The Sun.
London, England, 1854-02-27 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1854.

We are by no means disposed to linger over
the reminiscences of the past, or to speculate too
curiously on the probable consequences that would
have followed a different line of policy from that,
in the first instance, adopted by her MAJESTY'S Go-
vernment. We are quite willing to let bygones
be bygones. So long as the vigour and resolu-
tion be displayed which the magnitude of the
emergency so imperatively demands, and so long
as the spirit evinced in the recent speeches
of Lords CLARENDON, PALMERSTON, and JOHN
RUSSELL be fairly and unequivocally maintained,
so long will we afford our most strenuous assist-
ance to those who, even at the eleventh hour,
are endeavouring to vindicate the honour and to
advance the interests of Great Britain. We look
not, then, to the events of last year, but rather,
as Lord CLARENDON demanded, " to the condition
in which we now stand, and to the prospects that are
before us !" But we believe it to be an indispens-
able duty to examine more closely the probable
results of the war than the Noble Secretary for
Foreign Affairs was prepared to do, and to indi-
cate to the Government the feelings and wishes
of the overwhelming majority of the people, and
the nature and extent of the requisitions which
must be satisfied before the sword which we have
been compelled reluctantly to draw can be again
restored to the scabbard.

It may not be convenient for Ministers to dis-
cuss in either branch of the Legislature the im-
portant question of " What is to be the result of
the war ?" But it is exceedingly desirable that
the independent journals should enter into that
consideration, and investigate the matter in all
its varied aspects. Thus will the chosen advisers
of her MAJESTY know what is expected at their
hands. Thus will they know how to frame mea-
sures tending towards the attainment of those
objects, and thus will they know how far they
may rely upon the support of the nation, and be
enabled clearly to discern the course which they
must pursue, if they hope to obtain the great
reward of the labours of the statesman—the re-
spect and admiration of a grateful country.

Lord CLAnENDON has himself vindicated the ne-
cessity for turning the war into which we
have been forced by the unparalleled insolence
and aggression of the adversary, to good account.
He has unequivocally acknowledged that clouds
have long been hovering in the political horizon,
that "we are approaching, or already embarked
in, that great question which has long been fore-
seen, and long postponed by all the able and clear-
sighted statesmen of Europe I" and that " as
we are forced into it, not by our own consent, it
ought to be settled once for all ! "
The position and power of Rugsia it was that
gave cause for these serious and well-founded ap-
prehensions—that made all the able and clear-
sighted statesmen of Europe clearly distinguish
the approaching storm ; and if we are to do that
"which is necessary for the future tranquillity
and security of Europe"-zrif we are " to take
solid guar t an ees that Europe may not again be
deprived of
the great blessings of peace"—we
must effectually reduce the strength of " the
single man-holding, despotic Power, and irres-
ponsible for the exercise of it over many
millions of People !"
The very principle of despotism—the imperious
and uncontrolled Will of an individual—is indeed
as irreconcileable With the welfare and safety of
other nations as it is of his own kingdom. The
voice of public opinio
a person. Hen has no influence with
such
aggrandisement, without b •
Pursues a course of
self- mug restrained by
any of the motives that affect ordinary
men. A species of insanity, or monomania in-
duces him to think that he is elevated above the
level of humanity, and little inferior even to the
DEITY. The very principle of autocracy should
therefore be annihilated, or at least the power for
mischief of those by whom it is wielded impaired
and crippled, if we desire to obtain any adequate
security for a permanent and lasting peace.
How, then, can that great desideratum be
achieved ? How can we most effectually prevent
Russia from again despoiling her neighbours and
enriching herself at the expense of those
who have the misfortune to be placed in
such dangerous proximity ? Simply by com-
pelling her to disgorge the plunder of past
ages, and to restore to the lawful owners the
usurped or conquered territories, and to abolish

the unwarrantable privileges which she has ex-
torted from the fears or weakness of other Powers.
For a long series of years she has been extending
her territories on every side, encroaching on and
basely robbing those whom she has pretended
to guard and protect. She has more than
quadrupled her population, by incorporating
other nations that come within her rapacious
clutches. Poland long-suffering, deeply-in-
jured, but noble Poland—is but one of many
victims. The countries which once consti-
tuted the barrier of Christendom against
Mahometan invasion has been ruthlessly sacrificed,
and partitioned among those whom it formerly
protected from invasion. But, restored by the
strong right arms and indomitable spirits of its
children, it will, Phoenix-like, arise from its ashes,
and assume a prominent and important position
in the scale of nations.
Finland, too, must be restored to its former
connexion with Sweden, and the hardy race by
which it is inhabited induced to return to their
ancient allegiance. The dominions on the Baltic
and the Gulf of Finland, all of which have been
forcibly or fraudulently obtained, since the acces-
sion of PETER the GREAT, must be taken away.
Russia has endeavoured to transform the Baltic
into a Russian lake. She must no longer be
allowed to retain the power she has so grossly
abused, but be kept within her original limits, with
her only northern ports on the Frozen Ocean.
Cronstadt, Riga, and Reval must be restored,
with the Baltic provinces in which they are situate,
to their lawful owners, and Russia be contented
to carry on a peaceful commerce by permission of
those owners, and to have Archangel as of yore
her only port for naval armaments.
With the restoration of Finland, Livonia, and
Esthonia, East Bothnia, and Aland to Sweden,
and the resuscitation of Poland in all its inte-
grity, matters will be tolerably well arranged
in the Baltic, and towards Austria and Prussia
the usurper will have retraced his footsteps the
seven hundred miles he has advanced, and by
which he is now enabled to threaten these king-
doms with invasion at any moment. So far for
the west and south-west. But on the south itself
even more will have to be accomplished. Russia
has not only advanced her frontiers on the side of
Turkey, but also of Persia. She has formed
establishments on the Euxine, the Caspian, and the
Sea of Azoff and Aral, to which she has no manner
of right. She has seized on Podolia and Bessarabia,
passing first the Bug and then the Dneister, as she
has more recently done the Pruth (in each instance
incorporating the plundered provinces), and as she
yet hopes to pass the Danube, and to accomplish
the destruction of Turkey in Europe. She has
also taken possession of the Crimea and all the
territories on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azoff,
which PETER bad, by the treaty of Falksen, ex-
pressly agreed to surrender, binding herself to
maintain no navy in the Sea of Azoff. She has,
however, not only violated that treaty, but has
taken possession of Georgia, and the fertile plains
abutting on the Caspian, on which she formerly
possessed but some barren and unproductive
steppes. She also, as far as practicable, appro-
priated the Caucasian territory, invading the
noble and unconquerable Circassians, pushing her
encroachments on the southern banks of the
Phasis and the Araxes. After a successful con-
test she assumed the exclusive use of the Caspian
by the suppression of the Persian Flag on its
waters. All these robberies she has achieved,
while she has also not only got possession of the
Sulina Mouths of the Danube, but contrived to
render the Eux.ine a mare clausum, seriously im-
peding the navigation of that noble river, and
preventing the British Navy from protecting the
commerce of Britain in the Black Sea.

