The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-03-29 00:00:00

Insurance Notices.

SUN
LIFE ASSURANCE SOCIETY, LONDON.

MANAGERS.
CHARLES BELL FORD, Esq., Deputy Chairman.
The Right Hon. William Felix Ladbroke, Esq.
Beresford, M.P. Henry F. Shaw Lefevre, Esq.
Hon. P. Pleydell Bouverie Henry Littledale, Esq.
Harry Chester, Esq. 'George Warde Norman, Esq.
Samuel Pepys Cockerel], Esq. ,Brice Pearse, Esq.
Raikes Currie, Esq., M.P. ;Charles Richard Pole, Esq.
John Drummond, Esq. !Lambert Pole, Esq.
Russell Ellice, Esq. Charles Ranken, Esq.
William Franks, Esq. Henry Rich, Esq., M.P.
William R. Hamilton, Esq. John Shepherd, Esq.
Captain H. G. Hamilton, R.N. Henry Stuart, Esq., M.P.
Joseph Hoare, Esq. iClaudeeorge Thornton, Esq,

THE LANCASHIRE

INSURANCE COMPANY.

Capital, Two Millions.

HEAD OFFICE-26, MARKET-STREET,

MANCHESTER.

CHAIRMAN.
Nicholas Heald, Esq., Manchester.

DIREC
J. M. Brooks, Esq., Manchester
B. Darbyshil e, Esq., Liverpool
George Glen, Esq., Liverpool
John R. Kay, Esq., Bury
J. Knowles, Esq., Manchester
J. Leech, Esq., Stalybriage
J. Mayson, Esq., Manchester
Wm.C.Moore,Esq.,Manchester
Joseph Owen, Esq.,Manchester

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN.
ara Jenkinson, Esq. Salford.

71'011.5.
W. Pilkington,Esq., Blackburn
J. Schofield, Esq.,Littleborougli
N. Shelmerdine, Esq., Salford
S. Symonds, Esq., Manchester
John Todd, Esq., Manchester
G. E. Wainwright, Esq., Man-
chester _ _

B. Wood, Esq., Manchester.

OFFICE IN LONDON-2, King-street, Cheapside.
John Cheetham. Esq., M.P., Chairman.
John James Saunders, Esq., Deputy-Chairman.

OFFICER IN LIVERPOOL-3, HIGH-STREET, and 5, EX-
CHANGE-STREET EAST.
DIRECTORS.
Eyre Evans, Esq., Chairman.
Benjamin Derbyshire, Esq. W.F. Hunter, Esq.
Thomas Fry, Esq. Frederic Lyon, Esq.
George Glen, Esq. Daniel Powell, Esq.
Charles Holland, Esq. I James Smith, Esq.
MEDICAL EXAMINER—Thos. Blackburn, Esq.
RESIDENT SECRETARY—John Semple, Esq.

LIFE DEPARTMENT.
Eighty per Cent. Bonuses, triennially after the firet five
years, applicable as the Assured may prefer.

Bonus ll7ates I 1. 17 0 I .72 60 I 0 6 69 I 7,67----6 7 6
With't Bonus 113 10 22 6 216 9, 42 6 62 6

TUESDAY MORNING, MARCH 29, 1853.

THE AFFAIRS OF TURKEY.
THREATENED EUROPEAN WAR.

