The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-14 00:00:00

THE NEGOTIATIONS• AT VIENNA.

The papers relating to the negotiations at Vienna on
the Eastern question have been presented to both
Houses of Parliament. • They consist of 14 papers.
No. 1 is the text of the tnemorandnin communicated

by the Plenipotentiaries of Austria, France, and Great
Britain to Prince Gortschak'off on th-e 2801 of Decernbv,
1854. It contains the four points or guarantees :
No. 1.
(Translation)

.EMORANDUM COMMUNICATED BY THE 'PLENIPOTENTIARIES OF
AUSTRIA, FRANCE, AND GREAT BRITAIN TO PRINCE GORTS-
CHAKOFF ON THE 28TH OF DECEMBER, 1854. .

In order to determine the sense, which their Govern-
ments attach to each of the principles contained in the four
articles, and reserving to themselves, moreover, as they have
always . done, the power to pat for Ward such special con,
ditions as may appear to them required, beyond the
four guarantees,' by the general interests' of 'Europe, to pre-
vent the recurrence of the late complications, the representa-
tives of Austria, France, and Great Britlin declare :-
1. That their Governments, concurring in the opinion that
it.was necessary to abolish the exclusive protectorate exer-
cised by Russia - over -Moldavia, Wallachia, and Servia, and
henceforward to place under the collectiVe guarantee of the
Five Powers the privileges accorded by the Sultans to the
Principalities, dependencies of their empire, have considered,
and do consider, that none of the stipulations of the ancient
treaties of Russia With the Porte relative to the said :pro-.
vinces should be revived at the peace and that the arrange-
u:ents to be concluded on the subject of them should be ulti-
mat •ly Combined so as to give full and entire effect to the
rights of the Suzerain power, to.those of- the three Principa-
lities, and to the general interests of Europe ;
2. To give to the freedom of navigation of the Danube all
the develPpment of which it is susceptible, it would be de-
sirable that the course of the Lowe Danube, beginning
from the point where it becomes Common to the two river-
bordering states, should be withdrawn from the territorial
jurisdiction existing in virtue of the third article of the
treaty of Adrianople. In every case the free na*lgation of
the Danube couldnot be secured if it be not placed under the
control of a syndicate authority, invested with. powers neces-
sary to destroy the obstructions existing at the mouths of
that river, or which may hereafter be fOrmed there
3. The revision of the treaty of July 13, 1841, must have
for its object to connect the existence of the Ottoman empire
more completely with the EurOpean equilibrium, and to put
an end to the preponderance of Russia in the Black Sea. -As
to Aho arrangements to be taken in this respect, they depend
too directly on the events of the war for it to be possible at
present to determine the bases ; it is sufficient to point, out
the principle :
4. Russia, in renouncing the pretensions to take under an
official protectorate the Chris-tian subjects of the Sultan of
the Oriental ritual, equally renounces, as a natural conse-
quence the revival of any of the articles of leer former trea-
ties; and especially of the treaty of Koutchouk-Kainardji, the
erroneous interpretation of which has been the principal
Cause of the present war. In affording their mutual co-ope-
ration to obtain from the initiative of the Ottoman Govern-
ment the confirmation and the observance of the religious
privileges of the different Christian communities, without dis-
tinction of sect, and conjointly turning to account. in the
interest of the said communities, the generous intentions ma-
nifested in respect to them by his Majesty the Sultan, they
will take the greatest care to preserve from all attack the
dignity of his Highness and the independence of his Crown.

The documents rip to No. 11 relate to the first and
second points. We come at once to the third point, the
discussion of which led to the rupture of the Conference.
On April 9 Count Buol opened the Conference by in-
troducing their Excellencies the Ministers of Foreign
AffairA of France and of the Porte, M. Drouyn do Mays
and Aali Pasha. By common consent the next Confer-
ence was adjourned until the arrival of fresh instructions,
which the RusSian P:enipotentiaries, by a messenger
sent ,:ff on the 28th of March, hal requested from their
Court after the Conference of the 26th..
No. 11.
Plicaocoi, (No. 10) OF A CONFERENCE HELD AT VIENNA,
APRIL 17, 1855.
(Trap elation.)
- Present :—For Austria, Count de Bnol-Scbauenstein and
Baron de Prokesch-Osten ; for France, M. Drouyn de I'Huys
and Baron de Bourqueney ; - for Great Britain, Lord John
Russell and the Earl of Westmoreland ; for Russia, Prince
Gortschakoff and M. de Titoff; for Turkey, Aali Pasba and
Aariff Effendi.
After the protocol of the 9th instant had been read and
signed, Count Buol announced that Prince Gortschakoff had
informed him of the arrival of the answer returned by the
Imperial Court of Russia to the report forwarded by its Pleni-
potentiaries.
Prince Gortschakoff said that his Court, though fully
appreciating the reasons which had prompted the members
of the Conference to surrender to the Cabinet of S. Peters-
burg the initiative of the proposals respectbig the develop-
ment of the third p Ant, did not feel it incumbent on itself to
take adv.tutage of the initiative which had been offered to it ;
that, at the same time, it had authorised its Plenipotentia-
ries, in conformity with the dec aration made at the meeting
of the 17th of Ja ry last, to enter most gravely, and with
the sinere4lesiu of arriving at an agheement, on the exami-
nation of the measures which should be proposed, provided

path successfully trodden. hitherto. Far from having a hos-
tile character against any one, its effect would be to accele-
rate and facilitate the negotiations,
A discUsSion arose between the Plenipotentiaries of Russia
on the one hand, and those of Austria and France on the
other, on the question of :iscertaining whether the preliminary_
consultation betw:en the four allies would or would not be
ropugnant to the principle established, according to Prince
Gortschakoff in the preliminary Conferences that the Pleni-
potentiaries, after having ascertained the identity of their
views respecting Vie basis of peace, shonld retain complete
liberty of interpretation on the subject of the development of
those bases.

M. Drouyn de l'Huys having proved, by the treaty of
Deceniber 2, that the allies had contracted a mutual engage-
Mont to entei into no arrangement with Raissia before a pre-
vious deliberation in common with respect to it, and that
consequently nothing was more natural than to find in the
negotiation the allies, as a collective body on the one hand,
and Russia ou the other, Prince Cori chakoff stated that,
without wishing to dissimulate the fact of the alliance, he
rested h:s case on the difference which existed between a belli-
gerent power awl a power which, though allied to belligerents,
was not herself at war. He asserted, that.wben :the treaty
of the 2d of December was concluded, the object of which
Was to lay down the bases of peace, no cheek was placed on
the'r interpretation ; just as Austria remained free to judge,
in case peace should not be re-established, which Power
should not have impeded it.

Baron Bourqueney did not wish to deny that each Plenipo-
tentiary retained his freedom of opinion whilst taking part in
the deliberai'ous of the Co lference • but it was au indisputable
cousequeuce of the treaty of December 2 that the allies should
attempt to establish a community of opinion with regard to
the common adversary.

M. de Titoff protested that Russia was not the adversary of
Austria, and maintained that the proposed course would not
only institute a Conference in addition to the general Confe-
rence, but in a practical point of view would entail deplorable
delays.

M. Drouyn de l'Huys replied, that the preliminary.con-
sultation which he had proposed was neither a new Ai.au.
illegitimate fact—that France demanded this consul,—zon
of her allies as a right—that, for his own part, it win only in
the opposite system th t he could -ee-cauNes of_delay ; final y,
that as the allies, having expected, proposals from Russia, had
not. drawn up. any on their side, it was necessary that they
should give their attentiori to them with common' consent,
and with the least possible delay.
Count Buol agreed to the proposal of M. Drouyn de l'Huys,
both on the ground of principal and in consideration of the
ge which its application would entail, which
ead:aadntbaeen
already proved by the course followed in
the discussion of the two former points, without prejudice to
practicaladVanta g
the freedom of opinion of either party.
Upon M. de Titoff remarking, that the taking of the initia-
tive by the Sublime Porte would appear at bottom to suitthe
nature of the case and the exigencies of the situation better
that any other course, M. Drouyn de l'Huys said that the allies
would be anxious to give every weight to this initiative in the
preliminary consultation which was about to take place be-
tween them.

The lienipotentiaries reserved to themselves the right of
agreeing hereafter on the day on wlich they should again
meet in conference.

