NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THY principal event in the progress of the war is the conclusion and publication of the convention between the Governments of France and England. Enveloped in a cloud of reports, false and exaggerated, the substantial achievements in the theatres of action appear to be very few.
Five prizes, or more, have been seized by the British ships in the Baltie—merchantmen, apparently. Prince Menschikoff has c• certain posts from the Circassian shore
succeeded in withdrawing of the Black Sea—so, at least, says the Invalide Busse; but the date of the transaction is old—the 4th of March, and the nature of the manoeuvre is most likely exaggerated. On the Danube, both sides appear to be engaged rather in sustaining the positions they have taken up than in any more active operations. Five thousand of the allied troops are reported as having arrived at Gal- lipoli. These are the more important facts or reports. Gossip makes much of the circumstance that the Duke of Cambridge, after stopping an unexpected time in the enjoyment of Imperial hospitality at Paris, has gone to Vienna—" to negotiate," says idle surmise ; as if the officer who revelled with unconcealed exulta- tion in the tremendous duty of keeping London streets during the Wellington funeral, and whose latest promotion has been to the Presidency of Christ's Hospital, would be intrusted with nego- tiations of the kind suspected! With respect to the convention, the important fact is' as we have stated, its conclusion and publication ; for the general tenour was well known before. The two Governments bind themselves to strive for the restoration of peace on a permanent basis, secured against those dangers which have hitherto disturbed general peace; to combine their military and naval forces ; to accept no separate proposition for the termination of hostilities without joint com- munication ; and to take no exclusive advantage in the results which may follow the present contest. Although the general cha- racter of the convention was known when the draught was first sketched out, and although its main objects were known even at an earlier time, it was necessary, before final ratification, to bestow great care upon the collateral and auxiliary arrangements, so as to include all that was really intended, and not to leave loopholes for misunderstandings, or suggestions for purposes not actually contemplated at the time. The difficulty is attested by the delay notwithstanding the diligent consideration bestowed upon the work. Thus far the two Governments have proceed- ed, as our Ministers have publicly announced, with a real in- dependence of view, but with complete harmony. It might be easy for statesmen appreciating the generous purpose which unites two such great states to arrange the main line of a combined course ; but the active alliance of the two countries is so recent— the general character of their objects heretofore had been so dif- ferent—the institutions, the genius of the people, are so dis- tinct—that to arrange the details, without giving rise to friction, if not something worse through pressing too hard upon etiquette or national sensibilities, was necessarily a labour of much delicacy and intricacy. However simple the text may appear on finally issuing from the hands of its authors, as- suredly the work of arranging all that fell within the scope of its even bald-looking expressions has been neither simple nor facile. The comparatively late conclusion of this treaty, notwithstanding the desire to complete it and the diligence devoted to it, will help to explain some other delays. It is evident that many subsidiary a ts, and even the movements of persons high in office, wad have to await the completion of this basis for joint action; And those who are irritated by the apparent slowness of one Go- vernment or the other may discover in this incident an example only of the reasons which, if they could be fittingly stated, would go far to explain any appearance of procrastination.
