The Sun.
London, England, 1855-04-17 00:00:00

TUE EXPEDITION TO THE EAST.

The :11onieur of yesterday contains the Dro-
iiiised s !coed ;q-tiele on the expedition to the East.
It is as follows

"11.
" POLITICAL PART.

" After baying told the country the whole truth on
the plans of the campaign and on the expedition to the
East, it remains for us to state hoW policy understoecl
its talc, its duty, the honour of France, and theints-
rests of Europe. What were the general causes of the
war ? • For what interests were France and England to
carry their military arid naval forces en far from their
own shores ? On what point do the different States of
Europe touch upon this question of European order?
What is the object which' ought to be kept in view for
the interests of all ? How are the four guarantees to be
understood and accepted on either side as a basis for
neontiation ? Is it just, is it -useful,- to limit the power
of Russia in the Black Sea ? What will be the results
of the Vienna Conferences, for peace-or for war ? That
is what we wish to examine-in the second part of this
task, that on the eve of the decisive solution now under
achievement public opinion, completely enlightened, may
accept with equal confidence peace; if it is possible—
war, if it is necessary.
"The, commencement of this great struggle is known;
it orgina,ted in a small claim • brought against Turkey on
the ground of concessions she had granted in favour of
the Latins in the Holy Land. Russia only wanted a
pre'ext, For her the tea2b of Christ was only a stepping
stone to power. But that sacred stone could not become
a stumbling-block for the peace of the world. The Go-
vernment of the Emperor of the French, by regulating
that question in the most equitable manner, forced the
Cabinet of St. Petersbnrg ti unmask its-- real thoughts.
Every one at , once: discovered that Russia had only
originated the discussion to open the Bosphorus to her
sove,eignty. The forced interpretation which she drew
from the treaty of Kainardji -vas, in fact, nothing else
than the Moral fell of the Sultan. Tile question then
ceased to be a rel;gious olie—it became a political one.
The whole of airope fiend itself engaged in ht. It be-
came necessary to make it understand its interests, de-
fend its rights, and show its strength. _ •
" All the t fferts of the Feench Government were
direct to that result. England, deceiveu at, first by the
pre e•ne t dl charecter of the question, very soon
eedi rstood, with her clear aed Araightlorwael common
seree, its real hearing. She felt, like us, the threat and
arrigarce of th;;t, deieinetion, aed her hand was eteeteheil
forth to meet oueq. already extend, d to seal the altia,,,ce
bet veen the two great countries who represent tee civi-
lisation of Vie SVest.

For Franc?, as for England, the Eastern question
r, presented an is terest super:or to that of their o,vn
:n2lhitior ftwsia, vit,h6f! to dominate at CoLstautinople.
neces•ary to prevent it. Ru-s'a, mistress of the
13 o.k Sea, having drily to extend o r lea id to t -mob the
!lora ity,ed the Mediterranean under the
men;ice of the fl,et.; of Sebastopol. In advancing
wards the Dardanelles she brought her frontiers to the
shores of the Medierraneari. Wherever her vessels
cnii(l reach her preponderance was assured. From her in-
acc:esSible ports she touches all empire 3and all Itingdoriv.
Not only. had France and England a rival, not only
(lid Ger many bend beneath the weight of the C.,lossus
that leant upon her, but Greece, Italy, Spain, Egypt,
arid all the secondapy Slate', found tuemselves struck
by Its saute blow in their security and independence.
Strange circurnstvnec ! Europe had shut its eves to this
invasion of the north. In 1823 France and EiTand,
hurting the Turkish fleet at Navarino, destroyed the
force which prAected the west. At that period we
sought an ally at St. Petersburg, instead of beholding
there an adversary of our influence and of our civilisa-
tion. In 1840 England, Prussia, and Austrie, leaving
aside the Cabinet of the Tuileries, again united them-
selves without suspicion. Sebastopol, closed to every
investigation, hiding in its inaccessible port the activity
of its docriyards and arsenals, did not appear to any
one as a menace. "It was forgotten thzt as far back as
1805 a fleet left that point with 12,000 men on board,
landed them in Italy, and br"ught the Russians and
French in contact in the Mediterranean. Yet that was
a warning worthy of record, fur it proved that Russia
from the creeks of the Euxine, by the domination of
the Straits, could reach to the ertrance of the Adriat:c.