BUOL-SCHAUENSTEIN.
PRORESCH-OSTEN.
DROUYN DE L'HUYS.
BOURQUENEY.
J. RUSSELL.
WESTMORELAND.
ALM.
AARIF.

GORTSCHAKOFF.
TI TOFF.

No. 12.

PROTOCOL (No. 11) OF A CONFERIME lIELD AT VIENNA APRIL 19,
1855.
(Translation.)
Present : For Austria, Count de Bnol-Schauenstein and
Baron de Prokesch-Osten; for France, M. Drouyn-de l'Huys
and Baron de Bourqueney ; for Great Britain, Lord John
Russell and the Earl of Westmoreland ; for Russia, Prince
Gortschakoff and M. de Titoff; for Turkey, Aali Pasha and
Aarif Effendi.
The prctocol of the last meeting having been read and ap-
proved, the discussion was resumed on the third guarantee.
M. Drouyn de l'Huys recapitulated the double object of that
guarantee. The Sublime Porte being the principal party in-
terested that its existence should be more completely con-
nected with the European equilibrium, the Minister for Fo-
reign Affairs of France invited the Ottoman Plenipotentiaries
to explain themselves first on this portion of the question.
Aali Pasha is of opinion that it would be settled in a satis-
factory manner by a stipulation conceived in the following
tams :
" The contracting Powers wishing to manifest the impor
tance which they attich to the participation of the Ottoman
emp re in the advantages of Vie system established by public
law between the dill. Tent European States, declare that they
consider that empire as forming, henceforward, an integral
part of Vat system, and mutually undertake to respect its
territorial integrity and independence as an essential condi-
tion of the general equilibrium."
The Plenipotentiaries of France and Great Britain give
their entire adhesion to the principle established by the Mi-
ni ter for Foreign Affairs of the Sublime Porte.
The Plenipotentiaries o' Russia also concur in it. In ex-
plainint, their flea they add, tiiat they do not intend thereby
to pledge° their Court to a territorial guarantee.
M. Drouyn de l'Huys, with the view of recording with
more precision the principle universally admitted proposes
the wording of an article which is ado ~ted..

- - - -
they were not of a nature to ineringe on t‘e rig ets of sove- On au observation of Count Baol that it was also neees-
reiguty of the Emperor of Russia in leis own territory ; that, sary to anticipate the possibility of a misunders ending be-
for his part, ha agreed With the form in which Laird John tween the Sublime Porte and one of 'the contracting Powers,
Russell had stated the question when he said, in the Confer- it was agreed to draw up a second article (hereto aunexod,
once of the 2 ,th of March, that the best and only adinis-ible together with the first, under letter A.)
conditions of peace would be' those which, While consistent One of the objects of the third guarantee being thus ar-
with the:honour of Russia, should at thii:same time suffice for -ranged, the other portion of Ilre qtiestion is introinee(l—
security of Europe, and•for preventing the recurrence of namely. the cessation of the Russian ,preponderance in the
_ .
the existing complications. Black Sea. -
M. Dronyn du Lltuys expressed his deep regret at seeing, M. Dronyn de l'Elhuys explains his views on this matter.
after a delay of 18 days, the initiative which hail been sir- He decl ,res that tl e most natural and most efficacious means
rendered to Russia at a conference at which he had not as of putting an end to the preponderance of Russia in the Blac -
sisted, again thrown upon the originators of the proposal. Sea consists in the limitation of the maritime forces which she
flis regrets were the more sincere as the Allies, having ex- maintains there. Ru-sia having accepted the principle of the
petted a precisely opposite result, were not prepared. to craw cessation of her preponderance in the Black Sea, the French
up their proposals immediately. He thought, therefore, that Government did not expect to see the principal means of car-
the Allies shout ! at once meet to consult together on the sub- rying it into effect excluded by the declaration of the Pleni-
ject. He felt bound, considering the importance of the reser- potentiaries of Russia, that they would consider all limitation
vation made by Prince Gortschakoff, o demand further ex- as encroaching on the sovereign rights of the Emperor their
planatious respecting the meaning which that Minister at- master. He enters into the question at large, with the view
tached to it. He put the question, whether Russia would to prove that every treaty implies a certain restriction of tee
consider her rights of sovereignty infringed if she deprived rights of sovereignty, eve..ich, nevertheless, being freely ac-
herself of the liberty of building an unlimited-number of ships eepted, is in no wise --derogatory to sovereign diguity.
of war in the Black Sea. Considering the question as the facts now stand, he states
. Prince Gort:e eakoff replied, that Russia would not consent that the Black Sea is at this moment occupied by the forces
to the strength of her navy being restricted to any fixed num- of the three Powers only, to the exclusion of Russia.
her, either by treaty or in any other manner. He shared in Those Powers, in possession of the Black Sea, will remain
the regret expressed by M. Drouyn de l'Huys at the delay lin that position so long as the war shall last. It is therefore
that bad taken place in the negotiations which he attributed not for th: mto demand concessions from Russia. Wishing
to the distance, and added that the Russian Plenipotentiaries to lay down the question correetly, it would be more exact to
had been ready to enter on the discussion since the 26th of say that it is for Russia to ask of the three Powers on what ,
March, and had only undertaken, in the first instance, to conditions they wit: consent to put an end to the exclusion in
make the reference to their Court in deference to the unani- which her war flag is at present placed. To impose on her-
mous wish expressed to them on the subject. With reference self a moderate limitation, in order to re-enter into possession
to the necessity which M. Dronyn de --ibuYs said would exist of a portion of her sovereignty which, in fact, is no longer in
of establishing a preliminary agreement among the allies be- the hands of Russia,--would therefore be to make a sacrifice
fore the proposals could be made, he considered this repu.g- alto ether reasciea,ble and justified by the circumstances.
vent to the principle laid down at the preliminary meetings in That sacrifice would be all the m re justified and bonourable,
the months of I iecember and January, th teach individually as it would coutrbute essentially to give to Europe a pledge
should retain complete liberty of interpretation on the sub- for the dui ation and solidity of the peace which it is endea-
ject of the development of the four bases of negotiation. voared to re-establish. After having added that it was his
, Baron de Bourqueney expressed his concurrence in the re- earnest desire to establish that the propositi us to be made to
gret expressed by the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, Russia were perfectly honourable, and that by refusing them
and iu answer to Prince Gortschakoff's last observation re- she would place herself completely in the wrong, he read the
marked, that the members of the Conference had the right of an ides 3to le (copy of which is herewith
;,nuexed, marked
deliberating among themselves as they signed the protocols. B). In entering upon the preliminaries of peace, with the
Lord John Russell could not disguise the surprise which exception of the changes to be made in the wording, those
Prince Gortschakoff's statement had caused him. The sole articles would be, according to him, sufficient to calm
object of the surrender of the initiative to Russia was to Europa, an I to secure the integrity and independence of
give her the opportunity of making proposals consistent the Ottoman empire. •
with her honour. History recorded more than one instance . Baron de Bourqueney has nothing to edd either to the
of great and glorious sovereigns having consented to a limita- clearness of the explanation or the force of the arguments
tion of their rights of sovereignty in their own territory, which the Minister for Foreign Affairs of France has made
being animated with the desire of putting an end to the effu- use of.
sion of blood by a treaty of peace, or of preventing a rupture Lord John Russell maintained that, under ordin try
circum-
and the consequent evils of war. H, e instanced the consent stances, a Power which regards as excessive the force of a
of Louis XIV. to the demolition of Dunkirk, and several neighbouring Power can have recourse to its own resources for
other cases drawn from treaties concluded between Great the re-establishment of the balance. It was thus, for instauce,
Britain and France, and Great Britain and the United States, that Great Britain, on being informed, about 20 years ago,
with the view of avoiding war. He had hoped that Russia that Russia had increased her Baltic fleet, limited herself to
would have voluntarily, and with the view of re-establishing the strengthening of her own .havy. Nevertheless, the Black
peace, made proposals tending to this end. Since the Court Sea is placed in an exceptional position. The principle of closing
of St. Petersburg had declined to take the initiative on this this sea having been iu all times a rule of the Ottoman.empire,
subject, the chances of success attending the negotiations for came by the treaty of 1841 under the public law of Europe. Of
peace appeared in his eyes much diminished. the two powers which alone command the shores of the Black
Prince Gortschakoff replied that a Power of the first order Sea, the one, already very strong, contirmally augments her
could hardly accept the limitations of the nature to which forces, while tie other is weakened by the wars she has had
Lord John Russell had alluded, except after having sus successively to carry on against Russia. •In this state of things
tained a long series of disasters, and that the case of Dun- England regards the excessive increase of the Russian fleet in
kirk could in no way be applied to the present posit.ou of the Black Sea as a perpetual menace hanging over the Bos-
Russia. As to the diminution of the chances of peace spoken phorus and Constantinople, whether that fleet could in a very
of by Lord J. Russell, he begged him to consider that Russia short time transport considerable land forces. Turkey not
had only excluded one point from discussion, and was ready to finding in ber own forces the guarantees for security which
examine all the modes of solution which should be proposed, she herself and, with her, Europe, have the right to demand,
exclusive of this point: s it is just to look for them in the diminution of the maritime
M. -Dronyn de Plluys expressed his wish to waive, if possi- forces of the other sea-bordering Powers in a proportion that
ble, questions of dignity. As soon as a stipulation was sane- would put an end to the menacing character of these forces.
tioued bymutual consentno one could pretend that sovereignty This sacrifice being necessary for the repose of Europe; the
was injured, and consequently honour infringed. Russia her- Emperor of Russia could not, in his opinion, qualify it as de-
self, in consenting, in the course of the negotiations, to the rogatory to his dignity. To admit that the Ottoman empire is
restrictions of certain rights—for example, in the islands of an essential element of the European equilibrium, and to wish
the Danube—subscribed only to perfectly honourable condi- to maintai i at the same tin c a perpetual mnace directed
tions. against that empire, would appear to him au obvious contra-
Prince Gortschakoff admitted that honour was safe where diction. In the point of view of military honour there would
there was mutual consent. It was on this ground that Russia be, in his opinion, in au adhesion to the ideas developed by
had judged it fit frankly to agree to the stipulations respecting the Minister for Foreign Affairs of France, nothing that could
the Danube. It would be different as regarded the limitation disturb the susceptibility of any one. The ainrmtibees
owpliil
n' n of
The of her forces in the Black Sea. At the same time he did not attacking Sebastopol, and that which is defending that
pretend to exclude peremptorily the consideration of every fortress, have equally covered themselves with glory, anda
proposal tending to the point of limitation, but reserved to military
tarLrf rst
holnooieissamfoereolnanbd, in concurringothsides.
himself the right of refusing his adhesion. T
The Earl of Westmoreland expressed a hope that the prin- his colleague, brings forward in support of the proposed mode
ciple of reciprocal accommodation between river-bordering i of solution, considerations founded on the reciprocal under-
States would not be excluded by the Russian Plenipotentia- standing of riverain states.
ries. He added, that he shared in the painful impression pro- Count Buol sees in the project under diseussiwopthnia7th
eluted on the other Plenipotentiaries by the reception given method for terminating the effusion of blood, and for securing
to pretend
by the Cabinet of St. Petersburg to the proposal to take tho Europe against the excessive disproportion
tweenthe respective forces of the two States bohrodweerii.nwgoounlathbee
initiative.
Aali Pasha agreed with the French Minister for Foreign Black Sea. He establishes as a general tlpioelf.o,t.srhen
tations. Apply-
Affairs that, in the new phase in which the question was to limit the land or the sea forces of a foreign Power
Euxine, a closed
placed by the statement of the Russian Plenipotentiaries, to encroach on her sovereign rights. On theboetherhtaonadntihneduen;
it would be necessary to concert beforehand the proposals to limited increase of the ibilitary establishment of one Power au-
be made. He could not conceive how they could ever de- ' therises others to make it asubject forre
Plenipotentiaryci
rawn wueprewtiothboruitngto
previous t the . ingsea
,twhihserruelae
nto
aggressiontliexceptionale c ana Iposition
attributed
proceeding appeared to him, . nite development of the maritime
fiConferencenitivelya agreep liafne each
consultation.
This
m o settlementd mode
0f
forces of one of the border.
besides, repugnant to the reeiproc '1 engagements existing ing Powers, ho considers that, in this
between the Allied Powers. He added, however, that in his inland seas, the limitation is just,
andspecial case, and in these
opinion the limitation of the naval forces in the Black Sea • compromise the sovereign dignity. nowise of a nature to
was the only mode of solution at once practicable and honour- i Baron Prokesch said, that Austria must
able to all parties. - I see Russia accept theproposition • strongly desire to
Baron de Prokesch asserted that, as the allied Powers had ' is calculated in question, which, in his
, eyes,
har-
consulted on the four bases of negotiation, nothing could be mony with the assurances and to place facts in
more logical than that they should also consult ou the applie Prince Gortschakoff of the Cabinet of St. Petersburg.
more asks the Minister for Foreign
cation of them. 1 Austria if the limitation of the Russian
forces Affairs of
Count Buol shared in the regret expressed by the Plenipo-1 Sea,
which Count in the Black
Buol had admitted to be
tentiaries of France and Great Britain that the answer of the ' general • • ate exception to a
principle recognised •
Cabinet of St. Petersburg was not of a nature to serve as ato be accomplished by by himself, were, in his opinion,
point of-departure for further deliberations. Ho could have ito refuse to concur • means of coercion, in case Russia were
wished that the Imperial Court of Russia had not only appre- ! In answering this
in it spontaneously.
elated the feelings which had prompted the offer of the iii- . tria, for the g question, Count Buol declares that Aus-
tiative, but had been equally struck with the facilities which by recommeifdriesent, supports the project under discussion,
the acceptance of this offer would have opened for the success other respects he it to the adoption of Russia, but that in
of the negotiations. With respect to the course proposed by liberty as tolleefch must reserve for the Emperor his master full
the French Minister for Foreign Affairs,eice of means by which he may consider it
it appeared to him to expedient
be but a natural consequence of their position, and of the Princo.Gortschak
eventually to give his support to his proposition.
Off haying reserved to himself the right of

