Commercial Politics (1837-1856) :: WHY PEACE NEGOTIATIONS FAILED (1855).

WHY PEACE NEGOTIATIONS FAILED (1855).

Source.—Life of Lord John Russell, by Spencer Walpole, vol. ii., p. 263.
(London: 1889.)

I was ready to incur the responsibility of advising the acceptance of the terms proposed in conjunction with the French Government. But I was not prepared to advise that we should depart from or even hazard our alliance with France for the chance of a peace on terms which I could not consider entirely satisfactory. Moreover, it was impossible for me to know the full weight of the motives which might have swayed the Emperor. The immediate result of our acceptance of the Austrian terms might have been the instant acquiescence of Russia, and the consequent evacuation of the Crimea. How would the French army have borne a retreat from before Sebastopol, relinquishing a siege which had cost so much blood and so much suffering? Might not the discontent of the army have disturbed the internal tranquillity of France, and even menaced the throne of the Emperor?

BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD

Footnotes:

[1] Endymion was published in 1880.

[2] Austrian ambassador in London.

[3] A nickname for the majority in the Assembly, comprising Thiers, Tocqueville, and others.

[4] The French Ambassador in London.

[5] Just before Lord Palmerston’s dismissal was discussed in Parliament, Walewsky reminded Lord John Russell of these facts, and added that, whereas he had only conveyed Palmerston’s opinion in a private letter to M. Turgot, he had made Russell’s the subject of an official despatch. Lord John Russell asked whether Lord Palmerston knew all this, and meant to state it in the House of Commons (Life of Palmerston, ii. 326).

[6] The four points were: (1) The protectorate of Russia over the five principalities was to be replaced by a collective guarantee; (2) the navigation of the mouths of the Danube was to be free; (3) the treaty of 1841, concerning Russia’s position in the Black Sea, was to be revised; (4) Russia was to renounce all official protectorate over any of the Sultan’s subjects.

Transcriber's Notes:

Uncertain or antiquated spellings or ancient words were not corrected.

Errors in punctuation and inconsistent hyphenation were not corrected unless otherwise noted.

Typographical errors have been silently corrected but other variations in spelling and punctuation remain unaltered.

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