The Sun.
London, England, 1853-12-10 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 10, 1853.

military position, he has to vindicate the tarnished
reputation of his soldiers for valour, and of his
captains for generalship. Haughty and arrogant as
is the disposition of the Emperor NICHOLAS, it is
not to be imagined that his ambition can be at
once extinguished, that his demands can be thrust
back upon his statesmen, that his armies can be
compelled to withdraw from the Principalities—
on the morrow of a disgraceful defeat—and simply
in obedience to the portentous fact that on the
sth instant the Four contracting Powers signed a
formal Protocol. Stung by a sense of his own
blundering, wounded by repeated discomfitures,
irritated by the dignified calmness of the opposition
presented to his diplomacy and his warlike• arma-
ments by the Turkish Government, NICHOLAS is not
exactly in the mood rendering it probable that he will
retire before the wave of four goosequills,
in
the hands of four bungling and stammering
Plenipotentiaries. Besides—whatever may be
insisted upon by the organs of ABERDEENISM_...
the AUTOCRAT has recently betrayed more and
more plainly his resolve to listen to no further
negotiations.
However, one result we do believe may be
brought about by this redoubtable Protocol. The
war may be reduced to the dimensions of a Wal-
lachian campaign. The Four Great Powers
of Europe may be guarded from the dangers
of a struggle with the CZAR in behalf of the
integrity
of the Ottoman dominions. But, will
such a result as this, of our boasted diplomatic
negotiations, be creditable to the Allied Govern-
ments of the Northern and Western States of
Christendom ? We think not. We believe that
it must weigh like a crime upon the conscience of
those hitherto magnanimous races—resulting in
come inevitable and appalling retribution.

Proof, more conclusive than any adduced before
the Commissioners, has just been given of the im-
perative necessity for a sweeping Reform of the
Corporation of the City of London. It has been
positively asserted that the leading merchants of
the British Metropolis deliberately abstained from
taking any part in the proceedings of the Muni-
cipality in consequence of the mode in which
they were carried on ; and it is deeply to be
regretted that such a statement should have
been so fully justified within so short a time
after it had been put forward. But so it is.
Mr. Deputy BENNOCH, one of the most intelligent,
independent, and efficient members of the Common
Council—one who has for eight successive years
honourably and ably discharged the duties of his
situation, and more than justified the choice of
his fellow-citizens--has deemed it essential to the
maintenance of his character to resign the
trust confided to his charge in to the hands
of those by whom he was selected. The
temperate and able address in which the
Honourable Gentleman announces his inten-
tion will be found in another part of this day's
impression. It contains intrinsic evidence that
the result has not been arrived at without consi-
derable pain, and that it is with deep regret the
Honourable Gentleman has at length felt himself
compelled to sever—let us hope only for a short
period—the connexion from which so much benefit
has resulted to the Electors of the Ward of Crip-
plegate-within, and so much honour to himself.
Mr. BENNOCH was a consistent, straight-
forward, and energetic Reformer. The posi-
tion in which he was placed enabled him
to investigate the various abuses that have
sprung up during many successive genera-
tions, and a sense of duty to those by whom he
was selected prevented him from conniving at
their continuance. On every occasion he was ready,
not merely to denounce the evil, but to offer an
adequate remedy, whichhis sound practical common
sense and indefatigable industry enabled him to
devise and maturely to consider. He spared no-
thing. requiring attention and amendment. His
exertions were not devoted to the interests of a
clique or party by whom he would gladly have
been chosen as a leader, if he would have accepted
the position. No, the general good, that which
would prove most beneficial to all—to the non-
freemen as well as to the freemen of the metro-
polis, was what he ever held steadily in view, and
from which he never suffered any inducement to
divert his attention for a single moment. This
honourable independence excited animosity. This
led to frequent annoyance to the man, who was
too much in the habit of blurting out inconve-
nient truths at inconvenient times, who could not,
under any circumstances, be turned from the
straightforward course. Mr. BENNOCH had but
too often ample for well - founded com-
plaint, but it was not until recently that
the feelings of hostility passed the ordinary
bounds of decorum, such as a Gentleman could
Submit to, or by a necessary consequence
such as Gentlemen ought to offer. The evi-
dence fearlessly and independently given be-
before the Commission by Mr. BENNOCH excited
the wrath of the advocates of "things as they
are," and many an envenomed shaft was aimed
at the sturdy reformer, who stated " fearlessly
and truthfully what lie knew to be the facts—
facts which have not been, and cannot be contro-
verted"—stated them, too, in such a manner as
to elicit the unanimous commendation of indepen-
dent men, and independent journalists of all
parties. This was an offence not to be forgiven—
this was a grievance demanding exemplary punish-
ment. And if, as we have been told in the olden
time "the greater the truth the greater the libel,"
the offence of Mr. BENNOCH was of no ordinary
magnitude. The climax was capped during the
last
deplorable altercation in the Common Council,
reported in The Sun of yesterday. Mr. BENNOCH
~vould not submit to such imputations and in-
sinuations, and hence the resignation, which, for
the sake of the citizens generally, of all the in-
iabitants, indeed, of the " Great Metropolis,"
we trust he may yet be induced to withdraw.
nch men as Mr. BENNOCH are wanting in
the Corporation. He cannot be spared at
a crisis like
.the present ; and we trust that
of the Ward of Cripplega'e
returning him unanimously to his seat,
I;aeglaeicators
-may confer additional honour on their Represen-
tative, and give further weight to his opinions.
Goo forbid that we should suppose all or even
inajority
of the Common Council should be
supposed to have
participated in the feelings com-
plained of by Mr. BENNOCH. Like that Honour-
able Gentleman, we find "much to admire" in
the body. There are
4‘ many
i men worthy of all
respect ;" and it would be indeed hard if the
want of courtesy and consideration evinced by a
ud
ro •
clique could banish from the Court men of whom
be
the City of London may well p

