The Press.
London, England, 1854-04-22 00:00:00

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Atlas
13ritannia
Examiner
John Bull
Leader
PRESS
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31st—Eight Months.]
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LONDON, SATURDAY, APRIL 22, 181.

NOTWITHSTANDING recent disclosures, the coun-
try can very imperfectly understand the price
it is paying for Lord AI3t:HDEEN'S services, or
its indignation would long since have found
a voice which even he would have been com-

pelled to respect. His presence at the head
of our Government cheers the Court of St.
Petersburg with a hope that we shall never
proceed to extremities with it. He is still the
friend of the Czar at heart, and probably even
now is looking fondly towards the German
Courts, and dreaming of peace through their
intervention. We do Rot attempt to judge the
conduct of our commanders in the Euxinc,
as we do not know what orders they may have
received ; but thus far it is evident that Itus•
sian interests have been tenderly dealt with
(if not cared for), and that there has been a
significant want of energy in urging on mea-
sures for the rigorous prosecution of the war.

In fact, had Lord ABERDEEN been the sworn
servant, as he has long been the humble adu-
lator, of the Emperor NICHOLAS, he could not
more effectually have anticipated bis wishes or
contributed to his designs than he has done.
To his management it is owing that the Rus-
sian commanders have been enabled to concen-
trate an immense army on the theatre of war,
before a battalion of the allied forces arrived
to oppose them—that the Turkish army has so
long been exposed to an unequal contest with
its gigantic antagonist, and is now, in the
opinion of experienced and competent autho-
rities, in a position of great peril—that time
has been allowed for every possible precaution
to be taken for the safety of the Russian fleets
and fortified places—and that the insurrection
of the Greek population in Turkey has as-
sumed such formidable proportions. While
Russian arms and Russian emissaries were
equally active in conspiring against the life of
the " sick man," Lord ABERDEEN was preaching
to him submission. The massacre at Sinope is
justly chargeable to his account. We know
that one, at least, of the ablest and highest
servants of the Porte warned his Government

of the danger of the fleet at Sinope, and urged
that it should be reinforced with ships of the
line. His advice would have been promptly
acted on but for the fatal influence of English
counsels. The Turkish Government was as-
sured that the danger was imaginary, and that
no Russian attack was to be apprehended. It
foolishly trusted in this assurance, and was
only roused from its vain confidence by the
most cruel and treacherous action that stains
modern history.
Yet could Lord ABERDEEN treat this terrible
catastrophe, directly due to his folly or his
art, as a mere mischance for which no one was
to blame, and, when Te Deum was chanted by
the Russian Court in grateful recognition of
the completeness of the slaughter, could still
profess trust in the pacific intentions of his
Imperial idol.
We speak of notorious facts. The massacre
of Sinope occurred on the 30th of November,
and was known here the second week in De-
cember ; and six weeks later Lord ABERDEEN,
on the first day of the session, was " ready to
" repeat all the declarations he had ever made
" against this country engaging in a war with
" any State, and certainly against Russia," and
thought it " his duty to use every possible
" effort, and every endeavour, to check the
" popular feeling against what appeared to be
" injustice and aggression."
That the shameful inaction of our Cabinet '
while Russia was making colossal preparations '
for war was alone due to Lord ABERDEEN, and
those few partisans of Russia who side with
him in his Cabinet, is evident from the fact
that while Lord CLARENDON, on the 4th of
February last, most distinctly stated that he
" held out no expectation that fresh
" negotiations might be entered into, and that
" peace might still be preserved," Lord
ABERDEEN, four days later, made his memora-
ble declaration—" A state of warfare exists
" between Russia and the Porte ; but I have
" yet to learn that this country is at war with
" any power As long as peace remains
" I will not abandon the hope of maintaining
" it, and please God no effort shall be spared on
" my part to maintain it."
This was after the recal of the Russian Am-
bassador, when all diplomatic intercourse be-
tween the two countries had ceased. What
impression could we expect to make on the
Russian Cabinet by a show of hostility in the
face of pusillanimous declarations like these ?
Can we wonder that the Emperor NICHOLAS
spoke contemptuously of our "Bourgeois Par-
liament" with such a trusted Premier, or '
that the representative of France at St.
Petersburg should have been treated with
deference and respect while our Minister
was dismissed with every mark of ignominy
and contempt?

apt
We would not be minim,
not blame Lord ABERDEEN for his predilec-
tions. At his age he cannot be expected to
change his nature—scarcely to alter his
opinions. His reverence for the Czar had
become a confirmed sentiment of his mind,
and he was totally incapable of forming those
new views and adopting those new principles
of policy which that total change in the rela-
tions of Europe caused by Russian aggression
imperatively required. We are willing to be-
lieve that he saw no hope for the safety of
European society but in Russian ascendancy;
and that, understanding neither the true
genius nor the real interest of the country he
was fortuitously called on to govern, he was

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