The Sun.
London, England, 1870-12-03 00:00:00

OUR COTE

THE MILITARY SITUATION IN FRANCE.
The Times is of opinion that aid from the Army of the
Loire cannot be expected at Paris for several days to
come, and much less from any other quarter. Trochu and
Ducrot, if bent on renewing the experiment which was not
very successful on Wednesday, will have to rely on their
indomitable courage alone. On Thursday, when a fresh
s:-.l.ti-e---was announced, so far as we know up to the
moment of going to press, all was quiet near Paris, and
the French had asked for a few hours' armistice to bury
the dead. We have not forgotten that a sin-) 'ler request
was made by Bazaine after Gravelotte. Indeed,
the analogy between the vicissitudes of the
two beleaguered places strikes us almost at
every stage of the hostilities —an ominous ana-
logy ! We should be sorry to express any
scepticism as to the portents which martial ardour, kin-
ded by patriotism, may be able to achieve. Though
Metz fell, Paris may yet triumph. That Ducrot may
eventually cut his way through the midst of the besieging
Germans, and that D'Atirelles may break through the
double line of Prince Frederick Charles, are all
events within the limits of human possibility ; but all we
can say is, that whatever has hitherto been achieved,
either on the Loire or on the Marne, has not done much
towards the " joining hands " of the two French Generals
which might, indeed, if happily effected, be fraught with
most serious consequences for the Prussians.
The Manchester Examiner thinks the plans of Trochu
are only now beginning to be developed. They were
probably agreed upon before Gambetta's journey to Tours,
and the gist of them was the creation of a military
force competent in numbers and discipline to contend
with the Germans. In any case, continues the Examiner,
it must be admitted that whatever may be the fate, of
Paris, and however the war may terminate, enough hasbeen
done to rescue the work of the defence from the charge
of Quixotism. More thau this has been done. Self-
respect has been restored to France, the national cause has
been retrieved from the absolute helplessness in which it
lay the day after Sedan, and it has been proud that
patriotic arms with a worthy cause can do greater deeds
than a hireling army in the pay of despotism.
THE EASTERN QUESTION.
The -Daily News regrets to say that the peculiar casu-
istry of Prince Gortschakoff has not improved. He still
contends that a Treaty may exist in full force as a whole,
though each party to it claim and exercise the right of re-
nouncing such of its stipulations as that party may
object to. He cannot see that in the claim of
Russia to annul of her own self-will one point
of the Treaty of 1856, there is any implication
that all are annulled. Perhaps not ; but there is a dis-
tinct warning that none are really binding, whioh, after
all, is much the same thing. For a Treaty which does
not bind its signatories is really no Treaty. These con-
siderations, however, represent a stage of the controversy
which has long since been passed. In entering the Con-
ference, Russia will practically withdraw from the po,i-
tion she has taken up. Through Prince Gortschakoff the
Emperor expresses his willingness and desire to come to
an arrangement compatible with the rights of Turkey, and
with the maintenance and consolidation of peace in the
East; The other Powers can desire nothing else and
nothing more .than this. Since the Treaty of 1856 the
condition of Europe has undergone great changes ;
and sounder and truer ideas of policy prevail now
than existed during tl-e first Premiership of Lord Palmer-
ston. If there is any remnant of the old leaven in the
minds of statesmen of either party, it will not permeate
the nation. Her good faith vindicated, England will de-
cline to be drawn, no matter at what bidding, into a war
for the purpose of s maintaining restrictions
on another State which she would not submit
to herself. She will not endeavour to impose on Russia
any limitation of the rights which belong to her as a
sovereign Power in her own treritory and within her own
waters. This is not a Cabinet question only. It is a
national one ; and the nation's mind is made up.
While, says the Standard, few men believe war to be
necessary and none desire it, all or nearly all feel con-
vinced that the actual situation is such that we may well
be driven to a choice between war and dishonour ; and in
proportion as they see reason to consider that Ministers
are resolved to avoid war, they find cause to apprehend that
peace may be purchased by disgrace. This is the natural result
of the known character and the avowed policy of the lead-
ing membe.s of the present Cabinet ; they can only dispel
such uneasy feelings by making us promptly aware what
they actually have done and are doing. Public confidence
would be most completely restored by the convocation of
Parliament; .if that be not thought expedient, at
least let the nation learn on what terms Lord
