THE EASTERN QUESTION
LONDON : PRINTED liV
SPOTT1SWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SOUARE
AND PARLIAMENT STREET
4^
THREE YEARS
OF THE
EASTERN QUESTION
BY THE REV.
MALCOLM MacCOLL, M.A.
RECTOR OF ST GEORGE, BOTOLPH LANE
JTonboit
CHATTO & WINDUS, PICCADILLY
1878 ELECTRONIC VERSIC
AVAILABLE
[The right of translation reserved] > - ■»,
They are slaves who fear to speak
For the fallen and the weak :
They are slaves who will not choose
Hatred, scoffing, and abuse,
Rather than in silence shrink
From the truth they needs must think.
They are slaves who dare not be
In the right with two or three '
Lowell
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I. Aims and Results of the Crimean War . . i
II. A new Departure in English Policy
III. England Isolates herself ....
IV. The Bulgarian Atrocities : A Summary of
Facts officially attested
V. The Two Policies compared ....
VI. The Conference of Constantinople
VII. After the Conference .
VIII. The War and its Consequences
IX. The Charter of our Policy and the Terms
of Peace
X. Russia and India .....
XI. England and the Congress
XII. War • With a light Heart ' and its Conse-
quences 291
29
43
75
105
150
185
207
217
237
262
THREE YEARS
OF
THE EASTERN QUESTION.
CHAPTER I.
AIMS AND RESULTS OF THE CRIMEAN WAR.
A LARGE party among the upper, and what ought
to be the best informed, classes of society in this
country have succeeded in persuading themselves
of the following facts : that the disturbances in the
European provinces of Turkey which led to the
war just ended were brought about by Russian
intrigue ; that the war itself was unjust and
hypocritical on the part of Russia, its real object
being political aggrandisement and not the ameli-
oration of an oppressed people ; that, before enter-
ing into war, the Emperor of Russia pledged his
word of honour not to seek compensation by the
B
2 AIMS AND RESULTS OF [chap. I.
annexation of territory, and not to occupy Con-
stantinople ; that the Emperor has falsified his
word in this matter, and that his Government has
deceived the British Government in other respects ;
that the agitation against the Bulgarian atrocities
paralysed the hands of her Majesty's Government
and encouraged Russia to make war on Turkey ;
and that the ' agitators • must consequently share
with Russia the guilt of an iniquitous war and the
damage which that war is alleged to have done to
British interests.
On the other hand, the Russian people are
unanimously persuaded that the insurrections in
the Turkish provinces were caused by the mis-
conduct of the Turkish administration ; that the
only remedy was a scheme of radical reform ; that
no reform was of the slightest value which did not
rest on some better security than Turkish promises ;
that the Porte would have certainly granted such
security under pressure from the Great Powers, but
that the pressure, to be effectual, must be collective
and unanimous ; that out of an unworthy jealousy
of Russia England defeated the European concert,
and thereby encouraged Turkey to reject the
advice of Europe ; that the Governments which
chap, i.] THE CRIMEAN WAR. 3
took part in the Conference at Constantinople
were bound logically and in honour to enforce their
demands on the Porte ; that if they had shown a
determination to do so in a body the Porte would
have yielded without war ; that the defection of
the other Powers, for which England was re-
sponsible, did not deprive Russia of the right of
doing single-handed what she would have pre-
ferred to have done in concert with her allies in
the Conference ; that the war thus forced upon
her was a righteous war ; that England, not
content with having defeated all the pacific
schemes of the other Powers for the amelioration of
the Christians of Turkey, has systematically mis-
represented the conduct and intentions of Russia,
and is now doing her best to humiliate her and to
mar the deliverance which her sword has wrought
for the Christians of Turkey.
This is, I think, a fair statement of the feeling
on each side. That it is, for the most part, an
honest and sincere feeling in both countries, I have
not a doubt. The truth, however, will probably
be found, as in most controversies, somewhere
between two extremes, and the question is, which
side has most to say for itself on a fair review of
b 2
4 AIMS AND RESULTS OF [chap. i.
the evidence. In the following pages an attempt
shall be made to furnish the reader with the means
of answering the question for himself.
From the Treaty of Kutchuk-Kainardji in 1774
down to the Crimean war Russia claimed and
exercised a protectorate over the Christian sub-
jects of the Porte. To deprive her of this pro-
tectorate was one of the main objects of the
Crimean war. The exclusive protectorate of
Russia was considered dangerous to the general
interests of Europe, and it was resolved to sub-
stitute for it the joint protectorate of all the Great
Powers. This view is laid down with admirable
clearness in the Memorandum which the Prince
Consort submitted 'for the consideration of the
Cabinet in October, 1853.' The following passage
is worth quoting: —
In acting as auxiliaries to the Turks we ought to be
quite sure that they have no object in view foreign to our
duty and interests ; that they do not drive at war whilst
we aim at peace ; that they do not, instead of merely
resisting the attempt of Russia to obtain a protectorate
over the Greek population incompatible with their own
independence, seek to obtain themselves .the power of
imposing a more oppressive rule of two millions of fanatic
Mussulmans over twelve millions of Christians ; that they
do not try to turn the tables upon the weaker power now
chap, i.] THE CRIMEAN WAR. 5
that, backed by England and France, they have them-
selves become the stronger.
There can be little doubt, and it is very natural, that
the fanatical party at Constantinople should have such
views ; but to engage our fleet as an auxiliary force for such
purposes would be fighting against our own interests,
policy, and feelings.
From this it would result that, if our forces are to be
employed for any purpose, however defensive, as an
auxiliary to Turkey, we must insist upon keeping not
only the conduct of the negotiation, but also the power of
peace and war, in our own hands, and that, Turkey
refusing this, we can no longer take part for her.
It will be said that England and Europe have a strong
interest, setting all Turkish considerations aside, that
Constantinople and the Turkish territory should not fall
into the hands of Russia, and that they should in the
last extremity even go to war to prevent such an over-
throw of the balance of power. This must be admitted,
and such a war may be right and wise. But this would
be a war not for the maintenance of the integrity of the
Ottoman Empire, but merely for the interests of the
European powers and of civilisation. It ought to be carried
•on unshackled by obligations to the Porte, and will pro-
bably lead, in the peace which must be the object of the
war, to the obtaining of arrangements more consonant
with the well-understood interests of Europe, of Christ-
ianity, liberty, and civilisation, than the reimposition of
the ignorant, barbarian, and despotic yoke of the Mussul-
man over the most fertile and favoured portion of
Europe. 1
1 Life of the Prince Consort ', ii. p. 526.
6 AIMS AND RESULTS OF [chap, i
This Memorandum was submitted by Lord
Aberdeen to the Cabinet. They all approved of
it except Lord Palmerston, who declared, 'that,
having sent a squadron to support Turkey, we
were now bound to see her safely through her
quarrel, and at all hazards to maintain the in-
tegrity of the Ottoman Empire. He scouted the
idea that we should make the war the means of
securing from the Porte such a recognition of the
rules of European civilisation in respect to the
treatment of the Christian subjects as the Prince
foresaw would, unless granted and acted upon, be
the fruitful source of future disquiet and warfare in
Europe.' l
On further reflection, however, Lord Palmer-
ston came round to the Prince Consort's views, as
the following letter, written in 1855, shows : —
' My dear Clarendon, — What remains to be done for
the Nonconformists in Turkey would be, I apprehend,
speaking generally — (a) Capacity for military service by
voluntary enlistment, and eligibility to rise to any rank in
the army, (b) Admission of non- Mussulman evidence
in civil as well as criminal cases, (c) Establishment of
mixed courts of justice (with an equal number of
1 Martin's Life of the Prince Consort, ii. pp. 525-8 ; and
Ashley's Life of Lord Palmerston, ii. p. 43.
chap. I.] THE CRIMEAN WAR. 7
Christian and Mussulman judges) for all cases in which
Mohammedans and non- Mohammedans are parties, id)
Appointment of a Christian officer as assessor to every
governor of a province when that governor is a Mussul-
man, such assessor to be of suitable rank and to have full
liberty to appeal to Constantinople against any act of the
governor, unjust, oppressive, or corrupt, (e) Eligibility
of Christians to all places in the administration, whether
at Constantinople or in the provinces, and a practical
application of this rule by the appointment of Christians
at once to some places of trust, civil and military. (/)
The total abolition of the present system by which offices
at Constantinople and in the provinces are bought and
sold, and given to unfit and unworthy men for money paid
or promised. Such men become tyrants in their offices,
either from incapacity or bad passions, or from a desire to
repay themselves the money paid for their appointments.
There ought not only to be complete toleration of non-
Mussulman religion, but all punishment of converts from
Islam, whether natives or foreigners, ought to be abolished.
' Yours sincerely,
1 Palmerston.' l
These reforms and a good many more were
embodied in the Hatti-Humayoun which the
Sultan communicated to the Great Powers at the
Congress of Paris in 1856. The Contracting
Powers took note of the fact and recorded their
sense of ' the great value of that communication.' In
1 Ashley's Life of Lord Palmerston, ii. p. 89.
8 AIMS AND RESULTS OF [chap. i.
return they promised not to use the Hatti-
Humayoun as an excuse for interfering between
the Sultan and his subjects. It was a mutual
engagement. The Sultan undertook to give civil
and religious equality to his Christian subjects,
and on that understanding the Christian Powers
promised, on their part, to respect the independence
of Turkey and not to interfere in its internal ad-
ministration. The inevitable inference is that the
non-fulfilment of the Sultan's promises released
the Contracting Powers from their promise of non-
intervention. A contrary interpretation would
make the Ninth Clause of the Treaty of Paris a
contradiction in terms. And this was admitted
by the Government in the discussion which took
place in Parliament after the signature of the
Treaty. That the promises of the Hatti-Humayoun
should not be carried out, said Lord Palmerston,
' I hold to be as impossible as that the sun
should go backwards. The fact of the Firman
having been adverted to in the Treaty, and the
issue of it having been recorded in the Treaty,
would give the allied Powers that moral right of
diplomatic interference and of remonstrance with
the Sultan which I am perfectly convinced would
chap. I.] THE CRIMEAN WAR. 9
be quite sufficient.' J But Lord Palmerston was
far from thinking, as we shall afterwards see,
that armed intervention would be inadmissible in
case diplomatic interference should prove unavail-
ing.
Mr. Gladstone, too, was careful, in the same
debate, to put on record his interpretation of the
Ninth Clause of the Treaty of Paris. I quote his
words : —
No power is renounced J and when the Treaty pro-
ceeds to speak of a collective or single interference on
the part of the Christian Powers, all it says is, that no
right of interference, whether single or collective, shall
grow out of the fact that the Hatti-Cherif has been com-
municated to the Powers. But it says not one word of
the policy and practice which, from time to time, have
been pursued, or anything in the way of preventing
us from performing that sacred duty, even as we were
in the habit of performing it long before the war com-
menced. 2
The Treaty of Paris was signed in the spring
of 1856. On May 4, i860, Prince Gortchakoff
called together the Ambassadors of the Great
Powers in order to examine with them the ' pain-
ful and precarious position in which the Christians
1 Hansard, cxlii. pp. 124-6. 2 Ibid. pp. 94, 95.
io AIMS AND RESULTS OF [chap. I.
of Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Bulgaria were
placed.' l The result of this consultation was a
circular despatch from Prince GortchakofT, urging
the assembling of a Conference in order to exercise
that ' moral right of diplomatic interference ' with
the Porte which Lord Palmerston thought ' would
be quite sufficient.' The following extract will
enable the reader to see the drift of this impor-
tant communication : —
The attention, which the discussions upon the con-
dition of the East has excited throughout Europe, makes
us desirous of freeing from all error and false and
exaggerated interpretation the part which the Imperial
Cabinet has taken, and the object which it proposes to
itself in this matter.
For more than a year the official reports of our agents
in Turkey have made us acquainted with the increasingly
serious condition of the Christian provinces under the
rule of the Porte, and especially of Bosnia, Herzegovina,
and Bulgaria. This condition does not date from to-day,
but, far from getting better, as was hoped, it has become
worse during the last few years.
In this conviction, after having, on the one hand,
vainly sought to enlighten the Turkish Government on
the gravity of the circumstances, by communicating to
it successively all the accounts which have been made
known to us of the abuses committed by local authorities ;
1 The Two Chancellors, p. 94.
chap. I.] THE CRIMEAN WAR. n
and after having, on the other hand, exhausted all means
of persuasion that we could use among the Christians, in
order to induce them to patience, we have frankly and
loyally addressed ourselves to the Cabinets of the Great
Powers of Europe. We have explained to them the
circumstances, as described in the reports of our agents ;
the imminence of a crisis ; our conviction that isolated
representations, sterile or palliative promises, will no
longer suffice as a preventive ; and also the necessity of
an understanding of the Great Powers among themselves
and with the Porte, that they will consult together as to
the measures which can alone put an end to this dan-
gerous state of things. We have not made absolute
propositions as to the course to be adopted. We have
confined ourselves to showing the urgency, and indica-
ting the object. As to the first, we have not concealed
the fact that it appears to us to admit of no doubt, and
to allow of no delay.
First of all, an immediate local inquiry, with the
participation of Imperial (Turkish) delegates, in order
to verify the reality of the facts ; next, an understanding
which it is reserved for the Great Powers to establish with
each other and with the Porte, in order to engage it to
adopt the necessary organic measures for bringing about,
in its relations with the Christian populations of the
Empire, a real, serious, and durable amelioration.
There is nothing here, then, in the shape of an inter
ference wounding to the dignity of the Porte. We do
not suspect its intentions ; it is the Power most interested
in a departure from the present situation. Be it the
result of blindness, tolerance, or feebleness, the concur-
12 AIMS AND RESULTS OF [chap. i.
rence of Europe cannot but be useful to the Porte,
whether to enlighten its judgment or to fortify its action.
There can no longer be a question of an attack on its
rights, which we desire to see respected, or of creating
complications, which it is our wish to prevent. The
understanding which we wish to see established between
the Great Powers and the Turkish Government must be
to the Christians a proof that their fate is taken into con-
sideration, and that we are seriously occupied in amelio-
rating it. At the same time, it will be to the Porte a
certain pledge of the friendly intentions of the Powers
which have placed the conservation of the Ottoman
Empire among the essential conditions of the European
equilibrium. Thus, both sides ought to see in it a
motive : the Turkish Government, for confidence and
security ; the Christians, for patience and hope. Europe,
on its part, after past experience, will not, in our opinion,
find elsewhere than in this moral action the guarantees
which a question of first rank demands, with which its
tranquillity is indissolubly connected, and in which the
interests of humanity mingle with those of policy. Our
august Master has never disavowed the strong sympathy
with which the former inspire him. His Majesty desires
not to burden his conscience with the reproach of having
remained silent in the face of such sufferings, when so
many voices are raised elsewhere, under circumstances
much less imperious. We are, moreover, profoundly
convinced that this order of ideas is inseparable from
the political interest which Russia, like all the other
Powers, has in the maintenance of the Ottoman Empire.
We trust that these views are shared by all the
chap, i.] THE CRIMEAN WAR. 13
Cabinets ; but we are also convinced that the time for
illusions is past, and that any hesitation, any adjournment,
will have grave consequences. In combining, with all
our efforts, to place the Ottoman Government in a course
which may avert these eventualities, we believe that we
are giving it a proof of our solicitude, while at the same
time we fulfil a duty to humanity.
