The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1854-03-31
News by the Pacific,

huesIa 10 Inc recent IeUer oil Inc Emperor Ma.
PoleOn:
ST.. PETERSBURG, Jan. %, (Feb. 9 1884.
SIRE: | cannot better reply to your majesty
than by repeating, they belong to me, the words
with which your letter terminates: '.Obr relations
ought TO be sincerely amcabie and should be
based upon the same intenlions-ihe maintenance
Of order, the love Of peace respect for treaties, and
reciprocal good feeling. Your majesty, I'm accept
ing this programme as | had traced il, says thai
you remain faithful TO it. | dare believe, and my
conscience tells me so, that have not exceeded
Its limits 4; for in the affair which has excited
division between us, the origin OF which is not to
be attributed 10 me, have always s0ugh; TO main.
tain friendly relations with France, and have al
ways enteavorrd to avoid anything which might
clash with the religion prolessed by your maj sly
have made for the maintenance Of peace all the
concessions, both OF form and substance, com.
paG5e With my honor, and in claiming for my
rriigonists in Turkey the confirmation OF The
rights and privileges which they have long acquired
at the price OF Russian blood, claimed nothing
which was not confrmcd by treaties. If the Porte
had been left TO herself, The difference which has
90 long kept Europe in suspense would have been
solved. fatal influence has thrown everything
into confusion. By provoking gratutous
pcions, by exciting the fanalicsm Of the Turks,
and by deceVing their government to my in
teniion, and The real scope OF my demands, 1t has
90 exaggerated The extent Of the question: That The
probable result seems to be war.
Your majesty must elbow me not 10 enter too
much in details in the circumstances as they pre-.
sent themselves 10 you in your letter, in which
those circumstances marked out. Several
acts on my part, appreciated with little accuracy,
according TO my opinion and more than one fact
perverted, would require, in order to be properly
Pectfed, at least conceive, long developments,
into which it would not be proper to enter in a
correspondence between sovereign and sovereign.
For instance, your majesty attributes TO the Occu-
patton Of the principalies the evil OF having sud-
denly transported that question from the region
OF discussion TO that OF fact; but your majesty
ieaves out OF view the circumstances that this &C.
equation, still purely conditional, was preceded,
and in great measure caused, BY a very important
previous fact, the appearance of the combined fleet
IN the vicinity Of The Dardanelles; and besides this,
much before that period. when England hestated
to assume hostile attitude, your majesty took The
intistlve in sending your fleet as far as Saamis.
This wounding demonstration certainly exhibited
little confidence in me. Ii calculated to
courage the Turks, and to paralyze before hand
the success Of negotiations, by giving them the
idea that France and England were ready to sup
port their cause under all circumstances. In the
same way your majesty makes it appear that the
explanatory commentaries of my cabinet upon the
England to.recommend lis adoption by the Porte
but your majesty may recollect that our common.
iaries followed, and did not preceoe the pure and
simple non-acceptaDce Of the note, and believe
that the powers were so little seriously DESTROYS
Of peace, that they confined themselves to the
claims Of the pure and simple adoption of that note
instead of allowing the Porte to modify what it had
previously adopted without change.
Besides, If any point OF commentaries had
ms ria tn ii I
lutions to them at Olmulz, and such it consid.
cred by Austria aud Prussia. Unfortunately, in
this interval, part of the Ango-F rench feet had
already entered The DardaneIIes under the pre-
text OF there protecting the lives and properties Of
English and French subjectsi and in order TO
allow the whole to enter, without violating the
treaty Of SAL, il necessary that the Ottoman
government should declare war against US. NV
opinion is, that If France and England had desired
peace as much as |, they would at any cost have
prevented :hat declaration of war or, when war
was once declared, have taken that it should |
have been restrained within the narrow limits to
which wished to cohine it on the Danube; so
hat ] mil ht not be compelled by force 10 abandon
he purely defensive system which wish 10 adopt |
But from the moment when the Turks were al |
owed 10 attack our Asistic territory, to carry
away one of our frontier posts, (eyen before the |
ERIN fixed for the commencement of hostiIiIies, |
q blockade AkhalitZik, and TO ravage the province
'f Armenia-lrom the moment when the Turkish |
leet were allowed 10 transport troops, arms, and |
munitions OF war TO our coast, could il be
Iby hoped that we should wait patiently the re.
uIt Of such an attempt Was it not to be supposed
hat we should do all We could to prevent it The
fair Of Sinope the result of il. That was the
orced consequence of the attitude adopted by the
wo powers. and the result certainly could not
ave been unexpected. had declared my wish
D remain upon the defensive, but before war broke
Ut as far as my honor and my interest could
ermit me to do so, and so long as the war was
esirained within certain limits. Has all been done
which ought to have been done 10 prevent these
mits being exceeded!
IL the character OF spectator, or even that Of
ledato-, was not sufficient for your majesty, and
your majesty wished TO become the armed aux.
larry Of my enemies, then, sire, il would have
cen more honorable and more worthy of you to
ave told me SO frankly beforehand, by declaring
ar agains; me. Each of us would then have
the part he had tn play. But is it an equn-
lole P'"I ding for those to make crime Of that
ven aner rs happened. which they did
lothng 70 prevent !" the cannon-shot of Sinope
everberated painfully on he hearts If all those
rho in France and England aPp.~c;ote the na,ionaI
igniy, does your majesty think thai Ie menncno
resence, at the entrance Of the BosphorG- If the
lree thousand pieces Of cannon of which ,,u
peak, and the report Of their entry into the Black
ea, remain without echo in the hearts Of the ma
on whose honor have to defend learn from