Granville has replied to the despatch of Prince
Gortschakoff. Not so many days have elapsed since the
Foreign Secretary declared that "England could not
sanction" the repudiation of the treaty. To enter upon a
Conference under the present conditions would be to
sanction it; for Russia still adheres to her declaration
that in no case will she longer be bound by the treaty ;
and a Conference, therefore, can only meet to sanction
that declaration, unless it meet to menace Russia with
war, and that, we know, no Conference will do. In a word,
if we are not to sanction the Russian outrage on public law,
that declaration must, in some form or other, previous to
the meeting of the Conference be withdrawn; and the
Powers must enter into the discussion with the
understanding that there is no foregone conclusion on either
side ; that the Czar, equally with ourselves and our allies,
is prepared to abide by the decision of collective Europe,
and that the first and second notes of Prince Gortschakoff
are to be condoned on the one side on condition that they
are practically abandoned on the other.
The Telegraph says : We do not hesitate to say that, if
Prince Gortschakoff's reply lad been the only contribution
to the solution of the Russian difficulty received since
the despatch of Lord Granville's Note, we should have
entertained but slight hope of the preservation of peace.
Fortunately, betwecn the date of the despatch .
of Prince Gortschakoff's reply and its receipt
in London, Russia had practically seen fit to abate her
pretensions. Austria had pronounced against the viola-
tion of the Treaty of Paris with a decision of which, for
many a year past, she had given an example. Turkey
had shown herself ready to resist violence by
force ; and Italy had given her adhesion to the
policy of which England had constituted herself
the champion. Thus Russia found herself once
more confronted by the prospect of a Western
coalition, to which France was prepared to tender her
support or not as circumstances should permit ; and the
resolution of the Emperor forthwith began to waver,
Whether with or without reason—we do not 'care to
inquire too closely—the Government of St. Petersburg
had reckoned upon the moral, if not the material,
support of Prussia. Knowing this to be the case,
our Government, immediately upon the receipt of
the original note, addressed a demand for direct
and explicit explanations to the Head-quarters of the
German Army ; and the bearer of these demands, Mr.
Odo Russell, has fully justified the judgment of the
Foreign Office in selecting him for that most important
mission. Mr. Russell was instructed to convey to Count
Bismarck the view entertained by our Government
in the most unmistakeable terms ; and this duty
he has fulfilled with extreme tact and resolution.
The Prussian statesman was assured that though England
might not be prepared for war at all risks
and all hazards, either to settle the Eastern ques-
tion, to enforce the neutralisation of the Black Sea, or to
defend the integrity of Turkey, she was ready and deter-
mined, if need were, to take up arms on behalf of that
faith in treaties which was trampled under foot by Rus-
sia. To this declaration Count Bismarck responded at
once by an offer to exert the whole influence of
Prussia in favour of England. He promised to
induce Russia, not only to submit her claims to a
Conference, but to consent that that Conference
should be held in London. As we know, these pro-
fessions were acted upon at once ; and the Emperor,
seeing that in the event of resistance he could not reckon
even upon the aid of Germany, has so far modified his
arrogant assumption of the power to set aside the Treaty
of Paris as to acknowledge that the question is one on
which other Powers besides Russia have the right to speak
with authority.
The Manchester Courier says: If Russia have a grievance,
the same means of redress are open to her as
to the other States. She can represent her grievance, and
can demand a conference of the other Powers for their
redress, but it cannot be permitted that she should violate
the faith she has once pledged, or that she should take
up a position of direct defiance with regard to the other
Powers of Eurepe. The partisans of Mr. Glad-
stone and his colleagues may rely upon it
that if there should turn out to have been
any faltering duty on the part of their nominees, any
disinclination to uphold the honour of England at the
critical moment, there will be such a storm of indignation
as will make office no pleasant place for the Liberal party,
great and united though it be.

The Law Times is informed that a number of
County Court registrars have formed themselves into an
association for the purpose of watching the legislation
affecting County Courts, and more particularly measures
which relate to their positions and responsibilities.

It is said that Rudolph Lehmann is about to
paint the portrait of Mr. Seeley, the ex-Lord Mayor, for
one of the city companies.