The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-01 00:00:00

try when Lord Derby was head of the Administration? Be- rto the effect that we did not go to war suflici tl, :;: , ',,__N, cause he dare not. Why did he lose not a moment in doing that we did not use that language to the Em :.-of R
..
_;,14.- leer
so, when Lord Aberdeen came into office ? Simply because which the light honourable gentleman would haiE pa inte-..,..1, \k 7!"j'
he knew that Lord Aberdeen was favourable to his views, and our mouths—l believe the country would disa 'rine, of al.:/.IL-"! FT,
would lend himself to carry out the proposal of 1844, which' such resolution. (Hear, hear.) lam quite suitgeat the lsn -4: ; giitytN. ,
)
he has done, and.thus eventually conducted this country to guage which the right honourable gentleman w reee -., ' '-' /sai'"''
the present war. (Cheers.) Now, I ask what ought to have us use to the Emperor of Russia would have e tetall 1:-': f-N,,,c;;""‘r
ti.
been the conduct of the Ministry; and, in considering this unsuited to the case. If we had said to the icor o ~‘` -
question, I would remind the house that it is quite evident Russia, " You have proposed to us the partition of 41-ey,l I S
the Emperor of Russia placed all his hope on a quarrel but no such proposition will be allowed," he would have re-
between this country and France, and expressly stated, in plied that he had proposed no such thing ; he had only sug-
this secret correspondence, that the partition of the Otto- gested that there should be made some arrangement in the
man empire was to take place without the concurrence or case of the downfall of the Turkish empire. To such an an-
consent of France. Between Lord Derby's Administration swer we could not have made any statement, as it would
and France the Emperor of Russia well knew that the most have been in accordance with the proposal he had made. I
cordial understanding existed, and therefore, that while Lord therefore again submit to this house that we ask them to
Derby was in office, his (the Emperor of Russia) machinations agree to this vote on the ground, not that we have taken the
would be useless; but the moment Lord Aberdeen came in, first opportunity of making war, but that we have exhausted
the Emperor sent at once for Sir Hamilton Seymour, finding every endeavour to avoid war—(hear)—that we have come
that in the First Minister of the Crown he had got hold of the before this house with the wish to restore peace as soon as
very man who had previously and constantly agreed to the peace can be made consistently with the character and the
partition of Turkey. (Hear.) But we are told that the Em- interests of this country—that we have weighed the great
peror of Russia thought there was a change of views in the power of Russia in any contest that we may maintain with
two countries; and unhappily there was so upon the retire- her--that it has been with reluctance that we have engaged
ment of Lord Derby and the accession of Lord Aberdeen. in this contest, but that, having engaged in it, we feel our-
(Hear, and a laugh.) The policy that the Government ought selves bound to give to Turkey every assistance in our power,
to have adopted was to have distinctly told the Emperor of and that we will rely on the support of the nation in the
Russia that we would not be trifled with ; that we knew of struggle in which we are engaged. (Cheers.)
his plan, matured with great judgment and great skill; that Colonel SIBTHORP wanted to know who were to be our
we knew he counted on the differences which might allies in this war, as he had no confidence in France. He at-
arise between this country and France, as he him- tributed all the difficulty to the want of decision in the noble
self told Sir Hamilton Seymour; that there had been great Premier, and regretted that the noble lord the member for
changes, however, since the year 1844 ; that there was a Tiverton had not been at the head of the Foreign Department
great alteration of opinion with reference to Turkey; that instead of the Home-office for then he was confident the
we could not sanction his plans in connexion with that em- Emperor of Russia would no,t, have dared to go the lengths he
pire ; and that he must dismiss his favourite notions regard- had done. No sufficient explanation had been given why the
ing the same, which we could not in any way countenance or war had not been avoided ; but as we were at war, even at
submit to. (Hear,) We ought to have told him more, and his time of life, if her Majesty desired his humble services, he
clearly to have placed before him the relation which subsisted was quite prepared to aid, as far as ho could, in bringing that
between England and France, which was not merely dynes- war to a successful termination. (Hear, hear.)
tie or familiar, but based upon mutual understanding and The Address was then put from the chair and agreed to
