The Press. — London, England, 1856-02-02 00:00:00

102 fess Ido not understand what is the force of language ( Hear, hear.) He commented on the entire silence of the Speech with respect to Sardinia, our gallant ally, anti Turkey, the principal in the war; and then remarked strongly on the absence of all mention of the match less endurance and indomitable gallantry of the British officers commanding at Kars : My lords, are there not those whom a word of praise and of sympathy might have cheered in the depth of those prisons to which their gallantry has consigned them— might have given them fresh courage to support their sufferings and their misfortunes, and proved to them that their exertions and their hardships had not been under gone in the service of an ungrateful country? Such words, coming from their Sovereign in the presence of her as sembled Parliament, would carry with them a weight which can accompany the language of no other individual. Yet, stand.ng in this place, anti feeling that my words may possibly reach the prisons to which they have been doomed by a not ungenerous enemy, I would say to those gallant spirits—to a Williams, a Teesdale, a Lake, and a Thomp son—" You may rest assured that this house and the country deeply sympathise with you in your mistortunes;" that "We honour the valour and prize the fame of the brave defenders of Kars, as not below those of the more fortunate conquerors at Sebastopol." (Hear, hear.) I am not surprised that there should rise a blush of shame on the cheek of the Minister, or that he should hesitate and be paralysed, when about to inscribe in the Queen's Speech the significant name of Rarer!—(Hear, hear)—a name of everlasting triumph and distinction to the valiant souls who, amid all the horrors of famine, and hemmed in on all sides by an overpowering force, gallantly repulsed their enemy, on whom they indicted a loss almost exceed. ing the carnage of any battle of modern times ; and who. despite of every discouragement, maintained their high spirit and achieved victory after victory, until finally com pelled to yield, not to the overwhelming numbers of the foe, but to the still more unconquerable force of sheer famine. The name of Kars, then, will be remembered to the immortal honour of its defenders ; and let me add, that its name also confers no slight degree of honour and credit on the conqueror of those brave men, who, in the generous terms of capitulation which he granted, showed ,that he knew how to appreciate an enemy's valour and fortitude, even when unavailing. (Hear, hear.) Fortu nate, indeed, was it for the gallant garrison of Kars that they had to deal with a Mouravieff, and not with a Coronini. (Hear, hear.) Fortunate was it for the brave Poles and Hungarians who formed part of that undaunted garrison that the chivalrous spirit of their high-minded conqueror suffered them to go free, without incurring those addi tional dangers to which, as other than mere prisoners of war, they might have been exposed. To what influence WAS this fatal disaster to be ascribed ? I have heard a rumour which I will mention, in order that the Government may, if possible, meet it with the promptest, fullest, and most explicit denial. I have heard it whispered abroad that while my noble friend (Lord Ellenborough) was earnestly pressity , upon the NVar Minister the necessity of defending Turkey on her Asiatic frontier, warning him, from history and example, that that was the quarter from which Constantinople had most cause for apprehension, and reminding him that in the fatal years 18'28 and 1829 the disastrous treaty of Adrianople was hardly less attributable to the advance of the Russian troops upon the European side of Turkey than to the successes of Paskiewitch and Mouravietf at Kars and Erzeroum—while my noble friend was urging these considerations upon the attention of the Govern ment, it is alleged, though 1 can hardly credit it, that this important strategical post was neglected and abandoned to its fate because of some miserable jealousy between the two great allies—souse paltry fear that we should be suspected of seeking, under cover of an expedition to the coast of Asia, to promote, not the conjoint interests of Turkey and the allies, but our own isolated and exclusive interests. To that tumour he hoped the Government would be able to give an uncompromising contradiction. The country had a right to know on whose shoulders the blame properly rested. He could not believe that Lord Stratford de Redcliffe had so far forgotten what he owed to his Sovereign as to treat with contempt repeated and urgent applications made to him for laid by British officers. It would not do to throw the blame on this or that pacha. At the earliest moment there must be laid before Parliament a statement of all circumstances relaing to the abandonment of Kars : My lords, I do not hesitate to assert that there is'a prima facie case of.grievuus charge against her Majesty's Government for neglecting to see to the provisioning and supplying of Kars while the communications were open, and I cannot but think that ii will require some ingenuity to show why, even after the 'eommunicationm were closed, no effort was made to break throu l gli* line of the be sieging army. Could it be said that either met or.money were wanting'— . Where was the Turkish Contingent of which we last session heard so much ? (Hear, hear.) During tbe t dia• cussion on the Foreign Enlistment Bill last year we were repeatedly told that what we wanted were not soldio- - who would require six months' training, ht cers men who were already prepared and disciplin . or till; . service of war, and who would be availabl e i n a . ery period for any purpose for which we could possilrY require them. (Hear, hear.) Parliament sanctioned last year a very considerable loan for the purpose of securing4he disciplined services of such a body. What has become -A z • , THE PRESS the men who were raised under the Foreign Enlistment Act? What has become of the money that was procured under the terms of that loan ? What has become of the Turkish Contingent which, having been embodied slowly and tardily, were sent at last to a point where they could do nothing for Kars? How are we to account for the impri sonment of :30,000 or 40,000 men at Eupatoria, where they were powerless for the relief of the distressed garrison and of no possible advantage to the common cause ? (Hear, hear.) Your money, which lay unemployed, might have been applied to the provisioning of Kars and to the adopt ing of such measures as would have prevented the enemy from surrounding it; but no effort was made to provision it until it was beleaguered by the Russian army, nor after that event was any attempt made to relieve it. (Hear, hear.) 