The Sun.
London, England, 1836-02-20 00:00:00

nate country. His object was of a more extensive kind. It
comprised not only Poland, but Russia, Turkey, India,
England, and Europe. He would intreat the House for a
moment to consider the present position of Russia. The
empire of Russia rules an extent of territory in Europe
greater than any other European Sovereign ; and her Asiatic
possessions are more extensive than her European. On the
north Russia came within 30 miles of the western part of Nor-
way, where the harbours were never frozen, and she was then
not farther from Scotland than Lisbon is from London.' She
approaches within 70 miles of Stockholm, and possesses a
frontier but one hundred miles from Dresden ; she was but
one hundred and eighty miles from Berlin ; had crossed the
Danube, and Kalisch was nearer to Paris than it was to St.
Petersburgh. When Catherine the Second ascended the
throne of Russia she was the mistress of a population of
22,000,000 ; Alexander ruled over 56,000,000 ; and Nicholas
held undisturbed sway over 54,000,000, exclusive of his
Asiatic possessions. Russia had an army of 700,000 men on
foot ; and though he could not state the exact amount of her
navy, he believed it to be at the least sixty line-of-battle ships
and frigates. The people of Russia were a people completely
devoted to the Sovereign who held the sceptre—all eyes
looked up to him as the chief of their race, the first of their
nation, and the head of their Church. Thus they were bound
to him by a triple tie—the lie of chieftainship, the tie of lan-
guage, and the tie of religion. All property in the country
was held under him : without his consent there was no possi-
bility of retaining an inch of ground; and if the proprietors
displeased him he had the power of removing them by a single
word, and sending them to the ends of the earth. The po-
pulation of Russia were entirely military ; there was no pros-
pect of honours or advancement in life except in the service of
the State. The very Clergy were made subservient to disci-
pline, and were decorated with military orders. Such an organi-
sation had the necessary effect of turning the minds of the en-
tire people. One enthusiastic feeling consequently pervaded the
nation—it was the superiority of their own country, and a de-
sire to see it paramount among the nations of the world. The
very climate encouraged the feeling of military movement,
for wherever a Russian chanced to go he was sure to find it far
superior to his own country. And the Government did every-
thing in its power to encourage that feeling, for among other
inducements, it had given the powerful one of increasing the
pay of the soldier the moment he left his native land, to four
times the amount that he received while serving in it. Ali
these things combined made territorial acquisition an absolute
necessity for Russia. A century and a half since she was
scarcely considered in the account of the States of Europe ;
since then she had spread her arms abroad on every side, and
grasped all within her reach to such an extent as terrified all
the rest of the European States together.—( Hear.) He hail
a list of the acquisitions of Russia from the time he had men-
tioned, which he should read to the House. In 1721 she ob-
tained by treaty, Livonia, Esthonia, the peninsula of Jutland,
and a portion of the neighbouring territory. In 1772 she ob-
tained a large portion of unfortunate Poland, in the first par-
tition of that country. In 1774 she got Crim Tartary and
Azoph, with access to the Black Sea. In 1783 she took pos-
session of the Crimea and the Taurus. In 1792 Odessa, and
the territory adjacent fell into her hands; and in 1793—he
would beg the House to remark the circumstance—by the
second partition of Poland, she got possession of another
large portion of that ill-fated country, with all the Ukraine.
In 1795 she had another large slice of Poland. In 1809
she obtained Finland. In 1812 she seized Bessarabia ; and
in 1814 she extorted from Persia all the provinces belonging
to that kingdom south of the Caucasus. Did she stop there ?
He would proceed to give the House a practical answer to the
question. In 1815, by the treaty of settlement, as it was
termed, the territory of Russia was extended to the North See ;
in 1828, by its irruption into Persia, it acquired all the terri-
tory to the Araxis and beyond it; in 1822, she got the Delta
of the Danube, and all the Asiatic shore of the Black Sea, a
distance of more than two hundred miles ; in 1832, by the or-
ganic statute of the empire, Russia converted the independent
kingdom of Poland into a province ; and, in 1834, she had an
additional cession of a portion of Turkey in Asia, and the
command of the passes leading into Turkey. Looking at the
map, it would be found that Russia had now a greater extent
of territory in Europe than any other State, end it extended
in one uninterrupted line from the North Sea to the Euxine.
—( Hear, hear.) He would just glance at the position of Rus-
sia in 1815, when the settlement of Europe was made and the
balance of power regulated. At that period France resie-ned
Italy and Belgium, with all the provinces on the Rhine; Ewe_
land also gave up Java, Bourbon, and a large portion of the
West Indies, all of which she then held; Russia gave up no-
thing—but, on the contrary, acquired Poland on certain con-
ditions, since basely violated.—(Hear, bear.) She had nov,
Poland as a province—the ground was laid for the 'establish-
ment "of her ascendancy in Germany—Moldavia and Wallachia
were Russian in all but the name—Silistria was Russian also—
the right bank of the Danube was abandoned to her altogether—
Greece was subject to her influence—Egypt was a mere agent
in her hands—and the strength of Persia was so impaired that
what remained of it was only preserved by the interposition of
England. Comparing the state of things with the state of
Russia in 1815, would any one be bold enough to say that the
balance of power as settled then in Europe any longer existed?
Did Hon. Members believe that Russia was satisfied with such
enormous power and extent of territory, and that it was not
striving every day to add to the one and the other? He seas
sure in; one was so blind. When the knowledge of character
was arrived at so far as to perceive that certain ends were in
the view of an individual; and that to attain those ends parti-
cular means were of importance, could there be a doubt of
his-using them? The only doubt which could exist would
arise from a scruple of conscience or honour. If, however,
that individual were proved to be unscrupulous, thou the con-
viction was complete. There were two narrow channels vvliicl
commanded that mighty empire, and the non-possession of
which cramped its operations. Every port, harbour, arson" 1
dockyard, belonging to it was circumscribed within their
limits. There were on the north the Sound, on the south the
Dardanelles. If proof were wanting of the sense Russia en-
tertained of their importance, Hon. Members had only to con-
sult the page of history, and observe her conduct hitherto with
respect to them. Peter the Great sought to (Main the com-
mand of the passage of the Dardanelles; Catherine the Se-
cond attacked it with the view of getting it into her posses-
sion ; and Alexander, who denominated it the " key of his
house," demanded the dominion of it from Napoleon, and
offered to relinquish Egypt, Greece, and a great many others
of his conquests, in exchange.—( Hear, hear.) But Napoleon
—that great man—had views too profound to be misled by the
arts of Russia, and lie refused to accede to the demand of
Alexander. He rejected his proposals, and he saved Europe
from Russia by it. Had Nicholas no desire to obtain posses.
sion of that which Peter, Catherine, and Alexander sought
with so much earnestness? The late war with_Turkey would
best and most convincingly answer the question : and the re-
cent publication of the very secret despatch of the most able
of the Russian diplomatists would corroborate the inference.
The treaty of Unkiar Skelessi and the conference at Toplitz
would also say something. There was no doubt but Russia
would seize that important pass the first opportunity : her
people sought and expected it—her best interests absolutely
required it. What was there to gainsay these facts, and the
natural inference consequent to them ? Nothing but the proto-
cols and protestations of Russia. Did any one believe these
protestations ? If lie did, he would only refer them ,to his
Majesty's Speech from the Throne on the 29th of July, 1828,
when he prorogued the Parliament of that year. Nothing
could be better authority for facts than his Majesty's Speech.
On that occasion his Majesty said—
" His Imperial Majesty has consented to waive the exercise in
the Mediterranean of any rights appertaining to his Imperial Majesty
in the character of a belligerent power, and to recal the separate
instructions which had been given to the Commander of his naval
forces in that sea, directing hostile operations against the Ottoman
Porte."

