The Press.
London, England, 1856-03-22 00:00:00

rtl,s
kr ..MARCH 22 1856. , STAMPED ,
UNSTAMPE.
g4t Vrtss. supposed to provide, in
concession of such of
further success of t!
them to expect.
To that reserved e'
LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 1856. of providing for an t
gerents, we alway'
objections. Reg'
it presented thi'
REPORTS are spread abroad that the conditions reserved would
of Peace, when published, will be much less worth insisting
satisfactory than the public had been led to and therefore
expect. This is likely enough. The organs very commer
would have
of the Government have, since the negotiation land, under
was acknowledged, asserted that Lord PAL brought for
NERSTON would have everything his own way. when it v
.
Our Plenipotentiaries were, according to the
positi terms we,
expression of a continental contemporary, to honest
enter the Conference with swords at their have st
sides and blunderbusses in their hands. They would
were not to discuss, but to dictate. If, it she 7
was contended, the clause of the Propositions othe
reserving the right of introducing terms, not to (
expressed, did not suffice to break up the If
Conference, it would yet he made to impose be
on Russia the most stringent and humiliating b
conditions.
Lord CLARENDON, dismayed at the bluster-
ing tone of his chief, and with some faint per-
ception that he should never be able to accom
plish all that was expected from him, refuse'
to leave London without written instructions
but, once seated at the board of the Conf
ence, he found his instructions useless,
had to send home for carte blanche. C
blanche in the hands of Lord CLARENDON !
wonder the leading journal should fee
the expectations entertained by the pe
England " would be larger than were we
"by the state of affairs." We hope, I
that, even with Lord CLARENDON to
us, the ease is not quite so bad as t.l
will, " after an unbroken series
" retain practically all that she
" before the War."
We think it impossible tha
founded as it confessedly is c
sion of Russia to the demand
can be otherwise than subste
tory. If it does not afford a'
we had a right to expect, v
look for the cause of disappi
On the 17th of Novemb
enabled to announce the
Peace had been considr
of the FRENCH, and had
on the attention of the
In the following week.
THE PRESS announce
the FRENCH, in intro('
to the " consider'
" Government, has
" the contemplate
These proposals v
"Austrian Prop(
mark the dates
The fortress
the 18th of N
knwn in th'
December.
therefore, d
state of off/
on the
respectin
gerents
Govern
ducinr

gly

supposed to provide, in part at least, for the
concession of such other advantages as the
further success of the Allies might entitle
them to expect.
To that reserved clause, except in the sense
of providing for an altered position of the belli-
gerents, we always entertained the strongest
objections. Regarded in any other light,
it presented this dilemma The conditions
reserved would be trivial, and therefore not
worth insisting on; or they would be important,
and therefore ought to be expressed at the
very commencement of the negotiation. It
would have been extremely difficult for Eng-
land, under cover of this stipulation, to have
brought forward any reallyimportant condition,
when it was understood that all important
terms were expressed on the face of the Pro-
positions. Evidently it would have been more
honest and more statesinanlilae for England to
have stated clearly and firmly what conditions
would satisfy her, than to have intimated that
she reserved a right to bring forward what
other terms she pleased, and thus to keep a:-
to depart from the engagement at her pleasure.
If any points of real importance intended to
be insisted on by reason of this stipulation
have been overruled at the Conference, the
fault must rest with the Cabinet which ne-
glected to insert them in the text of that
document, acknowledged on all sides to be
intended to form an explicit, binding, and
indisputable basis of negotiation.
As regarded any right of modification arising
from a change in the position of the belli-
gerents, that right must, in equity, have existed
on one side as well as on the other. The Allies
might have *lamed more, had their generals,
while the negotiation was in its first stage, cap-
tured the northern forts of Sebastopol with
their garrison, and by a skilful movement have
driven the Russians from the Crimea. As it
happened, the advantage was on the side of
our foe ; Kars—opening to the Russian army
the whole territory of Turkey in Asia—was
captured, with its garrison, at the very time that
the Proposals of Peace were settled by our Go-
vernment; and when the Conference was
opened, it was found that this decided success
had so far altered the relative position of the
belligerents, as to give to Russia a foir ground
for opposing any new demands, and for re-
sisting any harsh or stringent construction of
the Proposals she had accepted.

LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 1856.

REPORTS are spread abroad that the conditions
of Peace, when published, will be much less
satisfactory than the public had been led to
expect. This is likely enough. The organs
of the Government have, since the negotiation
was acknowledged, asserted that Lord PAL
NERSTON would have everything his own way.
Our Plenipotentiaries were, according to the
expression of a continental contemporary, to
enter the Conference with swords at their
sides and blunderbusses in their hands. They
were not to discuss, but to dictate. If, it
was contended, the clause of the Propositions
reserving the right of introducing terms, not
expressed, did not suffice to break up the
Conference, it would yet he made to impose
on Russia the most stringent and humiliating
conditions.

