The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-02-21 00:00:00

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

Mr. LAYARD called attention to the present state of our
relations with Russia and Turkey. He wished to know
from government the position in which we now stood, and
to show, from documents in the Blue Book, that if a more
straightforward policy had been adopted we should not
have been in the condition in which we now were. There
were three points which he would endeavour to establish—
namely, the military preparations of the Rnssian govern-
ment last year, her naval preparations, and the statements
made by the Russian government to that of England. Mr.
Lay and then referred to various documents which, as he
contended, proved that, so early as the beginning of Jan.,
1853, the British government were fully aware that Russia
was making great naval and military preparations, while
no protest was made on their part, much less a formal de-
mand, to stop these armaments. Even when the Rus-
sian forces invaded the Danubian Principalities, had
Turkey been suffered to commence hostilities, Omar
Pasha would at that time have expelled them; but no
protest had even been made on our part against their
crossing the Pruth. No exertions had been omitted on
the part of Lord Stratford to open the eyes of the govern-
ment to the dangeis which threatened the empire ; but
these eftbrts and repeated warnings from their own agents
were fruitless. He then considered the course pursued by
the British government, with relation both to the Porte
and to France, arguing that every proposal of an energetic
character had originated with the French government,
whose honesty and straightforwardness he contrasted with
the sluggish and indecisive policy of England. In the
next place, he examined the facts connected with the fatal
affair of Sinope, showing that, but for the vacillating in-
instructions of our government, that catastrophe would
not have occurred, and insisting that the house ought to
have some explanation of the reasons why it was not pre-
vented. He next inquired what the government were
going to do. We were told that, although we were not
at peace, we were not at war; but what were to be the
terms of our negotiations with Russia? If they were to
be based upon existing treaties and the status quo ante
bellum, he hoped that, after what had happened, parlia-
ment would not permit this to be made the ground of
negotiation, which would place the question in a worse
position than before. Until the Principalities were secured
from Russian interference, the Danube was opened to
European' commerce, the Black Sea was no longer a mare
clausum, Circassia was opened, and the highway to Persia
through the Caucasus was cut off to Russian encroachment,
he hoped that England would not consent to negotiate, or
submit to terms which, after the calamities suffered and
the blood shed, would disgrace her. In conclusion, he
adverted to the reported disagreements between our am-
bassador at Constantinople and the admiral of our fleet in
the Bosphorus ; and observed, that the country had a right
to expect that something should be done to prevent dis-
sensions, which, he said, had reached a very scandalous
extent.

Sin J. GRAICAM declared that the government had
done their utmost to preserve peace, if that object could
be attained consistently with the honour of the country.
He justified the government from the charge of placing
too much reliance upon Russian assurances, and from
the imputation of a want of energy and decision. It was
not open to the allied fleets to pass the Dardanelles until
the Porte was at war, and he explained the causes which
had retarded the entry of the fleets into the Black Sea
until the disastrous affair of Sinope. Immediately after
the interpretation put by Count Nesselrode upon the
Vienna note, and when the delusion, created by false
assurances, had been dissipated, orders were given to the
fleet to protect the Turkish territory from aggression.
Mr. Layard had asked what results had been gained. We
had avoided war up to this moment; we had cemented a
cordial union with France; we had combined Austria and
Prussia with us, thereby insulating Russia; and we had
attained a solemn recognition that the interpretation put
by Turkey upon the treaty of Kainardji was correct, and
that contended for by Russia was ill-founded. Further,
this country, as well as France, was prepared for war;
no Russian soldier had crossed the Danube, not a Russian
ship of war could navigate the Black Sea, hitherto a
mare elausum ; and England was determined that the
Principalities should be evacuated, and the independence
of Turkey maintained.
Lord JOCELYN regarded this as a question in which the
liberties of Europe were concerned, and contended that
the moment when Prince Menschikoff made his insolent
demand, or, at least. when the Russians crossed the Pruth,
it became the duty of the Western Powers to interfere.
He condemned the course of policy pursued by the Govern-
meat, which discovered, he said, a want of vigour and de-
termination, and reproached them with suffering them-
selves to be deluded by Russia, while they hazarded a
cordial alliance with France, so much dreaded by the
Emperor of Russia, to whom, had they profited by the
opportunity, they might, he said, have dictated terms.
After some remarks from other members,
Lord Jowl RUSSELL said the conduct of Russia towards
this Government was no doubt deceptive, but while they
gave credit to the assurances of Russia, they were not
blind to the possibility of the Russian Goverment's en-

