The Sun.
London, England, 1853-08-17 00:00:00

diplomatic victory—if we induced the Russians to leave
the principalities. I mile\ doubt the victory. Russia has
gained without firing a shot what would have been yell
worth purchasing by a bloody and expensive campaign.
the East
(Hear, hear.) She has established her po
hhaserexto.
—she has humiliated Turkey—she has compwer ernsh
ee d
submit to an invasion without resistance—she
has
hausted her resources—and, what is
eme
Hear n humi-
liatedsub-
this country and France in
tbycierse,of"hear.)
jects and of the populations of Turkey. t
opposed the demands
)
at have we done for Turkey, who
support—demands which
of Russia with our sanction and sa
unjust .
we admitted to be outrageous
humiliation
to a
and to all then(Hear, hear.)
We have subjected her
expenses of a
and we are now urging her to
accept the very war .
demands
which we advised herin the first instance to reject. (Hear, hear.) And
how had those demands been now urged upon her, and
what does their acceptance involve ? Why, we have just
learnt
from the noble lord that the draught of the proposal
to be agreed to by the representatives of the four powers at
Vienna was first communicated to St. Petersburg, and was,
of course, eagerly accepted—the acceptance being- sent back
without delay, and before the proposal could have even
reached the Porte. The consequence is that, if the Porte
declines to adhere to this proposal, Russia will call upon us
to support her in compelling the Turkish Government, who
has the real voice in the matter, and can alone judge how
far the proposal affects her rights and independence, to
accept that which we have sanctioned and recommended.
(Hear, hear.) In fact, Russia has turned the tables com-
pletely upon us, and has made us her allies against Tur-
key, instead of being supporters of Turkey in resisting the
unjust and unrighteous demand. (Hear, hear.) If Turkey
accepts the proposal under this terrible pressure—for it is
a terrible pressure, Russia now being united with four great
powers of Europe against the Porte—we have directly
sanctioned the pretensions of Russia to protect and inter-
fere on behalf of the 12,000,000 of the Christian subjects of
the Porte, a privilege which she might always have claimed,
and, to a certain extent, exercised, but in which we have
never acquiesced. (Hear, hear.) Why, this is monstrous !
(Hear, hear.) Let this case be reversed. If Turkey had
been in the place of Russia, what should we have done ?
Why we should have compelled her to evacuate the princi-
palities at once, to have paid the whole expenses caused to
Russia by an unwarrantable act—(hear, hear)—and to have
sent an ample apology. (Hoar.) Nothing less now will
satisfy the ends of justice. (Cheers.) If we do not deal
with this outrageous case after this fashion, we show to the
world that we have one measure for the weak and another
for the strong, and we forfeit our character and prestige
in the East, rendering the position of our ambassador
at Constantinople utterly untenable. When once this great
as
country has lent itself to a palpable act of injustice,
• •
she has unfortunately done in this instance, she must
Look at the
descend in the scale of nations. (Cheers.)
second the place of a sec
question as we may, we have
power to Rus-
rate power, and conceded that of a first-rate the
sia alone. (Hear, hear.) It is said that question is
asettled. (Hear, hear.) I contend that
withi is
France,onlyques-
tionsup-
deferred. (Hear, hear.)
e
Alliedwhele of Europe,
ported by the public opinion of
th
en-
gaged in a just and righteous
cause, we have lost an oppor
tnnity which may perhaps never
occur again, of settling
on a proper basis this great Eastern question, and those
vast conflicting interests that yearly threaten the peace of
the East, and of assigning to Russia that place to which as
a great power she is entitled, and which I should be the
last person to refuse
her, but beyond which the safety of
Europe and the interests of civilisation forbid that she
sh
should go. (Cheers.) Better would it have been to have
induced Turkey at once to have accepted Prince Menschi-
koff's proposal, than to have abetted her in a resistance
which has only ended in her humiliation, and which has
inflicted a blow upon her which must accelerate her ruin,
and render utterly hopeless any attempt to preserve her as
an independent power. (Hear, hear.) Bat it is not only
in. Turkey and in the East in general that the effects of
this fatal policy will be felt. Sweden, Denmark, Germany,
and every weak state in Europe, which depends for sup-
port—aye, for its very existence—upon the high character
of England, and our known respect for treaties, will look
upon further opposition to Russia as hopeless. (Hear,
hear.) The day will probably come when we shall see the
error we have committed, and repent a policy against
which, as a humble member of this house, I can only record
my solema protest. (Cheers.)
