The Press.
London, England, 1854-03-04 00:00:00

THE WAR.

The Earl of ELLEXeo;touort---On Monday called the
attention of the Peers to the intelligence received
from St. Petersburg, which stated that twelve Rus-
sian frigates and corvettes were actually preparing in
the Baltic, and would be ready whenever the ice
broke up to issue forth and scatter themselves over
the ocean in search of prey among the multitudinous
and defenceless fleets employed in the British mer-
chant service. He remarked that in five weeks after
their departure these ships might be committing in-
credible damage among the trading vessels off the
Scotch and Irish coasts. The noble earl then al-
luded to the number of Russian cruisers which were
well known to be hovering around many of our most
important colonies, and expressed his apprehension
of the distastrous consequences that must ensue if
the Government did not exercise more vigilance and
activity than they had hitherto employed. " There
are," he said,
" not less than eleven Russian men-of-war that I know
of distributed in different positions on foreign stations.
A frigate and a brig are at Manilla, flanking the China
trade ; and we have a 50-gun ship, which was lately in a
state of mutiny, at Hong-Kong. There is a 60-gun frigate
off Australia, where we have only a 26-gun frigate. The
whole of the Australian trade will therefore be at the mercy
of that man-of-war. At Rio there is a 44-gun frigate, the
Aurora, which we, in the exercise of a generous hospitality,
recently repaired at Portsmouth. I believe the whole
number of guns which we have now at that station is not
equal to the number of guns mounted by that one ship
alone. There is also at Madeira a schooner heavily armed.
Two heavy frigates were seen on the 9th November off Cape
de Verd, and from the direction they were steering, and
from the circumstance of our not having heard of them
since, my impression is that these frigates have gone
round Cape. Horn. Again, in the Adriatic there are three
Russian frigates, in an Austrian port, fomenting the Greek
insurrection. All these vessels are unwatched, and may
all pounce upon our trade in different parts of the world.
The Emperor of Russia is at perfect liberty to give orders
to that effect, because what we have done is war. We may
take it as a war or not, as we please, but it is war, and jus-
tifies him in giving instructions to the commanders of
these vessels to act accordingly. The ships in the Baltic,
to which I have alluded, may be met with an equal or a
superior force to keep them out of the Categat ; but, if
they are not prevented from leaving the Categat, three
times the number will not be sufficient to protect our
trade ; and therefore it becomes a matter of absolute ur-
gency that her Majesty's Ministers should make up their
minds what they mean to do on this subject. The orders
should be given immediately ; not a day or an hour should
be lost. I conclude that it can never be considered possi-
ble to attack without notice ; and therefore that notice must
be given to the Emperor of Russia as to the intention
which we entertain ; and as these vessels may be at the
mouth of the Categat before ours may meet them, in three
weeks, not an hour or a day ought to be lost in giving that
notice. (Hear, hear.) And, therefore, I ask my noble
friend if her Majesty's Government are prepared to pre-
vent these frigates and corvettes from leaving the Baltic ?"
The Earl of ABERDEEN, in declining to give the
desired assurance, stated his intention " henceforth
to answer no question respecting prospective military
or naval operations." Admitting that Lord Ellen-
borough had accurately described the positions of
the Russian ships, he intimated that that noble lord
was mistaken in supposing that their manceuvres
were " unwatched."

The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH was not satisfied with
that meagre intimation :

" I contend that I am not justified in giving her Ma-
jesty's Ministers credit for watchfulness in this matter.
(A laugh.) For anything that can be drawn from within
the four corners of the book of political economy or finance
I give them credit, but as a war Ministry they are as yet
utterly untried ; and when I see that they are not aware of
the value of time, which in war is almost everything—
when I see that they have postponed for two or three
months the most necessary and essential preparations abso-
lutely required for success, and even for the protection of
the coasts of England—when I see that the military and
naval force they propose to employ is utterly inadequate—
(Hear, hear)—that it is discreditable to this country to
enter on a war with the peace establishment scarcely in-
creased, and to endeavour to persuade itself that that is a
little war which is one of the greatest in which it has ever
been engaged—l say, my lords, that having these impres-
sions with respect to the past conduct of her Majesty's
Ministers in reference to this war, I cannot give them
credit either for watchfulness or for activity. (Hear, hear.)
I shall be most happy, indeed, if my forebodings should
not be realised, and if those who have shown, to a great
extent, abilities for the conduct of our affairs in peace,
should exhibit similar qualifications for the conduct of
war."

The Marquis of L.►NSDOWNE denied the charge
that the war preparations of the Government had been
dilatory or inefficient :

"If the noble earl knew more than he appears
to know of the preparations that have been made
to meet the war, and the manner in which those
preparations have been conducted, and which, so far
as there is any evidence before the public, have been
exhibited in the magnificent fleets now preparing to sail,
and the admirable army now preparing to be sent out, he

SATURDAY,

would see that all the activity is in favour of the watchful-
ness, the foresight, and the determination of her ➢lajesty's
Government. (Hear, hear.) And when the noble earl
comes to look into these particulars, I am confident he will
have the candour to own that these preparations have been
effectual, and that they will afford sufficient proof, not
only in the particular details which he has brought under
the consideration of the house, but in every particular
spreading over every portion of the globe, of the watchful-
ness of the Queen's servants. But let me add that it
would take away a great deal from the merit and from
the effect of that watchfulness if, having been watchful,
they were to announce the details of that watchfulness to
the public and to this house even upon a question pro-
pounded by the noble earl in ioinch a manner as to add
nothing to the effect of that watchfulnes, but to betray it in
its details to the enemy. (Loud cheers.) "
Lord ELLENBOROUGH controverted the assertion
that the equipment of the Baltic fleet was a satis-
factory proof of Ministerial activity and skill :

" That fleet consists, I believe, of eighteen vessels, out
of which eighteen vessels seven only have ever been at
sea ; and I do say that that state of things, with the chance
of their being engaged with the enemy in a fortnight or
less—eleven untried ships, with eleven untried crews—is
not a proof either of foresight or of watchfulness. I think
the state of the negotiations in the early part of November
was such that the Government should have commenced to
make all the preparations which they commenced to make
two or three months later, and then they would have had
such a fleet as we were accustomed to conquer with—a fleet
which had been at sea, and one in which all the officers
knew the men, and in which there was such a degree of dis-
cipline and experience as to give a certainty of success.
(Hear, hear.)"

The same topic was brought up in the Commons
during the discussion on the navy estimates. Cap-
tain Scositu. then inquired whether the Admiralty
were aware that three Russian war-ships were in
some Austrian ports of the Adriatic, and suggested
the expediency of providing an escort to accompany
our troop-ships during their voyage down the Medi-
terranean.

Sir J. GRAHAM said it was true that three Russian men-
of-war were in the Adriatic, but he had great pleasure in
telling the gallant officer that there were also three Eng-
lish men-of-war there—( cheers) ;—and, if that were not
enough, two very powerful French vessels were likewise in
the Adriatic. Those three Russian men•of-war had been
in the outer harbour of Trieste ; but they were afterwards
hauled up within the inner mole, so that our men-of-war
could not get at them. (Laughter.)
REPORTED ADVANCE OF THE RUSSIANS