The impression of the public at the close of the
week is that things look more pacific, but there is very little evidence in support of the impression. Sir Stafford Northcote said, on Tuesday, that the danger had not increased, and on Thursday it was reported that a preliminary Conference might be held, but nothing either official or trustworthy has transpired. It is possi- ble, as it always has been, that the Governments of Russia and England may agree to a Congress to revise the Treaty of 1856 in the light of recent events, but there is no proof whatever of -any such agreement. The Times of Friday considers the situation much more satisfactory, but that is no proof. All that is certain is that the moment Parliament had dis- persed, it was announced that 7,000 Native troops had been ordered to Malta, and that the Russian troops in Roumania have been carefully posted en echelon, so as to guard against a sudden cutting of their communications. Neither of those facts indicates war, for both movements may be measures of military precaution, but then no facts as yet known indicate peace, unless it be this one,—that statesmen everywhere are eagerly taking holiday.
