The Sun.
London, England, 1866-03-23 00:00:00

powder. One of the cases had ;terminated fatally.
Work was being found for the unemployed, and
the distress among the artisans in the colony had
ceased.

A strong S.W. gale prevails at Plymouth to-day.
The mails landed will be forwarded this afternoon.
The Briton will coal and proceed this afternoon for
Southampton.

THE BOMBAY MAIL.
MARSEILLES, MARCH 23.
The Nyanza arrived at 7 a.m. to-day.
The mails leave for London at 11.30 a.m.

THE DANUBIAN PRINCIPALITIES.

-4. -

TO TIIE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

" The Principalities are an independent State under my
protection; this might continue."—The Emperor Nicholas
to Sir Hamilton Seymour, February 22, 1853.
the British Parliament is engaged in

revising the Constitution at home, few people re-

member that a Congress, of which Great Britain
forms a part, is sitting in Paris to revise the Con-
stitution or to direct the affairs of a part of the
dominions of the Sultan of Turkey. If this med-
dling with other people's business appears at first
sight as a praiseworthy exertion of a philanthropic
spirit, the carelessness displayed in the operation
negatives the presumption. Every alteration in our
own Constitution, whether wise or the reverse, has at
least to undergo the ordeal of public discussion in
the Legislature, in public meetings, and in private
society. But the mode and limits of our interference
with Wallachia and Moldavia aro confided to the
Foreign-office alone. No loyal Conservative Club
protects the prerogative of the Sultan. No Freed-
men's Aid Society guards the rights of the people,
no historian produces the recuids of the past, no poet
the hopes of the future. Russia and the other
Powers of Europe simply efface the inhabitants of
the Principalities, and the Parliament and people
of England, having accepted the task of governing
them apart from their Sovereign, leave the country
they have adopted at the mercy of a secret board of
diplomatists.
Since the people of England are unanimous in
wishing to avoid the trouble of governing the Sul-
tan's dominions, would it not be well to consider
whether our abdication of the task might not be
as advantageous to the Principalities as convenient
to ourselves ?

In the apathy that is now felt on this subject it
is difficult to get men to understand what it is that
they are doing, when they allow their rulers to in-
terfere with the government of another country.
But there is one mode by which such a practice
may always be brought home to every man's
business and bosom, namely, by transferring the
circumstances to our own country and asking
how we should approve of such proceedings if ap-
plied to ourselves.

. _
beneficial to the inhabitants of the Principalities and agree- i
able to the people of this country that we should cease to
meddle in their affairs. But I did not mean that wo should
merely shut our eyes to that interference, and allow it to
go on unobserved; that is precisely what we are now
doing. V 1 hen a Government has been entangled into
interference no sudden means taken by those who are not
in the Government can cut the Gordian Knot. It has to
be untied. The skein which Diplomacy has tangled must
be unravelled. We must learn what has been done before
we can have any idea of what has to be done ; for what has
to bo done is always to retrace our steps.
About the year 1333 Wallachia and Moldavia severally
placed themselves under the proteoti( n of Turkey,
acknowledging the Sultan as their Suzerain, but retaining
their right of self-government. Placed between Turkey
and Russia, they have now for many years been the theatre
of every invasion which Russia has made of Turkish ter-

ritory. In 1806 Russian troops were in the Principalities.
Terms of peace between England and France were nearly
arranged by Lord Lauderdale when the negotiation was
broken off because England insisted, and Napoleon re-
fused, that Russia should retain Wallachia and Moldavia.
In 1809 Sir Robert Adair, having negotiated a peace be-
tween England and Turkey, offered his services to Russia
to negotiate a peace between her and Turkey, which should
leave the Principalities in the possession of Russia.
In 1812, by the aid of England, was negotiated the
_ _ _

Treaty of Bucharest, by which Russia, while restoring

Wallachia, and what now remains of Moldavia, obtained
permanent possession of Bessarabia, thus extending her
limits to the Pruth.

In 1829, by the Treaty of Adrianople, again negotiated by
English aid, and at a moment when the Russian army was
on the point of disappearing, Russia obtained the liberty
of permanent interference in the affairs of the Principali-
ties.

The year 1831 is the date Russia gives to the " Organic
Statute" for the government of the Principalities.
This document Russia is in the habit of quoting when-
ever she wants an authority for her performances. Nobody
has ever been known, however, to have seen a copy of it,
and it has probably no real existence any more than the
celebrated " Regulations for the Navigation of the Black
Sea," under which Russia confiscated the Vixen for visiting
the coast of independent Circassia.

In 1848 Russia got up an insurrection in the Principali-
ties, and demanded to allow her to garrison the
country in conjunction with Turkey. Turkey appliel to
England for support, and, on Englaad's refusal, signed the
Treaty cf Balta. Liman.
Turkey, therefore, must have thought herself weaker
than Russia. But in 1851, the confidential relations be-
tween England and Turkey having been suspended, she
took heart and demanded that the Russian troops should
evacuate the Principalities. The Russian ambassador at
Constantinople, without waiting for instructions from St.
Petersburg (there was no electric telegraph in those days),
immediately complied with the demand.

