The Sun.
London, England, 1833-11-12 00:00:00

.SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS

A letter which appeared yesterday, under the
head of " New Ageressions of Russia," was not
undeserving of attention. The first of the spe-
cific " aggressions" complained of by our cor-
respondent is the incorporation of six Wallachian
regiments with the 6th division of the Russian
army. It would appear, from the account trans-
mitted to us, that the above regiments had been
raised by the Prince Giga for the service of their
native country, and that their diversion to that
of the Czar of Muscovy was effected by an im-
perial order from St. Petersburgh. By the last
unfortunate treaty which the Government of the
Grand Seignor signed at Adrianople, Russia, we
believe, had the right conceded to her of pro-
tecting the religious and civil privileges of the
Christians in Wallachia and Moldavia, if not
throughout the whole of Turkey in Europe ;
but we are not aware that her power of in-
terposition extended so far as to justify her
in appropriating to her own we whatever
national forces might be levied in provinces
still under the acknowledged sway of Turkey,
thus transforming a Protectorship for espe-
pecial and limited ends into a general and
absolute dominion. There is no doubt that
Europe at large had a solid and immediate
interest in confining within the closest reasonable
boundaries the advantages stipulated for Russia
under the above-mentioned treaty, seeing that
it has for two generations past been an admitted
principle of the defensive policy of all European
states, but more particularly and prominently of
England, as the first of maritime powers, and
of France, as one deeply engaged in the main-
tenance of the Mediterranean commerce, to
restrain the encroachments of the Autocrat upon
the declining and feeble Turk, and to prevent by
force of arms, if no other means should suffice,
the transfer of Constantinople and the Darda-
nelles to the cruel destroyer of Poland. What
may be the actual bearing of this late military
violence (for such it is represented) upon those
provisions of the treaty of Adrianople which pre-
scribe and ascertain the rights of Russia with
regard to Wallachia and Moldavia, it is for the
Governments of England and France to consi-
der. Perhaps, if it should turn out to be in
reality a " new aggression," those two enlightened
Governments may begin to ponder upon the
expediency of adopting some yet untried species
of defence. As respects, however, the second
charge brought against the Court of St. Peters-
burgh by our correspondent, namely, that it is
now in the act of intriguing against England in
a tender point, and instigating that fiscal confe-
deracy which he calls the " Prusso German
Powers" to increase their import duties upon
British goods to such a scale as would be tanta-
mount to a prohibition, we are bound to confess
that such an index of unfriendliness on the part
of Russia can he met no otherwise than by
counter representations to the German States on
our part, dissuading them from the absurd and
self injurious policy recommended to them,
combined, perhape, with certain changes in our
commercial legislation towards Russia herself,
which might soon convince her of the disad-
vantages attending her offensive and hostile,
though covert, proceedings against the prosperity
of Great Britain. Nothing would be easier than
f it England, if provoked, to exclude the produce
of the Russian empire from facilities and benefits
offered to that of other States, and although none
a-e be more averse than we ourselves are on
, mciple to partialities or impediments in the way
of national commerce, we cannot help admitting
that such remedies may sometimes, and not un-
wisely, be resorted to for the sake of recalling,
when other methods fail, an intractable and
encroaching Power to the duties of fair dealing
and good neighbourhood. In the number of
the Edinburgh Review lately published there is
rn article on " the state and relations of the
Turkish empire," which contains a large portion
of interesting and useful matter. The reviewer
proceeds on a tacit understanding, so clear, in-
deed, as to require no formal exposition what-
ever, that the state of Turkey cannot be discussed
without a direct and undissembled reference to
the relations of other countries with her and
with each other—that is to say, of England
and Russia, the first always acting on a pal-
pable interest in her amelioration and inte-
grity, the second in her overthrow and extinc-
tion. The Edinburgh Review upholds the
wisdom, or rather the necessity, of the prodi-
gious efforts made by the Sultan to crush the
vilianous and destructive aristocracy of the Ot-
toman empire—a power exhibited under various
forms-1. The chiefs of the law, or Ulemas. 2.
The feudal aristocracy, or Dere Beys of Anatolia;
Timariots of Rotimclia, Capitani of Albania
and Greece, and the Boyards of the provinces
on the Danube. 3. Ephemeral and upstart
favourites, together with the Paellas and corrupt
officers of the Court, who are described as
forming the worst species of Turkish aristocracy.
