The Sun.
London, England, 1854-06-28 00:00:00

THE TREATY OF .ADRIANOPLE

tiro titfoiect of tiie .t 3 ill Liao lOil3e of herd V!1
Monday, from the Earl of Aberdeen to Lord Hey-
tesbury, respecting the treaty of peace bet,weeu
Russia and Turkey, concluded at Adrianople on
the 14th of September, 1829. The despatch, it
will be observed, is dated-the 31st of October, in- ,
stead of, as was stated by Lord Clanricarde, the
31st of December. It was, therefore, written im-
mediately upon the receipt of the communication-
of Count .Nesselrode, to which it referS, instead of.
after a lapse of four months, as would appear from
Lord Clanricarde's statement and the arguments
which have been founded upon it
Foreign-office, October 31, 1829.
" My Lord, - I. have received from his Imperial Majesty's
ambassador at this Court a copy of the, definitive treaty pf
peace between Russia and the Porte, together with the mani-
festo 'of the Russian Cabinet; and a circular despatch from -
Count Nesselrode; dated the 4th of October.
"These papers have engaged the serious attention of his
Majesty's Government. The consequences of the transaction
to which they refer are so various and important, andwinfiu-
once so powerfully the future happiness and tranquillity of
all nations, that it would be inconsistent with the station
which his Majesty fills among the Sovereigns of Europe; as
well as with that frankness and. sincerity which he is desirous
should characterise all his relations with the Cabinet of St.
Petersburgh, if he were not at once -to communicate to his
Imperial Majesty the sentiments which have been produced -
in hiS mind by an examination of the treaty of.Adrianople.
" The first desire of his Majesty is to express the satisfac-
tion which he has experienced from the restoration of peace.
He sincerely rejoices that a state of warfare should at length
have ceased' the existence of which he has constantly de-
plored, and the prolonged duration of which had only in-
creased his Majesty's apprehensions of the evils to which it
must finally have led.
"Count Nesselrode, at the conclusion of his circular de-
spatch, expresses an opinion that the treaty now concluded
holds out to Europe a long prospect of tranquillity and repose.
That this judgment, may be fuily confirmed is our most anxious
desire. In• the meantime, it will be an object worthy of the
solicitude of his Imperial Majesty to strengthen the confidence,
of his allies, and to remove those causes of alarm to which, if
not discovered in the treaty of peace itself, the present state
of the Turkish empire cannot fail to give rise. .
" When his Imperial Majesty announced. his intention of
declaring war against the Ottoman Porte, upougrounds affect-
ing exclusively the interests of Russia, his Majvsty's Gt6vern-
meut, without pronouncing any opinion respecting the justice
of the war, expressed their conviction that the most complete
success in the justest cause would not entitle the stronger
party to demand from the weaker sacrifices which would affect
its political existence, or would infringe upon that state of
territorial possession upon which the general peace had rested.
They also observed that demands of indemnity and compensa-
tion might be carried to such an extent as to render compli-
ance • scarcely practicable, without reducing the Ottoman
Power to a degree of weakness which would deprive it of the
character of an independent State.
" His Imperial Majesty, in carrying into execution his
threatened iuvasion'of the Ottoman- dominions, declared. his
adherence to that disinterested principle which had character-
ised the protocol of St. Petersburg and the treaty of. Loudon.
He renounced all projects of conquest and ambition. HIS
Imperial Majesty frequently repeated that, so far from desir-
ing the destruction of the Turkish Empire, he was most
anxious for its preservation. He promised that no amount
of indemnity should be exacted which could affect its political
existence; and he declared that this policy was not the re-
sult of romantic notions of generosity, or of the vain desire of
glory, but that it originated in the true interests of the Rus-
sian Empire, in which interests, well understood, and in his
own solemn promises, would be found the best pledges of his
Moderation. _ _

" His Imperial Majesty, added that his thoughts would un-
dergo no change, even if, contrary to his intentions and his
endeavours, Divine Providence had decreed that we should
now behold the termination of the Ottoman Power. His Im-
perial Majesty was still determined not to extend the limits
of his own dominions ; and he only demanded from his allies
the same absence of all selfish and ambitiops views, of which
he would himself give the first example.
