The Sun.
London, England, 1861-06-01 00:00:00

THE .211 4CI iONALD ,4FFAIR.

The followirg p ,pers rk:lating t.l this
affair wertyesterday laid before Parliament :

(Translation.)
(No. 1.)
" BARON SCHLEINITZ TO COUNT BERNSTORTF.
"Berlin, May 1.

" It is with as great surprise as deep regret that I have
learnt from the public papers the manner in which Lord
Palmerston, on the 26th ultimo, replied in the Lower House
to the interpellation addressed to him on the affair of Cap-
tain Macdonald. We could not expect that he would share
the view taken by the Prussian Government of this matter,
but wo might suppose that the First Minister of England, in
the full knowledge of the state of the fact as laid down by
us, would refrain from heaping ungrounded reproaches upon
the Government and laws of Prussia. He himself has not
been able to avoid the admission that the conduct of Prus-
sian authorities was in accordance with the laws of Prussia,
And, in fact, the Prussian Court gave the mildest interpre-
tation allowed by the law to the conduct of Captain Mac-
donald, and only awarded a trifling pecuniary penalty
against him. The signers of the offending protest were
indeed sentenced by the magistrate, but they were free from
punishment, because the supreme grace of the 12th of
January last was accorded to them; and, lastly, the Prussian
Government, which did everything within its competency
to abridge the imprisonment of Captain Macdonald, ex-
pressed without reserve to the British Government its regret
at the occurrence itself. With the notoriety of this affair,
how a reproach can be made to the Prussian Government
that it has omitted doing anything which it was incumbent
upon it to do, as a great Power, and as a Government friendly
to England, that, moreover, is not shown in the speech of
Lord Palmerston.

" If this prominent statesman has remembered me in this
affair, and, indeed, in a way for which personally I can only
be grateful; if, as is the case, he appeals to my knowledge
of the way and mode of thinking of the English people, I
cannot, above all things, repress the observation that, during
the sojourn of several years in England which I owed to my
official position, nothing filled me with greater wonder than
the sense of right and legality everywhere deeply rooted in
the English people, which also shows itself in deference to
the decisions of the magistrates. I cannot think that the
English people will refuse this deference to the decision of
a Prussian magistrate in a case:whore the question was to
punish an Englishman for an offence against the laws of
the country in which he was staying, and in which the
English Crown jurists themselves admit that the proceed-
ing was in accordance with the laws of the country.
" It appears to me that a trial of the subjects of one
country by a magistrate of the other in the maintenance of
its laws is not a matter which could disturb the relations to
each other of two Governments whose closely amicable con-
nection lies in their mutual interest; but I cannot conceal
from myself that reproaches of such a nature as Lord Pal-
merston has put forth, without grounds or justification,
against the Government and laws of Prussia are well calcu-
lated to excite in the Prussian people an ill-feeling against
a Government whose leaders have no hestitation in publicly
designating the condition of Prussia as deplorable.
" If an estrangement of the Governments of Prussia and
England, which I could not but deplore in the highest de-
gree, should result from such ill-feeling, the Prussian Go-
vernment at least would be guiltless in the disturbance of
the good understanding with England which it has always
sincerely endeavoured to foster and promote.
"I request your Excellency to read this despatch to Lord
John Russell, and to give him a copy of the same.
" SCHLEINITZ."

(No. 2,)
"LORD J. RUSSELL TO LORD A. LOFTUS.

" Foreign. office, May 22, 1861.

"My Lord,—l send your lordship herewith a copy of a
despatch from Baron Schleinitz, which was put into my
hand by Count Bernstorff, and which contains observations
upon a speech made by Lord Palmerston in the House of
Commons on the case of Captain Macdonald.
_ _

" I have in the first place to remark that, as a general
rule, it is inconvenient and objectionable that the Govern-
ment of one country should make matters which pass in
debate in the Parliament of another country the subject of
diplomatic representation and correspondence, but her Ma-
jesty's Government are willing to admit that there may be
cases in which statements made or opinions expressed by a
Minister of the Crown may, if it is thought advantageous
to do so, be made exceptions to this general rule. Her
Majesty's Government, therefore, de not complain of the
step taken by Baron Schleinitz on the present occasion as
objectionable in principle.
" With respect to the contents of that despatch, I have to
state that, as it consisted substantially of a reply to and an
animadversion upon the speech of Lord Palmerston, it was
natural that I should consult Lord Palmerston as to the
manner in which that despatch should be dealt with ; and I
have now to inform you that if Baron Schleinitz's despatch
had contained merely a renewed record of the opinions of the
Prussian Government on the Macdonald affair, and a state-
ment that those opinions had in no degree been changed by
what was said in the House of Commons on the occasion in
question, Lord Palmerston would not have considered it
necessary to prolong by an answer a discussion which every
well-wisher to a cordial good understanding between the
ussian auu Brum, c.„,—...eoeuts must regret, and must
be desirous of seeing brought to an end ; but, as Baron
Schleinitz has chosen in one part of his despatch to accuse
Lord Palmerston 'of heaping ungrounded reproaches on
the Government and laws of Prussia,' and in an other part,
of having put forth reproaches without grounds or justifi-
cation against the Government and laws of Prussia,' he
deems it right to state that what he said on the occasion in
question was said advisedly and upon full conviction ; that
be deliberately abides by all that he then said ; and that he
sees nothing in it either to be retracted or to be explained
away ; and he is convinced that the opinions which lie then
expressed are entirely shared by the great bulk of his fellow-
country men .

