The Sun.
London, England, 1838-10-05 00:00:00

TURKEY.

CONSTANTINOPLE, SEPT. 12.—The English fleet, so long
expected in these parts, has at length made its appearance, or
rather, I should say, a T art of it, consisting of the Princess
Charlotte, the Asia, Rodney, Pembroke, and Minden, of the
line ; the Bellerophon, frigate ; and the Wasp, brig; the five
latter vessels remaining at the Ourlsc Roads till the Admiral
himself, accompanied by tne Wasp, now at the Dardanelles,
should communicate with Lord Ponsonby, which he did by
letter, arrived here on Sunday last. The arrival of these ves-
sels, though, as I said, for some time expected, has given rise
to surmises and questions of all kinds, which were not at all
diminished by the assembling of a Grand Council at the Porte,
at which three of the English Dragomans attended, immedi-
ately after the reception of this intelligence ; but though, of
course, nothing positive can be known as to the object and in-
tention of their coming, there can, I think, be but one opi-
nion with regard to the necessity of their presence. The late
bold pretensions of Mehemet Ali, in which, notwithstanding
the strong representations made to him by our own and
the French Consul, he is, in letters from Egypt, stated as
positively as ever to persist in, would of itself have been quite
sufficient to necessitate the arrival of a British squadron in
this neighbourhood ; but its presence is now rendered more
than ever necessary by the probability that the tenor of the
new treaty now offered by the Sultan to England, of which
Mehemet Ali, if he be not already informed, cannot, of course,
long remain ignorant, will kindle his rage to such a degree as
to determine him at once to take up the offensive, and strike
a blow. That there is a probability, and more than probabi-
lity, that he will pursue this course, can, I conceive, be little
doubted; for the question which the ratification of a treaty in
which Egypt is merely mentioned in common with the other
provinces in the empire will now bring to an issue, is no
longer that of preserving the statu quo—is no longer whether
Mehemet Ali shall continue to enjoy the power he already
possesses, or whether he shall have more, and become inde-
pendent of the Porte, but whether or not he shall immediately
be pulled down from the high position to which he has con-
trived to elevate himself, deprived of the facultyof giving laws
to his so-called own dominions, and be again reduced to
the state of a mere Pacha, subservient to those his Sove-
reign may choose to dictate to him. Regarding it; therefore,
under this point of view, and the by no means despicable fleet
and army which Mehemet Ali commands being taken into con.
sideration, it does not seem likely that he will submit without
making some stir in his own defence, nor is it at all more
likely that he will want for friends to urge him on to this
step. The blow aimed at the commerce of Russia by this
treaty, to say nothing of the influence over this country of
which it will immediately deprive her, will naturally induce
every effort and exertion on her part to prevent it, and the
only instrument she can employ to this effect is Mehemet
Ali; for her merely refusing to become a party to it, after
other powers have accepted, would tend but little to frustrate
its advantages in our and their favour. To her, therefore,
Mehemet Ali will look for support, and in that quarter he is
sure to find it. In this state of things, then, nothing, as I
said, could be more necessary or more opportune than the
presence of our squadron at this moment, and I hesitate not to
say that reasons but little differing from these are what have
induced our Ambassador to urge its arrival. The Turkish
squadron is now out, and may meet the Egyptian fleet at
sea. Should they come together they will hardly separate
without blows.

The full accounts received both from Persia and Syria last
week left little room for the expectation of anything fresh ;
letters, however, from 13qrout are published in the Smyrna
Gazette, which fully confirm the submission of the Druses,
and the general pacification of the Lebanon and Houran tribes,
and travellers arrived from that neighbourhood state that the
roads are now tolerably clear. Mr. is now daily ex-
pected on the Turkish frontiers.—Morning Chronicle.