The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-22 00:00:00

No. 19,546.]

LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, MAY 22, 1855.

PUBLICATIONS.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

times and in all out-of-the-way corners, entered the House of
Commons, cheek by jowl, like the two kings at Brentford,
smelling at one rose. No sooner had they taken their places
than Mr. S. Herbert inquired of Lord Palmerston whether
all hopes of peace between Russia and the Allies, through the
intervention of Austria, were at an end. •The noble Premier
replied : By no means. Thereupon up rose Mr. Gladstone,
and adjured his right honourable friend Mr. Milner Gibson
to postpone his motion, asserting that the terms propounded
by Russia at the Vienna Conferences for the settlement of the
third point, ought to have been accepted. This brought Mr.
Sidney Herbert on his legs again, to declare that if Mr. Gib-
son persisted in his motion he would move the previous
question. The Right Honourable es-Secretary at War was
followed by Lord Harry Vane, who bad undertaken to se-
cond the motion, and who urged his principal to yield to the
appeals addressed to him. Then followed some further Mi-
nisterial declarations, to Ihe effect that the motion, if per-
sisted in at the time, would materially embarrass the negotia-
tions which are not in progress at Vienna. Mr. Milner Gib-
son was all compliance. Mr. Bright did not appear quite
certain what to think of the part taken in these interpella-
tions by his right honourable Umbra. He would rather
have the motion persevered in ; but he was in favour of any
proceedings that would ensure peace•at any price ; he would
support Mr. Gibson if he went on with his motion, and would
not object to that gentleman's withdrawing it. So the mo-
tion was postponed till after the Whitsun holidays—that is,
ad Grcecas Kalendas.

MR. MILNER GIBSON'S MOTION.
( From the Times of this day. )
The high-wrought expectations of the distinguished au-
dience which assembled in the House of Commons yesterd4
evening to listen to the debate on Mr. Milner Gibson's motion
was destined to a severe and unlooked-for disappointment.
Very early in the proceedings symptoms of a " cross," as the
prizefighters call it, began to manifest themselves, and persons
used to such things saw clearly that the match would not
come ofi. Zealous as Mr. Gibson undoubtedly is in puttiiig
forward his pacific notions, and vehement as the Ministry,
which exists on the vigorous prosecution of the war, is in its
anxiety to meet and combat them, it somehow seems to have
occurred to these antagonists that neither had much to gain
from the prosecution of a quarrel which was likely to result
iu greater benefit to third parties than to either of the belli-
gerents. Mr. Milner Gibson might not unreasonably think
that there was a strong feeling in the House against his mo-
tion, and our warlike Government might believe with equal
justice that there was a considerable majority of its own mem-
bers in its favour. Still the difficulty was where to find a
plausible pretext for putting off a debate with regard to which
the feeling of the country certainly is that it is rather too late
than too soon, and lags behind rather than anticipates the
occasion. Many excuses, many pretexts, were doubtless can-
vassed and considered, until at last one was found sufficiently
plausible, at least in the belief of those who have a statesman-
like confidence in the gullibility of mankind. Before the mo-
tion came on Mr. Gladstone questioned Lord Palmerston as
to the state of the negotiations at Vienna in a manner which
certainly invited him not to underrate the gravity of the
difficulties which they opposed to the impending discussion.
Thus adjured, Lord Palmerston spoke. The congress had
adjourned sine die, but was not dissolved. It might be called
together at any time. Austria, " our ally to .a certain ex-
tent," was making it her business to find terms of agreement,
questing about for expedients to unite the incompatible views
of Russia and the Western Powers. When the required
expedients were found, it was to be communicated to
England and France, and upon their approval of this possible
future expedient the Congress could be reassembled. Here
was just that species of metaphysical entity in which Mr.
Gladstone delights—a future conditional, contingent, un-
realised, probably unrealisable, idea, which assumed under
his skilful touch substance 'and consistency, and, grew and
increased till one could really almost fancy that it was some-
thing more than a vain ehimfera of his luxuriant imagination.
Once possessed of this, to him, solid and substantial fulcrum
for the intellectual lever, Mr. Gladstone's work was soon
done ; and we doubt not that he would have persuaded Mr.
Gibson to postpone his motion even if Mr Herbert bad not
aided him by the threat of moving " the previous question,"
and Lord Harry Vane assisted with the menace that after
these diplomatic revelations he would not second him. The
comedy, thus fairly started, was played oil, nobody seeming
in earnest in the matter except Mr. Roebuck and Mr. Disraeli,
and it was with no feeling of surprise 'that the house heard
from Mr. Gibson that after the appeal made to him he could
not persevere, and must, therefore, defer his motion till after
Whitsuntide.
Thus, then, has been lost by a palpable contrivance of the
very clumsiest description the opportunity of taking the opi-
nion of the House of Commons on the question of peace and
war. Mr. Gibson certainly acted a part for which Ministers
cannot be sufficiently grateful. He preoccupied the ground,
and, after having prevented other members from bringing the
subject forward, postponed his motion just at the time when
it was impossible to give notice of another before Whitsun-
tide, and thus procured for the Ministry another fortnight,
during which they may enjoy, without Parliamentary con-
trol, unlimited powers of truckling to Russia. The House of
Commons has been jockeyed out of the expression of its
opinion, and, above all, the Government have been
saved for another fortnight from exposing to the world
the true secret of their disunion on the very principle
upon which they were constructed. Regarding this mat-
ter as a Parliamentary interlude, it wag played off
dexterously enough ; in any other 'mint of view the course
adopted by all parties was most discreditable. The pretence,
as we have above intimated, was of the most frivolous de-
scription. The state of things alluded to by Lord Palmer-
ston always exists in war. Wherever a Congress has been
summoned a Congress can been summoned again. •Wherever
a proposition has been negatived another can be substituted.
While there are belligerent Powers and a Potter between them
which makes it its business, like Austria, to find perpetually
new subjects of negotiation, there is no fear that the farce
cannot be keptup as long as required, especially if by so doing
the disagreeable necessity of explanation in a popular assembly
is avoided. If such statements as those of Lord Palmerston
are considered sufficient to deprive Parliament of its jurisdic-
tion, we shall never want assurances that Austria has some-
thing to propose, that the Congress has something to con-
sider, that there are " bases," or " elements," or shreds, or
fragments upon which something may be constructed, or out
of which something may be extracted, if they be only sub-
mitted often enough and long enough to the crucible of di-
plomatic chemistry. The establishment of such a principle
is very convenient to a Ministry whose dissensions on. peace
and war render a discussion on thesubject highly unadvisable,
and equally expedient for the advocates of a craven and dis-
honourable policy, who shrink from submitting their prin-
ciples to the ordeal of a discussion in a popular assembly, but
still -wish to preserve to themselves the credit of not deserting
them under the influence of clamour and unpopularity. It is
not, however, quite so clear that this plan of eluding the dis-
cussion of peace and war, in deference to the supposed
dangers of imaginary negotiations, will be satisfactory to the
public at large, who care little for the unseen and condi-
tional, and are, above all things, absorbed in the visible and
actual. They see that we have been negotiating at
Vienna on terms the very proposition of which is an
insult to the spirit and magnanimity of the nation.
They see that our Ministry ere charged •to their
faces in the most public manner by Mr. 'Roebuck
with being at issue among themselves on the subject of peace
and war, and do not dare to deny it ; and they see that when
the Houqe of Commons addresses itself to -a discussion of
these subjects, which must, if carried through, dissipate all
doubt as to its own opinion and that of the Ministry, and
show clearly whether they are in unison or not, the debate
is put off on the most frivolous pretences, and the power of
contracting an ignominious peace is still left in the hands of
those who are more than suspected of a leaning in that direc-
tion. If the Government have any value for their own posi-
tion they will cease on this, the tenderest of all subjects, to
tamper with the wishes and anxieties of the people. Let the
House of Commons fairly state its own opinion, and let the
Ministry as fairly and openly state theirs. Should they agree,
both will have gathered fresh strength from the disclosure.
Should they differ, these are no times in which such a dis-
crepancy should be allowed to exist one moment after it has
been discovered.
We must do justice to the Rouse of Commons. We fully
believe that to the great majority of them the manoeuvre by
which they have been deprived at a moment so critical of the
power of expressing their opinion is as odious as it is to our-
selves. They have been tricked out of their right by a dex-
terous stratagem, which deprived them of the power of regu-
lating their own proceedings or insisting that the motion
they met to consider should be persevered with. They have
been tricked by their own forms. The issue that was raised
by Mr. Gibson would have been presented to the house in
innumerable shapes, had there not been a feeling that the
tquestion
swnaos
reason sufficientlyo ivabi
ts elide bwy hisud
fraeisrol
yl u trieodnese,mande t
ihmat.
plied pledge to bring them on which he gave by placing them
sounbtmheitptaopbere.
tblet
vrieenatiaminosf ttobbisedseexetnerwetuhsetphieereethe of haoeustinegw,will
whether it will not, as we think it ought, insist before it
separates for the Whitsuntide recess on recording its opinion
as to the future negotiations of this country with Russia in a
manner which will teach Ministers what they have to expect
if, with discordant wills and vacillating policy, they ever
again sue for that peace from the Czar which the nation is
determined to extort by force of arms, and to secure by far
different guarantees th an those so idly discussed at Vienna.