good faith ; • and that, in a matter of this kind, the first nem con.
Power we should call to our consultation would be Lord J. RUSSELL—I have to ask your advice, sir, as to
France, in her character of our neighbour and ally. (Cheers.) the next question. I wish to move that this address be ear-
Could any one doubt for a moment that, if we had done this, rice up to her Majesty by the whole house. (Hear, hear.) our country and Europe would now be in the position that It is usual, I believe, to appoint a committee in such cases to
it was ? (Hear, hear.) No, it would not ; and I firmly, prepare the address, but I believe that course not to be ab-
truly, and conscientiously believe that this war has been solutely necessary, and if we could depart from it I would at
brought about by one man, and that man holding the respon- once move that the address be presented to her Majesty by the
sible position of the First Minister of the Crown, by whose whole house.
vacillation and [by whose policy, feeble and irresolute as it The SPEAKER—The noble lord has correctly stated the
has been, this dreadful ealamity has • been forced upon us. practice of the house. Whenever an address has been agreed
(Lud Opp ee
osition chrs.) This, sir,
will is
be opinion, and I to by the house in answer to a message from the crown, it
feel little doubt that before long it the
unanimous opinion os all England. (Cheers.) general and has been usual to appoint a committee to draw up an address
in conformity with the resolution of the house, but when an
Lord J. RUSSELL.—I do not intend to occupy much of address from the house to the Crown has been taken up by a
the time of the house in rising to reply to some of the ob- privy councillor it has not been usual to appoint a committee
servations of the right hon. gentleman who has last spoken, to draw
wwoinitdupi;stihnotugeh tsahmesad4ressaspraensented byss apprerisevyn coutny-
and with whose speech I must confess myself to be some- II
the whole house. The form of the address, however, can as
what surprised—not at the cleverness with which it is dis- well be drawn up by the whole house as by a committee, and
tingnished, or the bitterness with which it is disfigured— if the noble lord will move that the address be presented to
(hear, hear)—but at the peculiar character of the objections tnieorn3to --, eebyt
course. (Hear, hear.) by the whole house, lam not aware of any objee•
which the right ' hon. gentlemen had raised. I cannot that
J. RUSSELL—Then sir, I will now move that the
imagine upon what principle it is that the right hon. address be presented to her Majesty by the whole house.
gentleman, who for so long a time has been ac- Mr. DISRAELI—I beg to second
carried,
motion., (Hear.)
motion having been put and 'ed
customed to take so great an interest in the welfare
RUSSELL
to
of Turkey, and so much trouble to prevent that country Lord J.
The _
said—l hope the house will agree
meet on Monday at half-past two, when I led to believe
being undermined by Russian influence, should, upon an 1 shall be in a position to convey to the house the command
occasion when the house is asked whether they will render of her Majesty, that her Majesty will be graciously pleased to
an active, earnest, and effectual support to Turkey, go out receive the address of this house shortly after that hour viz.,
of his way to leave the question for the purpose of attack- about three o'clock. (Hear.) ,
at its
house
• •
rising should adjourn to
ing the Ministry. (Hear, hear.) The first part of the right The motion that the
next was agreed to, and it was ordered that the
hon. gentleman's speech chiefly referred to The Times news- Monday
house should meet at half-past two o'clock, for the purpose of
paper of last year, and the right hon. gentleman attempted taking up the address.
to show that the writers in The Times encouraged by their The Registration of Bills of Sale Bill was read a second
advocacy the policy of Russia, with which, according to the time.
right hon. gentleman, they seemed to agree. If the right
gentleman had shown that the Times newspaper agreed with
the Government in these matters, it might have been pre-
sumed that the right hon. gentleman meant to affirm that
there-was some understanding between the Government and
that paper; but, as he has stated it, he has merely made out
a case to show that the Times newspaper advocated, in his
opinion, the policy of Russia, which policy, according to his
own admission, he gives me the full credit of having opposed
(cheers and laughter) ; and upon these premises he arrives
' at the somewhat illogical conclusion that the Times and the
Government were leagued and agreed together. (Hear, hear.)
I really cannot think what the right hon. gentleman can
mean, unless it be to extend those inquiries of which we
have had some experience lately, for the pm•pose of en-
deavouring, and certainly not uniformly with success, to
