The Sun.
London, England, 1827-11-14 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE pUBLIC JOURNALS.

In the protracted absence of facts and incidents
occurring in the battle of Navarin,
ingenuity
employs itself hi raising objections to' the recti-
tude of those principles on which the battle was
}ought by the Allies. We have no objection to
ihe discussion of the question we Wish it to be
placed in a proper light, and to be,
notustly de-
cided for success any enterprise wilt
Hate its injustice. We will ask one question,
Merits of the case, as
upon which we think the
far .as the Governments are concerned,
mainly
depend, and to which we conceive only one an-
iwer can be given. The Allies had said de-
cisively that the Turks and Greeks should not
continue to wage war upon each other any"
longer ; they had even made a treaty to that ef-
fect, and they had communicated the treaty to.
the Turkish Government. Could, then, the
Turkish Government, after the conclusion and
of the treaty, expect that it would
be any longer . permitted to it to direct the mas-
sacre of the Greeks If not; (and the answer
is clearly in the negative), what had Turkey to-
look to, if she acted in defiance of the
prohibition, but some such event as that
which has taken place ? If she were offended
at the treaty and the communication, she
should boldly have declared war against the Al-
lies ; that was her course by the law of nations :
but she • should not have attempted to carry on
the massacre of the Greeks, as if no such re-
solution and treaty- as those described above had
ever been communicated to her. This was nei-
ther succumbing to the Allies, as comported
with her feebleness, nor opposing them, as in
better times might have become her courage. It
was treating them with absolute contempt,—it
was making notiartg of-them. Next, with -
re-
spect to the commencement of the engagement.
It is truly remarked by those who seem to im-
pugn the justice of the allied cause, that Sir Ed-
ri%,:ayr;d
iCndodeeridngtitloenFerenitiecrhedactchoeuipitorsttaitneshotshtailte
the
al
work lied allied squadron prepared for action. We shall
w that
crcei
roi
Commander
ithr
sat
tilialicilsl
:pre rskoiteloce elbtaesi-lea
dt
Britishhose
state the circumstances which wc think seem to
de-
cided that the war between Turkey and- Greece
should end : he hears on all sides, "officially too,
that this war is continued, and that the Turks
are exercising the most horrible e;uelties, in a
Particular quarter, upon the unresisting Greeks-:
he therefore prepares for action, and goes up to
the Turkish fleet in'that attitude,—not to fight
in . the first instance, but to demand—" Do
you mean to justify these atrocities ? Will
you protect the authors of them ? If
but, ere he can speak, some stray musket-
shots—discharged, we believe, in the agony
of fear and suspense—kill his people. He
tries to stay the provocation ; but it is aggra-
vated by fresh discharges, and by. a cannon-
shot : and then the carnage begins. The battle,
therefore, we believe, was accidental; but not so
the determination on the part of the Allies to
put an end to the war between Greece and Tur-
key, at the expence of such a battle as this, if
the parties would listen to no other argument.
Such is our opinion on the whole affair: we
wish it to be adopted no farther than as it ap-
pears to have reason on its side. We have no
occasion to defend Ministers, if we were so in-
clined ; they were not there either to:fight or fly ;
and their resolution to stop the-war in Greece,
which is all for which they are answerable, has
already received the approbation of theire-Oliiiiiy
and of the civilized world. As little motive have '
we for defending Sir Edward Codrington. We
only know him as a brave man. We •do not
barely take the facts upon his statement ; and
that of the other commanders ; it is obvious to
common sense that they must be true ; for if the
allied fleet, though prepared for action, had gone
op to fight and not to parley in the first instance,
the battle would not have begun by a few trum-
nery musket-shot : it is clear, therefore, at least
our conception, that it had its origin in acci-
'lental causes. In one respect, this battle is ad-
vantageous to the Turks; for we believe that if
It had not taken place,—if the Turks had gone
,am evading the.demands of the Allies, and they
temporized instead of acting,—it would have
been difficult to prevent Russia- from espousing
the cause of Greece singly, and in her ows.
Cashion, by passing the Pruth, and marching an:
army into European Turkey.— Times.

Two of our Contemporaries (The Times and
Globe) have been discussing the right of the
fleet to enter the port of Navarin. It
:itrikes us that the measure in question grew
unavoidably out of the Treaty between France,.
Russia, and England. If we once admit the
right of these three Powers, " to unite their
efforts, with a view of re-establishing peace be-
tween the contending parties, by means of an
armistice, which is called for as much by huma-
nity as by the interest of Europe," and to " de-
mand from both the parties an immediate armis-
tice, as a preliminary condition, indispensable to
the opening of a negotiation," and to transmit
instructions to their respective Admirals ~,in the
ieas of the Levant, to prevent all collision be-
tween the contending parties," we must admit
that the Admirals baying !*.tna` Mied, and ob-
tained a promise from the'. COMrnander of the
forces of one of the belligerents, of a cessation
of hostilities, .were justified, on the violation of
such promise; in adopting the only practicable
means of effecting the object of their instruc-
tions. The question of the right of the Allies
to interfere }n so decided a manner between
belligerents, is, therefore, the main one for our
consideration. It must be allowed, that it is
quite unusual for neutrals to compel belligerents
to negotiate, and to prevent, by an armed force,
all collision between them. The most that
neutral States venture on in such cases, is to
offer to mediate between the belligerents,
and the rejection of the offer by both or
either terminates the interference. But the
case of the Turks and Greas is altogether
peculiar. The Allies havebeen compelled to in-

terfere in the quarrel, for the sake of their own
subjects, as it «produced daily fresh impedi-
ments to the commerce of European States, and
gave occasion to piracies, which not only expo-
,.eci the subjects of- the High Contracting Parties
to considerable losses, but besides rendering ne-
cessary burdensome measures of protection and
repression." Putting humanity altogether out
of the question, the defence of the lreaty rests
on the right which nations as well as individuals,
have to protection against violence, and to be
exempted from suffering through the quarrels of
others. Though Treaties have been entered
into with the Turks, and we choose to send Am-
hassadors to them, they are not the less incorri-
gible barbarians ; and though in cases where third
in their wars with
as in
merciless mode of
may not be advisable to
Austria,nct
e osuer,
oi
unt
into constant collision with them,
carrying them 0. n, is otherwise where neutral
t'reitsrisfeeisar dooorn
nations come