The Press. — London, England, 1856-05-10 00:00:00

MAY 10, 1856. Vrotetbin,gs in Varlianunt. Tits Lord Chancellor took his sett en the woolsack on Monday, in the presence of a crowded house—the Peeresses' and strangers' galleries, the standing room round the throne, and at the bar, being filled with spectators. Ou the order of the day being read to take into COOlfaileration I 0 THE TREATY OF PEACE, The Earl of ELLrSMERE moved : ---- - That an humble Address be presented to her Majesty, to return to her Majesty the sincere acknowledgments and thanks of this house for the important communication which her Majesty has been graciously pleased to make to this house of the general treaty concluded at l'aria on the 30th of March, between her Majesty, the Emperor of Austria, the Emperor of the French, the King of Prussia, t h e Emperor of Russia, the King of Sardinia, and the Snitani by which peace has been re-establishod between her Majesty, the Emperor of tho French, the King of Sar dinia, and the Sultan, on the one part, and the Emperor of Russia on the other. To assure her Majesty that, while we should have deemed it our duty cheerfully to aff.,rd her Majesty the fullest support if it had unfortunately been funnel necessary to continue the war, we have learned with joy and antis. faction that her Majesty has been enabled to re-establish peace on conditions so honourable to her Majesty's Crown, and which so fully accomplish the great objects for which the war was undertaken. • To express to her Majesty the great satisfaction which we feel that, while those alliances hove so materially contributed to the vigorous and successful prosecution of the war have been equally effective in the consolidation of peace, Powers which had not taken an active part in the war have combined with the belligerents to give by their sanction and accession additional firmness to the arrange ments by which the repose of Europe is in future to be protected from disturbance. To state to her Majesty that we rejoice that, notwith standing the great exertions which the late war rendered necessary, the resources of the empire have remained un- impaired. To express a hope that the peace which has now been concluded may, under the favour of Divine Providence, long coutinne to shed its blessings over Europe, and that har mony among Governments and friendly intercourse among nations may steadily promote the progress of civilisation, and secure the welfare and happiness of mankind. The noble lord described the terms of the treaty as eminently satisfactory. He could seo "no rational expectation, no fair demand, no purpose at once achievable and considerable," which had not been met by one or other of the provisions of the treaty. Lord Ciarention's position at Paris was a difficult oue : My noble friend embarken under a cloud of miseoncep• non respecting the mind and policy of England well calculated to mid to the difficulties which he has overcome, and the anxieties from which he is now released. It was very generally imagined—at least it was very iedustriuusly circulated—that England, in pursuit of some interest, real or fancied, of her own, was willing or resolvel to ignore the substantial offers of Russia; that it was part of the in structions of my noble friend, by all the subtle devices attributed to that bugbear of continental cuttie•houaes, " perfidious Albion," to make at impossible for other powers to accept conditions with whith they were satisfied, and to close a strife with which they were comparatively wearied. Your lordships have not to learn from me that these suspicions were utterly unfounded. Still, there was much to account fur and excuse them. The noble earl pas.sed a high eulogium on Lord Raglan, termed Miss Nightingale an angel of mercy, mid, alluding to the losses we hail sustained, said there would be a bunch of myrrh in the fostal goblet when the cup is Wheel, and the revel 4r at its height. . lot Lord GLE ELG 5ea09414, he Ad,drpir 414481iicech highly laudatort• Jry of every article of the trlat.y., The Earl of MALMEiIiCTRY could not concur in the expression of "joy and satisfaction" at the re establishment of peace used hi the Address. He denied that the objects of the war had been fully ac eJmplished. lie should advise an amendment con gratulating her Majesty that the Government had been enabled to establish a peace " the conditions of which appeared to her Majetcy's ,Government ade quatvly to effect the grea t objects of the war." By the 3rd and 4th Althles of the treaty, Sebes tol)ol, Katniesch, Balaklava, Eupatoria, Kenai, l enikale, and Kinburn were restored to Russia in exchange for Kars, which he did not think a fair equivalent. But the treaty contained nothing to prevent the northern forts of Sebastopol being main• tained in their present condition, and nothing to pre vent the reconstruction of the fortress in all its entirety. There was also another and more remark able omission of restrictive measures connected with Circaisia and the Russian forts on the CircasSian mast. Lord Clarendon, at Paris, had proteSted against th e reconstruction of those forts, but beyond that protest, which was overruled, no further mention was made of Circassia:— It had been stated by the Prime Minister in another Piece that the Russians aro to resume possession, and if t THE PRESS. they pleaso rebuild and regarrison them. in plain Eng. lisi►, my lords, we have deserted the Circassiens—( olive's) —we have left them to a dreadful and a certain fate, after having begged for their assistance and, let the add, bone• lited by it to a very great extent. (An ironical cheer from Lord t'anmure.) Notwithstanding the cheer of the noble lord the Secretary for War—who, let me say in passing, is not