The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-16 00:00:00

t2TTI

LOPD STRATFORD DV PEPOLi PIT .AND
THE FALL OF .KARs..

(Rom, the Tiineg of this day.) °
In another fortnight Parliament will meet, -after
a recess crowded with momentous incidents. It
will be the lot of the Legislature to discuss the past
and future campaigns, to examine the causes of
success or failure, to suggest rewards for eminent
services, or to demand inquiry into alleged neglects.
In such circumstances we cP a no longer delay men-
tion of a subject which occupies the minds of those
conversant with Eastern affairs. We have before
alluded to the transactions connected with the siege
of Kara, and to the comments made on the conduct
of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, the British Ambas-
sador at Constantinople. The great calamity which
has befallen the Turkish arms has given to these
events a vast importance, and we should but ill
perform our duty if we concealed the fact that the
neglect and abandonment of the British officers and
the troops they so ably led are spc ken of and attri-
buted by persons well informed on the matter to
personal feeling on the part of the Ambassador
towards the English General whose name is now so
well known in connection with a long defence of
the place. The matter is notorious to all acquainted
with the Turkish capital, and not entirely unknown
to the world in general, although the formalities of
political discussion have generally precluded any
allusion to it in Parliament or the press.
It may be said, then, that it is the misfortune of
Lord Stratford to live in a state of dissension with
almost every man with whom he is brought into
contact. Although his age and position are suffi-
cient to insure due respect, and those who approach
him have no-wish to be on other than amicable
terms, yet few can hope long to escape some out-
break of his violent and groundless He
lives in an atmosphere of antipathies, and, accus-
tomed during so many years to intercourse with
Turkish officials and to the deference of Levantine

-society, he is impatient of any demur to what he
conceives his authority. The disregard of his advice,
or even the differing from his opin ion, is enough to
kindle a dislike which may last for years. Such is
the man to whom the British Government has
committed the care of its interests in the East.
Turkish ways are not as our ways, and a Minister
at home must naturally leave all dealings with this
unknown world to the representative and his staff
of Orientalists and dragomans. A British Ambassa-
dor can by a word enforce attention to a request of
his Government, or mark it out for neglect. " I
am to lay this communication before you—do not
ask my opinion of it, decide for yourselves," is
sufficient to insure the rejection or evasion of a
demand, even though it emanated from the Foreign-
office itself, for the Porte will fancy that it was
never meant to be acceded to, and will, with ready
duplicity, acquiesce in the s ratagem. Hence it is
evident that the whole power of the country he re-
presents must be wielded personally by a represen-
tative in the East. Now, the statements to which
we wish to call attention are as follows :—General
Williams, who had been formerly employed on the
Turco-Persian Boundary Commission, and had
some acquaintance with the people and language of
Asiatic Turkey, was in 1854 selected as British
Commissioner to the Ottoman army in Armenia.
The Turks had been defeated in five battles, and
their force was completely disorganised. It was
thought that the experience of General Williams
might be of service in the reconstitution of the
army and the defence of the threatened provinces.
He was distinguished chiefly by a quiet, un-
assuming disposition, so much so that few of his
friends gave him credit for the resolution and
sternness which be displayed in the defence and
government of Kars. It is difficult, therefore, to
conceive the grounds of the Ambassador's alleged
dislike, except it he that General Williams received
his appointment from the Foreign-office, and not
through the representations of Lord Stratford.
But this dislike seems to have been not
only felt, but expressed ; the Ambassador is
said to have, in his usual manner, proclaimed his
resentment and his purposed retaliation. One thing
is clear—that he would in no way assist the new
British Commissioner, even in the most formal
manner. General WiTams had to go up to the
seat of war unrecommended and unaccredited by
the representative of his country. With men like
the Turkish commanders this was a sufficient hint,
and the General's difficulties were no doubt vastly
increased. However, lie applied himself to his task,
took a note of deficiencies, saw how corruption and
cowardice had worked, and was soon intent on a
thorough reform. His official position was strictly
only that of adviser ; he could do nothing but by
the Turkish Government, and his only instrument
must he the representations of the Ambassador.
-He accordingly wrote to Lord Stratford, entreat-
ing his assißtance in laying before the Porte the
impenclttitg danger and the necessity of action. The
fset'which we will now state is almost incredible,
triit'we is tine beyond a doubt. The
Ambassador would hold no communication with
General Williams. He would not ans Fer, he
would not acknowledge the receipt, of a single de-
spatch. It is said that not less than 63 despatches
and letters were sent by the British Commissioner,
and to no one of these would the Ambassador re-
ply. He would have nothing to do with General
Williams or his affairs. Among the most pressing
wants was that of ammunition. General Williams
wrote, it is said, repeatedly on this subject, but
received no answer, and nothing was done. When
Kars surrendered there was only three days' am-
munition in the place although it had to sustain
no regular siege. This fact was successfully con-
cealed from the Russians, or it might have saved
them a long and wearisome blockade. At last,
we believe, General Williams made a com-
plaint to the Foreign-office, which in turn
directed Lord Stratford's attention to the
matter, and requested him no longer to ne-
glect the representations of the Commissioner.
Lord Stratford ungraciously obeyed, corresponded
formally with General Williams, but the requests
of the latter were to the last ineffectual.

General Williams, making the best of his narrow
means, fortiffed the two chief cities of Armenia,
and took his stand at Kars, the frontier fortress of

the province. Mon, provisions, ammunition, were
alike deficient—the troops were in a miserable
condition. One of the matters urged on the Am-
bassador by General Williams was a payment, at
least in part, of the arrears due to them. Those in
Kars had not received a piaster for three years when
the place fell, and their clothes were worn out long
before their stomachs were pinched. The request,
it is needless to say, was unnoticed by Lord Strat-
ford. The men were much cast down and discon-
tented as far as it is in the nature of the Mussul-
man to he. But when Mouravieff surrounded the
place, the energies of both Englishmen and Turks
were roused. Neglected, insulted, abandoned,
General Williams determined to resist to the last.
His officers staunchly stood by him. That these
brave men should feel no pang of resentment to-
wards him whose causeless animosity they believe
to have been their ruin, would be perhaps more
than can be hoped from human nature. If any-
thing, however, could add to their indignation, it
would be to find that after the place was invested,
after the defence had begun to enlist the sympa-
thies and rouse the admiration of the world, the
Ambassador suddenly changed his tone, gave au
air of cordiality to his despatches, expressed his
commiseration for
we
haeult:e said
Generalfortunaetneough.An
and
his Staff, and talked of his constant exertions for
their safety
ese hßtuti rngs must take place at an easllY
in-
quiryinto t
day. The correspondence since the autumn oS
1854 will, no doubt, be called for. For the present
we leave the matter, in the full hope that justice
will be done.

MR. COl3DEN.—Were Mr. Cobden to ask " What
next t" in referen6e to himself, we should reply, " Re-

sign your seat for tl)o West Riding of Yorkshire, the
opinion of whose inhabitants you no longer represent."
—Sheffield Times.

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