The Press.
London, England, 1855-01-27 00:00:00

VOTE OF THANKS TO THE ARMY AND

FLEET.

On Wednesday, in the Commons, the following
letter from Lord Raglan was read by the Speaker:

Before Sebastopol, Jan. 7,185 S.
Sir,—l have had the honour to receive your letter of
the 18th December, transmitting the resolutions of the
House of Commons, and requesting me to communicate
them to the officers and men of the British army, and Gen.
Canrobert, and I beg to acquaint you that I have fulfilled
your instructions, and am proud of having been charged
with so agreeable a commission. The officers and men of
the British army derived the highest gratification from the
knowledge that their gallant exertions in the cause in
which they are engaged have been honoured by the ap•
proval of the representatives of the British nation, and
they accept with feelings of the deepest gratitude the
unanimous thanks of the House of Commons,
I shall best make known to the house the sentiments
entertained by Gen. Canrobert of the public recognition of
the brilliant achievements of the French army in cordial
co-operation with the troops of her Majesty, by transmit-
ting to you a copy of his Excellency's letter in reply to my
communication, and the General Order, in which he
announced to the army under his command the resolutions
of the house, and expressed his due appreciation of the
thanks they conveyed.
I trust you will be so good as to acquaint the house that
I am deeply sensible of the great distinction it has con-
ferred upon me in noticing my services, and that you will
yourself accept my warmest acknowledgments for the
manner in which you have performed the duty of com-
municating to me the resolutions.—l have the honour to
be, with the highest respect, your most obedient servant,
RAGLAN.
A similar letter of acknowledgment for the vote of

the Peers was read by the Lord Chancellor in the
Upper House on Thursday.
The Loßn CHANCELLOR on Tuesday read the fol-
lowing letter from Admiral Dundas in acknowledgment
of the vote of thanks to the fleet :

Britannia, at Malta, Jan. 8.

My Lord,—l have had the honour this day to receive
your letter, dated the 18th tilt, transmitting the resolutions
of the House of Lords expressive of the high sense it en-
tertains of the valuable services rendered by myself, and by
the officers, seamen, and marines of the fleet lately under
my command.
Having, on the 31st tilt., transferred my command to
Rear-Admiral Sir Edmund Lyons, I have transmitted a
copy of your letter to him, and the resolutions of the House
of Lords have been made known to the several officers who
were serving under me.
I have, also, in obedience to the order of the house,
forwarded to Admiral Hamelin the resolutions, thanking
that officer and the French navy for their cordial co-opera-
tion in the various services in which the combined fleet
have been engaged ; and as Admiral Hamelin has also
transferred his command, I have sent copies to Vice-
Admiral Bruat for communication to the French navy.
The high honour and distinction the House of Lords
has thus been pleased to confer on myself, the officers. sea-
men, and marines of the fleet lately under my command,
will be received by all with deep gratitude and respect, and
I have to beg your lordship will be pleased to accept my
sincere thanks for the generous terms in which you have
conveyed to me the resolutions of the house.
I have the honour to be, my lord,
Your lordship's most obedient humble servant,
J. W. I). DUNDAS, Vice-Admiral.
On the motion of the noble and learned lord, the
above letter was entered on the minutes.

THE AUSTRIAN TREATY AND THE FOUR
POINTS.

Mr. LAYARD asked the President of the Council if
he would consent to lay on the table of the house the
correspondence on the subject of the treaty of the
2nd of December, more especially with respect to the
interpretation put upon it by the Russian Govern-
ment.
Lord J. RussErs. said :

I cannot at present say whether it is possible to lay upon
the table any of the correspondence to which my,hon. friend
refers. With respect to the correspondence generally, it
would be unusual as well as inconvenient to the public
service to lay it upon the table. Still there may be some
papers relating to a question of great importance which can
be produced, and that is a point which I will consider before
I give a final answer. Perhaps, however, as my hon.
friend has asked a question, I may state generally what has
occurred with regard to the four points, and in what situa•
tion the question stands at present. At the end of No-
vember the Russian Government, through their minister
at Vienna, declared their acceptance of what are called the

four points. On the 2nd of December a treaty was signed
between the charges d'Affaires of England, France and Aus-
tria, and on the 28th of December a meeting was held
between those ministers of England, France, and Aus-
tria, at Vienna, with Prince Gortschakoff, the minister of
Russia. At that meeting the French minister, Baron
Bourqueney, on the part of England and Austria, declared
the interpretation which they put on the four points as the
basis of negotiation. I will mention only, with respect to
the third point, that it proposed to put an end to the
preponderance in the Black Sea ; and with reference to
that article Prince Gortachakoff declared that he would not
adhere to the interpretation which had been put upon it,
but that he must request further instructions from his Go-
veniment. Accordingly he afterwards informed Count
Buol that he had received those instructions; and on the
7th or Bth of January another meeting was held at the
office of the Minister fur Foreign Affairs at Vienna. At
that meeting Prince Gortschakoff read a memorandum,
which he said he had received, and contained the views of
his Government. To that it was replied by Count lino!,
Lord Westmoreland, and Baron Bourqueney,that they had
no authority to receive such a memoratidum,but that they
must require the consent of the Russian plenipotentiary
to the terms of which they had already given him notice.
The Russian plenipotentiary—so Lord Westmoreland state
iu his despatch—then withdrew his memorandum, and
declared his acceptance, on the part of his Government,
of the interpretation already given as the basis of negutia-
tion. My hon. friend, however, will understand that in
accepting that interpretation the Russian Government of
course reserves to itself the power of making explanations
with regard to the details of the terms. I hit‘e to state,
then, that the Government of her Majesty have declared
that they are ready to enter into negotiations upon these
bases, although up to the present time no full power has
been given to any minister to negotiate.

VOTE OF CENSURE ON THE GOVERNMENT.
On Thursday Lord LvNnwritsx gave notice
he would move the following resolution on
next :

That the expedition to the Crimea was undertaken by
her Majesty's Ministers with very inadequate means, and
without due caution or sufficient inquiry as to the nature
and extent of the resistance to be expected from the
enemy; and that their neglect and mismanagement in the
conduct of the enterprise have led to the moot disastrous
results.