The Sun.
London, England, 1856-05-03 00:00:00

COURT 01! COMMON COUNCIL.

ADDRESS TO THE QUEEN ON THE PEACE.
Yesterday a special Court was held in consequence of
a requisition numerously signed "to consider of an ad-
dress to her Majesty upon the definitive treaty of peace
between the Allies and his Imperial Majesty the Empe-
ror of All the Russias."

Complaint was made by several aldermen that they
had not received summons to attend so important a meet-
ing of the Common Council, and by several Common
Councilmen that they had not received summons to at-
tend upon the interesting occation of the proclamation
of peace.

The Town-Clerk said that all which was sanctioned
by practice and precedent on both occasions had been
done, and it was loudly asserted that the difficulty was
solely occasioned by the separation of each Court from
the other, and could only be removed by their coniplete
union. (A. latieh.)
Alderman and Sheriff KENNEDY said—l have reason
to be proud of the position in which the kindness of my
fellow-citizens has done me the honour to place me, and
which has given me the privilege of taking a leading
part in the ceremonial of the proclamation of peace, and
in now being their representative to deliver the senti•
went- which I believe they feel on the present important
occasion, of preparing an address to the Throne convey.
trig our congratulations to our beloved Sovereign. (Hear,
hear.) Let me ref -r to the history of the two years past,
and see what are the subjects of congratulation. We
can never forget the expesssion of "having drifted into
the war," which marked the most anxious solicitude on
our part to avoid it. Every resource of explanation and
solicitation was exhausted—no spirit of aggression existed
on our eart—no thirst for glory and no lust for acquisi-
tion—the one object now attained was all we sought—
the maintenance of the integrity and independence of
the Ottoman empire. (Hear, hear.) Nor was the war
ihe result of our resistance to aggression. The Ottoman
Government, with a spirit which can never.be too much
admired, defied the overwhelming force of their oppo.
nent, and on their own responsibility declared war, and
marched their army to the protection of their frontier.
Nor is it solely the grand principle which we have as-
serted. We have substantial guarantees—the destruc-
tion of the Black Sea fleet, the capture and overthrow
of the standing menace, and the Sea of Azoff swept;
Kertch, Yenikale, and Kinbourn taken and held ; the
Black Sea neutralised ; the Danube opened ; and equal
rights granted by the Sultan to his Christian subjects ;
for triumphs which speak to the future, and give us a
glorious pledge that the aggression which has been in
brooding preparation for a century has been effectually
met and disposed of. A mere word will sometimes re-
nol a history ; and if you refer to the 53d chapter of
Gibbon you will find a learned discussion on the word
"Sebastopol," which will show that the very name was
intended to convey the avowed f rot hat the fortress was
meant as a standing menace to indicate the advancing
policy of Rualia. This is not the arena for the discu—
sion of the conduct of tense who carried on the war.
The object of the war not being conquest we naVe-Th-
tained all that we were bound to ask. The Russian
frontier, for the first time in history, has receded. Half
a million of men, the flower of the Ruhsian army and
navy, have perished ; the first aggression was signally
repulsed, and the invaders driven out of the Turkish
territories. Since that event the Allies have been the
assailants, and every assault has terminated injuriously
to Russia, while the poor compensation of the acqui-i-
-tion of Kars was by no means a triumph to the Russian
army, which was desperately repulsed on the last occa-
sion they ventured to attack. The result of the war
and the exhaustion of men and means have thus read a
lesson to the most encroaching and domineering Power
the world ever saw, that it must no longer look to ear
for the promotion of the prosperity of its people. The
alderman then directed the attention of the Court
to the fact that England was taunted with the vice
of being unprepared for war ; that while France was
able to pour in her most capable leaders to the
seat of war from Algeria, England was prohibited by the
fatal interposition of routine from transferring from her
territories in the East to the scene of action the persons
best qualified to accomplish the great objects of the war.
He trusted and believed that an amendment in thatrespect
would spring from our recent experience, and that the
project of placing the right men in the right 1)13033 would