Some ytars later Russia, having to struggle against
France united to Austria, defined her invading policy
much more precisely by the olject she pursued and by
the means which she employed. The Wan of that policy
is a revelation in itself. We borrow it from au authen-
tic document recently published in the memoirs of a
statesman, Admiral Tiehakoff, to whom the Emperor
Alexander gave the following instructions under date of
April 19, 1812.:
" ' The astute conduct of Austria, which has just allied
itself with France, obliges Russia to cruploy every weans
in its power to Oiscoucert the hostile intentions of those
two Powers. The 'post important is to turn to our account
the military genius of the Slavonic people, as Servia, Bos-
Ilia, Dalmatia, Montenegro, Croatia, and Illyria, who,
once armed and under military organisation, Would co-

operate powerfully with our operations. The Hungarians,
dissatisfied with the proceedings of their actual Govern-
ment, offer to us also an exqllent means for alarming Aus-
tria, for Making a diversion to her hostile ideas, and, con-
sequently, for weakening her resources. All these tribes
united to our regular troops would form a very imposing
militia, not only to provide against the hostile intentions
of Austria, but to effect a marked diversion upon the right
wing of the French possessions, and to give us a sure means
of striking a blow in the direction of Nissa or Sophia. The
object of the diversion against France must be to occupy
Bosnia, Dalmatia, Croatia, and to direct their militia opal
mi-st important points of the Adriatic, more especially
on Trieste, Fiume, Boccadi Cattare, so as to establish
there, according to opportunity, relations with the English
fleet, and to make every effort to fan into a fl' ne the dis-
content in the Tyrol and Switzerland, and to act in com-
mon with those brave populatie.ns, dissatisfied with their
' actual Government. You niti4 employ every possible
means to exalt the Slave populations, to bring them to
servo our object, Fur examp'e, you can promise them in-
dependence, the erection, of. a slave kingdom, pecuniary
rewardsfor the most'influential men among them, decora-
tions and suitable titles for tie chiefs and troops. Finally,
you may add to those means any other you may deem ex-
pedient to gain them over- most conformable to actual cir-
cumstances.

•` Such were the views of Russia as far back as 1812,
not only against France, but against Austria. This in-
cendiary plan could not have left the archives of St.
Petersburg at a mor) fitting moment to show to Europe,
and especially to the Cabinet of Vienna, the immense
interest that every one must have to put finally a bar-
rier to a policy which completely justified, by its means
and objects; the foresight of the Emperor Napoleon I.
If the heirs of Peter the Great should ever dominate at
Constantinople by the Black Sea, Austria, surrounded,
embraced on all sides by the powerful arm of Russia,,
wuu!d be at the mercy of an enterprise such as the
daring mind of the Emperor Alexander had conceived.
Hungary, open to its actipti by, the, Danube, would be
given up to all the excitements .of its remembrances.
The Adriatic exposed to the bruSque nttaek cif .a
Slave
coalition, would cease to be the itnut acid bul ark of
the Austr:ati empire, and the key-Of thes:Gii4 tiCrieste
would pass. by a surprise fromVjenna to St. Petel.sburg:
"There is, therefore, nothing more legitimat4 more
necessary, and nu re just before God and universal con-
science than this resistance of which ,the .two: naval
Governments of the West gave the 'signal.in tbemiolith
of April, 1854. England and France.ureW the sword in
the cause of every other State. Their armies and fleet;
were the avant-gardes of Europe. , Having the honour
of arriving first on the theatre of war they had the right
to expect they would be followed there, and they confi-
dently awaited Austria and Prussia at this rendezvous
of the equilibrium and of the independence of European
order,

