The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-13 00:00:00

TILE SUN, LONDO

the First Lord of the Admiralty rose and admitted the mis-
fortune, and said we all learn from experience. The mas-
sacre of Sinope took place in order that we might obtain the
liattee of the German Powers. Have the German Powers
become your allies ? Ido not yet see that there is a secret
article in favour of Prussia, but Austria has entered into a
treaty from which we are to anticipate important advantages
to the common cause. With regard to that treaty, the noble
lord may perhaps tells us that it is not yet ratified, but that
when ratified it will be laid on the table. I can hardly be-
lieve, however, that a man of the great abilities and lofty
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the House of Commons great sacrifices for his Sovereign, that
he should say what is the simultaneous assistance we are to
derive from those allies. (Hear, hear.) If this assistance is
to be clogged with some cumbrous machinery, the interven-
tion, perhaps, of what are called the " Four points," then, I
'say, it will be the greatest hallucination ever heard of to
imag'ne that Austria is going to supply any of its means. The
present coalition Government was formed on four points (a
laugh)-Ist, the preservation of peace ; 2d, the extension of
free trade; 3d, Parliamentary reform; and 4th, national
education ; but if these Austrian points are not easier of ac-
complishment than those which the noble lord premised us,
and for which some gentlemen sacrificed their principles and
some only their party (laughter), but for which the noble
lord sacrificed both, I for one shall certainly feel that
we are not in a position to receive much encouragement
from these promises of the Austrian Government. (Hear,
hear.) If the Government will not be frank on this subject
to the house, it will, I venture to say, be wise in them
to be frank to the people of this country. The spirit at
least of that Austrian alliance ought to be communicated to
the House of Commons. The country ought to know if Aus-
tria is to act, or merely to watch the game and profit by it in
the end ? Is it an offensive and defensive alliance ? Will she
send troops ? Is she to be an ally that will ratify her alli-
ance in blood, like the French ? (Hear, hear.) If we do not
hear that to-night, then this meeting of Parliament, and this
communication from her Majesty, will not have the effect
which I earnestly desire. I say, for me no Austrian assist-
ance— no four points, no secret article ; but let France and
England together solve this great question, and establish and
secure the civilisation of Europe. (Cheers.)
Lord J. RUSSELL said, the right hon. gentleman the
member for Droitwich, in a speech of remarkable ability
and of great fairness, asked an explanation from the servants
of tfie Crown with respect to several circumstances on which
he felt some doubt, and with respect to several objections
which he entertained to the policy of the Government ; and
he ended by saying that, though he entertained those objec-
tions, they did not appear to amount to such a charge against
her Majesty's Ministers as to induce him to take part in any
effort to cause a change of Ministry. Bnt the right hon. gen-
tleman (Mr. Disraeli) had spoken in totally different spirit,
and had attempted by every means, while, like his right hon.
friend, he did not propose to displace! the tinistry, to weaken
the confidence of the country in their efforts, and to weaken
the alliance between this country and France—(hear, hear)—
while he had thrown out every objection his fertile mind could
create to an alliance into which we bad recently catered, and,
in short, had done everything to dash the hopes which the
country entertained of a glorious termination to the war.
(Hear, hear.) The right hon. gentlemen began with a most
curious prologue of a very peculiar and unnecessary kind—
namely, a protest in favour of liberty of speech in that house,
and of his determination to resist any attempt made by the
Ministry to suppress freedom of speech. (A. laugh.) He
(Lord J. Russell) had been accused in a print of the day of
never speaking without an encomium on Magna Charta—(a
laugh)—but an encomium on Magna Charta at that late hour
would hardly be more out of place than a vindication of free-
dom of speech in that house. (Laughter.) The right hon.
gentleman said the Government had never conceived the true
magnitude of this enterprise; but he found, en referring to
the debates of last session, that he had most distinctly re-
cognised the great importance and magnitude of this contest.
(Hear.) After the able speech of his right hon. friend (Mr.
Herbert) he wend not enter upon details, but there were one
or two points to which he would briefly advert. The army
sent to the East by request of Omer Pasha took up a position
in Varna and neighbourhood, by which it was supposed
an effort might be made to raise the siege of Silistria.