the first authority I should take upon hostilities in Asia Alinor—(" Hear," and laughter )-1 repeat that we have benefited by the assistance of the Circassians, because, in ISM, when the Russian general had g.iiiied two victories over the Turkish army, and WWI entering Anatolia, it was the inroad of Sehamvl upon Tiflis that compelled him to retreat, and prevented him from following up his advantages during the whole of that spring and summer. But no wonder that the noble lord and his colleagues have de serted the Circassians, when they have already forgotten their obligations to them. (Cheers.) We bad incited them to take up arms agaiustiitissift, and now we ignored them entirely : I am afraid that the noble lord opposite will d itanf4 in history in the same category with those politiatdis who, many years ago, deserted the lib ;rties of other free coun tries when they had an opportunity of saving them. I can not believe, knowing as I do the generous spirit of the noble lord, that he did not strongly desire to save the Cir. cassiuns from perdition, and that he was not restrained by circumstances which we do not know, and which, perhaps; he dare not tell, With respect to the neutralisation of the Black Sea, he was not quite certain the arrangement' made wee the best. The size and armament of the Russian transport ships did not appear to have been detlni• tively laid down; and as to the much talkaof cession of Beasarabia territory, it has turned out that exactly one-half of the promised restoration was to be re. tained by Russia. The noble earl then briefly reviewed all the circumstances connected with the fall of Kars, expressing his disapproval of the con duct of Lord Stratford towards General Williams and condemning the negligence of Lord Clarendon in not sending another agent with advice • and money to General Williams. The conduct of the Ministry in the whole affair was inexplicable. The Earl of CrAßENnoxdeclared that the fall of Kars had no prejudicial effect upon the treaty of peace. A mutual restoration of territory was a sine put non, and the question did not form a subject of discussion at the conferences. The transport vessels Russia would maintain in the Black Sea it was arranged should amount to six small vessels of 200 tuns each. With respect to Nicolaieif and the Sea of kzoff, Count Orloff bad solemnly declared, en the part of the Emperor of Russia, that neither at Nico laieff, at Kherson, nor at any port in the Sea of Azotf, nor in any tributary to that sea, would there be ever constructed or maintained any vessel exceeding in number or size those which Russia would be entitled by the treaty to maintain in the Black Sea. As to the line of frontier, the original line laid' down by Austria was by no means certainly defined. The great point to achieve was the freedom of the mouths of the Danube, and the present. line fully accom plished that object. With respect to the Circassians, Lard Clarendon denied that they had any claim on our sympathy. They had not assisted us during the war, and from our not having obtained any military successes during the war in that quarter we were not justified, he cOntendedi in altering the territorial arrangements arranged by the treaty of Adrianople, and could not require Russia to demolish forts upon her own territory. These forts were not for the pur poses of aggression ; they were intended for internal objects:— In fact for defending commarce--for assisting ths blockade which has been so many years established in these countries ; bat Count Orloff stated, ou the part of the Emperor of Ruse* that he hoped the character,of the people would 'be improved by the civilising influence of commerce', that the blockade and other restrictions would be removed, and that all the ports of Russia in that quarter —seven 'or eight in number—would be open to foreign trade and would receive foreign consuls. Before concluding, the noble earl alluded to the difficulties he had experienced in Paris, arising front a general belief in Wu indisposition of England to make peace I must acknowledge, my lords, that when I arrived in Paris I became painfully sensible of the existence of a feeling there—produced by the tone adhpted in Parliament and the press—that we did not intend to make peace. but to drag France trit in a war with us, even after site believed that the objects fot which the war was undertaken had been accopplished. The Earl of DERBY could not regard the peace " with joy and satisfaction." He accepteti it without enthusiasm, but, without opposition; fur be believed the country looked upon it as a peace which might have been worse, but which might have been better. There was nothing in the treaty to prevent Sebastopol being rebuilt, nothing to secure the neutralisation of the Black Sea, awl no obligation imposed upon Russia by treaty to build at Nieohtieff only such ships as were agreed upon for :service in the Black Sea. As to the forts on the Black Sea, and our desertion of the Circa.ssians, they were mote important questions of policy than the (*oven:lineal appeared to believe:— • • • • •Aal.- 4 1 1 . 