We pointed out the other day how completely
the Municipal Franchise in towns satisfies the
demands of those who wish to enlarge our con-
stituencies without venturing on untried ground.
it had not occurred to us that the municipal mode
taking the votes may, possibly, with but slight
hiodification, be the nearest approach to the Bal-
lot which has, to any very large extent, been put
to the test of practice. Decided as our opinions
are on the necessity of the Ballot and large
constituencies, we are neither bigoted nor im-
practicable, and any prOposal which, so far as it
goes, is sound, shall have our hearty, if not our
heartiest support. We believe TIO honest Govern-
ment needs fear the Ballot; but we are certain that
thousands of honest-hearted electors cannot be
honest without it, and that thousands of corrupt
electors exult in the open voting which secures
them their pay. We cordially welcome, however,
on 'this as on
who sincerely aim
ourselves—the securing
any other subject, the efforts of all
at the same object with
of a real vote to a
real voter. We have been led to these
remarks by a very able letter which, after
having been forwarded to Lord JOHN RUSSELL,
was inserted in a local paper, The
Mr. J. FL TILLETT, of Norwich. The •
writer has
had ample experience as a very active legal agent
in both city and county election matters, and is
well known, we believe, as belonging to the most

advanced section of the Liberal party. Although
ready to go farther, apparently, himself, he sug-
gests to Lord JOHN the Municipal Franchise as a
tried and trusted one, adapted to satisfy earnest
but real Reformers who shrink from Universal
Suffrage ; but, in addition to this, he points out
that the mode of voting practised in boroughs
may be made a very near approach to the
secrecy of the Ballot, with the confessed advan-
tage of retaining a record of the votes for the
cases in which the ends of truth and justice may