The means of transport were collected, and, if the siege of
Silistria had not been raised, those means would have been
found sufficient, although at that period of the year the
undertaking was by no means an easy one. It was most un-
reasonable to expect to find in an enemy's country all the
means of transport that required. Was Lord Raglan to
send word to Eupatoria the night before he landed that the
means of transport were to be provided for him ? In con-
sidering the question of the expedition to the Crimea the
Government had to consider the alternatives. England and
France had sent an army into Turkey. If that army had been
taken back to Coastantinople for the winter it would have
been a great disappointment to the people of this country as
well as to the army itseif. If the Allied army had been '
ordered to advance across the Danube, and to attack the
Russians, they would have had to encounter the immense
armies of the Czar, and, as there were no great fortresses
in their way, a victory in the field would not have brought
the Allies nearer to the place for which the war was under-
taken. There, then, only remained the expedition to the
Crimea, in the success of which he, in common with many
high military authorities, both English and French, had felt
the utmost confidence. He believed that there was great
risk to he run, but that there was also a great object to be
obtained, and that if Sebastopol, that stronghold of Russian
power, were destroyed, its fall would go far to give to Turkey
that security which was the object of any peace. He denied
that he had given notice to Russia that such an expedition
was to be undertaken, or that he had given an intimation
that an attempt would be made to conquer the Crimea. He
still thought that Sebastopol ought not to be left in the same
position of menace. The admirals commanding both in
the Black Sea and the Baltic had been very unfairly at-
tacked, but if unskilful assault had been made on Cron-
stadt, and three or four line-of-battle ships had been lost,
a most injurious panic would have been created in this coun-
try. The question was, whether an expedition should be
sent to Sebastopol this year, before any additional fortifica-
tions could be constructed for its defence, or whether it
should be sent in some future year, when our own army
might be stronger, but whefi not only Sebastopol, but the in-
trenchments of every lauding-place in the Crimea, would have
been strengthened. The position of Austria with regard to
this country had been adverted to. He had never been satisfied
that Austria had pursued that course which her duty to Europe
ought to have induced her to take. But a cautious Power
like Austria was not likely to forget that her danger from
a war with Russia was greater than that of England or
France, neither of which powers had any reason to
apprehend an invasion of its own territory. The Em-
peror of Russia had kept up an immense army upon a
peace establishment, and after one or two victories
upen the frontier th 3 road to Vienna would be open to him.
It was not until Austria bad increased her military force
and made other necessary military preparations that she
took the first step in concert with the Allies. Austria had
now advanced a step further than she had gone before, but
she had not even yet gone the length of saying that 'if before
the end of the year peace were not made with Russia she
would be a belligerent. She had only gone this length—that
if she should be at war with Russia, a treaty offensive and
defensive should, ipso facto, exist between Austria, England,
and France. She had likewise agreed that before the end of
the year she would take into further consideration what
steps she would be prepared to take with respect to terms of
peace with Russia. Now, he understood the meaning of
that article—certainly not containing anything very precise
in itself—(a laugh)—to be, that if England and France pro-
pose conditions of peace, which should be in conformity
with the four bases, and which seem to Austria to come
fairly within the terms of these bases, and that Russia
should refuse to assent to them in a treaty of peace,
then Austria would no longer hesitate, but be part of
the alliance defensive and offensive. He did not wish to
overstate the engagement in any way, and he quite agreed
that Austria might still, at the last moment, say, " that
those terms of yours, those four bases explained in a way I
did not expect, would reduce Russia too much, and diminish
too greatly her weight in Europe, and she can never be ex-
pected to agree to them." Such might be the language of
Austria, without any breach of faith, and she would then be
released from the alliance, hut his belief and expectation
were that she did concur in those bases which were neces-
sary for the security of Turkey ; and if Russia did not con-
, sent to a treaty of peace founded on those bases, then in the
next campaign the forces of Austria would be joined with
those of England and of France. It might be said we ought
to have gone further and got better terms from Austria, bind-
ing her to join with us at once. It was easy to say that
these were not the terms that ought to have been accepted ;
but the question was, whether it was not worth our while to
form such a treaty with Austria rather than leave Austria
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Principalities, and accepting from the Sultan a general
declaration in favour of the Christians, the natural influence
of Russia would be greatly diminished; and without some
such terms as these, ne peace could be advantageously
concluded. He bad regretted to hear the hon. member for
Aylesbury call the battle of Inkerman a fatal battle.
His belief was, that though our losses were heavy, that
victory would not be thrown away ; nay, such victories were
as likely as anything to bring about a conclusion of the
war. Deeds such as these, though not followed by the rout
of an enemy or the capture of territory, were • fruitful of
consequences. They maintained the character of our soldiers
who had achieved them, and they taught other nations to
dread our enmity and to cultivate our alliance. It was with
these feelings that on Friday next he should move a vote of
thanks to our gallant army, and he should also on the same
occasion move a vote of thanks to the brave French army,
who at Alma and at Inkerman had fought so nobly by the
side of our soldiers. (Hear.) In alliance with that great na-
and th(eHhearen,sehear.)
adjourned
Th
na-
tion we could not fail to bring this war to a successful termi-
nation, and to such a termination he had every hope and be-
lief thate Address was then agreed itwould ultimately
be
brought.t
at 20 minutes past 2 o'clock.
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