The Press. — London, England, 1854-03-25 00:00:00

t/t} 2 • M 017' rt ,6 No. 47.—VoL. 11. g4t ptss. LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 26, 18.54. IN the year 1844 the Emperor of RUSSIA visited our country. An estrangement having then taken place between England and France, his Majesty deemed the season appropriate for the advancement of a long• cherished pro ject, and he seized the opportunity of per sonally accomplishing it, with the co-operation of an English Minister, between whom and the Court of St. Petersburg there had existed for thirty years relations of extreme confidence. That Minister was Lord ABERDEEN, then Secretary of State in the Government of Sir ROBERT PEEL. Assuming the speedy dissolution of the Turkish empire, his Majesty wished to in duce England to join with Russia and Aus tria in the arrangements, which the new dis tribution of territory would require, without the concurrence of France.. Then, as on sub sequent occasions, the Emperor desired neither treaty nor protocol—all he wanted was an engagement between " gentlemen and therefore, of course, "secret and confi " dential." The Emperor succeeded in his first object. By the advice of Lord ABERDEEN he addressed himself to Sir ROBERT PEEI. and the Duke of WELLINGTON. His G race was al ways favour able to the Russian alliance. Sir ROBERT PEEL, full of tariff's, was entirely governed, with respect to external politics, by Lord ABERDEEN. It was definitively settled in 1844, between the Emperor of RUSSIA and the, English Government, that the partiti on o f Turkey, when it became necessary, should be transacted by Great Britain and the two Im perial Courts without France. Having obtained this great result, the next point of the Emperor was to precipitate a state. of affairs in Turkey which should justify its. partition. The means were ready ; they were' twofold ; for success, their application only, required the sanction of England. These two. courses were—firstly, to interfere in the' government of Turkey under " treaties from' " the engagements of which the Porte has. a' " constant tendency to extricate itself, reckon , . " ing on the mutual jealousy of the Cabinets •"' secondly, to vindicate " the interests of iti;e' " Christian population of Turkey." England, under the influence of*Lord ABER DEEN, agreed, in 1844, that both these courses should be open to Russia without creating " jealousy ;" in other words, that Russia should prepare the anarchy necessarily preliminary to partition. And the Emperor quitted England with a conviction often repeated by him, and shared by Lord ABERDEEN, that the Ministry of Sir ROBERT PEEL would last as long as the Ministry of Sir ROBERT WALPOLE. The policy of CATHERINE was therefore virtually accom plished. On his return to St. Petersburg, the Em peror instructed Count NESSELRODE to draw up a Memorandum embodying the under standing arrived at during his recent visit, and LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 1854. forward it to Baron BRUNNOW, accompanied by a private letter from the Emperor to Lord ABERDEEN, in which he begged that if any inaccuracy were found in the document it might be corrected; but that, if approved, the Memorandum should be accepted and pre. served as " the key of the relations between " Russia and England." The Memorandum was accepted as that " key." Lord ABERDEEN, we understand, de cided that it should not be registered among the ordinary papers of the Foreign-office, but that it should be preserved among the most secret archives of the State. We have reason to believe that a note was drawn up describing the circumstances under which the agreement had been arrived at, and that it was expressed in that note that, whenever a change of Admi nistration took place, the retiring Secretary of State should personally deliver this secret Memorandum to his successor. This will explain a somewhat common expression of Baron Bartmcow to his most intimate friends during the last anxious months of his residence among us. His Excellency was in the habit of saying, "I am tranquil so long as Lord " Aberdeen is Minister. The Key of the " Policy of the two countries is in his pos " session—the Emperor will never depart " from it." The speedy and sudden overthrow of the Government of Sir ROBERT PF.EL battled all the plans of the Emperor. His Majesty was one of the " foreign conspirators " who, ac cording to Lord JOHN Russzta., worked with Lord ABERDEEN to destroy the Whig Ministry. They did their best, but failed. When Lord PALMERSTON was at length driven out, it is said the Emperor had great hopes of Lord GRANVILLE. That delicate flower was, how ever, nipped in its bud. Lord MALMESBCRY was, we have reason to