The Express.
London, England, 1855-05-11 00:00:00

THE VIENNA CONFERENCE.

_ter
EARL GREY has given notice that on Moak
week he will call upon the House of Lords to deem
that, in their opinion, the proposals made on theta:
of Russia were of such a nature as might her
been acceded to by the other Powers. It is to be
presumed that this declaration relates to the propo-
sals made on the part of Ramis with referescs tl
the third point, inasmuch as it wee upon them tha
the Conferences were broken off. These proan4
were twofold ; one set were propounded in tin
twelfth Conference, at which the French and Ear
lish Plenipotentiaries declared that their instruences
were exhausted. The other set were proponadedn
an irregular Conference, unsanctioned and swas
tined by the French and English Governments, sia
held after the English Plenipotentiary had quitti
Vienna. The former are to the effect that the Strso
connecting the Black Sea with the Mediterren
should be opened to the ships of war of all unite.
the latter, to the effect that the Straits should s
I closed against the ships of war of all 110013/1.
Russia professes its readiness to conclude peace tlf:
either of two arrangements so diamer rice.ly oppose
each other, admits only of one intrapretation.
sees her way to make either t'lle one or the ote
arrangement conducive to the attainment of is
ulterior objects. Russia feel' confident ttij
neither the one nor the c ther arrangement ca.
diminish her prepondere ace in the Black
.56
or secure Turkey against her aggressive prole,'
It is clear that the consequences of throwuog
Straits open to the ships of war of all nations, ;d
certain conditions and restrictions to be settled tot;
after, or of closing them against the ships of 151',
all nations, must depend entirely upon the nituro
the other stipulations to be entered into by. the ccer
tracting Powers. Now the only other pats Ps1
which the negotiators had even apparently corm
as accord, before these alternative prolate? Irt'ci
tendered, were those which relate to the previa.°
Moldavia, Wallachia, and Servia, and to the bit
navigation of the Danube, We say " aPPare°tlYl
to an accord;" for, with reference to the 6rot, 14
.0
everything was left to subsequent 'nl4oe4
161'
be made by a Commission; and, with rtfels.`
to the aecUnd, Russia had reserved a fight .t°
hold here assent from three of the most essentalsa
done. The proposals which Earl GREY is of opt
ought to have been acceded to by the other Por,
lefman literally nothing, could have no
sad would leave matters in a state quite as.
and anarchical as at present. The truth a
posabi

terms and stipulations of any treaty of peace are of
inch less consequence than the relative position of
the Powers which conclude the peace in respect of
reseurees and ability to continue the war. Russia
has not yet been taught to feel her inferiority, and,
=tit she has been so taught she will not bind
herself to any stipulations that are of the
wit value to her antagonists. When Russia
has been made to feel her inferiority, she will take
good care not to provoke a renewal of hostilities, let
the terms of the peace then concluded be what they
may. This is the guarantee for the future good be-
haviour of Russia that real statesmen will look for.
Earl Otter and the small and crotchetty clique
whose mouthpiece he is in the House of Lords would
allow th' meshes to be satisfied with fair words.
The I'rotocols of the Conferences of Vienna are
now in the possession of the public. As might
have ts en expected, they throw little light on the
real motives and aims of the Powers re-
presented at the Congress. All parties spoke
with a consciousness that Europe—the world

was N etching them—and were more anxious
to say uotbiog that could commit or compromise
themselves, than to discuss honestly and exhaus-
tively their differences. Still, several important
points may be gleaned from then records. It is
clear thal Russia never fora moment entertained the
idea of making any concession that could give satis-
faction o: security to Europe. That is nothing but
what was expected. A more important point is the
strong evidence the Protocols afford of the hollow
faith of Austria. The Government of Vienna,
though hound by the Treaty of Deoember to the
Allies, stood in a somewhat different posi-
tion from the belligerent Powers. It had
not yet recognised the existence of a earns
bola, AI contemplated in the Treaty. On
this account, mainly, the Presidency at the Con-
ference s Wee conceded to the Austrian Plenipoten-
tiaries. kind of arbitral character was attributed
to them. An attentive perusal of the Protocols will
show that throughout the discussions Austria, while
professing to agree in opinion with the Allies,
embraced every opportunity of promoting the objects
of Russia. Did the Russian Plenipotentiaries ask
foe delay, Austria backed them. Did the Russian
Plenipeteni nides tender proposals palpably evasive,
Austria aas ready to swear that, although not ex-
actly what could be desired, they contained the
" elemens" of an arrangement that might be ad.
miesib.e. Did Russia set kto steal a step by
enteric,: upon the discussion of some point, while
prelimiusry questions were yet undecided, Austria
was ready to protest that such a mode of proceeding
was go •e fair and harmless. And when the Confer-
ences v.kre finally broken off, Austria convened a
supplementary and irregular Conference to give
Russia an opportunity of putting upon record an
additional proposal, only meant to give her the ap-
pearance of seeking more earnestly for peace than
she has really done. The arbitral power has not held
the balance equally between the belligerents ; it has
slily thrown makeweights of its Sown into the scale
of Rassia to propitiate that dreaded neighbour.
The game of Austria is palpable. She aspires, in
concert with Prussia and the other Germanic Powers,
to dictate to England, France, Turkey, Sardinia (and
any other European Powers who may hereafter join
them), and to secure for Russia the beet terms pos-
sible. There is not a man in Europe, of average
common tease, who has followed attentively the pro-
gress of the negotiations at Vienna, who does not see
this. And yet Lord PALMERSTON affects to be blind
to it. He is as willing is ever to allow Austria to
hoodwink him and lead him by the nose. He invitee
the Austrian Government to " fool him to the top of
his bent." He apes Sir Andrew Agnecheek when tho
Illyrian Knight request Muria to "set her foot upon
his neck.' When asked last night in the House of Cern.
monswhether the negotiations are entirely broken off,
Lori PALMERSTON replied that there are " the ele-
ments of a Conference" still at Vienna, in the persons
of the Ministers of Britain, France, Andel', and Tur-
key; and that if Russia has any new proposals to make,
directly or through the intervention of Austria, there
are "elements for receiving them" at Vienna. Lord
PALMERSTON has recalled his Plenipotentiary, but he
is still open to negotiate through the medium of his
" elements." Will the country consent to have its
interests and honour left to the mercy of Lord PAL-
MERSTON'S " elements ?" Will Parliament allow itself
to be juggled and evaded by new-coined words which
mean nothing ?—Daily News.