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Paternoster-row.

Mr. Sidney Herbert took care to interpose a protest that
he was entirely ignorant of the course the right honourable
member for Manchester was likely to take in consequence of
the appeal made to him by Mr. Gladstone. Of course, Mr.
Gladstone had told Mr. Sidney Herbert nothing of his secret
communings with Mr. Milner Gibson—political colleagues
often find it convenient not to tell each other, in express
words, what both know quite well. In like manner, Mr.
Milner Gibson is to be presumed to have been quite unfere-
warned of the question to be put to Lord Palmerston by Mr.
Sidney Herbert, and the appeal to be made to himself by Mr.
Gladstone. And all the three were in utter ignoraneaof what
Lord Palmerston would say in reply to Mr. Sidney, Herbert,
as the noble viscount was, on his part, taken quite by surprise
by that gentleman's question. A more gross and transparent
farce has never been played off in the face of a conniving
House of Commons. The obvious thinablerigging of the
Peace-at-any-Price" faction, of the Aberdeenites, and Mi-
nisters', was lasi.night palpable to-the dhllest understsniding.
The Aberdeenites Bought to back out of the scrape, fearing
the public indignation that would be roused against them if
they supported the disgraceful motion of Mr. Might's caudal
appendage ; Mr. Milner Gibson had no inclination to make
himself a laughing-stock by dividing without the support of
the Aberdeenites ; and both parties had a pretty strong con-
viction that the wishes and intentions of Ministers were in
harmony with their own.
We speak more in sorrow than in anger. It is clear that
there is among our leading public;men no feeling for the na-
tional honour, no power of comprehending the real interests
of the nation. There is but one wish among them—to patch
up a bungled and mismanaged war by a disgraceful peace.
This is a terrible state of affairs; for the people are indignant
and alarmed, unaccustomed to act for themselves, and basely
deserted by all the leaders in whom they have been disposed
to place confidence. The expedition to Kertch has returned
to Balaklava without even attempting to land. The Premier
tells us that he is open to receive further proposals from
Russia through the tainted medium of Austria, though there
is not an Englishman worthy of the name who does not feel
that concession on the part of the Allies has already been
pushed beyond all reasonable bound.. And the House of
Commons allows such a Rigadoon as was performed before
them—by three loudly professing factions—the Harlequin,
Clown, and Pantaloon of the spectacle—to be palmed off
upon them as serious business. We do not believe the
country will tolerate the disgraceful as dangerous winding
up of the war which the three parties to last night's con-
spiracy against its honour and interests contemplate : but we
have ere now seen the English people obliged to take their
business into their own hands when deserted by those to
whom they had been accustomed to look as their natural
leaders ; and with the monster meetings throughout the
manufacturing districts—to say nothing of the scenes enacted
at Bristol and Clumber Castle, vividly in our recollection—
we honestly confess that we view with anything but plea-
surable anticipations the inevitable repetition of such an •
experiment.

