NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE Times of Tuesday printed in large type an article on "England and the Powers," from "a French correspon- dent." The article points out that the visit of the French fleet to Portsmouth formally dissociates England from the Triple Allia.nce. " By this visit to Portsmouth, following imme- diately the visit to Cronstadt, England resumes again her absolute independence; she ceases to subject her will to that of any other nation ; she takes neither the place of a fourth in the alliance of the three Powers, nor of a third in the alliance of the two. She thus has a free hand, and remains an independent and consequently formidable spectator, having acquired the right of pronouncing her quos ego, and of making it heard." Farther, we are told that "the day that England asked for the privilege of receiving in her ports a French fleet, she effected the cleverest stroke in the domain of European politics that has been witnessed during the last twenty-one years." With the main idea of all this we entirely agree,— namely, that England never has been bound to the Triple Alliance, and that France understands as much. Still, it cannot be said to be a very great piece of news. When, how- ever, the writer declares : " Henceforth, whatever faction governs England, it cannot remain neutral at the threat of a war, and no nation would dare to engage in a conflict without knowing beforehand to which side England will incline,"—we cannot agree. The notion that it is necessary for us to take a side appears to us purely mischievous. We must fight to protect our own, or even to arrest a great calamity to the world, but not merely because other people are fighting.
