THE CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS MADE BY THE CZAR.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IV, Issue 195, 13 September 1854, Page 6

THE CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS MADE BY THE CZAR.

The following extracts from Sir Hamilton Seymour's letters will give our readers a very good idea of the feelings of the Emperor Nicholas towards his Turkish neighbours. On Jan. 11th last year the ambassador gives Lord John Russell an account of an interview with his Majesty. The Czar expressed his pleasure at the formation of the new English government; sent a complimentary message to Lord Aberdeen, with whom he had been acquainted for 40 years, and for whom he entertained equal regard and esteem ; and added that the two governments should remain in friendship, their interests being the same. Here the Czar was about to close the conversation ; but as his designs on Turkey were now looking suspicious, our ambassador respectfully begged that " his Majesty would add a few words calculated to calm the anxiety with regard to Turkey which passing events were so calculated to excite on.the part of Her Majesty's Government." _ The description that follows is quite a dramatic scene. The Czar was taken unawares by this plain question, but quickly made up his mind to answer it. " The emperor's words and manner," says Sir Hamilton, " though still very kind, showed me that his Majesty had no intention of speaking to me of the demonstration which he is about to make in the South. He said, however, at first with a little hesitation, but as he proceeded, in an open and unhesitating manner: —The affairs of Turkey are in a very disorganized condition. The country itself appears to be falling to pieces; the fall will be a great misfortune, and it is very important that England and Russia should come to a perfectly good understanding upon these affairs, and that neither should take any decisive step of which the other is not apprised. I observed in a few words that I rejoiced to hear that his Imperial Majesty held this language; that this was certainly the view I took of the manner in which Turkish questions are to be treated. "Stay," the Emperor said, a as if proceeding with his remarks, " xve have on our hands a sick man — a very sick wan ;it will be, 1 tell you frank///, a great misfortune if one of these days, he should slip awa?/ from us, especially before all necessary arrangements iveremade. But, however, this is not the time to speak to you on that matter."

It was clear that the Emperor did not intend to prolong the conversation ; I therefore said, " Your Majesty is so gracious that you will allow me to make one further observation. Your Mnjesty says the man is sick ; it is very true, but your Majesty will deign to excuse me if I remark that it is the part. of the ijenerous and strong man to treat with gentleness the sick and feeble man." The Emperor then took leave of me in a manner which conveyed the impression of my having at least not given offence, and again expressed his intention of sending for me on some future day.

The ambassador's reply whs admirable; it shewed that he quite understood the metaphor of the " very sick man," and the danger of letting him " slip through their hands before all necessary arrangements were made;" and that he not only understood it (which nobody could fail to do) but entirely disapproved of its spirit.

Sir Hamilton's next letter, dated the 22nd of January, contains mutter equally curious.

It describes another confidential interview between the Emperor and himself. He ca^.VVJ " a very interesting conversation," and so l?pP deed it is. It is very long, and every word of it is worthy of attention, but the following passage is the most striking. The Czar returns to the image of the sick man dying on their hands:—

" Turkey," (says he,) « has by degrees fallen into such a state of decrepitude, that, as I told you the other night, eager as we all are for the prolonged existence of the man, (and lamas desirous as you can be for the continuance of his life,) I beg you to believe he may die suddenly on our hands. We cannot resuscitate what is dead: if the Turkish empire falls, it falls to rise no more ; and I put it to you, therefore, whether it is not better to be provided beforehand for a contingency than to incur the chaos, confusion, and the certainty of an Buroropean war, all of which must attend the catastrophe if it should occur unexpectedly, and before some ulterior system has been sketched ; this is the point to which I am desirous that you should call the attention of your Government." "Sir," I replied, "your Majesty is so frank with me that I am sure you will have the goodness to permit rue to speak with the same openness. I would then observe that deplorable as is the state of Turkey, it is a country that has long been plunged in difficulties, supposed by many insurmountable. With regard to contingent arrangements, Her Majesty's Government, as your Imperial Majesty is well aware, objects, as a general rule, to taking engagements upon possible eventualities, and would, be particularly disinclined to do so in this instance. If I may be allowed to say so, a great repugnance might be expected in England, to disposing hy anticipation of the succession [the French phrase used by Sir Hamilton was ' discowniiwj the succession].©/ an old friend, and ally "The rule is a good one," the emperor replied—" good at all times, especially in times of uncertainty and change, like the present; still it is of the greatest importance that we should understand one another, and not allow events to take us by surprise : now, I desire to speak to you as a friend and as a gentleman. If England and I arrive at an understanding in this matter, as regards the rest it matters little to me; it is indifferent to me what others do and think. Frankly, then, I tell you plainly, that if England thinks of establishing herself one of these days at Constantinople, I will not allow it. I do not attribute this intention to you, but it is better on these occasions to speak plainly; for my part, lam equally disposed to take the engagement not to establish myself there, not as proprietor, that is to say, for as occupier I do not say ; it might happen that circumstances, if no proper provision > were made, if everything were left to chance, might place me in the position of occupying Constantinople."

