The Sun.
London, England, 1856-12-03 00:00:00

Perhaps, in these days of electric telegraphs, when
communications are instantaneously flashed along
the magic wires, the mere verbiage is considered
by the Home Government—every sentence, every
syllable, duly weighed—before its representative
is authorised to yield assent to the clause or
article. The subsequent ratification is therefore
a mere matter of form, continued from times when
these facilities were altogether wanting, and

might, but in obedience to diplomatic red-tapism,
be altogether abolished. Its continuance, how-
ever, increases the binding character of the docu-
ment, which, when once completed with all the
requisite solemnities, cannot be altered or modified
without the assent of all the contracting parties
A Congress that can lead to no agreement is to be
especially deprecated. Vexations and controversies
must necessarily arise during the course of the dis-
cussions. When a Plenipotentiary is bound to sup-

port the views indicated by his Government,

whether right or wrong, reasonable or unreason-
able, to ignore every fact, and contemn every
argument adduced on the other side, severe and
sarcastic observations will naturally be made, and

feelings mutually exasperated and embittered
These ;petty disputes and recriminations do no

end in the Conference Chamber, but find their
way to the Cabinets of the respective nations,

and the chances of an amicable solution of the

impending difficulty are materially diminished by
the futile discussion. It is, therefore, not merely

usual, but an almost invariable rule, that the
bases of the arrangements to be entered into, are

settled by the different Governments before any
conferences are permitted to take place ; and
should any of the parties see an insuperable ob-

jection in these bases, they will, as a matter of
courae, refuse to send any representative to the
Congress, that is to say, if actuated by honour-
able feelings, and having no important motives

for procrastination !
Such a Congress is very different indeed from
an arbitration to which it has been inaccurately

assimilated. We have already explained that it
consists of interested parties, each intent on sup,
porting their own peculiar opinions, without re
ference to the requirements of truth and justice
An arbitration or mediation is different. There
the judgment is pronounced by a third party, at
least supposed to be impartial, and whose own
character is to a certain extent involved in the
propriety of his decision. The final judgment,
too, carries with it a certain moral weight* that,
unless palpably erroneous, must put the dissen-
tient altogether in the wrong. There might be
some possible benefit from an appeal to such a
tribunal; but where the leading Powers of Europe
are engaged it is impossible to find unprejudiced
judges before whom the Imperial and Royal liti-
gants can condescend to plead. If •nly two or
three of the great European Powers were con-
cerned, it might be possible to avail ourselves of
the " good offices "of some neutral State. But
under existing circumstances the notion cannot be
entertained for a single moment.
We have hitherto placed this matter on a very
simple foundation, and explained it in dry legal
phraseology. But there is more at stake.
We unhesitatingly declare that the honour of
Great Britain is involved in the result ! The
question is, will England submit to be openly de-
frauded of the very slender advantages which she
has acquired, at an enormous expenditure of
blood and treasure, not for her own benefit, but
for the welfare and prosperity of Europe ? Will
she continue to play with an opponent openly
using marked cards and cogged dice, and respect-
ing none of the obligations which she holds
binding ? The chief questions to be brought
before the Congress, should it be held, relate to
the Isle of Serpents and to Bolgrad. Russia hes
put forward a clearly untenable claim with respect
to the former. It was never for a moment sup-
posed that the SULTAN was to surrender any
portion of his dominions—that Russia was to
receive any benefit from her wanton and unjus-
tifiable aggression ! It is, and has been in the
possession of the Porte. Small as it is,
,it forms
an integral portion of the Ottoman Empire,
and Russia might as well claim Varna, or even
Constantinople itself, as the insignificant Island
that is only useful as a station for lighthouses, to
mitigate the dangers attending the vessels of all
nations in attempting the entrance of the Danube !
The vexata qucestio respecting Bolgrad is equally
clear. Russia declares that there are two Bol-
grads, and she chooses to refer the article of the
Treaty, in which mention thereof is made, to
"New Bolgrad," a recently-erected town reaching
to the littoral boundaries of the Danube, and
giving its possessor a control over a certain por-
tion of its waters—a licence that would be as
liberally exorcised, or rather exceeded, as that of
RICHARD CCEUR DB LION to the holy clerk of
Copmanhurst, when the Sovereign authorised the
friar' to kill three bucks in his Royal Forests. It
is not, however, the spirit of the Treaty—which
in doubtful cases must serve as the light by which
the words are interpreted—that is decisive on the
point. It is notorious that a map was referred to
at the late Congress. It was what is termed an
"exhibit" in the case, and on that map no mention
was made of the modern Bolgrad, which has recently
assumed so much importance in Muscovite eyes.
That Bolgrad is removed from the Danube. Its
adoption carries out the spirit of the Treaty, and
we should be dolts—aye, and dastards—to re-open
a question which was partially decided in March
last, 'although our Financial Minister, for his
own purposes, chooses to assign a still later date,
subsequent to the commencement of the financial
year. Our interests and our honour alike forbid
the new Congress ; and we trust that our English
Minister will, by his unbending resolution, prove
that he is indeed worthy of the confidence of the
English people, now unhesitatingly reposed in
him.

That Mr. BAZA.TIETTS should prove himself, to
his own satisfaction at least, right, and Captain
BußsTar. and the Chief Commissioner of Works
ofw
wrong, in respect to the outfall of the sewage, is
Pretty much what was to be expected. We hap-
pgeenntletome krtno haisgood deal of what professional
calibre are capable ; but it cer-
tainly is not within the range of our recollection
that they ever submitted to be convicted of error
in their original calculations, no matter how great
the modifications their plans had ultimately to
undergo. Thus, while Mr. ... P ,AZALGETTE, with the
utmost deliberation, maintains the adequacy of
the original Plan B for every useful purpose, and
insists on its superiozity in every respect to Plan
B as amended, we find him compelled to recom-
mend the diversion of the northern outfall sewer
round the north side of Dagenham
Gulf, instead
of across its mouth,
and consequently an increase
of length and a diminution of fall, together with
a corresponding enlargement of the sewers, to say
nothing of a deepening of the reservoir. The
engineer's self-complacency, of course, undergoes
no rebuff ; he has acquired fresh information, and
if he has altered his plan it was at nobody else's
suggestion. Of course this and other matters of
the kind, suggestive though they may be deemed
of vacillation, must increase the confidence of the
public in their engineer, though they somewhat
painfully, because suggestively, bring to our mina