M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1855-08-17
From the Washington Union, July 25l
ThC Vienna COmfcTeuCe.

ZIG vienna COnlcfcUcc.
At length, fortunately for the cause
of truth and of Justice, we now have {
clear PERCEPTION Of the authentic his;o
ry ofthe Vienna conference; and W.
feel bound to say that, while the resul
is most honorable to the councils 0
Russia, France, and Austria. it is mos
discreditable to those of England. Ii
order to understand the precise position
, Of things, we must 90 back 20 the com
mencement Of the great controyers!
which now convulses Europe.
When Louis Napoleon was rising o
had Iisin to imperial power. he founC
it for his interest, or perhaps We ough
4 inscantfor to Say in conformety With hi
eonvictions, TO exert himsele' for th'
restoration Of the religious authority o
the Roman See. For this reason ht
maintained at Rome a strong auxiliary
French force, which putdownand stead
lily kept down all revolutionary oppo
sitiUn TO Plus TX II he had stopped
There, il would have been g question be-
tweeA him and the evolutionary inter
ests in Italy; and nothing more. Bat,
acting in tn, same sense, Louis Napo.
leon sought to enlarge the existing priv
Iileges of the Latin Christians in the Le-
want. Those privileges were already
large, and the Roman Catholic powers,
especially France and Austria, possess.
ed, in virtue Of capituIations, all but
unlimited power Of interposition in be-
half of their co reIigionaries in Turkey.
Nevertheless France thought fit to make
a demonstration in their favor, which
consisted in demanding from the Porte
the concession to the Latin Christians
of additional privileges in the enjoy
ment of access 10 the holy sepushre at
Jerusalem. These concessions were ex-
torted from the weakness OF the Porte
by the verbal mendCes Of the French
minister at ConstantinopIe, backed by a
military menane on the part OF the
French feet in the Dardaneles'
This incident, cauSeless in its incep-
ton. and violent in its conduct, con.
slitules the initiation aud the com.
mencement Of all the calamiueS with
which Europe is now oppressed, Fol-
the new privileges, which, under the
terror of a war with France, the Porte
was thus compelled to grant to the La.
tin Christions, were the primary inno-
Sation upon existing facts, and were in
derogation Of the privileges previously
enjoyed by the Greek Christians, There
upon Russic, standing in the same rela-
tion to the Greek Christians that france
did to the Latin Chri5tiaEs, and having
By treaty right to interpose in favor
of the former, though. in far less de-
gree than France had in favor of the
latler-thereupon Russia dispatched
Prince Menschikof to ConstantinopIe
to demand. not new rights for Russia, or
new privileges for the Greek Christians
but a restoration Of the previous equal
| ity between the Greek aud Latin Chris.
tians, which had been disturbed by the
movement Of France, 1t is imputed to
the Russian Minister hat his Geport-
meni on this occasion was particularly
Idisrespectful to the Porte, That is false;
his department ives mild, compared
with the recent action of the French
minister, Lord Slra tGord de Redclilfe -
The truth is, that Austria, Russia,
France, and Great Britain had acquired
the habit, in common, of treating the
Porte with contumely-a habit quite
natural, considering the miserable con
dition of Turkey, which existed only by
reason Of the mutual jealouseS of the
other powers of Europe. At any ate,
Russia and Turkey would then have set.
tied the question amicably between
them, and without difficulty, on this oc-
casion, but for the medliHg of England
and France, who together bUIled the
Porte into refusing satisfaction to Rus
sia, and thus lretting end irritating the
controversy until war ensued between
Russia and Turkey. These are the in
controvertible facts of Tie commence
ment OF the war in Europe. They show
that the germ of trouble was the unwar-
ranta BILE act of France in compelling
Turkey TO innOvaIe on the existing re-
lation Of her Greek aud Latin subjects,
and that the commencement of actual
hostilities was due to their vicious inter
meddling in a question between Turkey
and Russia, and it is by their perseye'
rence in the same policy Of insolent
meddlesomenes in other peoples fairs
that the world is indebted for all those
horrors of carnage and of barbaric out
rage which. under the odiOusly false
lpietext of a mission of civilization and
Of peace, Great Britain and France have
enacted in the Crimea.
Who can forget the long series Of 81
called negotiations in the fist confer
ence of Vienna, in which Frauce and
England labored to impose their own
passions, their own prejudi,es, their own
interests, upon Russia? the naughty
calmness with which Russia baffled and
epelled their absurd attempts 10 con-
troll her action and dictate the policy in
her controversy with the Porte? the long
winded prOtocule of infinite giemarole
and cant with which England and France
sought to cover up their attempted u.s.
urpation of dual dictatorship of Eu-
rope, and which, in moments of thought
less presumption, they avowed a pur-
pose of extending to America. AT
length this first series of negotiation
was brought to head by means of a
proposition drawn up Mr.. Drouyn de
l. L'huys. adopted by Austria, England.
and France. and in their joint name pre-
sented TO Russia and Turkey as a solu.