ascertain from editors and managers of newspapers upon
what materials they form their opinions —(hear, hear),—and
the names of the writers who contribute to their columns.
(Cheers and laughter.) The right hon. gentleman has asserted
that my noble friend the Secretary for Foreign Affairs has
differed from me upon the question of Russian policy ; but I
can assure the right hon. gentleman that lie is mistaken iu his
supposition, inasmuch as, however different the means may
' have been by which we have arrived at our 'conclusions, such
conclusions have been precisely the same—namely, by every
fair and honourable means to repel the aggressions of the
Emperor of Russia. (Loud cheers.) The right hon. gentle-
man seems much distressed that the understanding between
the Emperor of Russia and some of her Majesty's advisers
has not been carried on in so gentlemanlike a manner as the
right honourable gentleman approved of, (Laughter.)
And he then proceeds with painful detail and very length-
ened statements—(laughter)—to speak of things which he
says existed in the Administration of 1529 between the Duke
of Wellington and Lord Aberdeen, and he proceeds to point
out differences of a similar kind which he believes to exist
among members of tho present Administration, and endea-
vours to charge on the head of that Administration faults for
which his colleagues are responsible equally with himself.
Now, all I shall say is, that the theory of the right hon. gen-
tleman certainly differs very widely from his practice.
(Laughter.) The right hon. gentleman has made a criticism
with respect to the memorandum of 1844, and with respect
to the secret correspondence which has lately been laid before
the house, and in making that criticism he has not only
taken parts of sentences, totally separating them from other
parts of the sentences, but he misstates the whole foundation
of that memorandum, and of the correspondence ; because
the proposal of the Emperor of Russia is not to this effect :
" Turkey is a weak Power ; she cannot maintain herself ; let
us ask her to give up her provinces ; I will insist on having
Bulgaria—do you insist on Egypt, and we will share those ter-
ritories between us." That was the manner of the partition of
Poland—the combined Powers insisted on making demands
on Poland that destroyed her territory and subverted her
independence ; but the proposal of the Emperor of Russia
was not of that kind ; therefore any reference on my part to
the partition of Poland would have been a gratuitous imper-
tinence, and would have been considered by the Emperor of
Russia and his Government as having no application whatever
to the proposel he had made. (Hear.) I think it is fair, at
least, to suppose that the Emperor of Russia might well ima-
gine, as many persons, not in Russia alone, but in various
countries in Europe did, that Turkey is a Power that cannot
very well maintain itself, and that the hour of its dissolution
may be near at hand. (Hear, hear.) I may suppose that the
Emperor of Russia may think that it would be very injurious
to his empire, and very injurious to his policy, if, while he is
respecting the independence and integrity of Turkey, Eng-
land and France should agree on what is to be the ultimate
fate of the Turkish territories. If he could take that suppo-
sition—a natural supposition enough—he would then arrive
easily at the conviction stated in the first sentence of the
memorandum of 1843. The right hon. gentleman says that
memorandum has for it whole object the partition of Turkey,
and shows that this is a ruling idea in the Emperor's mind.
Now, what is the first sentence of that memorandum?
" Russia and England are mutually penetrated with the
conviction that it is for their common interest that the Otto-
man Porte should maintain itself in the state of independence
and of territorial possession which at present constitute that
empire, as that political combination is the one which is most
compatible with the general interest of the maintenance of
peace."
That is the first sentence of the memorandum which I have
been obliged to read, because the right hon. gentleman has
endeavoured to convey to the house a false notion of its
contents. (Hear, hear.) Tho memorandum goes on to say
that it is desirable, lest the dissolution of Turkey should come
suddenly, that there should be an agreement on the subject,
and the Emperor proposes that England and Russia should so
far understand each other as to recognise the general measures
to be adopted. (Hear.) Now, was Lord Aberdeen satisfied
with accepting that memorandum 7 My belief is, that Lord
Aberdeen lost no time in communicating the substance of
the Emperor's communication to the Government of France,
(Hear, hear.) And, so far from being on bad terms with the
Government of France, that was the period when the term
" a cordial understanding" with France was first employed—