(From the Morning Herald of this day.)
A visitor to the strangers' gallery, uninitiated in the
mysteries of Parliamentary warfare, might very easily have
come to the conclusion that the proceedings last evening in
the House of Commons were nothing but a farce.
The motion of which Mr. Milner Gibson had 'given notice
was calculated to extort from the Palmerston Administration
some explanations of the policy upon which the foreign affairs
of England arc conducted, or rather misconducted, at this
moment. The Ministers were to be tried by the ordeal of
this debate. The country was to be satisfied, not only as to
the good faith of its rulers, but as to their unanimity amongst
themselves. The question of divided as well as timid councils
was to be determined. Rumours of a division in a Cabinet that
has never yet been cordially united cannot occasion much sur-
prise ; but the danger is still more critical. It is asserted that
these divisions have assumed so important a character that only
by a disgraceful and dishonourablepeaee can they be allayed.
The plenipotentiary that went to Yiennabreathing defiance, has
returned with all his ferocity extracted. He can assail none
now but his immediate friends. Like a real turnspit, he has
commenced growling at his former associates. One very im-
portant point strengthens this opinion Lord John Russell
has not given publie expression to his views upon the war
since he reached England. Even last night. impelled by the
remonstrances of speakers on both sides of the house, he only-
gave us a history of the conferences ; he
.said nothing of his
own feelings ;be talked of his instructions. The member
for London is not generally overburdened with discretion ;
and his reserve in this matter is, to say the least of it, re-
markable.

But we have not done wilh Mr. Milner Gibson yet. He
threw himself into the breach to save the Government ; they
now manage to postpone until after Whitsuntide any discus-
sion upon their foreign policy.
Inquiry the people will and must have.

(Prom the Morning Post of this day.)
The souse of Commons and the country had an escape last
night. A somewhat angry discussion, short but the reverse
of sweet, took the place of the long debate that was expected
to develop the most energetic bitterness of Mr. Disraeli, and
to give those followers of Lord. Derby who wait with anxiety
on the changes in that nobleman's resolutions the pleasure of
stating their perfect readiness t• take office, and their con-
viction that, by their so doing, peace would be restored on
some or on any terms, or that war could be carried on with
the greatest advantage at no cost to the country. The state-
ments of Lord Palmerston and of Lord John Russell showed
clearly, and without a doubt, what ought to have been well
enough known before that the discussion of Mr. Milner's
Gibson's proposed resolutions, weak as the resolutions were*
would have done infinite mischief to any prospects of an
honourable peace that may yet remain—to any hopes of an
arrangement through the anxious mediation of Austria.
Our position is simple enough. We have held, and we still
hold, peace as too precious a gift to throw away the slightest
chance of grasping it. If the house cannot trust the present
Ministry—if it believe that Lord Palmerston has not the
vigour, ability, or experience to direct the fate of the country
—if it hold Lord Malmesbury superior to Lord Clarendon—or
if it have a fancy to try conclusions with Mr. Layard, or with
any of the volunteers of the Administrative Reform Associa-
tion, let it by all means says so, break with the present Go-
vernment, put in the new one, and let us see what will come
of it.

THE VIENNA CONFERENCES.

THE RUSSIAN VERSION.

Mr. Milner Gibson, few (except the disappointed men big
with speeches) will question, has shown the better part of
valour by his discretion in postponing his much-talked-of
motion till after Whitsuntide. The strong Bright and the
powerful Cobden could not have shown much strength—could
not have spoken with great power on a subject so awkwardly
encompassed with ugly facts—could not have set the country
blazing against the iniquity of the Government in not having
made peace, when all the world is growing hourly to a
stronger persuasion that we have no choice left but that of
a vigorous and active war. We say that we have no choice
left ; for, as matters stand at present, we have no choice be-
tween an active war and a dishonourable peace.

