The Sun.
London, England, 1854-06-27 00:00:00

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have-Varied with different inilivlduals, `but tlliatANe' main
priaciples of the police, had not in themselves varied. Now
he differed entirely from that statement, and he believed that
forthe last-30 yeari;tontending principles had been in agita-
tion over all thncontinent of Enrope, and that the different
Governments and Ministers who administered the affairs
of this country had varied the policy according as they
favoured one or other of these principles. He must say
further, that in 1828, when the noble earl first became
Foreign Secretary, and in 1828, to which they were so fre-
quently told to refer, the nobleearl was the most constant,
the most zealous, the most powerfal (in this country) ad-
vocate and supporter of the arbitrary governments of
Europe. (Oh, oh.) He was at all times the advocate
more or less of the Emperor of Russia, and he was opposed
on every occasion to the introduction of constitutional
government. (" No, no," from Lord Aberdeen.) No !
He was ready to cite instances. But let him now go back
to the treaty, of Adrianople. The noble earl had told
them to-night, as he had told them before, that he looked
upon that treaty with extreme horror, and that under the
influence of that feeling he wrote the despatch. But he
wished the noble earl would tell them, not of the despatch
which he wrote in December, after the treaty had been
signed in March—what he wanted to know was, the in-
struction he had given to our Minister at St. Petersburg
the year before. (Hear, hear.) He would like to see the
steps which the noble earl took to prevent the aggression.
The noble earl the other night represented the Russian
army as having arrived in the attitude of conquerors
within a short distance from the capital, and as being
able, if they had persevered, to overturn the Government
of Turkey. Now, if the noble earl did not know the real
state of-the case et the time that the treaty was signed,
which, if proper care had been taken, he might have .
known, yet surely he ought to have known in December of
that year, when he wrote his despatch, and most assuredly
he ought to know now that that army did not arrive at
Adrianople as conquerors—that the general ia command
had not more than a nominal army of 15,000 men re-
maining, and that out of these there were from 7,000 to
8,000 men who, from fatigue and wounds, were hors de
combat. He had never heard it disputed that that por-
tion of the army which wasin a condition to march did
not exceed 12,000, though some good authorities reckoned
them at 8,000 men, while it was known that the Turkish
general had, within a short distance of them, an army of
25,000 men. If the respective parties had been left alone,
and if the Turks had had the least knowledge of the real
state of the case, that disastrous treaty, as the noble earl
called it, would never have been signed. More than that,
bhifesetdhnebsunigtonhbeledel.deaurmrpl,hhaaisattwfihneatForeign Minister of this country,
Russian and the Turkish°
trh,geet
nhcesor
atu
Irts i
sra
pursuedtyT hweo
Russianuld
b ne
tewv eerenh
generalathvee
gave the Turks—as well he might—a very short time for
consideration ; had they known the truth, they never
would have signed. But only five days were allowed for
stantinople ? The Turkish minister summonedand
atshke.
