ENGLAND AND THE WAR.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 159, 7 July 1877, Page 4

ENGLAND AND THE WAR.

From an interesting letter receive! af?? tbe tChriatoharph Press by the Sues , ss^il from its London correspoiadent .^ader dato May 11, wfl;. extraot the; i i Johti Bali is sorely perplexed between v,i__.ordß Beacoosfield and Derby on the oue ai(_a ; aad fifr Gladstone oo tbs other. While the former are showing us the; .Russian i& the true light, the; latter statesman is doipg hia utmost to per.' auade us that it is. purely on philantbropieal principles that he is uow wegItig war against the Turk, and 1 am , bippnd to, add that the right, honorably 1 does hot seem to find it very bk'd to make a grbat ' many people believe that the blaek is white. It is utter folly jto think, as Mr Gladstone' ahd ms disciples would have us think, Russia bas no ether object in view, than the relief of the oppressed Chris-! tians in Turkey.— -The cruelties per-' petratod by. Russia herself within even; the last three or four years fail little; itoort of those " Bulgarian atrocities '* [ . which has. raised her righteous wrath to such an esaltad pitch. Iu 1874! Colonel Mansfield, a : d.elegste of oar wrote ifrom Roland to tLbYd Grahville deacribing how the! .f-daaisa' soldiery actf&g" finder offioial 'jaftudate, aurrotraded- the peasants of a district, and on their refaail to . change j tbeir religion, had given fifty blows to; gyavi. m^,;.waoty-_l?8 to every womao, ; and ten to every child, while one wo- j mm more, obstreperous than the rest; •'receive.! 100. Later these wretched j polish peasants were assembled andj jieaten by the Cossacks nearly to the; point of death, and then they were' -driven through a half frozen river to a 'ehapel, whe&e they were made by force fa enrol as members of tbe Established Church of Russia. And this, iforsooth, is the country ___> Gladstone would hare as believe is fighting for no other cause. than the holy one of iuqisouriag the oppressed. It ia fortuaate for- 6he dignity of this country that Mr Gladstone is not $oyr at the head of its Government. lam happy to :?®7 tn !*6 <> aP foreign policy is in better/hands. Lord Der by 'b reply to the Russian circular announcing the Emperor's orders to his armies to cross the Turkish frontiers is one of the manliest and most outspoken compositions that diplo_a»cy;has produced, I should think. He ajtaply informs Russia tbat England ia. not. to be gulled,. His Lordship gives tbe Russian Chancellor a bit of bis mind, and of England's mind also, I should hope. He tells him that "Her Majesty's Government have received the communication with deep regret. They cannot accept the statements add conclusions with which Prince Gortschakoff has accompanied it as justifying the, resolution taken." He very properly -points out, too, that the presence of large Russian forces on the frontiers of Turkey, menacing its safety , rendering disarmament impossible, and exciting the fanaticism of the Mussulman population, was a material obstacle to internal pacification and reform, and that Her Majesty's Government do not believe that the entrance of the Russian armies into Turkey will alleviate the difficulty or improve the condition of the Christians in the Sultan's dominions. Moreover Lord Derby says flatly that the course taken by Russia is in direct contravention of the Treaty of Paris in 1876, and of the Conference of London in 1871. "i 0 taking action against Turkey on bis own .part," concludes Lord Derby, "" and having recourse to aroiswithoutiurther consultation with hiaallies, tbe Emperor of Russia has separated himself from the European concert hitherto maintained, and has at the same time departed from the rule to -which he himself had solemnly recorded hia consent. It is impossible to foresee the oous.queoces of suoh an act. Her Majesty's Government would w iiliogly have refrained from making any observations in regard to it, but as Prince Gortschakoff seems to assume in a declaration addressed to all the Governments of Europe, that Russia ig ati'ing in the iuteresis ot Great Britain acd that of tbe othar Powers, they feel bo; id to &;a e in a manner equally lv-:..al and puoiio that the decision oi the Russian Government is not one whioh -Can have their concurrence or approval." This spirited rejoinder of Lord Derby Veils up a little more than half-a column of the Times, but tf_e above quotations are the most striking portious, and will give your readers a good idea oi the whole tenor, which is