"Austria. and Prussia did not hesitate to place them-
selves in the solidarity of the interests for the defence of
which France and England were about to fight. In the
protocols signed at Vienna they recognised the rights of
turkey ; they rejected the ad vances_of the Czar, who, not
daring to ask their support, confined himself t propo.,e to
them resignation and neutrality; they united themselves
treaty for the guarantee of German interests ;'
they placed their armies on' a war f iuting, and they
invited the German Confederation to. follow their ex-
ample ; but, while preparing themselves for action, the
two great German Powers hesitated to act. It was not
courage which they wanted—for Governments that have
the responsibility of the honour 'and welfare of their
country at-heart are never deficient in that ; what they
wanted v‘ as confidence. Co-interested in the causes of
the war, they were uncertain of its object. It was that,
object which it WAS necessary to define, so as to leave
• them no cause fur hesitation or distrust.

• "The Einp‘ror, in opening the legislative session of
1254, said in his speech :
" Europe is aware beyond a doubt that if France draws
the sword it is because she is compelled to do se. It
knows that France has no idea of aggrandisenient. She
only wishes to resit dar gerous outbursts ; and I am proud
openly to declare that the time of conquer-4s isirrevocably
past, for it is not by extending the limits of its teriitoTy
that a nation can henceforlh become honoured and power-
ful ; it is by placing itself at the head of generous ideas,
by making everywhere to prevail the empire of right and
justice.' •

' " That solemn declaration left no doubt upon the cha-
racter of the war ; it ailuwed no distrust of the inten-
tions of the Governments of France and England. Thus,
when Germany had the question put to us how far we
intended to go, it was easy for M. Lrouyn de Lhuye, in
concert with Lord Datendon, to reply in the name of
auft,herentheeinr
the Emperor in his memorable note to M. de Bourre-
ney, in formulating the general conditions uponewstmcba,
the allied Powers would consent to treat for
htf:tet
tion of peace. Those conditions comprise
con-
ventionally understood by the ' Four guarantee'to a decisiorp
" Gertnany, however, would not 're' exe!ianged be-
w.is con-
and, while notes and count,ernotes wburrg
war continuei ,
tween Vienna, Berlin, and St. Peters
land fought before Sebastoop, f ,
iaflor toe independence and '
and developed itself in the Crteati
eF
c:a:mc me ~,a:',l at ge,- , 1
and they lavished their 1i,_,2.1,0 y ,
i Austria asked us if we
equilibrium cf Europe. 1,1
was long in the councils.of
ttartvnupun the bases of the four
It appeared to them that, alter
Allied Powers,
the two
gwtioaurladnstetielsl.consent
b.et‘:i
having
at Alma and at I
grained two victories,.
effo efforts
sal
enad ;ins
gu c isles:at:
tsoapcorli,fi sacrifices,
nkerinau, when
,sti. such
then- armies wereglorious
fleets occupied the Black Sea, they had the right to exact
more. But the interest of an alliance with Aura •
ria
.for
PeXce as for war overruled the inspiration of
'nate exactions. The treaty of the 2d of those legal-
the result of that policy. December was
"It was,. therefore, from consideration
from the desire of an offensive to Austria,
with her, and to give to Germanyand defensive alliance
of moderation accepted that we an unequivocal proof
(ions on the basis of the
!our guarantees, reserving to
ourselves always the
right of introducing therein any
other condition that
"On the part cf might result from the chances of war.
i
the Allied Governments, this act of
moderation cost n
ett ng to their dignity, nor to the in.

