The Sun.
London, England, 1856-08-19 00:00:00

undecided attitude, at the expense, unqueetion
I ably, of a diminution of her prestige in Moldo-
Wailachia. On the other hand, France may be
said to have assumed the lead in the unionist move-
ment. I pointed out, in a recent letter, that the
attitude of the diplomatic agents of England and.
France at Bucharest, during the excitement occa-
sioned there by the idea of the union, coincided
exactly with that of their governmeuts. M. Beclard
openly declared that his sudden conversion, his un-
expectedly warm partisanship of the union under
a foreign prince, was a consequence of orders re-
ceived from Paris, while Mr. Colquhoun's reserve
was in strict conformity with that of the British
Ministry. A few months ago the eyes of the Mol-
do-Wallachians were fixed hopefully upon England,
but lately their glances have been directed Esther
towards France. This is not very importoit.
There can he but surmises at present as to
the course England will advocate with re-
spect to those provinces, and there is cer-
tainly no reason to suppose that Lord Pal-
merston's Government, although it may have
thought fit to abstain from an unneces-
sarily early declaration of its views, will be found
wanting in sympathy with a people striving after
liberty and improvement, or backward in assisting
it to obtain such changes as may be really for its
advantage. It is to be, observed, also, that the
question of union or no union is not to be settled
by a majority of votes,, and that prior to its deci-
sion an inquiry is to take place which may possibly
modify some of the opinions at present entertained.
It is not a question that should be prejudged,
since it was expressly laid down at the Paris Con-
gress that the wishes of those most interested
should be carefully ascertained, and due weight
given to them.
Subordinate to the main point of the union, but
still very important, is the question whether the
Danubian provinces should be ruled by a foreign or
a native prince. Their inhabitants are strongly in
favour of the former, upon the ground that a Mol-
davian Prince would be unacceptable to the Walla-
chians, and a Wallachian to the Moldavians, and
that, in either case, the nobleman selected for so
great an elevation as that of hereditary ruler, would
be harassed and impeded in his rule by the jealousy
and intrigues of the other Boyards ; in short, that
such an arrangement would lead to constant diffi-
culties and disputes, perhaps even to conspiracies:
and subversive attempts, and that, after a time,
Europe would find it necessary to revise what it
had done, and, finally, to give the country a
foreign Sovereign. These objections are not un-
founded, and deserve consideration. On the other
hand, to make it a sine qua non that the prince
regnant should be of a foreign dynasty might
endanger the whole project of the union, since the
views of the seven Powers might be expected to he
conflicting as to the person to be selected. But it
is, perhaps, premature to busy ourselves with this
branch of the subject, the minute discussion of
which would lead me far beyond the ordinary
limits of a latter.
According to the last accounts from the Princi-
palities the Austrians ware sending away their
heavy baggage, and there were some hopes that they
themselves would soon follow it. But still they
fondly linger, clinging tenaciously to the country
where they are so universally detested ; and so
often has `their departure been announced that
none will now venture to fix a date for it. If they
are to remain until the Russians evacuate the part
of Bessarabia ceded to Moldavia they may yet be
there some time, for the latest advices speak of dis-
agreement among the boundary commissioners,
with whom that unlucky Bolgrad, misplaced
upon Muscovite maps, is a bone of contention.
The Austrians seem steady to the last in their
system of vexation and injustice towards the inha-
bitants of the country they were sent to protect.
You will remember that a short time ago Prince
C. Soutzo, entering his own courtyard, was cut down
by a drunken corporal, and dangerously wounded
in the head. The case was as nearly as possible one
of murder. A letter from Bucharest informs me
that the corporal has been tried and sentenced to
receive 40 lashes, and to be degraded to the ranks
for three months. The disproportion between the
offence and punishment needs no comment, but is
not be wondered at, since in cases of actual murder,
of which very many have occurred during the Aus-
trian occupation, a similarly shameful lenity was
shown to the criminals, and capital punishment
was never once inflicted.