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London, England, 1854-03-20 00:00:00

to express to the Emperor how sensibly I felt his gracious so.
licitade to efface a disagreeable impression.—.l have, &c.,
G. H. SEYMOUR.

No. 12.

*IS G. H. SEYMOUR TO THE EARL OF CLARENDON.
(Received April 4.) .
(Secret and confidential.)
St. Petersburg, March 16, 1853.
My Lord,—With reference to the despatch marked " Secret
and confidential," which I had the honour of addressing to
your lordship on the 12th instant, I beg to transmit in origi-
nal the letter which Count Nesselrode undertook to write to
me expressive of the Emperor's willingness to change the
passage. in his memorandum which I had ibonsidered open to
some misinterpretation.—l have, dm.,

G. H. SEYMOUR.

Enclosure in No. 12.
COUNT NESSELRODE TO SIR G. H. SETIISIIR.
3 (15) Mars, 1853.
A rexplication que j'ai eu I'honneur de vous offrir verbale-
ment, mon cher Sir Hamilton, je me fais nn plaisir d'ajouter,
qu'ayant porte vos doutes a la connaissance de l'Empereur,
Sa Majeete m'a autorise a modifier le passage qui les a fait
naltre dans votre esprit, si toutefois vous le jugiez necessa7e.
L Enapereur desire avant tout ecarter d'une communication
t.oute personnelle et amicale avec le Gouvernement de Sa Ma-
J.cste la Refine ce qui pourrait donner lieu a, uno interpreta-
tion meme erronee, qui serait contraire aux intentions qui
Post dict6e, comme a but quo Sa Majeste se propose.
Veuillez, &c., NESSELRODE.

(Translation.)
March 3 (15), 1853.
_

I have the pleasure, my dear Sir Hamilton, to add to the
explanation which I had the honour to offer to you verbally,
that having communicated your doubts to the Emperor. His
Majesty has authorised me to modify the passage which had
caused you to entertain them, at least if you should consider
it necessary. The Emperor is, above all things, desirous of
removing from a communication altogether personal and
friendly with the Government of her Majesty the Queen what
might give occasion even to an erroneous interpretation,
which would be contrary to the intentions by which it was
dictated, as also to the object which his Majesty proposes to
himself.—Be pleased itc., NESSELRODE.

No. 13.
THE EARL OF CLARENDON TO SIR G. 11. SEYMOUR.
(Secret and Confidential.)
Foreign Office, April 5, 1853.
Sir—Your despatches of the 9th, 10th, and 12th ult., have
been laid before the Queen. My despatch of the 23d ultimo
will have furnished you with answers upon all the principal
points alluded to in the memorandum which Count Nesselrode
placed in your hands ; but it is my duty to inform you that
that important and remarkakhle document was received by
her Majesty's Government with feelings of sincere satisfaction,
as a renewed proof of the Emperor's confidence and friendly
feelings; and her Majesty's Government desire to convey their
acknowledgments to his Imperial Majesty for having thus
placed on record the opinions he expressed at the interview
with which you were honoured by his Imperial Majesty. Her
3fajesty's Government do not consider that any useful pur-
. Pose would be served by prolonging a correspondence upon a
question with respect to which a. complete understanding has
been established ; and I have only, therefore, further to state,
that her Majesty's Government observe with pleasnre that, in
the opinion of the Emperor, the fall of the Turkish Empire is
looked upon as an uncertain and distant contingency, and that
no real crisis has occurred to render its realisation imminent.
Her Majesty's Government have never any wish to disguise
their policy, which they trust is honest and straightforward
towards all other countries ; but on such a question they
would particularly regret that any misapprehension existed
on the mind of the Emperor, and they accordingly approve
the confidential note which you addressed to Count Nessel-
rode, for the purpose of rectifying some ideas which reflected
upon the course pursued by her Majesty's Government.
On the subject of the Charlemagne coming up to the Bos-
phorus a correspondence took place between the English and.
French Governments, and, although the Porte gave its sanc-
tion unconditionally, the eventual solution of the question
was in conformity with the opinion of her Majesty's Govern-
ment, and it was settled that. the Charlemagne should convey
M. de Lavalette to Constantinople, under which circum-
stances it was stated that the passage of the French ship of
war would not be further remonstrated against by her Ma-
jesty's Government, but that it must not be drawn into a
precedent.