( From the Morning Chronicle of this day. )
" I have seldom witnessed in this house," said Mr. Disraeli
yesterday evening, " a scene like that which is apparently
performing near me to-night 1" and a burst of cheers marked
the instant appreciation of the remark by the House of Com-
mons. Well might the right honourable gentleman charac-
terise the request made to Mr. Milner. Gibson, that he would
postpone his motion, as " extraordinary and impolitic." Ex-
traordinary it was, considering the circumstances under which
it was made. Impolitic it certainly was, because it tends to
lead the people of England to believe that they are being
trifled with, and that the honour and dignity of this country
are being imperilled, for purposes the mere suspicion of which
is enough to fill them with indignation.
Some weeks have now elapsed since the public heard with
satisfaction that the solemn mockery of the Vienna Confer-
euetis was at, au cud. Had the Mizaion of Lord. John Rrimooll
resulted in his being able to announce the conclusion of an
honourable peace, it would have been hailed with satisfaction,
because the people of England are not enamoured of war for
its own sake, and all their material interests would be ad-
vanced by a peaceful settlement of the dispute with Russia.
Failing that desired result, there appeared at least to be,
ground for congratulation that the energies of the country
were no more to be trammelled by the network of diplo-
macy, and that the sword would cut the Gordian knot of
negotiation. The mysterious reluctanee of the Govern-:
ment to enter into any discussion on the general ques-,
tion of the war, although if they had been prepared
with a straightforward policy, their fading popularity
might have been restored, did, it must be admitted, some-
what damp the hopes of action to which the cessation of
talking and protocolling had given birth. Still, so many
traps had been set for the slippery Minister—there was. Earl,
Grey's promised motion in the Lords—there was Mr. Milner
Gibson's menaced provocation in the Commons—there was
Mr. Disraeli's positive announcement that he at least would
force a discussion on the foreign policy of the country—that
it was not supposed possible Lord Palmerston could escape,
or that if there was treason in the Ministerial camp it should
not be exposed.
Now, however, it appears that the old incubus is on us
again. The Vienna Conferences are not at an end, after all I
The meshes are again prepared for us; the "threads of ne-
gotiation " aro once more to be wound round us, and our new
resolves in favour of vigour and energy—of arriving at peace
through victory—are set at nought. " Her Majesty's Go-
vernment certainly do not consider all the modes of solution
of the question at issue as exhausted."
Now, if Mr. Milner Gibson, Mr. Bright, and some other
gentlemen who helped to bring about the catastrophe of last
evening, really believe that there is any hope of a satisfactory
result from these anticipated proposals of Austria, they cannot
be blamed for the course they have adopted. They are de-
voted, avowedly or secretly, to the cause of "peace at any
price," and they will consistently pursue their objects re-
gardless of the consequences which their limited views and
misplaced perseverance may bring upon the country. But
the people of England will object to be thus trifled with.
The attitude assumed by Lord Palmerston was happily
characterised by Mr. Disraeli.
Goaded by the taunts of Mr. Disraeli, and coerced into an
explanation by the evident reasonableness of his request,
Lord Palmerston entered on a brief defence of his recent
conduct. He appears to plume himself upon its negative
character. He, forsooth, had done nothing 1 Inquiry was
demanded. He did not think it desirable, yet would not
refuse it ! He did not wish to shrink from discussion,
but he deprecated it as injurious to the public interests ! And
now ho " leaves the matter in the hands of the house," well
aware that a discreditable compromise was being effected,
and that the only result of the conversation would be public
disappointment.

• PEACE OR WAR.
(From the Times of this day.)
It was very clear from the beginning, or rather before the
beginning, that there were many who did not know what it
was They thought it possibly an affair of long
shots, t° of prizes, t
prio war.zesof campaigns arranged in perfect security,
executed with wonderful despatch, and triumphantly con-
cluded.
..,and
For our
wohwant
it p a r,t,,a
was likely
k ne
tow he what; soa European peer
were
n i
nwnaor
had
rd names in consequence. It would now appear
eg tos behi
p permitted as. a rTeh v
ie r w
There
e
that the war party imagined we cOuld shift from peace to
•
mar, without anygo inge to onsi
the stebnucy bottom.
mwsuaacrn' such
hluunidnor.wye to
ha get into it, and were caned " Russians" and
war to peace, as often or as quickly as we pleased ;
that it was only an affair of parade or of uniform ; and that
general actions admitted of as
on Woolwich-common. The factis se unlike everything they sup-
t wordtothe long as
Emperor,
the storm posed that they think they
running
maoor our foe,
lasts,
e, o
r
fo
to be relieved of it. Like the lady in a storm at sea, they send
word to the captain, beseeehillg muchh prearrangement
o
is, however, no stopping
unless
canw,eifw
stope it by ashore or in
please,
send he ship so
the Emperor, our ally, to say that we have thought better of
it, that we are wiser than last year, and
to withdraw. This, however, is so very unlike what we have
hitherto seen in any class of Englishmen, old or young ;
it is
so unlike schoolboys, who always fight out their quarrels as
long as they can stand ; it is so unlike our artisans, who,
when they have once " struck" for better terms, hold out
till they are fairly starved into submission, that we can hardly
believe it to be the same class that cried so loud last year
and cries so small this. Then it was all defiance, all thunder,
all splutter, all abuse, like that old Goliath or Homer's rude
heroes. Now it is oil softness and civility, and we are told
we ought not to judge Russia nacharitibly. Perhaps she
means well, and we ought to put the most favourable con.
struction oiolher actions. So, after driving Coriolanus to extre-
mities, we are now to send processions of mothers and wives
in the shape of amiable plenipotentiaries to agree to any
terms he may please to allow us. Is this the sort of line for
England to take? Does it suit our national character, our
position, onr interests, our reputation, or anything about us/
We are sure it does rot.

reputation.yisiand s, to
affect
toa t
governare we,
about
few
hmoiWllaliohanys:
the sea, and to maintain a fore-
one-eighth, or one-seventh, of the whole human race,—to
we
ort
most place iu the nations of Europe ? There is an immense
toshfteassunepa
rti nve nalcilytYtlo by
arrogance, not to sar impudence, in these pretensions, unless
we carry them through with a high hand and do every-
thing worthy of tilt/it. So long as we challenge no more
than we are ready to perform we are respectable, and are
not likely to be rAhly encountered ; but if we are once
found playing at the game of brag, then all our mighty
prestige will go to t4i winds, and we shall be left with our
two little islands, ant our twenty-eight millions. We shall
then be stripped of o'er feathers, the bipes implume of na-
tions, the great impstor found out, and universally exe-
crated and despised it proportion to the terror and respect
we have hitherto ininsed. It so happens that we play the
biggest part in those ,ery quarters of the globe where people
judge by looks, and Idlow the loudest talker. Throughout
the East there is always a notion of some great man or some
great nation dominatitg over all the others, holding the posi-
tion, keeping the strotg house, and able to shut out all the
world besides. Whentwo pretenders of this sort are at war,
Orientals very naturaly believe it is a sort of cock-fight, or a
battle for the champiotship, and prepare themselves to wor-
ship the conqueror ant trample on the conquered. Not even
Money, nothing excer prowess, can give us the sort of

