The Sun.
London, England, 1854-09-14 00:00:00

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was her envoy to the Court of Persia when, in the
month of March last, he attempted to establish the as-
cendancy of his master by giving a blow with his cane to
tne Sedr Azim, or First Minister of the Shah. But
Germany is for the present more delicately handled,
and, though the struggle for the supremacy of Russia in
the C iurts of that country is carried on with as much
activity asi the struggle for domination in the East, it
wears a more civil mask and a softer disguise. In the
present instance, Russia contents herself with expressing
her surprise that Austria should have transmitted these
four propositions to St. Petersburg, unaccompanied by
the offer of any reciprocal concessions on the part of the
Western Powers ; and she endeavours to represent her
evacuation of the Principalities as a sacrifice which en-
titles her to some return. She also expresses surprise
that Austria should have given her assent to proposi-
tions so adverse to Russia, and so much in favour of the
Western States ; and, in announcing her determination
to reject them, she declares that the Emperor abides by
his determination to withdraw behind the Pruth, to
stand upon the defensive within his own territories, and
to resist aggression, from whatever side it may come.
It is scarcely necessary for us to expose in detail the
egregious bad faith of the attempt to represent as a con-
cession to Europe the evacuation of a territory which
the Emperor of Russia had no right to seize, and which
he bad not the power to hold. His official journal,
somewhat more sincere than his diplomatic agents,
has distinctly acknowledged that the Russian army is
compelled to retreat by the menacing attitude of Aus-
tria,
which rendered its military position quite unten-
able ; and the attempt to make a virtue of so evident a
necessity will impose on no one but the King of Prussia.
Equally unfounded is the assumption that, in forwarding
these proposals to St. Peterburg, Austria had assumed
the functions of a mediator. She had no commission
from the Western Powers to mediate in their name, and
the terms to which she gave her consent were not con-
cessions, but demands, their object being not so much
to terminate the present war as to prevent by perma-
nent and effective securities the recurrence of a similar
calamity. The same artifice was resorted to in Febru-
ary last, when, although Russia perfectly knew that
France and England were on the brink of declaring
war, she affected to regard their entry into the Black
Sea as an act of mediation, and expressed surprise that
they had no reciprocal concessions to propose to her
from Turkey.

It is, however, true that this Russian Note does
clearly mark an important epoch in this contest. The
war begun by Russia in July, 1853, was essentially
offensive ; it had been preceded by a wanton provoca-
tion, and it was marked by a deliberate territorial en-
croachment ; throughout the present spring the Russian
armies threatened Bulgaria, and they even commenced
the invasion of Turkey Proper by entering the Do-
brudscha and laying siege to Silistria. All these attempts
have been successively abandoned, and we are told by
the Cabinet of St. Petersburg itself that the war is hence-
forth to be strictly defensive. Although the decision
taken at Vienna upon the receipt of this communication
was to adhere to a temporising policy, and has conse-
quently revived some distrust of the intentions of that
Court, it must not be forgotten that this important
change in the attitude of Russia is mainly due to the in-
fluence of the Austrian forces on the frontier, and that it
is precisely because Austria gave her powerful support
to the heroic exertions of Omer Pacha that the French
and English armies escaped the necessity of a campaign
on the Danube, and are at this moment able to turn
their strength against the Crimea. The effect of this
important demonstration has been to enable us to trans-
port the seat of war from the Turkish to the Russian
territories—a distinction of incalculable advantage to
the cause we have taken in hand.
The present state of affairs has, therefore, prac-
tically accomplished three out of the four points
which are required. The protectorate and occupa-
tion of the Principalities by Russia have ceased ;
the Black Sea is held by the Western maritime
Powers ; and the claim to protect the Christian subjects
of the Porte is, at least, in abeyance. But the fourth point,
which concerns the navigation of the Danube, and which
is the most essential of all to Austrian and German inte-
rests, has not yet received the same practical solution.
The Russian province of Bessarabia forms the left bank
of the Danube, from the confluence of the Pruth to the
sea, and the Kilia, branch of the river flows through
Russian territory. Along the shore to the east of Galatz
the Russians are doing all they can to strengthen
their position ; batteries are erected wherever the banks
are firm enough to bear them, as at Reni and Satunovo ;
and it must be remembered that even Matschin, Isaktchi,
and Tultcha—the Turkish forts on the right bank—are
still held by the Russians. The fact then is, that the
Lower Danube is in the possession of the enemy ; that
the line of Austrian communications with the Black
Sea and the East is still interrupted, and that the navi-
gation of the Danube is still closed. So that on the
very point on which Austria had most reason to in-
sist she obtains no satisfaction or security at all ;
and when the Cabinet of Vienna declares that it finds
no casus belli in the refusal of Russia to entertain
the four propositions, it appears to have overlooked the
injurious and humiliating consequences of a state of
things on the lower Danube, which.has been repeatedly
deplored and denounced by the whole of Germany. At
present the great expedition to the Crimea absorbs all
the available forces of the fleets, and the summer season
is unfavourable to any attempt upon the marshy banks
of the Danube, which might be made with far greater
facility in the early spring., when the water is high from
the inciting snows, and the climate less unhealthy than
at any other part of the year. We have always been of
opinion that an attack on the Russian positions on the
Lower Danube might have been the first operation of
the war, and that some blame attaches to the naval
authorities for not setting more seriously about it.
However, the Sulina batteries are destroyed, and we
believe that measures have been taken to deepen
the passage on the bar, so that this expedition may
eventually be made. But, whenever our naval forces
are employed for this purpose, we shall have a
right to expect that Germany will lend something
more than sterile negotiations and wordy despatches
to an object of such extreme importance to herself.
Sooner than tamely surrender the control of the naviga-
tion of the Danube to Russia, which she acquired by the
cession of Bessarabia in 1812, and by the use made of the
Treaty of Adrianople in 1829, the Court of Vienna
ought not to have hesitated to make any sacrifices. By
an extraordinary combination of events, the Austrian
forces are now advancing to the Moldavian frontier ;
the naval forces of the greatest maritime Powers are
within reach of the spot ; the Turkish army is in a con-
dition to render important services in the field ; and if
the whole course of the Danube is not swept clear of all
military impediments in the next few months, it will be
solely because Austria may fail in that portion of the
enterprise which naturally devolves upon herself. Such
an opportunity will probably never occur nein if it be
neglected now, and, while France and England are
carrying on undertakings of far greater magnitude, in
which they are only interested as the champions of
civilization and good order in the world, we hope it may
not be too much to expect that, with, their assistance,
Germany may be capable of one effort to secure the
independence of that great river which flows from the
Black Forest to the Black Sea.

