The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-02 00:00:00

(Front the Morning Post of this lay. )
We publish in another column the most im-
portant paragraph of a circular recently issued
to the Russian diplomatic agents. We believe we
may add to the information therein contained, that
when the Cabinet of St. Petersburg heard of
the intended movement of Austria, for the
purpose of promoting the resumption of peace
negotiations, it was thought advisable to in-
form that Power of the views of Russia upon the
subject ; and accordingly Prince Gortschakoff, some
weeks ago, announced to Count Buol that Russia
would be now willing to resume the Conferences of
Vienna at the point at which they had seen broken
off; and he then declared to Count 13nol that which
is now made public in the circular of the Russian Fo •
reign-office, viz., that Russia was ready to consent to
the third of "the Four Points," which it will be
remembered had for object to " put an end to the
preponderance of Russia in the Black Sea," and on
the manner of effecting which object the belligerents
could not agree.
England and France insisted on limiting the
Russian fleet. The Russians as steadily refused to
allow what they considered an infringement of the
honour and dignity of Russia. The war therefore
went on. Kertch, Kinbourn,Eupatoria, Sebastopol
can tell the results—the Russian fleet is rotting
under water. Yet now the Czar graciously conde-
scends to make known to Europe that he is ready
to consent to the limitation of the Russian and
Turkish naval forces by a treaty with Turkey, in
which treaty the other Powers are to have no
ostensible participation; and this only on the condi-
tion of the Dardanelles being closed in future to
the flags of France and England.
Now, in the first place, by this offer, Russia
directly contravenes the spirit and the letter of the
Third Point, of which the first object was, through
a revision by all the Powers of the Treaty of the
Dardanelles, to bring Turkey into the family of
European nations, and constitute her a substantive
portion of the States interested in maintaining the
balance of power. In the second place, to stipu-
late, after all that has occurred, that while the
Russian flag is to float in the Black Sea, uncon-
trolled—save by an agreement with Turkey—the
flags of England and France are to be excluded
from its watera, is simply to laugh at us.
We presume Count Buol felt this, as he has not
ventured to submit to the 'Western Powers a pro-
position which savours more of useless imperti-
nence than of the artful plausibility in which Rus-
sian diplomatists are generally such distinguished
adepts. Count Buol, however, in the interest of
peace, made it his business to ascertain what terms
the 'Western Powers would insist on requiring from
Russia. Having done this, and Austria approving
of them, they have been sent in the form of an
Austrian ultimatum to St. Petersburg. The general
outline of these terms, which were first communi-
cated to the public in the Morning Post of Decem-
ber 4, embrace, it will be remembered the neutral-
isation of the Black Sea, the cession to Turkey of
the mouths of the Danube, the renunciation of
Protectorates, and the undertaking. not to rebuild
Bomarsund.

Now, while thinking it possible she might yield
on the other points, we are certain, in spite of her
issuing this last circular, that Russia would accept
tke neutralisation of the Black Sea—indeed she has
given this to be understood—provided that the uani-
mous voice of Europe press it upon her authorita-
tively ; but this is next to an impossibility—Austria
will, and Prussia won't. Here, then, already among
the Great Powers is a decisive difference. It
is true that Baron Werther, the Prussian Minister
at St. Petersburg, has instructions to " support
Count Esterhazy's proposition in a sense favourable
to peace ;" but the word should not be "support,"
it should be " enforce," otherwise it is valueless—
and, indeed, it is hardly doubtful but that it is
meant to be so.

Under these circumstances we can scarcely ex-
pect the Czar to accede to the Austrian ultima-
tum. It is plain, however, that the Autocrat has
not hastily rejected the propositions, as the tele-
graph is yet silent on the point, and they therefore
still lie under his c•nsideration. But, however
probable their rejection, we can never be certain
of Russian action till the thing is done. If diploma-
tic ingenuity can convert the conditions into some
non-natural sense, Russia may accept them for the
purpose of trying by negotiation to effect dis-
sensions in Europe ; but she will not catch us
again, though she may try. If, as is probable, she
is persuaded of this, then the Cabinet of St. Peters-
burg may save its trouble ; and, on the one hand,
seeing no hope of injuring the Allies, on the other,
feeling not yet sufficiently coerced to submit,
Russia may refuse the terms, and await the further
decision of arms.