supplant the pernicious action of the old system. He
spoke with admiration of the terms in which the procla-
mation of the thanksgiving was expressed, alluded to
the prediction of Napoleon, that Russia was to be checked
by the union of England and France alone, and earnestly
hoped that the union which at present so harmoeiousie
existed between those two great nations would render
the proclamation of any future peace unnecessary. He
thea briefly adverted to the conduct of the German
States, and their present position and weight in the scale
of European Powers. He expressed confidence in the
great future prosperity of Turkey and in the spread of
Christian enlightenment there, and he concluded, after
warmly approving the articles of the treaty against pri-
vateering and the amelioration of war as respected neu-
trals, by moving,—
" That a loyal and dutiful address of congratulation be
presented to her Majesty on the auspicious event of a defi-
nitive treaty between the allies and his Imperial Majesty
the Emperor of All the Russias for the restoration of peace
and the maintenance of the integrity and independence of
the Ottoman empire." (Chegrs.)
Three Common Councilmen rose to second the motion
of Alderman and Sheriff Kennedy, but it was deter-
mined by the vote of the Court that the honour should
be conferred upon Mr. Rowley, who, as chairman of one
of the principal committees, was considered to be enti-
tled to the distinction.
Mr. Roweev then rose and said the hon. alderman
who introduced the proposition had given such admirable
reasons for designating the peace a glorious event that
he would do nothing more than merely second the mo-
tion.
Mr. GRESHAM said he heard with surprise the ground
upon which the motion for the address W 33 sustained.
He, as a matter of course, felt grateful to Providence
for peace ; but how any one could call the peace which
had just been proclaimed a glorious peace he could not
comprehend. He condemned the whole conduct of
those who had carried on the war for the palpable de•
fects in the system of preparation and administration ;
and he considered the abandonment of Kars to the enemy
to be a test of their most cruel treachery. He thanked
God, but he did not thank the Government, for the
peace. (Laughter and cries of "Hear.") He did not think
that any glory was achieved by the siege of Sebastopol,
and he was decidedly opposed to the idea of presenting
an address of an bumble and cringing character to such
men as the present Government was composed of.
Deputy DAKIN deprecated the language used by Mr.
Gresham, which he said was not justified by any obser-
vation used by Alderman Kennelly. The effect of the
late war would be to teach the Emperor of Russia and
his people no longer to direct their energies to war, but
to the arts of civilisation and peace, and the mover was
perfectly justified in deseribingthe nature and quality of
the lesson which bad been given to the aggressor.
Alderman SIDNEY was quite at a loss to know why
such a subject should engage the attention of the Court.
He could not see why her Majesty should be addressed
upon such a matter. It was well known that the
Queen was relieved Irma all responsibility by her
Ministers, so that the Court were about to go to
her Majesty to praise the very persons who had not
proved that they merited approbation. He approved
the appointment of a day of thanksgiving fer peace, but
if the address meant anything it meant that the Court
applauded those who advised the war and conducted
it. (Cries of "no, no.") The matter would have kept
very well for a week or a fortnight at any rate, and they
would then have the opportuuity of hearing the lucid
statements of Lord Clarendon in the one house, and
Lord Palmerston in the other. (" Hear, hear," and
" No.") He wanted to know whether the country had
the blessings of peace. The war had cost 100 millions
of money, and 50,000 lives, and he wished to know whe-
ther the peace which had been spoken of was 0110 on
which the country ought to be congratulated ? (Disap-
probation, and cries of " Hear, hear.") He believed
it was a peace which settled no principle. The main
features remained to be settled yet by commissioners.
(" Hear, hear," and " No, no.") He had heard members
express great dissatisfaction at the war, the conduct of
the war, and the termination of the war. No one re-
joiced more than he on the restoration of peace ; but
never had a war been undertaken in which England
was so deeply humiliated. (" No, no !" and " Hear,
hear.") The review at Spithead the other day was an
exhibition of great power' Rilld faloweci. that England
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