The Globe. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1877.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 1005, 14 September 1877, Page 2

The Globe. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1877.

The announcement that the Czar in person is at the head of the army, making the attack on Plevna, is sufficient to prove the well-nigh hopeless pf Russia in Bulgaria. Defeat posit. ~ i»eeult in the total collapse here woula - ~ ~ <• ,t . . "ntj south or the or their operatm ,•, , A Danube, tor this season • glance at the position of the op L w P armies will show this. Whether from

unpreparedness, or for strategical reasons, the Turks allowed the Russian commanders to divide and thus weaken their forces. At one time, it appeared as if the passage of the Balkans was to. be made without any effort on the part of the Russian leaders. A considerable force was allowed to get through the passes, and then when, the armies of the Czar were widely scattered, a sudden change took place in the movements of the Turks, from three different points —east, west, and south —the armies of the Sultan began to act on the offensive. On the east Mehemet Ali has time after time inflicted severe defeat on his opponents, and threatens to cut the Russian communication with Sistova, the point on the Danube from which their supplies are drawn. On the west Osman Pasha has been equally active. Should be succeed in drawing the Russians from their position in front of Plevna, to all appearance nothing can avert the total collapse of the Russia cause, Oo the south, at

the Shiplia Pass, Sulieman Pasha has been fighting with equal determination, and although he has been unable to dislodge the Russians from their position in the Balkans, has effectually prevented any further attempt to cross them. If the enemy succeed in holding their position, it is all they can expect to do The Russians are therefore in this position. Their main army is encamped some distance south of Sistova. On the west the army of Osman Pasha is making every effort to hem them in. On the east, Mehemet Ali and Eyoub Pasha have been so far successful that the siege of Eustchuk has been abandoned. Should the battle which according to last accounts was raging at Plevna result in even a drawn one, the Russian position must indeed be dangerous. The Pall 2)[all Gazette, of J uly 20th, has an interesting article on what the war promises tor Russia. At that date there was every appearance of success for her arms in Europe, but notwithstanding our contemporary predicted utter bankruptcy as the result of the campaign, “If tlxe destruction of Turkey seems good to Ruisia,” says our contemporary, “ the ruin of Russia, may seem convenient to some other powers. And the long and the short of it: is, that Russia is now in such a position that to advance farther on the path of conquest is to give not mere pretexts, but sound reasons, for a sort of intervention which would compel her to send her troops bootless home (with the bills to pay and no money to pay them with), or to resist, with military discomfiture as a certain consequence. That, we say, is how Russia stands now, and a very pretty position it is. She is in the midst if a struggle which, for aught that the wisest and most knowing of her Minister’s can tell, may be made the occasion of striking her out , pro tern., of the number of (Treat Powers. We do not say it will be so; but Russia has no security in the world against it, nor is there any help for her should the necessities and policies of certain Powers resolve them to sei/e the opportunity she has presented them with. And even at the best, we can sec no probability, as we have said before, that she will be permitted to push the war so far as to give her what she seeks by conquest, nor that she will be allowed to take advantages by treaty of peace that will leave her better off in Turkey than the Powers who have done none of the fighting. Altogether, then, it seems to us that the position of Russia is extremely dubious, and may easily become desperate. And the expulsion of her troops from Asia is not likely to mend matters. It seems to render conquest in Europe absolutely necessary ; but it is precisely here that conquest is most perilous to her and most illusive.”