The Sun.
London, England, 1835-09-15 00:00:00

those castles at a distance of 150 miles on his left ?
The closing of the passage of the Dardanelles as a
means of defence against Mehemet Alli, could, then,
be of no avail whatever to the Sultan, when threatened
in quite another direction by the invading army of his
rebel vassal. Nor is the exclusion of the ships of war
of other Powers calculated to protect the Turkish capital
from foreign aggression, inasmuch as Turkey has no-
thing at all to fear from any other foe in that quarter.
All would be friends and sincere well-wishers who
claimed entrance at the Dardanelles. None would
come there but for purposes evidently and most de-
cidedly conducive to the advantage of the Sultan's in-
terests. This Russia knows full well, and it is pre-
cisely for the purpose of placing the Sultan as much as
possible beyond the reach of any friendly aid that she has
framed the secret article of the treaty of the Bth of July,
which she has prevailed upon him to approve. , The
Frankfort writer, however, after endeavouring to satisfy
us that the independence of Turkey is secured by the
secret article in question, gives us very clearly to
understand that Russia had sought and obtained
the key of the Dardanelles for her own purposes—
that is, in order to have a better hold on Constan-
tinople itself, and also have it in her power to close the
straits of the Hellespont to every nation who might
conceive it advisable to send a fleet into the Black
Sea, in order to disconcert her own schemes on Turkey.
If Russia did not insist, when negotiating the treaty
of the Bth of July, on the exclusion Ao of the mer-
chant vessels bearing the flag of States in amity with
the Porte, for which the Frankfort writer thinks she
deserves some credit, it was simply because she was
likely to be by far the greatest gainer by encouraging
as much as possible the navigation of trading vessels in
the Black Sea. We need not stop to inquire in whose
favour the balance of commerce in the Black Sea inva-
riably appears. There is not a man in Europe at all
conversant in mercantile interests who is not perfectly
aware that it is, and must continue to be from the na-
ture of the trade, and through the effect of Russian
prohibitions, very greatly in favour of Russia. But
in the Black Sea, says the Frankfort writer, thdugh
you have abundance of inducements for sending trading
vessels, you have none in sending ships of war, as there
are neither pirates, slave-traders, unexplored regions,
nor lands to colonize, which might engage the atten-
tion of foreign nations in that quarter. According to
this excellent reasoning, our ships of war might stay
and rot in our docks and creeks, for hardly any such in-
ducements as those here enumerated exist at present
to take them out to sea. The reasoning, at all events,
if it be admissible in regard to the Black Sea, ought
to be applicable to the Baltic also, and we wonder the
Russian Emperor does not iinmediately propose a
treaty to the King of Denmark, in virtue of which
the ships of war of all foreign States should be pre-
vented from passim-, the Sound. Upon the whole, the
Frankfort writer has been as unlucky in this second
article in proving the disinterestedness of Russian views
in the East as he was in the one which preceded it.
There is in this second production a good deal of vapid
stuff about persons in England or in France who are
enemies to the peace and good understanding which
prevails among all the Powers of Europe, and who
are working with all their might to disturb that state
of European quietude which makes them so exceed-
ingly uncomfortable. Similar absurd allegations may
be deemed useful to give a plausible colouring
to the underhand proceedings of Russia ; but
we can tell her advocates that they will succeed
just as little in making dupes in England and
in France by similar absurdities as they did by
the story trumped up a short time ago about 60
French propagandists having set out from Paris for
the purpose of murdering the Emperor Nicholas at
Kalisch. • By the way, we have received a note from
the author of the pamphlet entitled England, France,
Russia, and Turkey, the French translation of which
afforded the text for the article in the Journal des De-
bats, which the Frankfort writer professes to answer,
and by which note we are informed that it was amis-
take in the translation which has led to the contro-
versy. The author says that the following original
sentence, " It is, therefore, clear, that the defence of
Turkey must precede occupation," was mistranslated
thus : " Pour dtfendre la Turquie, iljhut l'occu.
per" whereon the arguments in the Journal des De-
bats were grounded. We do not regret the error, be-
cause it has led to a discussion in which the whole
merits of the Turco-Russian question have once more
been brought to light at a moment when Russia is evi-
dently using her utmost effects to strengthen her alli-
ance with the two other great absolutist Powers of the
Continent ; and when, therefore, it behoves those who
are interested in counteracting her designs in the East
to watch her motions with renewed vigilance.—Times.
