[War with Russia.] the said Armies undertake to maintain the strictest Discipline in their respective Troops, and shall cause them to respect the Laws and usages of the country. Property to be respected. As a matter of course, Property shall be everywhere respected. Plan of Campaign to be settled by the 3 Commanders-in-Chief. It is moreover understood, on either side, that the general Plan of Campaign shall be discussed and settled between the Com manders-in-Chief of the 3 Armies, and that if any considerable portion of the Allied troops should be acting in conjunction with the Ottoman troops, no operation shall be undertaken against the enemy without its having been previously concerted with the Commanders of the Allied Forces. Demands on Turkey for Auxiliary Troops to be attended to. Finally, attention shall be paid to any demand relative to the wants of the service which may be addressed by the Commanders-in-Chief of the Auxiliary Troops, either to the Ottoman Government through their respective Embassies, or, in case of urgency, to the local authorities, unless insuperable objections, to be clearly explained, should prevent compliance with such demands. Ratifications.* ART. V. The present Treaty shall be ratified, and the Ratifications shall be exchanged at Constantinople in the space of 6 weeks, or sooner if possible, from the day of signature. In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto the Seal of their Arms. Done in triplicate, for one and the same purpose, at Constantinople, the 12th day of March, 1854. (L.S.) STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE. Ratifications exchanged at London, 25th April, 1854. [War with Russia.] No. 238.-MESSAGE from Her Britannic Majesty to both Houses of Parliament on the Outbreak of War with Russia. 27th March, 1854. VICTORIA REGINA. Commons HER Majesty thinks it proper to acquaint the House of Lords that the negotiations in which Her Majesty, in concert with Her Allies, has for some time past been engaged, with His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias, have terminated, and that Her Majesty feels bound to afford active assistance to Her Ally the Sultan against unprovoked Aggression. Commons Her Majesty has given directions for laying before the House of Lords copies of such papers, in addition to those already communicated to Parliament, as will afford the fullest information with regard to the subject of these Negotiations. It is a consolation to Her Majesty to reflect that no endeavours have been wanting on her part to preserve to Her subjects the blessings of Peace. the House of Lords, Her faithful Commons, Her Majesty's just expectations have been disappointed, and Her Majesty relies with confidence on the zeal and devotion of and on the exertions of Her brave and loyal subjects, to support Her in Her determination to employ the Power and Resources of the Nation for protecting the Dominions of the Sultan against the Encroachments of Russia. V. R. [War with Russia.] No. 239.-MESSAGE of the Emperor of the French to the Senate and Legislative Assembly, relative to the War with Russia. Paris, 27th March, 1854. (Translation.*) War with Russia. THE Government of the Emperor and that of Her Britannic Majesty, had declared to the Cabinet of St. Petersburgh that, should the Differences with the Sublime Porte not be restricted within purely Diplomatic Limits, and that, should the Evacuation of the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia not be immediately commenced and completed by a fixed date, they would be compelled to consider an answer in the negative or silence as a Declaration of War. The Cabinet of St. Petersburgh having decided not to answer the above communication,† the Emperor desires to inform you of that resolution, which constitutes Russia in a state of War with us, the responsibility of which rests entirely on that Power. By order of the Emperor, ACHILLE FOULD, The Minister of State. * For French version, see "State Papers," vol. xlvi, p. 241. [War with Russia.] No. 240.-BRITISH DECLARATION of the Causes of War against Russia. 28th March, 1854. It is with deep regret that Her Majesty announces the failure of her anxious and protracted endeavours to preserve for her people and for Europe the blessings of Peace. The unprovoked aggression of the Emperor of Russia against the Sublime Porte has been persisted in with such disregard of consequences, that after the rejection by the Emperor of Russia of terms which the Emperor of Austria, the Emperor of the French, and the King of Prussia, as well as Her Majesty, considered just and equitable, Her Majesty is compelled, by a sense of what is due to the honour of her Crown, to the interests of her people, and to the Independence of the States of Europe, to come forward in defence of an Ally whose territory is invaded and whose dignity and independence are assailed. Her Majesty, in justification of the course she is bound to pursue, refers to the transactions in which Her Majesty has been engaged. The Emperor of Russia had some cause of complaint against the Sultan with reference to the settlement, which His Highness had sanctioned, of the conflicting claims of the Greek and Latin Churches to a portion of the Holy Places of Jerusalem and its neighbourhood. To the complaint of the Emperor of Russia on this head, justice was done; and Her Majesty's Ambassador at Constantinople had the satisfaction of promoting an arrangement to which no exception was taken by the Russian Government. But while the Russian Government repeatedly assured the Government of Her Majesty that the mission of Prince Menchikoff to Constantinople was exclusively directed to the settlement of the question of the Holy Places at Jerusalem, Prince Menchikoff himself pressed upon the Porte other demands of a far more serious and important character, the nature of which he in the first instance endeavoured, as far as possible, to conceal from Her Majesty's Ambassador. And these demands, thus studiously concealed, affected not the privileges of the Greek Church at Jerusalem, but the position of many millions of Turkish subjects in their relations to their Sovereign the Sultan. [War with Russia.] These demands are rejected by the spontaneous decision of the Sublime Porte. Two assurances had been given to Her Majesty; one, that the Mission of Prince Menchikoff only regarded the Holy Places; the other, that his Mission would be of a conciliatory character. In both respects Her Majesty's just expectations were disappointed. Demands were made which, in the opinion of the Sultan, extended to the substitution of the Emperor of Russia's authority for his own over a large portion of his subjects; and those demands were enforced by a threat; and when Her Majesty learnt that, on announcing the termination of his Mission, Prince Menchikoff declared that the refusal of his demands would impose upon the Imperial Government the necessity of seeking a guarantee by its own power, Her Majesty thought proper that her fleet should leave Malta, and, in co-operation with that of His Majesty the Emperor of the French, take up its station in the neighbourhood of the Dardanelles. So long as the negotiation bore an amicable character Her Majesty refrained from any demonstration of force. But when, in addition to the assemblage of large military forces on the frontier of Turkey, the Ambassador of Russia intimated that serious consequences would ensue from the refusal of the Sultan to comply with unwarrantable demands, Her Majesty deemed it right, in conjunction with the Emperor of the French, to give an unquestionable proof of her determination to support the sovereign rights of the Sultan. The Russian Government has maintained that the determination of the Emperor to occupy the Principalities was taken in consequence of the advance of the fleets of England and France. But the menace of invasion of the Turkish Territory was conveyed in Count Nesselrode's Note to Reshid Pacha, of May, and restated in his despatch to Baron Brunnow, of May 20, which announced the determination of the Emperor of Russia to order his troops to occupy the Principalities, if the Porte did not within a week comply with the demands of Russia. June 1, The despatch to Her Majesty's Ambassador at Constantinople, authorising him, in certain specified contingencies, to send for the British fleet, was dated the 31st May, and the order sent direct |