The Sun.
London, England, 1853-07-07 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY, JULY 7, 1853.

The Manifesto of the Russian EMPEROR, which
appeared in our impression of Tuesday, has na-
turally excited the deepest interest among persons
of all classes. The question of war or peace is
one of such vital importance that nothing which
may by any possibility affect the momentous re-
sult can be received with apathy or indifference.
As usual, there are many conflicting and contra-
dictory opinions as to the true construction of the
document. Some regard it as the proclamation
of a Holy War—the announcement of a crusade
against the Infidels—and argue that NICHOLAS is
determined to proceed to any length, to dare even
the world in arms, in order to insure the supre-
macy of the sect of which he claims to be the
head, and to re-establish the Greek religion at the
former seat of the Greek empire, and to restore
St. Sophia and the other mosques taken from the
Armenians, to what ho believes to be the true re-
ligion. In order to sustain these views, they
confidently rely, not merely on the unjustifiable
nature of his demands hitherto put forward, and
the unwarranted and indefensible aggression—in
direct violation of his treaties with other Euro-
pean nations—on the provinces, of which he, to
a certain extent, at least, was constituted the
"protector,"—but also on the concluding passage,
in which he endeavours to excite the religious
animosities and to stimulate the fanaticism of his
subjects by the appeal to the DEITY, and the de-
claration that, with a full assurance in the arm of
the ALMIGHTY, they should go forth to fight for
the orthodox faith ! Those, however, who think
that a pacific solution of the difficulty is still
practicabre, contend, with much apparent
reason, that he has expressly stated that he has
no intention "of commencing war ;" that "in
occupying these (the Danubian) provinces," he only
" wishes to hold a sufficient pledge to guarantee
for himself the re-establishment of his rights
under any circumstances whatever ;" that he dares
not " seek for conquests," but the justification of
"rights openly violated ;" and that "he is still
ready to stop the movements of his troops, if the
Ottoman Porte will bind itself to observe,
solemnly, the inviolability of the Orthodox
Church." From these expressions they argUe
that he claims no new rights--that he merely
seeks to enforce former obligations, which,
through some grievous misapprehensions, lie
conceives to have been either directly violated,
or at least materially endangered by recent
proceedings of the SULTAN, and that the demand..
for assurances "to observe solemnly the in-
violability" of the orthodox (i.e. the Greek)
Church will be fully complied with by pledges to
all tho Great Powers to respect the rights of
Christians of every denomination, which the
Divan has already expressed itsreadiness to give !
that a door is thus opened for future negotia-
tions, which will terminate in the complete re-
moval of every existing difference.
For ourselves, on calm consideration of the
arguments on either side, we believe that
hostilities may yet be averted, but only by
the exhibition of a bold and unflinching determi-
nation on the part of the Western Powers to re-
sist any infraction of existing treaties on inade-
quate grounds. We greatly fear that the fact of
" the travelled Thane," the " excellent ABER-
DEEN," occupying the chief seat in the English
Cabinet, combined with that of the "English
Minister " who had at all times so resolutely
maintained the honour of the British name, being
removed
from the position which he had so
worthily occupied with credit to himself and ad-
vantage to the country, in no trifling degree influ-
enced the CZAR in his insolent and unwarrantable
proceedings. The subsequent vacillation of one Go-
vernment, and the omission of the earnest protests
which the untenable demands of Prince MENSCHI-
KOFF 343 imperatively called for, added fuel to
the flame, and induced the AUTOCRAT to proceed
to such extraordinary lengths. As the invasion
of the territories of a friendly State—for no
matter what may be the quibbling or pettifog-
ging explanation that may be given—the crossing
of the Pruth, and the L
occupation of the Danubian
Provinces by an,armed
cams belli, but an expreBB force, is not merely
declarationa
of war
against Turkey. Of course it
at rests with the
SULTAN to consider in -wh
light
l it., al
shall
be regarded ; but the firmand unyielding,
gof his
though temperate and respectful, t -
.