(Front the Daily News of this day.)
Last night Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Milner Gibson, who have
for the cant few days been collogning at all out•of•the:way

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tory these people expect. Our correspondent at Constanti-
aurbtaui lilzye owneq ume raedy
Constanti-
nople repeats what we have heard from many other quarters
of the general expectation this war has excited in all that part
of the world. We must figure as conquerers, or submit to bo
vi
.levldhetrreansispnoortsm
ti do dFI er a
nc oc ue swe .e
mWaey mp
aa y
foreign contingents, we may feed and clothe, but it will be
necessary also to keep up our army, and to conquer with it.
Were peace now to follow upon war as rashly and lightly
as war has followed upon peace—that is, were England to
conclude a peace on disgraceful terms—the British public
would soon open their eyes to the unpleasant fact that
they had lost caste in the world. Every Englishman
would begin to be ashamed of himself, and no doubt we
should have people insisting upon some summary way of
wiping out disgrace and defeat. But this is not to be done.
So no peace at present, till the objects of war have been at-
tained, unless we would lose the respect of our neighbours in
Europe, and our subjects iu Asia. But it seems ridictilous to
talk of a discreditable peace at the very time .when we are in
better condition than ever for war. Now that the whole of the
French force has sailed, and the Sardinian Contingent is on
its way, the Allies will soon have in the Crimea not less than
200,000 of the best soldiers in the world, ready to undertake
anything, and able to do it. They cannot and must not re-
turn without taking Sebastopol, unless they would show us
on how flimsy a basis a great military reputation can rest.
England cannot afford this downfall, nor can the Emperor of
the French. His throne rests on opinion. He represents his
people. He is of their election; he is their idol, their voice;
and, so long as ho prospers, their pride. Should his legions
return with nothing to show for their campaigns but an enor-
mous bill of costs and list of killed and wounded, he will have
to fight a harder battle at home than his generals have been
doing in the Crimea. So, also, will the Government of this
country, which is on its trial, and which will not escape the
fate of its predecessor, unless it can point to some material
success and to some guarantee better than Russian words.
Bat there is not even safety for a nation such as ours when
she once begins to recede, for when our tide no longer flows
it will begin to ebb. The battle we are now fighting at Sebas-
topol we shall, before long, have to fight nearer home, and
even at home, if we confess our incapacity for war. It has
ever been the boast, and even comfort, of this country, that
whereas ne other can be at war but its own territory is out-
raged, its own towns and villages destroyed, and its own
streams stained with blood, our soil is sacred. We neither
hear portace the war others-wage, and _have it ~iu our own
power to chose our battle-field. We have been rather apt to
choose it a good way from home. This requires that we keep
to the ground we have once chosen for the decision of our
quarrel. But, in point of fact, one place is much the same
as another in these days, and to be beaten in the Crimea
is the same thing as to be beaten all over the world.
There is no such thing as a mere geographical re-
putation, and a man may as well expect to enjoy a cha-
racter for probity in ono place which he does not in
another, as to have a military reputation restricted to certain
longitudes. We have to secure not only the fear of an enemy
that is distant, but the respect of an ally that is very near,
and of neighbours that are also within reach. Even now,
when we press Austria to take the side of honour and advan-
tage, she taunts us with the smallness of our own contributions
to the war, and tells us we are not in a condition to ask the
aid of others while we do so little for ourselves. This, at least,
shows the spirit we have to deal with, and it is a spirit that
will be ready enough to assume the aggressive should the oc-
casion ever occur. We have to teach not only Russia, but all
Europe and the whole world to respect us—not for our num-
bers, not for our home territory, not even for the number of
men we can bring into the field, but for our evident determi-
nation to fight out, at every hazard and cost, the cause we
have at once embraced.

THE APPOINTMENT OF GENERAL PELESSIER.
(Prone the Daily News of this day.)
The Emperor of the French has given another proof of his
being in earnest in the war against Russia. The Moniteur of
Friday contains the appointment of General Pelissier as Com-
mander-in-Chief of the French forces in the Crimea. It is
said in the same official paper that General Canrobert has re-
signed the post he held in consequence of ill-health. But as
the following paragraph annouaces him to have taken General
Pelissier's-place as commander of a division, the public are not
to believe any more of the alleged reason than they like. An
• officer who is too unwell to remain at the head of an army can
hardly be fit to continue on active service at all ; and, there-
fore, it is not unnatural to conclude that General Canrobert
has received from his imperial master a hint that he could no
longer be at the head of the French army before Sebastopol,
but that, being a brave man and a good soldier he is unwilling
to leave the seat of war so long as there is a chance of a shot
being fired. Further than this it behoves us not to examine the
cause of so important a change. With that courtesy for which
their nation is so celebrated, the French have abstained all
along from commenting upon the conduct of many English
General officers, who, although too sick to remain in the
Crimea, have been well enough for several months past to
dine out at public diallers twice and three times a week, and
to take part in every festivity- public and private—to which
they have been invited since their return to England. Sir
De Lacy Evans is an exception to this almost universal rule,
and we wish he was not the only one. Let us, therefore,
follow the example set us by our neighbours, and neither talk
too much nor inquire too minutely as to the why and the
wherefore a General officer belonging to the army of our allies
has been placed in an inferior position to that which he pre-
viously filled. Whatever may be the reason for the change,
it cannot be said of General Canrobert that he has made his
health an excuse for leaving the seat of war. In his reply
to General Canrobert, the Emperor congratulates him on his
desire to remain with the army (" Il vcius felicite du senti-
ment qui vows fait demander de rester al'armee"), and names
him not merely to the command of a simple division, but to
that of the corps d'armee which Pclissier has been at the
head of since his arrival from Algiers. The soldier-like senti-.
went of General Canrobert is precisely that. which induced
Gen'eral Evans to rise froM a sick bed in order to bo present
at Itikermau, although he declined taking the command of his
division out of Major-Gen. Pennefather's hands. Would that we
could record a few more similar instances of devotedness to
their profession on the part of English General officers since
the war began. The Emperor of the French has now given a
fresh proof of his earnestness in the prosecution of the war ;
could ho not impart a portion of his public energy to his
friend Lord Palmerston ?

