The Press. — London, England, 1855-12-01 00:00:00

.t 6 No. 135.—V0L. 111. LONDON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1855. STAMPED .... SIXPENCE. UNSTAMPED..FIVEPENCES readers such sound arguments, and 'Leh authentic information, as may enable them to form au accurate appreciation of what is taking place around us. In the third place, Mr. DISRAELI is not an unqualified partisan, or a partisan at all of the Peace-at-any-price Party. He is as much op posed to that party as to the War-at-any-price Party—alike to the dreams of Mr. BRIGHT, and to the ensauguined practices of the Koseuths and the Mazzinis. We owe mainly to Mr. DISRAELI, and the great party in the House of Commons of which he is the Leader, that this country embarked in the just, neces sary, and successful War which we trust is about to close. We owe entirely to Mr. Dts atm,' that it was not closed by the unsatisfac tory and even disgraceful arrangements that were nearly concluded at Vienna. We owe entirely to Mr. DISRAELI that there is on Par liamentary record some statesmanlike defini tion of the object of the War, and what should be the conditions of Peace. On the Bth of June last, in this year, Mr. DISRAELI said that in the freedom of the Danube, the indepen dence of the Black Sea, the permanent de struction of the strong places of the Eastern shore of the Euxine, the fortification of the Dardanelles and the Asian frontier, and parti cularly in the establishment of the neutrality of the Principalities on the basis of Belgium and Switzerland, might now be found a satis factory solution of the difficulties which had so long perplexed modern politics. We have reason to believe that these are the main arrangements which are now occupying the attention of the great Powers of Europe, and that there is a prospect of their being adopted and accepted. This end of our troubles will be the best vindication of the course of Mr. DISRAELI, and the best answer to the superfi• cial attacks of his opponents. This country will recognise that, throughout, he principally of our public men has best understood the question at issue ; and that in first counselling War, and then recommending Peace, on con dition that the object of the War should be accomplished, he has alike shown the energy of a patriot and the sagacity of a statesman. Clp Vrtss. LONDON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1855. ABOUT a fortnight ago there was great excite ment in the political world ; Parliament was certainly to meet early in January ; it was to be dissolved before Easter; tremendous lead- ing articles, like floating batteries, summoned the country to return no member to the new House of Commons who was not pledged to an internecine struggle with Russia, a war at least as long as the Peloponesian, and an in definite increase of the National Debt. Within the last twelve days all has suddenly changed. The Government retainers unnecessarily as sure us that Parliament will not meet before the usual time ; that the idea of a dissolution is absurd—" they can't conceive how it got about;" and instead of columns full of blood and thunder, we have leading articles in the shape of essays on Reformatory discipline, Sir BEN JAMIE HALL, Lord CAMPBELL, and free libraries; DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT. Wz have received a number of oommunications from different parts of the country inquiring whether there would be a Dissolution of Par liament, and, if so, when it would take place. We beg to assure our Correspondents that there is not—and there never has been—the slightest chance of a Dissolution of Parliament. Although we ourselves deprecate either event. just now—the Dissolution of the Ministry is far more probable than the Dissolution of Parliament. any subject but war. What has happened in the interval ? What has caused this marvellous revolution ? Sim ply this. For the last twelve days her Majesty's Gove►nment have been busily negotiating Peace on terms deemed by the Emperor of the French to be satisfactory ; and thus, if the present prospect of Peace be defeated by any Zilches on our part, her Majesty would have to dissolve Parliament, not against Mr. GLADSTONE, or even against Mr. DISRAELI, but against the Emperor NAPO LEON ; and the politic issue before the people of England would be, whether they would carry on the War against Russia without the concurrence, and against the advice, of our great, our prudent, and our faithful ally. But is it true? Can it be possible that Peace is on the tapis ? Surely it must be "one of the canards of THE PRESS." That paper is famous for canards. It declared in 1853 that the Emperor NICHOLAS had frankly communi cated his projects to her Majesty's Govern ment, who, months after, assured the nation of the Emperor's moderation, and subsequently expressed astonishment at his rapacious per