The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-24 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY, MARCH 24, UK

This miserably premature Treaty of Peace
arranged and ratified, the question will then be—
Gui Bono I' And the answer (as a matter of
course) —Russia ! For if she has lost somewhat
in one or two particulars, Russia has, at the same
time, in several others, gained very considerably.
She has gained this at least—the " prestige" of
having withstood thus far single-handed the com-
bined efforts of the two most formidable powers
of Christendom, the reputed chiefs of the earth
by sea and by land, aided as their fleets and
armies have been by all the wondrous appliances
of modern warfare, the railway and the screw
warship, the steam-engine and the electric tele-
graph ! Russia emerges from the.. struggle in
which she has had to contend alone with the
united forces of France and England, swelled as
those forces have been by those of the Turk, the
Sardinian and the Egyptian—Russia emerges
from the struggle with the legions of Vic-
TORTA and NAPOLEON,' with only "these" ina-
dequate conditions extorted from her ! With the
northern forts of Sebastopol still in her possession !
With Odessa unharmed ! With Nicholaieff never
attacked ! With her frontiers no where crossed,
except along the coasts of the Crimea and of
Armenia ! With not one solitary hostile goo yet
discharged either at her inland capital of Moscow
or at her seaport metropolis of St. Petersburg !
Russia comes forth from the contest, we say, with
the credit, at any rate, of having suffered so little,
of having preserved so much, of having contended
so long and so effectually with the mighty powers
brought to bear against her by her combined
assailants—that she may reasonably, and with
some degree of confidence, anticipate the continu-
ance of her gigantio influence intact among the
Oriental, but especially among the Asiatic, popula-
tions. In the unreasoning estimation of the latter,
Bars will have compensated in a great measure for
Sebastopol. Nay, more—it will be very gererally
remembered that, notwithstanding the glories of
Alms and of Inkerman, notwithstanding the
heroic charge at Balaklava and the triumphant
storming of the Malakhoff, notwithstanding the
complete but comparatively bloodless victories
won at one extremity of the Muscovite empire at
Kinburn and at another at Bomarsund—Eugland
and France must appear to the world at large to

have " come off," in many respects, but second
best after all ! The struggle ends leaving them
saddled with an enormous increase of debt conse-
quent upon t he vast expenses incurred not only in
the bygone p rosecution of the war by sea and by
land, but alsc ) through their gigantic preparations
for its futurt : continuance. Their contest with
Russia closes, —with a virtual acknowledgment on
their part au A a mere casual apology, so to speak,
from the lips , of his Imperial Majesty the Czait, is
sufficient exi dation, extorted from the enemy, for
the guilt of the very frightful consequences of
that lawless act of aggression upon Turkey, by
which this &readful and deplorable War was noto-
riously origi gated. Coupled with which reflection
comes to us law memory of those heroic song of the
Allied natio usilwhose bones are mouldering now in
their honotu:ed graves upon the shores of the fatal
and inhospitable Chersonese--the flower of the two
armies sent to perish without avail in that deadly
contest which appears after all doomed to terminate
to the virtual advantage of the Russian Govern-
ment.

The unwelcome thought occurs to us moreover,
that when everything has been said and done—
Austria and Prussia must prove in the end to hare
played their cards to perfection ! Have they
not ? Look at the position of each at this mo-
ment—when we are on the eve of having this
despicable and disgraceful compromise arranged
between Russia and the Allies at the Pari-
sian Conferences—look at the position of each
at this moment, and answer ! There is Austria
after having wasted not one single kreutzer in the
struggle which has absorbed for France and England
so manymillions sterling—there is Austria—craven,
neutral, cautious, shuffiing—actually in possession
all this time of the very provinces about the in-
tegrity of which there has been all this sangui-
nary fighting—actually with her troops com-
fortably quartered, from first to last, from the
outbreak of the War to the present moment
inclusively, upon the fleeced and in every
way victimised population of those same wretched
Danubian Principalities ! And then again,
there is Prussia Prussia whose C-urt has
been throughout the meanest, the weakest, the
most paltry, sordid, and despicable—there
is Prussia whose Sovereign has remained all
along uninterruptedly the gibe and jest of
Europe, the laughing-stock, and (in one
sense at least) the by-no-means " empty" butt of
Christendom there is Prussia, positively,
with her diplomatic representative, the En-
voy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipo-
tentiary of his Majesty King CLlQUOT—there
is Prussia positively, we s ty, with her re
presentative (after all) invited to take his
seat at the table of the Conferences !
And the heir to the Crown of Prussia about to
espouse H.R.H. the PRINCESS ROYAL of England !
Have we not, let us ask, some show at least of
reason in asserting that the wily neutrals retain
proofs positive within their grasp of having
played their cards to absolute perfection—in
the great game of war just now coming to an end
between the Western Allies and the Ruasian
Government ?