consideration. And What wait the: course taken at Cons
ambas-
sadors of Austria, Prussia, and England,
edthei
advice. The English minister, among others, advised the
Turks to sign the treaty which the., noble earl now told
them was disastrous. And who was our minister at that
time at Constantinople? That lamented diplomatist the
late Sir Robert Gordon, who, a short time before, had- its
a rather summary manner superseded Sir Stratford Can-
ning. That minister must have known well what were the
feelings of this Government at the time he gave the advice,
and yet the noble earl now told them that it was against
that treaty he sat down to write the despatch; but it would
be more satisfactory if he would show what steps he took
to prevent the treaty being signed. It was plain %that the
despatch had done the noble earl no harm in the eyes of
the Emperor of Russia, for, from the fulsomecompliments
which he bestowed upon him in the despatches lately pub-
lished, it appeared that, far from regarding the noble earl
as an enemy, he regarded him as his strictest and most re-
liable friend. The noble earl told them that that treaty
produced a remarkable change in the foreign policy of this
country—that all the ministers who went before him
wished that Greece might remain in a state of vassalage
towards Turkey, but that after the signing of the treaty
, of Adrianople he had advocated the erection of Greece into
an independent kingdom. But how the removing of
Greece from Turkey was likely to strengthen and support
Tui key, he confessed it passed his -comprehension to under-
stand.. The noble earl said that the effect of that treaty
had been to give twenty-five years of peace. He could only
mean between Russia and Turkey. But he could not un-
derstand what was the.noble earl's notion of peace, or how
he could describe Russia as a peaceable neighbour to
Turkey, when so far back as ten years ago the Emperor
- _Rtiaindiestaer,
w which he resumed a
propositiontothe nobles soon s
earl,sht ettbie earl againeentheForeign
took office in 1852, to partition the very country of which
the noble earl told them the Emperor was such a peaceable
and well conducted neighbour. Was that the morality
which the noble earl would teach great States to observe
to minor States in teeir neighbourhood ? How could the
Emperor of Russia be described as a peaceable neighbour
to Turkey when twice within the last ten years he had
proposed to partition her territories? But since 1829 there
had been other great questions agitating Europe and this
country. There was the contest in Portugal, which was a
,war, and which was always described to be a war, essen-
tially of opinion. Don Miguel 'was then the chief who
espoused the cause of despotism and arbitrary power ; and
Donna Maria, the legitimate heiress, was supported by all
who were attached to constitutional opinions. What was
then the conduct of the noble earl ? He was the mainstay
of the supporters of despotism, and if he had not been in
power he defied any man to say that Don Miguel would ever
have attained the throne. The noble earl might say that he
had never recognised him. It was true that he did not ; but,
at the same time, he prevented the sailing of an expedition
which would have dethroned the usurper, and his refusal to
recognitie him proceeded from no dislike to his arbi-
trary principles, but because'he would not comply with
some special conditions which the noble earl attached to
his recognition. Notwithstanding this, he gave to Don
Miguel all the support he could give, and far more than was
approved of by Parliament and by the country. But was
that all? How did matters stand iu Spain ? Was not the
noble earl continually finding fault with what was done there
for the support of constitutional institutions? Hewes con-
tinually in the habit of criticising the quadruple alliance,
by means of which a constitutional Government was estab-
lished in Spain, and be was notoriously attached to the
cause of Don Carlos. (Oh, oh.) Tee noble earl shook his
head, but he would refer him to still another matter. What
did he say to the case of Belgium? After the French Re-
volution' the Belgians, who were suffering, not only from
national feelings, but from 'very grievous results of mis-
government, at last revolted ; the noble earl, who was then
in office, talked of it as a revolt, and openly expressed his
wish that the authority of the King of Holland might be
re-established. He did not blame the noble earl for holds
ing that language when the revolt was in progress ; but
what did he say in 1832, after the separation of the two
countries had been completed ? He then told the house
that nothing was surprising in any country during a state
of rebellion and revolt, but that the revolution was the
most senseless and unintelligible of any recorded in history.
Those were his sentiments in 1832, and that was all the
sympathy he manifested towards it gallant people, who had
thrown off a yoke which they were unable to bear, and
who were then engaged in laying the foundations of a con-
stitutional Government, which had been the means since
of showing the continent of Europe how much loyalty and
liberty were compatible with each other, and how the arts
and industry flourished best under a constitutional form
of government. He must say he was ashamed to hear the
noble earl, on a former occasion, taunt the noble lord op-
posite (the Earl of Malmesbury) with having received the
compliments of Prince Schwartzenburg on his accession to
office.. There was no one of their lordships who could mis-
take for a moment what those compliments meant. The
noble lord opposite had received them because it was sup-
posed that he had been thrown by the vicissitudes of party
into the position of the noble earl, of whom he was at one
Itime a supporter and an abettor, and whose policy it
was supposed he would carry out. (Laughter.) The
I noble earl took credit to -himself for being the author of
the entente cordiale with France. Bat as the noble
earl had carriedi that
eabarckrrtioncelBl,29o,iigitnLvahsadnolten thtobie
forgotten that s
nt n y•for Paris to become the Minister of France. It
cw°as prerfectly notorious that the noble earl wished him to
be the French Minister. He was Minister for a few
mouths, and they all knew the catastrophe whieh followed.