reply to the ultimatum, forbids the supposition
gtru to
e
that ABD-UL-MEDJID will be found wanting
himself, or insensible to the course which a
consideration of his own dignity as ail

pendent Sovereign imperatively requires him to
pursue in the emergency. We have no doubt
that the SULTAN will treat the entry into Mol-
davia not only as a declaration of war, but as the
commencement of hostilities, and require the
assistance of his Allies, evinced by the immediate
entry of the combined fleets of France and Englan
into the Straits of the Dardaielles. This is the onl -
move that can now be taken with a reasonable
prospect of bringing the present untoward state of
affairs to a speedy conclusion. The moment it is
ascertained that the temporising policy is aban-
doned by, the Western Powers, that France and
England are, co-operating cordially together, and
steadfastly determined to resent any aggression,
we shall have explanations and assurances suitable
to the case. Then, for the first time, will Austria
interfere, with a bond fide intention of repairing
existing breaches—then will there be a readiness
to listen to reason by the AUTOCRAT, who, if not
fully prepared "to eat his leek," will be quite willing
to listen to reason, and to creep out of the loop-
hole which he has so elaborately formed for an
escape, or withdrawal from the position he has
assumed. Then, but not till then, will there be a
ready acceptance of the propositions of the Divan
to give assurances to all the parties to the treaty
of 1841, to respect all the rights and privileges
of the SULTAN'S non-Mahommedan subjects. This
guarantee will not be less binding, because it is
given to all the Christian Powers the represen-
tatives of the Lutheran and the Latin and Greek
Churches, as to the latter, exclusively, and it will
prevent the step from being considered derogatory
to the honour and independence of the Turkish Go-
vernment. But to admit of that auspicious
conclusion of the existing difficulty, there must
be a resolute and unflinching attitude assumed by
France and England. There must be no vacilla-
tion or temporising. An unwarranted aggression
must be met by a prompt and decisive move-
ment. There are, unfortunately, rumours abroad
that the Cabinet is by no means unanimous on the
subject, that although the majority are in favour
of the vigorous action which such a crisis impera-
tively calls for—a minority, of which the Pre-
mier is chief, still vacillates, and gives occasion to
the reproach of lukewarmness and vacillation on
the part of France. This must not be. We can
assure the Joint-Stock Administration that any
degree of timidity or unflinching would be re-
garded as an unpardonable offence, the perpetra-
tors whereof can never retrieve their position in
public opinion. If there is really a screw loose
in the Cabinet, those who are for prompt and
vigorous action should at once give expression to
their views, and withdraw from that which will
then be " a most unholy alliance." Lord PAL-
MERSTON, in whom the country still confides,
should especially take this warning, and look to
his own reputation.

Mr. MACAULAY was even more than usually
impressive when pointing out the advantages
attending that portion of the Ministerial plan
which proposed, that " all places in the civil ser-
vice, all admissions to the civil service should be
distributed among young men by competition in
those studies which constitute a liberal British
education." The Right Honourable Gentleman
completely refuted the fallacies that had been put
forward, to the effect that there was an equal
chance (and that is the outside that could be said
in favour of selecting parties without subjecting
them to any test whatsoever) of obtaining efficient
and valuable servants if the appointments were
left in the hands of private, irresponsible persons,
to be filled up according to their caprice among
their own relatives and friends, or the relatives
and friends of those through whose exertions their
elections to much-coveted seats at the Leadenhall
Street Board had been secured, as if they were
conferred as rewards for general proficiency and
distinction in those pursuits that best qualify the
mind for future acquirements, and expand and
develop the reasoning powers. It may be true,
that the youth who has been most successful at
University examinations, is not invariably equally
successful in after life, and also that many persons,
