The Sun.
London, England, 1856-02-22 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 22, 1856.

Spirit of the Public Journals.

(Front the Times of this day.)

A few years ago a popular preacher was inveighing against
Sabbath desecration in every possible shape. Not a stitch of
work roust be done on that day ; not foot moved, except to
church ; not a-tongue wagged, except his own. A ride or
drive iu the Park, which, by the by, is not quite so general
a crime as the Sabbatarians seem to imagine, was utterly for-
bidden. It made sot only the coachman and the footman,
but even the poor beasts, break the Sabbath. While the
preachbr was haranguing inside the chapel there stood outside
between 20 and 30 carriages waiting for his deeply-impressed
hearers. The footmen were assembled at the door of the ad-
joining public-house, and the whole neighbourhood was in an
uproar; 50 horses and the same number of men were breaking
the Sabbath in the most flagrant style. Had anybody ven-
tured to suggest to the preacher to keep his own congrega.
tiou in order before he put down all the world, he would pro-
bably have replied that he knew his own business, and wanted
nobody's advice. Obvious and indefensible as this inconsis-
tency may seem, it is a universal one. Everybody is for lay-
ing down just those rules and admitting just those modifica-
tions that suit his own convenience. The principal base of
this course is that it ends in a purely negative system. What
this world, and, iu particular, this metropolis wants, is some-
body to tell it what to do, for every stupid fellow can tell it
what it ought not to do. There are many thousand artisans
living within a mile of St. Paul's, and a good distance from
anything to call a garden or a green field. Of these at least
nineteen out of twenty go to no place of worship on Sunday,
don't emerge from their musty dens till the middle of the
day. Fur our part, we have frequently urged on the Legis-
lature the duty of providing places of innocent recreation
for these people,—parks, walks, and pleasure-grounds,--but
that is just what Parliament will not do. It will do no
good, because doing good is a difficult, anxious, responsible
affair, attended with cost, and followed by occ isional failures.
It will only forbid what it conceives to be harm, for that is
easy and cheap. It acts like the parent who never gave five
minutes' serious thought as to what to do with his child, who
never had word to say to it of an improving tendency, and
very seldom of a cheering one, and who confines the exercise
of his paternal dominions to scolding, beating, snubbing,
thwarting, silencing, and all the other forms of interdiction.
No doubt a parent who never does good will have occasion
enough to forbid what is wrong. If a roan does not sow good
seed in his fields, be will have weeds enough to root up. And
we venture to submit that tire reason why the British Legis-
lature is so overtasked with the enormous arrears of crime to
be punished and depravity to be reformed is that it will not
do anything to instruct and elevate those whom it ultimately
has to reform or chastise.

As to the particular question and the particular decision of
last night in the Commons, we have nothing to say against
them. The British Museum as it is, and the National Gallery
as it is, don't seem quite the place for Sunday edification or
rooteation. Of the former we spoke yesterday, and contented
ourselves with advising our country friends not to expect rest
in its half-mile of galleries. As to the National Gallery, it
iras obviously never designed for a Sunday exhibition. Gods
and goddesses, mythological stories, and nude figures of all
sorts are not quite proper sulojects of contemplation on a holy
day. Moreover, the gallery is so small and stuffy that two
or three hundred people make it intolerable. But we must
be permitted to deprecate and denounce the hypocrisy with
which member after member last night spoke as if a man was
made good, and the day made holy, by shutting up these two
places, and as if it wasenough to telllpeople some things which
they ought not to do. Moreover, we deprecate this continual
comparison of our own metropolitan population with that of
the continental capital. What in the world do our legislators see
of the London artisan on the Sunday, cr know of his man-
ners and notions, and his haunts and resorts on that day ?
We can tell them that he does not spend the day in the
boson of his family. He does not take his wife on his arm
and lead his children in procession to take a walk in the
fields or on the river-side, for there aro uo fields and no river-
side, thanks to the obstinate indifference of Parliament to
these public benefits. The London artisan does not spend the
Sunday in psalm-singing, or in prayer, or in reading the
Bible. Gentlemen who go abroad in the autumn, and inves-
tigate the suburbs of Paris, and Munich, and Vienna„will, of
course, see a great deal of bad taste, and even some bad mo-
rality ; but if they would take a tour this year through Beth-
nal-green, Spitaltields, Bermondsey, Lambeth, or even the
neighbourhood of the Royal establishments at Chelsea,
Greenwich, Deptford, and Woolwich, so as they use their
eyes and ear's properly, they would observe a good deal that
is not in keeping with a sacred day, or even any day. Not
all the prohibitive laws in the world will make a people good;
they only stop certain outward forms and particular develop-
ments of evil. They leave the man himself unchanged. But,
whatever the business of the legislator, and whether or not it
be his duty to prohibit, and nothing more, we have certainly
a much larger, more comprehensive, and more generous office
to perform. . .