'l'hese, my lords, are momentous matters, and well deserve the serious consideration of the country. I hope that they will obtain the attention they merit, and that we shall have such an explanation of this apparent neglect on the part of the Government as will redeem them from the deep imputation which now rests upon them—of having sacrificed a gallant army, abandoned an important post, and permitted the occurrence of a calamity, which, though thanks to the heroism of that devoted band it has not dimmed the lustre of our arms, has yet given to the enemy a cause of exultation, and tilled the heart of the British nation with the most painful emotions. (Loud cheers). As to the pending negotiations for peace, he would enter into no discussion ; peace and war were ques tions of the prerogative of the Crown, and it was not the function of Parliament to make itself the daily adviser of the Sovereign upon them. But he hoped the negotiations would not cause any indefinite sus• pension of hostilities by an armistice, which must in any case be more advantageous to Russia than Eng land. He regretted that the Royal Speech made no reference to their relations with the United States, and hoped that the omission would not be considered by the Americans as a contemptuous silence. Finally, lie strongly condemned the novel and, as he believed, unconstitutional proceeding which the Ministry had adopted in conferring a life peerage on Mr. Baron Parke : It appears to me, my lords, that that peerage has been conferred most unnecessarily and gratuitously as far as regards the limitation for life, because the distinguished person on whom it has been conferred has no son, nor is he likely to have one. A peerage, therefore, of such a description can only have been conferred in order to try the prerogative of the Crown. Now, my lords, without venturing to discuss the constitutional side of the question, I may venture to say that when it is sought to exercise a prerogative, or supposed prerogative, of the Crown, of such a nature, such a subject ought not to be passed over in silence on the first night of our meeting. It is a preroga tive which has never been exercised for a space of three hundred or four hundred years —one which during that space the greatest sticklers for prerogative have never ven tured to advise, and which those who have been most de sirous to swamp your lordships' house have never dared to recommend. The gratuitous assumption of such a prero. gative is a matter for the deepest consideration, and 1 earnestly exhort all your lordships—for the subject is one which concerns all, and which especially affects the consti- tutional liberty of the country—to cArefully consider whe ther you will, or can, or ought, to submit to the exercise of a prerogative which has been dormant for many years, and which, as I believe, at no time your lordships' house has ever sanctioned as conferring a right to sit and vote in Parliament. Lord CLARENDON, in reply to the remarks of Lord Derby, justified the language of the Speech from the Throne and the general policy of the Administration. The difference with America he believed was quite capable of a speedy and amicabl,t solution. With respect to Kars, he entreated the house to suspend their judgment until the whole of the papers had been laid before Parliament:— The noble earl has alluded to reports which have been widely circulated with regard to the feeling said to exist in the French Government or the French nation with respect to assistance having been withheld from liars. Ido not mean to say that the French press may not have broached the idea that, if the war were to be carried into Asia Minor, it would be a waste of French blood and French treasure for English purposes ; but I must give the must unquali fied denial to the supposition that such is the opinion of the French Emperor or of the French Government. Upon the origin and present state of the negotiations Lord Clarendon explained Her Majesty's Government never were disinclined to listen to overtures of peace, and they were all along anxious to bring the war to a satisfactory conclusion. It certainly was not for England and France to make any overtures to Russia ; and I think we can understand, and, I had almost said, can respect the motives which induced Russia not to make overtures to ns ; but Austria was in a position to proffer her good offices, and the time that she chose for doing it was an excellent one, when the approach of winter rendered the cessation of hostilities necessary. But it was no mediation which Austria offered. She simply offered to assertain and make known at St. Petersburg the terms upon e . hich jhe allies would conse n t t o p eace ; an d I must do the Austrian Government the justice to say y admitted the necessity that those and precise, in order to do away as the chance of misapprehension, misunderstandings and complicit . year, to bring the negotiations to a was impossible for her Majesty's Go their sense of duty, to refuse those However confident they might dampaign would have increased the SAT') RDAY, military fame of England and might have led to a treaty of a different and more comprehensive character, yet such anticipations would have been wholly unjustifiable if they had induced us to prolong the war when a prospect sp peered of attaining the objects for which that