explaining himself at the next Conference as to the proposel
mode of solution, M. Drouyn de l'Huys brings forward all the
urgent motives .which tell in favour of an immediate decision;
insisting particularly on being informed, at least, at once, if
the plenipotentiaries of Russia accept or,not the broad princi-
ples of the project, subject to an ulterior arrangement of de-
tails. _ .

In the discussion which followed on this subject the Pleni-
potentiaries of Russia maintained that it is not to 'them .that
the delays and tardiness of the negotiation can with justice
be attributed. Prince Goerschakoff said that he was a party
to the principle that'each should propose individually hisown
mode of execution, but that, seeing before him on this occa-
sion a plan combined amongst four, on a basis which he had
always indicated as a rock to be avoided, he thought he had
a goad right to ask, for the purpose of maturely weighingthis
plan, which he had only heard rapidly read, as much time as
had been necessary for preparing it—viz., twice 21'hours.
M. Drouyn de Lhuys observed that if. in the .system . pro-
posed, Russia bad anything to object to in the fixing of a cer-
tain' number, and the direct and immediate intimation of th t
number by the • onfcrence to the Russian Plenipotentiaries, a
plait might be 'devis4l which would remove this double diffi-
culty.._ The Plenipotentiaries of Russia and the •Porte should-
come to some nuderstauling with each other in the presence
of the Conference; on a basis of counterpoise of their respec-
tive forces, which basis she Id be recorded in an arrangement
which they should mutually sign, and.which, annexed to the
treaty, should have the same value and the same force. •
On a gene,al observation made by: Lord John Russell;
that he did not understand the scruples of Russia when the
Porte showed itself. dispo, ed on its part to espouse the prin-
ciple of limitation, M. de Titoff .states that, to resolve the
difficulties in an equitable manner, and in conformity with
the wants and position of the two bordering Powers, the
most efficacious method would _ doubtless consist in facili-
tating dirt et explanations between the Plenipotentiaries of
Turkey and those of Russia. Fully sensible of the salutary
effects of a good understanding between the two States, he is
persuaded:that nothing would offer to the Russian, Plenipo-
tentiaries a better opportunity of proving the conciliatory
dikposition of their Court than if they were in a position to
discuss their mutual interests with over free in its resolu-
tions and its movements. _ .

This opinion having raised from several-quarters the objec-
tion that the treaties signed by the Porte on the occasion of
the war prevented it from coming to au arrangement with
Russia without the concurrence of the allies of the Sultan, M.
de Titoff maintains that to discuss was not the same thing as
to pledge. He therefore thinks that, 'without derogating from
the obligations which the the • Porte has undertaken, the
friends of peace ought not to discourage that Power from
adopting a method which the nature of things points out to
two countries which the war does not prevent from having a
large number of neighbouring interests, susceptible of being
better appreciated from the moment when they should be sub-
mitted to the competent examination of either into its own
affairs. • • • .