Examining the terms of this most miserable
Treaty of Peace, in fine, we discover in it
only an uncertain truce, dynastically arranged,
for the postponement, yet a little further on, of the
last dread and inevitable rising of the European
Democracies ! Yet more we detect in it the
sign manual of all the Chief Powers
of Christendom, proclaiming some in derision,
some in scorn, some with a sullen consciousness
of shame, that Eugland and France—partially
by Russian guile, partially by Austrian duiplicity,
but principally by a strange kind of horrible Ger-
man bocuspocus—gave from first to last been
(there is no other phrase for it) thoroughly bam-
boozled.

Facts have confirmed our suppositions respect
ing opening the Crystal Palace on Good Friday.
Although no trains left till one o'clock, yet, in
the brief time allowed by the light of early spring,
between seventeen and eighteen thousand persons
availed themselves of the privilege. The railway
authorities managed admirably, notwithstanding
the trains had to start as fast as they were filled ;
—and though this large number, anxious to stay
the short time allowed them by ecelesastical
power, pressed heaVily on the means of convey.
ance home, yet, out and home, all went without a
single accident! Pushing and squeezing there will
he when eighteen thousand persons are eager for
the same object ; but nothing could be more
o )nsiderate than the arrangements made to do the
most that could ba done in the time allowed.
The multitude also, did their duty, or at least
did not violate it. No injury whatever was
done to plants, fbwers, or statuary by
the vast and miscellaneous concourse. Indeed it
is found at Kew, our informant being Sir JAMES
HOOKER himself, that it is the aristocratic not the
plebeian visitors who take liberties with the plants
and flowers. This half holiday gave to the Palace
a gross sum of nearly 900/.,—but what is far
more, it gave to nearly eighteen thousand cribbed,
cabined, and besmoked Londoners a few hours
emancipation from their weary ceaseless round.
And what an emancipation ! Like a dream rather
than reality. From- the eternal brick rows of
four and five storey houses, allowing, in their
most favoured arrangements, only a long vista in
but one direction, ending in an impenetrable fog
of smoke, to the charming panorama of a

commanding country hill ; and not only
that, but a transposition from the midst
of creations of art in subservience to ideas
of shelter, shopkeeping, and warehousing--
to a scene where art and nature embrace
each other as graces, and both smile upon the en-
chanted spectator, delighting only in ministering
to his pleasure. It really stirs one's indignation
that with such a winter garden, and such a sum-
mer park and palace so near, our moped thou-
sands have but one general holiday to pour them-
selves forth upon it, and that of that holiday
one-half is taken from them.

It is impossible to read without pain that
" many hundreds "—so great were the numbers
—were unable to avail themselves of the
trains until it was too late to be worth
while to go. Not too late because they
were too late at the stwion, but too
late because some malign influence prevented
their starting at all before one p.m. The disap-
pointed ones wont and waited, and waited, but
waited in vain. All could not go. The best
arrangements could not take more than were taken
in the limited time. It is to be feared that too
many would seek indemnification in public-house
revelry. At some disappointments we can, only
laugh, but who can laugh at hundreds eager t.)
enjoy their single holiday in the most rational and
beneficial mode conceivable, yet obstructed by
some ascetic powers, who grudge to others the
best of pleasures, because they must need " fast
time in the week"—or, at least, on this day.
" They have their 'reward," why not let others
have their pleasure. It is really time that Go-
vernment intervened to give a few bona fide holi-
days to the London populace. It is very well to
talk of securing Hampstead Heath a4cl other