, 1877-10-31

EmndSSleS-the POfte Is SOMEWHAT III Tile
position Of the spoiIt child whose one
parent is under the painful necessity of
counter balancing by, it may be, a little
su perfuous severity what may seem the
per ri, ious indslgeuce of the other. The
role Of the stern but juiicious parent is
just now imptrsona'ed by German dip
lomacy, with a fidelity to the part so con-
scientious as to make the object of
its solitude suspect that the reluctance
to be severe is feigued. One may hope
that the suspicion is Uni ust /; but, In any
case, if the Porte gets from the German
Embassy too much advice which it resents
as sour, it probable gets on this account
from the English Embassy much more than
it would otherwise get of advice that is
sweet. The two influences, in fact, correct
aud supplement- each other, giving the Porte
the opportunity, which 80 few Of US get, of
seeing both its own strong aud its own
weak points. II the German Embassy
says a rufling word about Turkish afro
cities, the English Ambassador is at hand
with a soothing intimation that they are
only reprisaIs provoked by the c~rueities
Of the Russians, If, on the other hand,
the latter is a little too ready to accept
the blockade as effective, the former does
not shrink from the painful duty of point
ing out in what respect the blockade
fails to satisfy the requirements Of Inter
national Law. Prince Reuss Is said to
be JUST now under the painful necessity Of
renewing his representations TO the Porte
that the blockade is lot maintained with
the required impartialjty. Some German
captains have been comp aiming to him
that the passage which is refused to
their ships is accorded to those of
Greek merchants, especially these of
a well known firm. In one notorious
Instance, though this time of somewhat
ancient date, a ship belonging to this firm
was allowed to touch at a RlSsi3n port TO
get fresh butter for the Sultan, and, one
may, perhaps, assume, for the ladies of The
Imperial household. | much doubt,
however, whether nationality has anything
to do with the matter, and whether Ger
man or any other captairs would not run
the blockade quite as easily as the Greeks
if, in the same Cosmopolitan spirit, they
would conform themselves to the customs
OF the country, and recognize the all per.
vading, all-dominating power of backsheeSh,
~ 10 LHtCtCSRlHS W uOL1 VIII villa UuSlEcSS-
like facility, in country too often de-
nounceA as unbusIness-like, the most com
pick machinery is set n mo.ion when the
right oil is rightly applied.
German diplomacy, too, just now has
8notber little difficulty with the P"rte
but am happy to say that in this in-
stance there is no ground for suspecting
that English l%en;ency necessitates German
severity, since England has no concern in
the matter. 1t appears t! at some unlucky
encouragement married the truly humane
conduct of he Turks in having their oil lies,
the Circassian insurgents, removed from
the vengeance Of Russia, at 10 slight out
lay of valuable labour and tine. One
hundred and sixty families are said to havs
been embarked ct Soukoum Kaleh, not
merely without having intimated any ap-
prehensions Of Russian violence, but actu-
ally against their expressed wish. The
matter is complicated by their being
Christians or what is still more embarras-
sing, semi. Christians of an amphibious
character peculiar to those regions, who are
ready to go to church or mosque with per-
feet impartiality. according to the compa-
ny in which taey happen to find themselves
Thus their Christian half may be ignored
by the orthodox Caliph, aud their mussul.