Si ';;

. _.
.%-i*ZDetk,fe% ~
; terests which they defend ; for, had it knso“tiekney:er':,,e rte 4
1 would have given their consent. In aert,here was hilt -'171,1.--4
one of two things possible ; those n gettiations would. ' - ::.7e,7
succeed or would fail. If successful, ' Ate by the
.12.; -.,'
ben- guarantees, obtained conditions whit ,itr inKiths .::-.1---•
previen.:y. Celia Neeeelrd'e declared lie c onlft.ao•S
yew; after is.o yeeneof diew-trous warfare ; if a failure,
Anstr.a, whose alliance become an offensive one, en-
tered into armed action, and the weight of her -sword
would soon obtain by war what her iefluence could not •
effect in the Conferences. •
• "Thus,- in either case, it was well to negotiate at
Vienna, while continuing all the same to fight in the
Crimea,
"As regards the conditions of peace, nothing can be
more just, more moderate, more conformable to the
rights and interests. of Europe. It will be easy for us to
.sstahlish this by characterising clearly the thought which
dictated them and the object which they were to achieve.
The fir. 4 of the four conditions, in putting an end to the
protectorate of Russia. in the principalities of Moldavia,
Wallachia, and Serval, and in placing their privileges
under the collective guarantee of the Great Power 4,
Itakes away from the Cabinet of St. Petersburg the rights
which it pretended to hold from ancient treaties, and
fir approaching' Austria
which were the only meens fee subjugwing those popu-
euidi!,eit'id tor troubling the whole
loan' i her6;' Binfloorstd (V"ut eartai3bfelf
of Europe ; the second by stipulating the free navigation
of the Danube, liberates the commerce of all nations-1—
especially of Austria—from the moral and materiai ob- .
stacies which impede it, and throws brier' the mouths of
that great river to the States of which it is the fortune
and the defence.
" The' fourth, in delivering Turkey from the preten-
sions of Russia to a religious protectorate over the Greek
subjects of the Sultan, nevertheless assures more than
ever' freedom of conscience at the ,same time that it de-
stroys the Supremacy which the Czars arriTated to them-
selves, the political of of which, the better to Im-
pose, was concealed wider a religious mask.
As regards the third of those conditions —that'which
has for its object to limit the preponderance of Russia in
--
the Black S awe have reserved it expressly as the
most important and most contested, so=-as to explain it
here, categer.Cally. First of all, how Must it be under-
stc;od ? Evidently, anythiug equivocel .on in grave a
pent cannot suit any one. 'The ally. I Governments,
who have a\opriseiousoess of the justie,, of their pre:ten-
s:wnee i:ve not feared definit:g them. Itus,itt has turned
the B:ack • Sea, into a lenesien -ete, ; she has gradually
founded trieritilee estabitsitments the rd of the first Ci :- as ; • she has accuroula,ed (bore, with as much uerrevetanee
as. mystery, considerable naval forces and it, *ay be
said ti,a+, by ti zt exclusive domination of the Theemk
sea
,1,, has placed Constantinople in a perrnanent state of ,
--e- ...,