who have been looked upon as little better than
dunces at school, have occasionally surprised their
acquaintances, by exhibiting a degree of energy and
talent under difficulties of which they had previously
been thought incapable. But such cases constitute
the exceptions and not the rules, and the causes
from whence they have arisen may generally be '
traced out and ascertained in each. A youth of
refined and cultivated mind may be of a retiring
habit and timid disposition, unfitted for transact-
ing the every-day business of life, for the rough
collisions to which all, more especially those placed
in situations of trust and emolument, are exposed
in passing through the world ; but there is no
reason to suppose that he will be more so than one
taken by mere chance, of whom nothing is pre-
viously known, or another who has failed in
acquiring equal information or equal readiness in
displaying his knowledge, whether that failure be
ascribable to stupidity or laziness, or to the inabi-
lity or unwillingness to learn. Again, a youth,
through over vivacity or other causes, may be in-
different to success during the time of boyhood,
although possessing the germs of future excel-
lence ; but we are not, on that account, to sup-
pose that we can detect a future CLIVE in every
blockhead who refuses to learn, or who prefers
exhibiting his superiority in the academic sports
rather than the academic labours. The test may
not be infallible, but it is the best that can be
adopted, and may be relied on confidently
in ninety-nine cases in every hundred. The
principle, indeed, has been practically acknow-
ledged by the Directors themselves. A cer-
tain degree of knowledge is required, the parties
nominated and subjected to an examination before
admission to Haileybury. There is another before
they are pronounced qualified to leave that Col-
lege ; while on their arrival in Bengal (we take as
an illustration the case of ciiiilialis appointed) for
that Presidency) they are obliged forthwith to
report themselves to the Secretary of the College:
at Fort William. There they have to pass initia-
tory examinations, and subsequently to undergo
several other examinations, in order that the pro--
gress which they have made in their studies may
be ascertained ; and finally, before they leave the
College, they must go through the " passing" or
concluding examination, at which rewards are con-
ferred for proficiency in-the subject-matter of their
studies. These" concluding examinations should
be passed within twelve months after their respec-
tive arrivals, after which period a warning is given
to the defaulter, who has three months further
time allowed for the completion of his exercise.
It will thus be seen that the Directors recognise
and reward proficiency ; and if that be -so, why
should they not endeavour to procure the best
men, so that all may be proficients—all highly
distinguished in those studies which they deem,
or profess to deem, indispensable ?
It may be said that the Directors, by requiring
such a course of study, and the passing of exami-
nations which, although not very stringent, are
yet by no means matters of form (inasmuch as we
believe that there have been instances, few and
far between, of the rejection of students and the
transfer to the military branch), do all that
could reasonably be required at their hands, and
that, therefore, there is no necessity for any alter-
ation in the existing system. But this is not so.
There is no possible reason why the exclusive
patronage to those exceedingly lucrative and de-
sirable appointments should be conferred upon a
small body of individuals for their own families
or friends, unless some great public benefit should
be thereby obtained. Why should a virtual mo-
nopoly be vested in any private individuals what-
soever ? Why should such unblushing nepotism
be not merely sanctioned, but encouraged by the
Imperial Parliament, and, above all, why should
the community in general, all who have not the
good fortune to number a Director among their
near relatives or friends, be excluded from any
participation in the glittering prizes ? Nothing,
as we have already stated, but some extraordinary
advantages attending and derived from the practice
now in operation ; and not only have we shown
that such is not the case, but even that the Direc-
tors themselves recognise the principle,by
yenoduetah-
vouring to excite and stimulate the favoured
to such proficiency.
