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^^^^^^^ I ^ HgBI ^^ HHa ^^ MMH ^^^ H ^^^ B ^ HM ^ HHi ^ HHM ^^ MH ^ HM ^^^^ MBaB ^ Bava ^ H ^^^^^^^^^^ H and Parliament ought to insist upon the law being obeyed . The college should be thoroughly reformed . At present , the canon law taught there is contrary to the common law ; all kinds of casuistry are applied for the evasion of oaths ; and Professor Murray has laid it down as a rule that a law of the land opposed to " the Church" is invalid . Mr . Keogh replied to the remarks of Mr . Whiteside , whom he accused of deserting the report of the commissioners , and resorting for evidence to stale and obsolete sources . The real question was , whether out of the 50 , 000 , 000 / . raised from all classes of the community large sums should be devoted to the education of Protestants and Presbyterians , but that a grant to
six millions of Roman Catholics in Ireland should be stigmatised as a national sin . Mr . Keogh defended Professor Murray from the attacks of Mr . Whiteside , whose ill-will he attributed to personal feelings , the Professor in one of his books having called Mr . Whiteside " a parliamentary wind-bag . " In common with Mr . O'Brien , he cited passages disproving the suspicions which are entertained against the teaching at Maynooth . The commission which had issued recommended certain reforms ; but Mr . Spooner ¦ would not be content with reform , but would annul the institution altogether . The grant to the Catholics was to be taken away ; but nothing was to be said of the enormous endowments of the Established
church of the Protestant University of Ireland . Mr . Thomas Chambers opposed the grant , accused Mr . Keogh of having evaded the question , and affirmed that in the last ten years there have been the most flagrant nggressions upon the constitution by Roman Catholic priests of the ultramontane party in Ireland . —On the motion of Mr . Maguiue , the debate was again adjourned .
GOLD FINOER RINGS . Leave was given to introduce a bill for excepting gold finger-rings from the operation of the act of last ression relating to the standard of gold and silver wares , and a bill to abolish the offices for assaying and marking wrought plate at York , Exeter , Chester , and Newcastle-upon-Tyne . On Thursday , the debate was again renewed , and ¦ was grounded this time on the question whether the words " owing to the refusal of Russia to restrict the strength of her navy in the Black Sea , " as proposed by Mr . Lowe , should be inserted after the passage in Sir Francis Baring's motion , expressing the regret of the House that the Conferences have not led to a termination of hostilities . The first speaker was
Mr . Roebuck , who , after begging the indulgence of the House in consideration of his weak state of health , and premising that his remarks would be but brief , commented on the change which had come over the opinions of Sir James Graham since his secession from the present Government . Before that time , he had been one of the most energetic advocates for the strenuous prosecution of hostilities ; now , he had become the advocate of peace . What had occurred to cause this change ? Has any one object for which we went to war been obtained ? Had the power of Russia been crippled ? Is Turkey—is Europe—any the safer ? Yet Sir Jumes Graham : aid that the
objects of the war are accomplished , and that we might retire with our military honour untarnished . Why , there is not a tiibe in the Eastern deserts who would not say we retired because we could not take Sebastopol . True it is that the Russian armies have retreated beyond the Pruth ; but what security have we that within ten days they would not , under such circumstances , be on the Danube again ? He did not impute to Sir James Graham that he is a friend of Russia ; but he believed that , through a mistake , he had not been the friend of England , and , having made a mistake , his judgment is no longer to bo trusted upon this question . It is thought that there is still a discordant element in the Cabinet .