Ottoman
Teis sla,‘,e of things is not pos4me, because it i.., in-
coFati,le net only with the into r,:tv of the
eniii,ro but with lie security of the whole of Europe
" France and England, in detrit,nfling Rua t:t
her power in the B rick ;Sea, or to neutralise that sea,
are therefore completely in the right. It that result
was not obtained by peace or by tear. such a peace
v.'ou!d be ephemera! an,: such a war Useless ; mid; let it
he veil ob.erved, this demand fur the hniitation of Ittis-
sian Cr,- or f;)r the nentrAlistition of 'the Brack Sea;
Jots not respond my to Augic-French interests, it re-
sp also to the interests of Austria, fer/whioh the
Dae;tiLe, a. eeinnitreial and military raver, is a magnificent
highway, open to her activity towards the Euxine and
Asia. An argument is brought alzainst this pretension
NN, 11;0 we de not think serieds ; it is said to the Allied
Powers, YOU ask a concession from Itus,iai- which at
most night be the price of the surrender of Sebastopol,
and that place is still held by the Russian army.' Our
reply is this :—` The law of nations grants that a por-
tion of what is obtained by war may be kept by peace.
We have not yet taken Sebastopol, that is t rue ; but
what is Sebastopol at the present moment to Russia ? It
is no longer a naval port, as her fleet, sunk at the mouth
of the harbour, or shut up behind 'that insurpassable .
terrier, is withdrawn from the struggle. The Black
Sea is the battlefield which we have won—or, if they
like it, which has been abandoned to us by the enemy.
The Russian flag could not show itself there. - Our ships
and those of England and Turkey navigate it in every
sense. Its domination has changed hands. It hasgone
from Sebastopol to Constantinople.
" Who compels us to give up this pledge ? Is not such
a situation the very best we could have ? And not only
do we occupy the Back Sea, but we be-iege Sebastopol,
we are fortified at Kamiesch and at Balaklava, Omer
Pasha is entrenched at Eupatoria, Odessa is menaced by
our fleets ? What can Russia do ? Could she sufftr for
any length of time without detriment to her moral
strength and without ruin to her commerce the blockade
which will shut her up in every Fut of the Black Sea
and in the Baltic ? Could she live in that paralysis which
in her strikes_the vital principle of nations—that is to
say, movement; action, the right of exporting and ex-
changing her produce, and which would . condemn her
to isolation sterility, impotency, in the immensity of her
empire? To ask Russia to limit her naval forces, or to
neutralise the Black Sea—that is to say, to exclude
therefrom all vessels of war of any nation whitsover, is
therefore to exact from her much less' than what we.bave
acquired by war, and which we could maintain without
an effort. In fact, what does it require to preVent Rus-
sia from ever entering the Blank Sea again ? Four men-
of-war of eac:i of the maritime Powers,"France, England
and Turkey. Such a cruising squadron Would suffice to
occupy the Black Sea and to transplant its domination
from the shores of the Climes, to the entrance of the
Bosphoruq.
" WLat Russia has lost, what she cannot recover by
war, no matter how long, is her preponderance over the
East. What she may legitimately is a share of in-
fluence in the affairs of the world. She would find, if
needs be, a coalition of all States to restrain her ambi-
thin ; but no one wishes to humiliate her. What is asked
from- her Europe has the right, and it is its duty to
exact. if she grants it, the peace of the world is assured,
the object of the allied Powers attained. If she refuses,
war will continue and decide it.

" At the moment we write drone grave solutions are
being prepared and disetwed at the Vienna Conferences,
where M. Drouyn de l'Huys and Lord John ,Russell
hare
,taker., with the authority of their character
and position, the expression of the common thought
et their Governments. The country must• confidently
await the result of that decisive trial. It may slur
that peace will be concluded, if it is possible with honour
to the flags of France and England and security for
theirinfiuence, and that war, if it shoUld continue, with
be nece, sary for the object propOsed by the Allied Go-
vernments, and from which nothing can turn them aside,.
" But a great result is acquired already from the very,
fact of these negotiations. France and England have:
loyally negotiated with Austria to allow her policy to ex-
haust the last re'sourees of conciliation. Those confer-
ences of which Vienna is the centre are the loyal ands
honest act of the Emperor Francis Joseph. But the.
Allied Powers know that if Austria does not succeeds*
this noble effort of her European patriotisrc,.she
fight resolutely with them. In limiting their 'dolma&
to the very conditions accep'ed by the Vienna; Cabinet ja►
the treaty of the 2d of Dec. they have gained to the COM.•
iriortcausti•an important and devoted ally. The possibility-
of peace, like the necessity of war, nust henceforth he.
'only a fare% in common to tLe- Three Powers Who signed
that treaty. The solidarity of their interet and of
theirenguements would unite them in the struggle as it
has united them in the Confereneei,.and that grand Eu-
ropean confederation will soon 'have triumphed over
every resistance.

