The Press. — London, England, 1853-08-06 00:00:00

V rattebings in V arlianunt. RUSSIA AND TURKEY. Some further interpellatiuns took place with regard to the Russo Turkish question, in both houses of the Legislature, on Tuesday, and a little additional infor mation was elicited from the Ministry as to the state of the negotiations, and the determination of the British Government under the influence or in the prospect of various contingencies. The interpellator in the Peers was the Marquis of CLANntcmum, who dwelt upon the positive acts of invasion which Russia had committed in the Danubian principalities, where, by taking possession of the post-office, by undertaking the administration of internal affairs, and by for bidding the Hospodars to pay their customary tribute to the Porte, she had not merely accomplished a military occupation of the territory, but had assumed a virtual and real sovereignty over the principalities. This, said the noble marquis, " is a matter of the gravest and deepest importance, and I hold it to be impossible for not only Europe, but France and England, to submit to such an extension of territory in that direction by Russia, or such a diminution of the Turkish empire, without the gravest and most fearful con sequences. The matter is of the greatest importance, nut merely as regards the political balance of Europe and the honour of those countries who have guaranteed by treaty the integrity of the Turkish empire, but as regards the ►material interests of all persons ►n France, Germany, and especially in England. (Hear.) It is therefore a matter on which all must be desirous of having the fullest infor mation that, with propriety, can be given, and I hope my noble friend will not think me indiscreet if I ask if any such reports have reached him officially, and whether he can inform the house how far it is true that the assump tion of t h e sovereignty of the Danubian provinces by Russia has taken place ?" _ _ The Earl of CLARENDON concurred in the opinion that serious results would follow to Europe generally, and England in particular, if they allowed the alienation of the Danubian provinces from the Turkish empire to be now consummated. lie pro ceeded to detail the official information which had been received on the subject, and the official recog nition which had been taken of the occurrences : " By a despatch, dated the 17th of last month, I learned from Lord Stratford de Retieldle that a communication had been made by the conaubgenend of Russia to the Hospodar of Moldavia, informing him that his relations with the Turkish Government were to cease, and that the tribute tumidly transmitted to Constantinople must be placed at the disposal of the. Russian tiovennuent, on the ground, as stated, that although there existed no intention to modify the internal institutions of Moldavia, or of alter ing the existing order of things, yet, during the military occupation of the provinces, acts of sovereign power on the part of Turkey must be necessarily, though temporarily, suspended. 1 may state also, that the Turkish Govern ment have received similar information relative to the Hospodar of Wallachia; but a despatch has been received from Mr. Combe, the consul-general at Bucharest, dated the tt!nd of last th, in which it MIDI stated, up to that time no such communication had been made to the Hospotbir of Wallachia. Such a communication to Wal lachia was, however, naturally expected by the Porte as that which had been made to Moldavia- These acts had determined the Porte to order the Hospodars to withdraw from the provinces and to cease their offices. Mr. Combe's despatch added, that in such an event he should consider it highly improper for the British consuls in the princi palities to continue to exercise their functions there. My lords, on the receipt of this despatch I lost no time in communicating to Lord Stratford (le Itedcliflit the entire approval of her Majesty's Government of his intentions. ( Hear, hear.) I can only, for the further information of your lordships, say that I shall this evening forward advises by special messenger to Sir Hamilton Seymour to demand from the Russian Government that explanation to which we are entitled with respect to proceedings which I look at in the same light as my noble friend. (Hear, hear.)" In the Commons Lord Duni.Ey STUART played the part of questioner. He alluded but vaguely, however, to the rumours " that negotiations had been going on between this country and the great powers of Eu rope with relation to the differences that had taken place between the Courts of St. Petersburg and Con stantinople," and simply asked whether before the not-distant prorogation of the house the Government could set apart a day for discussing the subject Lord JOHN Russ Eu. replied : " Upon the last occasion when this important subject was mentioned within these walls, the house concurred with her Majesty's Government in thinking that it was not desirable to enter into any discussion with respect to it in the present position of the negotiations now pending. I am, however, quite ready to give all the information iu re ference to the progress of those negotiations which it is in my power to afford. When the ambassador of his Majesty the Emperor of Russia left Constantinople, it appeared to her Majesty's Ministers desirable that a conference of the representatives of all the great powers of Europe should be held in order to ascertain the terms by which an amicable termination to the differences existing between Russia and the Sublime Porte might be secured. It was