The Sun.
London, England, 1853-07-04 00:00:00

Zbt

LONDON, MONDAY, JULY 4, 1853.

Considerable "excitement," we cannot call it
tt alarm," was on Saturday occasioned by the in-
telligence from the East, more particulary that
which, on the authority of a. telegraphic dispatch
from Vienna, declared that "12,000 Russian
troops had actually crossed the Pruth and entered
Jassy," the capital of the Turkish province of
Moldavia, on the 25th of -June. Although a
little discrimination would have shown the im-
probability of this statement, it had its intended
effect. The Ursilve fraternity turned the ominous
rumours to the best account. The funds (and
with them stocks :and shares of every description)
were what is technically termed " banged." Con-
sols, which on Fri day evening had closed at 98
fell to 97i and Foreign Securities, generally
speaking, sympathised with the fall in the English
Market. A gleam of returning sense, or possibly
calmer reflection •on the subject, led to a partial
ret *3'very, and business was transacted after regular
fat 97i, Let us, then, for a moment,
—l7er what was the foundation for this
funay'rmaviancgedrtitmotir" of which the Bears so skil-
might be arverciselves ; and what consequences
ded, even if the statements had
ample foundation.
On the first point, th •
invasion of Moldavia, and ela viz., as to the actual
,onaithe occupation of Jassy
by Rim i to troops,
every reason to believe 25th ultimo, there is
accountsthee to be totally
inaccurate. The intelligenceVicuna
euelontained in the
telegraphic dispatch from
ex-
pressly and formally contradicted'ab has been
,3,t. the Austrian
.(,),I!,hat official
Government, and even previoudgliLr
denial it had been generally
1 from
account, that orders had been tral'istnltiedtttek. The
St. Petersburgh to set the Russian
motion, and to invade not merely thrr 1!`
terri-
tories of au ally, without sufficient cause,
even the very provinces which the' l'a'B7:
gressors were essentially bound " to protect," and
that in violation of treaties entered into with in-
dependent Powers, possessed of sufficient strength
to resist and avenge the unwarranted outrage
against the law of the nations and the best in-

terests of society, only alleged that .the command
had been issued by the CZAR on the 25th of June
at St. Petersburgh ; and it would have been
utterly impossible that it could have been carried
into practical execution on the same day, at so
great a distance, and without the existence of any
extraordinary means of transmitting instructions.
Other rumours manifestly false, and clearly with
the same end and object, were circulated at the
same time, such as the half-frenzied declarations
of the AUTOCRAT to the French and British Am-
bassadors, to the effect that he did not care even
for the loss of his entire fleet ; he would avenge
the insult (!) to which he had been subjected by
land, &c., &c. Other equally unwarranted state-
ments were eagerly circulated, either in the form
of direct assertions or vague surmises. There
was
" The muttered hint, the shrug, the hum, or ha,"
all tending to the same purpose, to create a panic,
and enable the speculators to take full advantage
of the opportunity. In some " the wish" might
have been " father to the thought ;" they would
readily credit that which, if true, would have been
so greatly to their advantage. But in others, the
more gross the falsehood, the more infamous the
lie, the more ready would they be to take advan-
tage of that which would be speedily detected and
contradicted.

