The Sun.
London, England, 1855-06-01 00:00:00

(From the Morning Herald of this day.)

The circular of Count Buol which we yesterday pub-
lished suggests reflections of the very gravest character
asto henl
y state
hyof
glimpsesour relations
tht w
a witheget
a view of ha
Austria. ltw is, n
truth, o
is
passing in that diplomacy by which, nevertheless, events
of the deepest moment to us all are decided. This re-
markable document supplies us with one of those
glimpses.
We now know that on the 14th of last month, pro-
posals made by the Austrian Government for the settle-
ment of the Eastern question were under consideration
by the Cabinets of London and Paris. To very many of
our reader., to most members of either House of Par-
liament, this intelligence will, we doubt not, come by
surprise. It rests, however, upon the unquestionable
authority of the Austrian Minister for Foreign Affairs ;
nay, it is by him publicly stated for the information of
Europe.
What may have been jtbe nature of the Austrian pro-
posals we are not told. We are, however, assured that
in them the Cabinet of Austria believed that they had
found "a loyal and complete fulfilment of the third
point of guarantee ;'' and we are further informed by the
same authority, that if accepted by the Western Powers
Austria would have "presented these terms to the St.
Petersburg Cabinet as an ultimatum."
The Austrian Cabinet must not for one moment ima-
gine that any one is imposed upon by a device the trans-
parent hypocrisy of which is too plain. The writer of
this letter knew perfectly well that the ultimatum would
have been accepted at St. Petersburg, for the best of au],
reasons, that its terms had been previously arranged
with that Cabinet itself. It is, unhappily, no secret
that the first confidential communication of the Austrian
Cabinet was with Russia ; and the wily Austrian Mi-
nisters, having first ascertained that the terms would be
accepted by that Government, then sent the proposals
to the Cabinets of France and England, with anipnetrimtao-
tion that, if approved of by them, Austria would, for-
sooth, insist on the acceptance of them by Russia.
This nation has now a clear right to know what these
proposals were. Count Buol has thought pro
publish to the world the fact that such proposals were
made. If they are rejected the responsibility of con-
tinuing the war is thus thrown upon France and Eng
land. The manifesto of Count Buol states that the
Austrian proposals would have fully secured the third
point—the diminution of Russian preponderance in the
Black Sea. The whole truth must now be told, and the
civilised world must be the judge whether offers have
been made which would have secured this object.
But this is not al]. Whatever be the nature of these
proposals, so mysteriously kept secret from Parliament
and the country, it is perfectly plain that the Austrian
Cabinet calculated on their acceptance. The whole lan-

Igunge of Count Buol's circular implies this. It is a
question of the deepest import to this nation to know by
whom such expectations of acquiescence in those kopo-
sals on the part of England were held out. Can it be
true that Lord John Russell was charged, not only 'with
a public mission to the Conference but with a secret
mission te. Berlin, that the communication with Russia
was negotiated in this channel, and that the Austrian
proposals were the result of this intrigue !
If this be so we may, perhaps, presume, that, like
most dealings with Russian diplomacy, it ended in a
dexterous demand on the part of Russia of a great deal
inure than ever was intended ; and that the proposal,
when it cams back from Vienna. to London, was more
favourable to Russia than its noble author meant.
But, furthermore, it is plain from this circular that
the proposal, whAtever it was, was seriously and for
some tame debated by the English Cabinet. No person
can believe that it was one which would.have been corn
patible with the honour and interests of this country.
The fact that it was taken into serious consideration
establishes that there is at this momenta Russian party
in the Cabinet ready to accept a dishonourable peace.
We need scarcely remind our readers of the language
held by Ministers in the House of Commons during the
period occupied in the consideration of this proposal.
We were not told that such proposals had been made,
for this would at once have excited the vigilance of Par-
liament; but we were told that the door of negotiation
must be kept open, and that any discussion in Parlia-
ment would, therefore, be injurious to the best interests
of the nation.
What a light, let us ask, does this revelation throw
upon the motion of Mr. Disraeli. We now understand
the ambiguity of ministerial language and the uncer-
tainty of ministerial conduct.. They proceeded from
ministerial indeci-ion. While Ministers were paltering
with disgraceful proposals from Austria, they could not,
and they dare not, hold manly, distinct, or intelligible
language in Parliament.
But even this is not all. The plot, for plot it was, has
been defeated by the communication to Parliament of
the protocols of the Vienna Conference. Of thatcommu•
nicatiort the Cabinet of Austria very" bitterly complains.
Our readers will not forgetitow long the communication
of these papers ware delayed—how it was mails without
any of the solemn formalities which usually attend such
communications, and how Ministers obstinately avoided
the proper and constitutional course of inviting Pasha
ment to the consideration of the subject.
. -If the object of the conspiracy has failed, if peace has
not been concluded upon terms which would place Eu-
rope at the mercy of Russia, we owe it, we verily believe
to the publication of these protocols. • -This was the step
which disarranged the schemes of the conspirators, and
which defeated the conspiracy, by inviting public atten-
tion to the true character of the Vienna Conference.
We wish earnestly we could say with any confidence
that the danger was past. It is, however, too patent
that there is still left a party in the Cabinet bent
upon peace with Russia upon safe and dishonourable

.
terms. We may, perhaps, look with something like hope
to the awakened energies of the House of Commons at
last ventur fl t discuss matters of, state. The circular
of Count Buol emphatically points out the duty of the
representatives' of the people to debate and discuss such
subjects, and the peril that attends its negleet.
We have not adverted to the future course of Austria,
as indicated in this manifesto. We have never concealed
our opinion that this Austrian alliance, for which we
have sacrificed so much, would fail us in the end. The
time is now come when Austria must at last choose her
part. These. pacific proposals have exhausted her last
devices to put off the hour of that choice. If our
Ministers have only held langinge worthy of the crisis
and of this country, Austria will never dare to throw her
strength into the Russian. scale.
We may presume that the first business of the re-
assembled House .of Commons will be to force from
Ministers an explicit statement of this matter. The
nation must now be fully informed of the nature of the
Austrian proposals, and we must not be left for one
moment in uncertainty as to their fate.