believe, sounded, but the attempt was never repeated. At length, in order to secure peace and Parliamentary Reform, Lord ABERDEEN unexpectedly became First Minister ; and the news had scarcely reached St. Petersburg before the Emperor, with an excitement hardly dignified, sends for , Sir HAMILTON SEYMOUR, and recurs to the policy of the Memorandum of 1844. , Our respectable and astounded Envoy, who was, not in the secret, seems to have thought he,was making vast discoveries when he im ' parted his trembling conjectures and hesi tating ,suspicions to his principals. Although about to quit the office, which he occupied duly-for a few weeks, it fell to Lord Jolla RUSSEIA. to notice the first overtures. His Lordship, probably after consulting with Lord ABERDEEN, who knew the Secretary would soon be relegated to "national education," indites a well-sounding, historical despatch, in which, without repudiating artition, lie remarks, with some naiveté, "t hat ,there is " not as yet sufficient cause for ijAtimating to " the Sultan that he cannot keep. peace at " home, or preserve friendly relations with his " neighbours." •.9 To console, however, the Emperor for. this slight difference of opinion, and- to prove his own competence fer the office he mitsabaut to relinquish, Lord JOHN reconnneads i the Em peror to confine himself at present to "that "protectorate over the Christian subjects of the "Porte, no doubt prescribed by duty and sanc tioned by treaty" ! And this is the protectorate that we are now going to war to resist! PRICE SIXPENCE• But, before the ink is well dry of this masts' - stroke, a more congenial spirit holds the pe n of the Secretary of State. Lord Cum:linos' acting, as he has throughout, under the imme diate directions of Lord Alum:was, loses not a moment in putting affairs in order. Lord JOHN, without knowing it, has arranged the protectorate, i.e., the means of preparing for partition. Lord CLARENDON devotes his energies to the greater theme. Au his predecessor modestly hinted that the Sultan could yet preserve " law and order," Lord CLARENDON, the moment he is in office, and only a few days after Lord JOHN'S despatch, desires the Queen's Ambassador, in his famous instruc tions, to tell the Sultan that he can pre serve neither. And, having laid this founda tion, renews the secret or partition correspon dence with the Emperor, expressing how charmed he is with the " generous conti " deuce" of his Majesty, and "how gladly they " comply with his wish, that the subject " should be further and frankly discussed. " The only fault he seems to find with the Emperor is, that his Majesty has done little towards solving the real difficulties, by merely stating what lie will not consent to in dealing with the " heterogeneous materials of the " Turkish empire." This is a " salutary impulse " ! It is but fair to the Emperor to observe, that his Majesty seems to have been the first who threw some cold water over the partition portion of the memorandum policy. Affairs did not turn out as ripe as he had anticipated. The Montenegro dispute blew over. It was evident that the Emperor was content in having revived the first portion of the scheme; and that, for the moment, ho intended to con fine himself to the furtherance of the second. So he told Sir Hairwros fairly that MENSCHI - KOFF was at Constantinople with his demands (compensation of the Greek Church, and ob servance of violated treaties, " from the en " gagements of which the Porte has a constant " tendency to extricate itself. trusting to the " jealousy of the Cabinets"), that he would not be " trifled with," and that " if the Turks did " not yield to reason they should to force. " All this was in complete agreement with 1844. No wonder the Ministry agreed to the Vienna note. One of the many imprudences which Lord JOHN RUSSELL periodically commits was to accuse the Emperor of RUSSIA of " duplicity," and to stigmatise the conduct of his affairs as " fraudulent." It was this stigma which led to the publication of these scandalous despatches, which no wise statesman would have authorised. They, at least, prove the frankness of the Emperor of RUSSIA, both as to his ulterior designs and his present inten tions. But they prove more. They prove not merely connivance on the part of the Prime Minister of this country, but complicity. How is such a man to on a war which is to baffle designs of al i g ho is an accessary ! THE POOR LAW REMOVAL AND SETTLEMENT BILL. Mn. BAltilaS course on the Removal and Settlement Bill has been marked by even more than the usual inconsistency of his colleagues. Up to last night it had been dis tinctly stated that the abolition of pauper removal—a measure most desirable, but, at MMO ,I _ Ili i ! '7