The palpable mendacity of one series of state-
ments afford strong corroboration to the scepti-
cism that has been expressed to the others. We
are therefore warranted in stating that, although
there are strong grounds for supposing that the
AUTOCRAT may be reckless enough to send troops
into the Danubian Principalities, for the purpose,
as Count NESSELRODZ expresses it, " not of declar-
ing war," but of obtaining " national guarantees,"
for the observance of the conditions which he has
deemed it expedient to demand, the unjust aggres-
sion has not yet taken place, or, at least, in the
manner and form asserted by the natural allies
of Russia —the "Bears" of the Stock Exchange
—on Saturday last. We still believe that peace
may be preserved by the maintenance of a steady
determination and unflinching resolution by those
whose honour and interests are alike involved in
checking the rapacity and insolence of the AUTOCRAT,
maintaining the provisions of the Treaty of Adria-
nople, and preserving the balance of power in
Europe, by preventing the spoliation of one of our
most ancient and faithful allies. NICHOLAS, since
he has assumed the bullying aspect, will probably
go to the utmost extent he can with impunity.
Encouraged by the position of " that excellent
ABERDEEN" at the head of the Cabinet, by the
fact that Lord PALMERSTON, although holding a
seat in the Cabinet, is not to be found at the
Foreign-office, and that, therefore, the manly po-
licy which that Nobleman ever displayed in emer-
gencies may be looked upon as virtually abandoned
by the Joint-stock Administration—encouraged, we
'ay, by these facts, and still more by the ridiculous
twaddling of the " Peace Congress," and the know-
ledge of the mode in which he himself would treat
the remonstrances and the propositions of the
broad-brimmed ambassadors who were to show
the impropriety of his conduct and call on him to
refer all disputes and differences to arbitration—
he may persevere to the very uttermost ; but he
will create no irreparable breach, he will commit
no actthat must necessarily lead to hostilities, until
fully acquainted with the degree of cordiality ex-
isting between the French and English Govern-
ments—the feelings of the people of these great
countries, and, above all, the state of preparation
for actual hostilities. Until he has made himself
thoroughly au fait on all these points, the wily
despot will refrain from driving matters to ex-
tremities. He may maintain a lowering aspect—
his threats and menaces may be issued forth—but
he will abstain from that which must be regarded
as a declaration of war by France and England,
and further diplomacy unavailing, and all nego-
tiations fruitless. He will growl most ominously ;
nay more, he may " show his teeth," but we are
quite satisfied that he " will not bite."
But were it otherwise, if everthing that has
been asserted were perfectly well-founded that the
Russian Bear indeed became rabid, and endea-
voured to enfold his unoffending neighbour in his
deadly embrace, what injury could it do to Great
Britain or to France ? What would either have
to dread from a step so reckless or so desperate ?
The CAMPBELLS were accustomed, in the olden
time, to exclaim, in answer to any menace, " It's
a far cry to Lochgoil." If the followers of ARGYLL
felt thus secure from aggression in the inaccessi-
bility and remoteness of their dwellings, may we
not feel doubly confident in our insular position
and maritime power ? How could Russia proceed
to invade England ? Were Turkey altogether
powerless, the SULTAN deprived of that support
which has been so cheerfully accorded to him, and
ready to fall an easy victim to the aggressors—
were Circassia tranquillised, and the deeply-in-
jured and chivalrous Poles and Magyars induced
to let the golden opportunity slip away—how
would he transmit his Cossacks across Europe and
waft them to our English shores ? No, we have
nothing to fear from NICHOLAS ; and Russia is
not so profitable a customer that we need
care for the suspension of commercial intercourse.
In 1851 our export trade to Russia amounted to
less than 1,300,0001., while we have admitted
her raw produce, her hides, and hemp, and tal-
low, to an enormous amount, on the most favour-
able terms. Her magnates will regret the loss of
L our custom far more than we shall theirs. The
balance of trade is largely in their favour, and
they will not willingly relinquish the advantage.
There is nothing, then, to create apprehension, or
to depress the public securities, even if NICHOLAS
Should carry his greatest threats into execution, a
matter which we still' believe to be very impro-
bable.

Lord Join. RUSSELL has unequivocally admitted
that " the preponderance of argument is in favour
, of the total abolition of the Advertisement Duty."
He also acknowledged that " the duty was a very
considerable duty, a very heavy duty, and no
doubt it was an impediment to trade, and an ob-
struction to the supply of those wants and that
information which the people would desire to
have." Much doubt could not previously have
been entertained on these points by any disin-
terested and unprejudiced person who had listened
to the conclusive arguments adduced by Messrs.
MILNER GIBSON, CoBDEN, BRIGHT, and other
Hon. Gentlemen who had taken part in the dis-
cussion. slt was not simply a " preponderance,"
but a "monopoly," of argument ; for not a single
valid reason was assigned in favour of the ob-
noxious and impolitic impost that could justify its
imposition if there was a heavy deficiency in the
public revenue, and the Financial Minister was
bound to find means to supply the necessary funds.
Even the Chancellor of the Exchequer himself
did not venture to controvert a single assertion
put forward by the advocates of reduction. The
only justification ho attempted, if justification it
could be called, was that there were other taxes
also of a very objectionable character which still
remained in operation. There were, he granted,
very serious expenses of collection, and great an-
noyance and inconvenience in the means resorted to
for the purpose of insuring payment of the duty, it
being required that a copy of every newspaper and
periodical publication, of every edition indeed, if
the alteration consisted of only a few brief lines'
should be transmitted gratuitously to the Stamp-
office, in order to fix the amount payable (and
which it appears the authorities in Dublin have
recently attempted to extend to every kind of
publication), but every tax was subject to the
expense of collection, and ad to its inequality in
levying the same duty on largo and small adver-
tisements, why every rated duty was an unequal
duty. Indeed, its inequality appeared to consti-
tute its chief recommendation in the eyes of the
Right Hon. Gentleman. He dwelt on the advan-
tages of the penny postage system, which he justly
declared was " a duty moderate in amount, and
which worked well for the public interest ; but
there was an inequality there, inasmuch as a letter
'vase charged the same whether it travelled ten or
apnria:cile:unt:ered:ilsetsr,e and from this he deduced the
the small that the servant girl who wanted a
_ unent
the qualities and '
ip'"
w
• ho sought employment, or
tradesman who desired to make known
prices of ttie goods in which he
1