Lord CLARENDON, dismayed at the bluster-
ing tone of his chief, and with some faint per-
ception that he should never be able to accom •
plish all that was expected from him, refused
to leave London without written instructions ;
but, once seated at the board of the Confer-
ence, he found his instructions useless, and
had to send home for carte blanche. Carte
blanche in the hands of Lord CLARENDON ! No
wonder the leading journal should fear that
the expectations entertained by the people of
England " would be larger than were warranted
" by the state of affairs." We hope, however,
that, even with Lord CLARENDON to represent
us, the case is not quite so bad as that Russia
will, "after an unbroken series of defeats,
" retain practically all that she possessed
" before the War."
We think it impossible that the Peace,
founded as it confessedly is on the submis-
sion of Russia to the demands of the Allies,
can be otherwise than substantially satisfac-
tory. If it does not afford all the advantages
we had a right to expect, we have not far to
look for the cause of disappointment.
On the 17th of November THE PRESS was
enabled to announce that the question of
Peace had been considered by the Emperor
of the FRENCH, and had been by him pressed
on the attaniioa •f the English Government.
In the following week, the 24th of November,
THE PRESS announced that the Emperor of
the FRENCH, in introducing Proposals of Peace
to the " consideration of her Majesty's
" Government, has declared his opinion that
" the contemplated terms are satisfactory."
These proposals were what are known as the
"Austrian Propositions." It is important to
mark the dates of the above announcements.
The fortress of Kars did not surrender until
the lMth of November, and its fall was not
known in this country until the latter end of
December. The Proposals of Peace were,
therefore, drawn up without reference to the
state of affairs in Asia Minor. They proceeded
on the supposition of what was known
respecting the actual position of the belli-
gerents ; and the clause proposed by our
Government, reserving the right of intro-
ducing other conditions, was, it is probable,

What was Lord CLARENDON under these cir-
cumstances to do? His chief said, "Do the
" best you can." Kars was the fatal obstacle
to the faint attempts made by our Foreign
Secretary to " ride the high horse." Kars was
politely whispered into his ear by the Russian
Plenipotentiaries, when he attempted to intro-
dtp:e a new stipulation or insisted on a strict
construction of the recognised terms. Lord
CLARENDON, who had so often insisted on the
extreme importance of this military position in
the papers now printed, could not deny the
magnitude of the success gained by Russian
arms ; he could not dispute that as it had
been won since the Propositions of Peace had
been framed, it placed Russia in a better posi-
tion than she would previously have occupied ;
and thus it happened that this great blot of
the War—so far as England was specially
concerned—came to exercise an adverse influ-
ence against our representatives at the Con-
ference.

•• -
ney practising in
pate in it was "n.
then, as the Times
only the second sot
perary, and he had
Parliamentary life!

after five years'

In the midst of conflicting representations
the country now trembles with impatience to
know what the Treaty really is. We cannot

made a Lord of the
Armed with the
courtly title, the
trebly aided for co

....SIXPENCE.
?.D..FIVEPENCE.

conceive that it will be otherwise than conclu-
sive as regards all essential points. We cannot
conceive that it will be otherwise than
honourable to the Allies. But we confess the
hints thrown out in Ministerial journals are of
a nature to inspire some alarm that—notwith-
standing all the boasting of the Government,
and notwithstanding all the support it received
from the firm and temperate attitude of the
nation—some opportunities of advantage have
been lost, which we shall have reason to re-
gret at a future day. We did not desire
material advantages—we did not desire the
humiliation of our foe—but we did desire a
final settlement of all those points which
would be likely to give occasion to further dis-
pute of even a diplomatic character. Frank
views on the part of our Government in the
first stages of the negotiation, and frank lan-
guage on the part of our Plenipotentiaries sub-
sequently, we had surely a right to expect. A
great trust was reposed in the hands of the
Government. We sincerely hope the result
may prove that they were worthy of it.

RESPONSIBILITY FOR SADLEIRISM.
AMIDST the general indignation excited by the
huge frauds of SADLEIR, it is well that public
attention should not lose itself in the vague-
ness of surprise. A most serious questiun
arises as to the responsibility of certain politi-
cal personages for their ostentatious patronage
of SADLEIR and his allies. "Responsible go-
vernment " has long been a cant phrase in the
mouths of some political purists ; our ears
have been stunned with the necessity of
making "responsibility" a principle, and let
us see how it can be applied in this instance.

It is impossible, for various reasons, to avoid
this discussion. The enormous amount of
ruin caused by SADLEIR'S conspiracy has been
well described by the Times as " a national
calamity." The injury done by him has been
prodigious, and people ask with wonder how
he came by the power of committing such
gigantic frauds. The answer is plain. SAD-
LEIR and his associates obtained seats in the
House of Commons through the folly of Irish
constituencies. If the evil had stopped there,
the mischief might have been small. But great
official personages in tins country, leaders of a
Parliamentary connection, had the temerity to
select SADLEIR and his allies from amongst
sixty Irish " Liberal " M.P's. The Noble
Lords and statesmen to whom we allude acted
with infatuated credulity. They made no
inquiries about SADLEIR and his gang of the
Brass Band. Yet if they had taken common
precaution they must have ascertained that
neither JOHN SADLEIR nor Mr. WILLIAM KEOGH
were qualified by their antecedents for the
eminent official stations given to them. JOHN
SADLEIR, when made a Lord of the Treasury,
was aged thirty-nine

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