THE New Zealand Herald. FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 1877.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIV, Issue 4813, 20 April 1877, Page 2

THE New Zealand Herald. FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 1877.

Nearly seven years ago the Emperor Napoleon. 111. left the capital of France to join the army which was intended to perform a victorious march to BerlinAccompanied by- his young son, who received his "baptism of fire" at Saarbruck, he undertook this doubtful enterprise in the latter days of July, 1870. He never saw Paris rnore. On the 2nd September, little more than two months after his departure from his capital, he surrendered at Sedan. Painful must have been his thoughts as he journeyed to take command at Metz, and a few short weeks confirmed the fears he entertained of the issue of his mistaken course. We hear of another Emperor— the "Czar of all the Russias"—departing from his capital to join at Kichioev the army now in motion to invade Turkey. What must bo the feelings of the peace-desiring Alexander as he journeys'! in the situation of a solitary supremacy, surrounded by advisers advocating war while he desires peace, bat with the war l-age prevailing intensely in. his capital, and driven so action whether he likes it or not, —with all tha. serious issues and

the loss of hia subjects and qf the Empire's means which the „ war entails, and ; above, all, the doubts and fears of; what ""European ■' combinations may.spring up against him, — the of- '• the .. Emperor > r . of Russia is per-' haps one of tlie saddest that call befoll a'human being, on whom great responsibility rests.' -There is .no likelihood tliat there will be a counterpart of the surrender of Sedan ; but, with the memory, of -the \Crimea- before him, ranp. 'the\ "possibilities of j'Bajing.j •agjun. Jj° face England as a foe in the field and on the cannot be pleasant, as he endeavours to calculate the chances of, .war. : Wo may any hour cxpect'to hear r that Turkey has declared war, because of the thi'eata.ORussia and the movement of - her forces on the Turkish territory. In J illy, 1853, Russia crossed the-Pruth, and. the same month Turkey protested against- the ..invasion, but did not declare war until October. She will not likely hesitate so long now ; for the means of advancement into; the heart" of , the country are far greater than they were four-and-twenty years ago. Russia did not accept Turkey s 'declaration until j nearly; a month after it was i made, and three days later, on November. 4th, the Turks gained the' battle of Oltenitza. It was not till March, 1854, that-England -and -France declared: war ■ against Russia-;-and w<3' clude that England, if she is to preserve Constantinople,: -will not wait so . long before deciding on the action she means I to take now. ' "

It will be observed by our telegrams that the statement that Persia had claimed Bagdad is denied; and probably that Power, which has long had an eye to. Bagdad—indeed, it has been a bone of contention between Persia and the Turks for nearly three hundred years—has been warned by England that such a proceeding would be injudicious. The European complications begin to thicken, and the news of each day will be looked for with ever-growing anxiety.