iu the same strain. The Russian Govern meat bave not made, nor d<_ th'ey mean to make, auy reply, for li 'would be very. hard for them to r^ply i&ony way but one,' winch wdjildHie tantamount ,to. a declaration, of war, and the Cfcur is hot mad enough to court 4 collision vpith os wbtie bis ha^ds are as full as they can hold. Lord Derby's bold language has giv^a intense ssjis- 1 factidd to tbe Caoiaals at Berlia _tn4 Vienna, and -'__ believe it tfili have a most salutary effect in. localising the present war. * Mr. Gladstone has not allowed the! < present opportunity to pass for creating: ; an. agitation hostile to Government.! Hte ■■ impressibility in this direction! reminds oae of a highly nervous and; excitable passenger w,ho_ u will .talk to; the man at the wheel at the most critical moment. He placed a short time ago five resolutions on the notice-paper of the House. These resolutions have made a great stir throughout the country, and in the House of Commons a few nights ago they Jed to one of thai most turbul&ht 'scenes that our Parliament has witnessed for many years. V shall aot attempt to describe these now I fatuous resolutions. In the first place, like the Home Secretary, who said as much in the House, I can make neither; head -nor taiji of theiu, aud iu the : second place ' the pressure brought to bear upon Mr Gladstone by the feeling of the House induced him to confine .|_iWeif to moving v only the first, one, which I give you verbatim, in order: tbat you. may judge for yourselves of the _style : of -jttack^^oo the _Gove_ii' ' I men. to which Mr Gladstoaa-s-gr&at I and able statesman as ha undoubted i ia — ia capable now o,C descending. I Here .is the feeble -little spark . j with which Mr Gladstone was able j to set the whole House of Commons • ) ioto a blaze :— ,k That this House fihds j 1 just cause of dissatisfaction in the cou- , { ,duot of the Ottoman; Porte with regard | to the despatch written by the Earlof | i Derby on the 21st day of September,! • 1876, and relating to .the massacres .in j j Bulgaria." Considering the . present I j juncture, can anything be much more j ; ridiculous ? Where, in the name of ' : common sense, is the utility of harking : : back to what is past 'and cannot be . undone, when matters of mighty moment claim the calm and undivided attention of our statesmen in office ? Had Mr Gladstone moved this resolution some months ago, ha would have been pursuing a course quite within the province of a watchful Opposition; but in doing so now, he is, to aay the least of it, a great many days after the fair. However, to reverse the old saying— the mouse brought forth a mpuntajin^ The resolution led to one of the most exciting debates since those immedia- : toly preceding the Crimean war. Sir \ Heury Wolf, the speaker who followed \ Mr Gladstone, jbegged to move as an amendment — ** That this House de- ' cliues to entertain any resolution whicb may embarrass Her Majesty T s Government in the maintenance of peace, and in the protection of British interests, without, indicating any. alternative line ;pf policy/' Thereupon ensued a debate ! which expanded into embracing bur Eastern policy in the immediate future, and evoked from the Hama Secretary the ; speech of the occasion in which it was •satisfactory to learn thafi our Govern,mon. will do their utmost to preserve a line of strict neutrality. There is one ! thing however, as I told you some 1 ■months ago, that England will not submit to, and that i_ a Russian occupation of Constantinople. This (would be so antagonistic to the interests of Germany and Austria, as weil as to jus, that Russia wiil stop short of a ■course which would bring anoverhelm! liig combination against her. As the 'Home Secretary seems .to have been made the spokesman of the Cabinet, jon the occasion, his speech has caused profound interest not qoly here, but Jfcliroughout Europe, and it is worth while giving you in his own well. Weighed words the explanation of : our ; policy. "It has not been in any way to sanction oppression or tiryanny in any. part of the world. It has been to preserve inviolate our treaty enga»enients, and to-set aneexanaple wbichj if . followed by other nations, would niaterially add to the happiuess of the It is, deeply as /we 'regret lhe\ p&r, to maintain (be strictest neutrality between the contending nations. It is, (jutside the necessities of this actual *ar, to maintain the interests of England as they ought to be maintained. They (tbe Government) have no thought of gain. Before the face oi this Houae, of England, of Europe, of the world, they are conscious of the

honesty of their own suppose. Thejf are conscious of their own earnest desire for peace j they are, conscious, if neeq be, of their strength They have, I hope] the- wisdom not to use that strength improperly; and, .whenever the opi por tuqi.y may offer, to stopithia'war,jCq heal these wretched dissensions, to ina-j prove the condition of the Christiaiaj ; popafatiofy and the way to do-so Is, Q my opihioa, not by war. To localise] to minimize, or to wipe away the effects of this war, thorp the GoveruEjaat . willj give their services," '^ --\ '. ] f-.".5.^ ! .W1.* ■'^5«-* bada ; -^ery.'re-l assuring affect, on the country. Oue. of the best .ways to preserve the bless-! ings _qf. .peace to -ear selves in thepresent crisis is So be fully prepared for,wsr, m4 J am-glai.to ; Bay thafe^thei ©o^ern_a'ent seem ikdenty alive to .this,! and every effort is being made ia "our!, dockyards and onr arsenals to puah on|| the work of preparation. .The"'! greatest activity prevails at the- Ad- 1 miralty .and the. Horse .-Gaards.j Enormous flat-bottomed boats, for the; purpose of disembarking troops, arej being eohMraofied in large numbers ;i and officers of the navy aad of the | Quarter-Master-General's department j oi the army are conjointly engaged at! •Liverpool and other Isr^e ports in pre-; liminary investigations regardiog the! taking; up of shipping for military i transport purposes. For the .last two j or three months the work of prepara- ! tion has been quietly bat steadily goiag on in oar army, and the result ! is tbat whereas a short time .ago we ! should have had difficulty in placing j ten thousand trboprf'in the field, fully j equipped, we should now be able iu a | short time to despatch an efficient ! body of thirty-five thousand, and a i few weeks afterwards supplement tbat i number by nearly '%* many again. The first corps (Parmes is actually formed. Seven regiments of cavalry, and fonr ibrigades r of , artillery, aad forty-three battilions of infantry are specified and ordered to hold themselves iu readiness to proceed on service at a moment's notice. Amongst the infantry are three battalions of Guards. In ithe event of an army proceeding to the seat of war, the ohoice of a commander would, in all probability, lie between Lord Napier of Magdala, now Governor of Gibraltar, t at_ ; J Sir Lintbrn Simmons, a distinguished officer of the Royal. Engineers, nowla.peC.orGeaeral of Fortifications. In either case the choice would be a wise one, but let us, hope .hat Lord Napier and **>_£ Liutorn Simmons will be able to pursue their duties in their respective positions uninterruptedly.