Thus we find Russia, four years after the signa-
ture of the Treaty of Paris, complaining to her co-
signataries that the promises of the Hatti-Hum-
ayoun had all remained unfulfilled. But, far from
intriguing to restore her own exclusive protectorate,
she proposed that the other Powers should verify
her accusations, and then, if they were satisfied of
their correctness, take joint action in finding a
remedy. The Consuls of the various Powers were
instructed accordingly to report on the condition
of the Christians throughout the Turkish Empire,
and on the manner in which the Turkish Govern-
ment had fulfilled its engagements in the Hatti-
Humayoun. I will not say that the answers re-
turned by the British Consuls are the most terrible
indictment ever made against any Government
claiming a place among civilised states, because
all the official reports from Turkey down to the
time of Mr. Layard are of a uniform character.
14 AIMS AND RESULTS OF [chap. i.
They all tell one monotonous tale of intolerable
wrongs never redressed ; the property, the life, the
honour of the Christian population being daily at the
mercy of the Mussulmans, while the Turkish officials
are invariably the chief malefactors. Mr. Layard,
it is true, now assures us that the non-Mussulman
populations of Turkey have been tolerably well
governed, and that the Turks are about the
most tolerant, the most humane, and the most
slandered people in the world. But Mr. Layard
was once of a different opinion. The cause of his
remarkable conversion it is for others to explain.
His recent laudation of the Turks and vilification
of their Christian victims have done so much to
mislead a certain class of English society, that I
may be excused a little digression for the purpose
of appealing from Layard the ambassador to
Layard the unprejudiced traveller. Here is his
account of the Bashi-bazouks : —
They are collected from all classes and provinces.
A man known for his courage and daring is named chief,
and is furnished with ' teskere's ' or orders for pay and pro-
visions for so many horsemen, from four or five hundred
to a thousand or more. He collects all the vagrants and
freebooters he can find to make up his number. . . They
are quartered on the villages, and are the terror of the
chap. I.] THE CRIMEAN WAR. 15
inhabitants, whom they plunder and ill-treat as they think
fit. The chief of these roving miscreants wanders about
the provinces, and, like a condottiere of the Middle Ages,
sells his services and those of his troop to the Pasha who
offers most pay and the best prospects of plunder.
Mr. Layard the ambassador tells us that the
Christians of Turkey enjoy perfect religious tolera-
tion, and that their Mohammedan oppressors have
always shown a delicate consideration for their
religious scruples. But Mr. Layard the traveller
gives the following evidence of what he saw with
his own eyes in Armenia : —
We walked to the church, which had been newly con-
structed by the united exertions and labour of the people.
The door was so low that a person, on entering, had to
bring his back to the level of his knees. The entrances
to Christian churches in the East are generally so con-
structed, that horses and beasts of burden may not be
lodged by Mohammedans within the sacred building. . .
Yakoub [Mr. Layard's guide] pointed out a spot where
above three hundred persons had been murdered in cold
blood; and all our party had some tale of horror to relate.
Presently the traveller came upon evidence of a
kind which recalls the descriptions of the massacre
of Batak given by Messrs. Baring, Schuyler, and
MacGahan : —
16 AIMS AND RESULTS OF [chap, u
We soon saw evidence of the slaughter. At first a
solitary skull rolling down with the rubbish; then heaps
of blanched bones ; further up, fragments of rotten gar-
ments. As we advanced, these remains became more
frequent ; skeletons, almost entire, still hung in the dwarf
shrubs. I was soon compelled to renounce an attempt
to count them. As we approached the wall of rock, the
declivity became covered with bones, mingled with the
long plaited tresses of the women, shreds of discoloured
linen, and well-worn shoes. There were skulls of all
ages, from the child unborn to the toothless old woman.
We could not avoid treading on the bones as we advanced,
and rolling them with the loose stones into the valley
below. ' This is nothing,' exclaimed my guide, who
observed me gazing with wonder on these miserable
heaps. ' They are but the remains of those who were
thrown from above or tried to escape the sword by
jumping from the rock. Follow me.'
The guide led him to a spot where he could
look down upon ' an open recess or platform ' in
the face of a rock overhanging the river Zab. This
platform was ' covered with human remains.' They
were the ghastly relics of a band of Christian
fugitives who had escaped from an atrocious
massacre of Christians ' through the valley of
Lizan ' — a massacre of which the ordinary English
public never heard. They never do hear of more
than a fraction of the horrors of Turkish domina-
chap. L] THE CRIMEAN WAR. 17
tion. But let me continue Mr. Layard's description
of the fugitives who escaped to the mountains from
the Moslem savages who sought their lives : —
Women and young children, as well as men, concealed
themselves in a spot which the mountain-goat could
scarcely reach. Beder Khan Beg was not long in dis-
covering their retreat ; but being unable to force it, he
surrounded the place with his men, and waited until they
should be compelled to yield. The weather was hot and
sultry ; the Christians had brought but small supplies of
water and provisions ; after three days the first began to fail
them, and they offered to capitulate. The terms pro-
posed by Beder Khan Beg [an officer of rank in the
employment of the Turkish Government] and ratified
by an oath on the Koran, were their lives on the sur-
render of their arms and property. The Kurds were
then admitted to the platform. After they had disarmed
their prisoners, they commenced an indiscriminate
slaughter; until, weary of using their weapons, they
hurled the few survivors from the rocks into the Zab
below. Out of nearly one thousand souls, who are said
to have congregated here, only one escaped.
On this occasion, according to Mr. Layard,
there perished altogether 10,000 persons, all ' mas-
sacred in cold blood ! ' besides ' a large number of
women and children carried away as slaves.' And
what had the murdered Christians done to provoke
so terrible a crime ? Absolutely nothing. Their
C
1 8 AIMS AND RESULTS OF [chap. I.
Moslem masters coveted their goods, and the best-
looking of their women : that was all. The con-
stant massacres of the Christian subjects of Turkey
have scarcely ever any better justification. Mr.
Layard narrowly escaped being himself a witness
of some of the massacres which he describes. A
few days after his leaving a place called Tkhoma,
• an indiscriminate massacre took place. The
women were brought before the chief and murdered
in cold blood. Those who attempted to escape
were cut off. Three hundred women and children
who were flying into Baz were killed in the Pass
I have described. The principal villages with
their gardens were destroyed, and the churches
pulled down. Nearly half the population fell
victims to the fanatical fury of the Kurdish chief.'
In this massacre ' perished the most learned of the
Nestorian clergy.' Here again the sole cause of
the atrocity was love of plunder and Moslem
hatred of Christianity.
Nor is it the Christians alone who suffer. With
non-Christian and non-Judaic infidels, ' the good
Mussulman can have no intercourse.' It is Layard
the traveller whom I am still quoting. I proceed : —
No treaty nor oath, where they are concerned, is
CHAP. !.] THE CRIMEAN WAR. 19
binding. They have the choice between conversion and
the sword. The Yezidis, a non-Mussulman tribe, have
been exposed for centuries to the persecution of the
Mohammedans. The harems of the south of Turkey
have been recruited from them. Yearly expeditions have
been made by the governors of provinces into their dis-
tricts; and whilst the men and women were slaughtered
without mercy, the children of both sexes were carried
â– off and exposed for sale in the principal towns. These
annual hunts were one of the sources of revenue of
Beder Khan Beg; and it was the custom of the Pashas
of Bagdad and Mosul to let loose the irregular troops
upon the ill-fated Yezidis, as an easy method of satisfying
their demands for arrears of pay.
Here is Mr. Layard's account of one of their
raids : —
The village was soon occupied; the houses were
• entered and plundered of the little property that had
been left behind. A few aged women and decrepit old
men, too infirm to leave with the rest, and found hiding
in the small dark rooms, were murdered, and their heads
severed from their bodies. Blazing fires were made in
the neat dwellings, and the whole village was delivered
to the flames. Even the old Pasha, with his grey hair
and tottering step, hurried to and fro amongst the smok-
ing ruins, and helped to add the torch where the fire was
not doing its work. The old Turkish spirit of murder
and plunder was roused. 1
1 Layard's Nmevek, pp. 24, 127, 134-5, 169, 175, 201.
20 AIMS AND RESULTS OF [chap. i.
This is the picture which Mr. Layard gave of
Turkish rule just before the Crimean war. The
reports of our own Consuls — who, let it be remem-
bered, are nearly all strongly prejudiced against
Russia — prove that down to the outbreak of the
war just ended there has been no sort of im-
provement in the condition of the non-Mussulman
subjects of the Porte. The Hatti-Humayoun has
been absolutely a dead letter. In other words,
every one of the promises made by the Turkish
Government to the signataries of the Treaty of
Paris, and on account of which the Porte was ad-
mitted into the family of civilised nations, has
been grossly and systematically violated. The
recognition of its independence has therefore lapsed
by forfeit. It was a conditional recognition, and
the Porte broke the conditions, and has gone on
breaking them to this very hour.
Such was the state of things revealed by the
response of the Powers to Prince GortchakofT's
circular despatch of May, i860.
Meanwhile the Syrian massacres took place,,
and the question of how to deal with this outburst
of Turkish ferocity absorbed the attention of the
Cabinets, to the exclusion of the more general
chap. L] THE CRIMEAN WAR. 21
inquiry suggested by Prince GortchakofY. The
English and French Governments felt that, having
lately saved Turkey from destruction and deprived
the Christians of the protection of Russia, they
were bound in a special manner to interfere ; and
their intervention took the form of armed co-
ercion. To this, indeed, Lord Palmerston con-
sented ' unwillingly, fearing lest there would be
much difficulty in getting the French out again.' '
The Porte endeavoured, by the mouth of the
Grand Vizier, A'li Pasha, to avert foreign occupa-
tion by threats of more massacres ; 2 and the
English Ambassador at the French Court played
the role of Mr. Layard at Constantinople, by con-
juring up a dreadful vision of what the Turks
would probably do if they were driven to the wall.
But M. Thouvenel, the French Foreign Minister,
cut short all such arguments by the sensible
reply : —
M. Thouvenel observed that he could not admit the
reasoning, that, because a Turkish Minister was appre-
hensive that if a foreign force should be landed in Syria
there would be disturbances at Constantinople, the Great
1 Life by Ashley, ii. p. 181.
2 Corresftondeiice relating to the Affairs of Syria, 1 860-61,
p. 13.
22 AIMS AND RESULTS OF [chap. i..
Powers were on that account to desist from a measure
that had appeared to them necessary for the future tran-
quillity of that Country. If such reasoning were once to-
be admitted, it would be put forward on every occasion-
when an abuse was to be corrected in Turkey. 1
Lord Russell, then Foreign Secretary, met the
menaces of the Turkish Government in a spirit
not less becoming than that displayed by the
French Foreign Minister : —
' The accounts/ he said, ' which have been received
from Syria during the last ten days have been of the most
frightful character. Besides the numbers killed in actual
conflict, 5,500 persons have been the victims of mas-
sacre, and 20,000, including the widows and children of
the murdered, are wandering in a state of famine through
the country. While these dreadful things were going on
the Turks appear to have been inactive spectators,
where they were not accomplices in the work of massacre..
At Deir-el-Kamar Osman Pasha disarmed the Christian
inhabitants, and, after eight days of privation, exposed
them to be shot and cut to pieces by their ferocious
enemies. The conduct of the Turks in other places ex-
poses them to the suspicion of favouring the wholesale
murders of the Christians. Indignant at this want of
humanity and of energy, Her Majesty's Government have
received, and accepted, a proposal of the Emperor of the
French to send European troops to Syria to prevent
1 Correspondence relating to the Affairs of Syria, \ 860-61,
P- 14.
chap, i.] THE CRIMEAN WAR. 23
further excesses ... I have spoken throughout this
despatch of French troops only. Her Majesty has deter-
mined to send a squadron to the coast of Syria, with a
power to be vested in the Admiral to land marines, if
necessary.' x
France and England accordingly got the other
signataries to the Treaty of Paris to agree to a
Protocol sanctioning foreign occupation, to be
undertaken by England and France on behalf of
all the Powers. Still the Porte threatened mas-
sacres with a view to frighten the Powers from a
policy of coercion. To this threat France and
England sternly replied by more than doubling
the army of occupation ; and the Porte, finding
that they were in earnest, did what the Porte
always does in such circumstances — it made a
merit of necessity and welcomed as friends the
force which it durst not oppose as foes. With
the occupying force went an Anglo-French Com-
mission to investigate the causes of the massacres
and to take measures for reforming the Government
of the Lebanon. The English Commissioner was
Lord DufTerin ; and the first thing he and his
French colleague did was to denounce the ring-
leaders of the massacres, the worst of them being
1 Correspondence relating to the Affairs of Syria, 1 860-6 1 ,
pp. 1 15-16.
24 AIMS AND RESULTS OF [char i.
then, as always, a Pasha of high rank. Fuad
Pasha, the Turkish Commissioner, was thus obliged
to put his brother Pasha on his trial. The criminal
was, like Chefket Pasha, honourably acquitted.
This tampering with justice was met by the
Government of that day not by feeble remonstrances
and futile requests, but by a peremptory order to
punish the murderer. It was in vain that Fuad
Pasha pleaded the danger of exciting the fanatical
population of Damascus by hanging a Pasha in
one of their streets. He was told that French
soldiers and English marines would know how to
deal with the fanatical Mussulmans of Damascus.
The guilty Pasha was accordingly tried again, con-
victed, and hanged ; and not a Mussulman lifted
his hand to avenge the deed. The swaggering
Mussulman, like bullies all the world over, is easily
cowed by an exhibition of determination and
force.
Lord Dunerin drew up a Constitution for the
Lebanon which, after some modifications which
certainly did not improve it, was submitted to the
Turkish Government for its sanction. The Porte
of course objected, and pleaded the recognition of
its ' independence ' by the Treaty of Paris. France
chap. I.] THE CRIMEAN WAR. 25
and England, declining argument, quietly intimated
that the Foreign occupation should last till the
Porte accepted the Constitution. The Porte
yielded of course, as it generally does under
pressure, and the French army occupied Syria for
a year afterwards in order to give the new Govern-
ment of the Lebanon a fair start. Lord Dufferin's
Constitution is far enough from being perfect ; but
it has at least given tranquillity to the Lebanon, and
diffused a feeling of security within the area of its
jurisdiction.
What part did Russia play in this transaction ?
Prince Gortchakoff, on behalf of the Czar and his
Government, cordially approved of the Anglo-
French intervention, and ordered the officer in
command of the small Russian squadron on the
Syrian coast to place himself under the orders of
the British Admiral. 1 Nor was this all. France
then occupied in the imagination of Lord Pal-
merston the place which Russia occupies now in
the minds of so many worthy people. Lord Pal-
merston was convinced that France had designs
on Syria ; and through Syria on Egypt. He got
1 Correspondence relating to the Affairs of Syria, 1 860-6 r ,
p. 7.
