The Demetian Mirror

( From the Weekly Chronicle.) THE EAST. THE last arrivals from the Mediterranean have been fuller, and more interesting, than ,those which pre- ceded them but they do little to remove the obscu- rity, that still hangs over the Eastern Question, or to afford any certainty as to the issue. One thing is clear. The Syrian insurrection is not put down, notwithstanding the revolting atrocities, to which the Egyptian authorities have had recourse in the hope of quelling it,—burning Convents, and Villages,—out- raging the VV omen,massacreingthe Priests,—laying waste whole districts with fire and sword,—and by encouraging a wild fanaticism among their Troops, converting a Political, into a Religious War. Can France forget under these circumstances, that she is throwing her shield over the exterminator of the Christians of Lebanon,—or resist the touching expression of their hopes that they may be allowed to Seek safety under the wing of that Government, which, as compared with the tyranny of the Egyptians, was light, and beneficent, in its dealings with them. At the same time, should France persist in its determination to support Mehemet Ali, we see in this renewal of the struggle in Syria, fresh risks and diffi- culties, to all concerned. We are about to assist the Insurgents with Arms and Ammunition, if not to lend them more effective aid. France may take the same hne with regard to Egypt, without any direct rupture with us but French and English Officers and Troops, will thus be brought into collision with one another. National feeling will be excited on both sides;- National Vanity piqued;—and the Chances of War immeasurably increased. It is some consolation, however, to see amongst our continental neighbours a growing disposition to discuss the question calmly, before they commit themselves by an overt act. The tone of the Parisian press is much less belligerent, and although Monsieur Lamartine's proposal to secure the integrity of the Turkish Empire by subdividing it into minute frac- tional parts, is too imaginative, and poetical, to merit much attention—the arguments, upon which he rests it, (particularly those relating to Syria,) will have their weight. England has no views of territorial aggrandisement in what she is doing. France pro- fesses to have none. Against those of Russia, backed though they be by 200,000 men, the powers that have signed the Quintriple Treaty, would combine, Louis Philippe simply taking the place of Nicholas ;—and, with such an approximation in their ultimate objects, we cannot believe that war is seriously to be appre- • hended, however numerous the circumstances, that may lead to it, although nothing whatsoever is yet known as to the results of the late communications between the King of the Belgians and Monsieur Guizot.

(From the John Bull.) AFTER months of delay, doubt, and conjecture, two important facts are at length visible on the face of the Eastern question-the flagitious conduct of our own Government, and the superior diplomacy of that of Russia. The word "flagitious" can hardly be con- sidered too harsh, or as provoked by the spirit of political partisanship, when it is remembered that from the beginning of the rupture between Egypt and the PORTE, the Prime Minister of England, and her Foreign Minister, each in his place in Parliament, distinctly asserted, and repeated the assertion to the last with increased positiveness, that the five Powers were agreed on every important point involved in the settlement of the Eastern dispute, and that their only differences were of a minor, partial, and easily recon- ciled nature. These assertions could not have been made in ignorance that is impossible. They were uttered deliberately, in the full knowledge of their fallacy, by men who, in private, we sincerely believe, would scorn even the subterfuge of equivocation, but whose public life has unfortunately been one contin- ual damning lie. The motive of their conduct in this affair is obvious; it was the sordid love of place, their cynosure and guiding star. I-lad they confessed the real state of the case, had they fairly and hon- ourably owned that almost irreconcileable differences existed between the arbitrating Powers, they well knew that England would never have suffered the peace of the world to be perilled and her own interests put in jeopardy, by trusting her affairs longer in their hands. They felt that the country would have risen .as one man to demand the surrender of the helm of the State to those tried and trusty pilots, whose skill and faithfulness proven in many a trying storm, were above suspicion and guarantees against fear. The cry of the DUKE, the DUKE" was tingling in their ears and they have sold the country for their mess of pottage." The superior policy of the Russian Cabinet is evidenced by the present position of Europe. France and England, the two Powers whose combination hemmed in her ambitious projects as with an iron barrier, are at length disunited, and the road to India has been Macadamised for her by our late successes there our fleet-(fleet! where is it?)