The Press.
London, England, 1856-03-15 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

course. A precedent had been established for
useless remonstrance, which it was convenient
to follow.
Why, if Lord trAgatalOrr was earnestly bent
on earring (Mt tiy recommendations of
Gerierai Virt.LtAits, lie receive his reports
without one lila th her Majesty's Goveit-
ment wffilld co- pers. with the Turkish Ad-
ministriAlon td brwgt e army info an efficient
state I.L--=ifilly wal he Ili Oht when told of tit@
arrears of the troops-=When informed that the
artillerymen required 15pult1 not be found in
Turkey—when told of the want of all kinds of
arms and supplies, and of the means of trans-
port? His sole resource in all emergencies—
his single remedy for all wants, neglects, and
disasters, was, by his own account, " ineffectual
remonstrance"; and this while WILLIAMS was
continually impressing on him that " not a
" day was to be lost."
We have understated the case in saying that
the Turkish Government was to be left to its
own resources to meet the war in Asia. Its
resources were to be first charged, and to
their utmost extent, with the maintenance of
armies to take part in the combined opera-
tions of the Allies. Whoever will understand
the real reason of the desertion of the Asian
army, and of the capture of Kars, should turn
to page 171 and page 181 of this Blue-Book.
No further research is required.
When the difference b etween the Commis-
sioner and the Ambassador had been accom-
modated—when WILLIAMS had no longer a
complaint to make of Lord STRATFORD—When
his position had not only been recognised, but
he had been raised to high rank in the service
of the Sultan—when he had carried out all his
measures of reform, the question came to be
considered how the army of Asia could be
raised to a state which would enable it to make
head against the forces of Russia. On the
sth March, 1855, General WILLIAMS wrote to
Lord CLARENDON that for the Turkish army to
maintain its ground, prompt reinforcements
were necessary, to the amount of 15,000 in-
fantry, 3,000 cavalry, and '2,000 artillerymen.
This letter was referred by Lord CLARENDON
to the War Department, and the following was
the answer returned :

(Mr. PEEL JO Lord WoozHousE)l

War Department, April 12, 1855.
My Lord,—Having laid before Lord Panmure your
l'tter of the 29th ultimo, with the copy therein inclosed of
a despatch from Brigadier• General Williams, relative to
the amount of reinforcements which he considers are

required for the Turkish army in Asia, I am directed to
request yon will state to the Earl of Clarendon that Lord
Panmure is of opinion that it will be desirable to urge
upon the Porte the importance of their paying attention to
these requirements whenever the MORE PRESSING NEED of the
services of the Ottoman troops elsewhere shall have ceased; and
if Lord Clarendon should concur with his lordship that it
is expedient to adopt this course. I am to request that you
will move his lordship to send instructions to her Majesty's
Ambassador at Constantinople accordingly.
I am Sze. FREDERICK PEEL.
_ _ _

This letter, which it seems took a fortnight
to concoct, received Lord CLARENDON'S appro-
bation. He immediately wrote to Lord
STRATFORD, inclosing a copy of it, and stating
that—

Her Majesty's Government consider it desirable that
your Excellency should urge upon the Porte the import-
ance of their paying attention to the requirements men-
tioned by General Williams, whenever the MORE PRESSING
NEED of the services of the Ottoman troops elsewhere shall
have ceased.

This was between seven and eight months
previous to the fall of Kars. Only one con-
struction could be put upon the letter by
either our Ambassador at Constantinople, or
by the Turkish Government,—that the army at
Asia must for the time being be left to its fate.
What could be the value of a representation
that the requirements of General WILLIAMS
should be attended to after the more pressing
needs of the Turkish armies in the Crimea and
Bulgaria, amounting to at least 100,000 men,
had been supplied? Lord CLARENDON must
have perfectly well known, when he sent out
this despatch, that it sealed the fate of the
Asian army, and that it effectually disposed of
all the urgent claims of General WILLIAM:4.
The time of year was critical. If any effectual
provision was to be made for the next winter,
and any effectual resistance offered to the
advancing Russians, then, with the spring and
summer in reserve, was the time for action.
The opportunity was not lost, but deliberately
rejected ; the Asian army was, after mature
consideration, abandoned; and it is impossi-

~~' _ s'

0

SATURDAY,

ble to pretend, after this decisive evidence,
that the fall of Kars was due to any other
cause whatever than the decision of her
Majesty's Goveittittetit tlißt no assistance
should be tendered it.
Yet further, when qederal WILLIAMS and
Dr. SAirmktTh repketnbted the urgent want of
more aurteons and dr htttpital necessaries,
and their tibspatilhei eertk forwarded by Lord
CLAlthlinnti to Ltitti Pili!bitAtE, the answer
returritid was that—
in supplying the army under the command of his
Highness Omer Pacha, and also the Turkish Contingent,
with a medical staff, Lord Panniure does not see much
prospect of being enabled to send medical aid to the
Turkish army in that province (Anatolia), but his lord-
ship will endeavour to do so to a limited extent, as soon as
he has provided for the other two services above re-
ferred to.