Prince Gortschakoff declares his concurrence in the senti-
ments expressed by his colleague, and regrets to see the Su-
blime Porte, the security of whose independence was in ques-
tion, in a position which seemed so adverse to it.
Lali Pasha protPsts against this manner of explaining the
question. He expresses his regrets at being obliged, notwith-
standing his desire not to embitter the discussion, to answer
the observations of Prince Gortschakoff by maintaining that
the Sublime Porte has been forced by circumstances which
are within the knowledge- of all the world to have recourse
to arms to defend its rights; that the two great Western
Powers, having recognised the justice of its cause, have signed
with it a treaty of alliance, which stands on bases of perfect
reciprocity. ; that the clause which binds the Ottoman empire
to the Western Powers not to arrive at a conclusion without
coming to a previous understanding with them binds them in
return in a similar degree to the Sublime Porte ' • that, in fact,
his full powers do not authorise him to enter into a separate
negotiation with Russia irrespective of the Conference. •
BUOL-SciIAUENSTRIN.,
GORTSCHAROFF. PROKIDgCII-OSTEN.
TITOFF. DROirYN DE L'HUYS.
BOURQUENEY.
J. RUSSELL.
•
WESTMORELAND.
AALI.
AARIF.

(Enclosure 1 in No. 12.)
ANNEX A TO PROTOCOL No. 11.

Art. 1. The high contracting parties wishing that the Sul?-

lime Porte should participate in the adVantages of the systein
established by public law between the different States of
Europe, engage themselves severally to respect the indepen-
dence and territorial integrity of the Ottoman empire, gua-
rantee together the strict observance of this engagement, and
will, in consequence, consider every act or event which should
be of a nature to infringe ou it as a question of European
interest. _

Art. 2. If a misunderstaufling should arise between the
Porte and one of the contracting parties, these two States,
before having recourse to the employment of force, should
place the other Powers in a position to anticipate this extreme
course by pacific means.

(Enclosure 2 in No. 12.)
ANNEX B TO PROTOCOL No. 11.

Art. 3. His Majesty the Emperor of all the-Russias and his
Highness the Sultan, wishing recriprocally to give a proof of
their confidence, and to anticipate the misgivings which
might arise from the excessive development of their naval
forces in th Euxine, engage respect vely not to have in that
sea more than four ships, four frigates, with a proportionate
number of light vessels and of unarmed vessels exclusively
adapted to the t, ansport of troops.
Art. 4. The rule of the closing of the Straits of the Bospho-
rus and of the Dardanelles laud down .by the treaty of July
13, 1841, shall remain in force with the exceptions specified in
the following articles
Art. 5. Each of the contracting Powers who have not an es-
tablishment in the Black Sea shall be authorised by a firman
of his Highness, on notifying it five days beforehand, to bring
into that s«>a a number of vessels equal to half the navel
foreeS which each of the two Powers bordering on the sca shall
maintain there in conformity with Art. 2.
Art. 6. At no time shall ships of war of foreign nations,
with the exception of light vessels belonging to the Embassies
admitted heretofore, be able to anchor at the Golden Horn,
and in time of peace the number of vessels cf the line of the
contracting Powers who have no establishment in the Black
Sea shall not be allowed to he more than four at the same
time before Constantinople, in their passage from the Dar-
danelles to the Black Sea, and from the Black Sea to the
Dardanelles.
Art. 7. In case'(which God forbid !) the Sultan should be
menaced by an aggression, he reserves to himself the right
to open the passage to all the maritime forces of his allies.
Art. 8. The two Powers bordering on the Black Sea, in
order to testify to the other high contracting parties their
desire to maintain with them the most friendly relations, en-
gage to admit in all the ports situate in the Black Sea the
consuls whom the latter may consider it useful to establish
there.
Art. 9. His Majesty the Emperer of All the Russias and
his Highness the Sultan, wishing to give a proof f the
generous sentiments with which they are animated, promise a
full and entire amnesty to all inhabitants and officers of the
provinces which have been the theatre of war. None of them
shall be molested or prosecuted for his opinions, for his acts,
or for the conduct he may have held during the war, or dur-
ing the temporary occupation of the provinces by the respec-
tive troops of the belligerent parties. The inhabitants of the
• Isltuds of Aland are admitted to the benefit of this provision.
Art. 10. His Majesty the King of Sardinia is comprised in
the present peace. Commercial and other relations are re-
estab:ished between 'that kingdom and the Empire of All the
Russias, on the same tooting as they were before the declara-
tion of

No. 13.

PROTOCOL (NO. 12) or A CONFERENCE lIELD AT VIENNA APRIL 21

1855.

to the Ottoman empire, but would also multiply the occasions
for a misunderstanding between the :European Powers.
M. Drouyn de..Liauys,saya -
was not authorised to dis-
cuss the details of the Russian plan, the funclainental idea of
which is diametrically opposed to the system which France
'Would have wished to see maintained, That system' ended. to
Obviate the danger of -leaving two unequal forces in the pre-
sence of one another, by causing the disappearanoc from the
Black Sea, excePting as regards the. police of the two border-
ing States, of all apptrtenances of war, whereas the Russian
project would permit their indefinite augmentation. France,
adopting thc idea from the Empress Catherine of Russia, de•
sired to make of the Eusine a sea. entirely commercial, from
which shou;d be excluded the flags of war of all nations; the
plan propOsed by Prince Gortschakoff leads,' on the contrary,
to invite them all there ; France maintains tho principle of
closing— Russia wishes to abolish it.
M. de Titoff ha, ing observed that Article 5 of the project
of treaty presented by M. Prouyn de Lhuys also. infringes
On the principle of closing, even, iu his opinion, to-an extent
very dangerous to the independence of the Porte; and prince
Gortschakoff having 'equally declared that nothing. would be
inenacing.to that independence, and to the European eqnili,
Ti.rium in general, except combinations which would '.dniit on
the bilier side of the straits the eiisteiVce of the most formi-
dable fleets in the world, while within the c'ounterPoiieof the
Russian marine would be annihilated, M. Dronyu de Lhuys
replied that the Ottoman Government is the best judge Of the
question whether- the exceptions stipulated by Article 5 are
Or are not conformable to is interest—that, moreover, the
exception only confirmed the rule—and that, in any case,
there is no possible comparison between the exceptional cases
provided for in the article in cinestion and the total abolition
of the principle of 'closing' as proposed by Russia,
Lord John Russell calls to mind that he has already
proved; -at • the last Conference, that the: dangers which
menaced the empire Of: the Sultan come only from Russia—
that neither France nor Great Britain is suspected of look-
thnbreaking up of the Ottoman power --that nothing
clan prove better than this. war what different sentiments
:iiirnate those Governments. The Sublime 'Porte has called
upon the Western Powers as for their assistance apiust
the aggression of Russia as to obtain guarantees of security
for the future. England would have seen an efficacious mode
Of obtaining these by the adoption of the system of the lieu-
brality of.the Black Sea, of. which the.FreAch.Mitditer for
Foreign Affairs has made mention. Russia could have adkitiir
it without danger, because the Black Seawould have remained
eloSed to all flags of war. Russia having rejected this system,
as also that of reciprocal limitation of river bordering States,
with the admission of a restricte I number of ships of war of
the contracting Poweri; and having on her side only proposed
a, plan based on a totally opposite principle, and not offering,
in his opinion, any guarantee against the dangers which it is
proposed to remove, he can only express his deePTegret that
it has not been possible .for the Conference to come to an
':agreement on measures for a pacific solution, and that Eng-
land and France are reduced to the necessity of seeking those
indispensable guarantees in the continued occupation of the
Black Sea and Baltic.

