The Press.
London, England, 1854-02-25 00:00:00

TONDON, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1854.

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THE parliamentary papers and discussions
have thrown a considerable, but by no means
a complete, light upon the state of forcign
affairs. As this journal, from the commence-
ment of those transactions which now absorb
the attention of Europe, predicted their im-
portance, then generally depreciated ; and as
we have on many occasions imparted intelli-
gence as to the course of events which, ques-
tioned at the moment, has subsequently proved
to be as accurate as it was weighty, we shall
take this opportunity of placing before our
readers what we believe to be the real cir-
cumstances that have led to the present pe•
rilous situation.

The English and the Russian Governments
mutually accuse each other of bad faith. Lord
JOHN RUSSELL and Lord PALMERSTON say that
the conduct of Count NESSELRODE has been
" fraudulent " and " false ;" Count NESSELRODE,
on the other hand, repeating the declaration
of his Imperial master, and confirmed in his
statement by Count ORLOFF, by Baron ME -
YE NDORFF, and by Baron BRUNOW, declares
that the catastrophe has been solely occa-
sioned by a want of moral courage on the part
of Lord ABERDEEN, which prevented his ful-
filling a policy he believed to be right, and
which he had agreed with the Emperor of
RUSSIA to accomplish.
Let us see whether we can reconcile these
strange recriminations.
The Russian statement is, that shortly after
the accession of Sir ROBERT PEEL to power,
when the prospect was generally entertained
of England being governed by that Minister
fora period as long as the Administrations of
WALPOLE and PITT, very confidential commu-
nications took place between the Courts of St..
James' and St. Peterikburg on the state of the
Turkish empire, then'yery critical. The Em-
peror of RUSSIA, anxious to consolidate an in-
timate alliance with England, was desirous
that some mutual understanding should be ar
rived at between the two countries on asubject
so fertile of misconceptions as the Ottoman
Porte. With these views the Emperor pro-
posed on his part a renunciation of, any fur-
ther attempts to diminish the territorial area
of the Sultan's dominions, and indicated that
the means by which he contemplated main •
taining that influence at Constantinople, which
from his geographical position was a neces-
sity, should be by protecting the religious
rights of the subjects of the Porte who
were of the Greek communion. Lord
ABERDEEN was our Foreign Minister when
these negotiations took place. They were
of a duration becoming the gravity of the
case. Eventually the Emperor of RUSSIA
visited this country, that there should be no
misunderstanding as to his views and feel-
ings, and that he should personally guarantee
them. The Russian statement is, that
Lord ABERDEEN not only assented to the plans
of the Emperor with respect to the Greek
Church in Turkey, but expressed his convic-
tion that the solution of " the Eastern ques-
tion " must be found, not in violence, but in