the opinion of the Government of Austria that it was not advisable to hold any conference of the nature of that to which I have just referred while the two powers remained iii a state of THE PRESS. diplomatic relation, and that it would be better not to enter upon such a conference ucless the Emperor of Russia, by invading the principalities, should for the time, at least, put an end to the status quo of Europe. When that event oc curred the Government of the Emperor of Austria, in con tOrmity with the declaration to which they had previously given expression, announced their willingness to hold the proposed conference ' . and at Vienna, accordingly, the re presentatives of the four other great powers of Europe as sembled for the purpose of taking into their consideration the present state of affairs with respect to RUSSIA and the Porte. The minister of his Majesty the Emperor of Rus sia did not attend upon that occasion ; but the ministers of France and Prussia and England took part in the con ference. Certain terms were then agreed to by the repre sentatives of those four powers, which, in their opinion, might with honour be accepted both by the Government of Turkey and that of Russia Those terms have been as sented to both by the Governments of England and France, and, according to our belief, have been transmitted from Vienna to St. Petersburg and Constantinople. In this po sition of affairs I think that the house will feel still more, even than they did upon a former occasion, that it is quite impossible for me to give it as my opinion that it is de sirable to have a discussion upon this question, or to tix a day upon which a debate may take place with respect to it in this house. I can assure the house that as the time for the prorogation of Parliament approaches her Majesty's ministers will be ready to lay before theta such information as they may deem it proper to afford before the prorogation takes place. (Hair, !Intr.)" Mr. DisuAzu inquired whether the Government could say at what time an answer to the despatch which had been transmitted to St. Petersburg might be expected to reach this country ? Lord J. RuSSELL : I should not like to hold myself re sponsible for naming the particular time at which the an swer to which the right hon. gentleman refers may arrive, or with respect to the number of days which the Russian Government may take to consider the proposals which have been submitted to them. Those proposals should have left Vienna, I think, on Sunday last. The right. hon. gentleman can, therefore, calculate for himself the time which will probably elapse in their transmission to St. Pe tersburg. ➢lr. IfisitAELl : A phrase occurred in the answer of the noble lord the meaning of which was rather obscure to hon. members upon this side of the house. The noble lord stated that the proposition to which he had alluded had been agreed to in Vienna, and had received the appro bation of the Governments of France and England. It does not appear, from the statement of the noble lord, that the Governments of Austria and Prussia had signified their assent to that proposition. Lord J. RUSSELL: The proposition was an Austrian pro position, although it carne originally from France. 1 have no doubt that the Government of Prussia is likely to give it their consent. CHARITABLE TRUSTS. This bill, which originated in the Upper House, stood for committal on Tuesday in the Commons. Lord J. Russell., in moving that the Speaker leave the chair, explained the nature and objects of the measure. Ho reminded the house that, at an early period of the session, in announcing the gene ral views of the Government with respect to educa tion, he had urged the necessity of establishing a better manag ement and an improved application of the funds of charitable trusts—a subject which had for more than fifty years engaged the attention of Parliament. He had stated that it was proposed, as many of these charities had reference to education, that the body entrusted with the direction and super intendence of their administration should he the Committee of Privy Council for Education, with the necessary legal assistance. This bill, while before the Peers, had been referred to a select committee, who had paid very great attention to the subject, and they had recommended, in order to separate the questions of administration and superintendence from politics and party, that there should be persons named by the Crown, and holding office during good behaviour, to whom the general administration _ should be confided; in which suggestion the Govern ment. had concurred. One or two alterations, how ever, he intended to propose in the bill. As it stood, three salaried commissioners were to be appointed; but as, after a time, the necessity for so large a staff might cease, he suggested that one of these appoint ments should be made only temporary. Another and more important change would consist in the omission of all Roman Catholic charities from the operation of the bill : " He was sorry to find on inquiry that these charities could not he placed under this bill without affecting pecuniary interests, or unless special provisions were made with respect to them. The house was, no doubt, aware of the laws which restricted and limited the manag►- ment of charities and although these Roman Catholic charities were very useful, and were such as, he was sure, the house would wish to continue, yet, f►om their not having been enrolled under Lord Hardwieke's Act, or front their not having been made in compliance with the direc tions of the law, they were