" Does the treaty of Adrianople place the Porte in a situa-
tion corresponding with the expectations raised by these as-
surances ? The answer must be left to the judgment of
Europe ; it might bo left to the dispassionate judgment of the
Cabinet of St. Petersburg.
" Undoubtedly, if we look only at the relative position of
the two belligerents, the fortune of the war might have enabled
the Emperor to exact still harder terms. The Sultan, threat-
ened by a formidable insurrection in Constantinople, having
lost his army, and havin,g ordered the remaining Asiatic troops
to retire to their homes, was unable to offer any effectual op-
position, and threw himself under the mercy of the Russian
commander. By the persuasion'of the British and French
ambassadors, and of the Minister Extraordinary of the Kin;
of Prussia, the defeated =March was induced to place entire
confidence in the,moderation of his Imperial Majesty.
" It may not be easy to accuse of, want of generosity the •
conqueror who checks the unresisted progress' of success, and'
who spares the defenceless capital of" his enemy. NeVerthe-
less, the treaty in question, certainly not in conformity with
the expectations held out by preceding declarations and assur-
ances, appears vitally to affect the interests, the strength, the
dignity, the present safety, and future independence of the
Ottoman empire.
".The modes of dominations may be various, although all
equally irresistible. The independence of a State may be over-
thrown and its subjection effectually secured without the pre-
sence of a hostile forge, or the permanent occupation of its
soil. Under the present treaty the territorial acquisitions of
Russia are small, it must be admitted, in extent, although
most important in their character. They are . commanding
positions, far more valuable than the possession of barren
provinces and depopulated towns, and. better calculated to
rivet the fetters by which the Sultan is bound. -
" The cession of the Asiatic fortresses, with their neighbour-
ing districts, not only secures to Russia the uninterrupted
occupation of the eastern coast of the Black Sea, but places
her. in a situation so commanding as to control aepleasure the
destiny of Asia Minor.
" Prominently advanced into the centre of Armenia, in the
midst of a Christian population, Russia holds the keys both
of the Persian and the Turkish provinces; and, whether she
may be disposed to extend her conquests to the east or to the
west, to Teheran or to Constantinople, no serious obstacle can
arrest her progress.
"In Europe the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia
are rendered virtually independent of the Porte: A tribute
is, indeed, to be paid to the Sultan, which he has no
means' of enforcing, except by the permission and even the
assistance of Rissia herself; and a prince elected for life, is
to demand investiture whiCh cannot be withheld. The
Mussulman inhabitants are to be forcibly expelled from the
territory. The ancient right of pre-emption is abolished ;
and the supplies indispensable for Constantinople, for the
Turkish arsenals, and-for the fortresses are entirely cut off.
The most important fortresses upon the Danube aro to be
razed,' and -the frontier left exposed and unprotected against
incursions which at any future time may be attempted.
" It is sufficient to observe of the stipulations respecting
the islands of the Danube, that their effect must be to place
the control of .the navigation and commerce of that river

exclusively in the hands of Russia.
" Servia, by the incorporation of the six districts referred
to in the treaty, is erected into au independent and powerful
State ; and when the Allied Powers shall have fivally decided
upon the character of the Government, and the limits to be
assigned-to Greece, the circle will be completed of territories
nominally deiiendent or tributary, but which must be ani-
mated with the most hostile spirit; and the recognition of
which by the Powers of Europe is scarcely compatible with
the security, perhaps not with the existence, of the Turkish
empire.
" The commercial privileges and personal immunities
which are secured by the treaty to the subjects of Russia,
appear to be at variance with any other notion we
.are
able to for :I;o'4,l[le authority of a
p*i If-le tige.il4t gy-the Ay'. 'the Porte,
,seitere4n o dent
in obi or the defective administration orjuStice by
the Turkish Government, rights have been obtained by
European nations of such a description as would not have
been conceded by the States of Christendom. These rights
have not only becu - still further extended by the pre-
sent treaty, but the stipulations,. so far from being
draWn in the spirit of peace, are to all appear-
ance calculated to invite , and justify . the renewal
of hostilities. What reasonable prospect of eternal
peace, friendship, and good understanding' can be afforded by
an instrument which contains a special provision, making the
calamities of war-almost dependent upon the capricious ex-
tortion of a Turkish officer, or the unauthorised arrogance of-
a Russian trader ?