the development of the Christian races, whose
privileges and influence should in every way
be encouraged, so that the Turks might disap-
pear before their increased numbers and pros-
perity.
The Russians maintain that they have ever
literally fulfilled this engagement. When,
however, the indiscreet claims of France with
respect to the Holy Places were urged at the
end of 1852, it became necessary that the
rights of the Greek Church should also be
vindicated, and Russian interference became
inevitable. Ere this controversy was entirely
settled Lord ABERDEEN acceded to power, and
the Emperor thought it a good opportunity to
advance those more comprehensive purposes
which he knew the English Prime Minister
approved. Lord ABERDEEN had been out of
office for seven years. This was the first
occasion on which the Emperor of RUSSIA
could act upon the policy, with reference to
the Greek Church in Turkey, partly suggested
and entirely sanctioned by the English Minis-
ter. Unfortunately, however, Lord PALMERS-
TON was the colleague of Lord ABERDEEN—a
coincidence which never had been contem-
plated even in the longsighted councils of St.
Petersburg.
Notwithstanding this mischance, affairs,
however, proceeded to the satisfaction of the
Emperor. They proceeded in unison with the
understanding which, according to the Rus-
sian statement, was established between the
Emperor and Lord ABERDEEN during the Peel
Ministry. This will explain the demeanour
and peculiar expressions of Count NESSELRODE
now considered " fraudulent" by Lord JOHN
RUSSELL, the frequent references in the diplo-
matic papers to the personal assurances of the
Emperor of RUSSIA, never produced, and the
disregard of the communications of our own
Ministers by Lord CLARENDON, who, acting
throughout under the immediate instructions
of Lord ABERDEEN, never even required from
the Russian Cabinet a definition of their in•
teutions. So faithful was Lord ABERDEEN to
the " arrangement " that on Friday, May the
20th, the Times, in one of those articles on
foreign affairs which lend to the columns of
that eminent journal so much interest and
authenticity, announced to a public little
aware then of the importance of the avowal,
that all was arranged, and that " the Menachi
" koff ultimatum hal been accepted --fisrats
" Porte" ! J
The withdrawal of MENSCHIKOFF and the
passage of the Pruth took the question out of
the Foreign-office, and made it one of constant
Cabinet consultation. " The integrity and in-
" dependence " of Turkey was now on the
carpet. During the whole of this agitated
period only a very small minority of the
Ministers counselled a decisive demonstration
in favour of the Pcrte. It mainly consisted,
we believe, of Lord PALMERSTON, earnestly
supported by Lord JOHN RUSSELL and by the
venerable Lord LANSDOWNE. Lord ABERDEEN
was obstinate and obscure, but carried for the
time his point. He persisted in maintaining
that the invasion of the principalities was not
intended as a permanent aggression ; and in
this he was right. He was confident in the
Emperor's word ; and he was also aware that,
if conquest were efittemplated, the Russians
would have acted in a much more decisive man-
ner, and have carried the capital by a coup-de-
main from the Black Sea.
The despatch of Lord CLARENDON at the
end of July, 18r)3, to Lord STRATFORD, in which,
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in answer to the remonstrances of the Ambas-
sador, he declares his opinion that Turkey
would perish in the war undertaken by Eng-
land and France for her defence, proves that,
from the beginning, Lord ABERDEEN had
resolved not to admit that " the integrity add
independence " of the Porte could be menaced
by anything but territorial conquest. Thus,
tenacious of his purpose, we have, at a subse-
quent period, the Vienna note, which it is
too absurd to call a blunder, and which se-
cured to the Emperor all he desired ; and at
a still later period, notwithstanding the exer-
tions of Lord STRATFORD, denounced, in their
private conversations, by the followers of Lord
ABF.EDEEN as " the author of all the mis-
chief ; " notwithstanding the victories of the
Danube and the massacre of Sinope ; we have
the Turkish propositions, in themselves a
great concession to Russia, but which the
successes of the Turks prevented the Emperor
accepting. Had his troops stormed Kalafat,
the Czar would have voluntarily relinquished
the provinces, and have retired content with
any form of the Menschikoff note which he
might have secured.
The Russians maintain that the want of
courage and frankness of Lord ABERDEEN—
first of all in not more candidly instructing
Lord STRATFORD as to his real policy ; secondly,
in not insisting on the acceptance by the
Porte of the Vienna note, the scheme of which
he had approved for months—has brought
about the present lamentable state of affairs.
If this be the true state of the case, we cannot
accept the ingenious alternative of credulity
or connivance suggested by Mr. DuntAxtt in
the late debate, and must account for the
result by the fact that Lord ABERDEEN,
prompted, no doubt, by conscientious motives,
has, from the first, been labouring for the ac-
complishment of that Russian policy which
the world is now going to war to prevent.
He has been influenced to this resolution by
a belief that the Porte was an effete Govern-
ment, and that Turkey, as the land of the
Turks, was an exhausted country. In this he
has made, not only a great mistake, but the
greatest mistake that a statesman can fall into.
He has persisted in it for more than a quarter
of a century, until, at the end of his career,
fate has ordained that, as the Minister of the
most powerful country in the world, he should
act upon his convictions. He finds those
convictions at variance with facts, and ho is
obliged to enter the lists with Russia instead
of assisting her policy of peaceful aggrandise-
ment. But no mitigated .Menschikoff ultima-
tum—no Vienna note—no Turkish proposi-
tion—no methodical manoeuvres of ordinary
men—will now suffice. The solution of diffi-
culties, perpetually postponed by the timidity
of statesmen, can no longer be delayed. The
seat of empire and the destiny of man are the
awful themes, and they fall to feeble hands--
to one who, in his best hour, was a cold and
narrow spirit, and who now, as ho told us,
when he unhappily acceded to his present
post, has " one foot in the grave."

THE NEW REFORM BILL.
WHEN Mr. COBDEN was agitating for the repeal
of the Corn Laws, he was often mot with the
objection, that a theory might be abstractedl
just which yet could not be practically applieir
with advantage in an old country full of
anomalies. The triumphant answer of the