26 AIMS AND RESULTS OF [chap. I.
fidgety, therefore, about the prolongation of the
French occupation, and began to put pressure on
the French Government with a view to abridging
the period agreed on. Prince Gortchakoff re-
monstrated in the following despatch : —
As the period fixed for the evacuation of Syria draws
nigh, we cannot help looking upon the prospect of it with
lively apprehension. Your Excellency was called upon,
at the time of the last Conference at Paris, to express
the conviction of His Majesty the Emperor that the
premature cessation of the occupation, before a definitive
organisation and the installation of a regular power had
replaced the regular guarantees resulting to the Chris-
tians from the presence of the European troops, would
produce calamities which the Great Powers ought
seriously to anticipate, in the interest of humanity and of
their own dignity. We state with regret that not one of
the facts which have happened since that time, and the
information which has reached us, is of a nature to disperse
those fears. We see them, indeed, participated in by stran-
gers of all countries residing in Syria, whose interests and
very existence are in question, and who have just attested
the unanimity of their sentiments and views by the peti-
tion which they have addressed, in the most pressing
terms, to the Great Powers of Europe. Will you have
the goodness, M. le Comte, to bring this subject to the
notice of the Representatives of the Cabinets who took
part in the last deliberations? We consider that we
should be wanting in our duty if we did not call their
chap, i.] THE CRIMEAN WAR. 27
attention to the dangers which might result from a com-
plete termination of the foreign occupation on a fixed
day, without any regard to the critical situation in which
Syria might be left, and without any of the previous con-
ditions having been as yet fulfilled, which, in our opinion,
might have supplied the place of the guarantees of which
the Christian population might see themselves suddenly
deprived by the departure of the very troops who had
received from Europe the mission of providing for their
security. In such a case, it would only remain for us to
decline formally, as we have already done, all responsi-
bility for the results of a determination of which we had
foreseen and pointed out the consequences.
Your Excellency is instructed, by order of our august
Master, to allow no doubt on this head to remain in the
minds of your colleagues. 1
Is it possible to find here any evidence of
intrigue on the part of Russia ? Honestly ac-
cepting her position under the Treaty of Paris, she
appealed to the Powers who imposed that Treaty
upon her. She complained that the Christians of
Turkey were being cruelly ill-treated in violation
of the Hatti-Humayoun, and claimed the co-
operation of the other Powers in devising a remedy.
The other Powers, and England in particular,
found on inquiry that the case was even worse
1 Corresp07idence relating to the Affairs of Syria, ii.
pp. 106-7.
28 AIMS OF THE CRIMEAN WAR. [chap. i.
than Prince Gortchakoff had represented it. So
again, when the Syrian massacres took place,
Russia insisted that all would be well if the six
Powers would only act together and lay their
commands on the Porte. And when France and
England proposed a policy of coercion Russia was
the first to support them. She was also the first
to remonstrate, in the interests of humanity, against
the premature abandonment of the Anglo-French
occupation. And all the while Russia had not a
single soldier in Syria.
29
CHAPTER II.
A NEW DEPARTURE IN ENGLISH POLICY.
The next phase of the Eastern Question brings
us to a new departure in English policy. Down
to the Cretan insurrection of 1866-7 tne policy of
England towards Turkey had been a policy of diplo-
matic intervention, ending, when that was deemed
necessary, in material coercion. And one of the
strongest advocates of that policy was Lord
Palmerston. In a ' Memorandum on Greek Affairs
sent to Lord Goderich' on December 6, 1827, 1
Lord Palmerston says : —
It seems now to be perfectly certain that the Porte is
obstinately determined to refuse compliance with the
demands of the Allies with respect to Greece j and unless
therefore the Allies are prepared to abandon the objects
for which they coalesced, and to expose themselves, by so
1 Published for the first time by Mr. Evelyn Ashley in
the Times of January f 8, 1877.
30 A NEW DEPARTURE IN [chap. n.
doing, to the derision of the whole world, it becomes
necessary for them to concert, in pursuance of the agree-
ment they have entered into, such further measures as
may be necessary for the accomplishment of the ends
of the Treaty of London. Persuasion, reasoning, and
threats having failed to sway the Porte, actual coercion
must be resorted to.
At the close of the Crimean war Lord Pal-
merston believed, as we have seen, that ' diplomatic
interference and remonstrance would be quite
sufficient ' to keep the Porte faithful to its en-
gagements under the Treaty of Paris. But when
the massacres of i860 proved that 'diplomatic
intervention ' was not ' quite sufficient,' he adopted
at once, as he did in 1827, a policy of ' actual
coercion ; ' and the expedition to Syria was the
result. It is a notable fact, too, that in the debate
on the Treaty of Paris in 1856, Lord Palmerston
went out of his way to explain that the mainte-
nance of the Turkish Empire did not necessarily
mean the maintenance of the Turkish race in that
Empire. * We did not engage,' he said, ' to main-
tain in the Turkish Empire this or that race— one
dominant party or the other.'
It was hoped at the time that the lesson which
chap, ii.] ENGLISH POLICY. 31
the Turkish Government had received from the
Anglo-French occupation of Syria and the enforce-
ment of a new administration on the Lebanon might
induce them, in their own interest, to turn over a
new leaf. This consideration, together with the ac-
cession of a new Sultan, caused further action on
Prince GortchakofT's circular dispatch to be post-
poned. The beginning of a new reign afforded
Lord Palmerston an opportunity of pressing
some salutary advice on the Sultan, and this he
did in a letter to Sir Henry Bulwer, then Am-
bassador at the Porte. He recommended the
Sultan to put ' into execution ' the system of
liberal toleration and progressive internal improve-
ment established by his predecessor on paper . . .
But the Sultan must begin by clearing out the
harem, dismissing his architects and builders, and
turning off his robber ministers.' x
Such was the policy of England, or rather of
Europe, down to the Cretan insurrection of
1866-7; diplomatic interference in the affairs of
Turkey for the protection of the non-Mussulman
population ; and when diplomatic intervention
1 Ashley's Life of Lord Palmerston, ii. p. 213.
32 A NEW DEPARTURE IN [chap. ii.
failed, material coercion. It is the policy with
which are associated the best traditions of British
statesmanship, and the most illustrious names in
our political annals — Liberal and Tory. Burke,
the two Pitts, Fox, Lord Holland, Mackintosh,
Canning, Peel, Aberdeen, Palmerston, Lord
Russell, Gladstone. Let me give a few samples.
Lord Holland : —
The anti-social race which now enjoys the throne of
the Constantines considers itself naturally at war with
every nation with which it has not entered into a formal
treaty of peace. Mr. Addison, who wns not only a
philosopher, but one of the wisest and best men on the
face of the earth, remarked upon the bad effect of the
numerous journalists in this country, and the great spirit
of writing and reading politics in the country, and went
on to say that, though there was no absurdity to which
people, by this itch for talking and writing politics, might
not be brought, he did not believe it possible that there
could be persons in England who could think that we
were interested in the prosperity of the Ottoman Empire !
. . . Almost every man who had held office, and had
authority, stated that the opinion of Lord Chatham was,
that we should never have any kind of connection what-
ever with the Ottoman Porte, and that opinion was
fortified during the seven years' war by a similar opinion
of the King of Prussia. In 1772, our allies, the Russians,
sent a great fleet into the Mediterranean, for the purpose
chap. II.] ENGLISH POLICY. 33
of overpowering the Turks. What was the policy of this
country ? To assist the Russian navy. That fleet was
refitted in our harbours, and, with the munitions and
implements which it received from us, burnt a Turkish
town and fleet, and continued cruising in the Archipelago
' for no less than five or six years.
Mr. Burke : —
I have never before heard it held forth that the
Turkish Empire has ever been considered as any part of
the balance of power in Europe. They despise and con-
temn all Christian princes as infidels, and only wish to
subdue and exterminate them and their people ! What
have these worse than savages to do with the Powers of
Europe, but to spread war, destruction, and pestilence
amongst them? The ministers and the policy which
shall give these people any weight in Europe will deserve
all the bans and curses of posterity. . . . All that is holy
in religion, all that is moral and humane, demands an
abhorrence of everything which tends to extend the
power of that cruel and wasteful Empire. Any Christian
power is to be preferred to these destructive savages.
Sir James Mackintosh : —
It was bare justice to Russia to say that her dealings
with the Ottoman Power for the last seven years had
been marked with as great forbearance as the conduct of
that Power (Turkey) had been distinguished by continued
insolence and incorrigible contumacy. If any were
disposed to deny this, let them look to the history of the
Servian deputies, and they must admit that if Russia was
D
34 A NEW DEPARTURE IN [chap. il.
to be blamed at all, it was rather for the long patience
she had exercised than for any premature interferences.
... A body of Servian deputies, appointed to carry the
provisions of the Treaty of Bucharest into effect, went to
Constantinople for that purpose, and the Turks sent these
deputies to the Seven Towers and kept them in confine-
ment for the space of seven years, and all this Russia
endured. The war against the Greeks was waged against
defenceless women and children, with the superadded
aggravation of the burning of villages, the rooting up
of trees, the destruction not only of works of art but of
the productions of Nature herself as well as those of man. 1
Sir Robert Peel, in a speech in the House of
Commons on March 24, 1828, said : —
Previous to the signature of the Treaty (of July 6th)
an intimation was given to His Majesty's Government
that it was the intention of Turkey to remove from the
Morea the female part of the population and the children
for the purpose of selling them in Egypt as slaves, &c.
Distinct notification was given to Ibrahim Pasha that so
violent an exercise of rights— if rights they could be called
— that a proceeding so repugnant to the established usage
of civilised nations, never would be permitted by His
Majesty, and that this country would certainly resist
any attempt to carry such an object into effect.
In a speech in the House of Commons on
January 29, 1828, Lord Russell said : —
'We believe the battle (Navarino) to have been
1 Hansard, 2nd Series, vol. i. pp. 400-1,409.
chap, ii.] ENGLISH POLICY. 35
a glorious victory and a necessary consequence of the
Treaty of London, and, moreover, as honest a victory as
had ever been gained from the beginning of the world.
. . . Turkey was spoken of constantly as our ancient
ally. Now the fact was, that there had never been any
alliance between Turkey and this country prior to 1799,
and it was not twenty years since Mr. Arbuthnot had
been compelled to fly privately from Constantinople from
his fear that his personal safety would be endangered by
a violation of the ordinary rights of ambassadors.
j The travelled Thane, Athenian Aberdeen,'
was not a man to let either his tongue or pen run
away with him. Yet it was on the eve of the
Crimean war, and from the responsible position of
Prime Minister of England, that he put solemnly
on record the following opinion : —
Notwithstanding the favourable opinion entertained
by many, it is difficult to believe in the improvement of
the Turks. It is true that under the pressure of the
moment benevolent decrees may be issued ; but these,
except under the eye of some Foreign Minister, are
entirely neglected. Their whole system is radically
vicious and inhuman. I do not refer to fables which
may be invented at St. Petersburg or Vienna, but to
numerous despatches of Lord Stratford himself, and of
our own Consuls, who describe a frightful picture of law-
less oppression and cruelty. This is so true that if the
war should continue, and the Turkish armies meet with
36 A NEW DEPARTURE IN [chap. ii.
disaster, we may expect to see the Christian populations
•of the Empire rise against their oppressors ; and in such
a case, it would scarcely be proposed to employ the
British force in the Levant to assist in compelling their
return under a Mohammedan yoke. 1
Thus we see that the policy advocated by Mr.
Gladstone on the Eastern Question is in truth the
traditional policy of England. The policy which
has triumphed on the present occasion, and by
triumphing has destroyed the Turkish Empire,
is — whatever its merits or demerits — a very modern
policy indeed. It dates from the end of the year
1866, and Lord Beaconsfield is its parent. It is a
policy of non-intervention in the affairs of Turkey,
qualified by going to war against any Power who
should attack her. The Porte must be left alone
to deal with its subjects in the way it thought
best for its own interests. Or if any advice at
all was to be given, it must be only to the extent
of urging the Turkish Government to suppress
as promptly as possible every effort of the subject
population towards freedom. I am not exag-
gerating in the least. Here is the policy described
in Lord Derby's language : —
Her Majesty's Government have, since the outbreak
1 Life of the Prince Consort, ii. p. 528.
chap. II.] ENGLISH POLICY. yj
in Bosnia and the Herzegovina, deprecated the diplo-
matic intervention of the other Powers in the affairs of
the Ottoman Empire. Her Majesty's Government
would not, however, assume the responsibility of advising
the Porte, who must be guided by what they thought
best, after due consideration, for the welfare of the
Ottoman Empire. It was impossible to expect them
(Her Majesty's Government) to do more than to state, if
their opinion was asked, that they had better follow the
policy which they thought most consistent with their own
interests. The gravity of the situation has arisen from
the weakness and apathy of the Porte in dealing with the
insurrection in its earlier stages. Such an intervention
(the Consular Delegation), I remarked, was scarcely
compatible with the independent authority of the Porte ;
it offered an inducement to insurrection as a means of
appealing to foreign sympathy against Turkish rule, and it
might not improbably open the way to further diplomatic
interference in the internal affairs of the Empire. 1
I have called this Lord Beaconsfield's policy
rather than Lord Derby's for the following reasons.
Lord Derby had, twelve years previously, advocated
a totally different policy. I refer of course to the
now celebrated speech which he made at King's
Lynn, in 1864. The following passage from that
speech has been often quoted of late ; but it will
bear repetition here : —
1 Parliamentary Paters of 1876, ii. p. 96 ; iii. pp. 174, 188,
192, 236.
38 A NEW DEPARTURE IN [chap. ii.
I believe the question of the breaking up of the
Turkish Empire to be only a question of time, probably
not a very long time. The Turks have played their part
in history ; they have had their day, and that day is over.
I do not understand, except it be from the influence of
old diplomatic traditions, the determination of the elder
statesmen to stand by the Turkish rule, whether right or
wrong. I think we are making for ourselves enemies
of races which will very soon become in Eastern Europe
dominant races ; and I think we are keeping back coun-
tries by whose improvement we, as the great traders of
the world, should be the great gainers : and that we are
doing this for no earthly advantage, either present or
prospective.
No Minister has ever done so much to carry-
out the policy here deprecated by Lord Derby as
Lord Derby himself. The speech of 1864 is in
flat and flagrant contradiction to the passages from
the Blue Books of 1876 which I have quoted above.
How is this to be accounted for ? In two ways, I
believe. I wish to speak with all respect of Lord
Derby. He has been scandalously abused by a
section of his own party for resisting successfully
their frantic efforts to push the country into war.
For this service he deserves the thanks of all true
patriots. But it must be owned, I think, that he
is not a good Foreign Minister in a crisis. Of a
chap, ii.] ENGLISH POLICY. 39
constitutionally timid temperament, there is nothing
he dreads so much as responsibility. His common
sense and intelligence told him in 1864 the folly
of bolstering up a moribund Empire, and of alien-
ating at the same time the goodwill of the races
who are the reversionary legatees of the Turk.
But when the opportunity of putting his theory
into practice presented itself to him, he recoiled
from the responsibility and declined the venture.
A disposition of this kind would readily yield to
the temptation of leaning on a stronger will which
offered it what seemed like a logical basis for its
own timidity. In Lord Beaconsfield — and this is
my second solution — Lord Derby found the required
support.
It was not till 1866 that Mr. Disraeli was in
a position to impress his will on the direction of the
Eastern Question. Towards the end of that year
accordingly we witness a new departure in the
Eastern policy of England. The late Lord Derby
was then Prime Minister ; but the guiding spirit of
the Cabinet was Mr. Disraeli. The Foreign Secre-
tary was Lord Stanley, now Lord Derby. After
the outbreak of the Cretan insurrection, Austria
took the lead in proposing a policy. The character
40 A NEW DEPARTURE IN [chap. ii.
of that policy will be seen in the following extracts
from the despatches of Count Beust, who then filled
the place now occupied by Count Andrassy. In
a despatch to the Austrian Ambassador in Paris
(Prince Metternich) Count Beust said : —
However much Austria might wish to see the Sultan
retain his throne, she could not refuse to sympathise with
and assist, up to a certain point, the Christian population
in Turkey, who had often just cause of complaint, and
who were bound to several of the races under Austria's
sway by the bonds of blood and of religion.
