The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-04-04 00:00:00

THE WAR WITH RUSSIA.

THE all-absorbing topic of conversation during
the past week has been the formal declaration of
hostilities with Russia, to avenge the aggression
upon our Turkish ally, and restrain that lust of
territorial acquisition which appears to have been
the whole object of MuscOvite policy. Great interest
was excited by the departure of troops for the East
and the sailing of the Fleet for the Baltic ; but
those were mere preparatory movements, leaving
still a remote chance that the necessity for their
employment might by some means be avoided.
Now, hqwever, we have an official declaration from
HER MAJESTY in Council, of the verge of forbear-
ance having been iassed, and the matter in dispute
transferred from the peaceful language of diplo-
matic negotiation to the stern decision of military
force. Supplements to the London Gazette of
Tuesday last contained the requisite orders, and as
a peace of forty years' duration has rendered the
style of such documents more a novelty to this
generation than to the preceding one, we have
given them in extenso in another column. The
first is a declaration of the cause which has led to
the resort to arms, recapitulating the facts which
are already well known, of the satisfaction afforded
to Russia on the question of the H4y Places, and
the inordinate claim so peremptorily made through
Prince MBNSCHIKOFF, for a protectorate of the
Christian subjects of the Porte, followed by a forci-
ble possession of the Danubian Provinces. The
refusal of the EMPEROR of RUSSIA to listen to all
offers of mediation, and his evident design to
extend his own territory by the destruction of the
Ottoman Empire, HER MAJESTY considers suffi-
cient justification for taking up arms in conjunction
with the EMPEROR of the FRENCH for the defence
of the SULTAN. In the seeond document, HER
MAJESTY declares her intention to waive a part of
her belligerent rights, and, with the exception of
articles contraband of war and vessels bearing the
enemy's despatches, admits the freedom of neutral
property and enemy's property on board a neutral
vessel. By the third document, HER MAJESTY
grants general reprisals against the vessels and
goods of the EMPEROR of RUSSIA. and all his sub-
jects, and orders a Commission of Admiralty to be
prepared for the condemnation of prizes. By the
fourth document an embargo is laid on all Russian
vessels and goods in British ports, except under
special circumstances named in the succeeding
document, in which it is stated that such vessels
shall be allowed until the 10th of May for loading
and departure, and Russian vessels bound for Bri-
tish ports, sailing before the above date, shall' also
be exempt ; but the principle is not to extend to
Russian vessels having on board any military or
naval officer in the service of the enemy, any arti-
cle contraband of war, or any despatches to or from
the Russian Government. Another proclamation,
which, from its great length, we have not given,
contains minute instructions respecting the division
of prize money, between the officers and men
engaged in the capture.
On Friday the Ministers in both Houses of
Parliament moved an Address to Her MAJESTY, in
reply to the message delivered on Monday, and in
each place the motion was agreed to unanimously,
The debates, however, produced some remarks
condemnatory of the course pursued by Govern-
ment, though all the speakers, excepting Mr.
BRIGHT, agreed in the propriety of resorting to
force in order to compel the observance of treaties
so wilfully violated by Russia. The Earl of
DERBY showed, in clear and forcible terms, that the
Ministers had no right to complain of deception,
for the secret correspondence demonstrated that
they had been fully aware of the designs of Russia
from the commencement ; and he avowed his belief
that the CZAR would never have attempted to
carry out his intentions, had it not been that the
Earl of ABERDEEN, with whom he had previously
negoclatud, was at the head of the English Minis-
try. He expressed his approval of the war, but
cautioned the Government against entering into
hostilities without making ample provision for a
severe and protracted struggle, as he felt satisfied
that the war once begun would not soon be ended,
and it would be the worst possible policy to hazard
the safety of the British forces by not providing
amply for all contingencies. The same tone was
assumed in the Lower House by Mr. DISRAELI
and other speakers : and we have no doubt that,
after giving due credit to the able statements
made by Lord CLARENDON and Lord JOHN Rus-
SELL, their sentiments will be generally responded
to by all those who take an impartial view of
public affairs. It is not the first time that a
change of ministry in England has furnished an
opportunity for a foreign potentate to carry out
some long-cherished scheme. The return of Lord
PALMERSTON to the Foreign-Office in 1846,
induced LOUIS PHILIPPE to complete his design of
the Spanish marriages, a measure which led to his
own banishment and the accession of a new
dynasty in France. The unexpected elevation of
Lord. ABERDEEN to the premiership was the
signal for the Emperor NICHOLAS to carry out the