" His Majesty's Government are persuaded that it will be
impossible-for his Imperial Majesty to reflect upon the terms
of Article 7, of the treaty of Adrianople, 'without perceiving
at once that they must be utterly subversive of the indepen-
dence of the Ottoman Power.
" This article stipulates that merchant vessels of all nations,
without any restriction of size or tonnage; shall be, admitted
to pass freely through the Straits of the Dardanelles and the
Bosphorus. The right of visit on the part of the Turkish Go-
vernment is expressly excluded. This provision not only de-
prives the Porto of the exercise of. a right in its own waters,
inherent in the very nature 'of independent sovereignty ; but
it also destroys a necessary protection against the effects of
foreign hostility, or domestic treachery. The power of
marching a Russian army, at any moment, through any part
Of the Turkish territory, without .the permiss:on of the Go-
vernment, could not be more degrading, or more dangerous.
" Such stipulations are not only destructive of the territo-
rial rights of sovereignty, and threatening to the safety of the
Porte, but their obvious tendency is to affect the condition'
and the interests of all maritime States in the Mediterranean,
and may demand from those States the most'. serious'
sideration. ' • . .
" How is the true charadter °MO vessel to be ascertained?
In former treaties the bulk and the amount of tonnage to be
admitted had- been fixed by Ruseia herself, and was regulated'
by what had heen found to be most usual and most advanta-
geous in the navigation of those seas. The right of search, for
the purpose of ascertaining the nature and value of the cargo,
with a view to fix the duties to be levied on importation, was
very generally relinquished by the Porte in its practice to-
wards the vessels of foreign Powers; the ship's manifest trans-
mitted from tho Consul's office being admitted as sufficient
evidence of the nature of the cargo, instead of proof derived
from actual inspection. But the right of visit, in .order to
ascertain the character of the vessel, and the object of the
voyage, has never been relinquished, and can never be relin-
quished by a State in any degree careful of its own independ-
ence and of its safety.
." The Porte is not only prohibited from exercising any in-
terference with the free passage of the Straits by Russian ships
but it is also divested of this indispensable attribute of sove-
reignty id its relations with all other Powers, and that, too,
by virtue of a treaty concluded with the Emperor of Russia.
" If the Turkiih Government should detain and visit a ship
belonging to any foreign State, the injury would not be offered
to that State, with which, perhaps, no treaty may exist, but.
to the Eznperor of Russia, who, according to the terms of the
article in question, would at once be furnished with a justifi-
able cause of war against the Porte. But suppose any such
,State were fraudulently- to send an armed vessel, or a vessel
'carrying-armed men, into the waters of the Turkish dominion.
and under the wails of the Seraglio, with purposes the most
hostile, would his Iniperial Majesty, by the treaty of . Adria-
nople; become responsible for such an act ? • In,either Case the
Sultan would beveutirely dependent upon Russia in a mat ter
in which the dignity and security of his Government were vi-
tally affected. Is it too much to say that snail stipulatiens aro
inconsistent with the desire of his Imperial Majesty to preserve
the indepeudence of the Turkish empire ?
" His Majcsty'e GoVernment have always been persuaded
"that "the power of imposing` a pecuniary burden upon the
Ottoman Porte, as a compensation and an indemnity for the
expenses of the war, would be exercil in the promised
spirit of equity and of moderation. His inaperial Majesty
cannot fail to reflect that, in judging of the clAracter of such
a transaction, it is necessary to compare the sum exacted, not
only with the expenses of the war, .but with the means of the
Power upon which the payment is imposed. The Cabinet of
St. Petersburg will undoubtedly acquiesce in the principle,
that indemnities, whether pecuniary or territorial, ought not
by their operation to crush the Power by whom they are
given, or to expose by their consequences the military seen.