This comforting assurance is duly forwarded
by Lord CLARENDON to General WILLIAMS, but
of course no medical aid was ever supplied.
When Kars was invested, and it became evi-
dent that, unless relieved, it must fall, Lord
CLARENDON still did nothing. The plans
formed by the Turkish Government for having
a considerable force on the Asiatic coast were
coldly negatived by him. OMER PACHA, as
the danger grew more urgent, showed the
daring and resolution of a great commander.
Lord CLARENDON gave to his plan a qualified
assent, and recommended it to the French
Government ; but so many difficulties were in-
terposed, that time and opportunity were lost,
and when the effort was made at last no pre-
paration had been made for it. After the fall
of Sebastopol, Lord CLARENDON'S inactivity is
unaccountable. We find only a few short
despatches from him, intimating approval of
all Lord STRATFORD'S suggestions and pro-
ceedings.
The conclusion from all the evidence is,
that our Government not only made no effort
of any kind to save Kars, except by remon-
strances which they knew would be ineffec-
tual, but that at the critical time, when a
decision had to be taken whether Turkish rein-
forcements should be forwarded, they discoun-
tenanced the notion of sending such
reinforcements. Pretending to support
General WILLIAMS, Lord CLARENDON in reality
deserted him. His Lordship is a tolerable
despatch-writer, but he is nothing more. We
look through his compositions in vain for any
evidence of foresight, decision, or original pur-
pose. He never pretends to act; he has never
anything to propose. The word lie once em-
ployed to denote the state of our foreign policy
under his rule, precisely describes the ten-
dency of his nature ; he is for ever " drifting."
He resigns himself contentedly to circum-
stances, without the slightest comprehension
that circumstances may be controlled by men.
In the preparation of his despatches he is
very careful that they shall show every one to
blame but himself. The taunts he addresses
to the Turkish Government are excessively
ungracious. When he received the address of
the Porte to congratulate the defenders of
Kars, on the repulse of the Russian attack, he
sneered at the expression that the sufferings
of the garrison troubled the sleep and repose
of the Turkish Ministers, " who, in despite of
" all ordinary measures of relief, never ceased to
" pray for their safety and success." This is
not, we venture to think, the way in which the
diplomatic correspondence of this great coun-
try should be conducted. We desire our
Foreign Minister to be firm, but not overbear-
ing or captious. Lord STRATFORD, on one
occasion, hints to Lord CLARENDON, that" we
" should be inconsistent with ourselves if we
" sought to trample down what remains of
" Turkish independence." It requires no great
sagacity to foresee, that if Lord CLARENDON 's
line of conduct be persevered in, we shall soon
lose in Turkey the influence we have made
such vast efforts to attain, and that the Go-
vernment of the Sultan will confide most
readily in those Powers that avoid mingling
insult with the remonstrances which a sense
of duty compels them to prefer.

THE EARL OF EGLINTOUN ON THE
APPOINTMENT OF MR. WNI. KEOGH.
RELIGIOUS and political causes have com-
bined during the last twenty years to make
political adventuring a profitable profession

MARCH 15, 185 G.

in Ireland. The Lichfield-house Compad drew
on an enormous train of evils. The Whigs did
not foresee the mischiefs that they were perpe-
trating when they took O'CONNELL into their
confidence. They trusted to their boroughs,
and organised platforms for keeping up their
influence in England ; and they did not care
about their Butlers, Ponsonbies, Brabazons,
and Boyles being driven out of the Irish
representation. The Repeal conspiracy was
the consequence. Enormous evils were thus
produced by the infatuated recklessness of
the Whigs. A taint of demagogism has been
imparted to the Irish Executive, the dignity
of an Irish Member has been lowered, and
much was done to weaken authority generally.
It is vain to dispute the fact that through the
violence of O'CONNELL, connived at by the
English Whigs, the sister country was brought
to the verge of revolution.
It was a most fortunate circumstance that
the Conservative Government (including Sir
ROBERT PEEL, the Earl of DERBY, and Lord
ST. LEONARDS, the Chancellor of Ireland) dealt
vigorously with the evil. England had been
taught to dread the Repeal faction. The
Conservative Ministry seized the scare-
crow, shook it, and exposed its imposture.
That vigorous policy had been recommended
many years before by Mr. BLACKBURNE (Lord
DERBY'S Irish Chancellor). The published
memoirs of Lord CLONCCRRY prove that if
Mr. BLACKBURNE'S advice had been taken at
he first, Ireland would have been delivered
rom an age of agitation and all its evils.
Recollecting these things, it is really dis-
graceful that this proud empire should have
been dictated to in polities by persons like SAD-
LEIR and his gang. Without their assistance,
Lord ABERDEEN and the Duke of NEWCASTLE
could not have carried out their Coalition. Re-
cent events have given vast interest to the his-
tory of that Cabinet. People stand aghast at
seeing what sort of characters were the leaders
and organisers of the Brass Band. It de-
serves now to be recorded that one distin-
guished Conservative statesman was then re-
buked for his words of prudent caution.
Justice to the Earl of EGLINTOUN demands
that some facts should be made known, which
are far from having lost their importance.
Few Viceroys ruled Ireland with more
ability than Lord EOLINTOUN, and none ever
attained more personal respect. Social,
accessible, and generous, he was also firm and
independent. He saw Ireland with his own
eyes, and his departure was loudly lamented.
During his rule, his Lordship had many
opportunities of becoming acquainted with
the characters of the public men of that
country, and in a memorable instance his
Lordship took the exact gauge of one of
them.