On being questioned by the Russian Ambassa-
dor at Vienna as to what he meant by 'up to a
certain point,' Count Beust explained that Austria
wished to encourage among the Christian popula-
tion of Turkey 'a wider development of their
privileges, and to promote the establishment of a
system of autonomy, to be limited only by a tie of
vassalage. This, moreover, would be the surest
means of making a lasting peace between the
Sultan and the Rajahs ; and Austria especially
is interested in contributing to that result, with a
view to averting the chances of a conflagration
which she has every reason to deprecate.'
In a subsequent despatch to Prince Metternich,.
chap, ii.] ENGLISH POLICY. \\
dated January I, 1867, Count Beust proposed a
revision of the Treaty of Paris ' and of the subse-
quent acts.' On January 22 he wrote to the
Austrian Ambassador at Constantinople :
'The remedies,' he said, 'which have been
applied during the last few years have proved
powerless to overcome the difficulties which are in-
creasing every day. The Eastern Question, taken
as a whole, presents an aspect very different from
that which it presented in 1856, and the stipula-
tions of that period,' exceeded as they have been
on more than one important point by events which
have since then arisen, no longer suffice to the
necessities of the present situation. Count Beust
went on to argue that the Treaty of Paris had
failed to provide sufficient guarantees for the better
government of the Christians of Turkey, and he
proposed accordingly 'to put the populations of
the Sultan under the protectorate of the whole of
Europe, by endowing them, under guarantees
from all the Courts, with independent institutions
in accordance with their various religions and
races.' l
The French Government cordially supported
1 See Emile de Girardin's La Honte de V Europe, p. 53.
42 DEPARTURE IN ENGLISH POLICY, [chap. ii.
Count Beust's views, proposed ' a medical consulta-
tion f of the Great Powers on the condition of the
Sick Man, and suggested the necessity of applying
1 heroic remedies,' beginning with the annexation
of Candia to Greece. Prince GortchakofT advo-
cated the same policy, and expressed his opinion
that - the only possible escape open to the Powers
from the course of expedients and palliatives,
which up to the present time had but served to
increase the difficulties/ was to promote 'the
gradual development of autonomous states ' out of
the Christian populations of Turkey.
The policy thus recommended received the
sanction of all the Powers except one. That one
was England. Instead of the statesmanlike policy
on which the other Powers were agreed, the English
Foreign Secretary succeeded in obtaining their
consent to a Turkish Constitution for Crete ' spon-
taneously ' offered by them. Like all the sponta-
neous reforms of the Porte, this Constitution left
matters practically as they were before. The
Cretans continued to be oppressed as much as ever,
and are now in a state of insurrection.
43
CHAPTER III.
ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF.
The next turning-point in the Eastern Question
is the outbreak of insurrection in Bosnia and the
Herzegovina in the summer of 1875. There is no
pretence for saying that Russia had anything to
do with that insurrection ; ' but so many people are
afflicted with Russian-intrigues-on-the-brain, that
it may be well to offer some evidence in support
of my statement. Those, indeed, who are ac-
quainted with the condition of the non-Mussulman
subjects of Turkey, will find in that condition a
sufficient explanation of insurrection in Bosnia or
elsewhere. The Christians of those provinces, to
1 Lord Derby accused Austria of fomenting it. ' We
told the Austrian Government : " It is of no use your making
diplomatic efforts to put down this disturbance, or resorting
to Consular Commissions, so long as your own people keep
it alive, and your own officials, seeing all this, allow it to
.grow." ' Speech in the House of Lords, February 20, 1877.
44 ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF, [chap. in.
put the matter briefly, are deprived of the elemen-
tary rights of humanity and the rudimentary princi-
ples of natural justice. The four primary condi-
tions of happiness for civilised mankind are security
for life, security for honour, security for religious
freedom, and security for property. The Christian
subjects of Turkey have no security for any of the
four. 1 They are literally outlaws in their own
land, and may be wronged to any extent with im-
punity. That this is no exaggeration will be ad-
mitted when I add that their evidence is never
received against a Mussulman, except in some
isolated cases, easily accounted for, and so few
that they do not affect the general statement.
But to debar a man from giving evidence before
the law, either as prosecutor or defendant, is clearly
to make an outlaw of him. For an outlaw is
defined as 'a person excluded from the benefit
of the law, or deprived of its protection.' This
is an exact description of the Christian subject of
Turkey. The exclusion of Christian evidence
against Mussulmans places him, without the
1 I have given abundant evidence for this statement from
official documents and other authorities, in a volume which I
published a year ago ; The Eastern Question : its Facts and
Fallacies, chap. i.
chap, in.] ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF. 45
slightest redress as far as the law is concerned,
at the mercy of the first Mussulman who assails
him in his person, his honour, his religion, or his
property. And the prohibition to bear arms de-
prives him at the same time of what Burke calls
'the first fundamental right of uncovenanted
man, the right of self-defence — the first law of
nature.' l
' Russian intrigues ' are hardly necessary to
account for chronic disaffection and an occasional
insurrection among a population thus oppressed.
Those who were on the spot and had the best
means of getting at the truth, when the insurrection
in the Slav provinces of Turkey took place three
years ago, are unanimous in the assertion that it
was caused entirely by the intolerable oppression
which made the lives of the Christians a burden to
them. Let me give a few examples. 'The im-
mediate causes of discontent/ says Mr. Still-
mann, the Times Correspondent, are the fol-
lowing : —
The Christian had neither justice, nor security, nor
the common rights of humanity. No court sat for him,
but all against him : no tenure of land held out against
1 Works, p. iv. 199 {Reflections on the Revolution in
France).
46 ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF, [chap. in.
the declaration of a Mussulman, and even the sanctity of
the family was constantly invaded by the carrying off of
the young girls for the harems of their masters. Every-
where, and from the lips of the most dispassionate men,
I heard the same confirmations. 1
Mr. Arthur Evans : —
To-day (Aug. 22, 1875) we made the acquaintance
of the German Consul, Count von Bothemar, who ex-
pressed considerable surprise at our arriving here un-
molested. From him and the other members of the
consular body, who were ready to supply us with full
details as to the stirring events that are taking place
around us, we learnt many interesting facts relative to the
causes and course of the insurrection in Bosnia. These
accounts, and others from trustworthy sources, reveal such
frantic oppression and gross misgovernment as must be
hardly credible to Englishmen. We have heard all that
can be said on the Turkish side : the main facts remain
unshaken. The truth is, that outside Serajevo and a few
of the larger towns, where there are Consuls or resident
1 Europeans/ neither the honour, property, nor the lives
of Christians are safe. Gross outrages against the person
â €” murder itself — can be committed in the rural districts
with impunity. The authorities are blind; and it is
quite a common thing for the gendarmes to let the
perpetrator of the grossest outrage, if a Mussulman, escape
before their eyes. 2
1 Herzegovina and the late Uprising, p. 8.
2 Through Bosnia and the Herzegovina on Foot during
the Insurrection, pp. 254-5.
chap, hi.] ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF. 47
Miss Irby's name is well known for her brave
self-sacrificing labours among the Christians of
Bosnia and Herzegovina. She, too, scouts the idea
of the insurrection being the work of foreign
emissaries. And she confirms her own testimony
by that of 'a Hungarian doctor in the Turkish
service ' — a man likely to be more Turkish than the
Turks in his prejudices against Bosnian rajahs.
This is what the Turco-Hungarian doctor told
her : —
He was of opinion that the rising would become
' schrecklich ernst.' The causes were deep and wide-
spread. He knew the country too well to repeat fables
about foreign instigation ; but he related with the fear-
lessness of an eye-witness the ever-recurring facts of the
intolerable oppression exercised by the farmers of the
taxes, of the bribery, corruption, and extortion, systematic
among the Turkish officials. 1
In this opinion the Italian Consul in Bosnia,
Signor Durando, also agrees, and thinks that J the
only means of a durable pacification consists in
organising Bosnia and Herzegovina after the
example of the Lebanon.' 2
1 The Slavonic Provinces of Turkey in Europe, i. p. 24.
2 Documenti diplomatici concernenti gli Affari d'Oriente
Sessione del 1876-77, p. 36. The dispatch from which I have
quoted is dated \ Mostar, September 27, 1875.'
48 ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF, [chap. hi.
In a touching memorial addressed to the
European Powers by the Christians of Herzegovina,
and forwarded to the Foreign Office by Consul
Holmes, the insurrection is entirely attributed to the
rapacity and cruelty of the Turkish administration. 1
But, in truth, the Andrassy Note supersedes
the necessity of any other evidence. That Note
bears the impidmatur of all the Great Powers,
England included, and it is from beginning to end
a terrible indictment against the Porte. All the
troubles in Bosnia and Herzegovina are laid at its
door. The Note declares that the Christians of
the disturbed provinces are without security for
either property or person, and the absence of
religious freedom is felt all the more, owing to
' the proximity of populations of the same race
in full enjoyment of that religious liberty of which
the Herzegovinian and Bosnian Christians see them-
selves deprived. The effect of the incessant com-
parison is that they feel oppressed under the yoke
of a real servitude ; ... in one word, they feel
themselves slaves.' 2
1 See Pari. Pap. for 1876, No. 2, pp. 30-40. Consul
Holmes told me that this Memorial was drawn up by the
Roman Catholic bishop of the district— an additional proof
that Russia had nothing to do with the movement.
2 Parliamentary Papers, No. 2 (1876), p. 80.
CHAP, ill.] ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF. 49
These are not the words of an IgnatiefT or a
Gortchakofif, but of the Hungarian Andrassy.
And they were countersigned by all the signataries
of the Treaty of Paris, except the Porte. The
Austrian Government, moreover, assured Lord
Derby that ' they wanted a pledge that the reforms
which they proposed should be carried into execu-
tion, failing which they would not undertake to use
their influence with the Christian population to
advise them to lay down their arms.' l
This ought to be final. But the Russophobists
are hard to convince. Let me therefore give them
the evidence of the Sultan himself. If they are
proof against that, what evidence will they accept ?
This is what the Sultan published in the autumn
of 1875 :
It is unfortunately true that the causes which produce
trouble among the peaceable populations are in a great
measure due to the unseemly conduct of some incapable
functionaries, and particularly to the exactions to which
the avaricious farmers of taxes lend themselves in the
hope of a large profit. 2
Having now cleared the ground, I proceed to
give a summary of the part played by England
1 Parliamentary Papers, No. 2 (1876), p. 91.
2 Ibid. p. 16.
E
50 ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF, [chap, hi,
and the other Powers respectively in the Eastern
Question during the last three years, leaving the
facts as much as possible to tell their own tale. I
have established by proof that the insurrection ori-
ginated in the abominable tyranny of the Turkish
Government, and that Russia had nothing whatever
to do with it. Nor was it Russia that opened the
diplomatic campaign ; up to the Berlin Memoran-
dum the lead was taken by Austria. And all the
Powers, England excepted, urged the necessity of
united action on the part of the Cabinets. England,
on the contrary, as represented by Lord Derby,
resolved to stand aloof, and ' deprecated the diplo-
matic action of the other Powers in the affairs of
the Ottoman Empire.' How this resolution was
carried out will appear as we proceed. The first
landmark is —
The Consular Delegation.
When the Delegation of Consuls to the insur-
gents was proposed Lord Derby at first objected,
and then yielded. His reasons are given by him-
self as follows : —
When such a Mission was proposed, the Grand
Vizier addressed to your Excellency a request that the
British Consul might be instructed to join the Mission.
Chap, in.] ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF. 51
I therefore informed your Excellency, in my dispatch of
August 24, that Her Majesty's Government consented to
this step with reluctance, as they doubted the expediency
of the intervention of foreign Consuls. Such an inter-
vention, I remarked, was scarcely compatible with the
independent authority of the Porte ; it offered an induce-
ment to insurrection as a means of appealing to foreign
sympathy against Turkish rule, and it might not impro-
bably open the way to further diplomatic interference in
the internal affairs of the Empire. l
Consul Holmes was sent accordingly, but with
instructions which made his mission a farce. Here
they are : —
Although the views and instructions of the different
Governments are identic, you will at the same time take
the greatest pains to avoid everything that, either in the
eyes of the Turkish authorities or in those of the insurgents,
might have the appearance of united action, and you will
therefore abstain from collective steps, but will rather act
individually. . . . Your efforts must be directed to
making the insurgents understand that they must not
calculate upon the support of any Power, and to per
suading them to enter into negotiations with the Imperial
Commissioners, and to make known their grievances to
them. You will state to them that Her Majesty's Govern-
ment will use their influence with the Sublime Porte, in
recommending that the legitimate grievances which may
t>e established shall be remedied or removed ; but you
1 < Dispatch of Lord Derby to Sir H. Elliot.' See
Parliamentary Papers, No. 2 (1876), p. 96.
52 ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF, [chap. iil.
will be careful to avoid pledging Her Majesty's Govern-
ment in regard to any measures to be taken, which must
be the result of a direct understanding between the
parties. It may be impossible for you to prevent the
Christians from making known to you the nature and
extent of their grievances, but, without refusing to listen
to what may be necessary to enable you to report to Her
Majesty's Embassy, in order that the insurgents may not
delude themselves into supposing that the Powers
guarantee the realisation of the wishes which they may
submit to the Imperial Commission, you will avoid pro-
voking any discussion of their grievances. 1
Observe, in the passage which I have marked
by italics, the nervous anxiety lest ' the Turkish
authorities ' or * the insurgents ' should think that
England was acting in union with the other Powers.
Consul Holmes was faithful to his instructions, as
his own dispatches, and still more those of the
Italian Consul, prove. An extract from one of the
latter will suffice : —
My colleagues of Germany, Austria- Hungary, Russia,
and France, have received instructions to propose to the
Turkish Commissioner a project of pacifying the Herze-
govina in a manner satisfactory to both parties. Yester-
day evening we had a meeting on the subject. After an
exchange of ideas it was unanimously recognised that the
first steps towards the work of pacification were the col-
1 Parliamentary Papers, No. 2 (1876), p. 10.
chap, in.] ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF. 53
lective action of Europe, an armistice, and a general
meeting at Ragusa, where the Turkish Commissioner and
the chiefs of the insurgents, together with the co-operation
of the European delegates, might discuss the details of
the pacification. 1
On receipt of this intelligence Count Corti, the
Italian Minister at the Porte, wrote as follows to
his Government : —
Yesterday afternoon (October 3, 1875) I received a
telegram from Mostar in which the Cavalier Durando in-
forms me of the conclusions unanimously adopted at the
meeting held the evening before by all the Consular
delegates, with the exception of the English Consul (all'
eccezione di quello dell' Inghilterra). Signor Durando
asked me in conclusion for specific instructions in the
matter. I answered immediately that he was to assist at
the Conferences with his colleagues, and to use the greatest
possible reserve in his interviews with the Ottoman
Commissioner. 2
The Porte, thus openly supported by England,
refused all terms. i I have seen the Turkish Com-
missioner,' says Signor Durando. ' He spurns all
intervention. He recognises the grave state of the
case ; but does not know how it will end. . . . The
military governor urges war, and hopes in fifteen
days to hunt the insurgents out of the country. In
1 Documenti Diplomatici, p. 36. 2 Ibid. p. 39.
54 ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF, [chap. hi..
my opinion war will accomplish the ruin of the
country without pacifying it. I believe that the
only means of a durable pacification consists in
organising Bosnia and the Herzegovina after the
example of the Lebanon.' !
