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rft1q. t w1.,5:4 i .:1.1 ,.,-,11(1: 111,. lAIMWOrSili:rialtith*haugsi eVaretneelptseent 01)1-eminent is the bip tidithit Joan,. - teeStlinatOi lite OtinflOpportunities, and 9'""" 1" ti"0""thief 41141441i OM- " Man 'instances ejsayeeonwto oum - wileage.,w jell imuyinee us that Lord Derby

"1114416' taelleito 'theltry best intentions, 'but we all knee

wberse a pavenserit 0 ., j'inftitefrical will belp a Cabinet to go to The Premier has surepede'd e T iheral Vinistry ; he and his col- leagues seem to thinktit necessary ttintrthey should adopt the istanner of that iMinistry, ■ andfpreserveetlui traditions rot:Downing • lAtilibeds they ha' .'he th'established1M; the 1\ hiq9. It is true

ili.S4tei.d. Malluesbtii'Y tO ecirreet the Palmerston course with :r0eeettee ti the French Conspiracy Bill, but that wps considered

as an 'exceptional blunder inthe conduct of the late Cabiliet. It is true, also, that Lord Maltheaniry did a littlu more than Lord Palimrston did in Nopha, in getting out the English engineers ; but that really was inffr.6.easy-than Lord Palmerston made it ap- pear, It is true,,,agniiii.:itha,t the:greatest 'doubts hang over the .rnmoirsrespeotingeobmpaot alliancesewitir France, to .prosecute, ' 'fIlf.'ekallnPle, 'Certain Cleirn in Central'Aineritel'e'but stilt .fri 'the ,in Lord MalincsburY and his eldef *appear to thiiilc. thernseIeSs bound to maintain the stot as tjao as -it was left them by the Whigs.,

, . -

• ..: sil;AwTtheeestahlished .policy was alevase,e4a1geepus, because it , wisslit grandequivocation. - Thee LiberaleGoveranient was for ever Pretending to act upon principles which it Wax compelled, to pro- fess at home, while Its deed.e ,abroad wereesha.ped-by, the prin- ciples of allies:anything but Liberal. Ilenee, the foreign policy of this country has been a 'perpetual cheat,- in-which the English people was to be deluded by its Executive for the advantage of foreign accomplices. And the danger was two-fold, in the chance of a sodden discovery by the British' people, -which might' being laineutable;consepienees; and in the more imminent chance 'that our statesmen would misappropriate the power and, resources of this country, its sikserving purposes actually' hostile to our Eng- Iish. feelings and interests. Within tie: laSt few years "the Eu- ropean system," as it is called, is becoming constantly more un- tenable for English statesmen and more repugnant to 'English feeling, .while the' complications now begin to threaten an actual

explosion. _ .Yet the mischievous consequences of thus blindly following in a set course are neither prospective, nor 'infrequent, nor unimpor- tant. Our present Ministers have made it a merit that they have -not :contemplated any attempt at changing the relation of the Ionian Republic and the protecting state, Great Britain; but what have they gained by that waiver Of a splendid opportunity :

Mr. 'Gladstone has been well received iii Corfu because he is a 'very distinguished man, he delivers himself with fluency and grace in Italian, his eloquence is calculated to conciliate, and the ordinary courtesy of men holding any kind of position towards an illustrious foreigner was in his case stimulated by personal esteem and the peculiar character of his mission. No sooner, however, is it understood that his inquiries do not extend to any radical change in the relation between the Ionian Islands and this country than the feeling of dissatisfaction, which had preceded his arrival and, called for it, is renewed. Our Ministers have evidently put the negative upon Sir John Young's suggestion under the impres- sion that they could not attempt to overrule or alter the settle- mentof Europe made at a general conference of the Powers. The starting-point in the foreign policy of this country by the esta- blished authorities in " both great parties of the state" is that "the balance of power" must be kept up by maintaining the settlement of 1815; and as Mr. Gladstone expresses it, "a higher authority" was needed than the Government of this country to modify the Protectorate of the Ionian Islands. The Times, 'somewhat cavalierly, assumes the negative of the official assump- tion; but one prejudgment is no better than another. We doubt, indeed, whether the settlement of 1815 can be binding on this country, since every Power which was a party to that settlement has broken it, with the doubtful exception of ourselves. Our leading contemporary again assumes that although others broke the law,' we must observe it, and we certainly agree that England can never plead the irregularities of others' tojustify her in dis- obeying an existina. law. But in the first place, let us ask, what is the law ? Let it 'be ascertained what is the,actual state of the treaties of 1815, or of those which have flowed from them.' Do they still exist ? Have they not been repealed do facto by the subsequent legislation of the Powers, with or without ow-concur- -mum? These are questions not to be settled in the Boarish of a Tien, either by editor or official; they demand grave inquiry; and it would need the resources of a Foreign Office to Ove a well de- fined, authentic, and positive reply to the questiou. But it is an inquiry which should be instituted, and satisfied', before any re- ference can be made to the treaties of 181'5,'in order either to enforce them, or to admit that they are co • leery Upon us.

?in Of one great fact there can4ot be the sl"i test doubt. The ar- rangement of 1815 wasin many respects, lade against the opinion

ilif itild ldtirye.'''Uird ''ekstleriligh agreed tO 0404414101

.