lie begged to observe ou what the effect of the speech of
the noble earl had teen. It was not a question of particu-
lar phrases, but of what speeches it followed. Undoubt-
edly, the noble earl rose to answer the speech of the Secre-
tary of State for Foreigu Affairs, who joined in the argu-
ments of the noble lord opposite (Lord Lyndhurst), and
could not resist the reasonings and conclusions to which
that reasoning led. Out of the abundance of the heart the
month of the noble earl spoke, and uttered sentiments
whip's had created such universal astonishment and repre-
hension that the noble earl came down to-night to explain
them away. The noble earl justified the tardiness, and
what the noble earl allowed to be apparent, but which he
believed to be real, vacillation of the Government, because
.it was wished to carry with them the governments of the
Continent. L' indepenclance Beige, a paper published on
the borders of Germany, and which he could state, of his
own• knowledge, had an immense circulation all over Ger-
many, contained a statement of the impression that speech
made upon the gentlemen who reported for it. It was a
telegraphic despatch, and therefore contained only a short
summary of the general effect of each speech.
" Londros, mardi,
" Dens la seance de la Chambre dos Lords de la unit
derniere, Lord Lyndhurst a appele l'attention du Gott-
vernement et do la Chambre sur le Memorandum, relatif 1
la question d'Orient transmis par les tours de Vienne et de
Berlin a lours envoyes• respectifs pros de la Diete Ger-
manique.
" Les Lords Lyndhurst et Clarendon out declare qu'il
fallait quo la Russie fournit des garanties materielles contre
le retonr dos actes d'agression qui ont provoque la situa-
tion actuelle.
" Lord Derby a soutenu qu'il fallait, quo la Russie ftt
contrainte it restituer les territoires dont elle's'est rendu•
maitres.se au detriment des nations voisines. 'Lord Aber-
deen a essays de justifier la conduite de la Russia, et
ailiLetithaotughhet
dthidatj
plaids la cause de la paix;'
(Laughter.) He thought, for a short summary, that was
extremely accurastpee.e
the noble earl's '
acts of the Emperor of Russia, and that:he dld plead very
strongly in favour of peace. 'Bat was that a wise speech
fancy, and he hoped his fancy
for the Minister of this country to woke at a moment. we
some of the
\were engaged in a struggle, which the noble lord migtt
speedily terminate, but whichawndoure-
uvistairsythe tenour of
might be _ prolonged,_sr rem
f plead-
9uire from the people groat
enemy, s i
the language of
in.., however, indirectly for the
of a totally different mb-
was well founde,
the noble earl should have be
language
ought to be made to
gc wonotild be carried to our fleets
taunrde..,(mHeteasrt.w)
hSeunchevlaernygom
ea the highest to the lowest rank
Convince every
haant!they were risking their lives and ink
in the services, tgiro
swan, `and
was absolutely necessary
curring hardship sion, and to protect the interests of
to cheek unjust !,boi, Europe.
(Hear.) The noble earl said
this country curl i
,I, -(.4 the most urgent in helping forward warlike
he `v
' 0t
inoon . He left that question, which was a question
preparaarison,
to be settled between the noble earl and
hot; wenolileagues. But it certainly did happen to be within
hiss own knowledge, that there was current throughout
this country and a greater part of Germany, a belief that
the noble earl had stated, such was his recollection and his
horror of war, that, come what might, to war he would
not be a party. That now proved to have been a misap-
prehension, for the noble earl said he Was urgent for fur-
thering and hastening preparations for war. Their lordships
,were in poseessiou of a great deal more information than
when this subject was discussed in the . beginning of the
session. Their information from Russia had been greatly
augmented. They now knew what Was going on in the
Russian capital, and in several considerable towns of that
empire, from persons who were resident there in the
-month of December last. It' had been stated as a fact
to him that the plan of campaign which had since been
attempted to be executed had been drawn no by the
. highest military authority in Russia, was well known to
several persons in that country, had been discussed
in military circles, and had been communicated even
to foreigners in the month of December last. It was *A a
-plan for the mere occupation of the principalities. Plans