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Leader (1850-1860), 26th January 1856, Edition 1 of 2, Page 83, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENT !? . ' ¦ Vindex" has undoubtedly a perfect right to be heard on the subject of his communication , and we shall be doing him no more than justice in allo « ing him an opportunity to make the fullest , explanations . But would it not be better to allow really trifling inaccuracies to pass unnoticed ? However , if headhereR to his desire that his letter shall be published , we wi il make room for it in our ensuing number . It bay reached us too late for insertion this week . Baltic . —Our correspondent informs us in a postscript that ho . has enclosed his card . Thio . however , he has omitted

      to do ; and as our rule is absolute , we cannot insert his letter . We b « 'n to assure him , however , that he has , in a manner not unusual to hasty readers , strained the meaning of the sentence he disputes . The fact that Admiral Dundas was summoned to the Council of War indicated simply that he had not been •' shelved . " "Why General Airey was called we cannot , any more than our correspondent , undertake to explain . X . Y . Z . —( Inic Palmer . )— If our correspondent will send us his name and addr « bs , we will give him that of our correspondent . During the session of Parliament it is often impossible to find room for correspondence , even the briefest .

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      Untitled Article

      COUNT MONTALEMBERT OX ENGLISH DESTINIES . " What . will become of England ? " M . de Montalembert proposes the question , because he says , in the opinion of the world England ' has attained *^ her apogee , and even her own citizens bewail her inevitable decline , But , interposes M . de Montaxembekt , she is not yet fated ^ to decay . ; her safeguards are greater than ^' her dangers ; and he undertakes to describe these dangers and safeguards , and thence to deduce the probabilities of our political . future .

      His qualifications for this task are peculiar . He knows more , probably , of English manners and institutions than any other Frenchman ; he lias studied English literature , and conversed with English statesmen in their own language . Generous in his sentiments , he is perfectly just in his intentions , and is disposed neither to exaggerate the perils of a free Constitution , nor to conceal its virtues . It results that he suggests many profound reflections , falls into no ridiculous errors , and reads to

      Englishmen a lesson oa their laws , and on their political habits , which they may study with advantage * and without pain . His theory is , perhaps , the converse of M . Ledru Holltn ' s , but in itlo otlier respect is any comparison possible . M . ; JLeduu Rollin composed a chimerical libel , assuming the decline of England , and attributing it to the corruption of our aristocracy , and the avarice of our middle classes . But he wrote in ignorance . M . i > k AIontalemhekt , possessing a knowledge rare among

      foreigners , writes under the influence oi natural prejudices , which have misled him , and may mislead his readers . When we find M . m : Mont . vlkmbekt glorifying our Constitution , and warning us to reform no more , lest by disturbing the edifice we destroy its solidity , we are forced to ask , who is M . dk Montalemueiit ? Why is he perplexed by fear ol change ? What does he understand hy Innovation ? M . i > k Montau : mi $ i' . ut , dismayed by family

      traditions , dreads " progress " as the precursor of anarchy . To him , uiul to In : order , the epoch in which a liouuiioN throiu was encircled by a feudal noblesse wa tin- epoch of peace and felicity . They w \ v dwelt ' in the castles felt all the warmt and safety within , ami saw not the shadows c the castle-towers . M . w . Montalkmueut , t wliom ( . he revolutionary retrospect is a phar

      Untitled Article

      Dutch organs announced that Russia bad accepted ' the preliminaries of peace . " But the Austrian propositions were not the preliminaries of peace ; noT does it necessarily follow , from the Russian reply , that the preliminaries of peace will be signed . The English . Government hastened to disavow the half-expressed promise of Buol , by reminding Russia that the Austrian propositions were not the propositions of the Allies . They describe the conditions of peace , but are not those

      conditions . Consequently , the Western Powers will frame a series of stipulations , not contradicting , but developing the Austrian plan , and upon these the decision of Russia will be taken . Then will be settled the question between peace and war . The public must remember , however , that further conditions have to be proposed , and that these are not , probably , the least important to the Allies , or the least

      obbelieved , though impatient of any policy not her own , will not abandon England in enforcing the essential submission of Russia . In our own Cabinet , the general opinion is probably in favour of peace , but the peace is not likely to be bought by any disgraceful compromise . We have described , we believe , the actual state of the negotiations . All that has been done has been done between the enemy , and a neutral : Great Britain and France remain as

      yet in ignorance of the manner in which , their distinct propositions will be met . They must give their own interpretation to the Austrian clause , which stipulates for the neutralisation of the Black Sea ; they must protect the Danube from German as well as from Russian encroachment ; they must extirpate the incipient power that would in a few years menace

      the Baltic from the Aland Isles ; they must provide for the perplexing questions that arise o \ it of the fall of Kars . They are in a position to argue with dignity against any evasive reply on the part ofRussia , for they are fully armed ; and , we believe , they have a new ally ready in the North , whenever they may decide that the aid of Sweden is worth obtaining on her own terms .

      noxious to Russia . When this stage has been reached , the Cabinet of St . Petersburg will transmit its reply , through the mediating Court , to Paris and London . Should it amount to a direct refusal , the negotiations will lapse ; should it be a repetition of the answer given to Austria , the propositions will be signed , and they will constitute preliminaries of peace .