tertaining ulterior views. He insisted that, when the
Pruth was crossed, there was not only a protest, but an
immediate order was transmitted to Lord Stratford and
to Admiral Dundas for the appearance of the British fleet
in the Dardanelles ' • and from the moment of Count Nes-
selrode's commentary upon the Vienna Note the Govern-
ment took measures to support by force the independence
of Turkey. When the dreadful catastrophe at Sinope oc-
curred, which was deeply felt in France as well as in this
country, orders were given for the entry of the allied fleets
into the Black Sea, to protect the territory and the flag of
Turkey, to prevent reinforcements being sent from one
port to another, and to send back every Russian ship of
war to Sebastopol, amounting, he observed, nearly to war-
like operations. He was asked what was to be done ? He
did not pretend to believe that the Emperor of Russia
would abstain from enforcing with all his power those un-
justifiable demands he had hitherto made, and our position
must be on the side of Turkey, defending her from the
power of a wanton disturber, and hurling back upon the
head of that disturber the consequences he had so violently
and he believed, so imprudently provoked, to maintain
thereby the independence not only of Turkey, but of Ger-
many, and of all European nations. With this view, it
was intended to enter into an engagement with Turkey
(in conjunction with France), that the Sultan shall not
make peace with Russia without the consent and concur-
rence of her allies. In conclusion, he warned the House
and the country of the efforts to be made, and the sacri-
fices to be submitted -to, in carrying on a war with a
sovereign whose moderation was more ambitions than the
ambition of other potentates.
After some observations from Mr. CROSSLEY, a motion
was made for an adjournment, when
Lord J. RUSSELL said he hoped that before the house
separated it would vote the number of men required for
the public service.
Mr. DISRAELI briefly addressed the house, compliment-
ing Mr. Layard on his speech, and characterising that
delivered by Lord J. Russell as worthy of himself and the
occasion ; but strongly condemned the spirit of the address
of Sir J. Graham.

The debate was then adjourned, on an understanding
that no opposition will be offered to the votes for an addi-
tion to the naval force.

The house adjourned at twenty-five minutes past twelve.

IREI <LYD.,

WILLIAM Smixu O'BnrEN is about to return to his
home, by order of government, on condition that he will
never again take part in politics. He may be expected
about the end of June.

Tux FORTE, Portuguese schooner, bound for Liverpool,
went on shore on the coast of Clare a few days ago. The
sailors, on landing, were assaulted by some of the natives,
with the intention of robbing them ; and they succeeded
iu divesting them of a quantity of clothing, bedding, &c.
Tau EXODUS.—The number of emigrants who have
sailed from the port of Waterford alone during the last
five weeks amounted to 650. The means were principally
supplied by their relatives in America ; and according to
local authority, there is every reason to believe that the
tide of emigration will be greatly on the increase during
the ensuing four months.

SONETUING LIRE Alf ENCUMBERED ESTA.TB.—Amongst
the petitions presented to the Incumbered Estates Com-
mission, last week, is one praying for the sale of an estate,
the gross annual rental of which is £4O wyear, and the
incumbrances on which reach (in penal sums) the modest
amount of between £38,000 and £.39,000.
BARBAROUS arrnAGE.—The Tipperary Vindicator
states, that on Saturday night the tails were cut elf sixteen
bullocks and cows, on the lands of Ballycapple, Cloghjor-
dan. Eleven of them belonged to Mr. William Mackey,
Nenagh, and five to a jobber from Killarney. 11l feeling
about a farm which Mr. Mackey lately took from Captain
Power Lalor, of Long-orchard, is supposed to have pro-
moted the cruel deed.