require it.
The votes for Town Councillors, in boroughs
are taken by two Assessors and an Alder-
man. The Alderman is selected from the list by
the majority of the Town Councillors in each
ward ; but the Assessors are elected by the bur-
gesses, and as each burgess is only permitted to
vote for one where there are opposite parties, one
must belong to each. These three receive the
voting papers and place them in a box ; and after
the poll is closed the papers are examined, and
the poll declared on the next day or the day after.
Thus far the voting might be quite secret if the
Alderman and Assessors were bound, like In-
come-Tax Commissioners, not to divulge the votes.
By courtesy, however, certainly not by any re-
quirement of the Act, " check-card writers" on
each side have been permitted to record the votes
as the polling proceeded, a practice of course in-
compatible with secrecy, and also one of the
greatest aids to bribery, it being well known that
all the worst bribery begins when the honest elec-
tors have polled, and the venal portion, who have
reserved themselves for the eleventh hour, are
watching the bids of the rival parties. Mr.
TILLETT, therefore, would pledge the Alderman
and Assessors to secrecy, and banish the check-
card writers, but retain the voting papers under
seal, to be used in evidence should a scrutiny or
legal proceedings be required. In the event of
the scrutineers having to give evidence before
a Parliamentary Committee, or a court of law,
he would also, no doubt, require that no votes
should be divulged but those specially required
by the proceedings.
Now still retainingundiminished our preference
for the short, simple, and effectual remedy of the
Ballot, we cannot be insensible to the merits of a
proposal like this. Those Reformers who would
not concede such a modification of secret voting
have little claim to be deemed Reformers at all.
It secures responsibility wherever legal proceed-
ings could be instituted. In a proved case of
bribery, the vote given by the bribed party could
be struck off from the purchaser's majority ; all
cases of subornation could be dealt with in like
manner, but the honest voter would be "shielded
from an oppressive landlord, or employer, and
from the various forms of official intimidation,
whilst the curious or the revengeful" would be
disappointed. All this would be effected, too,
without the creation of any new machinery, and
by the simple adoption, with hardly a modification,
of what is annually done in all the boroughs in
the kingdom. Lord JOHN may, indeed, well be
appealed to on the basis of his own act. We only
hope he will give evidence next spring that all
suspicions about the reality of his professed zeal for
purity of elections, and a substantial measure, are
quite groundless. If so, it must be by something
better than a set of little Bills about Bribery and
Treating ; by something better too than a great
speech on our incomparable Constitution, and our
intelligent democracy, followed by the best pro-
posals which would escape open derision. To in-
sure a better result, the country, however, must
make its voice heard, and that before long.
One objection to the above plan will occur to
all who have hitherto looked to the impenetrable
secrecy of the ballot box, as the only secu-
rity on which they could confidently rely.
We mean, that, after all, the way a man voted
would leak out. It occurred to us. On recon-
sideration, however, we dismiss it. There was a
similar apprehension about the Income Tax.
Everybody feared his income would be known to
his neighbour. He thought, in telling his secret
to the tax-gatherer, he had told it to the world.
However, we all now feel pretty secure on that
point. It is indeed unpleasant enough to most
Englishmen to tell the cherished secret of his
actual circumstances to any one ; still he finds,
we are bound to confess, that the secret does not
spread farther than it ought. And wo believe
that hardly any Englishman whom his fellow-
citizens would select as an assessor on the pro-
posed plan could be induced, whatever
his political zeal, to divulge a secret
he had solemnly bound himself to keep ; nor do
we think that the veriest political tyrant in the
counties would attempt to tamper with another
gentleman so pledged. The attempt to coerce or
purchase a vote, unhappily, is not infamous.
The attempt to induce another to commit perjury
or its equivalent, happily is so, and would banish
the culprit from decent society for ever. A few
voters would, no doubt, very timidly give their
votes in black and white at first, but as they
found in time that the voting really did remain
secret they would soon act with confidence.

LA` EST FOREIGN NEW';)

RUSSIA AND TURKEY.
The following telegraphic despatch has been re-

ceived from Vienna, dated Friday evening :
" Baron Budberg, the New Russian Commis-
sioner, arrives at Bucharest to-day or to-Morro-vv.
" General Osten-Sacken only received orders to
march towards the Pruth on the Bth of November,
consequently he cannot reach Moldavia before the
end of this month.

" Bucharest advices up to the sth, and Kalafat
up to the 3d, bring nothing new.
"The Bosnian Christians begin to refuse to pay
contributions.

