PUBLIC OPINION IN ST. PETERSBURG.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2938, 16 July 1878, Page 2

PUBLIC OPINION IN ST. PETERSBURG.

"W.H.L." writes:—"At the present juncture you may think the enclosed extracts worth printing. They are part of » communication I hare received from a friend in St. Petersburg who has resided there as a merchant for many jjpta (and who expresses, J have no doubt, ctue feeling of the English colony in tliat capital: • We are here in a painful state ot; suspense, and ruin is staring us in'ttie face." < Tlie people seem to be beyond the control of all considerations but ambition and national aggrandisement. Austriais to be., broken up and "annexed," and Europe - will be compelled . t0.,. bow down to Russian supremacy. A nation of 70 millions, it is said, can furnish an unlimited supply of men for the army, and as for money, paper notes can be manufactured to any amount. . . "". No one seems to care for the future of the conntry, which will certainly be ruined in ft financial sense. But the spirit of gambling has reached such a pitch that no con-; sidcrations as to cost will moderate the warlike spirit which is abroad. . . . . The entourage of the Emperor is said to .. flatter him with the idea that he is invincible—that he is the chief Power in the world,-.and his will a law to all other Powers. The religious element also in the crisis is brought continually to the front, and you know how fanatical the Sussiau common people are. No efforts' have been spared to ■ excite their religious fervour It is now as it was in the Crimean War. The Engi . lisli here are at present in sijch bad odour that they have to keep themselves. . . , , It will probably end in there being not one ' Russia, but several. Should bankruptcy . come, which seems likely, there will be such a revolution as has not been seen for generations. This is acknowledged by the ; more far-seeing and moderate of the Russians tb,pw»elvei.' "—Times.