As to the notion that efficiency cau be insured

TIIE SUN,

by establishing a tolerably high standard of quali-
fications, and rejecting every candidate who did
not fairly fulfil all that was expected at his hands,
that is " a complete mistake." " The effect of
tOnirietition" (as Mr. MACAULAY justly remarks)
"is to keep up the standard. Every man
struggles to do his best —and the consequence
'is, that without any effort on the part of the
examinei; under a system of competition, the
standard keeps up itself." If, however, in place
of the emulation excited—the stimulus applied to
industry by the knowledge that the best man of
many candidates must win—that the honour and
justice of the examiner is bound in giving the
prize to the most deserving—the only requisite is
that a young man already appointed should pos-
sess a certain amount of knowledge, and that, in
case of failure, a heavy stigma is affixed to his
character, that may ruin all his prospects in life,
the matter assumes a very different aspect; the
compassion, the good nature of the examiner is
subjected to a trial which few men can resist, and
every point is strained to allow the passing of the
party, to avert the painful necessity of stating
that he is unfit for the public service, and of
course for any other. Mr. MACAULAY drew a
very graphic picture of the solicitations to which
examiners are exposed under such circumstances,
and added that "he had seen very firm minds
shaken by appeals of that kind." So far, then,
as the question should rest between the appoint-
ment to these important offices by irresponsible
parties, Where merely an examination is required
to say whether the nominee is qualified or not—
and where, as at the College of Fort William, the
candidate is at liberty to call for easier exercises,
if unable to perform those first given to him—or
the selection of the best from many candidates,
at an open and public examination, where the
same appointment is held up as the honourable
reward of successful emulation, there can be no
doubt as to the result. The great point, how-
ever, to be determined is, "whether the India
civil service is to continue to be a close service,
where no qualification, however striking, no degree
of efficiency, can justify a departure from the
beaten track, or the selection of the best man for
an arduous and important duty." That is indeed
a totally different matter, and one requiring
mature and attentive consideration before it can
be finally answered.

Mr. ScuLLY's bill for the more cheap and ex-
peditious transfer of land is, at the same time, one
of the most simple, as it is one of the most effec-
tual, measures ever introduced into either House
of Parliament. Some years since these very
qualities would have ensured its rejection. The
mere lawyers would. have regarded with disdain
a short act, unembarrassed with legal technicali-
ties, which professed to deal with such a subject.
They would also have seen that their craft was
considerably endangered byintelligible enactments,
which would nearly, if not altogether, enable
every man to become his own lawyer—at least, so
far as the transfer or mortgaging of land were
concerned. An outcry would at once have been
excited. It might not be " Great is the
Diana of the Ephesians," but it would have
been conceived in the same spirit, and with it
we should have heard, usque ad nauseam, of uses
and trusts, of contingents and vested remainders,
and a variety of names and titles unintelligible to
the non-professional reader, while the most urgent
appeals would have been made for the preservation
of the interests of children yet unborn, to prevent
any inroads on the rights of future generations.
A better feeling, however, now exists. Legal
practitioners have become more enlightened, or at
least more resigned, to these reforms, in accord-
ance with the spirit of the times, which they
clearly perceive have become inevitable ; and, in
place of lagging behind, we find many of them not
only fully keeping up, but even in advance of
publio opinion. Many have, no doubt, been actu-
ated by the most disinterested and laudable mo-
tives. They have led the van in the crusade against
ancient abuses, and have laboured long and steadily
in the endeavour to assail the Hydra-headed
monster, that devoured the substance of widows
and orphans, and occasioned the most serious
evils, the most flagrant grievancies.
Foremost among this exemplary band may be
found the honoured names of ROMILLY and
' BROUGHAM, and numerous worthy and efficient
coadjutors have lent their aid in completing the
task. The names of CAMPBELL, of LA.NGDALE, of
St. LEONARDS, of ROMILLY the younger, the dis-
tinguished son of an illustrious sire, will be found
in the list ; and the members of the " Society for
Promoting the Amendment of the Law " have
rendered inestimable services to the good cause
by searching out and investigating grievances,
tracing their causes to the very fountains, and
exposing them with unsparing hands. They
have, certainly, most eminently merited the
thanks and gratitude of their countrymen, and
they will receive it, when our children are
speaking of the evils once tolerated, and
the almost incredible abuses that had sprung
up during successive generations, which
had reduced the unreformed Court of Chancery to
be the shame and scandal of the land. Mr. SCULLY,
too, who by his present propositions has achieved
for himself a very prominent place among legal
reformers, will obtain a niche in the temple erected
in the hearts of the people to the heroes of peace,
who have ameliorated the condition of mankind.
The Hon. Gentleman was manifestly impressed
with the accuracy of the adage—
" Melius est petere fontes, quam Sectari rivalos."