EUROPE has but just escaped from the dread of a
general war between the great powers of the North
on the battle-field of the South. An important
Plenipotentiary from RUSSIA had made demands,
it was said, upon the SULTAN of TURKEY, ini-
mical to the interests of ENGLAND; AUSTRIA had
sided with the Autocrat of the North; the British
Charge d'Affaires at Constantinople, in the absence
of the Ambassador, had sent to Malta to request
ADMIRAL DUNDAS to bring the British fleet to
the mouth of the Dardanelles; and Louis NA-
POLEON., not to be out of the quarrel, had sent a
French fleet from Toulon to the scene of the ex-
pected conflict. All this, however, is happily at an
end. The demands of the Russian envoy have
turned out to be no more than he was perhaps
justified in asking, and the Turkish Government
in granting, though the peremptory tone which was
assumed may be questionable : the British Admiral
has refused to move his fleet at the request of a
subordinate officer, without orders from the Home
Government; and the official organ of the French
Government has announced that the whole affair is
in prospect of settlement, without compromising the
good understanding of the European powers. We
may therefore briefly review the circumstances
which led to this temporary broil, and calmly dis-
cuss our own position with reference to the position
of TURKEY among the States of EUROPE.
It will be remembered that when Louis NAPO-
LEON was devising high-sounding titles, by which
to give at least nominal eclit to his assumption of
the dignity of Emperor, he claimed that of Protec-
teur de les lieux Saintes, or the Holy Shrines, in
Palestine, which bad been long under the keeping
of the Greek Church, with tacit innovations of the
Latin Monks. In order to give a colourable pre-
tence to this claim, M. DE LAVALETTE was de-
spatched to Constantinople, and he succeeded in
obtaining a firman from the Sultan in favour of the
Romish, to the exclusion of the Greek Church.
The latter remonstrated, and succeeded in making
the firman a dead letter, but French diplomacy was
again at work, and the Greeks, in despair, applied
to the EMPEROR of RUSSIA, who has generally
been recognised as the head of that Church. In
the meantime, the Turkish Government made an
insane attack on the Christian population of MON-
TENEGRO, which afforded AUSTRIA a pretext for
moving`an army in that direction, for the ostensible
purpose of protecting her frontiers, which was
menaced through the number of Hungarian refu-
gees in the Turkish army. During all this time
the Courts of ENGLAND, AUSTRIA and FRANCE
are. represented at Constantinople by simple Charge's
d'Affaires, when they are startled by the arrival of a
Russian ambassador, with great pomp, to demand
the reinstatement of the Greeks in the charge of
the Holy Shrines, and, consequently, to dispute the
claim of FRANCE to the protectorate of the Romish
Church, which seemed put forward to strengthen
her influence in the East. Alarmed at this sudden
demand, which was made in a tone which implied
a determination to enforce it, the British deputy-
minister sent for the fleet at Malta, under pretence
of assisting Turkey against the threatened aggres-
sion of Russia, and the French minister, mortified
at losing all the fruits of his predecessor's wily
diplomacy, also sent for assistance, which led to
the despatch of the French fleet from Toulon.
RUSSIA has not, however, in this instance at least,
shown a disposition to claim more than she was
entitled to, and when the demands of Prince MEN-
SCHIKOFF, her ambassador, were fairly discussed,
they proved to be only for a substantial protection
of the Greek Church against the insidious designs
of FRANCE in favour of the Romish Church. It is
charged against RUSSIA that she has ulterior de-
signs. against TURKEY, but in this instance the
aggression comes from FRANCE, who employed
the threat of coercion in order to wring from the
Turkish Government the firman which RUSSIA
interfered to resist.

The part which ENGLAND has taken in this matter
may not be so easy to define, inasmuch as it would
be difficult to show in what respect we have any
direct interest in the custody of the Holy Shrines,
nor need we concern ourselves in any great degree
whether Greek or Latin priests have thqedvantage
in this particular. It bas, however, been so long
a popular prejudice to view the proceedings of
Russia in reference to Turkey as being designed
for some future inroad upon our East India posses-
sions, that it has become a ruling principle of
British diplomacy, ever since the untoward event
at Navarino, to view all such interference with
suspicion, and therefore the very appearance of the
Russian Ambassador at Constantinople was the
signal of alarm which led • to the immediate call
for a British fleet, although all that was demanded
was the acknowledgment of a claim, the justice of
which we were not prepared to dispute. In an in-

sane fear of the extension of Russian influence at
Constantinople, we were about to become the mere
tool of the French Emperor,and lend ourselves to the
support of a demand which ought never to have
been made, and which was itself an aggression, in
order to gratify the ambition of Louis NAPOLEON
and increase the influence of the Romish Church—
two objects which we ought to be the last to support.
And why has all this been done, and ENGLAND
placed side by side with FRANCE in this unholy
dispute ? It can only be traced to the apprehension
of the -designs of RUSSIA, and the belief that it is
the interest of ENGLAND to maintain the Empire
of TURKEY as the only efficient bulwark for the
integrity of our Indian Empire. If we admit that
the destinies of nations are guided by human fore-
sight, and the progress of mankind the result of
human wisdom, we cculd readily believe that
ENGLAND was justified in protecting, at all hazards,
so important a key to her Eastern trade as the
Empire of Turkey: but we have a right to lock to
a higher fountain of wisdom than the policy of
diplomatists; and therefore we cannot believe, what-
ever appearances may present themselves, that a
Mahommedan nation can be maintained by a
Christian state, however necessary its existence may
appear to be. From the time when JOHN SOBIESKI
was the defender of Christian Europe against the
Infidel Turks, the followers of MA HOMET have
been decreasing in numbers and importance. For
years past the Empire of TURKEY has grown
rapidly weaker from inherent decay ; and much as
we may dread the designs of Russia, our Christian
faith compels us to believe that that of the Moslem
must become utterly extinct, and TURKEY no
longer remain the only exception to at least the
nominal Christianity of Europe. Such a result no
human power can avert, and it is folly to attempt
it; but it does not, therefore, follow that we are
to submit to the extension of Russian domination,
which we have so much interest to prevent. The
Russian Government has not shown itself so
anxious to resort to hostilities as some parties have
been so desirous to make it appear; much may be
done by pacific negotiations ; but if we needlessly
seek a cause of quarrel, we shall but precipitate the
catastrophe we wish to avoid.

THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA,
AND ITS ABUSES.

