The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-27 00:00:00

THE " TIMES" AND THE WAR.

(From the Morning Advertiser.)
There has long been a feeling in the public mind,
that nothing which could appear in the Times
could excite surprise. We venture to say that this
feeling will no longer be entertained by any one
who has read that journal of yesterday. As regards
ourselves, we confess that the article in question
has occasioned utter amazement. We knew full
well, of course, the Russian predilections of the
Times. We knew that, inasmuch as it is the ser-
vile organ of Lord Aberdeen, it never has ceased
and never will cease, so long as it sustains that
character, to be thoroughly Muscovite at heart.
But we could not have believed it possible that our
contemporary could be so devoid of tact, as to
permit the article to which we allude to appear in
his columns.

The article not only expresses the sentiments of
Lord Aberdeen, but must have been actually
penned by him. It has nothing about it of the
editorial character. From beginning to end, its
object is to prepare the people of this country for
that course of forbearance towards Russia—now
that the Coalition, contrary to their intentions,
have been forced into war with her—which we have
from the first predicted would be exercised. We
have, day after day for some months past, main-
tained that the Aberdeen Ministry were not going
heartily into the war with the Czar ; and that their
great object, instead of punishing him thoroughly,
would be to inflict upon him the least possible
amount of harm. That has manifestly been the
principle on which they have acted hitherto ; and
on that principle they appear determined to act to
the end of the chapter. We have no doubt that
when the time comes for a full revelation of all the
circumstances connected with the matter, it will be
found that our commanders by sea and land have
received private instructions to deal as gently with
the Czar as possible, and not harm him more than
can be helped.
What we have thus, in every impression of our
paper, said for months past, will be found fully veri-
fied by the article in the Times of yesterday. No one
but Lord Aberdeen himself could have written
such sentences as these:—" We can, and. we do, wage
war for other purposes than glory or conquest ; and
we are content with results that add nothing to our
dominion and little to our fame. So, then, we are
but addressing ourselves to the usual temper and the
prescription, of our country when we say that we
are not assembling this day to ask simply for success
to our arms and the destruction of our enemies.
We ask that no nation should be crippled of its just
powers, or humbled of its proper rank and consi-
deration. It is the melancholy nature of war that
it can only act by means revolting to humanity, by
the sword and by fire, by massacres and conflagra-
tions, and by a thousand hideous forms of death,
mutilation, and suffering. But when we prefer our
petitions to the Giver of all Good, it is not that He
will enable us to do the utmost possible harm. We
pray that the good we propose to ourselves may
be brought about as speedily, effectually, and
harmlessly as may be."
Is it not humiliating and lamentable to think,
that such sentiments as these could be expressed in
a journal professing to be pervaded by English feel-
ings,—which is printed in the English language,
and published in the English metropolis ? What is
to be expected from a Government which can thus,
through its organ, openly admit that in the war
which is commencing, we shallbe content with results 1,
which will add little to our fame ? Why, surely if
no other result should spring out of the war, it
will be conducted with a skill, a spirit, and bravery
on the part of our army and navy which will at
least add to our military reputation. But to
cherish that belief we now find would be a mistake.
The Times tells us, iu plain terms, not to expect
that we shall add aught to our fame. The obvious
conclusion to be drawn from this is, that our com-
manders, whether by sea or land, are not to put
forth, in all their force, the material might and
majesty of England.
They are merely to give the Czar such a taste of
what we can do, without absolutely doing it, as
will convince him that he is not a match for us.
We must not on any account go to work with the
vigour and the courage which, in former conflicts,
covered our arms with glory, and raised our mili-
tary reputation to the highest height, because we
could not " add to our fame" without doing the
Autocrat considerable " harm." He must not be
harmed on any account. The loss of our fame, or,
rather, the want of an addition to it, is less than
the weight of a feather compared with the infliction
of anything deserving the name of injury on
Nicholas.
And, as our soldiers and sailors are to act in ac-
cordance with this feeling, so the Times expressed
a hope that the nation would yesterday offer up
special supplications to the Groat Supreme, to the
effect that Russia should not " be crippled of its
just powers, or humbled of its proper rank and
consideration." And, if the people took their cue
from the Times, they must yesterday have earnestly
prayed that the objects we have in view might be
brought about as harmlessly as possible.
No one who is cognisant of the connexion which
subsists between Lord Aberdeen and the Times,
can, after this, be any longer in doubt as to the
way in which the war—if war, under such circum-
stances, it can be called—is to be carried on.
The Czar may repeat as often as the opportunity
fi
offers, the butchery of Sinope ; be may
vessels even when a flag of truce is unfurled her
reon
may seize the goods of our Minister at St.. Peers-
bur, after ignominiously expelling him from
Russia; he may insult us in every conceivable way,
ofele ine)olunilr. e injury
—he _anhdeinmfliacyt udpeonall ustehviesr, yLcissaibs
retaliating,ef
returning a are
goon
do actfe
pleases ; but we, inpsritenaediploef
on the Christian
evil. For his insolence, we are to render nothing
but words of kindness • in return for his blows, we
are to pat him on the back, and merely toll him to
be a better boy for the future. On no account
must we think of punishing the Czar. He must
not be harmed in any way.
In this extraordinary article of the Times we see
oompleto e;planation of the past itteoraprehen,