On this page
-
Text (2)
-
1210 * THE LEAMB, [Sattjupay,
-
THE WAR The following despatch lias boon...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
House Of Commons. The Tka Duties. The Ci...
THE STCK AOT > "WOTTNDEI ) A"T SCUTARI . Bfr . Sr . Kerbbkt , ia reply to Mr . WHiTEsrDE , stated that the latest returns received were dated the 25 th of September and the 5 th . of December . The last accounts from Balaklava save the numbers in the field and general officers at 2393 ; and in the hospitals at Scutari at 3550 ; making a total of 5943 . He was afraid , however , that the subsequent returns ¦ w ould show a considerable addition to those numbers . The stoppag-es deducted from the pay of the sick amounted to threepence-halfpenny per day , which was the same as was exacted from the soldiers , ¦ wh en in health , for their rations .
BLOCKADE OJF WEMEI / . Mr . Disraeli begged to ask if her Majesty ' s Government had received any official account of the blockade of Memo ! by Russian gun boats . " Sir J . Graham : So far from having received any such account , I have every reason to believe that no such blockade has teen established . I have recently received information from Admiral Chads , dated Elsinore , December 15 , and stating that up to the day previous her Majesty ' s cruisers were still in the Baltic . I have no reason to believe that any Russian ships of war have appeared off Mernel , and least of all that they have instituted a blockade against not only a neutral but a friendly port .
PRUSSIAN ARSEKAL IK THE JAHDE . In reply to Mr > OiwA . r , Lord J . Russell said , the British Government had received information from their minister at Berlin to the effect that the Prussian Government had acquired a part of the Duchy of Oldenburg , and that it was their intention to form an arsenal there . It was understood that the Governments of Hanover and Brunswick were inclined to remonstrate against this alienation of territory ; biife her Majesty ' s Government did not think it necessary to make any representation on the subject to the court of Berlin .
-ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOTTSE . "Card J . UussEtx- gave notice that in case the Enlistment Bill should be read a third time that evening-, he would to-morrow move that the House at its rising should adjourn till Tuesday , the 23 rd of January . SSnCISTBCENT OF FORT . IGNERS BttL . Sir E . Dering- moved that the ' bill be read a third time . Mr . Cobden then proceeded to enlarge on the general question of . the -war . He commenced by accusing the war of demoralising a great many members , as it inclined them to vote against their convictions . He then proceeded to say : —
u It -was stated the other night by ttie noble lord the leader of this House that proposals had been made oa the part of the Emperor of ltussia , through Vienna , for peace upou certain bases which have been jjrotty frequently before the world under the designation ¦ of " the four points . " I Avish to draw attention to that subject ; but before I do so , let me premise that I do not intend to say one word with regard to tlie origin of this unliappy war . I intend to start from the situation in which we now find ourselves ; I think that
it is the province of this House of Commons to express an opinion upon that situation ; and if it be not , as I am going to do , to argue in favour of peace upon tlic terms announced by the Government , at all events , I think honourable members will see that it is absolutely necessary ,. on the other hand—if the war is to go on , if wo arc to carry on a -war of invasion by land against an empire liko Russia—that it should bo carried on in a very different spirit and on a very different scale from what it has hitherto been . "
He never could find out the objects of the war . He thought the feeling against Russia out of doors originated in a notion that she assisted to oppress nationalities , and that class of persona waa fully represented by the late Lord Dudley Stuart ; tliat noble lord ' s sympathy was geographical , extending to all nationalities supposed to be under Kussiua rule . But this notion was more equally determined with the other supposed grounds of the wajr , viz .: — the opening of the BUck Sea , the free navigation of tho Danube , and tho integrity of Turkey , While sympathising with nationalities he could not sanction n , propag-andism carried on by means of vox nnd interference with tho affairs of other countries . The object sUted in the declaration of war was to defend the Turks—and , said hei
" Now , I aalc , have wo not accomplished that object ? Have -wo not arrived at that point when wo can Bay , all that was promised in the Queen ' a npeech has "boon effected . Russia , ia no longer within the pule of tho Turkish territory . Russia , 1 believe , hna renounced all intention of invading- Turkey 5 and now wo have , according to tlio noble lord , certain proposals mndo from Uuaain to servo an a basin of peace . What aro those propouala ? In the nrat ptaco there ia to bo ft joint protootomto , by tho Five Groat Powers of Europo , of the Christiana of Turkey . Thoro la to bo a joint guarantee- foK tho rlghta nnd p-rlvilogoa of tho Principalities . There is to be » revocation of tho . nuo laid down in 1841 with , rcfti 1 * £ tho riKl' * ° * entran < - ' « of » ' »» pa of war into tho JJJhcIc Boa ; and the Danube ia to bo free to all nations .