" The Cabinet messenger, with the proposal of
the Powers to the Porte, did not leave till
Wednesday." •
From Constantinople we learn that Sir E. Lyons
arrived on the 25th of November, in the Terrible
steam frigate.
On Tuesday, the 22d. of November, at Constan-
tinople, Lord Stratford de Redcliffe having been
admitted to the honour of an audience, to present
to Lis Majesty the Sultan Vice-Admiral Dundas,
and the officers commanding his ships, delivered
the following address to the Sultan :
" In presenting to your Imperial Majesty the Ad-
miral and Captains of the fleet that my gracious Sove-
reign has, on the demand of your Majesty, an 1 in con-
cert with the Emperor of the French, a powerful ally of
her Britannic Majesty, sent to protect the rights and
independence of this friendly Empire, I fulfil a duty
as honourable as it is satisfactory to them and to my-
self.

"Their presence here, under such extraordinary cir-
cumstances, shows how far your Majesty and your Go-
vernment have wisely appreciated the friendship and
reckoned on the sympathies of the British nation. .
"Sentiments so generous and so strongly tending to
rivet the friendship of the two States, acquire greater
motives for their growth in the just and clear-sighted
benevolence that has been displayed in the administrative
policy of your Imperial Majesty.
" It is not alone in the successful maintenance of a
great principle that the British Government will seek for
a recompense for the sacrifices she may be compelled to
make in contributing to the protection of Turkey against
an unprovoked aggression. It watches with equal
firmness over the prosperity and the strength that your
Majesty cannot fail to acquire over all your dominions,
in putting into execution a system of complete though
gradual progress between all classes, and for the interests
of your subjects.
"The constant hope which does not abandon it, as
well as the immediate object of its effective assistance,
is peace. Not assuredly an illusory or precarious peace,
but peace that, by the simplest means, shall establish on
bases solid, honourable. and without injustice to any
other Power, the sovereign rights of your Majesty, and
the independence of your empire.
"To obtain such a peace as early as possible is, I
have a right to suppose, the lively desire of your Ma-
jesty, as it is the point most ardently desired by your
allies, and I shall be happy to learn that this object is
duly appreciated and warmly encouraged by your Ma-
jesty's Ministers in a spirit of continued moderation."
The Sultan replied in the following terms to
Lord Redeliffe

" commence by thanking the Ambassador for having
procured me the pleasure of seeing the Admiral and the
officers of tho fleet.

