The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. In the cause of Truth and Justice we strive. TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 1871.

Westport Times, Volume V, Issue 847, 8 August 1871, Page 2

The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. In the cause of Truth and Justice we strive. TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 1871.

The unqualified demand of Prince Gortschakoff, as soon as the tide of war had set in so strongly against France, for the abrogation of the treaty ofllßs ftf t furnished ground for the belief that the termination of hostilities between .France and Germany would be immediately followed by the hostile movement of Eussia upon Turkey. Everything combined to render such an event probable. The fact of a secret treaty having been concluded between Prussia and Eussia, together with the close terms of intimacy existing between the reigning monarchs of each country, rendered it probable that Prussia would interpose no obstacle to her neighbour's aggressive policy; while the overthrow of the power of Prandfe removed the only impediment to Russian encroachment upon the Black Sea and Central Asia. These predictions have been signally falsified. Not that Eussia has changed her policy or desires less than formerly

to extend her dominion in Southern Europe, but it would appear that she has met with opposition in a quarter whence it could least have been expocted. It is true that certain modificationa of the treaty were made at the sitting of tbo conference, but it is very doubtful whether Russia sought for a peaceful solution of the difficulty. The tenor of the Russian demand, the arbitrary tone in which it was put forth, and the time of making it, showed unmistakably that Russia was prepared rather to appeal to : arms than to leave the matter to the arbitration of diplomacy. Scarcely, however, had the demand been made, ah'd the reply of Earl Granville received than the Russian pretensions abated; f the increase of her armament on the Ottoman frontier ceased; the attempts by Russian emissaries to stir up the niimerious Greek portion of the Sultan's subjects were discontinued for the time being; and Russia assured the European powers that her demands were limited to such matters only as might well be considered in a moderate and equitable spirit. Outward manifestations of goodwill towards Turkey followed the threatening of her frontiers by large bodies of troops. A change so sudden and remarkable can only be accounted for by the assumption that the foreign policy of the German nation was opposed to Russian aggression—in Europe, at least; and we cannot overestimate the astuteness which, for the purpose of attaining German unity, has so signally sueeeeded in deceiving two Powers who at the fitting opportunity might, perhaps, easily have arrested the movement. On the one hand, France was induced to remain inactive during the contest with Austria, which quickly culminated in the victory of Sadowa and the retirement of the latter Power from her position as recognised head of the German nation. Tho inducement held out to France to permit Prussian ascendancy was the understanding that certain modifications of the existing frontier would be permitted, giving France additional territory in the Rhine Provinces. The non-fulfilment of this implied promise, according to the terms of the Benedetti treaty, rendered war at any moment imminent between the two Powers, only requiring such a pretext to kindle into flame, as was afforded by the Hohenzollern candidature. It is not improbable that the neutral policy adopted by Prussia during the Crimean war, and her passive acquiescence in the aggressive designs of Russia in the East greatly influenced the latter Power during the late war. In permitting the humiliation of France and consolidation of Germany, Russia saw only the overthrow of a Power whose foreign policy was antagonistic to her own, and the increased strength and influence of an ally. The course of recent events would show that Germany is far from indifferent to Russian projects, and that she has already assamed an attitude of watchfulness. It can readily be conceived that Germany would not willingly allow the mouths of the Danube—forming the great commercial outlets of her southern territories—to fall into the hands of a foreign military power; yet this was one of the designs contemplated by Russia, and is absolutely necessary to the disintegration of European Turkey by that Power.