Under date of St. Petersburg, April 28, Count Nes-
selrode, has issued the following circular note to Russian
diplomatists abroad :

" St. Petersburg, April 28.
" Sir,—The deliberations of the Conference of Vienna,
without being finally broken off, remain suspended, the Ple-
nipotentiaries of France and of Great Britain having declared
their instructions exhausted.

" To enable the Imperial Legations to form a correct judg-
ment of the actual state •f the negotiation, I make it a duty
to draw a sketch of the whole, to state the results obtained,
so as to point out the circumstances which, in arresting its
progress, have been an obstacle to its success.

" My despatch of the 25th of February made you ac-
quainted with the spirit in which the instructions were con-
ceived which the late Emperor Nicholas, of gloriN memory,
gave to his representatives when the Vienna Conferences were
about to be opened. Confirmed by our august master on his
advent to the throne, those directions were faithfully acted
upon by the plenipotentiaries selected by his Majesty to take
part in that important negotiation. II comprised four ques-
tions—.
" 1. Immunities of the Principalities.
" 2. Navigation of the Danube.
" 3. Revision of the treaty of 1541.
" 4. Guarantee of the religious and civil liberties of the
Christian populations subject to the domination of the Otto-
man Empire.

" Before entering into a discussion of these articles, the
Russian plenipotentiaries made a formal declaration, as in-
serted in protocol 1. It is as follows :
" Prince Gortschakoff says—" It is only by entering into
the details of each question that it can be ascertained whe-
ther we can come to an agreement or not. We have all the
same starting point ; I also hope we have the same object in
view—namely, a general peace--a peace which can only be
solid and of practical value if honourable to both par-
ties. If from any quarter whatever it should be attempted
to impose conditions upon Russia for that peace incompatible
with her honour, Russia would never consent to them, how-
ever serious might be the consequences.'
" Such was the point of departure which the Russian
plenipotentiaries, conformably to the orders of their Court,
clearly established at the very outset of the negotiation. No
member of the Conference contested the validity of that de-
claration of principle. Far from it ; they each of them
attested that it was far from the intention of their Cabinets
to make propositions hurtful to the dignity of Russia. On
the strength of those assurances the deliberations opened on
the 15th of March.

The sittings of the 17th and 18th of March were devoted
to the question of the Principalities. It was settled, honour.
ably, loyally, and disinterestedly, as the late Emperor wished
it. In his august thoughts he hid essentially at heart to
maintain the populations of Moldavia, Wallachia, and of
Servia in the peaceful enjoyment of the religious and civil
immunities which Russia had assured to them as the price
Of her blood shed for a century in the cause of her co-
religionists.
Their immunities remain intact. The protocols of Vienna
2 and 3 have served to consolidate- their maintenance, under
the collective guarantee of all the high contracting parties.
By this guarantee the privileged regime of the Principalities
enters the domain of the law of public right in Europe.
Hitherto the care of watching over the execution of the en-
gagements taken by the Porte in her quality of sovereign
Power fell upon Russia alone. Henceforth she will share
that obligation with the other guaranteeing Powers. This
community of duties will put an end to that feeling of rivalry
which the exclusive surveillance exercised by Russia gave
rise to.
" For too long a time public opinion had denounced that
state of things to the hatred of the stranger under the name
of the Russian protectorate. This is the proper place to re-
mind you that you will not find that expression used in any
of our treaties—either in that of Kainardji, or in that of
Bucharest, or in the convention of Akerman, or in the treaty
of Adrianople. There could be no question, therefore, of
erasing from our acts a protectorate which never existed. Rus-
sia, in the past, had contracted a promise to guarantee the
prosperity of the Principalities. The treaty of Adrianople
confirmed that promise. The Imperial Cabinet, has falfilleel
it again to-day, and will fulfil it in the future, when, in com-
mon accord with all the Powers, it places the immunities of the
Principalities under the formal sanction of the law of public
right in Europe.
" In this point of view the Vienna protocols deserve appre-
ciation as a permanent pledge of security added to the bases
upon which the political and national existence
haso ththeeDanu-
bian provinces reposes. The Imperial
s Cabinet I
factory conviction of having loyally accomplished that result,
ut. as
with the double object of assuring on the one hand the
i wel-
fare of those countries, and on
t and he other of p bation from
causes of misunderstanding, rivalry, perturtin
Polities in general.
in the same spirit that the Reusstsioiann—ptlhenipotenttis-
arie Isdti7ea usssdand solved the second question—that st of h
navigation of the Danube. It was the object of the sittings
of the 215t.,,and234d of March.
"By protocols and sit was agreed to apply to the navi-
gation of the Danube the principles generally established con-
cerning river communications by the acts of the Congress of
Vienna. In virtue of that legislation a mixed commission
will henceforth have the task of removing the material obsta-
cies which have impeded the navigation, and on more than,
one occasion have given rise to the complaints of commerce.
Sevin happily CRICCOMO the difficulties presented ))7

/~A~~~~! ~~~

z/,'

r PRICE SD.