      But there are important steps to be taken before this point is gained . France and England have to formulate , in detail , the primary and secondaiy objects of the war , and" to fix the limits of concession . For , Russia has not pledged herself to positive sacrifices , but , through the official ' journal , announces that she will consent to neutralise the Black Sea , and iC to discuss the other points . " Count Nesselrode , in his Circular , declares that the Czar y ields , for the sake of peace , to the urgency of his friends , aiot to the pressure of his enemies . Of course a first-rate power is

      THE PEACE PRELIMINARIES . The public must remember that hitherto no mutual understanding has been established bet \ yeen Russia and the Western Powers . The Western Powers have not stated explicitly the nature or extent of their demands ; Russia has by no means committed herself to any positive programme of concessions . When Count Esterhazy reached St . ' Petersburg , he delivered to the Russian Minister , not , of course , a plan of peace framed Iry the Allies , but a scheme suggested by the neutral Government of Austria , accompanied by a despatch from Count Bqol . It is well known that at first she

      accepted a . part , and demurred to a part of the proposals , which it had been distinctl y announced must be accepted or rejected as a whole . The Russian reply , therefore , contained reservations which amounted to a refusal . Then , some journals have told us , a high tone was held by the Austrian Minister , and Count Esterhazy prepared to leave St . Petersburg with the Legation . But it is more probable , ' more consonant with circumstances which have since transpired , " 'that another course was taken . Count Nessklhode ' s

      attention would naturally be drawn to the passage in Count Buoi , ' s despatch , in which it was remarked that , although the negotiations had been entirely confined to Austria and Russia , the signature of the propositions by Russia would , if they were signed by the Western Powers also , constitute preliminaries of peace .

      Thus the promise of a suspension of arms wns half implied . What more in harmony with the habitual action of Russia than to purchase an armistice at this easy price ? The Emperor Aucxandkr , no doubt , desires peace , but if pcaco be impassible , he desires , oi course , to carry on tl » 6 war under the most ¦ favourable conditions . Nothing could

      be more advantageous to him than a temporary cessation of hostilities , which might aid him , diplomatically , by throwing on the Allies the responsibility of renewed Avar , and , in a military Ben . se , b y allowing him to strengthou his outposts , while th <» Western Powers relaxed their preparations . Accordingly , tho Russian acceptance , p ur ct simple ( not unconditional ) , oi the' Austrian propositions , was transmitted to Vienna . An d ) immediatel y , the Gorman and

      never expected to make a confession of weakness ;' biit Russia recoils , obviously , from ex ^ haustion . The important question is , has she abandoned her aggressive policy ? If not , what term of repose will enable her to resume it ? How many years would have been added to the expectations of peace by another year of warfare ? We believe this to be the point of view whence the mass of the English public regai'd the proj ected settlement . They feel not merely that Groat Britain had still to assume her full proportions as a belligerent power ; but that Russia had still to receive wounds

      which might have extorted an indemnity and incitpacitatocl her from interrupting , by the violation of a neighbour's frontier , the political concord of the world . We think , it is true , that should Russia accept in good part the propositions of the Allies , her submission would leave the English public without any serious desire to prolong the war . From Count Nesselrodk ' s Circular , however

      and from the language of the oilicial journal , it is evident that , while desirous of peace , the Emperor Alk . vanuku desires to resist the conditions of the Western Powers ; in fact , wants to cut short , tl » e sullcrings of his empire ^ vithout making material concessions . We anticipate obstinate attempts to modify and to compromise , loose and evasive interpretations , iiutl counter-propositions . Already , it is hinted , the neutralism lion of the Black Sea is held uot

      to include the abandonment of the forts on the Circassian const , or oi' NicolaieD " . Ai . kxandeu the Skcond , also , has ) prepared tl » r an appeal to Europe , by putting his moderation iu contrast with the excessive severity which , by anticipation , he imputes to the proposals < jf the Western Powers . The repl y of the lCnglish ministerial journal * to these insinuated propositions , has hitherto been linn , The French Government , it i *

      Untitled Article

      J AWAiiY 26 , 1856 , ] T HE LEAD E R . 83

      Untitled Article

      SATURDAY , JANUARY 26 , 1856 .

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      Untitled Article

      There i 3 nothing so revolutionary , because there is nothing ao unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things fixed ¦ when all the world is by the very law of its creation lm eternal progress .--Dn . Arnold ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 26, 1856, page 83, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2125/page/11/