When Mr. WILLIAM KEOGH was made Solici-
tor-General, in 1833, the Earl of EGLINTOUN
took occasion to observe that, " It is certainly
" a most lamentable result that the appoint
ment of the honourable and learned gentle-
" man (Mr. KEOGH) has had the effect of
" making many persons in Ireland doubt whe-
" ther it is the intention of the Government
" rightly and fairly to carry out the law."
We take these words as they are given in
Hansard (third series, vol. 127, p. 1,362, et
supra). For having used them his Lordship
was attacked by the Duke of NEWCASTLE,
and he was also taunted for having described
Mr. KEOGH'S appointment as " not a reputable
one." It is deeply interesting to observe how
the words of Lord EGLINTOUN were sought to
be overruled. There are some new facts in
relation to this matter which deserve special
attention.

The Duke of NEWCASTLE acted on that
occasion as what the Premier would call
" hottleholder" to Mr. WILLIAM KEOGH.
His Grace stated that, so far from not being
a "reputable" appointment, Mr. WILLIAM
KEOGH was a Queen's Counsel at the Irish
Bar, and owed that honourable distinction to
the interference of Chief Justice LEVROY.
flow have the Sadleirite journals acted to
Chief Justice Lefroy ! Statements of an
exaggerated character were put into the
Dublin prints owned and managed by the
chiefs of the Brass Band. Those paragraphs
commented on the ago and infirmities of the
Chief Justice. It was proclaimed that he was

vrlr7uCtilerf.
1.
MARCH 15, 1856.
in Ireland. The Lichfield-house Com
on an enormous train of evils. The '
not foresee the tnischiefs that they w
truing when they took O'CONNELL
confidence. They trusted to their
and organised platforms for keeping
influence in England ; and they di(
about their Butlers, Ponsonbies, E
and Boyles being driven out of
representation. The Repeal consp
the consequence. Enormous evils
produced by the infatuated reckl(
the Whigs. A taint of demagogisrc
imparted to the Irish Executive, ti
of an Irish Member has been low
much was done to weaken authority
It is vain to dispute the fact that th
violence of O'CONNELL, connived
English Whigs, the sister country WE
to the verge of revolution.
It was a most fortunate eircums•
the Conservative Government (inc:
ROBERT PEEL, the Earl of DERBY,
ST. LEONARDS, the Chancellor of Irel
vigorously with the evil. England
taught to dread the Repeal facti.
Conservative Ministry seized ti
crow, shook it, and exposed its i
That vigorous policy had been rece
many years before by Mr. BLACKBU.
DERBY'S Irish Chancellor). The
memoirs of Lord CLONCORRY prof
Mr. BLACKBURNE'S advice had heel
he first, Ireland would have been
rom an age of agitation and all its
Recollecting these things, it is I
graceful that this proud empire sly
been dictated to in politics by person
LF.IR and his gang. Without their
Lord ABERDEEN and the Duke of /
could not have carried out their Coali
cent events have given vast interest
tory of that Cabinet. People stand
seeing what sort of characters were t
and organisers of the Brass Band
serves now to be recorded that e
guished Conservative statesman wm
buked for his words of pruden.
Justice to the Earl of EGLINTOUN
that some facts should be made kno
are far from having lost their impor
Few Viceroys ruled Ireland v
ability than Lord EGLINTOUN, and
attained more personal respect
accessible, and generous, he was als
independent. He saw Ireland wit:
eyes, and his departure was loudly
During his rule, his Lordship :
opportunities of becoming acquai
the characters of the public m(
country, and in a memorable ins
Lordship took the exact gauge
them.
When Mr. WILLIAM KEOGH was m
tor-General, in 1833, the Earl of
took occasion to observe that, " It i
" a most lamentable result that tb
' ment of the honourable and lean
" man (Mr. KEOGH) has had th
" making many persons in Ireland I
" ther it is the intention of the G
" rightly and fairly to carry out
We take these words as they an
Hansard (third series, vol. 127,
supra). For having used them his
was attacked by the Duke of
and he was also taunted for having
Mr. KEOGH'S appointment as " not fl
one." It is deeply interesting to ok
the words of Lord EGLINTOUN were
be overruled. There are some n(
relation to this matter which dese
attention.
The Duke of NEWCASTLE actec
occasion as what the Premier
" bottleholder" to Mr. WILLIA:
His Grace stated that, so far from
a " reputable " appointment, Mr
KEOGH was a Queen's Counsel a
Bar, and owed that honourable dis
the interference of Chief Justic
How &lye the Sadleirite journal
Chief Justice Lefroy ! Statemet
exaggerated character were put
Dublin prints owned and manag
chiefs of the Brass Band. Those
commented on the ago and infirm
Chief Justice. It was proclaimed I