The Press. — London, England, 1853-07-16 00:00:00

JULY 16, 1853. of his Majesty the Emperor Nicholas, has sent to all the legations of Russia, has given an importance to this docu ment equivalent to a manifesto addressed to the whole of Europe, insomuch so that l have considered it necessary to inform you of the general reflections its perusal has sug gested to my mind. 1 shall remark, in the first place, that from the declaration itself of the differences of Russia with the Porte, such as the Count de Nesselrtxle represents them, it results that the mission of the Prince Menschi kotf to Constantinople had only one object, namely, the arrangement of the difficulties relating to the repartition of the Holy Places of Jerusalem between the different Chtistian communions, and that this object had been effected to the entire satisfaction of the Cabinet of St. Petersburg. " A totally new question has then arisen, in no manner connected with that of Jentsalem, and touching on all sides on the independence and sovereignty of the Sultan. This is the opinion already formed at Constantinople itself by the reffesentattives of France, Austria, I treat Britain, anal Prussia. 11 - hence the pretension. in fact, that. to as sure to the Christians of the uaiental rite the possession of some sanctuaries already allotted them, they must be covered over• the whole extent of the MNtonuut empire by an official protection. substituting the moral authority of the Emperor of Russia in the place of that which emanates legitimately from the Sultan? What affinity can exist lw tweett facts so different? and in what way OM the more important be considered as 1111 appellth%., as a necessary consequence of that which is the lesser? To strengthen its pretensions• the Cabinet of St. Petersburg invokes its ancient treaties with the Porte, revives historical analogies, and displays its injuries. These, sir, are the three lines of argument which I pro pose to pass in review as succinctly as possible. " When we examine the treaties which Russia has con cluded with Turkey, we final that, if ocensionally she has stipulated in favour of the subjects of the Sultan, these last belonged either to some Ito winces which through the chances of war had momentarily been lost to the Porte, and te the restoration of which conditions might he imosed, or tat some provinces which, during the conflict, had been com promised with the I Montan tiovernment, and who, by policy and humanity, it was necessary to protect against the resentment of the Pattie. " None of these stipulations had the character of gene rality which at this day it is attempted to to given to them : and the treaty of lttehuk•lninar lj i especially confers on Russia a right of protection, limited anal defined, over a church, ministered to by Russian priests, which it was sought to erect in the outskirts of 4 i nlets. This. assuredly, aloes not illeßll that preetically. and in the natural course of events, the Court of St. Petersburg should feel itself called npon tat interest itself for the Christians of the s ire•k rite, What form in Turkey in Enmity the majority of the popu lation. But if the Porte, ott its side. found itself bound to consider the sympathies of Russia fair the Eastern limn+, it has not, up to this time, sttbscrilwal tsl nny engagement which takes away the merit of its tolenmee, and imposes, instead of duties freely fulfilled with regard to its own subjects, obligations towards a foreign Ismer. Here is the whole question, anal in recapitulating simply the terms all its importance is thereby demonstrated. "The analogies to which the circular of the Count Jo Nesselrode refers, do tiny apply themselves better to the actual situation ? " If between the primes of the Holy Empire at the p►eriosd of the reform treaties relating to the exercise of the new religion in their possessions were signed, it is to be taken into consideration, firstly, that this empire was au assn• elation of states governed by one and the same chief; and. sensually, that the transactions in that case were the result of long intestine wars, or of political combinations in which the elective character of the imperial dignity necessarily exer•isseerd a great influence. " Touching our awn capitulat - s with Turkey, yon know, sir, that they never gave us the right of podeetion over the Catholic subjects of the Sultan. If France has been enabled tat rendet tat this infinitely small fraction of the population of the East some services of the same nature as those which Russia is justly prowl to have rendered tat her co-religionists, her protection direct and ifffilthd was never exercised except in favour of foreign establishments administered to by priests, also foreigne►s, anal whose spiritual chief resides at Ramie. The protection of Russia, on the contowy, would be applied ton clergy curt• pee al of the subjects of the Sultana, and bicru•chally governed by a patriarch who depends also on t h e Porte. There can be, then, no possible assimilation between the position of the two powers. I quote here, however, an important passage from a memoir of the Count ale Saint• Priest. Ambassador of King Louis XVI. at Constantinople from 17fis to 17+ , 0, and which defines Meetly the nature of atm. preteetorship. The Count de Saint-hiest expresses himself thus:— " ".1 he zeal of our Kings has been rewarded by the title of Protection of the Catholic Religion its the Levant ; lint it is illusive, anal calculated to mislead those who alit not twangs deeply into the matter. Never have the Sultans anal' hail an idea that the French Monarchs believed them selves antherised tip interfere in the religion of the subjects of the Porte There is no prince (says very wisely one of my predecessors in a memoir on this matter), fiowever close may be his uuaiult with mealier S 4 wereigu. whet sandal permit hint to meddle with the religion of his subjects. The Turks are as susceptible as others or this head. "' It is easy to understand that Framer, never having treated with the Porte but upon a iliendly leading. never could luny Unposed obligations odious in their nature. Thus the first point of my instructions directed me tat aaid everything that could dissatisfy the Pawn. in giving too great an extension to the capitulations treading of religiain.' "'this citation ennblas4 me to dispense with all other explanation upon a point which is set at rest lay such incontestable authanitv. •• Thus, then, air, neither ancient treaties nor the auk. THE PRESS. gins which are invoked can serve to such solid bases as the rretensions of the Cabinet of St. Petersburg imagine. flw question of injuries sustained musing. That which Russia reproaches tea the Porte is a want of proper proceed ings. Every tiovernment, without doubt. is the proper judge of the requirements of its own dignity, but the repa ration must be proportionate to the oAi•nee. Men• souk. ONO and expr'sstons of regret constitute, ordinarily, the reparation of a neglect of lona. it is the first time we see it exae•tedd front a Sovereign M a similar roue—the slant donment of his unwed influenee over a large portion of his subjects. I will add that, if Russia considers as an injury the tergiversations of the Porte in the affair or th e bens. Saints, Franee might with equal reason address to it the same reproaches. a n d that if she has abstained from so doing it is because' she has taken into eonsidenif the embamessments of a 'lower which, hurries' along by two opposing cnirents, and of am equal stren►th, thought itself unable to keep its equilibrium, except by co ntrneting ace all sides omtradietory obligations. "Tie saint , spirit of moderation has bedewed the leoo• venonclit of his Imperial Majesty to allow for the diff'e'r• ewe of the ' 's the changes operatol a century sines• in the intereourse of the ditli'n'ut itoweis, and of 'Russia in panieular, with the Ottoman empire; a n d, though we could have invoked in support of the demands of the holy fathers of ' 'Terre Sainte' the clauses of a funnel treaty, we asked tin• nothing which co u ld deprive• the tireeks of the advantages which re ruts hail placed in their l u n►ds ; fin• from it—we consented that a seminary ad Id Is' opened to them, that of the• mosque of the Ascension, the areeSii to %hide Whiff orbidden tat lieni,and which the rent exertions of a French ambassador, the Admiral Roussiu, had partly restored to Christian worship. As to the key of the great gate of the elnweh of Bethlehem, of which so marl► has beige said, it has lwen forgotten to observe that the tireeks have one precisely -• 'par, and that that of the lattices, feu• fr►m seasm . ing to them the proprietorship of a AIWA ahielpi reserved for the other mom 1111 l nom ace ellreb•ti tea them only a free passage'. It has Ma been relleelabereil also that in reparation of a promise given to the I,egation of Russia by the I►ivan, and forgotten when the En•neli Embassy met-heel another, one of the two tinutins destined to regulate t h e question of the Lien:• Saints concoled, on the &Malta of Print. Mens•hikotf, to the 4 ;reek Patriarele of .lentsalens, the ,',elusive s u llrerin• tendons. of the rebuilding the grand dome of the church of the Holy Sepulchre. .%11 these facts, sir. if they cannot non' invalidate unr titio:, under pain of onsthnowing the generally reeoguised princihq4 of piddle right, than would ece•n a treaty, con• eluded without, o u r pattieipt• . constitute, ie'verthe'less, ede'rogat' . •or less intimated, if not of the r'ce't►t . viegage'me•uts of the Porte towards els, which our dignity imposed the duty on us to tee he entirely respected, at least to the precise• test of nut• capitulations of 1740. '• If, then, his intentions had been less concilistory, had he not lost► convinced that lune. of the parties contracting the convention eel' the 13th July, 1/4 11, eolith' loot use• all their rights anterior to this European transact' without • g the risk of compromising the repose which the eollective guarantee of the plwe'►'s hall for object, tee assure to the 4 )ttomucea Porte, the tiovenunent of his Imperial' claje•sty would heave had the' right, not only to have put forwanl its reserves, which KM diplonuitie usage, hut, in its tuna, tic have mattered n►ctra es. '• It is 'mother line Of that France has followed, and the meslen►tion of which she ham given proofs, besides relieving her from all responsibility in the present crisis, gives her equally the right to hope that the sarritices she has made for the maintenance of tranquillity in the East will not be thrown away, and that the Cabinet of St. Petersburg, actuated by the same considerations, will fuel a Method for eonciliating its pretensions with the pr•mgn• tees of t h e sovereignty of the Sultan, and settle otherwise them by fierce a differenee of which so many interests are emu-ernes' in the solution. " 1 authorise you, sir, to communieste this despatch to (Signed ) " itecemeey, &v." The queen Christina has arrived in Paris with a large suite. There is no news of any sort. Every one is waiting for the " toot d'ordre" from L► n on the Oriental question. " DitourN Taluvs. The Constitationnel states that the note which has been addressed to Russia by England and France, as a last means of conciliation, has likewise been ap proved by Prussia and Austria. An article in the Moe'hear is devoted to a descrip tion of the fortified cities in Germany, of