the entente cordiale which afterwards marked the relations
that existed between the Government of Sir R. Peel and the
Government of France. (Hear.) So far does the right heei.
gentleman wander from the facts of the case as they actually
exist. (Hear.) Then the right hon. gentleman speaks of the
correspondence that took place in a despatch from my self.
He says it was evidently my object, in not agreeing to the
proposition which was made, that I should give occupation
to the Emperor of Russia—that I should point out to him an
employment in which he should spend his time in future, and
that employment was to be the protection of the Greek sub-
jects of tho Sultan. (Hear.) Now, the right hon. gentleman
made that representation by dint of leaving out part of a see-
r tense. The sentence which I used, atter stating that the Sul-
tan should be advised to treat his Christian subjects in con-
formity with the principles of equity and. religious free-
dom, was—" The more the Turkish Government adopts the
rules of impartial law and equal administration, the less
will the Emperor of Russia find it necessary to apply that
exceptional protection which his Imperial Majesty has found
so burdensome and inconvenient." So that my object was not
that the Emperor should interfere more, but that he should
find occasion to interfere less. (Hear.) Then, the right hon.
gentleman finds great fault with the end of this sentence as
contained in these words, " though no doubt prescribed by
duty and sanctioned by treaty." Now, I supposed that every
one agreed that the treaty of Kainardji imposed certain obli-
gations on the Sultan, and, at the same time, imposed recip-
rocal obligations on the Emperor of Russia ; or why is it that
the hon. member for Aylesbury and his friends wish to get
rid of the obligations of the treaty of Kainardji? It is be-
causo by that treaty there are stipulations on the part of the
Sultan given to the Emperor of Russia by which he is to give
exceptional protection to the Greek subjects of the Sultan.
Would any one believe that it would be consistent with the
conduct of the Emperor of Russia to hear of Christian villages
being destroyed by the irregular troops of the Sultan, being,
as I have shown, authorized by the Sultan himself by treaty,
and not think himself bound to remonstrate with the Sultan
with respect to such things being allowed ? (Hear, hear.)
Therefore, I will say no more than that it was always under-
stood that by the treaty of Kainardji, in exceptional cases,
exceptional protection was given by the Emperor. (Hear,
hear.) With respect to the general observations of the right
hon. gentleman as to the policy that has been pursued, I will
only say that, whatever differences of opinion there may be
as to Turkish institutions, and the administration of law in
Turkey with respect to Russia, there is no difference of opinion
at all, and that we are determined to allow no weakness on
the part of Turkey to contribute to the aggrandisement of
Russia—(hear, hear)—and that is the essential point of this
question. (Hear, bear.) The right hon. gentleman seems to
find fault with the progress of the negotiations. Far be it
from me to blame him or any member of this house for exer-
cising the right which they have to find fault with any part
of the conduct of Government. I believe, however,
that 'this country, in general, would have blamed
us if we had at the commencement of these transac.
tions declared that there was no resource but via •
(Hear, hear.) If we had entered into war before we h. d
exhausted all the means of negotiation, I believe this count ry
would have blamed us for such conduct. (Hear, hear.) Aix-
member saying last year that I thought we ought not to make
war till we had exhausted every endeavour to maintain peace
—that the only preparation for war by which we could main-
tain the eights and immunities of the people of this country
would be to show that we had made every endeavour—pro-
tracted and long-continued as it might be—to come to a
pacific conclusion. (Hear, hear.) The Government may meet
with the criticism of the right hon. gentleman—they may
meet with the censure of the hon. member for Aylesbury ;
but they believe this, that if either the right hon. gentleman
or the hon. member for AyleslAtry will produce a, resolution

The High Treason (Ireland) Bill was read a third time and
passed.

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE.

Lord J. RUSSELL stated that on Monday he proposed to
take the Bribery Bill, and the bill for the Trial of Election
Petitions, as the first business of the day.
The house then adjourned at one o'clock.

(TOUNTRY MARKETS.

LIVERPOOL, MARCH 31.

A fair attendance at this day's market. Prices not so
good as .on Wednesday, but we were still 3d to 4d per
bushel for wheat, is 6d to 2s per barrel for flour, id per
bushel for oats, and is per load for oatmeal, dearer than
Tuesday. Indian corn is per qr. cheaper.