro-
position was a wise and prudent one. But the strong
opinion of the house was one thing, and the strong
opinion of Mr. Bright another. The house had affirmed
only, in view of the confusion caused by prosecutions
arising from an imperfect legal definition of a newspaper,
that the existing law, being ill defined and unequal in
operation, called for the early attention of Parliament.
What alone the house was pledged to by its declaration,
was to get rid of the difficulties and confiision in certain