The Sun.
London, England, 1850-03-11 00:00:00

THE GREEK QUESTION.
Note addressed by Count Nesselrode to .M. Brun-
now on the subject of Greece, dated the ith (19th)
of February :--
"No sooner had the dangers that menaced the peace
of Europe, and caused by the precipitation with which
Admiral Parker entered the Dardanelles, been removed
than the appearance of his squadron on the coast of
Greece perilled it anew. Russia finds it difficult to
comprehend this anxiety to create complications in the
East at a period when the repose of the west is exposed
to so many perils." The note recounts how the British
fleet unexpectedly presented itself at the Pincus, in a
moment of profound peace (en pleine paix), and without
the slightest intimation of the intentions of the English
Government ; how Admiral Parker, after having been
courteously and cordially received by the King and Queen,
changed, the very next day, into an imperious ultimatum
a demand for the settlement of claims of trifling impor-
tance, some of which were in progress of adjustment,
&c. "A man," observes Count Nessclrodr, "is the best
judge of his own dignity, and Russia does not pre-
tend to contest the right of the English Cabinet to ap-
preciate and maintain its dignity as it thinks proper.
Europe, more impartial, however, will decide if the
measures resorted to were worthy of a mighty power
like England towards a feeble and defenceless state.
But what we are perfectly justified in remarking, and
what we have a right to complain of, is the total want of
courtesy towards the two powers who were parties to
the trtaty; who established the kingdom of Greece;
who ever since the 6th if July, 1827, have invariably
acted together, and who have ever taken the same in-
terest in the affairs of that conutry. Russia was well
aware that England had private claims to settle with
Greece, and that in 1547, during the administration of
Colletti, she was on the point of adopting measures fur
their enforcement. But since that period she heard no
more of them; and considering that far more important
objects called elsewhere the attention of England, she,
indeed, little expected that the solution of that ques-
tion would appear to her so urgent as to justify the
exercise of extreme measures. Had Russia received
any intimation on the subject, she would have coun-
selled Greece to attend to those claims, and
if the latter refused to satisfy them, then, indeed,
England might have adopted such measures as suited
her to obtain redress. But England did not act so ;
England did not condescend to apprise either Russia or
France of her intention. No communication to that
effect was made, either at St Peterburgh or at Paris ;
and it was only when the evil:was done, and the mischief
consummated, that the Russian and French governments
were informed of it. The Russian minister at Athens
twice offered his good offices to Mr. Wyse, who twice
rejected them, saying that ' he would not accept the ar-
bitration of the two powers in a question that did not
concern them.' Yet Greece is not an isolated state ; she
cannot be said to be a power that is indebted to herself
alone for her existence (et ne relevant que de lui-meme).
Greece is a state created by Russia and Fiance, in virtue
of the same rights, and on the same terms, as it was by
England. The three powers founded it in common, and
bound themselves, each towards the two others, to respect
its independence, to maintain its integrity, and to
strengthen the dynasty they placed on the throne. Surely
neither of those three powers can pretend, nor does it
become either of them to undo its own collective work,
to threaten the independence of Greece, to encroach
on its integrity, to endanger (etranler) the existence
of that dynasty by humbling it in the eyes of the world,
by disturbing the tranquillity of the country, or expos-
ing it to the attacks of factions, encouraged, as they may
be, by the presence of the English fleet, and perhaps to
the horrors of civil war. Russia and France are essen-
tially and materially interested in the maintenance of
its repose. They have lent it funds, the repayment of
which both these states desire no less than England.
But they must necessarily condemn measures that are
likely to incapacitate Greece from doing honour to her
pecuniary engagements.
uniary engagements. They have therefore a right
toinquire into the cause of a quarrel which is produc-
tive to them of such eerious consequences, and to
regard the affair, not by any means, as the British
Minister asserts, in the light of an exclusively English
question, but as one which, in an equal degree, affects
both France and Russia. It is true that England
communicated to Russia a list of her claims, but
judging from the information supplied by the opposite
party, they appeared somewhat exaggerated. At all
events, whether we regard their amount or their object,
they are out of all proportion with the means em-
ployed to enforce them. The same may be said, a for-
tiori, of the two small islands contiguous to the Hellenic
rrit o i
in a I
demanding question, and
in
continent, and which England claims as belonging to the
lonianonit Russia
islands.
and This
France
e e s
justifiedate
virtue of what title England presumes to change a status
quo that has lasted for 18 years; to take upon herself to
reconstruct the map of Greece, and to appropriate any
portion, how small Bowser, of her territory ? This is a
question that must be examined into by the three Powers.
Russia, England, and France having assigned to Greece
a certain extent of frontier and coast considered suffi-
cient for her defence, you will ask if that object can be
obtained if England be authorised to have a footing in
these small islands, one of which is situate within one-
eighth of a mile from the coast ? The Emperor instructs
you to make serious representations to the English Go-
vernment, and to invite it in the most earnest manner to
hasten the cessation of a state of things which there is
nothing whatever to render necessary, or to justify, and
which exposes Greece to disasters and dangers of a most
serious kind.