"France and England may therefore congra.balate
themselves in having consented to negotiate while con-
tinuing to fight. _lr. acting thus they have not only
given a proof of mode, ation—tbey have increased their
strength. Their adhesion to an honourable and possible
lieace, having as consequence the support of Austria in
a necessary and legitimate war, is an act counselled by
wisdom, and which will be approved by public opinion.
"One word more, in conclusion. It is, perhaps, a
novel and bold thing to speak of the military and diplo-
matic conduct of a war while the army is fighting and
negotiations are pending. We thought that it was pre-
cisrly the moment to speak the truth to the country.
Truth is only a danger for the weak. With right and
strength on their side, it honours those who speak it—it
reassures those who hear it."

In consequence of the intended visit 'of the Emperor
of the French to Guildhail on Thursday; the 19th inst.,
and the obstructions to business that will Arise from the
crowded state of the thorouglthreq,
the teenernittee of
bankers have issued a recommendation that 0.11 bills due
on that day, and not aidressed payable at city. bankers,
:ma°tiedtre,dt,tnarneierao7sere:*
should he presented on Wednesday, the 18th.
SHOCKING SACRILEGE.—BRISTOL, April 16. --it Pail?'
ful sensation has been caused in tois city by t,hreaiaccernl:
legions v,ielation of the vault in which for Femillo,, of
Yea".
5411..-e.tiLpoSs rtnebrb:4l was
tunes have reposed the remains of the Smyth
fD: '
Bristol.
Clifton. It is be-
Ashton-ocitirt, situated about threci:::.itelfm;:rplte
It is now only about two
of " Tom Provis," alias Sir tt:l "
'iii:Vihreletchtoiraavteel:riyel(l3l,:flaitld:
Ailtb.iroe:dtednd.,ol,i,tontica,,,thi.rioitpurtc,Gtra.
9,leirv(tiss::ep:.ela.i.
rtugtetnetr,i,,:r:eftf.yra:Erti::ieri,le.,:illll:utut:w:g;rl:ette!:ig, irt:cit
an a view of the th 1 '
among the citizens o
owing to the succea2,'sto
preseiir
ea"ciCrStu:iaVs,tel:lll;
6,.,
be
tuhstitshiv'e b:aelei(:• ]NastFl ju"
a :ail
deg. inopueeil
F int and "fle
tha‘tvitihn, the
e
r ~r4eight perso engaged in it ';
quires..
eh in
ons einn.sons were
;111 r 1; fi o rol
tt, hie
;attempt too.e.
Ipliiia,o,ie.(,)int.ttiinttilaoiadc.roegireoeiete;stie 1
B. 0 Tit:iocr
t object of the plunderers is pretty
' mariner in which the vault leas
er,neaged to conduct
t wentheo lkienrcai
,hti.
no n.
aunt of the late sir . some family differences, the
by herself. She John and Sir Hugh Stepp resided
and it was clirrent'was of somewhat eCeeniiiie habits,
ry reported at the:time ot=her funsrel
that a quant;t .
that the body,y ot j\ewels were interred with her, and
Placed withinh having been embalmed, the heart was
coffin, enclosed in a silver box, and
that the breast-plate, e plate, handles, Etc., upon the coffin
were of pnre silver. The sacriikeious. villains cut open
the lead coffin of the late Sirgohn Smyth, and also
that of the late Lady Smyth. The former they
must have had some difficulty in removing •from
its position, as it took four men tordaY to replies
it. They were disappointed, however, in their
anticipations of plunder, the • Itaden coffin in which i
are contained the remtibei of the Dowager Lady
Smyth remaining intact. It-is suppOsed, also, that they
Iwere disturbed; as they left a dark lantern behind them,
aid some massive silver ornaments, which had been
'''appended to the exterior of one of the coffins. A. large
reward has been offered for the discovery of the offen-
ders, but at present the police have no clue to theta,
although it is more than suspected they belong to a gang
who have long infested the parishes of Bedminster and
Long Asbton,inear this city, and some of whose ineini,ete
have recently received the sentence of•penal servitude at
the late Socuersetsbire sessions and wises. -
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