The Press. — London, England, 1854-01-21 00:00:00

Nur 1111111111111, M NINNNamilwillwieffwg 7IMINNI,Parifw--.4~1.01. 81 #4, ( A„7,zZ fia ,---" • ••• Zb t ettl; No. 38.—VoL. IL LONDON, SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 1854. 01 pus, " That all this was very well understood at Paris, and very well understood by Lord ABERDEEN, who had acted throughout this business without moral courage. " The Emperor said that, since 1848, the religious element had become predominant in politics ; that the emancipation of the Roman Catholic Church in Germany which then occurred had greatly promoted this ; that the state of the Greek Church rendered his interposition in Turkey a necessity. "He added, that the religious relations of the subjects of the Porte with various foreign powers had always been recognised by European statesmen ; that they had been encouraged, and by no one more than by Lord ABERDEEN in former days, who perceived in these circumstances the solu tion of many difficulties. LONDON, SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 1854. "PRESS" OFFICE. Friday Night, Jan. 20. AUTHENTIC NEWS FROM ST. PETERSBURG. WE lay before our readers the note of a conversation very recently held at Gartschina between his Imp Pl-id Majesty the Emperor of RUSSIA and an individual of distinction, whose character is not only a guarantee for the authenticity of the memorandum, but for the absence of any exaggeration or false colouring in its expressions. We give it simply as an important historical document, without identifying ourselves with the views which it conveys. " The writer, in reply to an inquiry, understood the Emperor distinctly to state that the Ultimatum of MENSCHIKOFF had not been disapproved of in London, but that the English Ministry, having been in formed that it would probably be accepted by the Porte, had recognised it as a satis factory settlement. " The Emperor dwelt upon the incon sistency both of the English and the French Governments. England, he said, had her self devised the terms of settlement at Vienna, and, when he cordially gave his adhesion to them, receded from her own propositions The plea founded on the Nesselrode interpretation he treated with great contempt. He said it was placing the plea of an advocate in equilibre with the decision of a Court. 's The Emperor said that England ap peared to have two Governments. Things were agreed to in London or Vienna, and the same things objected to at Constanti nople. Lord WESTMORELAND signs a note at Vienna sent out from St. James s ; Lord REDCLIFFE recommends the Porte to disavow the same document ! " The Emperor spoke of the victory of Sinope, and of the absurdity, when the Porte had declared war against him, of his not acting upon the aggressive. He treated the statement that he had offered to act only on the defensive with derision ; and with reference to a passage in a private letter from Paris, that such an assurance had been given by his Mrkjesty to the French Minister at the Court of St. Petersburg —viz., General CASTELBEJAC, his Majesty observed hat, when the news of the victory of Sinope arrived, this same General CASTELBEJAC had addressed him a letter beginning something in this vein—' As a Christian and a soldier, permit me, sire, to congratulate your Imperial Majesty on the glorious victory obtained by your Majesty's fleet.' The Emperor was so pleased with this• letter from the French Minister that he in vited the general to Gartschina, and held much conversation with him, and the en- PRICE SIXPENCE. thusiasm of the French general suffered no diminution. The Emperor entered into some details on this head which the writer of this note is not at liberty to mention ; all that is here stated ho asked, and obtained, permis sion to make public. 'So much for my con tract with General Casteblejac,' added the Emperor, one of the numerous romances in vented to cloak the imbecility of Govern ments.'* " The Emperor then recurred to the aspect of war at some length. He said that, far from desiring war a year ago, he was not even pre pared for it. He was now prepared, and would act as became his personal honour, and the greatness of Russia. It was tho war, he fre quently repeated, of incapacities, brought on by men who were timid, and, accusing others freely of duplicity, were themselves deficient in everything that was straightforward. He did not believe that England, with a " bour geois " Parliament, could carry on a war with glory. France, ho frequently repeated, had been drawn into a mess which she did not de sire. The Russians had beaten all with whom they had been pitted—FREDERICK the GREAT— NAPOLEON. " The manner of his Imperial Majesty throughout this interview was temperate, rational, and frank ; affable with becoming dignity, and free from any of that excitement or wilfulness imputed to him in many journals." The progress of events is instructive as to the capacity of a Coalition Cabinet for foreign affairs, and its ten dency in domestic politics will shortly be made apparent to the most tolerant or incredulous. Either of the classes to whom this description applies may have assumed that au equivalent was due to them for danger and disgrace abroad. If they ex pected to obtain it in the shape of a Conser vative influence at home, it is time that they were undeceived by events which are passing. The last week afforded some intimations of what Conservatives may expect in the example of the Whig and Peelite landholders of Glou cestershire ; and now we have leisure to ob serve the circumstances of the contest waged in South Staffordshire. Coalition,—no longer concealed,—avowed Coalition with the enemies of the existing balance of power in the coun try ; the most lavish expenditure of motley, as it is stated, by Lord WARD ; the corruption of venal, the coercion of timid and unwilling, voters ; every means, in fine, which the ex perience of the notorious COPPOCK can sug gest ;—such are the actual proceedings by which the adherents of this, in major part, professed " Conservative " Ministry are en deavouring to procure the rejection of the Conservative candidate. And this is not all. It is asserted by those who should be in formed upon the subject, that a conference between Lord WARD and the " Conservative " Premier himself has resulted in the promise of an earldom to the former, as the price of Radical triumph and of Conservative defeat. To us this illustrates Coalition morality,—to others it may reveal its nature. How are those gentlemen affected whose partial sup- • Whe►► this conversation took place the circular of M. Drouyn de L'lluys had not reached St. Petersburg.-... ED. Of PRES*. NOTE. " The Emperor repeated, that, if there were war, he hoped that the English people would understand that it was not a war against Russian aggression, but a war brought about by the vacillating and insin cere conduct of the English Ministry. "He asserted that there was no power more interested in keeping the status quo of the Turkish dominions than Russia ; that he was in possession of Constantinople twenty years ago ; that he might then have kept it against the world, or permanently remained at the request of the late Sultan, which was urged on him ; but that he quitted it for the reasons expressed in his letter to Count ORLOFF, and for other reasons of high policy. "He said all that Russia required was FREE NAVIGATION, and, so long as the Dardanelles were held by a power not strong enough to refuse this free naviga tion to Russia, he was content, and pre ferred the present disposition of territory to any possible change. That, had he wished to seize Constantinople, he could have done so with the greatest ease when Prince MENSCRIROFF left the Porte. The seizure of Constantinople, the occupation of the Dardanelles, and the overthrow of the Sultan, would have been an affair of a few days. " That his merely crossing the Pruth proved to all who understood this question that he did not seek territorial aggrandise ment. _ a ±'?‘ .....•-• _--- id, I IL if 00 1111 ~ , ou••'. I NI