These are the propositions that are made For peace on behalf of Russia , as we are told by the noble lord ; and what I want to ask the House is , whether it is not competent for us to offer an opinion , at the present moment , as to the desirability of treating on these terms ? My first reason for urging that we should entertain , these terms is this : —We are told that Austria and Prussia have agreed to those terms . Now , Austria and Prussia are more interested in this quarrel than England is—a great deal more than England ought to be . " If Austria and Prussia , who were so much more interested , than we were , was willing to accept these propositions , why should not we ? As to the governments and peoples of Germany not being in
harmonj--, be believed , at least in Prussia , nineteentventieths of the population would go with the king . Had England abstained from war , and occupied the same ground as Austria and Prussia , Russia would equally have evacuated the Principalities . Was this war to continue because we were Quixotically ready to fight for everybody that was supposed to be wronged ? If so , where was it to end ? He strongly advocated that present propositions to negotiate ought to be sufficient to secure peace , and unless you could secure some great object commensurate with the sacrifices that were being made , we might make
peace . He contended that even the taking of Sebas-¦ topol and the occupation of a portion of the Crimea , was not such an object , and npt being the real stronghold of Russia , would not touch the vitality of her power . He sneered at the Turks and their national and physical condition , insinuating that they ¦ w ere not worth the ' sacrifices ' that were being niade for them ; and it was a great delusion to suppose that they were capable of independence and selfgovernment . He urged that the House ought to encourage Government to accept every indication of peace from the enemy , and if they erred , it would at least be on the side of humanity .
The debate then ran without an exception through a series of the lesser members , including such names as Mr . Cokry , Mr . Vincent Scully , Mr . I , Bijtt , Mr . La . isg , & c , until about eleven o ' clock , when Lord John Russelx rose , and expressed his reluctance to enter into the arguments with regard to the bill . He confessed that if we had 200 , 000 or 250 , 000 British troops he should not think this hill necessary , but situated as we were it was indispensable . Its opponents endeavoured to stir up popular feeling against it , and when its defenders stated plainly the facts which caused it , they were called imprudent . Mr . Butt had exclaimed , " If you cannot do without these foreigners , then perish
England ; " a proposition in which he could by no means agree , preferring rather to have foreign troops than to see England perish . He was , for his part , ready to adopt any means to bring' this contest to a successful termination . With regard to the outcry against taking mercenaries when , as was said , the enthusiasm of the people could be relied on for abundance of recruits , the plain fact was that notwithstanding that enthusiasm the number of recruits required was not to be got . As to Mr . Cobden ' s speech , his whole argument was founded on a supposed origin of the war ,
which was not the true one , viz ., a propagandism ot liberal principles . That was not the object , bnt the object to check the aggrandisement of Russia , to hold back barbarism and advance civilisation . The war was but the fulfilment of the prophecy of the first Napoleon , that if anything could unite France and England it would be resistance to the aggression of ilussia on Turkey . In one point , however , Napoleon was mistaken , and that was in supposing that Austria would be a partaker m the spoil- The rest of bis arguments contained nothing very novel 5 but ho concluded as follows : —
" I have said that tho war was undertaken , not for any speculative object , but becauso there wa » an aggression of tho Emperor of Russia against his neighbour . The hon . member for Manchester , in a letter which ho hna very widely circulated—not being ablo to justify mich a fact as this , that tho Emperor of Russia sent to Constantinople a message , saying— ' Sign a note which I will dictate , or within eight clays your territory shall bo occupied '—finding that a nmttor rather difficult of justification , ho saya that my noble friend and 1 did that which was just as bnd—that wo sent a fleet to Athens , with a menace to bombard it . That ia not exactly true . Tlio fact is , that some English Hubjeeta had been injured in thoir property , and the fleet ; wan sent
there to interrupt tho trade- until tho pecuniary losses were satisfied ., and that object yvtw attained . But aa to any throat of bombarding Athens , such a thiiiff waa never thought of . ( Cfteera . ) I havo um < l « those romiirks , because tho hon . member for tho "West Riding , at tho ooinmoncomont of tli ' ia difluiiHsionin a very fair and temperate- spoeoh , I must may—niado observation * an to tlxo nature of the war . All that 1 wished to do waw , to point out that thoro must be Homo HecuritioH for poaco , nnd lot mo way , having stated at thu end of tho diaeuHnlon . on tho fimt night ; of t . ho action what Avoro tho gonoml proviaionH of tho treaty with Autttrin , 1 think the Hohbo will admit that I did not doc « ivo thorn on thai , uubjoct , and did not ovoratato its
