The Press.
London, England, 1857-02-07 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

cerued, she determined that the freedom of the
Danube should bs secured. With Russia possessing
liolgrad the freedom of the Danube was not secured.
Then why did Russia possess Bolgrad ? I am told
that the Russian Minister behaved very ill. Oh !
wicked Baron Brunnow, whose conduct was so
flagitious as to attend to the interests of his master !
(A laugh.) Oh ! ungrateful Baron Brunnow, who,
after all the civility and hospitality he received in
London, did not, when in Paris, do for Lord Clarendon
that which Lord Clarendon ought to have done for
himself ! (Laughter.)
Now, that is the real state of the case. (Hear,
hear.) I should have been perfectly ready to sup-
port any Government which resolved to obtain the
results for which we fought and which we thought we
had obtained. But when it is a blunder of our own
negotiator, 1 do not see the advantage of turning
round upon our kite foe and our present ally and
accusing them of duplicity and want of• faith.
(Hear.) Lord Clarendon was not in the least hurried,
because he found time to recommend interference in
the affairs of the kingdom of Naples, to which I
have alluded, and he found time to dissuss measures
to curb and, perhaps, suppress the liberty of the
press throughout Europe. (Hear.) Lord Claren-
don, one would suppose, must have possessed ample
means to obtain all the information he required.
His position is remarkable. Lord Clarendon went
to obtain the independence of the Black Sea and the
freedom of the Danube, and he omitted to obtain one
of those important points which he was sent to Paris
specially to secure. Was ►t from want of information
That is the most charitable view. But, want of
information? Why, you had an ambassador at Con-
stantinople. He may have his failings, but all agree
that he is a man of great experience, great energy,
and great ability, and that he is supported by a
diplomatic staff probably the most disciplined and
the most able which surrounds any Minister.
(Hear, hear.) Throughout all the provinces of the
Turkish empire, throughout the Principalities them-
selves, you had costly consular establishments. One
would have supposed that your diplcmatic and con-
sular sources of information would have furnished
Lord Clarendon with sufficient knowledge at least to
obtain that which was the object of war and the
cause of negotiation. He had, besides, all the ar-
chives of the Foreign-office in Downing-street open
to him, where he ought to have found all the infor-
mation ready prepared before he went to Paris. But
if these sources failed—and it is a perfect libel on
the diplomatic service to suppose they could fail—
had you not railroads and telegraphs in this age at
your disposal? If you could not obtain information
otherwise, was it not worth while to send some one
to the spot to ascertain the facts, when that which
was at stake was no slight point, was not one of many
points, but the very pith and essence of the whole
negotiation—the cause of the quarrel and the cause
of the treaty (Cheers.' And out of this condition
of affairs, out of this almost unprecedented blunder
of our own plenipotentiary, an excitement is got up,
so that the people of England, who in the spring or
summer expected they were going to war about Italy,
now thought they were going to war again with
Russia; and yet we are told this is to enjoy the
blessings of peace.
In this way the spring, the summer, and the
autumn have been occupied. A great blunder is per-
petrated by the chief of your diplomacy—not by a
"poor devil" whom you could throw over die moment
discovery was made, or by an unhappy underling,
who you could say had been improperly promoted by
a former Minister, and kept in his place through
good feeling. (Hear, hear.) You would not trust
your ambassador. You wisely determined on sending
the chief of your diplomacy, one of the principal
Ministers of the Queen and a leading member of the
Cabinet, to Paris to secure that which you were de-
termined to achieve. Ile commits this awful mis-
take. It is not at first discovered, and he returns
to this country crowned with laurels. It is at length
discovered by your late foes asserting rights which
the treaty itself gave them, and, instead of turning
round and saying, " Neither I nor the people of
England can be satisfied; let us understand one
another ; give that which was the spirit of the treaty ;"
—instead of doing it. in the most conciliatory manner
possible, every means are used to lash up the pas-
sions of the people of England. (Hear, hear.) One
would suppose that, ipstead of our Ministers having
made a great blunder, our late foe and present ally
bad been absolutely trying to defraud us of the cou •
sequences of our hari-earned victory, and, in order
that the people of England might be prepared to
enter into the contest with exhausted Russia, who
was perfectly determined not to tight, the noble lord
goes down to the great capital of industry and peace,
harangues some of the most eminent members of the
Peace Society (one of whom is no longer among us,
and whose loss we sincerely deplore), and excites
them to that pitch of enthusiasm that the members
of the Peace Society half drew their swords. (A
laugh.) The noble lord then says, " With such