DECLINE IN THE CORN MARKETS.—The downward
tendency in the country grain markets still continues.
The Galway note for Saturday reports a large supply of
provisions at a general decline on the previous week's
rates, in wheat, oats, and potatoes. The reports for Car-
low, Tralee, and several of the other provincial markets,
are of a precisely similar tendency—abundant supplies, at
a reduction of prices for all descriptions of grain.
A PHYSICIAN'S BILL.—On Monday, in the Court of
Queen's Bench, an action was brought by a physician
named Fleming against the executors of an old lady named
Magan, who had recently died, leaving the whole of her
property'--some £l2,ooo—for Romanist charities. The
plaintiff, who was a distant relative, had been attending
her for several years, and to remunerate him for his ser-
vice a sum had been paid into court, but in addition to this
sum the jury gave him £2OO damages.
DUBLIN AND BELFAST JUNCTION.—The half-yearly
meeting was held on Wednesday. The net balance to the
credit revenue for the past half-year is £25,513 ss. 4d.,
which, when added to the balance from the previous half-
year, £2,345 11s. 2d., makes the sum of £27,758 16s. 6d.
available for dividend. The directors, therefore, recom-
mend that a dividend of £1 2s. 6d. per share (less by
income tax) be declared and paid to the proprietors entitled
thereto (being at the rate of five per cent per annum),
after which there would remain to be carried to the credit
of the current half-year about £8,900.
AGRICULTURAL RETURNS FOR 1853.—The census com-
missioners have issued a return, showing the extent of
land under crops for each county and province in Ireland
in 1852-3. We give the total for Dublin of acres :-1853,
86,552 acres ; 1862, 84,422 acres. Total for Leinster,
under crops —1852, 1,747,632 ; 1853,1,683,600 acres ; total
decrease, 64,032. Total for Munster, under crops-1852,
1,410,758 acres ; 1853, 1,431,082 acres ; total decrease,
9,676. Total for Ulster, under crops-1852, 1,812,844
acres; 1853, 1,846,216 acres ; total increase, 3,402. Total
for Connaught, under crops-1852, 707,080 acres ; 1853,
734,419 acres; • total increase, 26439. Total decrease
under crops in Ireland, 43,867 acres. Total of acres under
crops in Ireland-1852, 5,739,214; 1853, 5,695,347. The
decrease of cereal crops was 143,661 acres ; on meadow
and clover, 404. Increase on green crops of all kinds,
62,783 acres; on flax, 37,413. Potatoes in 1852, 576,532
acres ; 1853, 897,774 acres.
Tug Intsn REFORM BILL.--It is stated that in the
Irish Reform Bill, to be introduced by Sir John Young,
it is proposed to disfranchise the following boroughs, in
all 16 :—Athlone, Bandon, Carlow, Cashel, Coleraine,
Downpatrick, Dundalk, Dungarvon, Ennis, Enniskillen,
Kinsale, Lisburn, New Ross, Portiington, Tralee, and
Youghal. The subjoined constituencies are to return
three instead of two members each:—The City of Dublin,
the counties of Antrim, Armagh, Cavan, Clare, Cork,
Donegal, Down, Galway, Kerry; Limerick, Londonderry,
Mayo, Roscommon, Tipperary, Tyrone, and Wexford.
Such an arrangement would appear to be both just and
politic, and, coupled with the abolition of the boroughs
above-mentioned, would no doubt render the Irish Reform
Bill a generally popular measure. There is also, it seems,
some probability of the bar of Ireland having a member to
themselves, just as it is proposed regarding the English
law courts.

AN AGED COUPLE named. Wayman, of Chatteris, Cam-
bridge, were carried to the grave at the same time, a few
days ago. They died in the. same bed, the husband
expiring at midnight, the wife at two o'clock next morn-
ing. The man was seventy-seven and the woman eighty-
four years of age.
BEARDED PRlESTS.—Acleriad correspondent is anxious
that the clergy should wear their beards, in the fashion of
"the early Reformers." He should address himself to
Convocation, and get the moustache movement included
among the reformaqda next session.
O'SHAUGRNESSY is to receive a salary of £2,400
a year as superintendent of electric telegraphs in India,-
with £3O a month travelling allowances. His assistant,
Mr. Shepherd, is to receive £6OO a year, and £l6 a
wont extra when moving about.
UPWARDS of 700 tons of strawberries are annually
sold in the markets of Loudon during the short season
in which the fruit is in perfection. The making of the
smallbaskets—pottles, as they are termed—gives employ-
ment to hundreds of persons.