As regards the Holy Places, you are aware of the instruc-
tions given to Colonel Rose for his guidance at the Porte,
and of the despatch addressed to her Majesty's Ambassador
at Paris, which was communicated to the French Govern-
ment, and I have further to inform you that Viscount Strat-
ford de Redcliffe was instructed to bear in mind that her
Majesty's Government, without professing to give an opinion
upon the subject, were not insensible to the superior claims
of Russia, both as respected the treaty obligations of Turkey,
and the loss of moral influence that the Emperor would sus-
tain throughout his dominions, if, in the position occupied•
by his Imperial Majesty, with reference to the Greek church,
he was to yield any privileges it had hitherto enjoyed to the
Latin church, of which the Emperor of the French claimed
to be the protector.

With respect to the advice which the Emperor recom-
mends should be given to the Porte by her Majesty's Go-
vernment, you will inform the Chancellor that Viscount
Stratford de Redcliffe was directed to return to his post,
and a special character was given to his mission by an auto-
graph letter from her Majesty, under the impression that the
Porte would be better disposed to listen to moderate counsels
when offered by one of Viscount Stratford de Redeliffe's high
position and great knowledge and experience of Turkish affairs,
and he was particularly desired to advise the Porte to treat its
Christian subjects with the utmost leniency.
Upon this latter point her Majesty's Government are inclined
to believe that the Turkish Government are at length awak-
ened to a sense of their own true interests. At the beginning
of this year we know that orders were sent to Kiamil Pasha
to proceed instantly to Bosnia in order to redress Christian
grievances, and to empower the Christian communities to build
churches. About the same time, also, the Porte sent the
strongest instructions to Omer Pasha to act with unvaried
moderation and humanity towards his enemies (the Montene-
grins); and the English Vice-Consul at Scutari confirmed all
the previous statements that the inhabitants of Montenegro
committed an unproVoked attack on the troops and subjects
of the Porte; while the accounts that have reached her
Majesty's Government respecting the atrocities said to have
been committed by the Turks in Bosnia, Herzegovine, and
Montenegro, are extracted, from Austrian newspapers, and
must necessarily, therefore, be received with caution.
I have only in conclusion to add that, as her Majesty and
the Emperor have now mutually renewed the assurances of
their intention to uphold the independence and integrity of
the Turkish empire, it is the earnest desire of her Majesty's
Government that the representatives of the two powers may
henceforward co-operate together in carrying out this inten-
tion by giving similar advice in the same friendly spirit to
the Porte.

Yon are instructed to read this despatch to the Chancellor,
and to furnish him with a copy, should he desire it,—l am,
tkc.,
CLARENDON.

