In the House of Commons on the same evening, Sir
Stafford Northeote stated the point on which negotiations as to the Con- gress had been broken off. England had demanded that the com- munication of the Treaty between Russia and Turkey to all the Powers should be regarded as placing it as a whole before the Congress, "in order that the whole Treaty in relation to the existing Treaties may be examined and considered by the Con- gress." To this Prince Gortschakoff replied that he must stick to his old answer, namely, that as the Treaty had been communicated to all the Powers, and as every Power had full "liberty of appre- ciation and action " in relation to any article which might seem to it to concern Europe, so Russia claimed the same liberty for herself of accepting or declining a discussion on any one point. The " liberty of appreciation and action" which Russia thus reserves to itself, the Imperial Cabinet defines in the following manner :—" It leaves to the other Powers the liberty of raising such questions at the Congress as they might think it fit to discuss, and reserves to itself the liberty of accepting or not accepting the discussion of these questions." And so the correspondence closes, England declining the Congress, which will now hardly meet. We fear greatly that Lord Derby, in justifying this unfortunate and, as far as we can see, inexcusable step of ours, will be found to have gone far, in the opinion of the country, towards throwing his aegis over the Cabinet from which he has now seceded. If you approve those who despair need- lessly of consolidating peace, you certainly justify a prudent preparation for war.