On September the 12th the news arrived that the blockade of
the Dardanelles had been established, so that at the time his
Majesty made that statement on the faith of Russian protesta-
tions, Russia had determined upon exercising those " belli-
gerent rights" which she made believe she had " waived."
In consequence of this, at the opening of Parliament, on the
sth of February, 1829, his Majesty was compelled to come
down to the House and confess he had been deceived by the
false protestations which were addressed to him by Russia.
His words were—
" His Imperial Majesty, in the prosecution of those hostili-
ties, has considered it necessary to resume the exercise of his
belligerent rights in the Mediterranean, and has established a
blockade of the Dardanelles."

These were striking examples of the good faith of Russia, and
strong data to form an estimate of the value which should be
set on her protestations. The whole history as a tissue of
perfidy. Without referring to her perfidious conduct to
reee
bindinge .
un-
happy Poland, conduct by which she lulled Europe to sleep
by stating that she was only fulfilling the articles of the treaty
of Vienna, and thus prevented all interference—without
tre-
ferring even to her, well known perfidy towards Sweden, he
would simply adduce, as a proof of it, her conduct towards Tur-
key. She first stirred up an insurrection in Greece, and then
offered her mediation to settle the differences. When that
herselfwas(He ah
declinednoetart2
interfere
In
rf
arbecameAaprbiyl
forceshe
the
iopgfrnoeatdrtme a Sst r
ines he quarrel
s ofG
protocol,
be-
tween the Turks and their revolted subjects ; yet in De-
cember, she broke through that obligation. In June she
signed a declaration binding herself to interfere by force of
arms even if necessary should any disturbance of the settled
order of things take place : and yet in the October following
her Admiral, in the battle of Navarin, helped to destroy the
entire Ottoman fleet in a time of profound peace. Having
succeeded in detaching France from her alliance with Turkey,
she drew Turkey into a war ; and, on its termination, by the
treaty of Adrianople, she found herself in possession of some
of the most important of the Turkish possessions. (The
Noble Lord then read to the House some extracts from the
Treaty of Adrianople. They were to the effect that Russia
should take possession of the Delta of the Danube ; Silistria,
the key of Circassia ; two hundred miles of coast on the
Black Sea; the nomination of the Hospodars of Wallachia
and Moldavia ; the right of collecting a certain tax, which
formed a large portion of the revenue of the State in those
Principalities ; the power of expelling from them all Mussul-
mans, and liberty to demolish all fortresses in the country.)
That treaty contained another article, by which the Sublime
Porte acknowledged the right and the justice of reprisals
on the part of Russia, if any of its stipulations were to be
infringed, without the fullest satisfaction being offered the
Russian Resident, at the Court of Constantinople. That
was the treaty of 1R29.—( Hear.) On that treaty being con-
cluded Russia had the assurance to put forth a Manifesto,
declaring that she always remained a stranger to every desire
of foreign conquest. He would next consider the conse-
quences to England and Europe—England especially—if
Russia obtained the darling object of her desire—the posses-
slot) of the Dardanelles. The very first moment she had' ob-
tained it she would have made a large stride towards becoming
a great naval Power.—( Hehear.) In a short time she
Power.—(Hear
would have a fleet of 100 sail of men-of-war, That was a