The Earl of Westmoreland concurs in the opinion of his
colleague.
M. de Titoff regrets that the Plenipotentiaries of Great Bri-
tain are not authorised to discuss the project proposed by
Russia, while such, 'latitude would have offered a real pledge
of the sincerity of their desire for peace. •
M. de Bourqueney having observed that the whole plan
developed by the Russian Plenipotentiaries had the character
of shoWing that the preponderance. of Russia in the Black Sea,
to which the Conference has to seek the means of putting an
end, is an absolute necessity for the European equilibrium,
Prince Gortsehakoff replies that the document presented by
him had the double object of proving-Ist, that the aggressive
force of Russia in the'Euxine is not nearly so redoubtable as
it appear s to be considered ; and, moreover, that in the lute-
rest of the European equilibrium, as well as the independence
of the Porte, the existence of a Russian naval force in the
Black Sea is necessary.
Count Buol said, that Austria having nothing more at
heart than to contribute to the re-establishment of peace, he
regretted sincerely to see Russia proposing a principle of
opening -the Black Sea, while the other Powers are unani-
mous in proclaiming the contrary principle as necessary to
the tranquillity of Europe. Austria can understand that Rus-
sia holds to having a respectable force in the Black Sea, but
she sees in the unlimited extension of that force a danger, not
only for Turkey, but for Russia herself. The Russian Pleui-
Potentiaries have themselves shown that their fleet in the
14;ack Sea was too weak to contribute in this war to the de-
fence of the coasts. It is not the less true that it is, nevertheless,
too strong for the Ottoman navy, as the resul: s of the war-have
already preyed. It is therefore with the object of providing
against new comp ications that Austria wishes to see a certain
limitation to the Russian naval forces iu the Black Sea.
M. Drouyn de l'Hays shows that Russia will not give any
species of guarantee to the Ottoman empire. In regard to
that provided by the Ist Article, and adopted at the last Con-
ference, Russia reduces it to a chimera, because, even in the
case of a Turkish province being invaded by one of the con-
tracting Powers, Russia, according to Prince Gortschakoff's
interpretation, will confine herself to the employment of its
good offices. On the other hand, she admits of no limitation
to a fleet which, in the judgment of all tLe Powers,is dispro-
portioned to the forces of the other river-bordering Power to
shell an extent as to form a permanent menace against her.
Russia herself points to the danger to the Porte of the assem-
bling of European forces round Constantinople, -and neverthe-
less she proposes a plan according to which they could fre. ly
come there, and which would even permit the Russian Baltic
fleet to go and join that of the Black Sea.
Prince Gortschakoff does not pretend that his plan bas no

objections. It would be better in general to abandon the
nblime Porte to its own inspirations, and to give it greater
freedom of action. In any case, his project has fewer incon-
veniences than that of M Drouyu de l'Huys, to which he at-
tributes the design of wishing to humiliate Russlt, because
the principle of limitation tenches upon sovereign rights.
Af. Drouyn de Plluys protests against the tendency im-
puted-to his project. If Russia has no intention of giving to
its Black Sea fleet an indefinite development, Why does she
not come •to an understanding with the adjoining Power,
upon a basis of reciprocal limitation; why should ot the two
Powers then make known to the Conference what they had
agreed upon-between themselves? Where would there be in
such a proceeding htuuiliation or dishonour ?-
Baron Prokesch observes, that when four Powers are unani-
mous in sicei,g the existence of an•unlimited fleet in the Black
Sea a danger fur the Ottoman empire, the contrary opinion of
Russia cannot prevent them from devising means of prec mu-
tion against that danger. The Russian plenipotentiaries have
themselves admitted that an unlimited development of Use
Russian naval forces in the Black Sea was neither for the in-
terest nor according to the intentions of Russia. Why, then,
not impose upon herself a limitation in so convenient a form
as that of a reciprocal agreement between adjoining Powers ?
Prince Gortschakoff replied to Baron Prokesch that he
could not -but participate in the respect which the Austrian
Plenipotentiary manifested for a right of sovereignty of the
Sublime Porte ; that he recognises it as incontestable, and
bows to the principle ; but in return he asks the Austrian
Plenipotentiary why the same value is not placed by him
on a right of sovereignty equally incontestable on the part of
the Emperor of Russia—that of deciding upon the number of
vessels which it may suit him to have in his own ports I It
seems to him that, in this case, reciprocity should be in strict.
equity,

'Baron Prokesch said that the answer lay in the difference,
between the respective positions, Austria being at the actual
crisis the ally of the Powers at war wits Russia. Besides,
whatever confidence may be merited by the wisdom and mode-
ration of Sovereigns, that does not suffice t o render superfluous
the positive stipulations of treaties, which will be necessary
as long as there are Governments.
Id. Drouyn de l'Huys repeated that the project produced
by him had been originated in a sincerely conciliatory spirit,
and that it contained absolutely nothing offensive' or provo-
catory to Russia. The problem to be solved consisted in the

means of connecting the existence of the Ottoman empire
with the European equilibrium, and of putting an end to
Russian preponderance in the Black Sea. But, when it is
a question of placing the territorial integrity of Turkey
beyond danger, Russia says she will maintain, but not gua-
rantee, it ; and when it is a question of guarding against the
dangers which menace Russia on the sea coast, Russia peremp-
torily rejects every species of liMitation to her fleet, even
under the form of a direct arrangement with the Sublime
Porte.

• Present :—For Austria, Count de Buol-Schauensteiu and
Thron de Prokesch-Osten ; for Frauce, M. Drouyn de
Lbuys and Baron de
.Bourqueney ; for Great Britain, Lord
'John Ruisell and the Earl of Wesbiloreland ; for Russia,
Prince Gortschakoff and.M.• de Titoff ; for Turkey, Aali Pasha
and Aarff Effendi. ..

Protocol No. 11 having been read, Prince Gortschakoff
took the 'opportunity of requesting that express mention
should therein be made of the. explanations which he gave to
th, preceding Conference, in order to pr,ve that he does not
attach to the guarantee mentioned in Article 1, which was
unanimously adopted, the sense of an active guarantee of the
territorial, integrity of the. Ottoman empire.
M. Drouyn de l'Huys states that the engagement to be con-
tracted by the Powers, as recorded in the last Conference, hn=
poses upon them the obligation themselves to respect, and to
force the other contracting parties to r:spect, the indepen-
dence and territorial integrity of the Ottoman empire, so that
any contracting Power which should make an attempt upon
that territorial integrity should be responsible to the others,
who then, in order to cause respect to be paid to the common
engagement, should employ all the means in their power,
force not excepted. '
Prince Gortschakoff recognises that Russia would be ob-
liged to consider any act hostile to the territorial integrity as
a question of European interest, but he refuses the engage-
ment to make it a caie of war. He insists on the insertion

The dismssion having been brought back to the ques-
tion of the guarantee spoken of at the opening of the
meeting, and to the different opinions expressed on its bear-
ings by the Russian Plenipotentiaries to that of the other
members of the Conference, Baron Bourqueney stated that, as
having signed the treaty of 1841, he had already, seen a
similar disagreement to that of which he was this day witness.
If his efforts did not then succeed to pass the principle of the
.preparatory preamble, he should at least have the satis-
faction of twice maintaining the same doctrine, though in
the face, it was true, of the same adversaries. Who would
venture to contest that the international obligation asked
to-day' from Russia by the. Four Powers, then written
in the articles of a treaty, had not imposed on all the con-
tracting parties duties the prompt accomplishment of which
would have nipped in the bud the existing complications ?
Count i.uol said, that if one of the contracting Powers
attaches to the common guarantee a meaning different to that
giyen to it by the four others, she would do so at her own
risk and peril, as the others would maintain their interpreta-
tion.