THE announcement by the Government of their
intention to introduce a Bill this session for con-
tinuing the Government of India, for a lengthened
period, upon a mere modification of the present
system, has excited more than ordinary attention to
this important subject. So long as the peculiar
powers exercised by the East India Company were
based upon a legal charter, granted for a definite
period, there was no disposition to interfere with
the privileges of the potentates of Leadenhall-street ;
but a proposal from the Government to renew
those privileges puts the question upon quite a
different footing. It is almost a matter of surprise
that the administration of affairs in India has not
long since excited more of public attention than it
has hitherto done, and been made the foundation
of a grievance by those restless legislators who are
never better satisfied than when they have something
to grumble at. It is not for want of magnitude
of the interests at stake, for the population of our
Indian empire is at least four times as great as that
of the United Kingdom ; nor could it in because
there was no room for improvement, for a cloud
of witnesses might be brought to prove the con-
trary. Still, whatever might have been the cause,
the management of this vast appanage of the
British Crown, with the exception of the acquisition
of the territory of Lahore and the desultory war in
Burmah, has aroused very little of public discus-
sion. It is time, however, that the British Legis-
lature should be aware of the vastness of the interests
upon which it will have to decide, and the hea% y
responsibility of deciding hastily where the issue
is so important. Were it not for the simple fact
that the controul over this magnificent territory
has been, from its first acquisition, nominally vested
in the East India Company, it would be difficult to
imagine that the British Government would consent
to the delegation of powers of such magnitude to
an association of private individuals. The only
check has been the right of veto on certain of the
major details by the Board of Controul ; but the
immense amount of patronage and all the minor
parts of the system—which contribute, perhaps, in
the greatest degree to the results—are at the will of
the East India Directors, who, in this respect,
' possess a power not inferior to the highest offices
in the Home Government. Had this plan worked
successfully—had the resources of India been de-
veloped to anything like the extent which might
reasonably have been anticipated, and our power in
the East been proved the means of ameliorating the
condition of above a hundred millions of the
heathen population, reduced to subjection by the
force of arms—the wisdom of a change of system
might have been questionable. The results, how-
ever, are far otherwise. India, which should form
by far the largest market for our exports, consumes
only to the extent of Ten Millions a year; and a
country which, in its days of Pagan rule, maintained
many princes in barbaric splendour, can now barely
pay the expenses of its Christian rulers. It may
not be chargeable upon the East India Directors
that each man has only his own interest to serve,
and that the whale system is but a scramble for
individual gain ; but it is clear that with the
patronage vested in irresponsible persons, who have
to take advantage of an elevation gained with diffi-
culty, incompetent persons are placed in offices of
trust, and the interests of the whole are subordinate,
' if not absolutely sacrificed, to the private ends of
these nominees. Whenever the affairs of India
have been commented on by those who have had
opportunities of observation, without being in the
interest of the Company, it has been shewn that
the whole object of the system of Government
appears to be to give value to the patronage of the
Directors, without the slightest reference either to
the improvement of the population of India or to
render it a source of permanent advantage to the
trade of this country. So long as India yielded
sufficient to pay the salaries of the officers and the
dividends to the holders of stock, nothing
more was required ; and every step that has been
made in advance, such as the promotion of rail-
ways, has merely been as a precaution against the
increasing inadequacy of the revenue to meet the
expenditure.
Let us suppose, however, that all this was
altered ; that the Governor was the direct nominee
of the Crown, and responsible as any other colonial
governor for the efficient performance of his duties;
that his council and other subordinate officers were
also appointed by the Crown ; and that the whole
system of government was under the direction of,
and immediately responsible to, the Executive at
home, and liable to be freely discussed by the
Legislature ; England might furnish a host of
efficient men for the performance of the several
duties required, who have now no opportunity,
because they have no friends among the magnates
of Leadenhall-street. The resources of India
might be made available to render us independent
of America for cotton and of China for tea; and the
perseverance and enterprise of the Saxon race,
unrestrained by the chilling and baleful influences
of favouritism, which now prevents all corn petition,
might soon render this mighty empire in the East,
with its fine climate and unlimited comman rl of
labour, a market for our products exceeding all
our exports, and a means of employment for our
mercantile marine, which would be continually
extending. If India were opened to our country-
men as freely as Australia, under no other ensign
than the British flag, Liverpool would have to
increase her docks in order to accommodate the
East Indiamen which would leave the port
freighted with English goods to return loaded
with the riches of the East : but little improvement
can be hoped for so long as the administration of
our rule in India is at the dictation of the twenty-
four individuals known as East India Directors;
who, from the temporary nature of their tenure,
cannot be expected to have any other object than
the advantage of the present time, without any
reference to the interests of the future.
The opportunity is now afforded for effecting a
very desirable alteration, owing to the period for
which the charter of the East India Company was
last renewed soon drawing to a close ; and yet,
notwithstanding the reasonable demands upon
the Government to postpone the question
for a year, in order that a committee of inquiry
may bring their investigation to a close, and any
proposed system for the future receive that careful
consideration to which it is entitled, they have
avowed their determination to bring in a Bill
during the present Session, to continue nearly all
the abuses which now form the subject of such

,r, „*, J
t ig
~1 7J, , -II vi
1r