He has, therefore, wisely disregarded the bit by
bit reforms—the patchwork legislation which
has led to so much mischief—and struck boldly
at the source of all the evils connected with the
transfer awl, encumbering of real estate. He was
wellaual ified for the Wk. he had undertaken, having,
as a conveyancer and Chancery baitistehr; acquired
highzreptitation,,which entitled him• 4'td 'the silk
gOwn he worthily acquired. His pecnniariinde-
pendence,:boro.bined with his position as owner
and occupier of land, prevented any clashing of
interests, and enabled him to regard the matter,
from- .many'different -points—of-VieW, 'in all its
varied aspects. He has long held strong views oh
the subject, and candidly avows that his chief ob-
ject- in seeking a heat in Parliament, was to pro:
mote the important object which, he had in, view.
That object was to promote " Free Trade in land"
itself—to render it almost as easy to transfer real
estate, as money in the Funds or Railway Stock,
and for this purpose to do away with the tedious
and expensive investigation into titles, and the
voluminous abstracts that struck with consterna-
tion, and frequently deterred from purchasing,
men who would otherwise gladly have in-
vested their available capital in landed or house-
hold property. If this could be accomplished,
it would materially increase the demand for, and
therefore the value of, such properties, and would
remove the most onerous of all the " burdens on
land"—the burdens imposed by the folly of the
landowners themselves. To achieve this end, it
would be necessary to simplify the titles of landed
property, and assimilate them to the titles to rail-
way stock or money in the funds—in fact, to
create that which we have so long and so earnestly
demanded—a simple system of "registration of
titles," where the lands shall be vested in the
name of the owner or owners, and a transfer from
them shall be valid and binding, conclusive as to
all future rights.
For this purpose, Mr. SCULLY proposes that " a
land tribunal" should be established, which should
deal with all questions relating to the title to real
estate. Any landed proprietor desiring to come
within the operation of the Act might apply to
the Court for that purpose, who could there-
upon direct an investigation of his title, and
if that proved satisfactory, grant the prayer
of his petition. The effect of this proceeding
would, to a certain extent, be to restrict his
rights to make future settlements or encum-
brances, save in the manner in the bill spe-
cified. If he required subsequently to raise money
• on the security of his land, he could only do so by
debentures issued in a particular form, but he
would be at liberty to make leases as he thought
• proper. When an estate was brought under the
operation of the act (which was not compulsory,
but could only be on the application of the pro-
prietor), the Court might, after the full investiga-

tion as hereinbefore mentioned, make the order
declaring "all existing estates and interests in
the land, and all encumbrances thereon, and
cause such order to be entered ,on
,its books."
That entry would thenceforward, so far as. re-
garded "any estate, interest, or encumbrance
appearing thereon, be conclusive evidence against
all persons whomsoever,' and the Court might
grant to the person so entered as enti-
tled to an' such estate, or interest, or en-
cumbrance, a certificate of his title thereto ;
and "the person so entered as owner would be
entitled to transfer his estate by simple entry in
the books of the tribunal, and that entry should,
without any deed or other assurance, suffice to vest
in the person named in the transfer all the estate
and interest, ;n respect of which the prior owner
appeared entered in the books of the tribunal."
All future diarges should, as we have already
stated, be made by the issue of debentures, which,
for sums of say 1001. each, bearing a moderate
rate of interest, might be issued to a limited ex-
tent, under the sanction of the tribunal, and
which, as they- would circulate from hand to hand,
like a bank nyte, and be negotiable by simple de-
livery, would, in all human probability, become
a favourite species of security, almost as much
sought after as Exchequer bills have been. In
addition to the extraordinary advantages con-
ferred on landowners by these important enact-
ments, they would 'become important sources of
revenue, in consequence of the increase of such
transactions and the stamp duties thereon.
Such are the provisions of this very important
and comprehensive measure ; and we earnestly
hope that it may pass unscathed through the
Committee to which it has been referred, without
being emasculated, or its advantages neutralised,
through the timidity of over-cautious legislators.