But why then was the Turkish Government so
anxious that the English Consul should join the
Consular delegation ? For a reason which is
thoroughly characteristic of Turkish rule. The
name of England then stood high throughout
South-eastern Europe as the friend and champion
of the oppressed (it stands low enough now), and
the Porte believed that the presence of the Eng-
lish Consul would so inspire the insurgents with
confidence that the leaders would all assemble at
the place of meeting, and could thus be surprised
and massacred by the Turkish troops. The plot
partially succeeded. The insurgents, about 180 in
number, were laid under an engagement not to
attack the Turkish troops while the negotiations
were going on. Having expressed their fear that
the Turks would attack them when thus off their
guard, they were apparently reassured — in perfect
good faith, of course — by Consul Holmes. No
1 Documenti Diplomatici, p. 36.
chap. III.] ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF. 55
sooner, however, had the Consuls left than the
confiding insurgents were treacherously surprised
by two battalions of Turkish troops. Some were
killed, and nearly all were wounded. In reporting
this infamous massacre to the Porte, Chefket Pasha,
who afterwards distinguished himself in Bulgaria,
described it as the result of ' clever strategy.' ' The
massacre,' says Consul Holmes, ' might have been
a very serious thing for us if it had happened one
day sooner.' That it was â– a serious thing ' for the
poor insurgents was a fact which does not appear
to have struck the Consular mind, nor, indeed, the
mind of the British Ambassador at Constantinople.
' The account,' says the latter, ' relative to the en-
gagement [" engagement " indeed !] between the
Turkish troops and the body of insurgents with
which the Consuls had just been in communication,
is not satisfactory' I should have thought that
1 British interests ' need not have suffered if the
Ambassador of England had made bold to describe
in somewhat more fitting language the foul and
treacherous massacre of men who were at the
time virtually under the protection of a safe
conduct from a British Consul. The Consul, how-
ever, did not go without his reward. The follow-
56 ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF, [chap. hi.
ing solatium was forwarded to him from Lord
Derby with an expression of \ satisfaction ' from
his Lordship at the testimony thus borne by the
Porte to the Consul's conduct : —
March 15, 1876.
M. l'Ambassadeur, — Your Excellency is aware that
Mr. Holmes, Her Britannic Majesty's Consul at Sera-
jevo, was the English delegate sent to Monastir at the
commencement of the insurrection.
The friendly disposition evinced by Mr. Holmes on
this occasion, and the perfect tact with which he has
discharged his delicate duties, make it incumbent upon
us to convey the thanks of the Sublime Porte to the
Government of Her Majesty, and to recommend Mr.
Holmes most especially to their favour. '
I beg that your Excellency will make known these
feelings to the Foreign Office, and I have, &c.
(Signed) Raschid. 2
So much as to the Consular Delegation. Our
next landmark is —
The Andrassy Note?
We have already seen the aim and purport of
the Andrassy Note. I shall let Lord Derby him-
1 Consul Holmes has since been knighted.
2 The references for the Consular Delegation are
Parliamentary Papers, No. 2 (1876), pp. 26-29, 42, 97, and
No. 3, pp. 47, 52.
3 The references are Parliamentary Papers, No. 2 (1876),
pp. 91-105.
CHAP, in.] ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF. 57
self explain how he dealt with it. In a dispatch
to Sir A. Buchanan he says : —
Count Beust took occasion to observe that the
communication intended to be addressed to the Porte
was not regarded by his Government in the light of mere
good advice. They wanted a pledge that the reforms
which they proposed should be carried into execution,
failing which they would not undertake to use their in-
fluence with the Christian population to advise them to
lay down their arms. I stated in answer that I clearly
understood this to be the Austrian point of view. So far
as Her Majesty's Government were concerned, we were
not prepared to do more than offer such friendly advice
as the circumstances seemed to require,
In a subsequent dispatch Lord Derby returns
to the subject : —
His Excellency [Count Beust] reminded me that at
our last meeting he had expressly said that the object of
the Austro- Hungarian demarche vis a-vis of the Porte was
not friendly counsel only, but to obtain a definite promise
that the reforms the Austrian Government advocated
should be really carried into effect. That the Sublime
Porte should enter into an explicit engagement towards
the guaranteeing Powers to carry out the reforms in
question and give a written promise to that effect, with-
out which the Cabinets would not succeed in pacifying
the disturbed districts. His Excellency added that I
doubtless remembered that the Russian Ambassador had
expressed to me the intention of his Government to elicit
58 ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF, [chap. ill.
a similar written engagement from the Porte. Count
Beust stated that he had been informed by telegraph on
the 24th instant that France and Italy had unreservedly
acceded to this view, and that his Excellency could
hardly lay too much stress on the disappointment which
his Government would experience if the British Govern-
ment disagreed in this point.
Even Sir Henry Elliot advised Lord Derby to
join with the other Powers in pressing the Andrassy
Note on the Porte, which would be sure to accept
it if presented by all the Powers in their collective
capacity. I quote his words : —
The proposals with which it concludes, if put into an
identic instruction to the representatives here (which is
understood to be what is intended), would, in my opinion,
be accepted by the Porte without much difficulty.
At last Lord Derby very reluctantly agreed to
give an extremely grudging and qualified support
to the Andrassy Note. 1 In a long dispatch to
1 The argument which finally overcame Lord Derby's
reluctance was, it seems, administered by Count Beust.
The incident is related by himself in a dispatch just published
in the Austrian Red Book. It was addressed to Count
Andrassy on January 9, 1876, and it certainly displays an
acute appreciation of Lord Derby's character. Lord Derby
objected to the Andrassy Note because it involved ulterior
measures in case of the Porte's refusal, and consequently
some responsibility on the part of the British Government.
But you court greater responsibility by rejecting it,' retorted
chap, in.] ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF. 59
Sir H. Elliot announcing this decision he indulges
in a destructive criticism of the Andrassy Note.
There is scarcely one of its proposals which he
did not object to and controvert ; and, having thus
damaged the Note as well as he could, he 'in-
structed Her Majesty's Ambassador at Constanti-
nople to confine his representations, in giving a
general support to Count Andrassy's proposals, to
oral communications.'
The Porte was in ecstasies, as it well might be,
the wily Saxon. But let me quote his own account of the
matter, bristling as it does with sound reasoning and keen
irony : 'You are anxious about the possible consequences of
the step we propose to take ; but it is quite as important that
you should consider the consequences of your refusing to
take it. I know well that you are not actuated by any
personal susceptibilities ; you are too superior to such con-
siderations ; but a policy of abstention has its partisans.
Now, whatever may happen, your abstention will load you
with a responsibility which would be hardly in accordance
with the aspirations of the country for pacific solutions. If
the Porte refuses to give us satisfaction, you will be accused
of having prompted their refusal. If it accepts, you will not
only have been more Turkish than the Turks, but you will be
made equally responsible for all that will follow. Should
Turkey be slow or insincere in the fulfilment of her engage-
ments, it will be said that she reckons on the support of
England, which held aloof from them ; should the insurgents
refuse to lay down their arms, this will be attributed to their
having found in the isolated position of England a pretext
for doubting the honest execution of the promises made to
them.'
60 ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF, [chap. hi.
at the adroit way in which Lord Derby had check-
mated the diplomatic intervention of the other
Powers. * Raschid Pasha,' wrote Sir H. Elliot, ' has
expressed the most lively satisfaction at the tenor
of the instructions that your Lordship is forwarding
to me, of which I communicated to him the
telegraphic summary.' The Porte went through
the form of accepting the Andrassy Note, but let it
remain a dead letter.
So far Austria takes the lead as an advocate of
concerted action on the part of the Powers, ending,
if need be, in coercion. Count Beust's language,
quoted above, clearly points to that result. All the
other Powers acted cordially with Austria, with the
single exception of England, whose Minister took
his stand on the policy of â– deprecating the diplo-
matic action of the other Powers in the affairs of
the Ottoman Empire.' The defection of England
from the European concert having thus, by encour-
aging the Porte, defeated the pacific efforts of the
other Powers in the Consular Delegation and the
Andrassy Note, Count Andrassy took advantage
of the presence of Prince Gortchakoff in Berlin to
go thither to consult the two northern Chancellors
as to the next step to be taken with a view to put a
chap, ill.] ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF. 61
stop to the insurrection and, as far as feasible, to
its causes. The result of the meeting was —
The Berlin Memorandum.
The Berlin Memorandum was received by Lord
Derby on the 15th May, 1876. No document
that I have ever read appears to me more genuine
in its character, more solemn in its tone, more
straightforward in its intentions, or more free from
any vestige of arriere-pensees. The proposals
contained in the Memorandum are five in number,
namely, —
1. That the Turkish Government should furnish
material for rebuilding the dwelling-houses and
churches of the houseless and ruined refugees from
Bosnia and Herzegovina, and give them at the
same time means of subsistence 'till they could
support themselves by their own labour.' The
limitation is important, as we shall see presently.
2. That the Turkish Commissioner appointed
to distribute this aid should take counsel with the
Mixed Commission provided by the Andrassy
Note.
3. That, * in order to avoid any collision,' the
Turkish troops should be concentrated ' on some
62 ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF, [chap, hi
points to be agreed upon,' ' at least until excitement
had subsided.'
4. * Christians as well as Mussulmans should
retain their arms.'
5. 'The Consuls or Delegates of the Powers
shall keep a watch over the application of the
reforms in general, and on the steps relative to
the repatriation in particular.'
' If, however,' the Memorandum goes on to say,
1 the armistice were to expire without the efforts of
the Powers being successful in attaining the end
they have in view, the three Imperial Courts are
of opinion that it would become necessary to
supplement their diplomatic action by the sanction
of an agreement with a view to such efficacious
measures as might appear to be demanded in the
interest of general peace. 1
On the same day on which Lord Derby re-
ceived the Berlin Memorandum he also received
a dispatch from the British Ambassador in St.
Petersburg, in which occur these words : —
I feel persuaded that the predominant wish of the
Emperor Alexander is to maintain peace, and that his
policy in regard to Eastern affairs is perfectly disinterested,
1 Parliamentary Papers, No. 3 (1876), pp. 140-1.
CHAP, in.] ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF. 63
and that his sole object is to aid in pacifying the insur-
gent provinces of Turkey and. in maintaining the Ottoman
Empire. 1
That the French and Italian Governments
shared this conviction as to the honest and pacific
intentions of the Emperor of Russia is evident
from the fact of their having telegraphed at once
their adhesion to the Berlin Memorandum. 2 Lord
Derby, on the contrary, not only refused the assent
of England to the Memorandum, but supplied the
Porte with a series of arguments against it. He
communicated it at once to the Turkish Ambassa-
dor, with a stream of his usual destructive criticism.
And on the very day on which it reached him he
wrote a dispatch to Lord Odo Russell, of which it
is worth while to quote the leading points. He
objected to the Porte being asked to give any
help to the returning refugees on three grounds.
First, it 'would cost a large sum of money, which
the Porte did not possess and could not borrow.'
Secondly, it would be unjust to make the Porte
'responsible for repairing destruction which had
been, in the main, the work of the insurgents
1 Parliamentary Papers, No. 3 (1876), p. 143.
2 Ibid. p. 151.
64 ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF, [chap. iil.
themselves.' l Thirdly, it ' would be little better
than a system of indiscriminate almsgiving,' which
â– would prove utterly demoralising to any country.'
As to the first of these objections, the criticisms
of the Austrian and French Governments appear
unanswerable. The former reminded Lord Derby
that the demand to which he objected amounted
to no more than ' only urging the complete fulfil-
1 This is an entire mistake, as the pages of Mr. Evans
and Miss Irby, and the dispatches of the Italian Consul,
abundantly prove. The churches and houses of the Christians
were burnt by the Mussulmans. Let me quote one or two
extracts from the Italian Consul. After stating that he had
seen the mutilated bodies and heads of ' poor refugees r
floating in the Save, and that he was travelling with the
Consuls of Austria and Germany, he says : — ' In our voyage
from Mostar to Metkovich, we began to observe the ruin that
had been wrought. In the plain of Gabella were two con-
siderable villages burnt, Dracevo and Doljani. The Catholic
Church was destroyed, the country deserted.' The same
ruin met them in the country ' beyond the Narenta.' And the
chief sufferers in that region also were Roman Catholics. Let
Lord Derby read the following, and then say if the ruin was
the work of the insurgents themselves : — ' Quegli incendi
erano stati appiccati dai Mussiclmani di Stolatz aiutati dal
coniandatite la [? della] gendarmeria di Mostar e dai soldati
turchi del confine. Gli abitanti, quasi Cattolici, presentendo
il pericolo, si erano rifugiati in massa sul vicino territoriod i
Dalmazia. Gli uomini validi fterb presero le armiJ When
the Consuls advised the insurgents to go home, the latter
replied : — ' Voi, signori consoli, ci dite di ritornare alle case.
Ma dove sono esse ? Le abbruciarono i turchi' — Documenti
Diplomatic^ pp. 42, 44.
chap, in.] ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF. 65
merit of an engagement which the Porte had
already entered into.' The latter made the
pertinent observation that the prosecution of the
war, which necessarily resulted from Lord Derby's
rejection of the proposed armistice, would be
likely to cost the Porte more than the aid de-
manded for the returning refugees. None of the
Powers condescended to notice Lord Derby's * in-
discriminate-almsgiving ' objection. It carefully
evaded the explicit reservation of the Berlin
Memorandum, that aid should only be given till
such time as the refugees ' could support themselves
by their own labour.'
The second article in the Berlin Memorandum
was rejected by Lord Derby because it would
infringe the authority of the Sultan.
To the proposal of an armistice he objected
because it might interfere with the military plans
of the Porte.
But perhaps the most extraordinary objection
of all is that which Lord Derby made to the
proposal that the Christian as well as the Mussul-
man population should be allowed to retain their
arms. ' If the insurgents were to return armed to
meet the Mussulmans, also retaining their arms, a
F
66 ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF, [chap. hi.
collision would be inevitable.' So Lord Derby
avoids the 'collision' by letting loose the armed
Mussulmans upon the unarmed and defenceless
Christians. And this in spite of the following
passage in a dispatch from the British Ambassa-
dor at Vienna : — ' Count Beust having also stated
that your Lordship disapproved the proposal that
the Christians should retain their arms, his Ex-
cellency (Andrassy) answered that the Christians
would prefer the disarming of the Mussulmans ; but
as it would be impossible, without serious disturb-
ance, to apply such a measure to men who had
been accustomed to wear arms from their childhood,
the only way of establishing equality between the
two populations would be to extend the right to
do so to Christians.' l
The other Powers strove by urgent persuasion
and solemn warning to get Lord Derby to re-
consider his decision. The British Ambassador at
Berlin reports : —
Prince Bismarck admitted that the several articles of
the Memorandum were open to discussion, and might be
modified according to circumstances, and that he, for one,
would willingly entertain any improvement Her Majesty's
1 Parliamentary Papers ', No. 3 (1876), pp. 176-7.
chap. in. J ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF. 67
Government might have to propose. But hje greatly re-
gretted that Her Majesty's Government had not felt able
to give a general support to the principles of the plan
submitted to them by the Northern Powers, and agreed
to by France and Italy, and had felt obliged to withdraw
from the cordial understanding so happily established
between the six Great Powers in regard to the pacification
of the Herzegovina.
