NEWS OF THE WEEK.
RUSSIA is holding back from the fulfilment of the treaty of Paris, in a manner that occasions open uneasiness even in the unexoittble quarter. of Downing Street. It seems that there are several points on which the pledged faith of Russia is believed to have been broken, but they are principally three. The fortresses of Ismail and Reni have been destroyed, although they were • -comprised in the territory ceded to Moldavia. The Russians • have partly demolished the fortifications of Kars, and have delayed the evacuation of that place, of which the evacuation was to be "as prompt as possible." They occupy the Isle of Serpents in the Black Sea, off the Danube mouths.
These violations of faith are aggravated by the excuses. The Russians, it seems, allege that they supposed themselves to have the right of disposing of the property constructed by themselves, so long as they retained possession of the territory. But this plea is false : at the sitting of the Paris Conference of March 8, Baron Brunnow advanced a proposition in which he introduced the suggestion that Russia should be at liberty "to raze the forts of Ismail and Beni " ; but the proposition was instantly rejected by Count Walewski, as a "material departure from the very bases of negotiation." Russiathe.refore always intended to raze those forts. The excuse for the non-evacuation of Kars is, that the Allies had not retired from the Crimea : but the Russian Plenipotentiaries, as well as the treaty, promised that their evacuation should be "as prompt as possible," while the Allies stipulated for six months to effect the evacuation of the Black Sea. The Isle of Serpents, say the Russians, is not named for surrender in the treaty ; the whole force and spirit of which was to drive Russia back from the territories of Turkey, her forts from the shores of the Black Sea, her authority from the Danube. This seems to have been the act which has roused the indignant surprise of our officials.