• yk .
DEPOSITS IN 'SAVINGS DANKS.— It shown by a
return ordered by the House of Lords, recently printed,
that there were at the date of the return in England and
Wales 135,933 men and 135,626 women, depositors of £3O
and upwards, and 77,621 men and 75,372 women of £5O
and upwards. • •
CURB Fos CHOLERA.—ReIies of saints, their shrines
and garments, have in all ages exercised a powerful
agency in performing miracles ; but we were not aware,
till we came to Naples, of the healing virtue attributed to
the shirt of a Pope, the smallest shred of which, if boiled
in milk or soup,' is said to be an effectual remedy for the
cholera and other diseases of a similar description.—
Spencer's Tour.

THE SurPrr or POWDER.—The most strenuous exer-
tions are being made at the mill- at Hounslow to com-
plete a very large quantity of powder that is required for
the expedition about to sail, and for the fleet destined for
the Baltic. To accomplish this a double set of workmen
are employed, who relieve each other, consequently the
manufacture is continuous. The powder is removed by
night, in hermetically sealed copper barrels, in order to
obviate the possibility of accidents.

A NEW .SECT.—In Sweden a new religious sect has
sprung up, called the Contemplators, because they believe
that in meditating incessantly on the essence and qualities
of God, which they call contemplating God, they_ attain
the perfection of Saints. They are more intolerant than
the other sects in Sweden, as they think that everybody
who does not join them will certainly be damned.
TABLE RAPPING—The ingenious mechanism of a spirit-
rapping table is exposed by Mr. Anderson, the Wizard of
the North, in the course of his entertainment. The geniuS
of spirit-rapping is galvanism. An electro-magnet, con-
cealed in the substance of the table, a small hammer
,attached to it, a couple of wires going somewhere to some-
body who has a galvanic battery at command, and you
have the , apparatus complete. • Mr. Anderson's table
answers questions of any kind in the most animated man-
ner—tells young ladies when they are going to be married,
and young gentlemen what the nature of their thoughts
is ; spells words of fifteen syllables, calculates a sum in
decimal fractions ; is as intelligent, courteous, and amusing
as any table could possibly be expected to be.
CONSERVATIVE LAND SOCIETY.—The fifteenth public
drawing, to determine the rotation of 104 rights of choice,
on all the unallotted estates, took place on Saturday week,
at the offices; 33, Norfolk-street, Strand, London. Henry
Pownall, Esq., chairman of the bench of Middlesex magis-
trates, the Rev. Dr. Worthington, and Mr. Win. Cribb,
members of the Executive Committee, assisted by Mr. C.
E. Las Vis, the solicitor, and Mr. C. L. Gruneisen, the
secretary, superintended the drawing, with the co-opera-
tion of the scrutineers selected from the numerous share-
holders who were present. The continted extraordinary
progress of the society was proved by the share 8,836 being
the final number placed iii the wheel prior to the extrac-
tion of the numbers. The subscribed capital of £441,800
has thus been attained in seventeen months, and nearly
2,500 shares have been placed on the register of rights,
either by completion, drawing, or seniority, no less than
795 of the first thousand shares being now on the list by
date of membership. The sixteenth public drawing was
announced for Wednesday, the Ist of March, in Free-
masons'-hall, at the sixth quarterly, meeting of the mem-
bers, Viscount Ranelagh in the chair. The allotment of
the Castle-hill, Reading, estate, in Berkshire, will take
place on the Ist of March. Meetings would be held in
Rending on the 20th instant, and at Worcester on 27th,
to ex,piaiu the plan and objects of the eeFletY.