4. The Janissaries. It is stated broadly, that
after an arduous, sanguinary, and unrelenting
struggle, Mahtnoud has succeeded in putting
down these cruel oppressors of the body of his
people, as well as dangerous rivals of the so-
vereign authority, and has conciliated the bulk
of his subjects to his own person, in the same
proportion in he has relieved them from
their local and subordinate persecutors. But it
seems to us but too obvious that the publication
in question has viewed the result of all upon the
prospects and real independence of Turkey with
a far too partial bearing. There is a peril, im-
minent, urgent, frightful, which threatens to
make an end of Malimotid and his empire before
the principles of that extensive, but unavoidably
progressive, reform which he has prepared, can
have time to be actively developed. The ques-
tion lies in a short compass—Will Nicholas
arrest the march of Russian intrigues and
aggressions, put in movement, as they plainly
are, and have been since long before he was born,
for the one great object of subjugating the
'Turkish
power ? Will he thus let the invigo-
rating spirit of justice, knowledge, and in-
creased civilization throughout Turkey get the
start of his cupidity, and perhaps finally defeat
it ; or will he strike, while, so far as Turkey
.
alone concerned, she can offer no effectual
resistance, and Must owe whatever chance she
possesses of safety to the interposition of her
friends at the opposite extremity of Europe ?
The reasonable fear unquestionably is, that
Russia may take advantage of the state of tran-
sition which her destined victim at this moment
undergoes. The Cabinet of St. Petersburgh
knows when to be prompt and when patient ;
and the inducement to the former course of
action is now so manifest as to leave no room
for surprise, at least, if it should be eagerly
adopted. Treachery and violence, force and
fraud, have alternately been had recourse to as
instruments of Russian ambition with regard to
Poland as well as Turkey. We believe that, as
in the former case there is not an English or
French statesman living who will defend the

tame submission of his country to the tyranny
under which Poland fell, so is there none who will
now advise his sovereign to acquiesce in the
incorporation of Turkey with the crime-fraught
Russian empire. We quote some passages from
the article in the Edinburgh Review, which are
not unworthy to be regarded as a key to the
feelings of his Majesty's Government on this
important subject

" Many fortuitous circumstances have concurred to
give to Russia a casual supremacy in the north, which
has led to an exaggerated notion of her strength. At the
close of the war in 1514, Russia, under the Emperor
Alexander. having long played with the national enthu-
siasm of the Poles, successfully repulsed the French
invasion, and led on the popular feelings of the continent
against the tyrannous n•iimpations of Bonaparte. She
was then as popular as she was strong. But affairs have
since changed greatly. England, and Fiance in despite
of her Bourbons, soon assumed the lead on the liberal
side ; and Russia, too proud to follow in their step?,
gladly threw her whole weight into the opposite scale, and
concocted an alliance, which, in derision, yet bears the
name of Holy. This eminently served the real purposes
of her ambition. It placed her at the head of a party to
which her Government naturally belonged, and the late
popular triumphs in France and other parts have greatly
contributed to the advancement of her pretensions. She
herself, sheltered in snow and ignorance, laughs at the
buebear fear of a native House of Commons; but she
knows full well how to play off that fear upon the Courts
of Vienna and Berlin. By raising a hue and cry against
the progress of liberal opinions, she plunges them into all
the depths of Frankfort decrees, and the honours of a war
against printers' devils, professors, and universities.
This conduct places them more or less at variance
with their own subjects, and with the power-
ful Goverments of England and France. It also propels
or drifts them to the side of Russia, who thus dexterously
maintains a constant and confidential influence in their
councils, and increases that leaning towards her for
alliance and support which dates from the first partition
of Poland. She diverts their attention from the stealthy
steps with which she is foreclosing their dominions; or,
what is perhaps more effectual, she puts to silence their
remonstrances. Were not the interests of humanity at
stake, we might smile at the ingenuity with which she
manoeuvres this stalking-horse of liberalism before the
beguiled eyes of her credulous neighbours. Would they
listen to us, we might be tempted to whislier in their ears
that there is less danger in this dreaded liberality than in
the encroaching intimacy of their despotic neighbour, who,
by the extension of her territories, gradually tightens the
coil she has formed around not the least vulnerable
part of their dominions. They would probably scorn
our suggestions, and retort upon ourselves and upon
France the patience with which we have borne the tone
of authority which this remote and least interested
Power has assumed in the negotiations of the south; while
she has haughtily precluded us from any interference
with her infractions of the treaty of Vienna in the north,
they might point to Constantinople, to ask us where
was the influence which England once possessed with her, so
styled, ancient ally? In reply, we would tell them, that this
country fully appreciates the blessings of peace, and of her
own high station in Europe, and that therefore she enter-
tains a wise repugnance to committing the happiness of
millions to the tender mercies of the sword. For the
integrity of her own dominions she does not entertain the
shadow of a shade of fear ; neither has she any base or
foolish thought of purchasing peace at the price of sub-
mission, which never yet insured it. Therefore, when-
ever Russia shall make it appear that the faith of treaties,
or the honour and independence of this country, are com-
promised by an acquiescence in her arrogant pretensions,
from that hour she will he made to feel the power of
Britain even to the very core of her huge empire.