" The manner in which your representations will be
received will throw much light on the nature of the re-
lations which we may hereafter expect to entertain with
England, and, I will add, on her position with respect to
all the powers, great and small, whose coasts are ex-
posed to sudden attack. It will also enable us to judge
whether England, abusing the position afforded to her
by her immense maritime superiority, contemplates in
future to pursue a distinct and isolated policy (politique
disolement), regardless of those engagements which bind
her with other Governments, to free herself from all
joint and common obligations, and all community of
action (solidarite d'action), and to authorise each of the

great powers, whenever an opportunity shall offer, to
tollow, as regards the weak and defencelesp, no other
rule but their own good will and pleasure; no other
right but that of material force (a ne reconnoitre envers
les foibles d'autre regle que sa volante, d'autre droit que la
force materielle)."

THE PENINSULAR MAIL.-SOUTHAMPTON, MARCH
9.—The Peninsular and Oriental Company's steam-ship
Sultan, Captain Brooks, from Constantinople, &c., ar-
rived here this afternoon at three o'clock. Her dates of
sailing were :—Constantinople, Feb. 20 ; Smyrna, 22 ;
Malta, 26 ; and Gibraltar, March 3. The Sultan had
fifteen:paqsengers, principally Hungarian refugees; a full
general cargo, comprising fruit, cotton, opium, 1,100
bales of silk, 730 packages of goats' hair, a large num-
ber of packages of sundries, and specie to the amount
of 98,000/. On the 20th ult. a steamer had been
dispatched from Constantinople to Varna with Hunga-
rians. The same steamer was to return to Malta with
a number of Pules. At Constantinople things were re-
presented as boing remarkably quiet—little business
being transacted. The Egyptian Minister for Foreign
Affairs was about to return to Alexandria. Diplomatic
relations between the Austrian Charg6 d'Affaires and
the Porte had not been resumed. The Jane Ellis, for
Glasgow, and the Azores Packet, for Liverpool, left
Gibraltar on the 27th ult. The Exile, for Liverpool, left
on the 2d inst. When near Gibraltar the Sultan passed
a portion of Commodore Martin's squadron, comprising
two line-of-battle ships, four frigates, and two steamers,
steering to the eastward. Exchange on London, 90 days,
501; on Paris, ditto, sf. 36c. In freights there was no
change since our last.

--- -
FIRE ANNIHILATOR,.—SeveraI interesting and suc-
cessful experiments were exhibited on Friday last, at
the London Gasworks, Vauxhall, before a numerous
company of ladies and gentlemen, invited to witness the
effective power of Mr. Phillips's new invention for ex-
tinguishing fires. After adverting to the inefficiency of
water as a means of quenching flame, and the consequent
loss sustained annually throughout the kingdom by the
destruction of prcperty, to the amountof about` ,000,000/ ,
he introduced one of the smaller of his own machines,
and explained that the agent by which he sought to ac-
complish his object was a mixture of gas and vapour.
After several experiments on a small scale, to show the
success he had attained by these means, the attention of
the company were directed to a compartment of a largo
open building, quite twenty feet high inside, which was
fitted up with partitions and temporary joisting of light
wood well soaked with pitch and turpentine, and over-
hung besides with rags and shavings soaked in like
manner. The torch was applied to this erection, and the
flames, which ascended immediately, at length roared
with a vehemence which drove the spectators back to a
distance of forty feet, and was already beyond the power
of water. The inventor then brought forward one of his
hand machines, and threw out a volume of gaseous va-
pour, which, in half a minute, entirely suppressed all
flame and combustion; and to show that the vapour which
now filled the space was quite innoxious, Mr. Phillips
mounted into the loft, and passed and repassed through
the midst of it with a lighted candle in his hand. The
machine with which this effect was accomplished was
rather larger than a good-sized coffee-pot, and consisted
of three tin cases, one within another and mutually com-
municating. There was a small quantity of water in
the bottom of the machine, and in the centre case was
a composite cake, of the size and colour of peat. con-
taining, in the middle of it, a phial of sulphuric acid and
chlorate of potash. In order to put the machine into
action this phial is broken, and a gaseous vapour is ge-
nerated so rapidly and in such quantity that it immedi-
ately rushes out from a lateral spout with great impe-
tuosity. Mr. Phillips explained that a machine of any
size could be made according to the purpose for which
it was intended, and that a company was at length
formed to carry the invention into effect. The com-
pany present, who seemed to be taken by surprise, very
cordially expressed their satisfaction with the success of
the achievement.

THE CrOREIAM CASE.—The following is a list of the
division in the Committee on the question placed bi fore
them:—Assenting—Lord Campbell, Lord Langdale,
Baron Parke, Sir S. Lushington, Mr. Pemberton Leigh.
Dissenting—Sir J. Knight Brace. Of tte Right Rev.
Prelates who sat as assessors, it is understood that the
Archbishops of Caeterbury and York were assenting,
and the Bishop of London dissenting.
THE GORHAM CASE AND THE METROPOLITAN
CHURCH UNION.—We are authorised to state that im-
mediate steps are in contemplation on the part of the
Metropolitan Church Union, for the vindication of the
Church's autonomy in matters of faith, in consequence
of the judgment pronounced yesterday by the Judi-
cial Committee of the Privy Council. We understand
that the union has been hitherto silent on the subject,
from a persuasion that the question might De taken up
with much greater practical effect after the delivery of
the sentence.—John BVI •
A SCRUPULOUS CRIMINAL.—A person named La-
bouette %as on Friday condemned by the Court of
A.B4lzes to ten years' *gloating fez haviug embezzled