provisions . If I had done so I should have been justly chargeable with misleading the House and attempting to give an exaggerated notion of the provisions of that treaty . Having stated that , I must now repeat that my beliesf is , that although not contained in the literal terms of the treaty , Austria will find that , as we do mot propose to diminish the territory of Eussia , as we propose to leave her a great and powerful state , and only seek for . securities which are as necessary for Austria as thev are for England or for France , in order to obtain an honourable and a durable peace— -that unless Ilussia shall content to such terms—such fair and moderate terms—as it v . ill be our duty to propose whenever the minister of the Emperor of Russia shall declare that lie is directed to enter
into negotiations—I feel convinced that if those terms are not accepted by the Emperor of Russia—that if he is of opinion that that great scheme which was begun in the reign of Catharine , if not before , that great scheme which is to end in adding Turkey to tho dominions of Ilussia , must be persevered in—then , that we shall have , before the opening of the next campaign , the alliance of Austria with us . in an offensive aiul defensive war . ( Cheers . ') I have stated that Austria is not literally bound to any such course ; but I think that she is morally bound by the stipulations into - which she has entered . 1 have always been of opinion that we should be obliged to have a long and protracted war , unless Austria was a party with , us in that war . But I do believe that if Austria
joins us , and if this should lead to the accession of Prussia to the alliance , that we shall be iu a positioa before very long to say that the war -will not be protracted , and that it -will be ended by a durable , satisfactory , and homrarable peace . { Cheers . ' ) I could not avoid making these explanations . I have nothing to add with respect to the bill immediately before the House ] indeed , I have not heard any new arguments to-night . If gentlemen wish to continue the discussion of that bill I can have no objection to it ; but it seems to nae that the bill has been sufficiently considered , and that , after no very long time , it will be generally admitted that the measure has been a beneficial one . ' ( Cheers . ')
Sir John PakincTon followed , but there was nothing very striking , as may be supposed , iu his speech . He defended Mr . Disraeli against an attack of Lord John , vith regard to his " gloating over our disasters at Sebastopol , " which he likened to the ' * abuse of the plaintiff ' s attorney in a bad case . ' " He criticised the conduct of the Government with , regard to the expedition to the Crimea , but with no great brilliancy , only repeating a former speech of his . Mr . Bkight complained that Lord John had not fairly represented Mr . Cobden ' s arguments . The noble lord had invoked the status quo , which-nobody had set up ; what Mr . Cobden had said of the
character and condition of the Turks was . only in refutation of the monstrous statements of Lord Palmerston Avith regard to the progress of that country , He accused lord John of disingenuousness and , shifting the issue , did so in the plainest terms , undeterred by Ministerial interruptions . He urged that the Mahometan part of the Turkish population , as contradistinguished from the Christian population , were in a decaying state , and that the two empires which undertook to set Turkey on her legs -would have a more difficult task than tliey
imagined . In the extreme jeopardy of Turkey this country was taking a course which , in his opinion , would only tend to her destruction . The lino of argument then taken by Mr . Bright was pretty much that which he took in his recently published letter , and it was delivered with great force and energy—urging that the basis on which Kussiti was willing to treat was sufficient to ensure peace , and that the carrying on of a , war for purposes cither of vengeance or conquest was a crime in the eyes of Oud and man . On n division tho member ? were , for tho reading , 173 ; against ; it , 135 ; majority , 38 .
1210 * The Leamb, [Sattjupay,
1210 * THE LEAMB , [ Sattjupay ,
The War The Following Despatch Lias Boon...
THE WAR The following despatch lias boon received from Admiral Hamelin , addressed to tho Minister of Marine : — " Bay of Kainiesdi , Doc . 12 . " Four thousand three hundred »> on arrived on tlio 10 th , with ammunition . " A brittle cannonade- has l > e ( ui kept up fov tho last two days . " The cnomy has made « omo vigorous hoi'U < m on our own and on thu FAigllah linos . " They were driven back by our niutfkotry , hihI i " nomo iiitttmiucH at tho point of tlio bayonet , al ' ler < t luu'cc rouitttauco . " The ropoTt that 00 , 000 men had passed Perecvop to join tho Ituuainn army in tho Crimea , is , wo learnt from a good source , entirely untrue . 1 ' roin 15 , 000 to 10 , 000 mon is tho greatest number that U 10 Russians can receive for some wccIcb ,
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 23, 1854, page 10, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_23121854/page/10/
-