IMPERIAL CAJOLERY.
No. 14.
Sin G. H. g _EYMOUR TO THE EARL OF CLARENDON.
(Received May 2). (Secret and Confidential.)
(Extract). St. Petersburg, April 20, 1853.
The Emperor on rising from the table when I had the
honour of dining at the palace on the 18th inst., desired me
to follow him into the next room. His Majesty then said
that he had wished to state to me the real and sincere satis-
faction which he received from your lordship's despatch
marked secret and confidential, of the 23d ult. It had been,
his Majesty said, most agreeable to him to fiud that the over-
tures which he had addressed to her Majesty's Government
had been responded to in the same friendly spirit in which
they were made ; that, to use a former expression, there was
nothing in which be placed so much reliance as " la parole
• d'un gentilhommo ;" that he felt that the relations of the
two courts stood upon a better basis now that a clear under-
: standing had been obtained as to points which, if left in
,• doubt, might have been productive of inisintilligence, and, as
• his Majesty was pleased to add, ho felt obliged to me for
having contributed towards bringing about this friendly
entente. And his Majesty said, I beg you to understand that
I have pledged myself to will be equally binding upon my
successor ; there now exist memorandums of my intentions,
and whatever I have promised, my son, if the changes al-
luded to should occur in the time, will be as ready to per-
form as his father would have been. The Emperor proceeded
to state that he would very frankly offer an observation or
two —it might be a criticism—on your lordship's despatch.
The despatch spoke of the fall of the Turkish Empire as as
uncertain and distant event, he would remark that
the one term excluded the other ; uncertain it was
certainly, but for that reason not necessarily remote : he
desired it might be, but he was not sure shat it might so prove.
His Majesty desired further to observe that ho could not doubt
that her Majesty's Government had taken too favourable a
view of the state of the Christian population in Turkey ; the
Sultan might have intended to better their condition, might
have given orders in that sense, but he was quite certain that
his commands had not been attended to. Upon my remark-
ing that her Majesty's Government were understood to receive
very accurate reports of what passes in Turkey, the Emperor
replied with considerable animation that he called this fact in
question, that he believed on the contrary that some of the
English Consular agents were incorrect in their reports ; he
would only refer to Bulgaria ; the greatest discontent pre-
vailed there, and his Majesty would affirm that were it not
for his continued efforts to repress the manifestations of feel-
ings of the sort, the Bulgarians would some time since have
been in insurrection. His Majesty continued to contrast the
Illreatening attitude which had been assumed by Count Lein-
intgoa with the peaceable character of Prince Menschikoff's
niTi°a, not, however, that he desired to blame the Emperor
of'ustria, a noble prince, whom he loved sincerely, and all
whose acts he approved; the difference existed in circum-
• • stances, and when Montenegro was threatened with utter de-
l'utation, the Emperor of Austria was obliged to act with
ernt.eorg7 ; his Majesty would, he said, have acted in the same
jaer• I Empe'ror's° am desirous of remarking here, that part of the
personae brations were, it was obvious, addressed to me
yt
which I baturaawere intended as a reply as well to au allusion
to my commen.acie as to religious intolerance in Tuscany, as
Austrian can: the Chancellor upon the conduct of the
measures in Lombardy
* His Majesty, after observ-
of the 29th ultimo) littole the acCounts just received (those
wards an adjustment of. 'v? no progress has been made to.
movednotmotives?sip or a battalion ; that he
Sultan and from economie of consideration for the
• that he had no intention of b:i7l es ; but that he would repeat
hefted with, and that if
. the Turks did not yield to reationg
of danger. I y wod have to give
. way to an approach - • ventured to remark to the
despatches just arrived that
Emperor, that it was only by the
he had received intelligence of the laudio
t Pera of the
I;aparty to the
French Ambassador, who was uralci•stood tgo
; the
dthe indirect answer,
consideration
xstidreeissions
arrangements about to be concluded
however, returned to me by his Majesty, ao
which he used, lead me to apprehend that this
atioia did not receive the attention of which in fairness it appears to
• the deserving.

CUNNING OF NICHOLAS. •
(Translation. )
The Emperor has, with lively satisfaction, made himself
acquainted with Lord Clarendon's despatch of the 23d of
March. His Majesty congratulates himself on perceivingthat
his views and those of the English Cabinet entirely coincide
on the subject of the political combinations which it would be
chiefly necessary to avoid in the extreme case of the contin-
gency occurring in the East, which Russia and England have
equally at heart to prevent, or, at all events, to delay as long.
28 possible. Sharing generally the opinions expressed by Lord
Clarendon on the necessity of the prolonged mahitenance of
~,he existing state of things in Turkey, the Emperor neverthe-
less cannot abstain from adverting to a special point which
leads him to suppose that the information received by the
V.ritish Government is not altogether in accordance with ours.
!Lre_feers to the humanity and the toleration to be shown by
pt. 7444 in her manner of treating her Christian subjects.
, it aside many other examples to the contrary of an old
date
?flitted bs' for all, notorious that recently the cruelties corn-
y the Turks in Bosnia forced hundreds of Christian
famines to seek refuge in
wishingthiS occasion Austria. In other respects, without
anon to enter upon A discussion as to the