The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-04-05

point of securing safe and ready commcaton between
British India and the mother country.
The conversation now drawing towards an end the
Emperor expressed his warm attachment to the Queen
our gracious Sovereign and his respect for her Maesys
present advisers The declarations contained in your
ordshps despatch had BEEN he said very satisfactory
he could only desire that they should be little ampl
fed The terms in which your lordshp had spoken OF
his conduct were the Emperor said, very hatering to
him.
In dismssing me, his Imperial Majesty said, ''Well,
induce your government to write again these sub
jectto write fully and to do without hesita
ton; have confidence in the English government 1t is
not an engagements conventon-whch ask Of them;
word Of gentleman that it Is enough between u.s..
may only add, alphabetically that may possibly
have failed in reporting some part of his Majestys con-
yersation and that am conscious OF having forgotten
the precise terms employed by him with respect to the
commercial policy to be observed at Consantnope when
no longer held by the Turks.
The purport Of the obversation was that England and
Russia had common interest In providing for the
reades TO the Black Sea and the Mediterranean
SIR G. H. SEYMOUR TO THE EARL OF CLARENDON.
ST. PETERSBURG, March 8, 1853.
When waited upon Count Nesselorde the 7th inst,
his Excelency said that In pursuance Of orders which
he had received from the Emperor he had to place in
my hands very confidential memorandum, which his
Imperial Majesty had caused to be drawn up and which
was intended a. an answer to- or comment upon, the
communication which had made to his Imperial Males
rst Count Nesselrode invited me to read the pa
per- He subsequently observed that it, instead of read
ing 1t at the time, chose to take 1t away was at lib
ery to do so that in fact the paper was intended for
Very little conversation upon the subject passed be-
tween the chancellor and me. He observed that should
find in the memorandum indications Of the Emperors
wish to be further informed Of the feelings of her Ma
jesys to what should not be permitted
to take place in the event Of any great catastrophe in
Turkey and my side, remarked that as there is
danger in handling hot GOALS it appeared to desra
BILE that communications upon subject so delicate
shord not be long kept up.
of what under the circumstances which have attended
its drawing up and delivery cannot fail of being consd
cred Of the most remarkable papers which have
been issued, do not say from the Russian Chaucel
lerie, but from the Emperor's secret cabinet.
II would not be difficult either to controvert some Of
the facts which the memorandum advances or to show
that the impression under which 1t has been framed is
incorrect ONE that impression being evidently that
in the disputes carried between Russia and France
her Maestys has leaned partially to the lat
ter power.
Three points appear to to be fully established by
the imperial memorandum the existence Of some distinct
understanding tet,ccen the tco Imperial Courts upon the
sulect Of Turkey and the engagement taken by the Emperor
Nicholas neither 10 possess establish himself in Consta
maple enter into arrangements respecting the
TO be taken in the event Of The fau Of te Ottoman empire
phOut prerious concert acih her Adjesys Government
The wording Of this engagement coupled with the
versaon which had the honor of holding with the EN-
peror leaves upon my mind the impression that whilst
willing to undertake not to make himself the permanent
master Of Constantnope, his Majesty is Intentionally in
explicit as to its temporary occupation
Assuming, certain and acknowledged fact
the existence of understanding compact between
the two Emperors to Turkish affairs it becomes of the
deepest importance to know the extent of the engage
ments entered into between them As to the in
which it has been concluded, conjecture that little
doubt is to be entertained.
between the sovercgns which took place in the autumn
and the scheme has probably been worked out since
under the management Of Baron Meyendor the Russian
Envoy at the Austrian Court who has been passing the
winter at st Petersburg, and is still here
NCLosuRE.
February q, 1853
The Emperor has with the liveliest interest and real
satisfaction, made himself acquainted with the secret
and confidential despatch which Sir Hamilton Seymour
communicated to him. He duly appreciates the frank
which has dictated it. He has found therein fresh
proof Of the friendly sentiments which her Majesty the
In conyersing Familiarity with the British Envoy on the
which, from one day to another, may bring
the fall Of the Ottoman empire, it had by means
tered into the Emperors thoughts to propose for this
contingency plan by which Russia and England should
dispose beforehand OF the provinces ruled the Sultan
ment to be concluded between the two Cabinets It was
purely and simply the Emperors notion that each party
should confdentaly state to the other, less what it
wishes than what it does not wish; what would be
trary to English interests what would be contrary to
Russian interests; in order that the case occurring
There in this neither plans of partition nor conven
ton to be binding the other courts. 1t merely
interchange of opinions and the Emperor sees neces
sy of talking about it before the time It is precisely
for that that he took especial not to make It
the object of an official communication from cabinet
10 another BY combining himself to speaking Of it him
SELF in the shape Of familiar conversation to the Queens
representative he selected the most friendly and conf
dental form Of opening himself with Srankness her
Britannia Majesty, being DESTROYS that the result whatsoever
it niah be- Of these COMMUNICATIONS should remain
the wsh Iod John Russell
raises to concealment regards the other Powers
in the event of formal agreement being entered into of
wi ch there is at present question fall to the ground
and consequently also the inconvenience disappear
which he POINTS out calculated to contribute hasten
land DESTROYS Of nverng if the existence of such an
agreement should become prematurey known to Europe
and to the subjects of the Sultan.
As regards the object Of this wholly confidential inter-
change Of opinions the possible downfall of the Ottoman
Empire doubtless that is but uncertain and
contingency Unquestionably the period of it cannot be
fxd and real crisis has arisen to render the reaza
ton OF 1t imminent But after all it may happen-hap
pen even unexpectedly. Without mentioning the ever
increasing Of dissolution which presented by
the moral financial and administrative condition of the
Porte may proceed gradually from at least of the
two questions mentioned by the English Ministry in its
secret despatch In TRUTH it perceives in those ques
tions only disputes which would not differ in their
of diplomacy But that kind of dispute may never
theess bring on war; and with war the consequences
which the Emperor apprehends from it, it, for instance,
in the affair of the Holy Places the and the
Of France continuing to press upon the Porte
should compel it to refuse all satisfaction and it, the
other hand the religious sentiments of the orthodox
Greeks offended by the concessions made to the Iatns
should raise the immense majority of his subjects
against the Sultan As regards the affair of Montenegro
that according to the late accounts may happily be
looked upon settled But at the time that the Empe
ror had his interview with Sir Hamilton Seymour it
might be apprehended that the question would take
most serious Neither ourselves Austria could
have allowed the proracted devastation forced subms
sion Of Montenegro country which, up to the present
time has continued actually Independent of the Porte
country over which protection has been extended for
more than century The horrors which committed
there those which, by Ottoman fanatcism, have short
time since been extended Bulgaria. Bosnia and the
Herzegovina gave the other Christian provinces of the
Porte only too much to anticipate that the
fate awaited them. They calculated to provoke the
general rising of the Christians who live under the scep
tire of the Turkish empire and to hasten its ruin 1t is
not then, by any MEANS an idle and imaginary question:
contingency too remote, to which the anxiety Of the
Emperor has called the attention of the Queen his ally
In the face of the uncertainty and decay of the exist
ing state Of things in Turkey, the English Cabinet
presses the desire that the greatest forbeaance should
be shown towards the Porte The Emperor is conscious
of having acted otherwise. The English Cabinet
itself admits it, 1t addresses to the Emperor with refer
to the proofs Of moderation which he has
given to the present time praises which his Majesty
will not accept because in that he has only listened to
his overbearng conviction. But in order that the
ccptipua that