tidy. That was a canard of Tux PRESS in 1853, although, one year afterwards, in full Parlia ment assembled, her Majesty's Ministers were forced to confess that the statement was literally true, and to produce the "most secret " and confidential documents" which demon strated it. Then, again, there were constant canards of THE PRESS during the Conferences of Vienna, intimating—at a time when every journal was assuring us that Peace was impossible, and not a single obstacle had been surmounted — that Peace was not only possible, but very probable, and on the point of being concluded. What audacious and high-flying canards were these, when it is notorious that the War con tinued; and yet, a few months later, it did strangely transpire that at Vienna Peace was on the eve of being concluded, and two of the most eminent statesmen of Europe, M. DROUYN DE LHUYS and Lord JOHN RUSSELL, have ceased to be Ministers because the allied Governments revoked the instructions and authorities on which they had acted. On the 17th November last, we announced that we had reason to believe proposals for Peace had been submitted to the Emperor NAPOLEON, and had been favorably received by him. There was no contradiction of this statement from our great contemporaries, and not the usual ignorant and impertinent com ments from our small ones. On Saturday last, the 24th November, we repeated more positively and precisely that these proposals, approved of by the Emperor of the FRENCH, had been formally submitted to our Cabinet, and were under its considera tion. There was again a discreet silence among the journals of authority ; the smaller fry, especially the Globe, were sportive about canards. The Globe is the " gent " of the newspaper press, and as fine and funny about public affairs as if it were at Cremorne. At length there are some partial, hesitating, and equivocal contradictions of our announcement by our French contemporaries. They think they can declare that Russian proposals for Peace have not been forwarded and recom mended to the British Government by the Emperor of the FRENCH. This is safe. The proposals for Peace have certainly not been delivered to the Emperor NAPOLEON by the Russian Minister at Paris, for there is none; nor, we scarcely need add, have they arrived from St. Petersburg by the post. But proposals for Peace have been sub mitted to the Emperor of the FRENCH, and approved by him. It is quite unnecessary to state by the intervention of what Government this took place; whether by Sweden, or Bel gium, or some other Power. We shall not be piqued into communicating what may be in expedient, to satisfy the curiosity of our less informed contemporaries. They will scarcely pretend that either the French or the British Government, after what passed at Vienna, would revive negotiations without not only au assurance of the sincerity, but of the practical sincerity of Ruo3ia. Accordingly, after a period of active communications between Paris and London, our readers may rely that on Monday, the 19th of November last, the proposals to re open negotiations for Peace on " satisfactory " terms were formally delivered to the British Government, and that, in consequence, a Cabinet Council was summoned, and sat the next day (Tuesday) for upwards of three hours on the subject. From that moment until the present, unceasing communications have taken place between all parties and Powers in terested, and we have reason to believe with a far more favorable effect than in our last num ber we presumed to anticipate. The French journal Le Pays declares that our articles are written to embarrass Lord PALMERSTON ; that THE PRESS is the organ of Mr. DISRAELI, and that Mr. DISRAELI is an unqualified partisan of the Peace-at-any price Policy. Our foreign contemporary will permit us to observe that his assertions are in every respect erroneous. In the first place, our articles have not been written to embarrass Lord PALMERSTON, but with the hope of directing the public mind of this country, misled and debauched on the subject of the War, to a train of thought and feeling more in harmony with the true interests of England and mankind. In the second place, we have no pretension to be the organ of Mr. DISRAELI, or of any individual, however distinguished. All we aspire to is, to be the organ of real Conservative opinions, both foreign and domestic; and to place before our SIR ROBERT PEEL AND THE BRITISH NAVY. Tax extraordinary conduct of the present Sir ROBERT Pm has for the last week been a theme for conversation in every circle. Hitherto the sentiments of the Baronet have been treated as ti young man, whom most happily de , silly." The phrase last four days been absurdities of the loquacious Baronet have he fantastic va. a great ladv9' i:3114,:.. $ 2. signated ;4_ has in thireo 4. 1114 , L abundantlau w ° "0 eircumspeie • • t E-4