STOPPAGE OF MESSRS. PALMER AND
GREEN'S BANI, AT LICHFIELD.

LICEIFIELD, Jan. I.—Yesterday afternoon tke bank of
Messrs. Palmer and Green, of this city, unexpectedly
stopped payment. The bank has been established for
many years, and occupied a most respectable position ;
Ihut it now turns out that it has been in difficulties
several years, ever since the death of Mr. Palmer, who
was indebted to it a largo sum, far beyond what his
estate realised. Mr. Green, the surviving partner, has
in vain struggled with this difficulty, which is under-
stood to have been increased by the state of the money
market during the last few months. Beyond this
nothing is known of the immediate cause of the stop.
page. On Monday the London agents of the firm de-
clined to extend accommodation, and at three o'clock the
doors of the bank were shut.
The liabilities are put down at 200,0001., and the
assets at 150,000/. It is understood that the bank had
many depositors, but at present it is not known what
cuss of persons the failure will principally affect.
I.'his morning, at the instance of Mr. Green himself, a
petition of bankruptcy Was put upon the file of the
Court at Birminghain, and Mr. Knight, of the
firm of
same
Mottera
on uWednesdayi and Knight, will in all probability open the

professedly placed upon the English version of the
recent proposals. Either the Austrian Government
has grossly misrepresented those terms, or an in-
famous fraud has been perpetrated in the recent
manifesto of the Government. The Berlin jour-
nals, indeed, hint that the terms actually agreed
upon by the Allied Governments are not known in
this country, and that when they shall be they will
be found to differ materially from those put for-
ward by Lord Palmerston in order to bespeak sup-
port for his demoralised, shambling Administration
against the day of account which fast approaches.
The attempt is as vain as it is iniquitous ; and no
warlike bluster on the part of the Minister will
divert the public mind from meditated treachery,
or screen its authors from the scathing indignation
of this much-abused people.
There iscollective testimony of the determination
of this Government to force England into a peace
on their own terms, which amounts almost to de-
monstration of such a resolve. Weeks ago the
" leading journal," now so obsequiously doing the
work of the Government, raised the cry of an Ame-
rican war and a filibustering invasion of Ireland.
That cry has been drown° i in the scream of ridicule
with which it was received on the other side of the
Atlantic, and has ruined any vestige of reputation
f)r foresight or sagacity possessed by our contem-
porary in the States. On this subject, however,
we shall have something more to say in a day or
two. Then came the fall of Kars, and the horrible
narrative of the abandonment of its devoted garri-
son. It is pretended that we had no means of as-
sisting them or the Turkish Government ; but it
now appears that a first instalment of the Turkish
Loan was paid into the Sultan's treasury ten days
after the disaster occurred, but not till then. It is
a fact also that two millions and a half of that loan
are at present in Bank here, and that a considerable
part of that amount has been reserved to satisfy
an old debt to a Continental Government. Then,
there is the whole conduct of our military opera-
tions—that sickening, that repulsive narrative with
which we are all too familiar, our failures and losses
of opportunity in the Euxine as in the Baltic ; the
absence of earnestness and of energy its direct re-
sult, in the whole conduct of the war ; the sudden
and unaccountable rise in the prices of some of the
necessaries of life ; the persistent and unnatural
strain upon the money market, which an Order in
Council might have relieved—all these facts col-
lectively point to one oonclusion—that this Govern-
ment cannot or will not carry on the war, and
finding the popular mind bent on its prosecution
have been making systematic efforts to disgust
this people with it, and to drive them on to a peace
at any price.
The Russian circular just published is not, we
may be sure, the gratuitous production of the Rus-
sian Chancery. It has been written in view of
certain proposals under consideration at St. Peters-
burg. These proposals, emanatingas they do from
the Western powers, either are, or they are not,
such as Russia ought to accept. If they are not,
how did this Government come to submit them ?
If they are, they are presented in the form of an
ultimatum which does not admit of interpretation
or conditional assent. We conclude, therefore,
from this circular that the Russian Cabinet has
before it at the present moment terms which are
neither precise nor final, and that the Emperor
believes he has but to press for such modifications
as may best accord with the present condition and
designs of Russia. We need not pause to charac-
terise a peace concluded on the terms of our enemy,
nor need we point out the position of those secon-
dary states who have given in their adhesion to
the Western policy, or are compromised in that
direction in the event of a peace being no vr forced
upon them.