Page:Wallachia and Moldavia - Correspondence of D. Bratiano whit Lord Dudley C. Stuart, M.P. on the Danubian Principalities.djvu/12

 Cabinet of St. Petersburg attached much importance; for, on the arrival of the Russians the Turks were already there, and as I said at the commencement of this letter, the old state of things had been put in force in all its vigour, according to the will of the Czar, and at that moment the country was perfectly tranquil. 2nd, That, nevertheless, during the whole time the occupation continued, the Russian army was supported at the expense of the Principalities, whilst Turkey, who, after all, is the suzeraine of that country, and not the simple guarantee like Russia, supported her troops of occupation at her own expense. 3rd, That the treasury of the Principalities is empty, burthened with debt precisely in consequence of the last Russian invasion, st that to compel payment of her demand, in the present state of tilings, would be an act altogether unprecedented even on the part of Russia, and a breach of the most elementary principles of European public law, should England and France permit it; for hitherto Russia has never occupied the Principalities except on occasion of a war with Turkey, and through the necessities of war; her last occupation, in 1848, being only in some measure justified by the entry of the Turks into Bucharest, and by the revolutionary state of Europe at that time (which also was the reason why the other powers allowed it to be done); and England has, on every occasion, proclaimed the neutrality of the territories of Moldavia and Wallachia, has always protested against the presence of the Russians in the Principalities, and always urged them to quit that country at the earliest possible moment.

My lord, if your heart and reason determine you to make the question of the Danubian Principalities the subject of your approaching interpellations, allow me to say how desirous I am that you should impress the Parliament with a sense of the urgency of the question, for there is really peril in delay. You know the power of accomplished facts. I am persuaded that now, as always, your friends in the Government, as well as all your colleagues of the House of Commons, -will be glad to hear your voice, for they know that you never speak but upon questions