ENGLISH INTERESTS – A VAN. ISHING POINT.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2818, 25 February 1878, Page 2

ENGLISH INTERESTS - A VAN. ISHING POINT.

(iSB WOILD, DBCBMBCB 5.) '

A noticeable change hat come o?er Ike spirit of the nation's dream in the eo*se of thf la»t fortnight, The pubiip ajM haa substituted a teaaper or aoattpareijft calmness, confidence, and feetgnation for one of anxious misgiving aad raspesjee. Tbe sword which seemed prepared to leap at any moment from iU seaboard it again aeenrely sheathed, and the expectation of the warlike notes which were to wake Downing street with their echoes haa had its fulfilment in tke aweet prolongation of the piping melodies of peace. Lord Be** consfield spoke at the Guildhall. Men were puuled to knew what his patrioto gran<|iloanenea Metded, u4 l^rprete^ bis words in the spin! of their qopea or fears) pacific or njartiaL tn a few data the rery obvious idea began tp tuggeailtt self to plain and practical mind* that, from whatever pout of view it waji looked at, there was not much of definite signifi; pance in the Prime Minister-a "maaifeito/' and that Lord Beaponsfield haft wisely determined tq lie gained byetentf. and to wait upon th.c irresolution of the oountry. The fiery but credulous souli which cherish the illusion that tbe Brine Minister is not only the consummate party

tactician, who has been the saviour or creator of the new Conservatism, but fhe heaven-born statesman whom an admiring nation would allow to plunge it into a war, on imperial grounds, may refuse to recognise the prosaic and humiliating truth. But, a handful of enthusiasts apart, everypne knows perfectly well that the British lion is chained up onco again, and that strict orders-have been given him not to roar. What can it matter to a steady - going people like ourselves whether Russia crushes Turkey, whether the Csafr,annexes' Armenia, aud Mascorite express-trains steam up and down the Talley of tfie great river Euphrates? As regards Constantinople, her Majesty's Ministers still think it necessary to maintain aome shew* of adherence to their original programme. They are not at present prepared to see it fall into the hinds of Russia, But convictions grow rapidly in these days, and it is quite possible that the Cabinet may change its views on the future proprietorship of the Turkish capital as quickly as it is believed to hare done on the navigation of the Turkish straits, and the importance of the British interests involved in Asia Minor.

..There is no reason to believe that pahiicyopihion in England and on tho Continent errs when it declares that*the policy finally adopted by Her Majesty's Ministers is a policy of peace at any price. Bussia may do what she will, and, having torn up treaties, may proceed to throw the fragments in our face and to destroy th«, barriers of empires. But England has no intention of regarding any step that .Russia may. take as a cams belli. There is room ea^njtlt in this small world, for both Powers,land the British Government has at last revised the truth that it would be as insane to go to war to keep the Hussion ironclads out of the Mediterranean as to maintain the power of tho Sultan in Europe; or, for the matter of •that, in Asia. Since troubles in the East first began, the limit at which English interference on behalf of English honor was threatened has been of the nature of a vanishing point. First it was the passage of the Pruth, then of the Danube. Presently it was discovered that we had.no concern with the future of the Principalities—we were an Asiatic even more than a European Power—and that it would be time enough to talk when Armenia was, overrun. Events seemed to prove the wisdom of our attitude. The Turks held their own in Asia Minor, and the alarmists were severely rebuked by the farseeing quietness. Suddenly the aspect of affairs changed. The Bussian arms were once more victorious, and the fall of Xars was. announced. But the ingenuity of her Majesty's Ministers was quite equal to the occasion. It was true we were an Asiatic Power, but that was in the sense of being an Indian Power; and what had Asia Minor to do with India? The Euphrates Valley was not worth talking about; and as long as we had the Sues Canal, we should have everything which we should reasonably want. It would perhaps, have been as well if this had been plainly stated at the outset. It would certainly have placed the Government in a more dignified position at the present moment; but then it would not have given the Prime Minister a chance of indulging his passion for mysterious and magniloquent menace. The course that Lord Beaconsfield has taken is indeed thoroughly characteristic. Those who have studied his views and his career to any practical purpose know that his idea of Government may be summed up in the single phrase, a bo~ called Tbrr Cabinet ruling by public opinion, i The Prime Minister has invariably taken his cue from the democracy which he pretends to lead. He begins with scattering ambiguous voices through the crowd, and ends with acting in strict conformity the reply returned. This is what he and his colleagues have done in the present instance, and it the natural result of that alliance between Toryism and democracy which is christened Conservatism.. Her Majesty's Ministers thought that they might be compelled to 'retort to war; therefore they talked about British interests. They saw that the country was not in favor of war ; therefore they deny that any British interests are concerned. This may not be thought an heroic or a chivalous policy; it is certainly" not the policy which from their i words we might have expected a Conser : vative Cabinet to adopt; but it is exactly, the policy which a Government which has made up its mind to hold office at any cost must necessarily follow. Under tho3e circumstances it is much to be hoped that the Ministerial Press will emulate the Ministerial example, and that we shall shortly cease to witness the edifying spectacle of two or three journals, which have signalised themselves by their *eal to support that Cabinet, goading the ? Cabinet to a course against which it hat •heady declared. Jf we are really on the . eve of a great European crisisj if agencies are now lit work which may jeopardise "the future of the country; if it behoves us to "present a united front" to the evils that are about to come upon us,— then there can be nothing more impolitic or unpatriotic than this reiterated insistence on the need of decisive action when her Majesty's Ministers appear to have/jfotermined that no decisive action is nee£S<L Journalists who love their country wight really engage in some more ennobling task than that of stirring up the British lion, tickling him with tbeir ■teel pens in the most susceptible parts, endeavoring to rouse him to life and wrath by cold douches of blue-black writing fluid when that noble beast has declared in the most empatbic voice that he has no intention of troubling himself, and that he wishes to enjoy a nap. If th.c Government is bent on a course of innotion on the ground that there is no English danger ahead—which is Lord Derby's contention—then the best thing a patriotic Press can do is to preserve a similar tranquility. If British interests are not threatened in the East; "ifajfl talk as to the possible injury of our prestige in India by the Russian annexation of Armenia be idle vaporing, then the sense of alarm which our high-spirited journalists display is not merely useless, but must, when ifc becomes knowp \n the East, be oaldulatied. to produ/qe the feeling of djsreepept which it dreads and predicts. The more calm we can all of us be, the better, Quieta non movers is the motto which her Majesty's Ministers appear to have made their own $ and nqtbing can assuredly he jnoje tp be deprecated than that the exuberant patriots of the Press should set themselves to the task of showing that the practical consequences of the motto .are the doom and decay of England. There i»,-of course, another hypothesis on which the bellicose utterances of Ministerial may be explained, but which peed not now be taken into consideration.