" I say to the noble lord at the head of the Government that it is felt out of doors that there are persons still in his administration whocntcrtain similaropinions upon this question with those who have left it ; and the person I allude to more especially is the noble lord the member for London . The reason I say this is , that the noblo lord hold or acquiesced in language at the conferences of Vienna which was unworthy of any English minister . I say that no English ministor—especially the author of reform in parliament—ought to have put his hand to that protocol , the object of which was to tuko from an independent people the power of
self-government . ( Cheers . ) English interests aro the interests of the world—her interests aro the interests of civilisation and aolf-governmcnt ; but in this caso the noble lord sided with the despots of the world , who would crush an independent people and deprive them of the right of managing their own concerns . The House well knows the protocol to which 1 allude . A minister of England , understanding the intercuts of England and the part Austria was playing , should havn whispuriM . 1 into tho oar of Austria throo words — I know thoro tiro persons in . this House who will raise their voice ugniuut mo when I mention them , but I know also that the time will come when thoao throo words will bo tho -watchworda of
Europe and of good government—the three words I would have whispered in the ear of Austria are , ' Poland , Hungary , Italy . ' ( Cheers . ) It may be said I am now raising the question of nationalities . I take the part of" nationalities against despots always ; and I firmly believe that Austria , if these three words had been whispered in her ear , would have understood her position , and not have played fast and loose with this country and with France , but would have trembled before the spirit which those three words would have conjured up before her . I am quite aware what I incur by this declaration ; but , feeble as I am to express adequately the feelings 1 entertain , I am yet strong in the conviction that in the three words I have mentioned is the talisman of European safety . " He did not think that Lord Palmerston is of the same wavering disposition as some of his late and
present colleagues . un me contrary , ne that the Premier would always keep before his eyes the interests of England , and would not be tempted by personal considerations to vacillate in his purpose . In carrying on a war which is to maintain the cause of civilisation against barbarism , we must retain firmly by the force of arms what we have gained honestly by the same means . Our object being to cripple Russia , what we take from her we must keep . " These are significant phrases , and I mean them to be so . ( Cheers . ") In dealing with Russia as our enemy we are no longer to consider her honour , but to consider mankind as our allies—to consider that we are fighting the battle of mankind , and that in crippling Russia we are benefiting the whole human race . " ( Loud cheers . )
Mr . Sidney Herbert commenced by defending Sir James Graham from the remarks of Mr . Roebuck , and by denying that the Duke of Newcastle had pledged the country that there should be no peace until Sebastopol was captured or destroyed . In proof of this denial , he quoted the exact words , which , however , though textually different , had substantially the same purport . He then proceeded to remark that errors have arisen , owing to two things essentially distinct having been confounded—namely , the operations of war as a means to an end , and the end itself . 11 ^ was true he had advocated the going to war with Russia , and that he now was in favour of concluding hostilities ; but the difference arose from his believing that the objects of the war have been
attained . ± ne original oDjects were , me aorogauon of that network of treaties by which Russia held Turkey in her grasp ; the abolition of the exclusive protectorate of the Principalities ; and the freedom of the navigation of the Danube . In none of the public documents which set these objects forth is there any mention of " limitation / ' That is a child of after growth . With respect to the actual progress of hostilities , we have not done justice to our own military successes , or to the extent of the submission Russia has been compelled to endure .
" It has been said that the submissions of Russia are comparatively small , and are the results of victories , and not of negotiations . But the object of negotiations is not to obtain submissions , but to arrange terms based upon the submissions won in the field . With regard to those submissions , Russia has been compelled to evacuate the Principalities ; her fortifications on the Circassian coast have been abandoned and destroyed ; Bomarsund has been captured ; the two seas which had been regarded almost as Russian lakes are blockaded ; the provinces where tho nobles are Russians , and the people Poles , are , it is understood , in a state of inanition ; there is growing discontent amongst the nobility , who have been accustomed to seek abroad those pleasures they cannot find at homo ; and lastly , there is tho inability of Russia—the strongest military power in Europe—to expel from its shores two hostile armies encamped upon its soil . There is also the fact that the iiect of Russia is
unable to have the protection of its forts ; and there is likewise tho recent reverses at Kertch and in the Sea of Azof . " In reply to Mr . Collier ' s assertions that the bombardment of Odessa and the attack upon Kertch had been delayed owing to the influence of himself ( Mr . llerburt ) and his colleagues Sir James Graham and Mr . Gladstone , he read despatches from the Admiralty , of the date of last October and December , showing that orders were then given for the prosecution of those operations . But Admiral Dundas had not attacked Odessa , and for this reason
that both tho English and French generals were of opinion that the destruction of that place would liberate a large body of troops , who would go to swell the army in the Crimea . Many persons said , " Why did not Admiral Lyons capture tho straits of Kertch before- V" Tho reply of Sir JamcH Graham to this was , that Russian vessels were sunken in that passage . People now say , there were no vessels thoru . But Sir Edmund Lyons , in his despatch received tho previous night , informed us that vessels had been sunk there , but had been curried away by tho current during tho winter months . As regards the negotiations , ho did not know how the question of limitation arose , nor who
made it a sine qua non . In looking through the papers , he did not find that France or Austria so regarded it ; and he believed that interpretation oi the Third Point to be now quite defunct , and to have scarcely a friend in that House . He thought that the Russian proposal of opening the Dardanelles was the best . Had there been at the commencement of the difficulties two fleets belonging to France and England in the Black Sea , the war might have been prevented . As regards Mr . Roebuck's proposal to whisper the words " Poland , Hungary Italy , " in the ear of Austria , we must recollect that , with respect to the last nation , we must also whisper its name in the ear of an Italian power which is
supported by our ally . France , he believed , was nearer making peace than we . The French people have no great interest in the war ; and it is strongly suspected that the Emperor would have accepted the late terms had he not been influenced by England . Turkey is , moreover , endangered by the war . Mr . Herbert then read an extract from a letter of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe , written in the autumn of 1853 , in which it is urged that Turkey should accept the terms then offered , as the continuance of hostilities would be most injurious to her ; also a portion of a despatch of
Lord Clarendon of about the same date , to the effect that " even if the aggression of Russia was effectually repelled by a war , Turkey in the meanwhile would be ruined , and it would be found impossible to restore to her her integrity , and to maintain her independent . " Turkey is beginning to be jealous of her allies , and to think tnat the country is suffering more from their presence than it could suffer from the Russians . Having thus stated what he conceived to be the difficulties and dangers of our present situation , he left the subject to the consideration of'the House .