1 48' My noble friend says that we could not call upon the Russian Government to demolish these forts. I do not know whether upon the part of the country he had a right to do so, but I know that the British Plenipotentiary did ask for the destruction of these forts, and his request was, to use a mild diplomatie term, " adjourned." And now he tells us that we had no right to ask anything of the sort, and could nut expect Russia to grant it. As to military success, I do not know what view the noble earl takes of the subject. Perhaps he is so intoxicated with greater military successes, not nnmingled with some disasters and some imperfections, even in thy uchievernent of the greatest operations, as to think that the naval operations upon the eastern coast of the Black Sea by which these forts we t o destroyed and which caused their abandonment by th a Russians, were not such as called upon us to maintain the status quo, and to procure that those forts so abandoned and destroyed should not by these same Russians he rebuilt and reoccupied. I will not enter into the (lavabos of what degree of .support or co-operation we may have nn ceived front the Circassiuns, from Sehamyl or any ether of their chiefs, nor into the question why we did not receive such support; bat I ask, not ns a question of gratitude cr good feeling towards them, but as a question of policy, and of carrying out that which the noble lord himself de clared to be among the prin&ptil objects of the war—tEe limiting of the territory and the repression of the aggrandisement of Russia—whether he can justify having inserted no conditions in this treaty by which these tribre should be maintained in that degree of independence cf Russia which has formed, and might continue to form, au iniportaat barrier against the aggressions of that power in the quarter in which they are most dangerous to Turkey? Your object was to repress the aggressions of Russia and to secure the integrity of Turkey ; and you ne glect to make provision against the expansion of territory and the continuance of aggression precisely on the aide on which Russia can at any time best carry out her views of te ,,, randisement against that Turkey the integrity of which it is your object to secure. I say that the:, is a si g nal defect in the treaty. You may say what you like about the indifference to your assistance ruanifeated by those tribes—an indifference occasioned, perhaps, by your injurious interference with their ticerestie concerns, or by their inability to hold their own; but I say that in providing for the neutralisation of the Black Sea, fat the repression of Russian aggression, and for the integrity of Turkey, these Circassian provinces were of all others those to which you ought primarily to have directed your attention, and tins you have wholly and indisputably neglected. The non-settlement of the form of goveiviment for the l'rincipalities left open endless causes of dispute ; and the manner in which the maritime code of England had been entirely changed, without the knowledge and sanction of Parliament, ought not to be passed over : The corn laws were repealed after full discussion, with the knowledge and sanction of both Houses of Parliament. But our maritime supremacy has been surrendered (I use the mildest word), has been given away, has been yielded to I know not what. There is no protocol which tells us what were the arguments in its favour. There is no dis cussion as to the objects to be gained by it. There is no statement whether it was volunteered by the British Minister. But this I know, that, right or wrong, volun teered by the British Minister, or surrendered by him to the feeling, prejudices, and desires of other countries, it was done in the dark, without the knowledge of Parliament; and that the Minister, sent and trusted by the country to conduct negotiations for restoring peace on certain bases known to the country, took advantage of his position to make an important alteration iu the maritime law of Eng• land without the knowledge of Parliament, and without our having the least idea that such our birthright was being given away. (Cheers.) This question is too large to be argued now, but I should have thought myself un worthy of a seat in your lordships' house if, while we are discussing the terms of this treaty, I did not advert to the contents of the paper which I have seen with astonishment and indignation forms an adjunct to the treaty, of whieliit is undoubtedly no part. Earl GRANVILLE regarded the declaration of Count Orloff with respect to Nicolaieff as' satliffitctory. So solemn a declaration gave the right of protest upow the Bfiglitest breach being attempted. The Earl of ARERDEEN believed the treaty secitred . the objects for which the war was undertaken, but it was doubtful whether posterity would be of tt)at opinion. lie thought the neutralisation of the flack Sea would be found practically impossible. • A power to interpOse in the internal management of Turkey ought to have been retained. Lord COWLEY explained that any aggression from either Russia or Turkey in the Blade Sea would give time other contracting powers a right! to in. tervene. Earl GREY considered the treaty a great step in the advance of humanity and civilisation, especially in the change it effected in our maritime law. • Lord CAMPBELL said the change in that law had been effected quite in accordance with the Constitu tion. The amendment was then negatived and the Address agreed to without a division. Lord.PANuuat gave notice of a motion for a vote of that lto the army and nen. ,), Mr, E. DENtos, in the House of Commons on Monday, proposed that the thanks of 'the house by returned to her l'iftdesty fbr her gracions'&mninnica titan to the house upon the sublect df thelreatror peace concluded in Yeas on the 30th of March. He Tug w peer roue epee take T 1 Th retnr thsnl whicl this 1 :tt ith /testi he Suite her thole of Hi To deem Mlles to col &etc peace and t the w To we fe contr the w peace •war h sanct merit proto To stand 3 wee, impaj To conch count loony maim aud a The emi n expel achie met I Lord oue : My non este', and t very I cireu or fai the a atruc attnt 4, pa pow and t weed these mucl The Rag] and, ther, woe' heig L( high TI expt estal deni OJm Brat beer whit quat the tope Yen exel equi pro rain vent enti able Cire eon, ogei that, was It plea