" These are lofty words; hut none are more capable of
estimating their truth and value than the present rulers of
Russia. They are well aware of the weakness of their own
state, and of the dignified forbearance which has been
maintained by this country. They know that their empire
is an unwieldy mass, utterly unfit for long-continued and
distant wars. They know the extreme difficulty
with which they scarcely overcame the feeble re-
sistance of the Turks in 1528 anti 1529 ; they have
not forgotten their defeats in Poland. Even their
armies, which are countless upon paper, are not so
difficult to be numbered on the field ; they are spread
over an immense surface, and, except the guards, are ill
paid and ill disposed. Her commissariat and medical de-
partments are scarcely better appointed than those of the
Turks. Even so late as her last campaign, when Mr.
Slade visited the Russian quarters after the peace of Ad-
rianople, he met droves of conscripts with marks printed
on their bodies, and so dragged up in chains to reinforce
the victorious army. Such gentle precautions prove at
once the strong disposition to desertion so prevalent in
her troops, and the reluctance to the military service
reigning even among her serfs; and no wonder, fur the
privations and miseries which this writer describes the
men and officers as enduring are such as would mike the
hardest heart recoil. Of the 40,000 Russians who
reached Adrianople in August, 12,000 lay dead in No-
vember, and of the 8,000 who were left in the hospitals
there, not more than 1,500 quitted them alive. Mr.
Slade adds—s Horrible to relate, they died of absolute
want. In that severe winter, when the streets of
Adrianople were deep in snow, those poor fellows
lay on the floors of the vast wooden barracks,
without beds or bedding, though the foams could
have furnished enough for twenty thousand men.
On some days they had not fires to cook their
soup, while the icy gales from the Euxine sung through
the crevices of their hospital. It is said that the Empe-
ror shed tears on hearing of the distresses of his brave and
victorious army. Ile had better heve.sent them roubles.
Their diseases partly arose from the water they drank;
spirits and wine were dirt cheap at Adrianople, and yet
not even a drop was served out to them. (vol. ii. p. 13.)
On visiting the Russian quarters beyond the Balkan, he
found one division of 15,000 men actually without a
single medical attendant;* while hundreds were daily
.iisappearing under the combined influence of cold, famine,
over-fatigue, and exposure to an unwholesome climate.
An average of not less than 50,000 men die annually in
the Russian army, without counting those who fall by
the casualties of war. The term of servitude is for 25
years, anti no soldier can rise from the ranks, while all
are subject to corporeal punishment at the unquestioned
order of every officer. Rigorous discipline, and an entire
concealment of whatever occurs in other Stations, indeed
in other divisions of the same army, prevent the frequent
mutinies from gaining too high a bead ; but such cir-
cuinstancee under the keeping together of a large force
for any length of time extremely perilous. • •
" At all events, let her no longer be permitted to play
eff the Belgian question open the patience of Europe. It
has served her purposes long enough and well enough.
Under its shelter she subdued Poland. But the hour of
transitory weakness is past, and our Ministers may reap
the recompense of the wise patience with which they,
have conducted our foreign relations. France and Eng-
land have both happily gone through their reforms ; they
are united in power, policy, and mutual esteem; they
citify with them a very large portion of the moral power
of Europe, and no small portion of its physical force.
The keys of mighty events are in their hands. Possess-
ing this commanding strength, it behoves them to use it
with temperance certainly, but with firmness also. Au-
thority, as well as other things, can make herself wings
and flee away. She remains longest with those who best
know how to use her. At present she is with the liberal
side of the world ; and it would seem that by the use of
a firm tone, the aggressions and intrigues of the opposite
party may be checked, anti war most effectually averted
by looking it steadily in the face.
" The late rapid successes in Portugal have uncovered
the skirts of certain intrigues of the Holy Alliance, which
would fain have upheld Don Miguel, the child of its
dotage, but which, happily thwarted there, now seek,
while they prolong the agony of that distracted country,
to prepare a bitter cup for her neighbour, Spain. Respect
silences the indignation we might express at finding British
names of honour mixed up with the dirty correspondence
which has been exposed to the derision of the public.
We will therefore pass it over, and leave to those con-
terned the humiliating task of reconciling their votes and
speeches in Parliament with their practices in secret.
" The prompt recognition of Donna Maria has been a
wise and just measure, which may s-ave Spain from the
gulf that yawns beneath her. But more yet remains to
he done : it is essential that the tone and interference of
Russia should be abated ; she is the head and front of the
absolute Fitly, arid with her it becomes us therefore to
deal. Now is the time, when Italy, Germany, and Poland
arieshin
taostoaotentine
which,i counsel,to
oruletn-d
prudence to those who would
w
l
owfhtehree aiste enh das nbceyenof aultoilisteraelpeoamlnic. yerhLeede. Let,ht,oitehteeidiintthhee pro
Turkey,signa
tecting intervention of Russia be withdrawn from
the shores of the Bosphorus as verilyin deed as
" * The brother of General Montresor, the commanding
officer, wasting from the
officer, with whom Mr. Slade resided,
effects of an Adrianople fever, and the only relief which could
be obtained for him consisted in his visiter taking notes of the
symptoms of the disease, in order to submit them to the surgeon
of the Blonde at Pera. (Vol. iio P. ear