Five days later i His Excellency renewed the
expression of the regret the German Government
felt at the inability of Her Majesty's Government
to support the policy of the five Great Powers at
Constantinople.'
The Due Decazes ' again expressed his surprise
and regret at the refusal of Her Majesty's Govern-
ment to join in the new proposals of the three
Imperial Courts.' Two days later the Due Decazes
told our representative in Paris ' that in view of the
regrettable difference in the matter of this Memor-
andum which had arisen on the part of England,
he had addressed a pressing appeal (tme demarche
instante) to the English Cabinet'
The Duke added ' that the Austrian Charge
d'Affaires called upon him after Prince Hohenlohe's
departure, and informed him that he was instructed
to say that Count Andrassy would try to retard
68 ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF, [chap, iil
the intended step at Constantinople if the Due
Decazes could see some chance of inducing Eng-
land to draw nearer to the views of the other
Powers, at least as to the armistice.'
The Italian Minister repeated the regret which
he had already expressed at Lord Derby's decision,,
adding that he hoped at all events Her Majesty's
Government would consent to advise the Porte to
accept the armistice ; and if they could not join in
recommending the other measures, that they would
at least say nothing which might be an encourage-
ment to the Turkish Government to reject them.
' If the Turkish Government did not feel that they
would be supported by England in declining to
accept the proposals, he had some hope that they
might agree to them. . . He was firmly convinced
that Russia had no ambitious views at this moment,
and that she was sincerely desirous for a termina-
tion of the insurrection. . . If the present proposals
were not accepted, some more decisive measures
would become necessary.'
The French Minister of Foreign Affairs made
one more desperate effort to persuade the English
Government to ' reconsider their decision/ so that
England might, after all, renounce her present iso-
chap, in.] ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF. 69
lation, and thus a concert of the six Powers might
still be obtained. ' But besides these and other
observations/ says the British Charge d'Affaires
at Paris, ' the Due Decazes spoke to me at length
and in peculiarly earnest language, of the re-
sult which he dreaded if, by the non-consent of
all the Powers, an armistice became impossible
and thus the present struggle was to be kept up.
His Excellency drew a graphic picture of the pro-
bable spread of the insurrection, of the consequent
rising of one Province after another in the Otto-
man Empire, of the greater and greater effusion of
blood, of the gradual dismemberment of the Em-
pire, until at last, as he feared, all Europe might be
drawn into the vortex.'
All the other Powers saw clearly enough the
abyss to which Lord Derby's laissez-faire policy
was leading Europe. He and his chief alone were
blind.
To all the remonstrances and appeals of Europe
Lord Derby turned a deaf ear. He would do no-
thing himself, nor allow anybody else to do any-
thing. ' I told Count Beust that I had no plan to
propose.' ' Would he then agree to a Conference ? '
inquired the French Government. ' I replied that
jo ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF, [chap. hi.
I saw no objection to a Conference in principle, but
I thought it would be useless without a basis ; ' and
a basis Lord Derby would not take the responsi-
bility of suggesting. The simple truth is that the
other Great Powers were solicitous for the welfare
of the oppressed Christians in Turkey, while Lord
Derby and his chief were only solicitous for the
maintenance of the status quo. This comes out in
two of his dispatches to Sir H. Elliot, a propos of
the Berlin Memorandum. He assured the Turkish
Ambassador that ' Her Majesty's Government
would not assume the responsibility of advising
the Porte, who must be guided by what they
thought best, after due consideration, for the
welfare of the Ottoman Empire.' ' I have to
point out to your Excellency,' he writes to Sir
H. Elliot on May 19, 'that Her Majesty's
Government have, since the outbreak of the
insurrection in Bosnia and the Herzegovina, de-
precated the diplomatic action of the other Powers in
the affairs of the Ottoman Empire! l
Although deserted and thwarted a third time by
England, the Governments of the five Powers
1 See Parlia7nentary Papers, No. 3 (1876), pp. 152, 174,,
177, 178, 185, 187, 188, 191-3.
chap, ill.] ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF. 71
determined to act together. Their course of action
is described by Count Corti, the Italian Minister
at the Porte. In a dispatch dated ' Therapia,
May 29, 1 876,' he says : —
The Ambassador of France received to-day an order,
by telegraph, to take common action with his colleagues
of Russia, of Austria-Hungary, of Germany, and of Italy
in presenting the communication founded on the Berlin
Memorandum. We met therefore by agreement at 5.30
p.m. at the German Embassy, and resolved to present to
the Sublime Porte the common note [la nota identica] of
which I enclose a copy. Your Excellency will find that
this document contains the five demands laid down in the
Memorandum. The most perfect harmony reigned at this
meeting among the five representatives. I have only to
add that the identic notes will be presented to-morrow by
Signor Vernoni and his colleagues the first interpreters. 1
On the morrow, however, the Sultan was
deposed, and Count Corti telegraphs that ' it was
impossible to make an official communication to
the Sublime Porte before the new sovereign was
formally recognized.' 2
Up to this point Russia played a secondary part.
Austria took the lead, and was energetically sup-
ported by France, Italy, and Germany, and
1 Docmnenti Diplomatici, p. 202.
2 Ibid. p. 209.
72 ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF, [chap. hi.
cordially, but less prominently, by Russia. Eng-
land stood aloof with folded arms, refusing to do
anything herself, and frustrating the earnest
endeavours of the other Powers to restore peace,
and at the same time ameliorate the lot of the
Christians. In the early part of June the Russian
Government came more to the front. On the
seventh of that month the Italian Minister for
Foreign Affairs wrote to the Ambassador of Italy
at St. Petersburg : —
To-day the representative of Russia called to com-
municate a telegram which he received yesterday from
the Prince Chancellor, and according to which the Go-
vernment of the Czar proposed that a declaration should
be made to the Ottoman Porte that the five Powers, con-
tinuing in a perfect and intimate accord for the pacifica-
tion of the Insurgent Provinces, agreed to suspend their
official relations with it until they saw some proof that
the Government of the Sultan intended to execute the
important reforms which he had lately assured them that
he wished spontaneously to concede. This communica-
tion of the Imperial Cabinet is perfectly in harmony with
the mind of the Italian Government. The instructions
already imparted to the representative of the King at
Constantinople are precisely in the sense of giving the
Government of Murad V. to understand that if the
change of reign affords the Powers some ground of hope
in the good intentions of the new sovereign, and
chap, in.] ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF. 73
of expectation that the situation may be modified
through his spontaneous and generous action, it would,
nevertheless be a vain illusion to suppose that these
circumstances have diminished the interest of the Powers
in a sensible amelioration of the lot of the populations of
Bosnia and the Herzegovina. The Government of Con-
stantinople may prevent a fresh intervention of European
diplomacy by itself initiating large concessions and
earnestly translating them into acts. But it is necessary
that the Ministers of the Sultan should clearly under-
stand the urgency of a crisis that demands precautions
which would seriously modify the situation. These in-
structions Baron d'Uxkull will have already made known
to Prince GortchakofT, who will be able to see in them a
perfect agreement with the ideas disclosed in the recent
communication which his Highness addressed to me
through the Envoy of the Emperor. 1
The Russian Government at the same time
addressed itself directly to Lord Derby : —
What was the solution of the difficulty which England
desired to see adopted ? What was the drift and object
of British policy? ... If the London Cabinet has in
view any means for obtaining this end, whether on the
basis already proposed or by a more complete solution
without incurring the risk of stirring up a general con-
' flagration, perhaps even a war of extermination in the
East, we are ready to welcome any idea which the
Cabinet might communicate to us, for we sincerely desire
a good understanding with them.
1 Documenti Difilomatici, p. 204.
74 ENGLAND ISOLATES HERSELF, [chap. hi..
Lord Derby coldly replied : —
Nothing, I thought, remained, except to allow the
renewal of the struggle, until success should have de-
clared itself more or less decisively on one side or the
other. 1
When the trained, well-armed troops of the
Sultan succeeded in crushing a few hundreds of
untrained and half-armed insurgents, the latter,
Lord Derby thought, * would moderate their de-
mands, and they would acquiesce in some such
arrangement as that made with the Cretans after
the war of 1866-67 ' — acquiesce, that is, in a sham.
A little later Prince GortchakofT sounded Lord
Derby, through Count SchouvalofT, in order to
ascertain whether the English Government would
agree to join the other Powers in demanding ' an
administrative autonomy ' for the disturbed Pro-
vinces. 2 Lord Derby gave no encouragement to-
the suggestion ; and thus another phase of the
Eastern Question passed into the limbo of lost
opportunities.
1 Turkey ; No. 3 (18/6), pp. 260-1, 284.
3 Ibid. p. 350.
75
CHAPTER IV.
THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES : A SUMMARY OF
FACTS OFFICIALLY ATTESTED.
How wonderful is the power of prejudice ! A
number of educated people in this country have
succeeded in persuading themselves that the
Bulgarian massacres are due entirely to ' Russian
intrigues.' The Russians planned the ' insurrec-
tion/ and then General Ignatieff, the Russian
Ambassador at Constantinople, dissuaded the
Porte from sending regular troops into Bulgaria.
The consequence was that the ' insurrection ' was
put down by Circassians and Bashi-bazouks who
committed — as Ignatieff intended that they should
commit — sundry excesses. These excesses, how-
ever, were enormously exaggerated in England,
chiefly by ' Russian agents ; ' the number of
Christians massacred throughout Bulgaria being
little over 3,000.
76 THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES, [chap. iv.
Such is the theory. On what evidence does it
rest ? On no evidence at all. It is purely and
simply a product of the imagination. Our Russo-
phobists believe that Russia is capable of doing
what they impute to her : therefore they conclude,
in the absence of all evidence, that she has done
it. It is a maxim in controversy that a disputant
cannot be called upon to prove a negative. His
opponent is bound to give evidence in support of
his case before he can claim either credence or
reply. But though not bound to disprove what I
will take the liberty of calling the ' Ignatieff myth,'
till some attempt has been made to substantiate
it by facts, I will nevertheless proceed to show
that it is not only without evidence, but against
evidence.
First, then, as to the origin of the insurrection.
Mr. Baring, a member of the British Embassy at
Constantinople, was sent by Sir Henry Elliot to
investigate the facts on the spot. Another gentle-
man had been previously nominated to the post,
and Sir Henry Elliot was supposed — probably on
insufficient grounds — to cancel that appointment
in favour of Mr. Baring, because that gentleman
was understood to be more favourably disposed
CHAP, iv.] THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES. 77
towards the Turkish Government. Mr. Baring
was accompanied by his father-in-law (a Levan-
tine), who acted in the capacity of interpreter, and
had the reputation of being a strong philo-Turk.
I mention these details to show that if Mr. Baring
had any bias at all, it was in favour of the Turks.
His various Reports, however, prove that he subor-
dinated all other considerations to an honest deter-
mination to discover and publish the truth.
Now what does Mr. Baring say about the origin
of the Bulgarian insurrection ? A ' Bulgarian
Committee,' he says, ' was established in Bucharest
about fourteen years ago for the purpose of fo-
menting insurrection in Bulgaria.' He uses words
which might imply that this committee was com-
posed of foreigners, which, in the minds of ninety-
nine out of every hundred of his readers, would
mean Russians. In a subsequent Report Mr.
Baring corrects this impression as follows : —
There is an expression in my Report which I want to
correct, as I think otherwise it would mislead those who
read it. I have applied the word ' foreign ' to the emis-
saries and agitators who stirred up the revolt. The
principal men, such as Benkowsky, Vankoff, Haritou and
others, were all Bulgarians by birth, but had lived for
many years in Roumania or Servia. It is true they came
78 THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES, [chap. iv.
from abroad ; but, as regards Bulgaria, they should not
be called foreigners. Among the leaders was a man who
was known as ' Odessali ; ' but it is doubtful whether he
was a Russian or only a Bulgarian settled at Odessa. I
never intended in my Report to convey the impression
that bona fide foreigners took an active part in the revolt ;
but I quite understand that the expression I used might
lead people to suppose that such was my opinion, and I
therefore hasten to correct it. 1
Mr. Baring's own explanation of the outbreak
is the common-sense and true one. ' Wherever,' he
says, ' there is Turkish rule, there, owing to its in-
herent faults, there will be Christian discontent. Last
spring this was naturally heightened by the total
failure of Mahmoud Pasha's high-sounding firman
of reforms, by the deaf ear turned by the Porte to
petitions from Bulgaria, and by the heavy pressure
of taxation.' 1
Mr. Schuyler, the Commissioner sent into Bul-
garia by the American Government, agrees sub-
stantially with Mr. Baring. 3 But there are some
1 Turkey, No. I (1877), p. 526.
2 The average taxation of the Christian subjects of Turkey
is 67 per cent. This does not include illegal extortions,
which are of course very common under a system which
leaves the Christians without any protection or redress. See
Consular Reports for i860, p. 25, and for 1867, p. 55.
3 Turkey, No. 1 (1877), p. 167.
CHAP, iv.] THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES. 79
persons who will accept no evidence in this matter
which is not either Turkish or from purely philo-
Turk sources. This seems to me a little unreason-
able. Nevertheless, they shall have the kind of
evidence which they demand. I have before me a
' Report presented to the Sublime Porte by the Ex-
traordinary Tribunal instituted at Philippopolis, to
judge persons implicated in the late events in
Bulgaria.' This Report is in large part a gross
travesty of the facts. 1 But on the point in dispute,
namely, the origin of the revolt, it agrees entirely
with the Reports of Messrs. Baring and Schuyler.
Here is what it says :
The Revolutionary Committees formed in Moldo-
Wallachia and in Servia had constantly for a long time
past been kindling the flames of revolt among the Bul-
garians of Roumelia, and had been making, with this in
view, all kinds of sacrifices. . . This programme aimed
at nothing less than a revolution, having for its object
the independence of Bulgaria under a new Government. 2
With this agrees a 'Report presented to the
Sublime Porte by Chakir Bey, Imperial Commis-
sioner, sent to the Vilayet of the Danube to make
1 Sir H. Elliot calls it, 'as unsatisfactory a document as
could well be seen.' — Turkey, No. 1 (1877), p. 143.
2 Ibid. p. 176.
80 THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES, [chap. iv.
inquiry into the troubles of which that Province
has been the scene.' l In neither of these Turkish
Reports is there a hint or suggestion that Russia
had anything to do with the insurrection. That
Russians sympathised with the aspirations of the
Bulgarian Committee is true enough, just as it is
true that Englishmen sympathised with the aspi-
rations of Mazzini and Garibaldi. That some
Russians may have expressed their sympathy by
gifts of money is also possible, as some English-
men did in the cases I have named. But it is
more certain that the Russian Government had
nothing to do with the matter than it is that the
English Government had nothing to do with the
enterprise of Garibaldi against the Kingdom of the
Two Sicilies. No Russian, according to Mr. Baring,
took an active part in the Bulgarian insurrection.
A number of Englishmen, without let or hindrance
from their Government, took part in the expe-
dition of Garibaldi. I was told, four years ago, by
a Roman Cardinal, that the man most responsible
for the success of the Italian Revolution and the
consequent creation of the unity of Italy was Mr.