—such as it is, however, has business enough cut out for it by Lord PALMERSTON in China; and Turkey has once more need of that protection which, if again given, will render the belief in Russian supremacy, so long and sedulously inculcated by her emissaries; not only par- amount in the SULTAN'S dominions, but throughout the furthest East. England is pledged through the wiles to a certain line of proceedings; and if at the eleventh hour she seek to disentangle herself from the toils, Russia will call gods and men to attest the violated faith, and, taking the execution of the Treaty into her own hands, assume her pride of place as ARBITER RERUM. Here again the advent of one man to power would change the face of things. The day that restored the Hero of the hundred fights to the councils of his country, would vindicate her in- terests and still the troubled waves of Europe. With our present Administration, almost the sole hope of avoiding war is, submission to infamy and disgrace on one hand, or the other. War with him would be safety-peace glorious. To use a vulgar but expressive metaphor, England is in a cleft stick. If war ensue now, she and France must come into collision long before Russia enter the scene of conflict, and whichever win the palm, either way makes Russia's gain. The probability is that both would be seriously crippled; and the diminution of their resources is just so much added to her power. If peace should still fortunately be preserved, it will be owing to the forbearance of France only and Russia will still have the advantage of sowing anew those seeds of enmity between the two kingdoms, which it was to have been hoped twenty-five years of peace had seen lie dormant never to germinate again. It is, we repeat to the forbearance of France that we look for the preservation of peace-yet this is but a frail reed on which to lean, now that matters have proceeded to the present extreme. Indeed at this very moment of writing, overt acts may have taken place to force and precipitate a war. The intelli- gence from Constantinople, the accredited intelligence, is that the ratification of the treaty between the four Powers, to the exclusion of France, for the adjustment of the Eastern question, has been received there; that its leading terms are that Syria and the Ottoman fleet be restored to the PORTE that immediately on the receipt of his despatches Lord PONSONBY had ordered Admiral STOPFORD to proceed with the squadron under his command to the coast of Syria, where he was to be joined by some Austrian ships and some small craft still possessed by the Porte but that the force is to act only in case of the rejection of the pro- posals of the Four Powers by MEHEMET ALI. This concluding piece of information reads, by the way, oddly enough. Under what other alternative could violent measures be resorted to Surely the accept- ance of the proposals could not be the signal for war! As for the stipulated return of the fleet to the PORTE, this can never by any possibility be enforced, if MEHEMET ALI choose the choice of war; but it may be destroyed together with the Egyptian fleet, and the ultimate designs of Russia be thus steadily pro- moted by the ancient ally" of Turkey. RAILWAY ACCIDENTS. The Sun copies the following paragraph from the Edinburgh Courant enforcing a suggestion which the Sun threw out a few days ago as to the sort of per- sons who should have charge of the locomotive en- gines on Rail roads, and which recommendation the Sun says "has also been enforced by other Journals., The Courant says- "Numbers of individuals have already met their fate in these new conveyances; but in the late accident on the Eastern Railway four individuals have been killed, besides those that have been maimed or otherwise injured; and in the late accident on the Hull Railway the fatality was about the same. The chances of escape are indeed small—much less than in the case of a coach accident—the velocity and the concussion being so much greater; and this is an ad- ditional motive for vigilance and care. The late accidents, however, have arisen from the most cri- minal carelessness; not in those, probably, who superintend the business of the railway, but in those whom they employ, namely, the drivers of the engines, who have the immediate charge-on the Hull Rail- road the fall of some weighty materials which they were carrying interrupted and overturned the train and on the Eastern Railway the recklessness of the driver, who hurried on at the rate of fifty or sixty miles an hour. It is clear, from these accidents, that the safety of passengers depends on the care of the drivers, and that those to whom is committed so pre- cious a charge, in place of being ignorant and reckless, as they are proved to be, ought to possess a know- ledge of principles, so as to know the nature of the agencies which they are intrusted to manage-to be, in short, men of known character and care, and to be paid in proportion to the importance of the trust which they discharge. It is only in this way that the safety of passengers can be ensured on railroads. It will not answer to employ mere mechanics in such critical duties. Persons of more liberal attainments must be found, and the fair price paid for their superior qualities. Some such arrangement is essen- tial to protect passengers from the dangers incident to this rapid mode of travelling; and unless it be adopted, many will be scared, by the terrific acci- dents which occur, from ever venturing on the rail- road, where there is any other safer mode of travel- ling. We will now add another recommendation, the propriety of which must at once be obvious to every person. The driver ought never to be alone.