REGULATION OF FRIENDLY SOCIETIES.

The report from the Select Committee on the proposed
bill for the regulation of Friendly Societies has just been
printed, and details the amendments recommended.
These include a clause repealing all previous acts, and
placing the whole of the existing societies on the same
footing as if they had been established under the new
bill, without prejudice to existing engagements, together
with the omission of the proviso that a justice of the
peace shall be a trustee of all emigration societies, and
also of that which limits the amount of sick pay to be
insured in any society. The committee have likewise
withdrawn the clause requiring all societies to be regis-
tered, and have given power to the members of all
friendly societies, unregistered as well as registered, to
sue and be sued, as between themselves and their own
officers. The establishment of a board of unpaid com-
missioners has been sanctioned, some public centre of
information being regarded as desirable, and power has
been assigned to them to modify in special cases the ope-
ration of the act. At the same time the duties of the
registrar have been more clearly defined, and the fees
hitherto payable upon registration abolished. The
settlement of disputes is to be left as at present, to be
enforced according to the rules of each society, and ques-
tions respecting the removal of a trustee or a misappli-
cation of funds are to be referred to the County Courts.
With regard to the popular impression that burial so-
cieties are dangerous, by operating as a stimulus to
child-murder, the committee, after examining several
judges, coroners, and others, have arrived at the con-
clusion that the instances where the motive of the cri-
minal has been to obtain money from a burial society
are so few as not to render necessary any preventive
legislation. With the view, however, of meeting some
of the objections to these clubs, they recommended that
the amount that may be received should be limited,
and that no money shall be paid on the death of any
child under 10 years of age without a medical certificate
from a qualified practitioner. Finally, with regard to
those societies originally enrolled under Friendly Socie-
ties Acta before there was any limit as to the extent to
which they might carry their transactions, and which
have since grown to the magnitude of assurance com-
panies, the committee are of opinion they should be
dealt with exceptionally, and that an act should be
passed which, without violating the rights they have
acquired under their constitution, shall withdraw them
altogether from the category of friendly societies.

SUDDEN DEATH OF A MIDDLESEX MAGISTRATE..
Yesterday, at the meeting of the St. Pancras Vestry,
Mr. Billett, the chairman, said that it was bis painful
duty to announce to the meeting the death of their re-
spected colleague, Mr. Stock. Ile was in perfect health
on Monday, when he attended a meeting of the burial
board, of which he was a member. He (Mr. Billett) left
him at 5 o'clock in good health and spirits, and in a few
minutes afterwards he was a corpse. Deceased was in
his 70th year of age, and had been in her Majesty's
commission of the peace many years. The vestry passed
a resolution honourable to the memory of the deceased
gentleman.