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

WAS_ to be-fond-In that eenvt ,n of two
members of the Roman Triumvirate, and in which Skaks-
pere put these words into the mouth of Antony when
speaking of Lepidus to Octavius. Octavius says
Ho is a tried and valiant soldier.
To which Antony replies :
So is my horse, Octavius ; and for that
I do appoint him store of provender—
It is a creature that I teach to fight,
To wind, to stop, to run directly on ;
His corporal motion governed by my spirit.
And in some taste is Lepidus but so ;
He must be taught, and trained, and bid go fbrth;
A barren-spirited fellow ; one that feeds
On objects, arts, and imitations,
Which, out of use, and staled by other men,
Begin his fashion. Do not talk of him
But as a property.
(Laughter.) Since that celebrated conversatiati of that
triumvirate, and which occurred when they were dividing
the world between them, ho found no parallel to this
Imperial Anthony, thus unbosoming himself to Sir Octavius
Hamilton. (Great laughter.) The moment the first Ena-
sian soldier crossed the Pruth, there was no alternative
between absolute concession to Russia or war; and the
Government ought to have acted accordingly. .Ere (Lord
Derby) confessed it was not without considerable uneasi-
ness that he found this country embarked in this formi-
dable war. He gave every credit to the Government,
for their confidence in the good understanding that now
happily existed with France. (Loud cheers.) He ad-
mitted that when it was -thought, and wisely thought
necessary, to increase our naval and military forces, and
to make preparations for the defence of the country, there
might have been a doubt not of the intentions of the man
who had rescued France from a state of anarchy, but
owing to the unsettled and tumultuous state of
France the almost impossibility of its being in the
power of any mind, however able, to re-unite tend calm
down all parties, and extinguish in the minds of
Frenchmen that which was their strongest pas-
sion, a thirst for military glory and military power, there
might have been a doubt with regard to our relations with
France. He (Lord Derby) looked with anxiety at Ihe war
on which we were now entering. Not that he doubted the
readiness of his countrymen to endure the sacrifices which
they would be called on to make, or that, with out any
blind enthusiasm, he did not share in the feeling that the
cause for which we were entering on war was just; but
because he felt that this must be a lengthened struggle,
even though it should eventually be crowned with success,
and because he believed that our financial arrangements
were not such as to place the country in an advantageous
position. He could not forget that last year, after war
was known to be imminent, that in spite of repeated
warnings, a scheme of finance had been ventured on, and
which was applauded by the noble earl at the head of the
Government, and held IT as an example worthy• to be
followed by all future Chencellone_ef_ the_ Beeimecinee.
lt waa not xvitleatit considerable uneasiness, then, that he
' now found We' Country embarked in this war ; not I that he
doubted the willingness of the people to bear the sacrifices
that world be required from them, but because he ( lid not
consider our financial position so favourable as might be
desired. Revenue had been voluntarily sacrificed, the Ex-
chequer balances were gone, and the income tax had been
doubled. Under these circumstances he feared it would
be found impracticable to pay the current expenses of the
war without changing our present system of currency. He
was glad to hear that no claim would be made to a protec-
torate over Turkey ; but it was not unreasonable that
when we were on the verge and threshold of war, it should
be known to what we had pledged ourselves, and for the
maintenance of what it was that we were about to shed
some of the best blood, and expend a large amount of
the treasure of the country; nor was it unreasonable
that we should ask what objects were to be accomplished
before the war could be brought to an honourable conclu-
sion. He joined cordially with the Government in the
terms, language, and spirit of the address, and he felt with
the noble earl that we might look with more hope, endless
in that spirit of blasphemy which characterised the lan-
guage of the Emperor of Russia, in a humble confidence of
having done all in our power to avert the horrors of war,
iawnhgiltefhapiltiredeotemeinootioeiveueo f Russia,rseeonfdaeagvaon s in consequence of the
itbihnuejt hviuws taaifi
dianoodnl:eahvitnhgutenwteirth theedon
intention of securing the weak and the oppressed against
future aggression, we might, he said, look with humble
confidence and hope for the protection of that Great Power
which holds in its hands the destinies of kings and na-
tions, and as the arms of England bad never been employed
in a more honourable cause, so ho trusted that the war
would come to such a conclusion as to prove that none of
her triumphs were ever more decided or more glorio as.
