The Press.
London, England, 1854-12-16 00:00:00

.

THE PRESS.

pompous self-satisfaction. It was felt that a
great war imposed something like unanimity
upon the House, however discontented it
might be with tlw init diate managers of it.
Suddenly, and late ip evening, a " scene"
ocevred which le net
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pine to filly seoleneeti or Mr. DISRAELI, Loti4
(AIN Ruapu, Nap impromptu, and—whether
e wiks Is a Mit or hit; natural intractibility
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Council had left atrahrliotfe reminiscences—
anyhow, Lord JOHN angae, plunged straight in
medias res, and blurted out all about the Aus-
trian alliance. Lord Jens is not often deficient
in " pluck ;" and never when it is null-apropos.
The House, at least the Ministerial side of it,
was thunderstruck. After a few sentences,
the long faces and wry mouths, and anxious
" what next ?" looks of his startled supporters,
seem to have recalled to his Lordship's recol-
lection the fact that, only a day or two before,
acting under his oath as Lord President of the
Council, he had solemnly advised her Majesty
to describe, as a treaty from which she "anti-
" eipates important advantages to the common
" cause," the engagement he was now making
such unmerciful mincemeat of. Even Lord
JOHN'S daring failed him for a moment, and
he floundered ; two or three sentences are
broken, and, in consequence, imperfectly re-
ported, because perfectly unreportable. But
it is only a moment : he is up again, and at
it—" in for a penny, in for a pound ;" on we
go, mouthing and pounding, slap-dash, right
and left, hit or miss. In line, Lord Jonx as-
tounded the House, sent the funds down head
over heels, disgusted our allies, almost made
alliances with " coalitions " henceforth impos-
sible, made the next Cabinet Council a parti-
cularly " happy family," and, very possibly,
" Johnny has upset the coach"—not for the
first time.
Lord JOHN'S opinion of the value of our new
treaty seems to be about this. Austria has
pledged us to assist her if she should be at
war with Russia : if we should be at war with
Russia (as we are), she has pledged herself
to nothing : she will "consider. When plenty
of time has been wasted in " considering," if
England and France propose conditions of
peace "in conformity with the four bases," in
whatever sense Austria may think fit to put
upon them, and Russia refuses to accept
them, then she will probably " consider'
again—will discover that the terms " would
" reduce Russia too much," and holds herself
quite clear to back out of anything and every-
thing at any given moment. " lie did not
" wish to overstate the engagement in any
" way ;" the treaty was " certainly not very
" precise," any conceivable course was alike
open to her " without any breach of faith."
It wasn't quite clear to his mind whether the
treaty was better than nothing ; on the whole,
perhaps, it was as well as not. For his own
part, he believed Austria was a simpleton, and
would fight when she might safely let it alone.
So here we are, with our famous Austrian
treaty. We wasted the autumn of 1853,
allowed the massacre of Sinope, spent winter
and spring in diplomacy, marched out our
troops in the summer to die of cholera at
Varna, delayed our attack upon Sebastopol
until it had been rendered—thanks to Lord
ABERDEEN and the Times—almost impregna-
ble, have shed our best blood like water, all to
gain the alliance of the German. Powers.
And now, what have we gained ? One of
them, Prussia, has been driving so thriving a
trade between the Greeks of Russia and their
brethren of England, under favour of our
ludicrous " order in council," sending hemp
one way and lead the other, that the Monarch's
maudlin sympathies with his Imperial Brother-
in law have been a profitable speculation to
his subjects ; and, between sentiment and
cent. per cent , Prussia is likely to remain
neutral for ever. The policy of Austria is not,
strictly speaking, of a sentimental character.
The maxim of her policy described in the old
epigram—
Bells gerant alii; tu, fella Austria, nube."
might seem to indicate a tenderer tone ; but
her matrimonial as well as her other alliances
have been of a strictly practical sort. 0
young shoulders she has an old head—as old


•gATUIiDAY,

as METTERNIOWS—Iooks very accurately after
her own interest, and takes plenty of time to
ascertain which way those same interests lie.
In the promint 08,40 4440 has everything to
gain by thp war, if abs can Only avoid taking
an act re dare in it. The " four points
e expittsiVvily in hev inte at. Under them
e lltintibp and the Plaek pa are opened to
er ttliflic i she gaiiiii a ye in the Pro-
tectoriitp , the Chrietiollii subjects of the
Porte, pa the cbipf Moire as the nearest
neighbour. At the same time she must keep
tolerably straight with Russia, Vienna is too
near to the Russian frontier to make the pros-
pect of a Russian war an agreeable one. In
short, she must " run with the hare, and hunt

" with the hounds."
According to Lord Joart's account of the
matter (which the efforts of the Times, after
two days' deliberation, wholly fail to invali-
date), we have obligingly covenanted to
Austria an entire carte blanche. We have

accepted terms which were offered to us
months ago, and which we then rejected
as insufficient and unworthy. If she is

invaded, we give her " an affiance offensive
and defensive, &e." If not, England and France
are to do the fighting, and she is to mono-
polise the rewards. Finally, when the
three great Powers of Europe have worn out
themselves and each other in the war, she is
to remain " mistress of the situation." What
an agreeable prospect, and what an " advan-
tageous alliance!'

Into the full demerits of this Austrian treaty
we fear we shall have too much occasion to
enter hereafter. The detestable selfishness
that has won for Russia a year of preparation,
has held the allied forces in the Dobrudscha
until they were decimated by disease ; has
then, after the retreat from Silistria, " occu-
pied" the Principalities so ferociously' that
the unhappy inhabitants even wish the
Russians back again; that at last "allowed"
OMER PAULA, by great favour, free passage into
the swamps of Bessarabia in the winter ; and
that has all the while been covering the transfer
of thousands of Russian soldiers into the
Crimea—all the delays of a tortuous diplo-
macy, all the cost of an obstinate struggle,
all the whole bloody debt of Inkermanu, are
Austria's precious gifts to us, Lord AIIERDEEN'S
" natural ally of England."
" I say, for me no Austrian assistance, no
four points,' no secret article. Let France
and England together solve this great question,
and establish and secure the civilisation
of Europe." We need not add these were not
the words of Lord John RUSSELL, though they
I,3gitimately follow from his admissions. They
conclude the deftly-aimed and statesman like
speech of the leader of the Gentlemen of
England.
England, by the way, is asking, and somewhat
indignantly, after this last escapade, who, what,
and where is the Government One Minister
makes no secret of his dislike to France ; two
others libel its Emperor in what a colleague
appropriately denominates " miserable election
"speeches;' another stumbles out with his
extempore conviction that Austria is a
humbug ; another proves in a speech a yard
and a half long that everything that has been
done in the war is perfection ; another admits
we (Ministers) have made a mess of it, but
borrows a defence from " Jacob Faithful "
" Better luck next time, missus."
The Treaty was last night presented by
Lord JOHN RUSSELL to the House, and, from
the extract of it we subjoin it will be seen
how truly his Lordship has described its
purport:—
I.
The three I'owers are nut to treat separately with
Russia.
IT.
The Austrian forces in the principalities are not to in-
terfere with movements of English and French troops.
A commission is appointed (which the Twits are to be
invited to juin) to regulate Finch matters.
In case of war between Austria and Russia, they
England, Austria, and France will conclude a treaty of-
fensive and defensive.. They will subsequently arrange as
to the number of troops and the operations is be inderi
taken.
Iv. .t
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