The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-26 00:00:00

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LONDON, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 1854.

The Greek Court would seem now to be fairly
in the rut of the insurrection. Like this globe of
ours in the dream of Mr. TENNYSON, it appears
to be " spinning down the grooves of change,"
and that too with such remarkable velocity as to
be suggestive of the last change being one of
itself—a change resulting sooner or later in its
total disappearance. The " proofs" spoken of by
Lord JOHN Russznn, on the 6th instant in the
House of Commons, are multiplying rather
rapidly—proofs of the KING and QUEEN of
Greece having given the 8,000 insurgents in
Epirus and in Thessaly the greatest encourage-
ment. Of the fact of that encouragement there
cannot any longer be any doubt whatsoever. The
reception accorded to M. METAXA at Athens is in
itself sufficient testimony. That ambassador is no
sooner expelled from Turkey in common with the
rest of the Greek subjects resident in the SULTAN'S
dominions, than he rises to an authority in the
councils of his sovereign, such as he could never have
anticipated duri n g his diplomatic career at Constanti-
nople. Added to which, the circular of NESSEL-
RODS, dated 2d of March, 1854, from St. Peters-
burg, arrives, appropriately enough at Athens, at
the very time of the Greek ambassador's return
thither from Constantinople. That circular, it
will have been remarked, is a direct incentive to
the Greek insurrection in Epirus and Thessaly
—a direct incentive to this insurrection from the
Russian Government. Its arrival at the Hel-
lenic capital appears to have excited among
the Russian intriguers in that metropolis the
liveliest enthusiasm—if we may believe in the
accuracy of a very curious letter recently pub-
lished in the Semaphore of Marseilles, and thence
transferred to our own columns, as may have been
observed in our Monday evening's impression.
Everything, indeed, that for some time past has
come to light in reference to the course pursued
by the Greek Government as in favour of the
CZAR, and as
opposed to the SULTAN,
and, therefore, for both those reasons,
as decidedly inimical to the rest of Europe, and
especially to the Cabinets of France and England
--everything, we maintain, that has recently
come to light in regard to the policy of King
OTHO and Queen AMELIA has yielded full corro-
boration to the charges directed against them by
the Leader of the British House of Commons,
and has, consequently, justified entirely the hints
which had been previously thrown out in the same
direction by her Britannic MAJESTY'S Ambassador
at Constantinople. Everything, therefore, we need
scarcely add, proves the imperative necessity for
the publication of the promised Blue-Book in refe-
rence to the course which was long secretly, and
which is now openly, carried out by the KING and
QUEEN of Greece and their Government. The
explanatory documents, which will be comprised
in that official revelation, we cannot but await
consequently with the utmost ergerness. We
shall expect the country win require from
her MAJESTY'S Ministers that these important
papers shall be laid forthwith upon the tables of
the Legislature, and that the whole subject, as
soon as possible after the close of the Easter holi-
days, shall be brought under discussion in both
Houses of the British Parliament.

The internecine conflict between the masters
and working people in the manufacturing districts
is still waged with undiminished vigour. The
siege of Preston is still maintained, and the un-
fortunate inhabitants have endured all the
gs
privations and sufferin incidental to so de-