Sir J. PAKINGTON could not help feeling that they
had some reason to complain of the extreme shortness of
the notice which the noble lord had given of his intention
• to bring this subject under the notice of the house. Consi-
' dering the brief interval that yet remained before the pro-
rogation, they might fairly have expected that on Friday
last, or at least on Saturday, the noble lord would have
made known his intention to make to the house the state-
ment they had just heard. He was quite sure that, after the
repeated postponements of the subject made at the pressing
request of the noble lord, the noble lord must feel that
his right hon. friend the member for Buckinghamshire
would have desired to hear any statement which the noble
lord might have to make, and share in any discussion
which might take place. His right hon. friend only loft
London yesterday morning, and doubtless would be as
much surprised as he (Sir J. Pakington) confessed he was
surprised yesterday, when he learned that it was the in-
tention of the noble lord to make to the house to-day the
statement they had just heard. Having listened to that
statement, and the tone in which it was made by the noble
lord, he certainly now felt that it would be inexpedient
either to attempt to express any opinion upon the policy
which her Majesty's Government had adopted upon this
question, or to follow the noble lord upon the various topics
to which he bad adverted, and to touch upon those details
on which the hon. gentleman who had just sat down dwelt
in the course of his speech. But he could not refrain from
stating the very deep regret he felt that before Parliament
separated it had not been in the power of the noble lord to
make a statement more satisfactory to Parliament and the
country than, he was sorry to say, ho thought the state-
ment just now made must be regarded. (Cries of hear,
hear.) in one respect he heard what fell from the noble
lord with great pleasure. He was very glad to hear the
noble lord confirm what had been stated in the other house
by his colleague—namely, that her Majesty's Government,
were determined to regard the evacuation of the Princi-
palities as a sine qua non in the agreement ; but he cer-
tainly, on the other hand, felt very great regret at not
hearing from the noble lord a solution of that question, on
which an unusual amount of public anxiety was felt, namely,
whether the note which had been agreed upon by the Four
Powers involved the evacuation of the Principalities ? He
should be very sorry to misunderstand what fell from the '
noble lord on this subject, but his impression was that his
lordship had distinctly stated that the note agreed upon by
the Four Powers did not call for the evacuation of the Da-
nubian Principalities, but that that important question still
remained in as unsettled and as uncertain a state as hereto-
fore. In that case he was afraid that the country must
still regard the whole question as being in a very uncertain
and unsettled state. The house had, however, had the
satisfaction of hearing that her Majesty's Government con-
sidered the evacuation of those principalities as indispen-
sably necessary to a state of peace. He had no doubt that
in this determination her Majesty's Government would be
supported, not only by the opinion of that house, but by
the almost unanimous opinion of the people of this country,
which he believed were quite as united as they had ever
been of late years on any public question with respect to
the necessity of making that evacuation an indispensable
condition of peace, and of preserving unimpaired the in-
tegrity of the Turkish empire. The noble lord had very
justly and properly said a good deal on the importance of
preserving to this country those blessings of peace which
she had so long enjoyed. The noble 'earl at the head of the
Government had also said a good deal—perhaps, as was
remarked by the hon. gentleman who had just resumed his
seat, too much—upon the same point. Nor did he doubt
that all parties, both in that house and in the country
generally, were deeply desirous that the blessings of peace
should be preserved to the country. But, on the other
hand, he believed with equal confidence that most—he
trusted, indeed, all—parties in that house, and he believed
all parties in this country, desired that peace should not be
preserved longer than was consistent with a due regard to
the interests and honour of this country, and to that
balance of power which had been so long established in
Europe. (Hear, hear.) He did not think he should be