We should be sorry to see any new Book of Sports ; but we
wish the 376 members who last night put their negative on
Sir J. Walmsley's motion would just inform the house how
they spend their Sunday in the country. Webelievo it to be
a very uniform process. Between services, or after the after-
noon service, they go round their domains with their visitors ;
they measure the shoots on their young plantations; they in-
dicate improvements made or intended; they visit the farm,
look at the cattle and pigs ; thence to the stables, where
they discuss the respective merits of the sleek occupants,
point out the various now dodges for supplying
the animals with corn, hay, and water ; then to the kennel,
and set the dogs of all sorts and sizes in full cry ; stop hero
and there to enjoy the prospect, or mark a good situation for
a house ; measure the girth and guess the ages of the trees ;
then a turn into the shrubberies, and a discussion of Deodara
and Norfolk Island pines ; then just a look into the conserva-
tory at the ericas, calceolarias, and other long-named plants;
perhaps a visit to the poultry-yard, or even a descent into
the wine-cel,ar may conclude the day. Should the visitor
fall into the hands of the children there is Master Charley's
flotilla of boats to be reviewed, the rabbit-hutch to be in-
spected, the experimental garden to be admired. Should
the weather permit a row on the lake, or even au immersion,
is not thought inconsistent with the sanctity of the day.
Should the visitor request to see the schools, doubtless his
wish will be complied with; and if he should absent himself
from the company to spend the afternoon in private devotions,
Le will enjoy perfect toleration, But the visible observance
of Sunday is generally such as we have described. The even-
ing is solemnised with quiet talk about affairs in general, and
pieces of music which, occurring in oratorios, are; of course,
sacred, If hon. members would confess the honest truth,
this is a fair account of their Sabbatical observances, over
and above the services of the Church. What we want them
to do is to enable the artisan to enjoy the like serenity, the
same holy calm, the same contemplation of natural and agree-
able objects, the same easy transition from one living picture
to another—if it were possible, the same air and scenery, the
same lawns, gardens, woods, meadows, and running streams ;
or, if not, at least a green field and a mouthful of fresh air.
If they will do this, it will be a more Christian work, and will
do more good than all the prohitory laws that were ever
made. It will draw the working man from the ginabop, in-
stead of driving him to it, which is the natural result of our
present Sunday legislation.

'.and exhibitions— of all of which it may be said with truth
that they, like the British Museum and tho National Gallery,
tend " to promote the moral and intellectual improvement of
the working classes." It is for this reason, and from a strong
conviction that this beginning of change would lead ulti-
mately to altering utterly and throughout the character of the
Lord's Day in this country, that we say emphatically No to
the plausible proposition of Sir Joshua Walmsley,