war was undertaken ; and, notwithstanding the spirit whi c h now animates this country, I believe that the coo l judg ment and right reason of the people of England will approve the course which wt. have taken. (Hear.) The original proposal of Austria was to communicate those terms to Russia on her own responsibility ; but we saw that it would be useless for Austria to send those terms to St.. Petersburg without the sanction of the allies; and here let me say that there was no disrespect intended either to Sardinia or to Turkey by omitting them from the Queen's Speech. We are deeply sensible of the courage which Sardinia has evinced, and of the manner in which she embarked in the contest, and in which she has carried out her engagements; but we thought that it was simply necessary for her Majesty to declare that, in consort with her allies, she had consented to accept the good offices of Austria with the Emperor of Russia. Austria, however, became a party to the terms in question ; she made herself responsible for them, and she entered into engagements to break oft her diplomatic relations with Russia ifllley nets rejected, and afterwards to concert with the allies as to the means of coercing Russia. Those terms were sent by the Austrian Minister to St. Petersburg; he was to ask for a categorical answer—yes or no. He was simply the bearer of a despatch ; he was forbidden to discuss its contents, and he was, on no account, to admit any modifications or counter-propositions whatever. The answer of Russia was transmitted direct to Vienna. It was not in the form re quired by Austria, but contained some very important modifications, and the Austrian Government thereupon informed the Russian Minister at Vienna that, unless a cate gorical answer were received within a stated period, the Austrian Minister with the whole of the mission at St. Petersburg woold leave that city, and passports would be sent to the Russian Legation at Vienna. That was commu nicated by Prince Gortachakoff to his Government, upon which an acceptance, pure and simple, was sent by tele graph to Vienna. The despatches containing it arrived at Vienna on the 24th inst. The substance of it was commr• nicated to her Majesty's Government the day before yes terday, and the plan which is proposed to be adopted is this—that the terms whien have been accepted by Russia shall be agreed to by the representatives of the allies at Vienna; that the representatives shall then sign a short protocol, agreeing that the preliminaries shall be signed at. l'axis ; that an armistice shall be entered upon, and that the provisions of the treaty shall then be determined. Although I shall not enter further at present into the terms or duration of the armistice, and think that it would not be right to discuss it at this time, yet I must take the opportunity of sayieg, that I entirely agree with the noble earl opposite, that it should he of the shortest possible duration. (Hear, hear.) I have now informed your lonlshipstof the present state of affairs, and I will not deny that great doubt and anxiety are entertained as to the result. It is impossible to deny that doubt is felt as to the sincerity with which Russia may have accepted the conditions. The very readiness which she has shown in accepting them has increased that doubt, and the manner in which she proceeded last year, after having purely and simply accepted the terms then proposed, has still further teldeil to it. We can only hope that Russia is sincere— for my own part I believe that she is. I thiuk that Russia desires a peace, and I think that the Emperor of Russia has shown great moral courage in at once accepting terms which he has reason to believe are displeasing to the war party in Russia. ( Hear, hear.) I hope lie will continue to exhioit the same moral courage, and that he will, with• . out any attempt at evasion, abide by the letter and spirit o f these terms. Should he do so, I think we have a prospect of speedily obtaining that which has throughout been the object of the war—a safe and honourable peace. ( Hear. hear.) By an honourable peace, I mean a peace which will be honourable to both parties, for a pease which would degrade Russia would not be a safe peace. For my own part, I think that Russia has accepted conditions which will cast no stain upon her. The Foreign Secretary then expressed a full reliance upon the sincenty of Russia, and gave an unqualt tied denial to the report that the English Govern ment were entering upon these negotiations in a spirit of insincerity, or sought to sacrifice the oppor tunitles of peace to the desire for military glory. Lord GRANVILLE, in the course of a few remarks?. alluded to the objection taken by Lord Derby to the recent grant of a life peerage, and hoped that what the subject came under discussion it would be treated without party spirit. Lord CAMPBELL had extreme doubts whether the creation of a life peerage was lawful, or whether it could be done without the authority of Parliament, and a new law to alter the established precedent. Lord DERBY explained that the question would be introduced on Thursday next by Lord St. Leopards. The Address was then fully agreed to, and the house adjourned. In the HOUSE OF COMMONS new writs were moved for Wigton, Edinburgh, Taunton, Newcastle, R.o• chester, Cambridge, and Midhurst, the seats for which had become vacant during the recess. Mr. HirTER, on behalf of the Covernment, gavt notice of the speedy introduction of many new bills. Among the list were measures for amending the law of partnership, for the regulation of joint-stock corn panies, to regulate certain offices in the House of Commons, to amend the acts rclating to the metro politan police, to reform the City of London Cor poration, to render more effective the police force e were that, from th- first, thc3 uldiers' terms gh0u1.... • • eletir RV ra and Inn ible"with .*every , short 7 \ 1• ••‘: Ise list yi .equire an >- fu ne. It wIL it year vittnint. ecording to I ng4he •i i od • es. (Hear.) ime of have bee at another • • u-art,