The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-01-22 00:00:00

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

DROITS OF ADMIRALTY.-With reference to the droit dispute
and correspondence published in the Liverpool Standard of
Tuesday last, it should have been stated that the anchor was
marked P. Z. in white paint, and that the master of the Raritan
is now in port to verify his statement.
V, In reply to numerous applications for copies of the Liverpool
Standard of Tuesday last, containing the correspondence be-
tween Messrs. Bramley-Moose and Co. and the Board of Trade,
we beg to say that we have no papers of that date left ; but we
understand that the correspondence will be published, as a
pamphlet, in a few days.

THE

Eroot ,c.i- tanbarb+

TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 1856

PEACE WITH RUSSIA.

THE earlier part of the past week witnessed that
listless inactivity which usually precedes an anticipation
of the renewal of business. Letters from the Crimea
contained nothing that was worth perusal ; the war
had virtually ceased for the time, and all was quietude
and calm until the opening of Parliament should raise
anew the strife of parties. On Thursday, however,
came the startling intelligence conveyed in the few brief
words that " Russia has unconditionally accepted the
propositions of the Allies ;" and though it was at first
received with a feeling something like incredulity, the
news conveyed by the wires of the Electric Telegraph
soon roused the whole kingdom into a state of excite-
ment and activity. The Funds rose about three per
cent., Shares partook of the advance, Sugar and Cotton
went up, and Corn went down, the Greeks showed
long faces, while every one else displayed a sense of
satisfaction, and the intelligence appeared to be acted
upon as though a return to a state of peace had been
finally concluded. The probability of such an event,
which before had been gravely doubted, seemed to be
at once adopted ; nor was it difficult to adduce reasons
why Russia, convinced of the difficulty of her position,
had at length taken the wisest course, and, by suc-
cumbing to the Allies, saved herself from further hu-
miliation and defeat. But then came a narrower can-
vass of the terms and meaning of the brief despatch.
The Allies had made no propositions to Russia ; what,
therefore, had Russia accepted so unconditionally ?
The acceptance could only apply to the propositions
of Austria, the terms of which, it was said, the Allies
had previously agreed to, and then only as the basis
of future negotiations, which might be broken off by a
difference as to details, which was the case in the
last conferences at Vienna. This view of the case was
confirmed by the subsequent intelligence, which was
conveyed in more precise terms. Sir Hamilton Sey-
mour, our ambassador at Vienna, wrote
The Russian Government accept the Austrian
proposals as a basis for negotiation."
This was followed by a telegraphic despatch from
Paris containing an official report from Vienna, and
further confirmed by similar intelligence from Berlin,
which attributed the adhesion of Russia to the urgency
of the representations made by Prussia.
We may, therefore, so far correct the first intel-
ligence, by stating that Russia has agreed to the
unconditional acceptance of the propositions made by
Austria, and which we published last week, as the

basis of preliminaries upoli which to found negotiations
for peace. If the antecedents of Russian diplomacy
afforded the slightest grounds for reliance upon her
good faith or honesty of purpose, we might entertain
some reasonable anticipation that a return to a state
of peace was placed almost beyond a doubt. We
cannot, however, shut our eyes to the fact that Russia
will yield nothing from a sense of justice, and only so
much as may be wrung from her fears. If more
delay would serve her ends, she would not hesitate-to
make large promises, as was the case when the late
Emperor NicrroLAs agreed to the four points, and
then dishonoured his acceptance by refusing the only
legitimate construction which could be put upon the
most important of them. It is possible that Russia
may now rely upon her boasted skill in diplomacy,
and we may find, when the details come under dis-
cussion, that we are as far from the realisation of our

hopes as ever.
It must be clear to every man that no conditions of
peace can be satisfactory unless we obtain those sub-
stantial concessions which shall afford a guarantee for
the future quietude of Europe, an arrangement in
which would be involved a total change of that aggres-
sive policy which has influenced Russian councils for
a century past. The wolf must have changed his
nature for Russia willingly to agree to such conditions ;
and though exhaustion may have compelled her to
consent, there are many who think that Russia has
not yet been sufficiently beaten. She still holds Fin-
land, which she wrested from Sweden ; her fleet in the
Baltic is still uninjured; her Asiatic provinces are still
unconquered ; her trade, though interrupted, has not
been suppressed ; and she still maintains a respectable
footing in the Crimea. There cannot be a doubt, how-
ever, that she has most severely suffered during the
last campaign. Her energies and resources have been
taxed to the utmost in the defence of Sebastopol; that
fortress, as well as the fleet which it sheltered, has
been lost, while the allies are in possession of several
other Russian forts. Then may come the conviction,
that if 'one campaign has been so disastrous, another
may be still more so, as the Allies have all their
resources unimpaired, while Russia has had to make
the most desperate exertions to maintain her footing,
and is less able to continue the struggle. Should the
war be protracted another year, the gun-boats now
preparing for the Baltic may tell a different story from
the last, and Cronstadt be added to the list of captures.
Another campaign may put the Allies into possession
of the Crimea, the Asiatic provinces, and all the shores
of the Black Sea, We have only taken off the edge
of appetite for war, while Russia is almost reduced to
a state of exhaustion ; so that, if terms be not made
now, whilst something is left upon which to negociate,
another year may swell the demands of the Allies to
an extent which would consummate Russian humilia-
tion. These reasons may have induced Russia to
agree to conditions which, in a short time, would be
no longer available to her ; and therefore we may have
some right to presume that she is for once sincere in
her intentions.
While, however, we may find abundant cause why
Russia ought to yield after the experience which she
has had of the power and resources of the Allies, the
latter should in no particular cease the preparations

which are now being actively made for the next

campaign. Everything should go on with the same
or rather increased vigour, from the conviction that
the Russian Government is well informed as to all
our preparations, and the certainty also, that in all
such negociations powerful fleets and armies are by
far the most successful diplomatists. Every point in
the discussions will be materially influenced by the
power which we have for enforcing our demands ; and
though we may entertain no moral doubt as to the
favourable termination of the negociations, we must
not lose sight of the fact, that the most certain way
of ensuring peace is by being fully prepared for war.