The Press.
London, England, 1856-04-19 00:00:00

From the first of General WILLIAMS'S
despatches to the last, their tenor is the same.
Constantly and unvaryingly he complains of
the wants of the Turkish army, and especially
of the deficiencies at Kars. The infantry were
in ragged clothing, without shoes, without
stockings, without knapsacks. The cavalry
had neither valises, hoots, spurs, sabres, nor
carbines. The men were twenty-three months
in arrears of pay. For the service of the
artillery there were required horses, ammuni-
tion, and gunners. Entrenching tools were
wanted to repair the roads ; drugs and
surgeons were needed for the hospitals ;
provisions and stores of all kinds were wanted
for the supply of the garrison. These wants
are urged not once only, but a hundred times ;
they are repeated in every variety of form,
and pressed in the most moving manner.
Such sentences as the following are constantly
recurring in General WILLIAMS'S despatches
to Lord CLARENDON :

I repeat it, my Lord, that not a day is to be lost ; and I
urgently impress upon your Lordship the necessity of
prompt, active, and ample support in the execution of my
duties.—llec. 12, 1854.

Lord CLARENDON recognised the justice of
these representations as often as they were
made. He admitted the urgency of the case.
He declared it was most necessary that the
wants brought to his notice should be sup-
plied, and that all the requirements of General
WILLIAMS should be promptly fulfilled. Nearly
as often as he received a despatch from the
British Commissioner he wrote to Lord STRAT
FORD at Constantinople, desiring that the com-
plaints of General WILLIANIS might be brought
to the notice of the Ottoman Government, and
that his requisitions might be complied with.
In this manner he conveniently threw all re•
sponsihility from himself. He wrote much
hut lid nothing. Having made up his mind
that the Turkish Government ought to do
whatever was necessary in Asia, he would pay
no attention to the hints he received, that he
was expecting more from it than it would ever
perform. He seems to have conceived that
his sole duty was remonstrance ; and this duty
he discharged with wonderful pertinacity. If
his Lordship's expostulations could have
saved Kars, we are quite ready to admit it
would never have fallen. At one time he is
exalted with the hope " that measures will be
" taken for at length abandoning that syste-
" matic neglect with which the army at Kars
" has been treated" (Nov. 29, 1851). And at
another time he is silenced with despair at
discovering that, " with the exception of some
" ball-cartridges, little or nothing seems to
" have been sent for the relief of the army at
" Kars _ notwithstanding the re-

peated and urgent remonstrances of her
" Majesty's Government, which are of a date
" long anterior to the departure of General
" WILLIAMS from this country" (Jan. 11, 1855).
His " painful duty" at being compelled to
draw attention to General WILLIAMS'S re-
ports of misdoings at Kars (Jan. 6, 1853)
is rapidly succeeded by his confident trust
that "in future" the demands addressed to
the Turkish Government will be better
attended to (Jan 16, 1855). Often his re-
monstrances are dictated with that calmness
of mind which a supreme reliance on the effi-
cacy of official routine inspires. Thus, advert-
ing to WILLIAMS'S despatch on the importance
of nominating a vigorous Governor for Kars,
Lord CLARENDON simply acquaints Lord STRAT-
FORD DE REDCLIFFE, " / have to state to your

" Excellency that General WILLIAMS fully de-
" monstrates the importance of sending an effi-
" cient Governor to Kars " (Feb. 5, 1855).
General WILLIAMS asks for a thousand artillery-
men, and Lord CLARENDON instructs Lord STRAT-
FORD " to state to the Porte that it is of urgent
" importance to send this corps of artillerymen
" and supply of ammunition without loss
"of time." (February 9, '55). It is in vain
for Lord STRATFORD to reply that :t is doubtful
whether the Turkish Government can send
the thousand artillerymen. When Lord
CLARENDON is informed by authentic docu-
ments that all his " hopes" have been disap-
pointed, and all his " fears" have been
realised, he consoles himself with being able
" to state " to Lord STRATFORD, that a memo-
randum sent him from the Porte " is most un-
" satisfactory, and therefore quite consistent
"with all the proceedings of the Porte as re-
" Bards the army of Kars " (May 13, '55).
If the urgency of General WILLIAMS'S appeals
be contrasted with the measures taken by
Lord CLARENDON to satisfy them, a just esti-
mate may be formed of the amount of assist-
ance the British Commissioner met with from

the Foreign-office. As the result of six months'
continued and most urgent entreaties for sup-
plies, he writes, April 2, 1855 :—" Not a shoe
" or knapsack for the remnant of the infantry,
" not a boot or sabre for the wreaks of the
" cavalry, have been sent from the Seraskierat;
" not an infantry or cavalry recruit to fill up
" the casualties of last year, has been sent
" from the capital : in short, we are left utterly
" uncared for." Well might he subsequently
write that the Kars army seemed doomed to
dest ruction.

Yet it is on the despatches of Lord CLAREN-
DON—which were by his own acknowledgment
futile for any good end—that the Government
will ground their defence. " Admirable de-
spatches !" " High-toned compositions!" They
amused the time that should have been occu-
pied in vigorous action, and which have helped
to swell a bulky Blue-book in exchange for the
loss of Kars !
The winter of 1854-55 was passed in diplo-
matic correspondence ; with the spring
WILLIAMS conceived hopes that decisive ac-
tion might be undertaken. So early as March 5,
in last year, he addressed a despatch to Lord
CLARENDON, stating the prompt reinforcements
which would be required to enable the army
of Asia to hold its ground. He required
15,000 infantry, 3,000 cavalry, and 1,100 artil-
lery. In this despatch he expresses his con-
fident expectation of allied assistance. He
was deceived. The cold answer returned to
his urgent appeal by both Lord CLARENDON
and Lord PANDIIIRE was, that the Porte would
be urged to " the importance of paying atten-
" tion to the requirements mentioned by
" General WILLIAMS whenever the more press-
" ing need of the services of the Ottoman
" troops elsewhere shall have ceased " (April
13, 1855).
Those despatches sealed the fate of Kars.
The opportunity for reinforcing the army of
Asia was lost.

pletely invested,
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its relief, our Go'
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sufficient in March

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