Washington sentinel. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1855, 1854-04-18
THE WAR IN THE EAST.

The information received by the recent ARR
vals from England inform us that Great Brit.
ain, France, and Turkey are now engaged in
open war with the Russian empire. The par
ticulars connected with this momentous fact
will be found in the news columns of our jour
nal But there are considerations connected
with this conflict Of arms which the people Of
the United States should ponder without preju.
dice or passion, and in a spirit Of serious deib-
Grafton.
The European war does not take us by sur
prise, for we regarded it as inevitable, even be
fare the first number of the Sentinel was issued.
C.uses have for q long time been at work which
could not, in the ordinary course of human
events, fail to produce the state Of things which
we now witness For many years, even from
the time Of Peter the Great, it has been
apparent that Russia coveted Constantinople,
and desired to carry her power towards India
A mere glance at the map will show that neither
England nor France could permit the conquest
of Ccnstantinople without placing most impor.
taut interests in imminent peril. Therefore it
i, that the old enemies now appear as friends
in close and intimate alliance. With the Rus
sian firmly established at Constantinople, Glib
raltar no longer commands the Mediterranean,
formidable power is stationed on the road to
India, whilst Algeria is cut off from France, If
the Emperor Of Russia wills it.
Thus far the sympathy Of the American
people has been warmly enlisted in the behalf
Of Turkey, because she was oppressed by q
greater power. That sympathy has extended
to the English and French alliance which sus-
tains Turkey. But we entertain hardly a doubt
that there will be reaction; for we believe
that the Alliance will not coniine itself to the
maintenance of the Ottoman empire, or its
operations to the shores of the Black sea
and the Baltic. Already intimalions have been
thrown out from high sources in England which
justify serious apprehensions on this side of the
Atlantic. We would, therefore, urge our citi-
gems to be cautious and circumspect Our true
policy is to keep aioof from European strifes and
free from European entanglernents. Whether
that can be accomplished is the great question
which is to be solved.
1t may be that we will not be permitted to
remain strictly neutral. Thus far the determi-
nation of the allies not to issue letters Of
inarque and to forego the right Of search, is
authoritatvely stated to be only temporary.
If our citizens should engage in prvateer.
ing. they will, Of course, prey on the English
and French commerce, for Russia has no com.
merce within their reach. This fact may in
duce, and we fear will induce, England and
!. France to be unjust to us, and revive the
odious idea of the fright Of search which
France repudated under Napoleon the Great,
but which England has never abandoned, and
does not now propose to abandon; so that it
is plain that there is abundant reason to fear
that we may be entangled in the eastern war,
and many circumstances which make it almost
certain that, if we are SO imprudent as to
become entangied in that war, we viii find
ourselves in opposition to France and England.
There il always danger when any nation
has TO lean on foreign support. When the
wooden horse was about TO be introduced into
Troy, the priest Of Jupiter declared that he
feared the Greeks even when Offering pres.
ents. We trust most earnestly that the Sultan
may not be forced, by the acts Of his allies,
to remember the words Of LAGOON We trust
that England and France will content them
selves with protecting their own interests by
upholding the integrity Of the Ottoman EN-.
pire against most unjust invasion. If they
do that, the sympathy Of christendom will 20
with them, and the applause Of Christendom
will greet them when the work is finished.
But there is a strong probability that the
Enxlish and French alliance win last longer