Gladstone, ' His pamphlet on the Neapolitan
1 Turkey, No. I (i877),p. 172.
chap, iv.] THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES. 81
regime ' y said his Eminence, ' did more mischief than
the sword of Garibaldi. It inflamed the mind of
Europe, and made it possible for Cavour to din
what he called " Italy's cry of anguish " into the ears
of the plenipotentaries at the Congress of Paris.
The consequence of that was the battle of Solfe-
rino, and of that again the piratical expedition of
Garibaldi and the spoliation of the States of the
Church. It is all Mr. Gladstone's doing.' And so
his Eminence rejoiced in the accession of Mr.
Disraeli to office. ' We shall now/ he said, < have
at least the moral support of England towards
the maintenance and restoration of the old order
of things.'
The Cardinal was so far right that if there had
been no change of Government in the beginning of
1859, ^ 1S possible that the Austrians might still
be in occupation of Venetia and Lombardy, and
the Bourbons still reigning at Naples. The late
Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli made no secret of
their determined hostility to the cause of Italian
liberation. Their speeches and the dispatches of
Lord Malmesbury are on record to prove what I
say. The feeling of the nation, however, was very
strongly the other way, and thoroughly approved
G
82 THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES, [chap. iv.
of the â– benevolent neutrality ' which Lord Palmer-
ston's Government accorded even to the technically
indefensible enterprise of Garibaldi. Yet to com-
pare the rule of Austrians or Bourbons in Italy
to that of the Turks in Bulgaria is in fact to
compare the rule of civilised men, however arbi-
trary and tyrannical, with that of savages. From
indolence, or caprice, or the influence of bribes,
the rule of the savage may permit here and there
a certain measure of prosperity to those who are
subject to it. But there is no security for anything.
The dominant ferocity of his nature may break out
in a moment and spread devastation around. Now
the Turk, with all his coating of French polish, is
at heart a savage. He may be amiable and good-
natured till he is roused. Savages generally are.
But towards the non-Mussulman, who is subject to
his rule, the Turk admits no law but that of his
own sweet will. The life and honour and property
of his Christian neighbour are his, to deal with
them as he pleases ; and he is not slow to avail
himself of his privilege. The Turk is what he is,
however, not by any inherent vice of race or nature,
but in virtue of what Mr. Herbert Spencer would
call his \ environment.' His religion, his law, his
traditions inculcate undying hate and scorn for the
chap. IV.] THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES. 83
* unbeliever ' (' ghiaour '). Let me give one or
two illustrations of how cheap a Christian's life is
held in Turkey. The first is from the Times Cor-
respondent in the Herzegovina : —
I made the acquaintance of an army surgeon who
had been attending a Christian boy of thirteen, wantonly
shot in broad daylight by a Mussulman boy of twelve.
The young assassin was carried in triumph round the
neighbourhood by his comrades, and the wounded youth
to the hospital. It seemed that the young Turk had had
a present of a rifle (army pattern), and had gone out to
try it. Seeing the Christian lad gathering grapes in his
mother's vineyard, he took deliberate aim and shot him
through the body at close quarters. . . I had all the par-
ticulars from the surgeon, and the facts as to investigation
from the Consuls, on whose complaint an investigation
by the Turkish officials was ordered. A report fully
recognising the facts was made, and there the matter
ended. ' Making a report ' is to the Turkish mind the
ne plus ultra of judicial investigation into any matter in
which Mussulman deeds are called in question. The
Pasha was astounded when the Consuls protested against
this trivial manner of treating the incident, and replied,
' Have we not made a report ? ' The culprit never was
molested. The Turks divide their judicial proceedings
in a manner ingenious, if not just. They investigate
Mussulman offences without any punishment, and punish
the Christian without any investigation. 1
1 Herzegovina and the late Uprising. By W. J. Stillman.
Pp. 67-8.
G 2
84 THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES, [chap. iv.
To make the last sentence quite accurate, it
ought to be added that when the Mussulman
offences are done against Christians, they are not
even ' investigated without any punishment/ except
under pressure from a foreign Consul or Ambassa-
dor.
My second illustration is from one of Mr.
Baring's admirable Reports on the state of the
Christians in Bulgaria : —
As regards the general condition of the Christian
peasantry, I regret to say that it is as deplorable as ever.
One well- authenticated incident will give an idea of the
universal manner in which the Mussulmans are armed.
A Pomak l child receiving the other day some real or
imaginary offence from a Christian woman in a village
near Peshtera, drew a pistol and fired point-blank at the
woman, wounding her severely in the belly. 2
This youthful assassin was ' a boy of eight or
ten years.' These two incidents give a vivid pic-
ture of the wretched lot of the Christian subjects of
the Porte. They are absolutely defenceless. They
cannot call their property their own. The honour
of their women is not safe from day to day ; and
1 The Pomaks of Bulgaria are the descendants of the
native Christians, who apostatized when the Turks conquered
the country.
3 Turkey, No. i (1877), p. 525.
chap. IV.] THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES. 85
their lives may be taken in sport and with im-
punity by any Mussulman child who chooses thus
to amuse himself. It is surely conceivable that a
people domineered over in this horrible manner by
a minority, small in number, but armed to the
teeth, may be goaded into insurrection without the
stimulus of Russian or any other intrigues. But of
course the oft-told tale of the wonderful prosperity
of the Bulgarians will be retorted upon me. That
myth has been exposed over and over again. But
myths die hard and some minds are impervious to
criticism and logic. As the Russian soldiers ad-
vanced into Bulgaria the Turkish population all
fled before them. And they fled so precipitately
that they had no time to devastate the country.
Thus it happened that the invaders and the
newspaper Correspondents who accompanied them
beheld waving cornfields, fruitful vineyards, and
lowing herds ; and they hastily concluded that
the Bulgarian peasantry were ordinarily in tranquil
enjoyment of all these good things. This was a
delusion. Nobody accused the Turk of killing the
goose that laid the golden eggs. He was not
quite fool enough for that, except now and then
when his passions were aroused, or the geese got
86 THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES, [chap. iv.
so numerous that it was thought expedient to
diminish their number. 1 The accusation is that he
carried off the eggs, leaving the goose little to live
on besides the shells. And this accusation is
made in Consular Reports and Ambassadorial
Dispatches innumerable, and in the volumes
of writers who lived for months, and some of
them for years, among the Bulgarians. In the
towns, indeed, it paid the Pashas to encourage the
accumulation of wealth, for that was the surest
means of amassing for themselves rapid fortunes
through bribes and extortion. Midhat Pasha
understood this thoroughly.
But if the Russophobists will not believe me,
perhaps they will believe one of their own
1 From the time of Pharaoh downwards, periodical
massacres have been resorted to by barbarous despots as an
effectual means of keeping down a subject population. This
motive has generally been at the bottom of Turkish
massacres, and had a good deal to do with the massacres
in Bulgaria. ' From what I can make out, I am really
inclined to think that the object at this moment, in the lately
disturbed district of Tirnova, is to diminish the number of
Bulgarians as much as possible.' — Dispatch of Consul Reade,
Turkey, No. 3 (1876), p. 333. The Standard's Special Cor-
respondent at Constantinople writes as] follows on the 3rd
of last November : — ' The rulers of the country are infuriated
against the Bulgarians, and seem determined that either by
death, or imprisonment, or exile, the race shall be exter-
minated.'
CHAP, iv.] THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES. 87
coryphaei. The Standard newspaper bears me no
goodwill, and it has more than once attacked me
in terms which transgress the legitimate limits of
fair and courteous controversy. Nevertheless I
will do the Standard the justice of acknowledging
that it has in one respect at least set a good
example to some of its philo-Turk contemporaries
in the press. It evidently laid no other embargo
on its foreign Correspondents than to tell the truth.
And they did tell the truth, sometimes in a way
which came into collision with the editorial leaders.
An instance of this kind is the letter from the
Special Correspondent of the Standard at Con-
stantinople in the issue of March 8 of this year.
And I refer to it because it furnishes an indirect,
and consequently a more telling, refutation of the
alleged prosperity of the Bulgarians. The Cor-
respondent is greatly troubled by the Russian
terms of peace. And this is how he reasons — very
intelligently and acutely, as it seems to me. The
passage is somewhat long ; but it will repay
perusal : —
There are, of course, many here who declare that
Russia will continue to act as she acted before the war,
and will foment intrigues in the provinces which she has
left to the Sultan, until she has gradually led up to the
88 THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES, [chap. iv.
final catastrophe. This may be so, but if I were a Turk
I should dread the good conduct of Russia more than
her misconduct. By intrigue she may doubtless destroy
the Turkish Empire : but the task will not be unattended
by difficulty, and cannot be rapidly accomplished ;
whereas, by carrying out the Treaty fairly, and in the
spirit in which she claims to have framed it, she may
destroy the Turkish Empire with ease.
Let us assume — and the assumption is not an ex-
travagant one — that during her two years' occupation of
Bulgaria she succeeds in establishing a good Government,
in providing for the future maintenance of order, in giving
security to life and property, and in framing an equitable
system of taxation. If she does this the population of
the province will be largely augmented by immigrants,
its natural resources will be developed, and its wealth
will be vastly increased. Is it reasonable to suppose
that the people of that part of Roumelia which is left to
the Sultan will not envy the lot of those who are growing
rich in that part which is taken away from him ? Is it
probable that the inhabitants of Adrianople, 150,000 in
number, will be content to look out across the Maritza
into a land flowing with milk and honey, and not sigh
for the removal of the political barrier which shuts them
out from it ? I was talking yesterday with an Englishman
who has lived in this country for many years, and who
knows it and its rulers well. ' The Turks/ said he,
1 ought to have allowed Adrianople to be included in
Bulgaria. They would have gained largely by thus part-
ing with it. I see how hard it would have been for them
to have given up the first capital of the Ottoman Empire,
chap, iv.] THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES. 89
but still they should have made the sacrifice. Adrianople
would soon have grown wealthy under Christian rule,-
and out of the trade between it and Constantinople the
Turks would have gained a large revenue.' Now if my
friend's view be correct, I want to know how long
Adrianople will be content to be deprived of the means
of growing wealthy ? Is it probable that Salonica, with
its 70,000 inhabitants, will be content to stagnate, while
a new maritime city rises into life and power and wealth
in its immediate vicinity ? And if Russian rule produces
the same results in that part of Armenia which is to be
ceded to Russia — if Batoum and Ardahan, and Kars
and Bayazid, become rich and flourishing towns — is it to be
supposed that [the people of Trebizond and Erzeroum
will not pine for annexation ?
I will not spoil the effect of this frank admission
by a single comment.
So much, then, as to the origin of the revolt in
Bulgaria. Let us now see how much truth there is
in the accusation against General IgnatiefT of
having counselled the Porte not to send regular
troops to suppress it, in the hope that the atrocities
caused by the irregulars might help him to work
the ruin of the Turkish Empire.
On the evening of May 3, a telegram reached
Constantinople announcing an outbreak in Pani-
gurishta. On the following day 800 regular troops
were despatched from the capital to the scene of the
90 THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES, [chap. iv.
disturbances. These were followed in the course of
the two following days by 1,600 more, together with
34 horses and a battery of mountain guns. At the
same time Adil Pasha, Commander-in-chief of the
garrison of Constantinople, was appointed to the
chief command of the troops operating in the
Province of Philippopolis, and started at once with
his staff. Before May 8, 3,000 regular troops had
left Constantinople for the Sandjak of Philip-
popolis. On May 8, 400 cases of muskets and
2,200 cases of ammunition were dispatched for
Adrianople to be distributed among the Redifs
(Reserves). On May 3, the day after the outbreak
of the so-called insurrection, four companies of
troops left for the scene of the outbreak, nine
hours distant. These were followed, the day after,.
by 300 Redifs.
All these facts were published at the time in the
papers of Constantinople, including the Levant
Herald, a paper printed in French and English,
and edited by a philo-Turk of the deepest dye.
The Correspondent of the semi-official Tnrquic,
writing from Philippopolis under the date of May
8, gives a brief account of the outbreak, and
says : —
chap. IV.] THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES. 91
The Mutessarif telegraphed to the Vali of Adrianople
to dispatch immediately the troops found in Tchirpan in
order to pacify these villages. This small army of 150
men arrived here on the following day (May 4), and left
for Bazardjik. . . . The Mutessarif then ordered the
tabouraghassi (the chief) of the Redifs of our town to
collect his battalion and send them to Bazardjik. Two
days after this another battalion was sent by rail.
Towards the end of his letter the correspondent
says : —
The regular troops have arrived from Constantinople
with cannons. They started on their expedition accom-
panied by many thousands of Redifs and Bashi-Bazouks,
who were collected from the neighbourhood to go in pur-
suit of the insurgents.
On May 15 — I still rely on the papers, official
and non-official, of Constantinople — three battalions
left the capital for Bulgaria. On May 16 one
battalion and two squadrons of cavalry. On May
17 Abdul Kerim and Chefket Pasha followed these
troops.
My next piece of evidence is conclusive. The
Report of the Turkish Commission, already quoted,
(p. 79) says :—
1 The Bulgarian insurrection, which broke out in the
district of Philippopolis and the Caza of Bazardjik, has
been promptly suppressed by the Imperial armies?
92 THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES, [chap, iv
I now come to British evidence. I find the
following statement in a dispatch, dated May 6,
from Vice-Consul Dupuis to Sir Henry Elliot : —
The local authorities, on hearing of the massacre at
Otloukeuy of five Zaptiehs and an employe of the Konak
by insurgents, and, fearing an attack on Tatar-Bazardjik,
collected together an armed force of the Mussulman in-
habitants and started in pursuit of the murderers, who im-
mediately fled to the mountains. On the arrival of military
reinforcements, however, from this on Thursday last,
further apprehensions were calmed and order and tran-
quillity restored. . . . Much activity is displayed here in
calling out the Redifs of the Province and dispatching
them to the seat of the disturbances, while troops are
continually arriving from Constantinople for the same
destination. 1
Writing to Sir Henry Elliot, under date of
May 9, Mr. Dupuis says : —
I have no further intelligence respecting the state of
affairs in Philippopolis beyond what I reported to your
Excellency in my dispatch of the 7th inst. I am there-
fore inclined to believe that the panic has somewhat
ceased, and that the presence of the military has re-
assured the people.
Sir Henry Elliot himself is still more explicit.
In a dispatch, dated May 7, he tells Lord Derby
1 Turkey ', No. 3(1876), p. 145.
chap, iv.] THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES. 93
that i about 5,000 troops have been dispatched
from here ' (Constantinople). 1
On May 8, Hafons Pasha, the commander of
the troops at Tatar Bazardjik, telegraphed to the
Vali of Adrianople that he had ' heroically ' cap-
tured a village of unarmed Christians.
On the other hand, the ' insurrection ' in
Bulgaria was about the feeblest attempt at a
rising that can well be conceived ; and by May 8,
there were certainly troops enough in the district —
I mean regular troops — to put down without
difficulty a disturbance of fifty times the dimen-
sions of this puny effort. Vice-Consul Dupuis
indeed, as we have seen, declares that on May 9
the presence of the regular troops had ' reassured
the people.' Before that date, in fact, the ' insur-
rection ' was at an end.
Let us now look at the dates of the massacres.
They are given in Mr. Baring's Report. The mas-
sacre of Batak was on May 9 ; that of Peroush-
tizza by Raschid Pasha on May 1 3 ; that of
Klissoura on May 7 ; that of Boyadjikeui by
Chefket Pasha on May 30. 'What makes the
act of Chefket Pasha so abominable,' says Mr.