The Earl of ABERDEEN—Your lordships have now
had an opportunity of judging of the nature of that sup-
port which the noble earl, in a fit of patriotism, thinks
proper on this occasion, and on this occasion only, to afford
to her Majesty's government. (Hear, hear.) But-, my
lords, I presume we must be grateful for what we have
received, though I trust the support we shall obtain from
Parliament generally and the country will be of a more
cordial character. (Hear, hear.) The noble earl has de-
voted a large portion of his speech to what may be called
a personal attack on myself and the transactions in -which
I have been engaged. Before, however, I proceed to take
notice of that, I will freely admit to the noble earl that
I am one of those who, he said, had hoped against
hope, and that down to the very last moment I did
not altogether abandon the hope that that greatest of
all blessings which a nation can enjoy—peace—might be
preserved to us. (Cheers.) And, my lords, I. think if it
were necessary I could give very good reasons for the hope
which I entertained, but the subject has been so much dis-
cussed, and this topic has been so much exhausted, that I
feel I should only weary your lordships.were I to explain
to you those motives which iuduced me to entertain the
belief that war would yet be avoided, especially seeing
that there is the less necessity for me to do so, inasmuch
as those expectations have been proved iu the result to be
fallacious. (Hear.) The noble earl, in the first place, I
think, stated that he was persuaded that the war in which
we are now engaging—which he admitted the justice of,
much as it was to be lamented—that that war would not
have taken place, if I had not had the misfortune to be
at the head of the Government ; and, my lords, the noble
earl, in proof of that assertion, referred to a speech made
by the Emperor of Russia to the British Minister at St.
Petersburg, in which his Majesty was pleased to express
an opinion favourable to myself personally, and alluded
to the long acquaintance which he was pleased to recol-
lect he had had with me. (Hear, hoar.) Now, my lords,
I cannot of course but feel highly flattered by the good
opinion entertained of me by any sovereign who is in
alliance with our own Queen—and that was the condition in
which the Emperor of Russia stood at that time. And
while I see nothing to be ashamed of in the good opinion
expressed on behalf of so humble an individual as myself by
any sovereign in alliance with her Majesty, I may at the
same time congratulate the noble earl that he too has not
been altogether without the compliments of foreign powers
for, if I recollect rightly, the instant almost that ho suc-
ceeded to the head of affairs in this country, it so happened
that the Austrian Government wrote to congratulate him and
his government on their accession to office, and the noble earl,
who was then Secretary of State replied, in a despatch full of
gratitude for the honour. And from whom was this congratu-
lation ? From the only minister whom I ever recollect in
Austria as the most bitter enemy of the English nation—.
trince Schwartzenberg—who, beyond any other person I
believe in the Austrian dominion, was entitled to that dis-
tinction. Now, my lords, I have received no congratula-
tions frosm Austria, though I have been long engaged in
negotiations with that Government, and though I have
been branded in this house, I believe, and in the country, as
a pupil of the detested Metternich—(" Hear, hear," and a
laugh) —still no congratulations reached mo from that quar-
ter; and I am ashamed almost to say that when I received
the congratulations of his Imperial Majesty through Sir
Hamilton Seymour-1 am ashamed to say they were received
without any notice ou my part, and without any expres-
sion of that profound sense of gratitude which, under similar
circumstances, influenced the noble earl. (Cheers, and laugh-
ter.) The noble earl then repeated its history, and said he
regarded it with satisfaction, because it wished nothing to be
done with regard to Turkey without the consent of the other
-Powers. Always supposing that the Emperor's apprehen-
sions were well founded as to the speedy dissolution of the
Turkish empire, and that he was sincere in the views ho ez-
pressed. I think the memorandum was modest and gracious.