the valito of the majority of which, in a strategical point of view, but an indifferent opinion is expressed. Of Vienna it is stated that experience has repeatedly shown its inability to resist an army, viz., in 1M415, Istal, and 1$ I. Antwerp is included amongst the German fortresses, as it is stated it ought to be re garded as serving rather to the defence of Germany than of the country in which it is situated. The police authorities are following up the inves tigation relative to the plot of the Opera Combine, which it now appears was but a ramification of the one which was to have come off at the Hippodmme. It is ascertained that the chief conspirators, who are most of them strangers (Belgians or Germans), lout made every preparation for an insurrection. The moment they bad despatched the Emperor and all who were with him, groups, who had been Mat' td at various points, were, on a given signal, to have raised the cry of " Aux crews !" to have thrown up barricades, and immediately to have put to death all the public fu netiouaries they evuld lay their lauds 247 on. The Red Republic was to have been proclaimed, and a reign of terror established. Such, at all events, is what is reported. The news of the harvest which arrives from various parts of France is most favourable. To provide for all contingencies, however, the Oovernment has pur chased large quantities of corn in England and else where. The first transports of this corn have reached Havre. As a syniptom of the increasing hostility of the French tiovenitnent to Russia, it is remarked that the Charicari is allowed to (ui' eature the Emperor Nicholas. M. de Kisseleff is said to have complained of the indignities thrown upon his master. 11F.1.611TM. The marriage of the Duke of Brabant with the Are!Ouches?' Mary lieuriet will positively take place at Vienna on the 12th August by procurat►on, and in Brussels about August Strd, when the event will be marked by numerous popular festivities. The new French Minister at the Belgian Court, :M. Adolphe Damn, is ecpected next week. when his predecessor. M. do Butenval, will present his letters of recal, and go to Paris to occupy his post in the Council of State. The name, if not the person, of his suceessor is considered a kind of concession to the ()demist connection of the Court. GERMANY. Reports that the Austrians had invaded Bosnia were current during the week, but possessed no fur ther foundation than the establishment of a strong corps d'obsereation at Peterwardein, near the Turkish frontier. Considerable movements of Austrian troops are observable, particularly near the Adriatic. Forces are concentrating in Dalmatia, near the borders of Ilerzegovine, and in the direction of Croatia. The Italians in the service of Austria have been remov►d from the Italian frontier, and sent into the interior. These movements have excited some suspicion. The Emper►r of Austria has granted a pardon to the Bishops of Nettsold and Csanad, who were in prison in consequence of the part they took in the Hungarian revolution of 11449. The Grand Duke of Saxe Weimar expired on the morning of the std, in the palace of Belvedere, at Weimar, after a lingering malady. His suceetusor, the brand Duke Charles Alexander, announced the same day h►s aeeession to the thr►ne by a prs•lanra 1' in which he declares that he will reign in con • fortuity with the existing constitution, and that he intends continuing in their platys the various func tionaries apps►intsi by his august father. The King and Queen of Hanover arrived safely in their capital on the oth inst. It was expected that the King would speedily issue a pr►clanmatiun ON to the differences between his Ministry and the Second Chamber. The tiover►meut has requested of the Frankfurt Diet a prolongation of the term allowed for revising the constitution, being re►olvel to make one more attempt to adjust the claims of the knightly remelted rants. The Cr►wn Prince was attacked by measles imme diately on his return to Hanover. SPAIN. The pretensions suddenly put forth by Spain to the patronage of the Holy Places, and the appoint ment of a Spanish consul at Jerusalem in connec tion with them, are generally considered in Madrid as silly and impolitic pnweedings, which will lead to no useful result. The Nacion asserts that Spain has no right whatever t►► the patr o nage claimed, and eon • ileums the 11111 l Mint' of a mnisul at Jerusalem, as either tending to make the eountry ridiculous, or, if the appointment be acemnpanied by a suitable en dowment, as leading to a large expenditure front which no good can result. The Queen's pregnancy is expected to be an nounced very shortly. It is said that she will aoou enter on the fifth month. I'ORTI'O.II. The deposit money for the Lisbon railway has been paid, and the materials and workmen from England to carry the project. into owration were shortly expected to arrive. Notwithstanding this appearance of business, however, the scheme was still looked upon with much disfavour. RI7SSIA AND TURKEY. The latest telegraphie despatches state that the Russian et Irps of oernpation will consist of 50,111111 men instead of 27),1100, as had been previously an nounced. The letters received from Moldavia bear the im perial stamp, the Russians having taken possession of the post-office. Orders have been issued to the mercantile body at Odessa prohibiting them to make any communica tions abroad of what is going on, to prevent indis cretions. The entry of the Bosphorus during the night has been interdicted by the Porte to merchant-ships coming from the Black Sea, for fear of a surprise. The combined fleets remain at Besika Bay, where they had received a visit from the principal inhabi