THE EASTERN QUESTION – PRINCE GORTSCHAKOEF'S REPLY.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 17, Issue 931, 31 January 1871, Page 3

THE EASTERN QUESTION - PRINCE GORTSCHAKOEF'S REPLY.

St. Petersburg, Pec. 1.

The following is the full text of Prince £ortschakoff's reply to Lord Granville, beiDg a despacth addressed to Baron #runnow, dated Tsarskoe Selo, Bth (20th) November, 1870 •: Monsieur le Baron, —The Ambassador of England has read and left with me a copy of Lord Granville's despatch in reply to our communication of October 19. I hastened to submit it to His Majesty the Emperor. Our august Master was pleased to point out that it contained, in the first place, an expression of the earnest desire of the Cabinet of London to preserve cordial relations between England and Russia ; and, secondly, an assurance that the Cabinet would not have refused to enter into an examination of the results of the Treaty of 1856, so far as they had been modified by circumstances, As for the question of strict right stated by Lord Granville, we have no wish to enter into any discussion, recall any precedent, cite any example. Such a controversy would jn no way promote the good understanding which we desire. Our august Master had to discharge an imperious duty to his own country, without wishing in any way to injure the Governments which were signatories of the Treaty of 1856. On the contrary, his Imperial Majesty appeals to their sense of justice, and to their regard for their own dignity. We regret to see that Lord Granville addresses himself principally to the form of our communications. The form was not our choice. We could have asked nothing better, surely, than to attain our end by an agreement with the signatories of the Treaty of 1856. But the principal Secretary of State of Her Britannic Majesty well knows that the attempts made at different times to assemble the Powers in a general Conference with a view to remove the causes of difficulty which disturb the general peace have invariably failed. The prolongation of the present crisis, and the absence of a regular Government in prance, postpone still further the possibility of such an agreement. Meanwhile, the position in which the Treaty left Russia has become more and more intolerable. Lord Granville will agree that the Europe of to-day is very far from beiug the Europe which signed the Treaty of 1856. It was impossible that Russia should agree to remain the only Power bound indefinitely by an arrangement which, onerous as it was at the time when it was concluded, became daily weaker in its guarantees. Our august Master has too deep a sense of what he owes to his country to force it to submit any longer to an obligation against which the national sentiment protests. We cannot admit that the abrogation of a purely theoretical principle to which no immediate effect is given, and which simply restores to Russia a right of which no great Power could consent to be deprived, should be considered as a menace to peace ; or that in annulling one point of the Treaty of 1856, there is an implication that all are annulled. The Imperial Cabinet never had any such intention. On the contrary, our communication of October 19 declares, in the most explicit terms, that His Majesty the Emperor fully maintains his adhesion to the general principles of the Treaty of 1856, and that he is ready to come to an agreement with the signatory Powers of that Treaty, either to confirm its general stipulations, or to renew them, or to substitute for them any other equitable arrangement which may be thought suitable to secure the repose of the East and the equilibrium of Europe. There seems, then, to be no reason why the Cabinet of London should not, if it please, enter into an explanation with the signatories of the Treaty of 1856. For our part, we are ready to join in any deliberation having for its object the settlement of guarantees for the consolidation of peace in the East. We are persuaded that fresh guarantees would be found in the removal of a permanent cause of irritation between the two Powers the most directly interested. Their mutual relations would be more firmly established on the basis of a good and solid understanding. You are de« sired, M. le Baron, to read this despatch to Lord Granville, and to leave a copy of it with him. The Principal Secretary of State of Her Britannic Majesty has expressed to us the regret that he will feel jf this discussion should disturb the harmony which the Government of Her Majesty the Queen has striven to main-

tain between the countries. Be good enough to express to his Excellency how entirely his regret would be shared by the Imperial Cabinet. We believe that a good understanding between the two Governments is exceedingly advantageous to the two countries, as well as to the peace of the world. It is with lively satisfaction that we have seen our relations during late years grow more and more close and cordial. The grave circumstances in which we find ourselves at this moment seem to us to make this more desirable than ever. (Signed) GORTSCHAKOFF."