Mr . JJkummond thought that the war had arisen out of a false conception of the character of Russia , and a hatred of her , which had been fomented ^ for many years , and which the Government by various unworthy means had done its best to increase . Mr . Cobden had always held the power of Russia cheap . We talk of the war being undertaken in the interests of civilisation ; but it is an abuse of terms to speak of civilisation in connexion with Turkey . —Mr . Serjeant Shee spoke in favour of the Russian proposition for opening the Straits . Not having accepted that proposition , there is no alternative but to continue the war until the power of Russia is utterly destroyed . But , supposing that destruction to be effected , the Greek subjects of the Porte would be left
without protection . He trusted the House would not pass any resolution declaring that all chance of negotiation had failed . —Mr . Axcock thought the failure of the negotiations owing to our not having taken Sebastopol . We ought to have taken Anapa ; and our diplomatic relations with Persia had been faulty . —Sir Henry Willoughbv should vote for the amendment of Sir Francis Baring , without the alteration proposed by Mr . Lowe . —Sir William Clay approved of the course pursued by Government . —Lord Robert Cecil held that the making of the proposal of limitation an ultimatum was highly insulting , to Russia ; and , besides that , it was utterly futile , since there could be no security for her keeping to the agreement had she made it .
Mr . Bright , in a speech of great length , opposed the whole tendency and spirit of the war , and prophesied great disasters as the consequence of our persisting in hostilities . There had been from the first a great deal of obscurity as to the objects of the struggle . Lord John Russell talked of the liberties and civilisation of Europe ; but Poland and Hungary had been quite thrown overboard , and no doubt Italy would be before long . He had also said , " Be it always remembered that we are seeking no object of our own . " It seemed strange to him ( Mr . Bright )
that we should go to war for objects of somebody else . Then , again , it was the general system of Europe for which we are fighting . The whole thing , in fact , always resolves itself into some general mystification . As to the proposal made by Lord John Russell at the Conferences , it was not a legitimate development of the Third Point , since , instead of merely reducing the power of Russia m tho Black Sea , it would transfer tho supremacy in that sea from Russia to the Allies ; and it must be acknowledged that Russia has tho best »» " * *» ™ , ° " * ^ "f locality . By this proposal , Eng and , trance , and Turkey were to have twenty ships , „ nd " fourBesides thisTurkey
K ^ Wto haveonly . , miirht have any fleet it pleased in the Bosphorus , Zl the Allies n ^ ht , have w hat ships they chose in the Me 1 iterrnnoan . The first Russian proposition was tor the throwing open of the Straits ; and it would be or to tr " interest of Europe if that wore done , The pre ponderance of Russia , in the sense in which wo oJ ? understand it , would bo absolutely destroyed if hcm ' Struits were thrown open . It is said that tho Sultan's sovereignty would be menaced by such mi St but is not tho sovereignty of tho Czar as dear to him as tho Sultan ' s ? Assuming that thero really is any diflerunco butwuon tho two Russian plans uud those of our Government , is that difference worse than
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m June 9 , 1855 . J THE LEADER . 533
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 9, 1855, page 533, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2094/page/5/
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