(From the Times of this day.)
As a mere political tour etc
force the Commission to in-
quire into the value of the Crimean Commission is well
enough. The Government, iu fact, proceed upon the system
which has received the sauctien of the most approved heroes
of the gaming table. They are for playing double or quits
until the run of tie game declares itself in their favour, as no
doubt it must at last. The history of the case is briefly this.
According to public rumour the affairs of the British army
in the Crimea were grossly mismanaged. Plebeian critics
ventured to assort that British soldiers had died by thou-
ands in consequence of the grievous Wanagament and in-
competence of certain officers. Uncl hese circumstances,
after a ministry had been driven from power and an army
swept from the face of the earth, it was determined lier Eng-
lish statesmen that commissioners accredited from the Go-
vernment, and whose office it should be to represent the Go-
vernment, should be sent out to the Crimea to inquire into
the reality of affairs. Why should we shrink from stating
the very truth of the question ? It was in consequence of the
reports which were printed from time to time in the columns
of this journal that these Commissioners were despatched to
the scene of action, and they were sent under the idea that
they would• be able to contradict our reports and cover us
with shame and confusion. So great, however, was the force
of truth that the reports of our correspondent were confirmed
at all points. It was not exactly proved that he had stated
the truth, because!it was proved that he had stated less than
the truth. The " Sebastopol Committee," however, and the
" Crimean Commissioners" were less merciful, and rightly so,
inasmuch as they were public men solemnly chosen for the
performance and discharge of a public trust. They, in their
reports, referred to culprits by name. They said, the Earls
of Lucien and Cardigan made such mistakes, Sir Richard
Airey and Colonel Gordon were guilty of such and such de-
relictions of duty.
Well, then, with the reports of the Sebastopol Cometiittee
and of the Crimean Commissioners before them, the members
of the present Government sit down to council. It is no light
thing that 10,000 men should havo been lost; it is no light
thing that any body of statesmen should be called upon to de-
fend the system under which such a sacrifice took place. The
members of the Administration were however equal to the
occasion. The acts of four officers in high command were dis-
tinctly impugned in the report of their own commissioners.
These very officers had been selected for promotion and dis-
tinction. A member of the House of Commons had given
notice of a motion expressing the regret felt by that assembly
that officers condemned by the commissioners of the Govern-
ment should be selected by the Government for honour aid
advancement in their profession. The motion was no doubt
a pun lir ono, ee for it was difficult for the Government either
to repudiate their own acts or the acts of their own agents.
It was they who had promoted the men whom their own
agents had condemned. Under these circumstances they have
resolved upon an appeal from their own sentence. In the hope
of upsetting the accusations of the unofficial accusers they
sent out agents to the Crimea, but the officials have not only
endorsed the accusations of the non- officials, but have brought
them home with every particularity of time and place. The
new idea, then, is to appoint fresh Commissioners to inquire
into the -verdict of the commission. It was not enough that
Government agents should have been employed in the first
instance, but, when their report was such as was inconvenient
to their principals, it was necessary to repudiate them. This
has been done. Who is now to be put upon trial? Not Lord
Raglan, or his memory; not Sir Richard Airey or Colonel
Gordon ; not the Earl of Lucan or Cardigan ; but Sir John
APNeill and Colonel Tulloch. The Government is to try its
own judges.
One of the most whimsical features in the strange proceeding
is that whereas when the inquiry was in progress before the
Sebastopol Committee, it was stated that the chief difficulty
lay in the fact that the judges—that is, the members of the
committee—were entirely ignorant of the local facts, Lord
Palmerston now reckons ignorance of the same kind as among
the fiat qualifications of a Crimean Judge. He said last
night, " As the duty of the Board will be to inquire into
transactions which occurred in the Crimea, it is fitting that
no officer who has served iu that country shall be a member
of the Board." So, then, the first qualification is ignorance ;
ri,sum teneatis In ether words, every offieer who has ever
served in the Crimea is so fully aware of the real state of the
case that it is highly politic to strike off his name from the
list ofjudges. In the next place the proceedings are to be
conducted with closed doors, and the instructions under
which the Commissioners are to act will not be laid before
the house. All is juggle and secrecy, In order to defeat the
report of their own Commissioners the Government is com-
pelled to appoint a Commission of Generals whose qualifica-
tion is ignorance, which is to act under secret orders, to sit
with closed doors, and which will, uo doubt, make a report
about the month of October next, when the pheasant shoot-
ing begins aid the Parliamentary session is at an end.