in the preceding protocol of his explanatory observation.
The Plenipotentiaries of Great Britain and Austria, ad.
bed! g to the opinion expressed by M. Drouyn de I'Huys,
require on their part at the same time - that the Plenipoten-
tiaries of France will record in the protocol of today, the
expression of the regret with which they learn the restrictive
interpretation of Prince Gortschakoff.
Count Buol adds that his impression had been that the
explanations given on all sides at the last Conference had
entirely dispelled the difference of opinion manifested in
the first instance by Prince Gortschakoff. The reading
of Protocol No. • 11 having ended, Prince Gortschakoff
said that the Plenipotentiaries of Russia have this day a
double duty to fulfil—that o giving their opinion upon
the propositions made at the last Conference, and that
of explaining their own views on the means of developing the
third principle. The propositions which have been made to
them being in their eyes derogatory to the sovereign rights
of the Emperor their master, contrary to the European equi.
librium, and dangerous to the independence of the Ottoman
empire, they cannot but decline them. Before making known
to the Conference the vies of the Russian Plenipotentiaries
on the manner in which the treaty of July the 13th, 1841,
could be revised, Prince Gortschakoff repeated his regrets at
not seeing a representative here of one of the European
Powers, whose double right to participate in these delibera-
tions arises, in his view, from her quality as a state of the
first order, and from the fact of her having been a party to
the signature of that treaty. After having read the memo-
randum annexed (marked A), Prince Gortschakoff inquires
whether the Conference desires to know the ideas of the e
Rus-
sian Plenipotentiaries on the mode of carrying into effect tb
general views which he had just made known.
Lord 'John Russell declares that the plan developed by
Prince Gortschakoff rests on a basis on whichhediom nho
is not authont
thorised to treat ; that he is thereforepiiis‘ecde
ing into a discussion of the details of plan,..whioh, w-
this
ever, he cannot prevent Prince Gortschakoff from making
known to them.
Prince Gortschakoff, after having
(marked B), holds that Russia,h iaviin•egadentgaliegoadunteose
propose paper
the meaus of re-establishing of farces in the
Black Sea, has redeemed d
Aali Pasha
of
eosing
declares that his instructionsthperesstcrariibtes,twohhiicmh
the maintenaucenotfenTs
that the Sublime Porte
the RUSSiall pla
principleo h .
principle as a guarantee of
having at all times considere. d tkis.
/ deuce holds to its being respected, excepting in
jeetsrtinailue-Canses which might. be stipulated; that the opening of
tue jnackSea rum her constitute not only a dans%

Aali Pasha proposes for Article 1 a modified version, of
which a copy is annexed (marked C), adding that the engage-
ment made by each of the contracting powers in virtue of
that article consists, in his opinion, in respecting and causing
to be respected the independence and territorial integrity of
the Ottoman empire ; and the common guarantee applies,
therefore, to the strict observance of that engagement on the
part of each of the contracting parties.
Baron Prokesch thinks that it would be mo, e logical to
unite Articles 1 and 2 into one.
.The Conference will consider these propositions at the time
of the final settlement.
Count Buol does not consider the different modes of so-
lution as exhausted, and considers it especially the task of
Austria to look for means of accommodation. Ho hopes,
therefore, that the Conferences will meet again as soon as any
of its members shall have any new propositions to make.
Lord John Russell, in doing full justice to the concilite:7
spirit of the Austrian Minister for foreign Affairs, d
as regards himself, that his instructions are exhaus.tend.addin,
M. Drouyn de l'Huys made the same deci,arastio,
the
Em
.
the or ler of
that ho is under the necessity of taking wake an
reserves to himself to x
peror, his master, and he - eau
France
eaalt communication thereon to the represcntatise of

BuoL-ScirAvENsTEM
Prtogrscu-OsTEN. GoRTsCrIABIOrr.
DROUYN DE L'HUYS.
nounAt ENEr.
J. riCBSELL.
WESTMORELAND.
AALI.
AARIF.

scheme.
n
hriweorchfhaßr, •• . .f.-• ; : .rt
1
I;rovided.that they really led to the object proposed, Russia
frankly and sincerely accepted the new scheme. ''
The Plenipotentiaries of Russia have no need of recalling
the ample manner iu which the InapTrial Cabinet has recently
;4140 4, .'Tuscimular -of • Qouut
_Newd_roAkbaaltelo_ read
even here;. it is dotibtlees preeent tn:thedninds 'Mall. .-.
During the whole Course of the Conforenoak the Eittitude_ef
furnishoha
fa tvdhe esincerity. taken
r ouobfe place
of
asit on the
ase
Russia
usianitheasd all utisaceiireneffthOlsrtlitroespPuutniciteaba
taiao Tvnihgosaf
navigation
1180 f Principalitiess Itlia tsfounturtheePfore•si-
Limiting themselves to removing from the stipulations all
theto op
etrahet Plenipotentiariesi
that could raise apprehensions and mistrust, which they re-
ject asunjust and uncalled for, the Plenipotentiaries of Russi&
entered, in other respects, without restriction or ambiguity,
into all views tending to realise the new political system
whick Would have henceforth to regulate the East.
' They have not receded in this view before any "sacrifice
Compatible with the honour and dignity of their Sovereign,
and calculated to conduce to the end which it is proposed to
attain:
The members of the Conference will render to them, it may
be hoped, the justice •to acknowledge that all their proceed.
view, which is to consolidate the position of the East in a
ings have had for their -object the realisation of the common
manner to put an end to the rivalries of the Great Powers.
They bring this idea,with the same self-denial to the solu-
tion of the third point. They only desire that, in order to
arrive at it, all should consent to abandon the ground of pre- ,
' indices, and place themselves on that of the baliince of power
in Europe, Which embraces the Eastern question.
In looking from this elevated point of view on the engage.
tueuts which flow from the third point a solution will easily
he arrival at, honourable•for all, and offering real guarantees
to all -the cantracting parties.
Before all, it is necessary to mention, that that which ,
it has, been thotight proper to call " the preponderance of
Ruisia-inthe Black Sea" has been the result of the nature .
and the whole system of the political relations of the two -
than by her maritime
empires bordering Mier on. " It was a inperiority' of autho-
rityrtorretaeties
ucwhithmotrhee t Ottomanhan from eitmspiniref::::
tie which Russia exercised rather by the ascendancy which •
latrioas-peofctihael supremacy. It resulted from the iso.-
°sDessaveloped by the influence of circumstances unconnected
with Russia, such as the 2.,ge
Navaho°, the conquest of Algeria nerati obuy France
IG.araecece
,e
dent tendencies of the Pashl of Egypt, of the Boys of Tunis
and Tripoli, which deprived the Porte of sufficiently impor- .
taut maritime assistance, that •
by Russia. It had formed theuiofhfiority was not brought on
could have ceased at the will of thieseft" of no stipulation. It ;
Porte.
The topographical configuration of the Bo
ephorue,so favour-
able to the organisation of an impregnable system of defence ;
the possession of fortresses and ports such
lis, Bourgas, Trebizonde, &c. ; the advantage
Varna, Sisepo-
iheing able to
group all her forces round three contiguous
were and they still are striking advantages Which the Portethess
possessed and still possesses over Russia, who •b . d .
maintain naval forces in four-seas separated
by '° lige to
Immense dis-
tances, could only give its navy in the Black Sea a restricted
levero-pirient.
If, notwithstanding the mistrust which for twenty years
past has been excited against Russia, the Porte should not
make use of its advantages, would it not be because, instead
of seeing a danger for herself in the maritime development of
Russia, she had suspicion of those which would menace her -
elsewhere, and against which, in time of need,,the forces of
Russia, might serve as a means-of defence?
__.

Morally, as well as materially, facts seemed to justify that
view.

People have strangely deceived themolves in"regard to the
dangers to which the Ottoman empire might be exposed from
the Russian fleet.

In affirming, in his work on Southern Russia, that with
her fleet, rated, it is true, at 30 vessels, Russia could at will
occupy Constantinople, Marshal Marmont has committed a
double error ; on the one hand, because the Russian naval
forces hr the Black Sea'ean never reach that number without
uniting with those of the Baltic—a junction which is impos-
sible ; on the other' because, if even so gigantic a maritime
development could be effected, it would be very far :from
leading to the dangers which appear to be apprehended.
That which is now passing in the Crimea would be sufficient
to prove this.
The real facts are, indeed, otherwise opposed to these hy-
potheses. Let us take, for instance, what passed' in 1833. -
At that epoch the Russian fleet appears in the Bosphorus mid
effects a descent, but under what conditions! It is with the '
consent of the Sultan, and to come to his aid. Moreover,
availing itself of all its shipping, the Russian fleet could only
transport on that occasion-from 10,000 to 12,000 men. And
it will be admitted that this force, important as an auxiliary,
would have been entirely insufficient if it had presented itself
as au enemy.
Since that time much has been said of the development of
the Russian navy. Notwithstanding all that has been said,
what do we see 20 years after, that is to say, in 1853 ?
The Russian fleet takes about 15 days for the embarka-
tion, the transport, and the disembarkation of a division of
infantry, that is to say, from 15,000 to 16,000 men, from.
Sebastopol to Redout Kaleh.
On taking into consideration the proximity of the maritime
establishments"of Russia, 211,000 men at most can be reckoned
as the number of troops for descent which the Russian navy
of the Black Sea; in its greatest development, would be in a
position to transport, on any given point of the Ottoman ter-
rit.,r;v, in the space of about three weeks.
Is that a very great danger? Does itjustify the apprehen-
sions which have been conceived ? Is not a risk incurred in
endeavouring to avoid it, of sacrificing to a chimerical danger
the true conditions of the security of the East and of the
European equilibrium?