liable entirely to be withdrawn and destroyed by the operation of this act, unless great care was taken. Ile did not wish, at that period of the session, to enter upon the great and important question as to how far th►►se charities should be maintained. He therefore proposed doing that which had been done in the act of DM. appointing the commission of inquiry— viz., to omit Homan Catholic charities. He did so, not with the view of omitting them permanently, beesuse he SATURDAY, thought great advantage would arise from placing them under a body of this kind, and that Roman Catholics would be greatly benefited by any measure which would prevent the object of their charities being altogether lost sight of. That, however, would require a separate bill, and very special proviaious. For the present, there- fore, he proposed to exempt Roman Catholic charities from the bill. ' _ Going into committee, the house proceeded to examine the clauses of the bill, which were succes sively passed, the consideration of the 66th clause, involving the amendment respecting Roman Catholic charities, being deferred, after some debating, to a later stage. On Thursday the bill was brought up " for consi deration as amended," when Lord JOHN RUSSELL submitted his modification to the house, having thrown it into the form of a proviso enacting that Roman Catholic trusts should be entrusted to persons of that persuasion. Sir F. THESIOER expressed some alarm at the pro posal. If Roman Catholics were so favoured, why not Quakers and Jews? He considered that the clause was not necessary, and, viewing it with rela tion to other contemporary attempts and incidents, hinted that it excited serious suspicion as to the nature of the influences that had been at work upon the Ministerial mind. Lord J. RtTssma. explained and defended the alteration. The Roman Catholics, he said, had been exempted from the operation of the measure because they complained and proved that it would seriously imperil a large number of charitable institutions. If other sects had advanced similar complaints and proofs their case would have been equally con sidered. MT. NEWDEGATE protested against a measure by which the house would give its sanction to the autho rity claimed by Cardinal Wiseman, as the nominee of Rome to deal with Roman Catholic trusts. Mr. HEADLAM, approving of the change, proposed an amendment limiting its operation to two years, to give time for the consideration of some permanent arrangement. The proviso, thus amended, was adopted by a majority of 11, the numbers being 87 to 70, and the bill was ordered to stand for third reading on Monday next. EPISCOPAL AND CAPITULAR ESTATES BILL. The second reading of this bill being moved on Wednesday, in the House of Commons, the motion was opposed by Mr. WIORAM, who adduced various reasons weighing, not against the principle of the measure, but against the time of its introduction or the working effect of some of its details. The session was too far advanced, he contended, to permit the full discussion of so important a bill. A commission issued by the Crown was also still prosecuting in quiries into the state of collegiate and cathedral churches ; and next year the act for facilitating the enfranchisement of ecclesiastical estates would expire, with the inevitable consequence of bringing the whole subject once more under debate. Respecting the bill itself, though approving of its object, he ob jected to some of its machinery. The proposal to transfer the management of the whole number of estates in question to a board sitting in London was extraordinary and hazardous. He feared that such a scheme could not be carried out without occasioning an enormous waste of Church property, and leading to a violation of the duty which the present generation owed to those who should come after them. He moved an amendment that the second reading be postponed to that day three months. Sir R. H. Isom seconded this amendment, enter taining much more serious objections to the bill than those urged by Mr. Wigram. All the capitular bodies in the kingdom, he declared, considered the measure to the last degree inexpedient and unjust. Mr. S. HERBERT fully admitted that the system now existing was very faulty, but doubted whether the noble framer of the bill (the Marquis of Bland ford) had devised the most appropriate remedy. There was, however, no time to discuss the subject now, nor could the discussion be advantageously completed before the commissioners had prepared and presented their report : " The principle of the bill was twofold: it proposed to take the whole of the episcopal property of the country, and to place it in the hands of commissioners ; and it also proposed to deal with the property of chapters. He was of opinion that it would be impossible for Parliament satis factorily to enter upon the consideration of any scheme connected with the subject until the report of the com missioners had been laid upon the table of the house. Under those circumstances, he hoped the noble loni would see the propriety of not pressing the second reading of his measure. If he should, however, decide upon taking that course, he ( Mr. S. Herbert) should feel himself compelled to vote, although reluctantly, against its being read a second time. The Marquis of Bt./ism:oat) explained his billomd vindicated the expediency of allowing it to pass the second reading. All that he wished the house to affirm at present was the principle that the land now in the hands of ecclesiastics should be placed under the management of laymen. To the admission of 316