The Press. — London, England, 1855-03-03 00:00:00

te e" . . 44 "W i llP" " P4 e 'Flr . . M .179 0 -. 7 • Wl7 .- .- --. t eer A g r fiee I ' • l'i " /49 00 ( .7 Igtee) .., , • r (1 it ... I • r tI II • .' . • • ' 1 ' : % i L ( • .' r .r., II rt Th, 1. No. 96.—VoL. 111. LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 1855. PRICE SIXPENCE. russ. cally a war of the Emperor NICHOLAS ; provoked by his aggression and maintained by his pride; and whether we attribute his sudden death to one of those convulsions by which the Court of Russia has not ttnfrequently shaken off a ruler whose conduct placed the Empire in a false position, or whether we refer it to na tural causes, it is evident that the motive for war expires with the life of the Monarch whose un justifiable ambition provoked it. For the interest of peace, it is fortunate that the Emperor NICHOLAS had already conceded all the points nominally in dispute, and that the Vienna Congress was about to open its pro ceedings. Had this not been the case, the Court of St. Petersburg might have felt itself bound, from respect to the memory of the late Sovereign, to have protracted the contest; but the successor of NICHOLAS, in forwarding pacific negotiations, will seem only to be fulfilling the last-expressed wishes of the deceased Em peror. It would be criminal to protract hostilities one moment beyond the period when terms of peace are substantially decided. We ima gine that the Russian Government will now eagerly receive any proposal for the suspen. sion of hostilities ; and the Allies are too gene- 1 rous to wish to profit by the consternation which the death of the Emperor must excite at Sebastopol. As the Plenipotentiaries of the European Powers are on the point of Bas sembling, suppose that the whole question must now efs in their hands, and that no obstacle can xist to the immediate conclusion of an armistice, which will spare the further effusion of blood, and be received with rejoic ing by the whole civilised world. The % Emperor NICHOLAS was born on the 25th of Able, 1796, and was consequently in the fifty-ninth year of his age. His eldest SOD, ALEXANDER NICOLAIWITCH, was born in the year 1818, and is now in his thirty-fifth year. He is reported to be of a mild and amiable disposition, and there can he little doubt will be favorable to the conclusion of peace, should his accession to the imperial Throne not be disputed. please, the result will always show that auk suffrages must be practicaq for a " Yea" or " Nay between Whigs and Tories. It cannot possibly be otherwise in a parliamentary sys tem. Every attempt to form a third party has always failed: neither CHATHAM nor CANNING succeeded in their struggles to retain political power by hovering between the two connec tions that have always divided Parliament between them. Such being the case, it behoves every Con servative " unattached " to look closely to the grounds on which, at such a moment, be refrains from hearty co-operation with that great party, which is still the most powerful connection in the Legislature. Neutrality in times like these is a most serious responsi bility. We heard Mr. GLADSTONE quoting BURIE with reverent approbation a few even ings since, and we could not help recollecting what that philosophic statesman wrote upon neutral politicians : " I would not," he remarks in his " Policy of the Allies," " take a political " neutral as my arbitrator in a dispute for so " much as a fishpond, for if he reserved the " mud to me, he would be sure to give the " water, that fed the pool, to my adversary." It is only ton true that, with the best inten tions, mere neutrals are often the dupes of their own plausible impartiality. • Nor are neutral politicians ever likely to be popular or powerful in Eugland. The genius of our national character is averse from what ever partakes of Vacillating infirmity. Manly minds will always have an attachment to whatever is clear, prompt, and determined. On this point, popular instinct sympathises with the keen perception of Lord Bacox as to the importance of " boldness, boldness, bold ness "in governing mankind. And who ever read or heard of a bold body of neutrals ? Men of experience will at. once grant the truth of these plain views; let us now see how closely they bear upon the future course of Conservative action. We are convinced that the exigency of the crisis must compel all Conservatives to bury those differences which prevent them from energetically acting to gether. The Conservative party never had a nobler duty to discharge than now. It was originally formed after the Reform Bill to steady the public mind, to preserve our me. naced Church Establishment, and to rescue the property of the country from the incroach ments of a levelling Radicalism, that aimed, as Lord DERBY said, "at Americanising our " institutions." In these great objects, the Conservative party triumphantly succeeded. It defended the Altar and the Throne from the assaults of internal faction, and compelled the " Liberals" into the adoption of a more mode rate conduct. Twenty years ago the Conservative party saved the Constitution. It must be its duty, as it will be its glory, in 1856, to save the country. For let us not be deceived as to the immi nent nature of the crisis. At the present moment England is threatened with the greatest danger that can befal a free State. It is in peril of being ruled by a succession of weak Cabinets, unsupported by great parties, and oscillating between ephemeral factions. The oligarchy of the Whigs is not maintained by the opinion of the people. It is no more than a clique of haughty patricians, who falsely raise a democratic cry, and secretly deride their gulled followers out of doors. The Radicals have neither the staff nor the LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 18,53. i DEATH OF THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA. "PRESS" OFFICE, Friday Night, March 2. TELEGRAPHIC despatches were received at the Admiralty, this day, from her Majesty's Ministers at Berlin and the Hague, an nouncing the death, between twelve and one o'clock this forenoon, at St. Petersburg, of his Imperial Majesty the Emperor of RusstA The alleged cause of his death was " a stroke of pulmonary apoplexy." It is stated that the Earl of CLARENDON, her Majesty's principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, has left London for Boulogne, in order to confer with the Em peror of the FRENCH. This startling event, if it prove authentic, may have such important consequences on the pending negotiations, that we shall refrain from communicating the highly au• thoritative information which has reached us during the week on that subject. We will merely add that the sanguine hopes in which the diplomatists of all countries have recently indulged, that an almost immediate peace was at hand, had, especially within the last three days, become clouded, The visit of the Emperor of the FRENCH to the Crimea has been postponed, in con sequence of the refusal of Prince NAPOLEON, on the plea of ill-health, to accompany his Majesty. Irrefragable proofs of the active relations of Prince NAPOLEON with the al leged party of disturbance, both while in the Crimea and during his residence in France since his return, have rendered it impossible that his Imperial Highness should remain in France during the absence of the Em peror of the FRENCH. Notwithstanding maw disagreeable circumstances, every confidence is, however, reposed in the energy and sound judgment of his Majesty LOUIS NAPOLEON. THE death of the EMPEROR OP RUSSIA is one of those stupendous events, so far exceeding all rational calculation, as to throw other topics Into the shade, and give a totally new aspect to the politics of Europe. The war was eutphati- STATE OF PARTIES. RECENT events in politics have been so remarkable that it is impossible for Conser vatives to avoid reflecting upon their signifi cance. Even at a less imminent crisis, the secession from the Cabinet of three such influential statesmen as SiTJAMES GRAHAM, Mr. SIDNEY HERBERT, and Mr. GL►DSTONE, would cause much speculation as to their future intentions. Penetrated with a deep sense of the necessity for a comprehensive union of the whole Conservative body, we are anxious to bring forward certain grave considerations on the serious dangers resulting from neutrality in politics. At a crisis of the national affairs like that existing it is the duty of every publio man to make up his mind firmly as to what party he shall belong. SHERIDAN was right when he shrewdly said that " gentlemen would find that " there cannot be three sides to an argument." The action of every political career in England must be in favour of one or other of the two great parties that permanently rule us. The ever-recurring choice must always be between Conservatives and Liberals —stability and change. Let politicians manoeuvre as they