(Front the Morning Herald of this day.)
Last night the Earl of Derby drew the attention of their
lordships to the anomalous condition of our war departments,
and drew from Lords Panmnre and Hardinge replies which
will hardly satisfy Parliament or the public that the present
state of things is likely to impart efficiency to our military
services, or that the present system should be any longer
tolerated. The recent changes which have been made in the
civil department of the army were forced upon the Govern-
ment by the fitter confusion—the dead lock, in short, to
which matters have been reduced. The consolidation of the
Ordnance, the stores, the contract and clothing departments,
under the control of a responsible War Minister, was the re-
sult of a pressure which could no longer be resisted ; and,
although a step in the right direction, was not sufficient, as
events have proved, to a perfect organieetion or anything like
it. There are still those departmental collisions between the
Horse Guards and the War Office--that absence of unity of
action so essential to the working of any, but especially of a
military system, My Lord Panmure may tell us that be-
cause ho communicates occasionally " with his noble friend
the Commander-in-Chief," whenever, in the judgment either,
an occasion arises, that everything goes on pleasantly and
smoothly ; but the public think differently, and every now
and then the public are strengthened in their distrust by the
appearance of some crushing revelation like that contained in
the late report of the Crimean Commissioners. Lord Pan-
inure may also assert that any attempt to define, by a
line of demarcation, the civil and military duties in
the management of the army is impossible ; but
Lord Penmen is too clear-headed an administrator really to
believe any such thing. The duties ef the two departments
are separate and distinct, although unquestionably in their
action they mutually affect each other, Whether the com-
plete consolidation of both under a responsible Minister, on
the French plan, would be desirable, presents a fair question
for discussion ; but a clear definition of the functions of the
Horse Guards land the War Office is, with Lord ?anmure's
leave, neither difficult nor unadvisable.
Lord Derby stated, with brevity and force, that two things
are essential to the due administration of the public service
where two departments are connected, however slightly,
without which it is vain to hope for effective action. " The
first is," observed his lordship, " that the duties of those two
departments must be so distinctly defined, their responsibi-
bilities so ascertained, and the limits of their authority aud
jurisdiction so clearly set forth, as that there should be no
possibility of conflict of authority between the two depart-
ments on matters relating to them both. And the next
thing necessary was, that in carrying on the business of the
departments there should be on the part of their respective
heads a mutual desire to facilitate the public duties, by
each carefully avoiding encroachment upon the authority
of the other, while prepared to afford each other cordial
assistance in performing their public duties." No ono
acquainted with the character and functions of both de-
partments of the army can maintain seriously that the
demarcation here demanded is impossible, or that, having
been laid down, it could not be adhered to. The contrary is
the fact, for in 1812 some such definition was directed by an
effected, and,although incomplete,
hasd order in
Lord Panmure's own ad-
mission, the recognised guide to both offices in the discharge
of their duties. That definition is not as rigid as it might be,
°rformedin council;
t o the presentit was
day. on
but that is a reason we submit for making it so. Lord Pan-
mure's logic is somewhat novel; he admits the rule which
defines the duties of the two departments to have been ne-
cessary ,
. •he admits that it is acted upon, although imper-
fectly, with good effect, but he denies that it can be made dis-
tinct and. intelligible, and of wider application. Common
sense would seem to point out that if a particular machinery
is found valuable, it is because it contains a good principle,
aud that the further the principle is applied the better will
be the working of the machinery. But Lord Panmure thinks
otherwise; so does Lord Hardinge ; and, of course, they
point triumphantly to the evidence it the report of the Cri-
mean Commission in support of their somewhat inconclusive
reasoning.
If the controversy of 1812 settled the question between the
ohiefs of two departments, it might, for all practical purposes,
as well never have been raised. If the " private communica-
tions" between the heads of the departments it this our day
are sufficient for the efficient administration of the army, that
no cenfusiou exists between these departments, and that the
system is mechanically perfect, then Lord Derby's motion of
last night was highly irrelevant, and the conversation to which
it gave rise a mere waste of time ; but Lord Panmure him.
self will hardly go the length of asserting that he is not em-
barrassed by the Horse Guards, and the Horse Guards know
they are liable to be let and hindered by the War Office. The
broad fact is, that the British army has been miserably ad-
ministered in both deportme.uts—the obvious truth is, that
the departments conflict incessantly—the unfortunate result
is, that our military operations have been a failure. The army,
be it remarked, is neither the property of the Horse Guards
nor of the War Office, but of the nation ; and if such a hint
as Lord Derby gave last night is not attended to the public
dissatisf4ctien will find voice elsewhere, and will make itself
heard too.

