The Sun.
London, England, 1853-09-15 00:00:00

suddenly grew up out of the " settlement " of the
Affairs of the Holy Places—the insolent demands
made by Russia upon the Sublime Porte through
the arrogant communications of Prince MENS-
CHIKOFF, the then Ambassador from the CZAR at
Constantinople. It cannot speedily be forgotten
how those proceedings on the part of Russia had
been preceded by the most monstrous duplicity to
the rest of the European Governments. Pre-
cisely at the very time when it was thought
everything had been satisfactorily arranged be-
tween the SULTAN and the AUTOCRAT, in respect to
eertain arrangements for ecclesiastical precedence
on the sacred soil of Palestine—precisely at the
moment when people were commending the libe-
rality of the firmans issued by the Divan in re-
gard to those long-standing difficulties pre-
cisely at this juncture, when the majority of
the great Powers were lulled into the forgetful-
ness of their former suspicions--the Emperor
NICHOLAS attempted the perpetration of a vast
crime, through the medium of a congenial Pleni-
potentiary. The demands made on behalf of the
CZAR by Prince MENSCHIKOFF must, if acceded to
by the Divan, have subverted the whole fabric of
the Ottoman Empire, by violating the rights of
its independence. Turkey recognised this, and re-
fused to yield—refused resolutely, and with the
explicitness of a formal and deliberate reiteration.
Europe, or rather the chief of the Western Powers
of Europe, France and England, perceived the
atrocity of the demands made by Russia on the
Sublime Porte, and supported the Divan in
their rejection. France at once boldly took
the initiative in protesting against the aggres-
sion of the AUTOCRAT—expressing her views
upon the matter candidly through despatches
in the Moniteur, and backing her protests by
forthwith concentrating her naval armaments
in the Mediterranean, at the mouth of the
Dardanelles. Not so was it with England. We
were unhappily at this crisis under the incubus of
a Coalition. Confusion was in the Council Cham-
bers of Great Britain—a confusion of views, of
policies, of parties, of principles. Beyond all
which the Ministry was presided over by a faine-
ant Statesman, notorious for his subserviency to
the interests of the despotic Cabinet of St. Peters-
burg. Hence there was on the part of England
hesitation. Hence there was timidity.
Hence there were shufflings, and changings,
and doubts, and delays, and evidences of the most
base and lamentable pusillanimity. The British
fleet was summoned to the Golden Horn by the
temporary representative of her Britannic MA-
JESTY'S Ambassador at Constantinople. But in
defiance of that urgent requisition from the ca-
pital of Turkey, the actual scene of the troublous
negotiations, our maritime force was reserved until
the eleventh hour by order of the Coalition—until,
in fact, its arrival at Besika Bay proved disgracefully
ineffectual, as far as concerned the prevention of
further complications. The Pruth was crossed—
the Cossacks formally occupied the Danubian
Principalities. Even then, even in the presence
of that lawless act of invasion, England was pre-
vented by the Earl of ABERDEEN and his col-
leagues from assuming the position which she
should, by right, at that moment have occupied.
It was timorously intimated, that, in the view
of the Cabinet of St. James's, the occu-
pation of Moldavia and Wallachia was
wrong—when our protest against that audacious
act ought to have been the instant dispatch of our
fleet from Besika Bay to the Bosphorus ! And so
our rulers have advanced from one blunder to
another, from one complication to another, from
delay to delay, from concession to concession, until
we suddenly find that Turkey has been aban-
doned, that Russia is being truckled to, that the
Four Powers are placed in a false position, and that
the AUTOCRAT, with a show of reason on his side,
is haughtily dictating terms to the nations of
Christendom. Why, such is our diplomatic
abasement, that our Cabinet is at this moment
an object of ridicule to the Neapolitans ! Such
is the suddenness and depth of our political de-
gradation, that as a nation we are caricatured
about the streets of Constantinople. Scarcely can
it be wondered, indeed, after all this, that
the Turks are learning to despise the English
almost as intensely as they abhor the Russians.
Remember—for all which—we have to thank the
Earl of ABERDEEN'S Government !

We have received many communications re-
specting the contemplated decimal coinage, which
naturally excites considerable interest in the
public mind at the present moment. The univer-
sal impression is in favour of a change and the in-
troduction of a more rational system, one more in
accordance with those of other nations than that
at present in operation. A great majority of our
correspondents concur in the opinion to which we
have given expression, as to the vast importance
of preserving the value of the " penny " without
alteration, to which object every effort should be
directed. One to whose letter we gave insertion
on Tuesday very justly remarks that " pounds are
grown from pennies," and thus in the most com-
pendious form places the matter upon the true
foundation by a few words. All the difficulties at-
tached to the alteration—some few of which are
shadowed forth in the report of the Select Com-
mittee—all the inconveniences that must arise
during the state of transition, will be occasioned
by the abolition of the " penny," and the substi-
tution of the " five-rail piece," ten of which only
will be given in exchange for the shilling. It is
generally acknowledged that such a change must
occasion serious inconvenience to the working
classes ; an inconvenience in which the middle
classes—all, in fact, who purchase goods by retai
—must participate. We cannot forget that the
butcher, the baker, the milkman, the grocer, the
different tradesmen, in fact, who supply the daily
wants of families of the middle and less wealthy
classes, dispose of their goods in terms of pence. The
leg or shoulder of mutton, or piece of beef, is sold
at so many pence per pound, and the purchaser of a
single joint has also to pay for the odd number of
ounces, which
incoareme,
invariably charged at a higher
rate in proportion than the pound. This simple
fact, which must be familiar to every man of
at once indicates the nature of the
loss that
must be sustained. To each of these
tradesmen
e must be contented to pay a num-
ber mil„
charged, exceeding
u oldonthei
the value in pence for-
merlyasutt.ld. we greatly fear that the result
will be the substitution of the " five piece"
for the penny of the
system, practically
transactions—
that a loss
is to say o
of twenty per cent
ail
.small
entire dealings of the
working population.
anpdresewnet
regretprices
are sufficiently onerous,
earni 11
to say that there is too much discontent
abroad
amongst those who
daily bread by their daily labour to induce
their
to
afford an additional well-founded cause of Com-
plaint on trivial or insufficient grounds. If the
ey
change is to occasion losses to any parties th
se dneth entriesin nothing
should be encountered by those for whose especial
The poor mall who
benefit it is to be adopted.
ianecoluedngtse,rswloior hdaasyn_boo cookmsp, leiacraet
to keepsmake no
,
about, and will benefit nothingby, the imp
Granted that the system is exceedingly arovembseinirtd
.
tne
nationandn cboyn vwe ec
tita rilsd that it
aiisntdaiisngerdacifsutliitio,
the
,
artisan or operative who has become acilclisitsomcaeld
to the existing coinage, and has made a .
culations therein, who knows nothing of deci-
mals, and considers himself fortunate if lie
has a tolerable facility of reading and writing,
and a smattering of the primary rules of arith-
metic, can not in any way profit by the alteration.
The whole burden should not be suffered to rest