Dangers have many times menaced the Ottoman empire
from other quarters than the north. An Admiral •of the Sul-
tan
has even een seen to lead his fleet, to his rebellious vassal.
Who answers that facts of this nature shall not again occur ?
Moreover, the English and French fleets, taken not collec-
tively, but singly, are either less powerful nor less dangerous
than those of Russia. lecause the maritime-establishments
of France and England are furt' er • off, they are not on that
account more inoffensive. Europe less able to watch the
evolutions of the fleets that leave them. . .

By means of the rapidity of electric commu icatious, they
could, by setting sail from Toulon and Malta at the same time
the the Russian fleet should ieav Sebastopol, arrive in time

suflicient to ward off danger from the Porte. Bid, who en-
gages that they may Rot one day present themselves with the
same celerity, whether singly or collectively, before the Serag-

lo as enemies of the Porte

The rapidity with' which the I'reuch fleet sailed towards
Sa'amis in 1853 shows the material ossibility of this ou the
part of France. The threats of %lila. M. do 1 avalette made
use prow • its moral possibility-. As regards England, we will
limit om.selves to men foiling the violation of the Straits iu

I ts 4 9, under pretext of tempests. ; -
Where, if the Bla,:k Sea-were, disarmed, would be the secu-
rity against suchattempts r Wl, ore the counterpoise toprevent
their being lightly undertaken?
Thew., sinlpleareflections arc sufficient to show that what-
ever system may be adopted in revising the treaty of 1841,
with the view of connecting the Ottoman oznpire with the ba-
htnee of power in Europe,lhe maintenance in the Black Sea
of a respectable Russian naval forte would not only not be of a
nature to raise seri us apprehensions, but would even be one
of the conditions necessary to secure, by way of counterpcdse
to naval forces that may happen to be in the waters of the.
Levant, the intact observance of the stipulations concluded iu
the interest,of the European equilibrium. And let it not be
objected that this would be the maintenance of the status quo,
and that, in consequence, the preponderance which Russialias
f,xercised iu the Black Sea would not come to an end.

It has before been demonstrated that that preponderance
arises from the isolation of Turkey ; it will therefore cease with

the entry of the latter under the public law of Europe.
The Porte would preserve not only the faculty which shebas
always had of giving at will to her navy the development
which ap eared to it needful, but would acquire another moral
guarantee against all attack on the part of Russia, who, of a
surety would not risk, for the sake of a most hazardous un-
dßeAking, to draw on herself, by a violation of the public law
of Eurcpe, a general coalition.
Moreover, Russia would not refuse on her part to offerfiew

guarantees by a revision of tho treaty of 1841, if this were
desired by the Sultan.
The transactions of Russia concluded directly with the Porte

have never made of the Black Sea a closed see:. On the ;;;I:trary, the Treaty of Athianople has had the merit of having
opened that sea to mercantile shipping of all nations without
distinction.

The closing of Ile Straits to war flags has nut been the
result of agreements of Russia with the Porte. It has arisen
solely from the ancient legis'ation of the Ottoman empire.
The treaty of 1841 has only served to recognise and to con-
firm this principle, established by the'Sultans in their quality
of sovereigns of the.territory adjoining the two Straits.
They are free to open the passage, as they were to keep it
closed.
So long as the Straits remained closed, it followed naturally.
that the navigation of the Black Sea became accessible solely
to the ships of war of the two bordering Powers—the one
Ru.sia, the other Turkey.
The Russian Plenipotentiaries are the first to admit the
facility which the Sultan possesses, in right and in fact, to
open the passage of the Straits to the war flag of the Powers
with whom the Porte is at peace; but reciprocally, in'open
ing the Straits on like terms, to authorise the passage from.
one sea to the other, and that in favour of all nations.
Adopted by common consent in the'interest of the general
equilibrium, a like provision may serve to put an end to the
inferiority in which the Porte is placed in the Black Sea. It
could be completed by other measures, which would be its
corollaries. Convinced that stipulations taken from this order
of ideas must draw forth the solution so much desired, and
give to the peace of Europe new pledges of security, the
Plenipotentiaries of Russia believe it their duty- to appeal to
the sentiments which animate the members of the Conference,
to engage them to enter into this salutary path, and to dis-
cuss propositions drawn up in this sense.

(tnelosure 2 in No. 13)
ANNEX B TO PROTOCOL No. 12..
,„.
desirous
of
Art. . The high contracting
which may apse
Powers
the_
i anxieties
fo;ces of the two bordering
the Sultan, by
• hoess
consents to modify
putting
inequalityau
oefn end
1-1
in the basin of
ofthe Black
soverei,n
T will, 'Dardanelles and of
a spontaneous act .
of the Straits of
treats
of the Ist (13th)
the rule of the closing . the
provided for by t distinction, to
as provi
forth, without
• the Black. Sea,
the Bosphorus,
gh these
observe iwt:ihtliso
,7 t n grant henceforth, Courts.assabgeein'tsoufroni the
te°navae_
Sea,
his
Highness
algBs4olf,'
warali -
proceed.
of
f°rouninattr Ir2;pfeilaeegop
into
mid rim versa-
rrangements for regulating the passage of
, The a—
h these Straits, and laying down the posi-
tronsshTs he duration of the anchorages, shall form the sub-'
and tiiecial regulation, which the Sublime Porte shail jeet of ' 8.- „ording as it may think necessary for its secu-
''
jSthutiel•ayfl;ts to
11.1 z.: oigate, a
Art. The regulation mentioned in the preceding article
psheaAlelre:br.e,litltilieailti.httilecn:oliiit.ihmeefipagosrtoef, Wlzo:caallileuad. nations in intha.esntajotey of
it .
shall engage scrupulously to
on a footing of perfect equality,
NitithiltOeB;
particular
uiar
e Sultan,however,ilemnetan ecircumstances,
to
reserves to'
provisions of that regulation, in favour of any flag he .
liiniitoAnsitethife,
pleases, exceptional and temporary modifications, destined to
extend the privileg.-s for a limited time.
Art. . In case (which God forbid !) the Sublime Porto/
should herself be in a state of war, or should see her security.
compromised by hostilities which might break out between.
other Powers, his Highness the Sultan reserves to h!mselifthteh°
r
power to suspend the free passage through the
entirely or partially, until the cessation of the cire a
Which may have required such a measure, Straits,
teanees
\

(Enclosure 1-in No. 13.)
ANNEX A TO PROTOCOL No. 12.
The Imperial Cabinet of Russia, in accepting the " four ' (Enclosure 3in No. 13.) •
points" as a basis of negotiation, has not concealed from itself
the import-
The ort.
their real meaning, neither has it ever thought of altering it. Contracting Parties, impressed with P
The High
general equilibrium of seeing
The fundamental idea which presides over the delibe • rationmaintenance of the
of the
of the Conference is to put an end to the isolated position of :Ince to the
rorte
the Sublime participating in the advantages
' AXXEX CTO PROTOCOL No. 12.
in Europe, to bring it within the public law of the civilised
the Ottoman empire, to connect it with the balance of power established
! union will henceforth consider her as
between the different Euro-
declare that they
engage each on its own part to
world ;in short, to assure to it conditions fthis union;
of existence calcu- 'an integral part o
e territorial integrity of the
lated to afford pledges of security to itself, give • d ndenee and th
and to to I respect the in epe
ntee in common the strict observane4a
Europe guarantees against fresh complications. pean States,
, The realisation of this id
ea necessarily celled for essential of this ogaireip.--- i
ment and, will bx consecsilCe Pdousider every
empire; bypublic law
kacryicel on the put of um& ~- -cud , Ottoman
___ I Jim tataskillitthg• ikotvl.
__. _________. ________ __

THEATRE ROYAL BAYMARRAT.
Tinder the management of Mr. Bookstore.
THIS ETENING,

Win be performed the new Play, entitled THE ACTRESS OF
PADUA.

After which. a new Extravaganza. called THE law HAy,
MARKET SPRING MEETING, 1855.
To conclude with OUR MART ANNE.

