The Sun.
London, England, 1854-03-03 00:00:00

alliance between France and Great Britain :
" Behold," says he, " the results of a policy
without egotism and without after-thought"—
without sinister designs, and without selfishness.
" Behold England, that ancient rival, who now
with us knits together the bonds of an alliance
which from day to day becomes only more and
more intimate"—why ?—" because the ideas we
defend are at the same time those of the British
people." Later on, the EMPEROR explains one by one
the nature of these ideas, the motives implied by that
cordial alliance leading to active co-operation, the
objects, iu fact, of the war against Russia about to
be entered upon by the united French and Eng-
lish Governments. His Imperial MAJESTY ex-
plains all this in answer to the supposed inquiry,
" What are you going to do at Constantinople ?"
Listen ! "We are going there," says NAPOLEON
111., " with England, to defend the cause of the
SULTAN, and yet at the same time to protect the
rights of the Christians. We are going there to de-
fend the liberty of the seas and our just influence in
the Mediterranean. We are going there with Ger-
many to aid it in conserving that rank from which
they would fain cause it to descend, and to secure
its frontiers henceforth against the preponderance
of a too powerful neighbour. We are going there,
in fine," says the Emperor NAPOLEON, " together
with all those who really desire the triumph
right, of justice, and of civilisation." Behold—
those are the reasons for this war in behalf of
Turkey, this conflict with Russia, the despatch
of these military and maritime armaments from
France and England to Constantinople.
NAPOLEON 111. counts, therefore, under these
solemn circumstances, upon the support of the
French nation as expressed through the Imperial
Legislature, adding, in his address to the Depu-
ties and Senators, that he has always found in
them the generous sentiments animating the popu-
lation. Wherefore, his MAJESTY adds in the closing
sentence—" Strong in this support, in the
nobility of our cause, in the sincerity of
our alliances, and confiding, above all,
in the protection of GOD, I hope to arrive speedily
at a peace which will no longer admit of being
disturbed by any one with impunity." it is quite
obvious on the surface of things that this secure
peace can never be established—so long. as Russia
is permitted to remain in her present position
of advantage —in her present position, we
may say, of geographical predominance. The
Emperor NAPOLEON has defined that position
with admirable clearness in this very Oration,
where he has said that Russia, by successive
encroachments embraces the north and the south,
possessing almost exclusively two inner seas, by
means of which, at any time, and with the utmost
facility, her armies and her fleets may be directed
against our Ammon civilisation. Happily, however,
everything now tends to indicate that France and
England are alive, at last, to the peril of
this situation to Europe. The recognition
of the evil has been avowed by Ministers
in the British Parliament. It has been
proclaimed by NAPOLEON 111. in his Speech
to the French Imperial Legislature. The
war once commenced—Russia cannot escape
from it until the Black Sea is no longer
closed against the commerce of the world
until the mouths of the Danube are opened to
the mercantile enterprise of both hemispheres
until such stolen territories for example as the
Crimea have been restored to Turkey, until the
moral barriers raised by the blunderings of diplo-
macy have been removed from the straits both of
the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles.

On Monday next the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer will unfold his Budget in the House of
Commons. This unusual alacrity is very credit-
able to the Right Hon. Gentleman. It is right
that the country may be informed at the earliest
possible moment of the mode in which the addi-
tional war expenditure, already estimated at
3,000,0001. sterling, with the probability, nay,
more, the absolute certainty, of very considerable
supplementary demands for the expenses of the
Naval and Military expeditions, which we are
sending forth in the cause of justice and order to
prevent an ally from being plundered, to repel
unwarrantable aggression, and, at the same time,
to punish the author of all these disturbances.
It is true, that these demands may be but for
mere temporary advances—that the National
Exchequer may be recouped the entire outlay—
that every shilling may be paid back. Such will,
unquestionably, be the case if Ministers are true
to themselves, and exhibit a due regard for the
honour and interests of their Royal Mistress, and
the country over which she so worthily reigns. But
vett assuming that it will, as it ought to be so,
that will only afford matter for future relief.
Present provision must be made, and that will I
fall as heavily on the tax-paying community as if
the money were irretrievably lost, without the
most remote prospect of repayment. Mr. GLAD-
STONE will thus have an opportunity of showing
the stuff that is in him," of exhibiting his real
capacity for the important and arduous situation
in winch he is placed. He must recollect that we
are living in strange, eventful times, and that, of
all the Ministers of the Crown, the head of the
financial department is the man on whom hangs
the weightiest responsibility when the country is
involved in hostilities with a powerful foe. He
it is that must provide the " sinews of war "
that must supply the means of setting fleets and
arm:es in motion, of finding bounties and pay,
and rations for seamen and soldiers, and at the
same time maintain the National Credit unim-
paired, and keep " the life-blood of industry," a
circulating medium, adequate to the wants and
exigencies of the country within easy reach of
every solvent merchant, and manufacturer, and
trader. These are duties of no ordinary
magnitude. Mr. GLADSTONE must anticipate the
coming of the already threatening storm at an
early opportunity, and his future reputation will
mainly depend on the manner in which he acquits
himself during the emergency.
We have already pointed out a mode by which
he might, while rendering a much-required act of
justice to the banking and commercial community,
derive a very considerable assistance towards pro-
viding for the additional outlay that must take
place. Mr. PACE was the CEDirus who discovered
the solution of the perplexing riddle, the finding a
just and popular tax, that will, at the same time,
be very productive to the revenue and acceptable
to the parties on whom it is charged. We refer
the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the admi-
rable suggestion contained in the pamphlet to
which we have already directed public attention,
and from which he may gather some useful hints.
We have also indicated a very decided improve-
ment in the succession duties, by making real
estate and settled personalty liable to the probate
as well as to the legacy duties—a matter which is
merely a question of time, and which must sooner
or later be brought into practical operation. In-
deed, the proposition of Lord CRANWORTH for
making probate affect the real as well as the per-
sonal estate of a testator, proves that such an ex-
tension is under the consideration of, or already
decided on, by Ministers ; and existing circum-
stances imperatively demand that the carrying
the resolution into practical operation should be
materially accelerated.
But it is not merely fiscal matters that fall
within the department of the Right Honour-
able Gentleman. He must also deal with the
currency question, by far the most important
and pressing at the present moment. There can
be no doubt that, at this moment, the precious
metals are being exported from this country in
large quantities, and that a considerable portion
of the stream of bullion now flowing to the Con-
tinent is for the use of the CZAR, and also that
the money thus drawn from our coffers will encou-
rage him to persist in his perverse and obstinate
refusal to abandon his unjustifiable demands, and
materially increase the expense, the difficulty, and
the bloodshed that must take place. We are at this
moment literally " burning the candle at both ends,"
providing not merely for the support of our own
troops, but in a great degree for those of the
enemy. NICHOLAS can no longer draw directly on
the Bank of England. His account is closed, and
his draughts no longer potent it} Threatlnoedle-
street. But what he cannot do directly, he may I
still effect indirect/4h and by circuitous means.