These unfounded claims can no longer be al-
lowed. How can we, claiming the sovereignty of
the ocean, sanction the existence of a mare clan,-
sum ? It cannot, it must not, and it shall not be to-
lerated. The various treaties entered into have
been annulled by the war. Be it our care to see
that they are not re-established, and that the pre-
tended protectorate of Servia, Wallachia, and
Moldavia shall be peremptorily repudiated. Let
us do these things, and compress Russia nearly, if
not altogether, within her ancient limits, and we
shall be amply recompensed for the exertions we
are making and are about to make, and the an-
noyance and injury we have already sustained or
may hereafter sustain ; for we shall have laid the
foundations of a permanent, a lasting, and an
honourable peace—a peace that will not speedily
be again wantonly and flagitiously violated, and
we shall have done more than was ever hitherto
effected by any nation of the globe to promote
the happiness and prosperity of the entire civi-
lised world.

We are at war. The preparations for the con-
flict are perceptible on every side. All is bustle
and activity in the dockyards and at the several
recruiting stations—everywhere, in fact, where
the personnel or materiel of war can be obtained.
But while exhibiting extraordinary energy in
these matters, we are wilfully neglecting one of
the most important particulars—one which is in-
dispensable in the event of a protracted struggle.
Money has been truly termed "the sinews of war,"
for without it nothing can be effected. The best-
drilled army will be practically useless without its
miraculous influence. Experienced veterans will be
little better than undisciplined hordes without its
potent aid. It is, indeed, the true ALADDIN'S
lamp, the wand of the magician, that endues
the possessor with almost supernatural at-
tributes, that enables him to convey troops in
any direction, and to create diversions most
favourable to himself and prejudicial to his adver-
saries. The gold of England has during for-
mer wars, perhaps, been even more efficient
than her arms in promoting and enforcing the
policy which she was desirous of carrying out.
In the present instance, the AUTOCRAT is for-
tunately but scantily furnished with this indis-
pensable instrument. Notwithstanding the mag-
nitude of his dominions and the countless myriads
of barbarians that own his sway, he is compara-
tively poor in money matters. If his exchequer
were proportioned to the other resources of his em-
pire we might look to a long continuance of hos-
tilities, and a fearful struggle before peace could
again be restored, and the sword be laid aside for
the ploughshare. It is the poverty, and not the
will, of NICHOLAS that must lead to his speedy
submission, and compel him to make ample retri-
bution for his unwarranted and unwarrantable
aggressions, and his pertinacious and insulting
persistance in the original injury. He has, how-
ever, clearly foreseen the difficulty in which he is in-
volved, and is straining every nerve to repair the de-
ficiency of which he is so painfully conscious. One of
the most obviousmeanshaslong since been adopted.
Even while negotiations were still going forward,
and while the diplomatists were disputing about
sentences, and hair-splitting and quibbling about
forms of expression, NICHOLAS had given instruc-
tions for the issue of no less than sixty mil-
lions of inconvertible paper roubles, which,
being issued on the authority and credit of
the Empire, would be available for internal cir-
culation in the country, and render the entire
supply of specie available for the support of the
troops.
Fas est ab hoste doceri. Why should we not
profit by the lesson thus taught by our opponent ?
Why should we pause until circumstances render
a Bank Restriction Act inevitable, when our
bullion is drawn away to supply the exigencies of
the Northern despot ? Let us keep the money
now stored up in the coffers of the Bank for the
use of our friends rather than of our adversaries,
and assist with our gold France and Turkey,
and not Russia. A most just and salutary
proclamation has been issued, forbidding the ex-
portation of the munitions of war, and very pro-
perly including steam machinery among the pro-
hibited articles. But why do we pause there,
why do we leave matters in such a state,
that the most important of all these mu-
nitions may be carried off openly, while
the CZAR is ridiculing the fatuity that sacrifices
the inestimable advantages we possess, and
provides for wants that could not elsewhere be
supplied ? Ile may well sneer at constitutional
principles, when they lead to such results as his
frigates being repaired in the public dockyards