SATURDAY,

enthusiasm I will not he defrauded of my hard•earned
rights. I will have the treaty executed. I will have
no conference, no explanations ; I will have the
treaty, the whole treaty, and nothing but the treaty "
—the treaty which, if executed as agreed to by Lord
Clarendon, would have lost us everything for which
we were struggling. (Hear, hear.) Because Lord
Clarendon makes a gross blunder the noble lord at
the head of the Government excites the passions of
the people about they do not know what, until they
seem almost ready to bear a twenty-per-cent. income
tax. (Laughter and cheers.)
Now, let the house see in what an absurd position
the men were eventually placed who were in the
wrong. Russia never would have consented to make
peace bad it not been impossible for her to continue
the struggle. The noble lord the First Minister of
the Crown said, " Only have confidence in me, and
you shall have the tfeaty." He set in motion all
those artificial means which were more at his com-
mand than that of any British Minister since Boling-
broke, and these monitors so instructed the people
of this country that they were prepared to go to war,
with )ut knowing the cause, with a power that was
determined not to fight. ( A laugh.) The Ministers
were determined not to have a conference. At last
it oozed out that there was to be a conference, but
that it was not to be presided over by the Minister
of France, because he had acted perfidiously. Well,
the conference was held, and it was presided over by
the Minister of France. Then we were told that it
was to be a mere matter of ceremony ; that the
Ministers were merely to come into a room with
their boxes in their hands and their cocked! hats,
that they were to bow to each other, that they were
to agree that the treaty meant what it did not mean,
and that then they were to leave the room. (A laugh.)
But instead of this the conference was obliged to
meet, and to admit that the treaty expressed that
which it was not the desire and wish of the Minister
that it should express. However, he threw himself
on the good feeling of his allies and of his late
opponent, and it was owing to that good feeling that
a good understanding was come to. Russia said,
" We offered you a conference in August, and, indeed,
long before, when the difficulty first occurred. We
knew that we must have some compensation, because
the letter of the treaty was against you, and as we
have the legal right we must have some compensa-
tion for the concessions that you demand." Ycu say
there was no question about Bolgrad, but if Bolgrad
did not belong to Russia why did you give her a large
compeusation ? (Cheers.)

My object in making these remarks is to show the
effect of this mode of managing your affairs upon the,
internal administration of the country. (Hear.) At
a period of peace we are not reaping the fruits of a
period of peace. (Hear, hear.) In the spring,
summer, and autumn you bad nothing but difficulties
in your foreign affairs—all difficulties that have been
created by a Ministry who have extricated us from
them somehow or other, and who, because they have
done so, are entitled to our confidence as the only
men who understand bow to manage foreign affairs.
Eight months had been wasted in this way. There
was a chance of an American difficulty before Par-
liament prorogued ; but the House of Commons for-
tunately got over that. Then there were the Italian
difficulty and the Russian difficulty, and so the whole
of the year was wasted. Still there was time, with
energy, great exertions, and great ability, for the
❑oble lord to put his house in order, and come to the
House of Commons with measures which would
enable the country to reap the fruits of the struggle
in which it had been engaged and enjoy the blessings
of peace.

But no sooner is Bolgrad in the possession of the
noble lord, and the Isle of Serpents relieved from
the presence of half a dozen Russian riflemen, than
another difficulty arises of the most menacing cha-
racter. A German prince seems about to invade
Switzerland with an immense army. The Emperor
of the French, whose motto was "The Empire is
Peace," and who, notwithstanding all that has
occurred, and notwithstanding the conduct of Minis-
ters, I think the house will be of opinion, sin-
cerely and honourably fulfilled that programme—
(cheers)—might under such circumstances have
insisted on his right to march a French army to the
Rhine. What was the Swiss difficulty ? A more
simple one never existed. The King of Prussia
believed that his honour was grievously at stake.
Every man is the guardian of his own honour, and of
ail others a sovereign is not the man who ought to
permit his honour to be stained. The King of
Prussia does that which every person in private
life is allowed to do, and which in that case
society sanctions and approves. Instead of adopting
a hostile and bullying tale, he puts the matter into
the hands of a friend, and one whose character and
position might be supposed to give him great influ-
ence in affecting the sentiments of the Swiss. (Hear,
hear.) That appeal I heartily approve, and I think
the King of Prussia is entitled to the respect and
esteem of society for having made it eith success.