11'1yerma9keomYkdg$4.A4, eAehf4e.,,ether VicuiPotoliti;eliono14 ikiengrese,al- Vienna, - The so 05510115 were tionle.rwitle la I vievinto ,thapeocie Of. Earopti, to-tlia,40stgtution of nioinitehies whighvivad 'been disturbed, anal to thCperitianetit exclnsion of a partittl 'dynasty: Well-, what has happened ':. The reeler, it moinkh s ;have been, aboliehed, ,the proealabeeIelyety As it1.4.ii resteriel,liuid 1 thp.peaw-ol. Europe has been:Iowa -to hieve • been, establizilsulam an insecure baisis. But the obligation of •treatice 'is reciproimil ; i and When events themselves have set aside the letter of treats, ' 1 it were:idle and (Iniietie fey a Power like Enolend to CI' roltto 1 ' outworn,. etipulatieue which the seer, of the world has roe . flit treaties er 1615 were ein,ttee t,AI and combined wieli,each -other to establish .a particular arraiwinent : that arrangemeint no , longer xi't's, and is no longf'r possible. lb o the tonciue snpefote ? 1 1'11,: wry purpose of. the tr,,ttv has has ,'d ;Lwav anit Alas ■ done so through: nu default of 1.,1S C0l1111.1',. On Vic conitracy,ioi : all States, we:berth-the 'noel; implicitly anti faithfully ebseii,e4 our 'compacts, . But since it is ituposeible,to nit:int:Lin arrangements which have aetually been destroyed and enneelted for ever, yile;is , simply misehi, veils and futile to waste eur :eller:iv • in wertliWss ; objeas!foiethepurpose ot,nannitnining ilpf /1 only Or that ebeeiete .turengeineut.- :Tie: maintAaiance o fa eusideary l'olaittl w as as inach an objee,t of tli‘ arrangement of 1813 as the maintenance ei,lthis

• ' Ion ift ii 'Protect orate. - '

;Nor is there .any presentereasoe why England eheuldinorietiolize a reactionary canseevatiSm in the Levant. 0.1 all Puwers.,it,'Ilvegd he supposed that Russia, would :he the must:jealous. oi.Any'British encroachment in the neighbourhood ot"r urkey ; yet, under an ab- solute monarchy, the eine(st iseti4,e:RieSsian paper, the ..Vorthent Ill"' conies forth with.aedistinet sanctiowof the prepped to.tratis- fer the 'Ionians to Greece, retaining for Ehgland Corfu ac It station. The commerce of England, says our IIINsiiin enn • rary, needs tin: retention of . that con.venitaiee ohich she- ' Nogy has .had in Corfu, while it would facilitate an aequiescaince,totbe wishes of the creeks; for the Cornetts even might migrate* neighbouring islands. This is the view put forward bY Re if n Young, and accepted very generally by the publieeof this. We set) thatitis not unwelcome even in Russia, The case of Ionia is peculiarly noticeable, -because it:, the first opportunity for initiating what we bavddr. sound policy for this country. We have admitted' tilt be neither conscientious nor wise for Engi ' q, tied draw from her general treaty compacts witb: -. ' drawal might be itself a signal for revolution

he the to with- nice the w ith- anarchy ; but for her to anudunce the principle that else intended by safe and opportune degrees to resume a more indepeadont •position, would

be the sole path towards ultimately attaining That position, and it

would instantly restore to her a degree of moral power and of po- litical influence which she has forfeited by subserviency to an ab- solutist majority in the, conclaves which dispose of Europe. In Ionia she had a simple ease and a clear opportunity, and we see that the great rower who might be regarded as her worst op- ponent is very likely to give a ready assent.

But the state of the Continent in other quarters shows that we cannot much longer safely or advantageously remain "mixed up" with the proceedings of Governments that share neither our prin- ciples nor our interests. Everyday renders the maintenance of peace in Italy more difficulty. We have already spoiled our posi- tion as the ally of Sardinia and the Constitutionists. If we wcre to interfere at the moment, we might merely serve the purpeac of the Mazzinians, and occasion anarchy, to end in neeetion. We are complicated by our equivocating condonathon of Neapolitan crimes ; we are entangled in an unintellig,rible French alliance ; and we cannot wantonly break with our old ally of Austria. But we can stand aloof; and we can wait until that hour when the state of the conflict and the relations of the several parties to it, shall enable us to understand how we may intervene with the greatest benefit to Italy and to the principles in which we believe.

The present state of Europe can in no degree claim 1:4) stand upon prescription; the key to the actual situation, is imperial France, and the situation itself has become, like its master, par- venu. It is not the less embarrassing or precarious. The very latest prognostics even if the present week may not on the surface be so menacing as the manifestoes of the Colonels, but they are scarcely less suspicious. It is not necessary to ascribe any special anti-Anglican malevolence to the Emperor Napoleon. But he stands in a situation of which he may not always be the master. Already his Ministers can only rub on by a process of delusion. The latest report of the Finance Minister carries in its roseate ap- pearance, a confession that the French Government cannot permit the simple truth to be seen. According to the Finance Minister, the revenue of the year 1860 will be extremely favourable ; he will then have an opportunity of increasing the pay of the officials —that vast army ; and still "the equilibrium will be maintained. Indeed he calculates upon "a surplus of 800,0001. applicable to the sinking fund." But this is only the aspect of 1860 to the vision of the Finance Minister in 1858; awl the golden-threaded veil may hide some serious delusions. M. Magne talks of the new capital of the Bank of France ; the new capital being in sub- stance a newly created government loan,—a newly created stock on the strength of which government becomes virtually partner with the Bank. He mentions "the dotation of the army "; a pleasing phrase, which means, as our contemporary the Con- tinental Review explains, that the government undertakes to find

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