The Sun.
London, England, 1854-03-20 00:00:00

No: 1.

Sir G. H. SEYMOUR to Lord Joni,' RUSSELL.:--(Receired Jan; 23.
(Secret and confidential.) •
St. Petersburg, January 11, 1853.
. _ _

My Lord—On the evening of the -6th inst Ant I hid the
honour of seeing the Emperor at the palace of the Grand
Duchess Helen, who, it appeared, had kindly requested per-
mission to invite Lady Seymour and myself to meet the Impe-
rial family. The Emperor came up to me, in the most
gracious manner to say that he had heard with great pleasure
of her Majesty's Government having been definitively
formed, adding that he trusted the Ministry would be
of long duration. His Imperial Majesty desired me
particularly to convey this assurance to the Earl of Aber-
deen, with whom, he said, ho had been acquainted for
nearly forty years, and for whom he entertained equal
regard and esteem. His Majesty desired to be brought to the
kind recollection of his lordship. You kiow my feelings, the
Emperor said, with regard to England. What I have told
you before I say again; it was intended that the two coun-
tries should be upon terms of close amity ; and I feel sure
that this will continue to be the case. You have now been a
certain time here, and, as you have seen, there have been
very few points upon which we have disagreed ; our interests
in fact are upon almost all questions the same. I observed that I
really was not aware that since I had been at St. Petersburg
there had been any actual disagreements whatever between
us, except with regard to Louis Napoleon's No. M., a point
respecting • which each Government had its own opinion
( maniere' de voir ) , but a point which, after all, was very
immaterial. The No. lII_ the Emperor replied, would in-
volvela long explanation. ; I will, therefore, not touch upon
the subject at present; I should be glad, however, that you
slibuld hear what I have to say upon the question, and will
beg of you to call upon me some morning when I am a little
free from engagements. I, of course, requested that his Ma-
jesty would be good enough to lay his orders upon me. In
the meantime, the Emperor went on to say :—I repeat that
it is very essential that the two Governments—that is, the
English Government and I, and I and the English Govern-
ment—should be upon the best terms, and the necessity was
never greater than at present. I beg you to convey these
words to Lord John Russell. When wo agreed (d'accord), I
am quite without anxiety as to the west of Europe, it is im-
material what the others may think or do. As to Turkey,
that is another question : that country is in a critical state,
and may give us all a great deal of trouble. And now 1 will
take my leave of you, which his Majesty proceeded to do by
shaking hands with me very graciously. It instantly occurred
to me that the conversation was incomplete and might be re-
newed, and, as the Emperor still held my hand, I said, Sir,
with your gracious permission, I would desire to take a great
liberty. Certainly, his' Majeety replied, what is it—let me
hear. Sir, I observed, your Majesty has, been good enough to
charge me with general assurance as to the identity of views
between the two Cabinets, which assuredly have given me
the greatest pleasure, and will be received with equal satis-
faction in England, but I should be particulariy glad that
your Majesty should add a few words which may tend to
calm the anxiety with regards to the affairs of Turkey, which
passing events are so calculated to excite on the part of her
Majesty's Government, perhaps you will be pleased to
charge me with some additional assurances of this kind. The
Emperor's words and manner, although still very kind,
showed that his Majesty had no intention of speaking to me
of the demonstration which he is about to make in the
South. He said, however, at first with a little hesitation,
but, as he proceeded, in an open and unhesitating manner— •
The affairs of Turkey are in a very disorganised condition ;
the country itself seems to be falling to pieces (nenaceruine)
—the fall will be a greater misfortune, and it is yery impor-
tant that England and Russia should come to a perfectly good
understanding upon these affairs, and that neither should
take any decisive step of which the other is not apprised. I
observed in a few words that I rejoiced to hear that his Im-
perial Majesty held this language; that this was certainly
the view I took of the manner in which Turkish ques-
tions are to be treated. " Tenez," the Emperor said, as if
proceeding with his remark, " tenez, nous aeons sur lea bras
un homme malade—un homme gravement malade ; ce sera
je vous le dit franchement, un graud malheur si, un de cos
jours, it devait nous 6chapper, surtout avant que toutes les
dispositions necessaires fussent prises. Mais alibi co n'est
point le moment de vous parley de cola" It was clear that
the Emperor did not intend to prolong the conversation—l
therefore said, Votre Majeste est gracieuse qu'elle me per-
mettra de lui faire encore une observation. Votre Majesty
dit que l'homme est malade ; c'est bien vrai, mais votre
Majesty cLaignera m'excuser si je lni fail observer, que e'est
is l'homme genereux et fort de menager l'homme malade et
faible."t The Emperor then took leave of me in a manner
which conveyed the impression of my having at least not
given offence, and again expressed his intention of sending for
me on some future day. Your lordship will pardon me if
I remark that, after reflecting attentively upon my conver-
sation with the Emperor, it appears to me that this,
and any overture of the kind which may be made, tends to
establish a dilemma by which it is very desirable that her
Majeety's-Government should not allow themselves to be fet-
tered. The dilemma seems to be this :—lf her Majesty's Go-
vernment do not come to an understanding with Russia as to
what is to happen in the event of the sudden downfal of Tur-
key, they will have the less reason for complaining if results
displeasing to England should be prepared. if, on the con-
trary, her Majesty's Government should enter into the consi-
deration of such eventualities, they make themselves in some
degree consenting parties to a catastrophe which they have
so much interest in warding off as long as possible. The sum
is probably this, that England has to desire a close concert
with Russia, with a view to preventing the downfall of Turkey
—while Russia would be well pleased that the concert should
apply to the events by which this downfall is to be followed.
—Yours, itc., _ _

(Signed)
No. 2.