ADVANCE SQUADRON FOR THE BALTIC.

An advance squadron will proceed to the Baltic
forthwith, comprising her Majesty's ships Imperieuse,
51 (screw), Captain R. B. Watson, C.B. ; the Euryalus,
51 (screw), Captain George Ramsay, C.B. ; the Pylades,
21 (screw), Captain D'Eyncourt : the Dragon, 6, paddle-
frigate, Captian H. Stewart, C.B. ; and the Falcon
screw-sloop, 17, Commander Pullen.
All the above are with the fleet at Spithead, except
the Euryalus, which is ordered theta from Devopport.
They are all prepared for sea, and will be under the
orders of Captain Watson, who is the senior captain of
them. They will probably leave for the Downs, and
start thence for Kiel, if the Belts be open. They will
await for further orders from the Admiralty at Kiel.
The blockade will depend upon the progress and tone of
the forthcoming negotiations. The Arrogant, 47 (screw),
Captain LyAer, will probably joie this advance squa-
dron. She will go to Spithead on Monday next.

- _
DEATH OF SIR BENJAM OUTRAII, 11.110.—We re-
gret to announce the death of Sir F. F. Oatram, K.C.8.,
which mournful event took place at Brighton on the
16th inst. He was formerly senior physician of the
Marylebone Dispensary, and surgeon to the Nymphe,
hei, in conjunction with the St, Fiorenzo, she captured
the French bizates Resistance and C matance, at Brent ;
also of the Bozdicia in 1798.1799, a one in the action
in the S:raiti of Gibraltar in 1801 ; and an inspector of
hospitals and fleets.

THE STATE OF TURKEY.

(From the Times Correspondent.)
CONSTANTINOPLE, FEB. 11.
The Ambassadors are still waiting for the official ac-
ceptance of their propositions with respect to the Fourth
Point. In the meantime they have received copies of
the firman which contains all the concessions urged by
them in favour of the Mahornedans, subjects of the
Porte, and which the Turkish Ministers hope to have
sanctioned by the Sultan. Before, however, this can
be done, these concessions must be submitted to and
approved by the great Council in one public sitting at
the least. It would be a great mistake to apply to our
own ideas of despotic power to Turkey or to any other
Mahornedan country, and to believe that, in theory, at
any rate, the Sultan's power is so unlimited that every
one of his wishes is a command, and every one of his
words a law. In all Mahornedan countries the form of
government may he called theocratic—that is, based on
religion. This is especially the case in Turkey, where
the Sultan is the head of the whole Mahomedan reli-
gion. This mixture of spiritual and temporal power,
while giving, on the one hand, to the Sovereigns that
unity of action which made them once so formidable to
their neighbours, limits, on the other, their power in the
interior to the observance of the traditional rules and
usages laid down from the earliest times ; and, strange
to say, these rules and usages relate more to temporal
than epritual affairs. As regards religious belief, Mahe-
medans are as free, if not freer, than the followers of
any religion ; every man is left to search after truth,
and toleration of dogmas is carried so far that the late
Shaikh-ul-Islam, by whose co-operations Ma(motel car-
ried out his reforms, was well-known to disbelieve in
the Koran, and yet he remained up to his death in his
place without ever being molested. In the same way,
there is nothing in the Mahornedan religion which can
be called priesthood. Every man may read prayers
publicly and preach. The Ulernas are only doctors of
the Mahomedan law, inherited by the Tusks from
the early Arab Csliphe which it is their duty to
explain, and over the observances of which they have to
watch. This law is cemposed of the decisions of the
most prominent Mahomedan doctors of all ages on every
matter connected with the external religious observances,
with civil and criminal jurisprudence, and the public law
of the state, but it has nothing whatever to do with
dogmas. It is thus rather what, in other countries, is
called the fundamental law of the state than a religious
code. One must well understand this position to be
able to judge of the nature of the influence which the
Ulemas exercise. They have a kind of control over the
power of the Sovereign. This control has been recog-
nised at all times, and, whenever the Sultans have taken
important decisions, the Sheikh-ul-Islain, as the elected
head of the expounders of the Mahomedan law, on
which the organisation of the state is founded, has been
always asked to investigate and decide whether the
measure proposed is not unlawful. The decision con-
sists in one single word affixed to the prsject, which is
"Tais"—that is, "allowed."
But in more important decisions the Fetva, or decision
of the Sheikh-ul-Islam, is not thought sufficient ; the
project must be submitted in a public sitting to a general
council, at which every one may attend and make his
observations. This is carried so fir that even questions
the decision of which belongs in other countries exclus
sively to the Government—for instance, the right of
peace and war—are submitted to the scrutiny of such
public assemblies. An example of this occurred at the
beginning of this very war, When the Government
had decided that the war with Russia was inevitable,
three such public councils were held, with the in-
terval of a week between each of there. In a ques-
tion of such importance as the enunciation of the
principle of perfect equality between all subjects,
one or more of these assemblies cannot be lawfully
dispensed with, but unfortunately such seems to
be the intention of the Cabinet. They try to get
the firman signed by the Sultan without any such pre-
liminary public council, for all the councils held hitherto
have been secret and only attended by members named
sbtya nt
thi
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e. fermentation
TGovernment.heelnitns
ttnryonisg ptconsequencelheedgm pledged
hotof h
to the
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te
hcii sea,
fli
s.represen-
tatives consider-
ablesoenn
tatives of the allied Powers to have the measure carried,
and they fear not to be able to do so, and to lose their
places should they bring on a public discussion on such
a point.