ithe first two articles, the plenipotentiaries passed to the exa-
mination of the third, comprised under the denomination of
revision of the treaty of the 13th of JUly, 1841.
" The Imperial Cabinet calmly awaited the explanation of
the views the Western Towers held on this point. Hitherto
their intentions. variously commented upon either by the
press or in Parliament, had not been clearly defined in the
• preliminary meetings held at Vienna on the 28th of December
and the 7th of January. At that period the representatives
of France and England had limited themselves to a statement
that, in the eyes of their Cabinets, the revision of the treaty
of 1841 ought:to have the object of connecting in a more
complete manner the existence of the Ottoman empire to
the equilibrium of Europe, and to put an end to the
preponderance of Russia in the Black Sea. As regards
the arrangements for carrying out that object, the pleni-
potentiaries declared that they depended too much
upon the events of the war to allow the bases to be settled at
once. Public manifestations in France and England, how-
.ever, sufficiently betrayed the idea which Jurked behind those
words. It aimed at the destruction of Sebastopol. Doubt-
less, according to the calculations of the Cabinets of London
and Paris, the military operations in the Crimea, going hand-
in-hand with diplomatic deliberations, were to influence the
issue of the Vienna Conferences.

" When they opened the anticipation was not justified by
events ; and therefore the name of Sebastopol was never ut-
tered. Russia is indebted for this silence to the heroic resist-
ance of her brave generals, officers, sailors, and soldiers.
Their noble devotion has been the most victorious means of
negotiation. The Imperial Cabinet deems itself happy in
being able to say so. In its presence the combinations of our
adversaries took another shape and assumed another tone.
In the conference of the 26th of March the plenipotentiaries of
France and England advanced the idea that it was for the two
Powers possessing coast territory on the Black Sea to concert
together the means of equalising their naval forces. Abstain-
ing, however, front making a clear and precise proposal on
the subject, they left it to the Russian plenipotentiaries to
take the initiative of the measures which the Imperial Cabinet
might deem it advisable to indicate spontaneously, with a view
to establish a just equilibrium between the relative forces.
" Prince Gortschakoff and M. Titoff, without prejudging
the intentions of their Court, thought it advisable to ascer-
tain the Emperor's decision as to the new aspect given to the
third point under discussion,
" Thus, on the, 26th of March, the deliberations were ad-
journedAntil a reply could be receive 4 from filt. Petersburg.
During the interval the plenipotentiaffes of Austria afid Rns•
sia agreed that it would be advisable to pass to the examina-
tion of the fourth article, relative to the immunities of the
Christian populations in the East. _ .

" As you are aware, the national feeling of Russia attaches
so high and so serious an imptrtance to this question, that
the late Emperor had ordered his representatives to give it
the first place in the text of the treaty about to be concluded.
Doubtless all the Powers, like Russia, recognised the gran-
deur of that interest, common to the whole of Christianity,
in the unanimously.avowed object of watching over, by a
European act, the future welfare of the Christian populations
of the East, without distinction of form of worship.
" We regret to say that the plenipotentiaries of France and
England, after receiving the instructions of their Courts, re-
fused to pass on to the examination of this question as long as
the discussion on the third point was in a state of suspense.
The formalities required to state and explain that refusal oc-
cupied the seventh and eighth sitting, of the 20th of March
and 2d of April.
" The ninth sitting, that of the 9th of April, was devoted to
the verification of the full powers of M. Drouyn de l'Huys and
of Aali Pasha. The presence of the French Minister of Fo-
reign Affairs, in giving an additional degree of importance to
the labours of the Conference, seemed to strengthen the hope
entertained that they would lead to a pacific solution. That
hope diminished in the subsequent meetings, which I have
to describe.

"On the 16th of April the Russian plenipotentiaries re-
ceived the instructions they had demanded. They were based
upon a simple and truer principle ; the idea of submitting to
a revision the treaty of 1841 did not appertain to the Cabinet
of St. Petersburg. For its part, it would have been ready to
renew the engagements in virtue of which the former legisla-
tion of the Ottoman Empire, concerning the closing of the
Straits, had obtained the sanction of a European act. The
desire of modifying that state of things was evinced by the
Western Powers. It was therefore for them to take the initi-
ative in making the propositions for a revision, which, at the
very onset, they made one of the preliminary bases for the
negotiations for peace.
" The late Emperor, in authorising his representative to
take part therein, had deigned to provide him with precise
instructions, approved by his Majesty at the end of last
year. in the expectation of the opening of the Vienna Con-
ferences. For the sake of more clearness I will briefly state
the exact tenour of those instructions. They start from the
principle that the Sultan, as Sovereign of the territory
touching the two Straits of the Dardanelles, and of the
Bosphorus,. has a right to open or shut the passage. They
are not opposed to throwing open the Black Sea to foreign
flags, if the Porte itself admits the principle, In that case
they reduced the natural consequence of a perfect reci-
procity, so that the Russian vessels might be free to pass the
straits, to enter the Mediterranean in the same manner that
foreign ships-of-war might navigate the Black Sea. They,
moreover, admitted the perfect liberty of the Sultan to exer-
cise his sovereign rights to assign Turkish ports as harbours
of refuge and provisioning for foreign vessels. On these con-
ditions the late Emperor had authorised, eventually, his
Plenipotentiaries to give their assent to the abrogation of the
principle of closing the Straits.
" Faithful to the idea of his august father, the Emperor
Alexander 11, prescribed to his Plenipotentiaries to adhere
strictly to the instructions with which they were already
provided. In making that decision known to them on the
11th of April, his Majesty deigned to authorise them to con-
tinue the deliberation commenced in the sitting of the 26th
of March, and to discuss the matter thoroughly, leaving to
oar advetaaries the obligation of—taking the initiative of a
revision provoked by the Western Powers, and not by the
Russian Cabinet. On the day after they received the instruc-
tions of their Court, Prinel Gortschakoff and M. Titotf, in
the 10th sitting, that of the 17th of April, put it to the
Plenipotentiaries of France and England to explain themselves
as to the modifications their Cabinets desired to have made
in the treaty of 1811.