G. H. SEYMOUR.

SIR G. H. SEYMOUR TO LORD JOHN RUSSELL.
(Received Feb. 6.—Secret and Condential.)
St. Petersburg, Jan. 22, 1853

My Lord,—On the 14th inst., in consepience of a summons
which I received from the Chancellor, I waited upon the Em-
peror, and had the honour of holding with his Imperial
Majesty the very interesting conversation of which it will
be my duty to offer your lordship an account, which, if
imperfect, will, at all events, not be incorrect. I found his
Majesty alone ; he received me with great kindness, saying,
that I had appeared desirous to speak to him upon Eastern
affairs ; that on his side there was no indisposition to
do so, but that he must begin at a remote period. You know,
his Majesty said, the dreams and plans which the Empress
Catherine was in the habit of indulging ; these were handed
down to our time ; but while I inherited immense territorial
possessions, I did not inherit those visions—those intentions,
if you like to call them so. On the contrary, my country is
so vast, so happily circumstanced in every way, that it would
be unreasonable in me to desire tore t rritory or more power
than I possess ; on the contrary, I am the first to tell you
that our great, perhaps our only danger, is that which would
arise from an extension given to an empire already too large.
Close to us lies Turkey, and in our present condition, no-
thing better for our interests can be desired ; the times had
gone by when we had anything to fear from the fanatical
spirit or the military enterprise of the Turks, and yet the
country is strong enough, or has hitherto been strong enough
to preserve its independence, and to insure respectful treat-
ment from other countries. Well, in 'that empire there are
several millions of Christians whose interests I am called upon
to watch over (surveiller) while the right 'of doing so is se-
cured to me by treaty. I may truly say that I make a moderate
and sparing use of my right, and I will freely confess that it
is one which is attended with obligations very inconvenient;
but I cannot recede from the discharge of a distinct duty.
Our religion, as established in this country, came to us from
the East, and there are feelings as well as obligations which
never must be lost sight of. Now Turkey, in the condition
which I have described, has by degrees fallen into such a state
of decripitude, that, as I told you the other night, eager as
we all are for the prolonged existence of the man (and that
I am as desirous as you can be for the continuance of his life
I beg you to believe) he may suddenly die upon our hands
(nous roster sur le bras) ; we cannot resuscitate• what is dead ;
if the Turkith empire falls, it falls to rise no more ; and I put
it to you, therefore, whether it is not better to be provided
beforehand for a contingency than to incur the chaos, confu-
sion, and the certainty of an European war, all of which
must attend the catastrophe if it should occur unexpectedly,
and before some ulterior system has beet sketched ; this is the
point to which I am desirous that you should call the attention
of your Government. Sir, I replied, your Majesty is so frank
with me, that I am sure you will have the goodness to permit
me to Break with the same openness. I would then observe that
deplorable as is the condition of Turkey, it is a country which
has long been plunged in difficulties supposed by many to be
insurmountable, With regard to contingent arrangements,
her Majesty's Government, as your Majesty is well aware,
objects, as a general rule, to taking engagements upon possi-
ble eventualities, and would, perhaps, be particularly disin-
clined to do so in this instance. If I may allowed to say so,
a great disinclination (repugnance) might be expected in Eng-
land, to disposing by anticipation (d'oscompter) of the suc-
cession of an old friend and ally. The rule is a good one, the
Emperor replied, good at all times, especially in times of un-
certainty and change, like the present ; still it is of the great-
est importance that we should understand one another, and not
allow events to take us by surprise ; "maintenant je desire volts
parler en ami et en gentleman ; si nous arrivous a anus en-
tendre sur cette affaire, l'Angleterre et moi, pour le reste, pelt
m'importe ; it m'este indifferent ce quo font ou pensent lea
autres. Usant done de franchise, je vous dis nettement, que
si l'Angleterro songe a, s'etablir un de ces jours a, Constanti-
nople, je ne le permettrai pas ; je ne vous prete point ces in-
tentions, mais it vaut mieux dans ces occasions parler claire-
ment ; demon cats, je suis egalement dispose de prondro
l'engagement de ne pas m'y etablir, en proprietaire, it s'en-
tend, car en depositaire je no dis pas ; it pourrait se faire quo
les circonstances me misant dans le cas d'occuper Constanti-
nople, si rien ne se trouve prevu, si l'on doit tout laisser alter
au hazard." 4: I thanked his Majesty for the frankness of his
declarations, and for.the desire which he had expressed of
acting cordially and openly with her Majesty's Government,
observing, at the same time, that such an understanding ap-
peared the best security against the sudden danger to which
his Majesty had alluded. I added that, although unprepared
to give a decided opinion upon questions of such magnitude
and delicacy, it appeared to me possible that some such ar-