Having for many years laboured, hitherto unfortu-
nately without effect, to bring about an amelioration
at least, if not an abolition, of that cruel part of our
civil code which authorizes imprisonment for debt, we
must, with every friend to justice and humanity, de-
plore that another Session of Parliament should have
expired in which we have, as heretofore, witnessed a
world of promise and compassion, resulting in the usual
paucity of performance---,in short, in nothing. That
Sir John Campbell has been sincere in his intentions
upon this subject, no one has any authority to doubt ;
but zealous friends sometimes throw away their labour,
in such a manner as not only to neutralise their use-
fulness, but actually to serve the object of theirioppo-
nents. Such has been the case upon the present oc-
casion. We ourselves attribute the failure of Sir
John Campbell's measure to two causes—the one
the exceedingly dilatory manner in which it was in,
troduced and followed up ; the other, the extreme com-
plexity in which it was so unnecessarily involved. We
do not know who, or what sort of underlings the
Attorney-General employs, but whoever they may
be, judging from the machinery, of this Bill, they
seem to possess all the vices of verbose legisla-
tion, without one redeeming point towards effecting
their object, or even rendering themselves understood.
On this subject, as on most others, reform to be effec-
tual should be gradual ; and we believe we speak the
sentiments of a great proportion of those who have con-
sidered the subject, when we say that had the Attor-
ney-General confined himself in the first instance to
the abolition of imprisonment on arrest on mesne pro-
cess, the friends of humanity would have been fully
satisfied, leaving the subject of imprisonment for debts
on which judgment has been obtained for subsequent
consideration. Though no precise returns that we
know of have ever been made which would enable us
to speak with accuracy upon the subject, we believe
we may very safely affirm that, including the cases of
persons who are consigned to lock-up houses till they
have procured bail, this head of imprisonment em-
braces full three-fifths of those who are incarcerated
for debt at all ; and we need not, point out, therefore,
how much of the object would be obtained by the
very simple enactment, by means of which this might
so readily be brought about. To Sir John Campbell,
then, or any one else who will take up the matter in
Parliament, we would warmly suggest this as a de-
sirable mode of commencing a Reform, so long called
for—so long promised—yet so constantly postponed or
abandoned.
" Est quodam prodire tenus, si non datur ultra."
Do not let any one be deterred from performing a cer-
tain degree of good, because he cannot at once ac-
complish all that he desires. How many aching
hearts, how many ruined fortunes might have been
prevented, had the subject long ago been effectually
taken up, even in this minor point of view. At any
rate, whatever is done, let it be done quickly. It is
worse than unjust to attribute the failure of Sir John
Campbell's Bill to the House of Lords, when a mea-
sure of such complexity and doubt, as it turned out
to be, never reached that House till within a fortnight
of the termination of the Session, and that when their
table was loaded with similar specimens of delay else-
where. Taken up in earnest, and in the simple form
which we suggest, the next Session of Parliament need
not have sat a fortnight before this boon to humanity
is the law of the land.--Morning Herald.
We adverted yesterday in a brief and plain, but we
hope, at the same time, unanswerable manner, to the
circumstances which had contributed to render the' late
Session of Parliament so barren and unfruitful of po-
pular measures ; and we are now again compelled, in
a manner, to-return to the same subject, in lieu of
another which we had announced for discussion, by
the continued agitation of the same subject, and con-