The Sun.
London, England, 1856-08-11 00:00:00

owners.

The painful impressions created by their 'mani-
fest duplicity respecting these playas, and the dis-
mantling of Rene and Ismail, and even of Kars,
at times when they were the property of the
SULTAN, cannot easily be removed. They
intimate too strongly the spirit by which
the AUTOCRAT is still actuated, and his
anxiety to persevere in the traditional policy of
his House. He solemnly promised, on attaining
the throne, that he would follow the course of
his predecessors ; and he seems more desirous of
redeeming that pledge than those which he has
giyen to other nations. The approaching corona-
tion to be carried out in the stronghold of the old
Muscovite party probably increases that desire at
the present moment. But that can be no excuse
to those with whom he is playing fast and loose,
and whose feelings of distrust must ba greatly en-
hanced by the hesitation and bad grace with which
he discharges the solemn covenants into which he
had entered.

Never was there a more absurd claim put for-
ward than that to Serpents Island. It is true
that it was not expressly mentioned in the Treaty,
but it came entirely within its spirit. The great
object was to insure the free navigation of the
Danube. To guarantee that great desideratum,
Russia consented to abandon a portion of the ter-
ritory she had previously plundered from Turkey.
Her pride and vanity wree appeased by the speci-
ous term—rectification of frontier. But it was to
all intents and purposes a surrender of territory,
for the purpose of preventing her from control-
ling the navigation of that important river.
This solemn and deliberate act she has at-
tempted to neutralise, by taking forcible posses-
, sion of an island commanding the Sulina mouths
of the river, and indeed both the other branches.
There can be no doubt or difficulty respecting the
purpose with which she has made this aggression.
As territory, the disputed ground would be abso-
lutely worthless. It would, in fact, be a dam
nofa hereditas not worth a moiety of the expense
of retaining possession. But it completely com-
manded the debouchure of the river, and in the
bands of Russia could still divert the whole of
the traffic to Odessa, the object which the AUTO-
CRAT had, and perhaps still has, so strongly at
heart. _

The experiment was also possibly tried for
the purpose of testing the disposition of the
other contracting parties, and seeing how far they
would submit to any infraction of the Treaty.
That point has now been set at rest ; and we
trust that Russia, who has now accurately mea-
sured the length of her tether, will be contented
to wait for a more favourable opportunity before
she again ventures to display her true colours, or
to exhibit so flagrant a disregard of public opinion
amongst the other nations of the world.

The immense importance to the country of a
due development of the resources of our Indian
Empire cannot well be too frequently insisted on.
The glamour which dazzled the eyes and led
astray the imagination of our forefathers has
been dispersed, and in its place is to be found
scepticism, or rather, indifference. The public
believe no longer that India is a granary of
pre-
ciouspre-
ciousstones in settings of barbaric gold, where
boundless wealth awaits the enterprie of the
unscrupulous adventurer. All that ever was
dreamed of India has been surpassed by the pro-
speota held out by the discovery and working of