(Cheers.) Some parts of it in particular contained views
which it must be admitted were honourable and wise, and
such as, should the necessity arise, it would be well to act on.
For instance, all that !part relating to interference with the
Christian subjects of the Porte, and in fact as regards the
whole, I see nothing in it to object to, and I am perfectly
ready to subscribe to the contents of this paper at this day.
It is a very common notion, I believe (and the noble earl has
given currency to it), that this is a deep-laid scheme of the
Emperor of Russia's, and that the apprehended dissolution of
the Turkish empire was a mere pretext of his, put forward as
a means to engage us in the partitioning of Turkey which,
under that pretext, it was proposed to bring out. I think my.
noble friend behind me has said that this apprehension of the
dissolution of the Turkish empire is no novel idea. True it is
of no recent date. It did not even originate in the year 1844,
nor was it confined to the Emperor of Russia. In the year 18e'9
the Emperor entertained that apprehension, and I may add that
I entertained it so far back myself. With regard to many
of the noble earl's observations upon this memorandum,
and upon the understanding, as he seems to think it, existing
between some members of the Government and the Emperor
of Russia, I think I have had the benefit of reading them be-
fore. Nay, I should not be very much surprised if at this
moment they were being read in another place. I allude to
what has appeared in a publication which is supposed to enjoy
a position of great authority with the noble earl's friends, and
which at all events is so remarkable for its malignity and mis-
representation, that it is not perhaps very difficult to guess at
the origin of the article to which I am about to refer. (Hear,
hear, and a laugh.) I will just make one ortwo observations
as to the contents of the last number of the Press—what is
there stated, with respect to this memorandum, which is the
grand clteral de battaille of the noble lord, but which appears
to me to be altogether a mare's nest. (Cheers, laughter, and
" Oh, oh.") The article commences with a falsehood, which
is of course to be expected. (" Hear, hear," and " Oh.") It
says—" In the year 1844 the Emperor of Russia visited out
country. An estrangement having then taken place between
England and France, Majesty demed the season appropri-
ate for the advancement of a long-cherished project, and he
seized the opportunity of personally accOmplishiug it, with the
co-operation of an English minister, between whom and the_
Court of St. Petersburg there had existed for 30 years relations of
extreme confidence. That minister was Lord Aberdecn,then Sec-
retary of State in the government of Sir R. Peel." Now the false-
hood I refer to is that there was the slightest misunderstand-
ing or estrangement at that time between England and France.
I think I know, however, what is here alluded to—to the ce-
lebrated Tahiti aflair, which occurred in 1841. Your lordshi
will recollect that a difference arose during that year aboutas
gcorielatilyn transactionsexgaratad tihwatthteoopkreapslacofe
France, but still was sufficiently serious in its character.
fortunately, however, for the accuracy of this writer thvhce
baotthTathhiisti,cowuhniteihy
uwannd.
Em-
peror of Russia came here in the first week of June,. whereas
our first intelligence of the Tahiti affair was not received
un-
till the first week of August. The estrangement, therefore,
of Russia to make this communication. (Hear.) That with France could not possibly have instigated the Emperoratthis
memorandum is said to have been drawn up by Count Nessel•
rode and transmitted to Baron Brunow, from St. Petersburg.
accompanied by a private letter from the Emperor t
were Lora
Aberdeen, in which be
found in the document - but that, if
it might ciefnleyteidna,
pre-
served as " the key of the relations between Russia and
approved, the memorandum should be accepted and
inaccuracy
England." Now, my lords, I can only say I know of no
such letter, and I think my imperial and royal correspond-
ence pond-
ce ,
hear,
vleryhadexterenesoiivree,d, bauetehthaa
ocnollecistednoitt
hear)—but I. have not the slightest recollection
•of any:
tlettlier m(ilsiteahra,
thing of the sort. This article, my lords, goes on to say :
—" The Emperor succeeded in his first object. By the advice'
_
of Lord Aberdeen he addressed himself to Sir Robert peo 1
and the Duke of Wellington. His grace was, always favour*