The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-19 00:00:00

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 1856.

Well, the murder will soon be out ! The terms
of the discreditable and injudicious peace about
to be patched up will shortly be announced.
We are told that it has been already virtually
concluded, and that a sub-committee has actually
been appointed to settle the draught of the
Treaty; nay, more, the names are actually stated.
Lord CLARENDON is not of the number, the in-
terests of England in this very important matter
being confided to the hands of Lord COWLEY ! It
is useless to declaim on "the vast importance of
this part of the transaction, where not only every
sentence and expression, but even the mere punc-
tuation, may be used to alter the real meaning of
the contracting parties. We have already had
but too many illustrations of the " forty petti-
fogging power" of quibbling, of which Russia is
capable ; and the simple, straightforward language
iu which Englishmen are accustomed to represent
their, meaning can be easily twisted and distorted
by so astute and unconsciontious an opponent !
Nor are the German diplomatists much behind
the Muscovites in this respect. The unfortunate
Vienna Note may be received as the latest case
in point ; and the serious consequences arising
from that grave mistake should have induced
extraordinary vigilance and caution on the present
occasion, and made the services of the best man
that England could put forward, indispensable.
Why, then, did Lord CLARENDON shirk this
arduous duty ? Why should he delegate his task
to a Nobleman in whom the English nation do
net repose as much confidence as in himself ?
We do not mean any disrespect to Lord COWLEY
in saying that the case is analogous to that of an
action in which the leading counsel, who had
received enormous special fees, submit the case to
arbitration, and leave the matter in the hands of
their juniors. The renowned PICKWICK would
not have been pleased if abandoned by Serjeant
SNUBBIN, and consigned to the tender care of
Mr. FLUNKEY. There is but one solution to the
enigma, which it requires no CEeerus to discover,
viz., that the Foreign Secretary was heartily
ashamed of the result, and desirous of shifting
every possible portion of responsibility to other
shoulders. The presence of the Prussian Pleni-
potentiary will add inauspicious omens to those
already witnessed.
It is also stated, apparently ex cathedra, that
4-1,"

that nothing but the results will be communicated
to the world. This may be very convenient for
some of the parties, to avert the odium, that
might otherwise attach to their " sayings and
doings." But it will not be satisfactory to the
peoples of France and England, who detest
mystery on such occasions, and will certainly not
in the present instance be inclined to confound
the unknown with the magnificent.
It is useless to deny the fuel that there is a
general impression abroad that the French Go-
vernment has not supported that of England as
strongly as might have been anticipated. Any
attempted concealment of the facts will strongly
tend to confirm that untoward feeling. The
truth, however unpleasant it nay be, will be far
better than the " doubts and fears" that must
otherwise be entertained, more especially if, as
there is but too much reason to believe, the
final arrangement be very different from what
had been expected, and what the Allies
might reasonably have demanded, and could
easily have enforced, and that without extra-
ordinary efforts or expenses in addition to those
already made and provided for.
The rumours above alluded to possess a veri-
similitude that renders even the most sceptical
unable to take refuge in total incredulity. Would
that we could do so; or hold out any reasonable
expectation to our deceived and betrayed country-
men ! That, however, seems now almost beyond
hope. The birth of the Prince, " born in the
midst of the hopes of peace" (!), the admission of
Prussia to the Conferences, the contemplated ma-
trimonial alliance between the presumptive heir
of the throne of Prussia and our own " fifteen
year old Princess Royal," contracted with such
unseemly haste, the presence of the Belgian bird
of ill omen, and a variety of minor incidents,
all supplying additional evidence in favour of the
infelicitous result, leave but little ground for
consolation. All that we have gained by our
sacrifices of men and money, by the weighty
fiscal burdens we have endured, and the lives of
our gallant brethren, is the unpleasing knowledge
that England has been made a laughing-stock for
every petty German potentate who rules a domain
scarcely more valuable than the estate of an
English country gentleman, and who is enabled
to supply beer and "saner kraut" to his vassals,
and to gratify his own vanity by the lavish sub-
sidies and innumerable decorations bestowed by
Russia. Possibly we may, under peculiarly favour-
able circumstances, hope to obtain a few of the
members of the scrubby lot as husbands for Prin-
cesses who would be thought too good for the most
eligible members of the high-minded and wealthy
nobility of England. Verily England 4‘ pays
dearly for her whistle." And we suppose that
for the time being we must be contented "to
swallow our leek" with becoming resignation. It
is not in the spirit of ancient PISTOL, however,
that we add—

" We eat, but eke we swear."

The apparently insuperable obstacles to national
agreement on national education can be removed
only by candid discussion. Certain collateral ob-
jects are probably more dear to each of the parties
than they are aware of, and each of them striving
more or less consciously to realise its pet object by
the nation's aid, finds itself no nearer to co-opera-
tion with the other parties after the fullest debate.
Each has been advocating its own view with ar-