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE, OXFORD-STREET
Under the Management of Mr. Caul.= KEAN.
This Theatre is closed This Evening in consequence of a Night
Rehearsal of Menry
TO-MORRO yr EVENING
Will be performed LIVING TOO FAST.
To be followed by FAUST AND MARGUERITE. Principal
characters by Messrs. C. Kean, 1). Fisher, Raymond, Cathcart, and
Tam WinstanleY, Misses C. Leelercq, Daly, and K. Terry.
To conclude with the popular Romance, in two acts, entitled
THE MULETEER OF TOLEDO; or, King, Queen, and Knave.

THEATRE ROYAL ADELPHL
Proprietor, Mr. B. Webster.—Directress, Madame Celeste.
THIS EVENING,
be Performed the comedy of PAUL PRY. Principal cha-
racters bY Messrs. C. Selty and Wright; Miss M. Keeley, Mrs. L.
Marrs); sad Ml.s Woolgar.
After which, THE FE rE OF N $ TIONS.
Ts oonclude with MY PRECIOUS BETSY.

ROYAL oLntrie THEATRE.
Lessee and Manager. Mr. A. Wigan.
THIS EVENING.

Will be performed STILL WATERS AWN DEEP. Characters
by Me,srs. A. Wigan, Emery, G. Vining, Danvers, Miss Maskell,
and Mrs. Melton.

To be followed by the Fairy Extravaganza, called THE YELLOW
DWILEF AND THE KING OF I HE GOLD MINES.

ROYAL STRAND THEATRE.
Under the direction of Miss Rebecca Isaacs.
THIS EVENING,
Wrl be performed OUR NELLT.
After which, KING QUEER AND HIS DAUGHTERS THREE,
To conclude with SALLY SMART.

ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.
Lessee and Manager, Mr. Wm. Cooke.
THIS EVENING.
Those EQUESTRIAN PERFORMANCES which eclipse those of
•Very Establishment in the world.
Also, an interesting Ulppodramatic Spectacle called, THE FIELD
AGAINST THE FAVOURITE !
After which, the matchless SCENES in the CIRCLE, executed by
lirst-rate artistes, including Mr. J. Henry Cooke
To conclude with the Ballet of KATE KEARNEY, or, the Lakes of
Killarney.
Vas c preparations are progressing for a magnificent spectacle at
Whitsuntide.
Box-office open from Eleven till Four. Stage Manager, Mr. W
West. Acting Manager, Mr. W. IL Cooke. Equestrian Director,
Mr. W. Cooke, Jun.

:lIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
This DAT —Mornint, 2G mtn.afte: 12 Evening 42min. aft.l2
To-' oaaow--Morning 7 inin.after 1 I Evening27min. aft. 1

THE WEATHER.—Sox 011 ICE, May. 13.
THERMOMZTZII, IN THZ SHAM
54—highest since neon yesterday.
44 —lowest this morning and during the night.
45—this day, at noon.,
BAROMETER, 29.51—a sudden fall of nearly half an inch
since yesterday evening.
WIND, S.E. —Pretty fresh, with dull weather, rain, and
plenty of scud.
NINE rat.—Continued raining all day, with dark, cold
weather.

MAY 14.
47 —highest since noon yesterday.
41 —lowest this morning and during the night.
51 —this day at noon.
BABOWITIR went down to 29'45—now up to 29'77.
W mn, N. to N.N.E.—Light, with cloudy weather.

• 7
-c§atn

LONDON, MONDAY, MAY 14, 1855.

A story has been told of an American Captain
who, convinced from certain indications that a
complaint would be lodged against him, antici-
pated the informers by preferring it himself, and
thus bec ime entitled to a moiety of the penalties
imposed. Lord PALMERSTON practised a dodge of
a similar description on Friday evezing. Major
REED was put forward as the ostensible complain-
ant. The Honourable and Gallant Member was
like the illustrious BOTTOM, fully prepared

"To roar you as gently as any sucking dove."

It is true that at one portion of his speech he
seemed to disregard his cue, and "to aggravate
his voice" in the expectation of inducing the
audience to say
" Let him roar again, let him roar again."

Thus ho at one time, with too much candour,
declared that " the country had been woefully de-
ceived, for the Noble Lord had not moved with
the spirit of the times, and had not effected those
reforms which were anticipated," and more than
hinted that " the party to which the Noble
Lord belonged were democrats in opposition,
but oligarchs in office ;" while at another, despite
these grave imputations, and, as if to prove that
like his great prototype, he could " roar as 'twere
any nightingale," he professed his anxiety to
give the Government his cordial support under the
difficult circumstances in which they were placed,
" and to enable them to make such a statement
as would satisfy the anxiety of the country." It
is needless to say that these not over consistent
views excited no enthusiasm—elicited no cheers--
that they merely provoked laugh ter. The blundering
of the Ministerial MARPL•T materially abridged
the intended effect of the Premier's dodge. His
candid confession of the Ministerial shortcomings,
his "owning the soft impeachment" of the high
expectations entertained on his accession to office,
which "had overrun the bounds of reasonable and
practicable realisation," and his development of
the intended changes—we cannot as yet accept
them as " ameliorations " were therefore
"fiat, stale" and, still worse, " unprofit-
able." None of his points " told," albeit
that he had, for the time being, assumed
the " deferential " in place of the "defiant " tone
to which he was so much better accustomed. The
weekly organ of the Cabinet paid him the
ftther left-handed compliment of declaring that
he was acting, not talking." It was indeed
nling r but we regret to say that he was by
no Tue,ms
as much at home in the " heavy" busi-
ness asfa the more light and sparkling characters
he had been accustomed to assume.
After all,
What is it
such grandilocmina, _ that he announces with
nourishes—au h platitudes.? The contemplated such pompous
mplated consolidation of
in
_which, as the Right
the military departments,
Honourable Gentleman the Member
for Bucks
truly remarked, there is nettling
undl
" profoto the other original." The abolition of the B„rd
of y
Ord.
nanco—which forms no exception
boards, in being `what Mrs. HALL'S Irish Watch_
man designates as " desperate stupid,'—will un-
questionably be a great public benefit. But before
we yield an unconditional acceptance to the propo-

talon, we would wish to be satisfied as to the effi-
clukcY, and still more the independence, of the de-

Partriamat to which the power is to be delegated.
r The acme Quarda" are not in the odour of

THEATRE ROYAL, DRITRY-LANE.-
Lessee, Mr. E. T. SMlTH.—Grand Opera, Ballet, and Musical
Entertainment.—The great success achieved by Signor and Madame
Gassier, and the artistes who have appeared under the recent direc-
tion of the Royal Opera, has induced Mr. E. T. Smith to enter
into arrangements by which he has secured the services, for a
limited number of nights, of the eminent artistes who have already
appeared, as well as those with whom negotiations were pend-
ing. Under Mr. Smith's direction the TREATRE will OPER
on Wednesd&Y May 16, with the opera LA SONNAMBULA.
,
Amtna, Madame Gassier ; Rudolph°, Signor Gassier. After the
opera a Grand Ballet will be produced, in which Mdlle. Palmyra,
the first dansense at the principal ,theatres of the continent,
win appear. In addition to the above distinguished vocalists, Mr.
E. T. Smith has engaged, at a considerable expense, Madame Arga
and signor Armand', from the principal continental theatres, who
eeul make their first appearance in England at this theatre on Thurs-
day, May 17, in the opera of Norma. In offering such an array of
talent to the public at the following reduced prices, and in conse-
quence of the great leases accruing from issuing free admissions, Mr.
Smith is determined to discontinue the practice, and rely solely on
the support of the public. Prices of admission :—To the two gal-
leries, 6d.; second circle of boxes and pit, ls.; dress circle, 2s. 6d. ;
Stela, 41.; private boxes to admit two persons, 10s. 6d. ; four per-
sons, one guinea. To be had at the box-office, from 10 to 6 daisy ;
and of the principal librarians and mnsicsellers. Doers open at
• half-ptsst 7, and commence at 8 o'clock.

THEATRE - ROYAL, DRURY - LANE. -
Lessee, Mr. E. T. Smith.—The GREAT DERBY DAY BAL
/HANCE, May 23.—Mr. Smith announces to the nobility, gentry, and
public this Grand Fete, on a scale of magnitude and expense never
before attempted. A superb Salon de Dance of 409 feet in length,
embellished and decorated with Illuminated bowers, variegated
lamps, and novel devices. Enlarged orchestra, well-appointed Md 9
tens of the Ceremonies, all the new dances, music, Sec., forming a
coup erred of attraction and splendour without parallel. Tickets,
I Os. 6d. each, to be obtained at the principal musicsellers' and libra-
rians' ; and at the theatre.