"Those modifications occupied the 11th and 12th sittings,
the 19th and 21st of April.

" In the first the Plenipotentiaries of the Western Powers
explained the plan concerted between their Courts. In the
second the Plenipotentiaries of Russia presented a counter-
project, based upon the instructions of the Imperial Cabinet.
" We will briefly analyse both.
"The first project read in the sitting of the 19th of April
consists of ten articles. (Here follow the ten articles, already
published in the papers presented to Parliament, Annex A to
Protocol XL) After this project was read the Russian Pleni-
potentiaries, without entering into a discussion of the articles
from 3 to 10, reserved to themselves to give a reply in the
next conference as to the mode of solution proposed.
" The rapidity of telegraphic communication" established
between Vienna and St. Petersburg enabled Prince Gort-
schakoff to bring the proposals made on the 19th of April im-
mediately to the knowledge of the Imperial Cabinet. They
differed essentially, prima facie, from the very remarkable
definition which Lord John Russell established on the 26th of
March to serve as a rule for the solution of the problem which
formed the object of the actual deliberation. Let us quote the
words of the English plenipotentiary, inserted in the text of
Protocol 6 :

" Lord John Russell recalling the declaration made at the
opening of the nogotiation by Prince Gortschakoff, that he
would consent to no condition incompatible with the honour
of Russia, maintained that in the eyes of England and of her
allies her best and only admissible conditions of peace would
bo those which, being the most in harmony with the honour
of Russia, should at the same time be sufficient for the security
of Europe and for preventing a return of complications such
as that the settlement of which is now in question.'
"After this declaration, made formally in the conference
of the 26th of March, Lord John Russell cannot be surprised
that the propositions made on the 19th of April were not
judged by the Imperial Cabinet as the best and only admis-
sible ones,' to quote the words of the English plenipotentiary.
In sooth, to limit the number of vessels in the Black Sea
while the naval forces in the Mediterranean remained without
control ; to open the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus to France
and England while closed to the Russian flag ; finally, to stipu-
late the nomination of foreign Consuls in our ports without
the Imperial Government having in its power to refuse them
the trequatur—a right enjoyed equally by France and Eng-
land in the territories submitted to their rule ;—surely these
were not conditions of a nature to assure the blessings of a
solid and durable peace to Europe ; for a transaction to be a
permanent one between States must be mutually honourable,
otherwise it is not peace, but an armistice.
" These considerations, appreciated in their exact truth,
will complete the proof that in reality the combinations
suggested by the plenipotentiaries of France and England
would have offered fewer and less sonci pledges TOT the
peace of Europe than the plan drawn up by the late
Emperor. He threw open the Black Sea freely to the flags of
all nations; thereby he put an end to the isolation of the
Ottoman empire, and to the apprehension caused in foreign
States thy the disproportion of the naval forces of the two
Powers who have territory in the Black Sea. By ceasing to
be closed it was made accessible to the surveillance and ob-
servation of all other Powers. This did away also with the
fear of the presumed danger to which the capital of the Otto-
man empire might be exposed by the vicinity of our naval
establishments. In a word, that plan, conceived by a policy
at the same time provident and disinterested, would, on the
one hand, have afforded a permanent guarantee of security to
Europe, while, on the other, the dignity of Russia would not
have suffered in the slightest degree. On her side she would
byon thebo
th openingsides oft theer
there
Dhaavredaonbetalliensedaneaqual rights
of
would have been in the adoption of this plan the merit of a,
the for
soerurs. flag
ti-
Wiens, the immutable principle of justice, which the sen
perfect reciprocity, which forms the basis of international re-
ment of honour of every nation approves and respects. "
Penetrated with this conviction, our august master
re-
iterated to his representatives the order of adhering to
execution of that plan as given in their instructions Under t
the
late Emperor.
of that order. Thus the plan presented
to the transmission
"The telegraphic communications gave incredible celerity
at Vienna on the 19th of April, examined at St. Petersburg
on the 20th, was
in the conference of the 21st.
Court, they presented.
declined by the Russian
d the orders of their
th • " Having obeyed
based upon theirin-
structions,
plenipotentiaries
in the same sitting a counter-project,open the Straits and
the a-
the free navigation of the B
llacy read--1, a memorandum
on the principle of throwing
"In support of that p an
drawn up with a view to devclope the advantages of the
Imperial Cabinet in the general com-
bination proposed by the
the series of articles destined to convert the
containing
in-
terest of the balance of power in Europe , and, 2d, an expo-
sitionsaid project into a treaty. On the demand of the Russian
plenipotentiaries these two
.documents were annexed to Pro-
tocol 12. As they attest to all friendly Powers the sincerity
and the perseverance of the efforts of the Imperial Cabinet
towards the accomplishment of the work of peace by every
mea
of fa
ns co
these d
mpatible with th
ocumene dignity of Russia, we have thought
to complete the at
fit to annex ts to the present despatch, so as
P IAI eeexee
Aanredlß,ioia
as
publicsths.ed
in
the
papers presented to
: Wei
regret to add that all the attempts of our plenipo-
teaniiaarim eesfta'iled to procure the adoption of the plan, and that
they could not overcome the obstacles to its execution. The
first obstacle was raised by the Ottoman plenipotentiary. He
declared that his instructions
prescribed the maintenance of
the principle of the closing of
the
hedPriltlitcoi
Straits; that the Sublime
Porte had ever considered that
that
Prance and England de principle
areglispaeractedntewie otfhitilsomine
exceptions
might -
dependence ; and that it wis
be stipulated. The plenipotentiaries of
Called to discuss the Russian counter-
invieOti 024_ being founded upon basis entirely contras'