As these conferences went on, the Czar spoke plainer and plainer. Although he had received the expression of Lord John Russell's disapprobation of his views and refusal to participate in them, he seems to have thought that the only thing he had to do was to offer England stronger inducements, or, in other words, higher bribes. So, in February, he makes the barefaced proposal that, as soon as the dying man's breath is out of his body, Russia and England shall rob the corpse and share the plunder. Sir Hamilton is giving an account of another interview—

" The Emperor went on to say that, in the event of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, he thought it might be less difficult to arrive at a satisfactory territorial arrangement than was generally believed. The Principalities are, he said, in fact an independent state under ray protection; this might so continue. Seivia might receive the same form of government. So, again, with Bulgaria. There seems to be no reason why this province should not form an independent state. As to Eyypt, I quite understand the importance to England of that territory. I can then only say that if, in the Went of a distribution of the Ottoman succelsion upon the fall of the empire, you should lake possession of Egypt, I shall have no objection to offer. I would my the same thing of Candia ; that island might suit you, and I do not know ivhy.il should not become an, English possession." As I did not wish that the Emperor should imagine that an English public servant was caught by this sort of overture, I simply answered that I had always understood that the English views upon Egypt did not go beyond

the f point of securing a safe and ready comma-,-t6ation between British India and the mother ' "dintvy." s Here is a tempting bait for England : but the Czar wholly mistook the English character when he imagined that so shameless an overture «uuld excite any feeling but disgust. Tb" Ambassador's reply, though courteous,- «as sufficient to put him to the blush, wpk lie capable of ingThese extracts, we think, are quite sufficient to show bow early, and how fully, her Majesty's ministers were aware of the aggressive and rapacious designs of the Kussian Emperor. The publication of the correspondence has enlightened the world on the tortuous nature of his Majesty's policy.

The Black Waheior Affaib.—-The Black Warrior is an indifferent ship, owned mostly in Mobile, but partly in New York, and is worth some 125,000 dollars. She has run nearly two years between this port and Mobile, touching regularly at Havanmih on her way coming and going. She has been allowed to enter and depart from Ha^annah without reporting her cargo to the authorities of that port, for that cargo has always been carried direct from New York to Mobile, or vice vers& from Mobile to New York. The steamer has never landed at Havannah, nor received on board at that port any commodities of commerce whatever; her sole object in touching there having been to land or to receive passengers. The revenue authorities at Havannah have always perfectly understood this. It is not her case alone, hut the case of the other steamers running- from this city to ports on the Gulf of Mexico and to the Isthmus. To prevent contraband trade all these ships have always been put under surveillance from the time of their arrival till their departure. It has been perfectly well known that the Black Warrior and the other steamers carried cargoes, but they have been invariably passed through the Custom House as " in ballast." This kind of entry has been permitted, notwithstanding a revenue law has always existed requiring-that a duty should be paid on the cargo of all vessels entering and departing from the port, although the vessel should neither land nor receive on board anything while there. The course of the Black Warrior and of our other steamers has, therefore, been in direct violation of the letter of the laws of the port of Havannah. These laws, however, not having been enforced against the Black Warrior during the 30 voyages she has made to that port, notwithstanding the knowledge of the authorities of the notorious violation of them, her owners and agents had some right to suppose, and to act upon the supposition, that there had been an actual suspension of them in respect to that ship. The law requiring the transit dues on the cargo having been totally suspended in practice, it was fair to expect that some notice would, be given that the law would be revived, in case it were the intention of the authorities to revive and enforce it. If no such notice was given the seizure of the Black Warrior and the confiscation of her cargo are acts of flagrant injustice. But, on the other hand, if the .authorities promulgated the fact that the law would be enforced, then no blame can atiach to them for the seizure of the ship fcr further violation of it. The whole case turns, therefore, upon the fact of whether or not due notice was given of the revival of an obsolete law on port regulations in its application to the Black Warrior, which law by its sudden revival has resulted in the seizure of the ship and the confiscation of her cargo. The report from Mr. Robertson, the acting Consul at Havannah, affords good ground for the conjecture that the Spanish authorities intend to allege that such notice was given. On the other hand, the same document and the statement of the consignees _of the ship go to show that such notice was not given.— Neiv York Tribune.