plorable a state of affairs for no less than
thirty-six weeks, or nine lunar months. During
this protracted period, the costly machinery has
remained rusting for want of use, the expensive
buildings closed, and the whole capital invested
idle and unproductive. But neither power-looms
nor buildings consume exciseable commodities.
They require neither food nor clothing to
keep them in good
condition, capable of resuming
work at any moment after the restoration of
amicable relations. All that the masters whose
mills are still closed can lose will be the
interest of the capital embarked in their re-
spective concerns, and that may easily be provided
for by a subscription among their fellow-masters,
who will not altogether lose the amount of their
contributions, inasmuch as they will reap consid-
erable profit from the diminished competition,
which, by reducing the supply, must necessarily
enhance the value of their goods.
But it is very different with their opponents.
The " human machinery" cannot be flung aside
for a protracted period. Thews and sinews must
be kept up by daily supplies, and without
adequate nourishment flesh and blood will
pine away and decay. It is true that those
who sympathise with the working people
have subscribed liberally to the cause. But, still
at the best, but a poor and scanty provision is
afforded. The turn-outs are obliged to forego all
the comforts of life, and to be contented with a
miserable supply of bare necessaries. Parents
are not only compelled to endure bitter priva-
tions themselves, but to see their helpless children
crying for the food which they are unable to
bestow, and to steel themselves against the cries
of their unhappy offspring. How different is
their lot from that of the masters ! How unequal
is the contrast on that ground alone. The mas-
ter has every comfort and luxury—the men hun-
ger, thirst, cold, and all the evils incidental to
sharp and biting poverty.
Again, as to the contributors to the funds from
which the " sinews of war" are supplied to the
respective belligerents. As we have shown, the
masters subscribe from their abundance, and
obtain some kind of equivalent. The hands,
on the contrary, give up that for which they
have but too many calls. Should they be so for-
tunate as to be able to pay their contributions
without curtailing any of their wonted indul-
gences, they must at least relinquish the
idea of saving anything for a rainy day.
When sickness or want of occupation may
deprive them of their ordinary earnings, it
may be that they would have to sacrifice the fund
by which they could " better their condition "
and rise to independence and fortune, as many
men have done from as small beginnings. The
turn-outs may not be " tired of playing yet."
They may be satisfied to eat the bread of idleness,
although compelled to stint their appetites and
submit to half, or even little more than quarter
rations ; but will their fellows be contented to
keep up the supplies, and to divert a considerable
percentage of their own hardly-acquired earnings
to the continued maintenance of an unproductive
body. No. The enthusiasm of the movement
may operate fur a time, but when i t is
seen that the sacrifice gives an additional
prospect of victory, they will withdraw from
the unprofitable contest, and, although sadder,
will become much wiser men, from their dearly-
bought experience.
But there are other matters, all of which must
exercise no inconsiderable influence in bringing
these untoward disputes to a speedy termination
by the total and unqualified submission of the
working people. It requires no extraordinary
skill—no prolonged period of learning to work in
the mills and factories. The masters find that,
although the old hands should continue obdurate,
they may still find persons capable of working their
machinery and producing calicoes. They may
import labour as a substitute for that which can
no longer be obtained from the inhabitants of the
town. The vast importance of this step
was so fully recognised by the delegates
and Committee-men, that they risked the
proceeding which has been made the subject of
accusations still pending. The masters are, how-
ever, still importing " hands," while the "gentle
persuasion," which made many of the interlopers
return to the places from whence they came, can
no longer be safely used.

This very decided step on the part of the
masters led to what we cannot help regarding as
~he last convulsive effort on the part of the ope-
They employed the services of the

ratives.

Mediation Committee, a body of kind-hearted,
well-intentioned gentlemen, anxious to put an end
_ _

to a state of affairs so truly deplorable. The masters

however, rejected the interposition,

It could

scarcely be anticipated that at the moment when

their triumph was certain, they would consent to

abandon the fruits of victory, and to patch up a
hollow and precarious peace, without obtaining

any guarantee for its permanence.

This move, then, on the part of the men
:otally failed, and now a further and very for-
.. . _ _

midable blow has been inflicted.

The men of

Stockport have entered on hostilities on their own
account. They have had a turn-out of their own,
and have strong claims upon the funds to which they
formerly so liberally contributed. Not only then
is that assistance withdrawn, and the fund so far
diminished—but more is required ; the turn-outs
of Stockport must be fed as well as those of
Preston. The demands are materially in-
creased, while the resources are diminished in an
inverse ratio. Let the operatives ponder these
things deeply, and submit to inevitable defeat.