" Tinder actual circumstances, the presence of the
English fleet here, under command of an Admiral so
distinguished, being a proof of the friendship of the
Queen of Great Britain, my powerful ally, I beg the
Ambassador to express my grateful acknowledgments.
" England, under various circumstances, having given
strong proofs of her goodness towards my empire, I
doubt not but she will by every means repel the unjust
pretensions of Russia, attacking my independence and
my sovereign rights. The whole world may see what
immense advantages may result from a strong power
and a benevolent one, as is England, and the sympathies
of a people just, enlightened, and generous, as is the
English nation.
"As to peace, my Government desires it as much as
any other, but only as long as it is honaourable and com-
patible with my sovereign rights.
" As to what regards the amelioration and the pros-
perity of my subjects, your Excellency, better than any
one else, knows my feelings in this regard."
A letter from Constantinople dated the 24th of
Nov. says :—The rain and snow which have set in,
both at the Danube and the Balkan, as also in
Asia, will in all probability render the prosecution
of the war impossible, or nearly, for some months.
In this interval a final exertion might, and no
doubt will, be made. During the last few weeks
several items have, however, been added to the list
of anti-peaceable occurrences, in the shape of the
storming of Oaekvetil (Fort St. Nicholas), in Asia,
and. the battle of Oltenitza, on the Danube—not to
speak of a few other affairs of a similar nature.
The British French, and Turkish squadrons
have been displaying considerable activity for the
last few days. The admirals have been inter-
changing visits. Last week Admiral Mahmoud
Pacha and the Turkish vice-admiral, Ahmet
Pacha, accompanied by the staff of Turkish naval
officers, repaired on board the British flag-ship
Britannia, at Beycos. Admiral Dundas showed
them over the whole of the ships, and made the
men go through their exercise before them. On
leaving, the Capitan Pacha was honoured by a
salute of nineteen guns. They afterwards paid
Admiral Hamelin a visit, on board the French
flag-ship Ville de Paris, where they were received
in a similar manner. In return for these civilities
Mahmoud Pacha gave a grand entertainment to
the British and French naval officers on board his
flag-ship the Mahmoudie, the night before last.
The company of the Pera Opera was engaged for
the occasion, and gave a representation of Verdi's
opera, the Trovatore. The ship was decorated for
the occasion, and music and festivity was kept up
until a very late hour.
By the appearance of Constantinople you would
little imagine that war had but just been declared,
mainly through a popular pressure. Hundreds of
fresh recruits have arrived. They are fine men,
but very miserably clad—evidently just come from
a distant part of the interior. At the Seraskierate
(War-office) there are a good many horses tied up,
they are presents sent by pachas and private indi-
viduals to the Government. A list of the names
of these persons has been published in Turkish,
and circulated at Stamboul, as also a war song on
the battle at Oltenitza. At the Seraskierate there
is a room in which are strewn some hundreds of
muskets, helmets, &c., taken from the Russians in
that engagement, and sent here by Omer Pacha—
some of them stained with blood. The helmets,
swords, and bayonets are superior to the muskets,
which were very old, and had been reduced from
flint to percussion. It is a nasty sight—very like
a room of horrors.
" Winter is fast setting in at Constantinople.
Heavy rains have fallen—a very good thing, inas-
much as there has been a dearth for the last month,
water having become quite scarce. The wells were
dried up, and the glass of water was publicly sold
about the streets at five para. These rains bring,
however, the disagreeable accompaniment of muddy
streets—and what muddy ones ! No person who
/las not visited this city can form an idea of it—
beds of mud, ankle deep, through which you
have to walk in overall jack-boots unless you
prefer going about on the back of a I rse through
the crowded alleys. As for a carriage there is
no thinking of it. Some people have such things,
but they are only used for excursions in the
cow I try.
The number of redifs and recruits that have ar-
rived at Constantinople during the last few months
is something really astounding. The Stock seems
inexhaustible.- Every steamer brings hundreds.
Last week a great number arrived from Cartambol.
The Austria, a, steamer of the Austrian Lloyd
Company, brought 600 from Beyrout.
The Russian prisoners who were brought to Con-
stantinople from Chekvetil have been sent into the
interior of the country. They were marched off
from Constantinople yesterday, with a little dis-
play, drums beating and trumpets blowing. They
have been well treated.
This morning the new ambassador of Spain, the
Marquis Antonio Riqueime, arrived here. He was
honoured by a salute on descending from the
French postal steamer.
The Turkish frigate which got astray in the
Black Sea has not yet turned up. It is stated
positively that a Turkish steamer has been taken
by the Russians.
Letters from Asia confirm the news of the (defeat
of the Russians in two engagements whiclb. took
place near Akeska, as well as the storming of the
fortresses of Akeska and Saffa.
Abdi Pasha has entered Georgia, and his army
is marching upon Teflis.
The Russian Governor of Erivan has imp' isoned
the Armenian Patriarch of Etchmiadzin, b ecause
that prelate declined putting a stop to the et ni gra-
tion of the Armenian Christians to Van. Tire Pa-
triarch of Aghsumar has addressed a pastoral to
his diocesans announcing the above fact, and in-
viting the Armenian Christians to prayer for their
brethren and co-religionists who are groaning tin der
the despotism of Russia.
The latest news from the Danube states that two
companies of Wallachian militia had succeeded'_ in
crossing the river during the night, and in
reaching the camp of Omar Pasha. They 11 ave
given some important information respecting the
Russian army, which is far from being in sucht an
effective state as that described in letters from St.
Petersburg.
From Warsaw, under date of the 3d inst., we
learn that the 28th anniversary of the reign or the
Emperor Nicholas was celebrated there on that
day. In the morning, services were held at all -the

churches : and a grand dinner, with a brilliant illu-
mination, and a free theatrical exhibition, closed
the gaieties of the day. Such is the scarcity of
bread at Warsaw that, by command of the Govern-
ment, meal is hereafter to be taken from the army
magazine, and made into bread, which can be
bought by every inhabitant at a fixed price.