This is the cause of the delay in this matter. It is
impossible to say what will be the result—whether the
Sultan will consent to sign the finnan without its being
submitted to a public sitting of the Council, or whether
the Ministry, unable to realise its promises, will have to
resign ; or, lastly, whether it will decide to proceed law-
fully in this question. An opinion about this is even
more difficult, as there is a division in the Cabinet itself
—Aali Pasha, and several others being averse to violate
what they consider to be the law, while Fuad Pasha and
Mahmond Rushdi Pasha seem not to be troubled by
these scruples. But the Grand Vizier embarks to-mor-
row on board the Ajaccio for Marseilles, and so the
question new is which side his Kaimakau, Mehmed
Kibrisli Pasha, will take o❑ this subject.
Thus the matter rests. The conferences about the
fourth point are terminated, but the question is still
pending. In the meantime, as it seems desirable to
come likewise to a preliminary arrangement in respect
to the future position of the _Principalities before the
final conferences should begin in Paris, the conferences
on this latter point commenced on Friday last, the Bth
inst., and have been since that day held every afternoon
at the French palace. Unlike the conferences about
the fourth point, this time the. Turkish ministers come
forward themselves with a proposal for the regulation of
the Principalities. The leading idea in these proposals
is to adopt the old firmans and stipulations between the
Porte and Moldavia and Wallachia as the bases of their
political position. As regards the election of the princes
it is proposed to let the native assemblies elect three
caudidateq, out of whom the POrte is to name a prince
for life. In order to understand what these bases pro-
posed for the future regulation of the Principalities, I
must say something about the stipulations.
In point of time the submission of the two Principali-
ties to Turkey goes back for many years, that of Wal-
lachia having taken place in 1392, under Sultan Bajazet
Ilderim, white that of Moldavia took place in 1513 under
Soling. In the first case the submission was compulsory;
in the second it was voluntary. The Hatti-Schei iff given
by Sultan Bajazet I. to the Wallachians is as follows :
"Art. I. Actuated by our great clemency, we con-
sent that the principality newly acquired by our invin-
cible power shall govern itselfaccording to its own laws,
and that the Prince of Wallachia shall have the right
to make peace or war, and of life and death over his
subjects.

"Art. 2. No Christians, who having embraced the
Mahomedan roligion, may pass from countries sub-
jected to our power into Wallachia, and nay become
again Christians, shall be reclaimed, or in any way
molested.