From 1848 to 1851 the Russians had occupied the Prin-
cipalities in common with the Turks. When the Russians
left, the Turks also retired, and in 1833 the Russians returned
alone. By this time the confidential relations between
Turkey and England had been renewed, and England
showed her friendship to Turkey by persuading her to
submit to the aggression of the weaker Power. But the
Turks threatened to revolt, and compelled the Sultan to
declare war. The Russians had at first crossed the Pruth
with so small an army that nothing but their trust in
English diplomacy could account for their boldness. They
had accumulated a considerable force before Turkey de-
clared war, but it was all in vain. They were beaten in
every important battle, and compelled to recross the Pruth.
In order to prevent Turkey from recovering her own, and
to protect the retreat of Russia from a Polish insurrection,
the English Go7ernmeut permitted the Austrians to
occupy the Principalities, which they continued to do till
after the end of the war.

At the peace of 1856 the Principalities of Wallachia and
Moldavia were dealt with by Articles 22 to 27 of the Gene-
nil Treaty.

These articles established a collective power in the par-
ties by the Treaty to interfere in the affairs of the Principa-
lities. The final agreement with the Suzerain Power was
to be recorded in a convention, and was to be placed under
the guarantee of all the Powers. If their internal tranquil-
lity was menaced or compromised, the Porte was to come
to an understanding with the other contracting Powers in
regard to the measures to be taken for maintaining or re-
establishing legal order. That is, if Russia raised an in-
surrection, the Porte was not to put it down without
Russia's leave.

71,tty„...-71!, If
ET‘I.
I 112b1+.

HER MAJESTY.
WINDSOR. CASTLE, March 22.
The Queen drove out yesterday afternoon, at-
tended by the Marchioness of Ely.

His Serene Highness the Prince of Hohenlohe
Langenbourg went to London.

Her Majesty the Queen, with their Royal High-
nesses Princess Helena, Princess Louise, Princess
Beatrice, Prince Leopold, and her Grand Ducal
Highness the Princess HohenlohPLangenbourg left
the Castle this morning at ten minutes before one
o'clock, attended by the Marchioness of Ely, Major-
General T. H. Seymour, Colonel 11. Ponsonby, and
Sir John Cowell.

Her Majesty travelled by a special train, and was
escorted by a detachment of the 14th Hussars from
Paddington to Buckingham Palace.
His Royal Highness Prince Alfred arrived at the
Palace from Marlborough House, attended by
Lieutenant Haig.
Their Royal Highnesses the Count and Countess
of Paris visited the Queen in the afternoon.
The Earl of Clarendon had an audience of the
Queen.

The Queen, accompanied by their Royal High-
nesses Princess Helena and Princess Louise,
attended by the Marchioness of Ely, honoured Mr.
Bell by a visit to his studio.

Her Majesty afterwards visited their Royal
Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales, at
Marlborough House.
The equerries in waiting attended on horseback.
Her Majesty the Queen will hold a Council at
Buckingham Palace, at half-past 11 o'clock in the
forennnn tn-morrow (Saturday).

The Prince and Princess of Wales, accompanied
by Prince Alfred and the Prince of Hohenlohe, rode
on horseback yesterday.

Tha Government of India.

Earl De Grey and Ripon and Mr. Stansfeld on
Wednesday received two deputations from Man-
chester, one from the Chamber of Commerce, and
the other from the Cotton Supply Association. The
object of both was to present to the new Secretaries
of State for India memorials setting forth the policy
which, in the interest of the cotton trade of Man-
chester, it is desired that the Government of India
should pursue. The deputation from the Chamber
of Commerce consisted of Mr. Malcolm Ross, pre-
sident ; Messrs. Halliday, H. Ashworth, J. Dor-
rington, Hugh Mason, Hugh Fleming (secretary),
and the following members of Parliament :--Messrs.
T. Bazley, T. Barnes, C. Turner, John Peel, E. W.
Watkin, J. B. Smith, J. Platt, B. Whitworth, J.
Laird, J. T. Hibbert, J. Chatham, and A. W.
Young, the Hon. A. Egerton, and Colonel Grey.
Several of these gentlemen were in the deputation
of the Cotton Supply Association, of which Mr.
Cheetham, M.P., is president, and Mr. M. Ross,
treasurer. The second deputation also included
Mr. Edmund Ashworth, Mr. W. Armitage, and
Mr. J. Watts, secretary.
The interview with the representatives of the
Chamber of Commerce lasted fully an hour, and at
its close Earl De Grey and Ripon was obliged to
retire in order to attend a Cabinet meeting; but
Mr. Stansfeld spent a second hour in conversation
with the representatives of the Cotton SupplY
Association.