" Those opinions, however, he would observe, were con-
fined to the conduct of the Prussian Government and of
their subordinate officers; he said nothing that could justly
give offence to the Prussian nation, wit L-regard to whom he
only expressed a regret that they should be liable to Ittws
which vest in subordinate and irresponsible agents powers
and authority which, as in the case of Captain Macdonald,
are capable of being used with cruelty and injustice without
any overstepping of the strict limits of the law.
,4 You will read this despatch to Baron Schleinitz and
give him a copy of it.—l am, &c.,

" J. RUSSELL."

TILE LATE PRINCE GORTSCHAKOFF,

Prince Michael Gortschakoff, formerly Comman-
der-in-Chief of the Russian Army of the South, was
born in 1795. He was the second son of Prince
Alexander, one of the Suwarrow's bravest Generals.
The Prince entered th© Imperial army at an early
age, but first came into notice as an officer of Ar-
tillery in the war with Turkey in 1828-29, during
a part of which he was attached to the Staff of
General Krassowski. Here he made his first ac-
quaintance with the fortifications of Silistria, des-
tined in after years to test the power of Russia to
the utmost. Silistria fell, and Diebitsch, who had
waited for the event, proceeded on his march to
the Balkan. It was the duty of the corps to which
Gortschakoff was attached to occupy the attention
of the Ottoman army during the Marshall's ad-
vance. Gortschakoff was on the staff of the artil-
lery, and remained with Krassowki's army corps
until the campaign against Poland, when he served
for a short time as chief of the staff to General
ahlen, at the same time commanding the collec-
tive artillery. Perhaps artillery has never per-
formed a more terrible part than in the battle of
Ostolenka, where Gortschakoff had under his orders
70 guns. 'ren times the Poles rushed forward to
drive the Russian Grenadiers into the Narew and
storm the bridge, and every time Gortschakoff
shattered their attacking columns with grape and
canister shot. At Grochow he had, in the same
campaign, previously rendered a similar service to
his master; and at the last struggle for Polish in-
dependence—that of Warsaw, his guns played an
important, though less decisive part. During the
Polish campaign he had been promoted to the rank
of lieutenant-general, and upon the disgrace of
Count Soll he was placed on the general staff of
the active army. In 1843 he became a General of
Artillery, and in 1846 was named Military Gover-
nor of Warsaw. He accompanied the Russians
upon that mission of intervention which terminated
the struggle for Hungarian independence, but
achieved no new distinction on that occasion.
In 1852 Gortschakoff visited London to repre-
sent the IRussian army at the funeral of the
Duke of Wellington, who had held the rank
of a field-marshal in the Imperial service. In
the summer of 1853, when the Emperor of Russia
had resolved to take possession of the Danubian
Principalities, Gortschakoff was appointed to the
command of the army of occupation, at first num-
bering about 40,000 men, and arrived at Jassy on
the Ist of July. The service was of the most or-
dinary kind until, in October, Omer Pasha sent
him a polite note, inviting him to recross the Pruth,
with the alternative of being attacked in his
usurped position. The events which followed
and the Crimean war are subjects of history into
which we need not enter now. The recent events
in Poland have again familiarised the Public with
Prince Gortschakoff's name. Of his person, a Ger-
man gentleman, travelling in the Danubian Princi-
palities in 1854, said :—" The Prince has a tall,
commanding figure, thin but strong. His head
and the upper part of his body incline forwards,
but this appears to be more from the effect of cus-
tom than old age, for though 63 years of age, he is
hale and healthy. His eyes, which in his stooping
position frequently shot over his spectacles, have a
firm and scrutinizing look ; his voice is deep but
not sonorous : and his whole appearance impressed I
one with that decision and energy whieh peculiarly
belong to a good military commander,"—Breskygr 1
Zeitung.