"Art. 3. All Wallachians who may emigrate into
any other part of our dominion shall be exempt from
the Kharadj and all other taxes.

"Art. 4. The Christian princes will be elected by the
metropolitan and the boyards.
"Art. 5. For this our clemency, and because we have
placed this rayah prince among the number of our other
subjects, he will have to pay to our treasury every year
the sum of 3,000 gold piasters of the country, or 500
silver piasters of our money.
" Given at Nicopolis in the month of Hwb ul Urrl of
the year 795, or 1392-8."

This firman, as well as a subsequent convention of the
year 1460, forms the basis of the connection between
Wallachia and the Turkish empire.
This convention confirms and explains all the rights
given to Wallachia in the former, and the onlyalteration
is that the tribute is fixed at 10,000 piasters yearly.
Both these documents are existing in Waliachia, and
were printed. The original convention given to the
Molelavians has been burnt, but it is probable that ano-
ther copy exists in the archives at Constantinople. It iv,
however, known that this convention is very similar to
that with Wallachia, or, if anything, it is rather more
favourable. The fact is mentioned, that Moldavia sub-
mitted to the Ottoman empire from her free will and
without any coercion, and that, in consideration of this,
all churches and religious rites shall be inviolable, and
that the laws shall be maintained in their full force.
The tribute of 4,000 gold pieces, 40 horses and 2.1 falcons
was only mentioned under the name of presents. The
election of the princes by their countrymen was not only
recognised, but all other prerogatives which Wallachia
enjoyed were inserted. _ _

It was in 1583 that Soliman converted the donation
into a regular tribute.
The great principles recognised by these conventions
are that of autocracy in the internal administration of
the two Principalities, and the right of supremacy of the
Porte. This is not at all impaired by the right con-
ceded to the Princes of Moldavia and Wallachia t) de-
clare peace or war, for all the governors of the frontier
provinces had it mentioned iu their firmans until the new
reformers divided the civil and military power.
The proposal of !the Turkish Ministers to place the
Principalities in tho position stipulated in their original
convention with the Turkish empire met in a great mea-
sure the views of the ambassadors, so that every hope
may be entertained of this question being settled to the
satisfaction of fall parties. If I say all parties, 'include
the people of the Principalities themselves. All the more
disinterested part of it, that is all those who are not
compromised with Russia or Austria, will form an inti-
mate connexion with Turkey, provided their indepen-
dence in internal affairs be guaranteed.
A rather more doubtful question is, whether the pro-
posal of the Turkish Ministry about the election of the
Princes of Moldavia and Wallachia will be viewed with
so much favour by all parties. It is in direct contradic-
tion to the terms of the conventions, which are never-
theless assumed as the bases for the regulation of the
Principalities. According to these the right of nominat-
ing Rile princes belongs to the Metropolitan and the
Boyards, and this system was adhered to as long as
these conventions were respected. All the princes in
both countries were elected in this way up to the begin-
ning of the last century. The change which occurred
then was the work of Russia, and it was by the aboli-
tion of the elective system and the nomination of the
Fanariote Princes that Russia first established her in-
fluence in the Principalities. The Fanariote Princes,
bought their places from the ruling power at Constan-
tinople, and the Janissaries looted at their office only as

a means of enriching themselves, and thus making up
for the heavy bribes which they had had to pay for their
places. When the power of the Janissariea was broken
by Mahmoud, he re-established the election of the
princes, retaining only the right of confirming them.
The nomination of the princes by the Porte out of three
candidates would only bring back the same results which
the nomination of the Yinariote Princes by the Janissa-
ries lied- -namely, the place would be sold to the highest
bidder, and some Turkish officials would make a haad-
some thing of it.
To-day is the fourth and last conference on this sub-
ject.

- Galata is still in a state of excitement and confusion
itbout the continued fall of the rate of exchange. All
thints have sunk in price, and all those who have heavy
stocks expect heavy losses. However disagreeable these
consequences may be for the moment to all those who
lose by them, it must have a good effect on the market
in the end, by bringing down prices and wresting
the exchange from the hands of the few for the benefit
of all.