26 AUGUST 1854, Page 12

,TO_PICS OF THE DAY.

ITTI-I;r (tie:fennel deaaeaticiti ofirwer. against Russia,, the primary obiegg ofEtirtipeaninterventionwas,to,ejeot4he invader feoni tho Psinbipalitiee ;aaJOjeat to be agoompanied„no, doubt, by a prae-, Una hor to the imscetion of-tlictse: privileges uf internal interferenee. itaurkey which Russia eonatrued heneelf to poesess. ,Whe tenors now laid dowst vts the bases-uf!pegetietion for pence eisnipriae the depsivation.oft the .Ituesiaa protector* over Wal-_ lacbio,,Moldavia„ mid Servia ; the free .navigation of the DanuiSSis theirovision ef the treaty of 1841, to redress the.lielance of pewees and theiextiuctienuftlie exclusive Russian prottotorate of -Chris,

tangy-in Tarkey.. • . ; .• • - . -Abusiheve the conditions extended within ,eix months. ..Attlie commencement, the retreat of Russia, with a better understanding; respecting the Christian subjects of the Porte, would have been a sufficient condition.-of pee:., now, before, a blow, has been struck, tkosr13,XellangeAl notes of the Three .Powers lay down the bases ,of wotiatiens for peace on terms that involve the deprivation ef privileges Which Russia hits,beld, a restraint of her power in the, Euxine, and.an admission of Turkey to the European system. Theee are the bases agreed on by the Three Powers as the coii

ditions upon which they would commence the Jot. But if in six months between the declaration of War an]. tJsq atriking of the first blow by the Allies in Turkey, the terms have thus enlarged, what limit can we assign to the actual condi- tions of peace, which the T,hree Powers, or any of them, may be disposed and able to exact from Russia in the end? What limit can -we presumekr the field to be ultireately occupied by the war P. It will be observed, however, that the principles of the terms for the negotiation_ of peace are the same as_ those for the ex- pulsion of Russia from the Piincipalities at the ceinteencenient of the dispute. They. involve &respect for equity between state and state, as between individuals ; the cultivation of a better Under- standing between states which are able to give expression to their wishes; and the enforcement of a common law to restrain any in- dividual state. which* capriciously proposes to substitute its own will for the general consent . If it is. iinpossible 'to set limits to the extension of the war or the terms of the peace, it is impossible to define the relations in which, after so general a commotion, the different states of Europe may stand to each other. But the prin- ciples of the terms upon which the Four Powers insisted when the dispute began are the same with those upon which the Three Powers insist when the quarrel grows hotter; and they are suffi- oientto guide any of the states now engaged in the contest through any .complication a that may ensue. When conditions and circum- stances cannot be foreseen, a distinct apprehension of principles beeemes the compass for the guidance of the statesman: They are the international.. gag which will lead. the Allies, 'through every

doubt and peril, to honour. -