The Sun.
London, England, 1856-11-12 00:00:00

THE QUESTION OF THE DAY.

(From the Siecle,)
Although this question has lost much of its im-
portance in consequence of the conciliatory declara-
tion in the Monitenr, we must address a last word
to our adversaries. There is an old aphorism, that
to understand people aright you must fancy your-
self in their position. We shall briefly describe the
position which our opponents would impose upon
England. Let it be supposed that we (France) had
remained in the Crimea and the Black Sea, and
that Russia did not execute the treaty of Paris.

ould we consent to delegate the execution of that
treaty to a congress ? Would we consent to raise
our camps and withdraw our -vessels ? Would
there be found a single public journal that would
dare to advocate such weakness, such an abandon-
ment of all prudence and all dignity ? Assuredly
not. Everybody in France would say with one
consent, " We are in the Black Sea, let us remain
there till the treaty is executed. Let us not run
the risk of having to undertake a new expedition."
But because it is England, and not ourselves, that
is in this position, can we ask her to do what we
would not do if we were in her place ? That is
neither just nor reasonable, and we feel persuaded
that after the first surprise, after having better
considered the question, those who have taken the
warmest part against England will not persist in
condemning her to pass under the yoke of a Euro-
pean judgment, when she is only acting within the
letter of the treaties. For the rest, the very mode-
rate way in which the 111 niteur in a few words
explains the nature of the difference will doubtless
have more influence in calming our contemporaries
than the remonstrance which we addressed to them
the day before yesterday.
In order to excite public opinion against our
allies of Inkcrman and Sebastopol, the partisans
of the Russian alliance confound two moral situa-
tions essentially different. They assimilate Eng-
land to Austria. In the first place, the intimate
alliance between England and Austria, which is
held up as a fact in order to throw odium upon the
English Government, can only be believed in by
those who forget everything when influenced by
their passions. There is no serious politician in
Europe who does not know the terrible war which
Lord Palmerston has waged against Austria, and
the steady reprisals made by Austrian diplomatists.
Celebrated books have been written before this
hand-to-hand duel, and this is all we need say to
those who circulate the rumour of an alliance be-
tween Lord Palmerston and the Government
whose publicist was the Count de Fiquelmont. In
the next place, the moral situation of England and
Austria in the East is not the same. Austria is
not in the Black Sea. Austria did not fight. She
does not occupy the principalities by virtue of a
victory, but in pursuance of a private treaty be-
tween her and the Porte, made prior to the treaty
of Paris ; the treaty of Paris merely fixed the
period for her evacuation of these territories, in
vague terms, aussitot que faire se pourra (Art. 3l),
and added that the period was to be arranged be-
tween her and the P.)rte. England, on the con-
trary, occupies no territory. She had ships in the
Black Sea when Sebastopol was taken ; she keeps
them there ; and, unless the Porte formally calls
upon her to withdraw them, she is perfectly justi-
fied in leaving; them there as long as she fears for
Turkey.
This consideration reminds us to supply an omis-
sion made by many of those writers who have pro •
nounced against England, and who are now called
to moderation by the Moniteur in the person of
the Constitutionnel. They completely forget that
after the treaty of Paris there was another treaty
called the treaty of guarantee. Now, this treaty,
concluded on April 15, stipulates :—" Art 1. The
high contracting parties jointly and separately
guarantee the independence and integrity of the
Ottoman empire laid down in the treaty concluded
at Paris on the 30th of March, 1856. Art. 2.
Any infraction of the stipulations of the treaty will
be considered by the undersigned Powers as a easus
belli. They will come to an understanding with
the Sublime Porte as to the measures which may
have become necessary, an-2, will without delay
arange between themselves the employment to be
made of naval and military forces." Had our ad-
versaries read. the first article of the Treaty of Paris
they would have seen that it is not a question of a
new congress. Each Power guarantees the integ-
rity of the Ottoman empire, not only jointly with
the other Powers, but also separately. This is
clearly expressed. Moreover, the word "sepa-
rately" involves each Power to the extent of its
guarantee. England has not only guaranteed that
integrity in concert with France and Austria, it
has likewise guaranteed it alone, and France and
Austria are in the same position. England does
not require our consent, to remain in the Black Sea.
nor should we require hers in order to protect
Ottoman empire from any danger that might
arise. '

We repeat that the partisans of the Russian
alliance
have purposely rendered this question
Obscure. Not oonfl
England,y h a v they
ut soughtthe y
have t o castae
odium
on the conduct caused
the French press to lose from view the exact notion
of the rights
trnteh
conferredt on France by treaties. They misled hpuhlic. When we seek to re-
establish the
our country, iv,,_,, it is solely in the interests of
on
of
days in the position
may find itself one of these
England. The treaty of
guarantee allows to
rate guarantee. This ell
a Power the right of sopa.
right is ours ; why, there-
fore, refuse it to England?
pnached with esaltation. N We have been re-
evertheless, we reason
with moderation, and we appeal to the common
sense of the public. Let
those
us enter into a more minute journals which abuse
Study of the question ;
g°enefirmeste alliance
id respecting the
pecting
they will discover their error
We maintain what we have 9
secret intentions of the ultra-Conservatives serva.tivcs of
Europe, and on the necessity of the
between France and England---a
alliance,
in which each Power will preserve
action and sovereign independence.
TiltiisQne libertyboldness
of the reactionists renders this alliance more than
ever necessary. Since the peace we have witnessed
the attempt at Neuchatel, the circular of Princesd
se
Gortschakoti, the resistance of the King of Naples,
the Royalist revolution in Spain. These events
should teach us prudence, for either they have no
signification or they are the forerunners of others.
The intimate union on a footing of equality of the
two great Western nations can alone avert the
danger.