justified in going further into this subject in the absence
of those papers which ho was sorry that the noble lord still
considered it to be inconsistent with his public duty to lay
on the table. No doubt her Majesty's Government were the
bestjudges of the proper time for their production ; but until
that time it was impossible to form a conclusive judgment
upon the policy which Ministers had pursued. Neither he nor
the house could at present judge how far they were justified
in not considering the invasion of the principalities a casus
belli, or whether the blessings of peace might not have been
better secured and more surely attained had the Government
followed a more vigorous and decided policy at an earlier
period of the negotiations. This question had been now
pending and unsettled for six months ; during that time,
not only had the interests and the welfare of Turkey, but
also those of this country, suffered from this long sus-
pense ; and it would be for her Majesty's Government
hereafter to show that they were not responsible for the
suspense that had existed, and for the injury which it had
°J.ctt,!sioned. He deeply regretted that the announcement
(Sir
J. the noble lord had not been more satisfactory than he
,but he must
reserve for one must consider 't •
reserve his judgment
hadsk upon the policy which the Govern-
menten—and he said this without the slightest desire to make
if it eould b this question a subject of party difference,
papers
whiot
Neveavoided—until the production of those
tiations which hir:lraluisite to throw light upon the nego-
Lord D. STUART said
carried on. (Hear.)
the right hon. baronet id that he did not often agree with
on this occasion he coincided
hon. gentlemen opposite ; but
had fallen from the right idheodnwith almost everything that
Pakington). thought
II,: member for Droitwich (Sir
her Majesty's Government hasdr had a eight to complain that
be discussed on a previous occasionot allowed this subject to
taken by the noble lord the member for as tho course
stence was quite different from that oz_L. ondon in this fil-
ial-eh h
sued by other British Ministers when importantad been pur-
sued
foreign policy had arisen. On all such questions
had been frequent, and indeed often animated,easi"B there li
in that house. In addition to the case referred ns
hon. member for Aylesbury (Mr. Layard), the host° by the
recollect the debates on the questions of Syria and of the
Spanish marriages, and he might also rect..' to their /nth,-
mory the discussions which took place in 1823, on the
attempt of the Holy Alliance to interfere in the affairs
of Spain. On that occasion no British Minister ventured
to tell the House of Commons that there should be no
discussion
because negotiations were in progress ; on the
invited a free
expression
contrary, the then leader of the house
of opinion, and it was the occasion of some of
the noblest and most fervent displays of eloquence that
ever took place in that
and house.
right He could not help thinking
that it was both thethe duty of that house to
have declared whether they considered the invasion of the
principalities by Russia right or wrong. He
Danubian '
had heard the Foreig,u Secretary, the Minister especially
, declare in the other house that
responsible in this
if a debate
he had no objection to a discussion, and that
were waived it was not in consequence of the wish es of the
Government but in deference to the advice of other parties.
If, then, the Government did not consider it improper to
have a discussion in the other house, why did they object
to it in that hoaae ? (Hear, hear, hear.) Although the
noble lord's explanation was not a very full one, since it
did not tell them a single thing but what they knew before,
still he was afraid that, from its omissions, he must come
to the conclusion that the noble lord haddoing things
Lean 0
of which ho was
All previous ashamed.
laughter.)
All hear, and
assurances Governmentsto the
of this country had given con-
tinualtiens from the the Porte and to Europe, by declara
Par-
liament, and by the Throne,preambles by
speeches in both houses of Par-
the preservation of tillaniables of treaties that they regarded
ono of the most pressing objects
of the Turkish empire as
now, when the integrit; aemie.cts of their solicitude. But
threatened, the Government .in(clependence of Turkey were
the effect of which seemed
tahla,eletntered into negotiations,
to get all that she wanted, notw'lttt Russia was virtually
last T
committed an act of war ags' _standing- that she had
urk.
y, and had been