1 Turkey, No. 3 (1876), p. 144.
94 THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES, [chap. iv.
Baring, 'is that there was not a semblance of
revolt. The inhabitants were perfectly peaceful,
and the attack on them was as cruel and wanton
a deed as could well have been committed.'
Chefket Pasha, be it remembered, was a lieutenant-
general in the regular army of the Sultan.
The plain facts of the case, therefore, are these : —
On the evening after the first symptoms of revolt
had appeared in Bulgaria, regular troops were sent
from Constantinople to suppress it, and these were
closely followed by reinforcements. A rising which
was never formidable was thus speedily suppressed.
In his famous and futile dispatch of September 21,
1 876, Lord Derby truly describes it as ' an insur-
rectionary movement which was at no time of a
dangerous character.' ' In the mean time,' says the
same dispatch, ' there can be no doubt that the
conduct of the Vali of Adrianople, in ordering the
general arming of the Mussulmans, led to the
assemblage of bands of murderers and robbers,
who, under the pretext of suppressing insurrection,
were guilty of crimes which Mr. Baring justly
describes as the most heinous that have stained the
history of the present century.' l But the irregulars
1 Turkey, No. 1 (1877), p. 237.
chap. IV.] THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES. 95
were not the only murderers and robbers, as Lord
Derby admits in another dispatch, where he de-
nounces the ' outrages and excesses committed by
the Turkish troops upon an unhappy and, for the
most part, unresisting population.' l The worst of
these outrages happened, as I have proved by
dates, after some thousands of regular troops had
arrived, and every vestige of resistance had dis-
appeared ; and in almost every case they were the
work either of regular troops or of men under the
command of regular officers. The criminal-in-chief
was in fact the Turkish Government, and Midhat
Pasha in particular. In support of this accusation
I appeal to two facts : first, the testimony of the
Mussulman Notables of Bulgaria ; secondly, the
testimony of no less a personage than Chefket
Pasha himself. When Lord Salisbury reached
Constantinople he sent Consul Calvert and Captain
Ardagh into Bulgaria to collect the opinion and
evidence of the Mussulman landowners. Consul
Calvert reports as follows : —
I have now seen all the local ' Begs ' or Turkish land-
owners. They every one comment strongly on the
wretched state to which the population at large has been
1 Turkey, No. 1 (1877), p. 105.
96 THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES, [chap, in
reduced through Ottoman misgovernment, and which has
caused the discontent that has brought the country to its
present pass. l . . . The Bulgarian Notables whom I have
questioned here agree in laying all the blame of the late
excesses in these pails (Philippopolis) o?i Akif Pasha, whom
they believe to have acted with the approval, if not at the
instigation, of the cefitral government?
Chefket Pasha's testimony is perhaps still more
damaging than the evidence of the Mussulman
proprietors of Bulgaria. Midhat Pasha, though not
Grand Vizier at the time, was nevertheless the
ruling spirit of the Turkish Government. He it
was who sent Chefket Pasha, an intimate friend of
his own, into Bulgaria. And when that criminal,
whom Mr. Baring justly classes with Nana Sahib, 3
1 I suppose it will be admitted that the Mussulman land-
owners of Bulgaria are likely to be better judges of the con-
dition of the population than an occasional newspaper Corre-
spondent, who chanced to see only a narrow strip of country,
and that under conditions which made accurate information
impossible. The Mussulman Notables, be it observed, knew
nothing about ' Russian intrigues.'
2 Turkey, No. I (1877), pp. 170-1.
What makes the act of Chefket Pasha so abominable
is that there was not a semblance of revolt ; the inhabitants
were perfectly peaceable, and the attack on them was as
cruel and wanton a deed as could well have been committed
. . . For this heroic exploit, Chefket Pasha has received a
high place in the Palace ; ' ' Nana Sahib alone, I should say^
having rivalled their [Chefket's and Achmet Agha's] deeds.'
— Mr. Baring's Report.
chap, iv.] THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES. 97
had fulfilled his bloody mission, Midhat was active
in procuring his promotion and decoration, and
afterwards in shielding him from the effect of Lord
Derby's brutum fulmen. The Vali of Adrianople,
whom Lord Derby denounced as one of the chief
authors of the massacres, was a relation and bosom
friend of Midhat Pasha. This man ordered Haidar
Bey (Mutessarif of Slimnia) to arm and let loose
the Bashi-bazouks on the Christians of his district.
The brave Mussulman refused, and then Chefket
Pasha was sent to execute the Vali's orders — with
what success the world knows but too well.
Haidar Bey, nevertheless, did his best, and not
without some success, to protect the Christians of
his district. He saved seven villages from ruin.
Some time after Lord Derby's despatch, Haidar
Bey was sent for to Constantinople, and pressure
was put upon him by the Government to give
perjured evidence in favour of Chefket Pasha. He
refused ; and the end of it was that he was
removed from his post and disgraced by Midhat
Pasha. This is strong evidence against the
Turkish Government ; but there is stronger to
come.
1 It is certain,' says Mr. Schuyler in his second
H
98 THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES, [chap. iv.
report, ' that nearly all those who particularly
distinguished themselves for their cruelty and
barbarity were rewarded, decorated, or promoted
by the Porte, or have since held high positions in
the army.' Chef ket Pasha replied to Lord Derby's
denunciation by a defiant letter in the official
organ of the Turkish Government I quote the
account of the incident from the letter of the
Special Correspondent of the Times : —
He alleges that he has done nothing in Bulgaria
besides executing, in his military capacity, the orders he
had received, and not from the Government of Abdul
Aziz, but from the present rulers. This he writes, and
no one dare gainsay it, for both himself and the other
murderers — Achmet Agha Timbrichli and Achmet Agha
Bacontuliuli — boast that they have in their pockets the
Minister's injunctions to slay, to burn, to terrorise, and
will produce them if challenged. 1
Sir Henry Elliot gives the same account,
though more briefly. In a despatch to Lord
Derby he says :
I have spoken to the Minister of War of the discredit
incurred by the Porte by allowing so much time to pass
without an investigation of the charges against Chef ket
Pasha, and I told him that as the General professed to
1 Ti)nes of November 6, 1876 ; the Correspondent of the
Daily News confirmed the communication of his colleague.
chap, iv.] THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES. 99
have in his pocket orders which would show that he had
done no more than carry out his instructions, his con-
tinued impunity would lead to a belief in the truth of his
assertion. l
The case against the Porte must be strong
indeed when the Secretary of a Legation accredited
to it could venture to publish with impunity the
following accusation : —
1 It has been claimed,' Mr. Schuyler says in his second
report, 'that the massacres and outrages in Bulgaria
were not ordered by the Porte, and that it even had no
knowledge of them. There is, however, very strong
reason to believe that Abdul Kerim Pasha, the Serdar
Ekrem, who was sent to put down the insurrection, and
has since been the Commander-in-Chief of the troops
operating against Servia ; Hussein Avni Pasha, the late
Minister of War ; and Midhat Pasha had cognisance of
these deeds, if they did not actually order them.'
I think I may now leave the reader to judge
whether the Bulgarian atrocities were the work of
General IgnatiefT. It is indeed humiliating that
any portion of one's countrymen should allow their
prejudices to commit them to the gross injustice,
and not less gross folly, of making such an absurd
accusation. General IgnatiefT is nothing to me
1 Turkey, No. 1 (1877), p. 729.
H 2
ioo THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES, [chap. iv.
but a name ; but I have a prejudice in favour of
truth, and I am jealous of the reputation of my
countrymen for common-sense and fair play.
The question of the number of Christians
actually massacred need not detain us long. Mr.
Schuyler, who made a careful examination at the
time, says: 'I am inclined to put 15,000 as the
lowest for the districts I have named.' Mr.
Baring, after giving the data of his calculation,
says : ' Taking all these circumstances into con-
sideration, I think I cannot be accused of ex-
aggeration, nor of wishing to paint things blacker
than they really are, if I maintain the estimate
T previously made, viz., that about 12,000 persons
perished in the Sandjak of Philippopolis.' Both
Mr. Baring and Mr. Schuyler, it will be observed,
limit their estimate to the district which they
personally visited, namely, the Sandjak of Philip-
popolis. So does Mr. Consul Dupuis, whose
estimate agrees with Mr. Schuyler's. But though
the worst massacres took place in the district
named, the Christians were attacked, and large
numbers killed, in other districts. In fact, a secret
edict seems to have gone out to the Mussulmans,
like that of old from the palace of Shushan,
chap, iv.] THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES. 101
'to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish . . .
both young and old, little children and women,''
who belonged to the Bulgarian nation. The
Bulgarians wear a national costume which makes
it easy to recognise them, and many of them
perished, not only in Bulgarian districts outside
the Sandjak of Philippopolis, but also along the
Black Sea coast, and even in Asia Minor.
Doubts having been cast on the accuracy of
Mr. Baring's figures, he returned to Philippopolis
in September 1 8j6, and despatched thence another
Report on October 5. Mr. Clarke, an American
missionary, declared Mr. Baring's estimate to be
' far above the mark/ I may remark parenthetic-
ally that the Central Relief Committee at Con-
stantinople afterwards found Mr. Clarke's figures
so inaccurate that they were obliged to discontinue
his services in the distribution of their Fund.
However, Mr. Baring went carefully into Mr.
Clarke's calculations, and concludes : ' my original
estimate of the loss of life is, after all, the correct
one.' l Mr. Clarke had founded his calculation
chiefly on the official registers. But Mr. Baring
1 Turkey, No. 1 (1877), p. 490.
102 THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES, [chap, tvi
had exposed the fallacy of this calculation in his
original Report. 'I am informed/ he said, 'on
good authority, that too great reliance cannot be
placed on the official " noufous," as the population is
usually understated in it, the inhabitants sending in
false returns in order to escape taxation.' And in
his supplementary Report he gives an instance that
came to his knowledge in a particular place, where
'131 males had been discovered who had escaped
official registration ; which fact sufficiently proves,
that little importance can be attached to these
registers.' The people are taxed individually from
the time of their birth to that of their death.
Idiots, cripples, and paupers are drawn within the
net of the tax collector, and the community as a
whole must pay for its incapable members. The
consequence is that in some districts the popula-
tion is quite double that on the official register. 1
Now those who have assailed Mr. Baring's
estimate 2 of the victims of the Turkish massacres
1 For the same reason the Christian population of
Bulgaria is much larger than that put down in ordinary-
statistics.
2 One of the assailants of Mr. Baring's accuracy is his pre-
sent chief, Mr. Layard, who was in Spain when the Bulgarian
CKAP. iv.] THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES. 103
have done so on the ground that many of those
who were missing when Mr. Baring made his
estimate had subsequently returned. They forget,
however, that Mr. Baring had also subsequently
returned and made a second estimate entirely
confirmatory of his first. But why do they think
that many of those whom Mr. Baring had
reckoned among the killed had ' returned ' ?
Because, on making a house-to-house visitation in
two or three places, they found the number of
inhabitants almost equal to that on the official
register. In others they found that Mr. Baring's
estimate would diminish the number far below
that of those actually living there. But the number
actually living when Mr. Baring's critics made their
calculations were probably not half the number
actually living before the massacres. The ' missing '
are in fact, for the most part, not persons who
fled and then returned, but persons who were
there all the time, though not on the official
register. In short, Mr. Baring made his Report
with a full consideration of all the facts. His
massacres took place, and for a whole year afterwards.
He has tried to get rid of Mr. Baring's figures by the guesses
of some unofficial persons.
104 THE BULGARIAN ATROCITIES, [chap. iv.
critics, on the contrary, have based their calculation
on imperfect and misleading data. The Exarch
of Bulgaria has estimated the whole number of
the Bulgarians who perished in the massacres at
not less than 25,000, and I believe that his figures
are not very far above the mark.
chap, v.] THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED. 105
CHAPTER V.
THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED.
The next point for our consideration is the atti-
tude of our own Government towards the Bulga-
rian massacres. And when I speak of the Govern-
ment, I mean especially the Prime Minister and
Foreign Secretary. They are, I believe, the only
two members of the Cabinet who regularly see the
foreign despatches ; while all the rest, except when
questions of policy have to be decided, are thus
obliged, like the public at large, to allow a wide
margin to the discretion of the Premier and his
Foreign Secretary.
We have seen that the Porte heard of the out-
break in Bulgaria on the day after it took place,
and immediately despatched troops to suppress it.
I have quoted a despatch from Sir H. Elliot, dated
May 7, in which he states that 5,000 regulars had
left for the scene of the disturbances. We have
106 THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED, [chap. v..
also seen that the insurrection had been put down
before May 9, and that the worst of the massacres
took place between that date and the middle of
May.
It was on June 23 that the English public re-
ceived through the Daily News the first intima-
tion of the Bulgarian atrocities. On the 26th
questions were put to the Government in both
Houses of Parliament. I give Mr. Disraeli's an-
swer at length :
We have no information in our possession which
justifies the statements to which the Right Honourable
gentleman (Mr. W. E. Forster) refers. Some time ago,
when troubles just commenced in Bulgaria, they appear
to have begun by strangers entering the country and.
burning the villages without reference to religion or race.
The Turkish Government at that time had no regular
troops in Bulgaria, and the inhabitants, of course, were
obliged to defend themselves. The persons who are
called Bashi-bazouks and Circassians are persons who
had settled in the country and had a stake in it. I have
not the slightest doubt myself that the war, if you can
call it a war, between the invaders and the Bashi-bazouks
and Circassians was carried on with great ferocity. One
can easily understand, under the circumstances under
which these atrocities occurred, and with such popula-
tions, that that might happen. I am told that no quarter
was given, and no doubt scenes took place which we.
chap, v.] THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED. 107
must all entirely deplore. But in the month of May the
attention of Sir Henry Elliot was called to this state of
things from some information which reached him, and he
immediately communicated with the Porte, who at once
ordered some regular troops to repair to Bulgaria, and
steps to be taken by which the action of the Bashi-
bazouks and Circassians might be arrested. That is all
the information I have to give the Right Honourable
gentleman on the subject, and I will merely repeat that
the information which we have at various times received
does not justify the statements in the journal {Daily
News) which he has named.
I have three remarks to make on this state-
ment. First, the accounts given in the Daily
News, so far from not being 'justified ' by the facts,
were fully confirmed by the Reports of Messrs.
Baring and Schuyler. Secondly, we have it on
the authority of Mr. Disraeli, that Sir H. Elliot
was acquainted with the state of facts in May, and
' immediately ' prevailed on the Porte to send ' at
once some regular troops ' ; only the regular troops,
instead of arresting the action of the Bashi-bazouks
and Circassians,' abetted them in their fiendish
orgies. Thirdly, Mr. Disraeli was at this time
under the impression that the Bashi-bazouks were
a race of foreigners who, like the Circassians, • had
settled ' in Bulgaria.
108 THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED, [chap. v.
On July 10 Mr. Disraeli made another state-
ment. This was a war, he said, * not carried on by-
regular troops, in this case not even by irregular
troops, but by a sort of posse comitatus of an
armed population.' And this, in spite of his own
accurate statement, three weeks previously, that the
Porte, at Sir Henry Elliot's instance, had ' ordered
some regular troops to repair to Bulgaria ' in the
beginning of May. He had previously defended
the Circassians. It was now the turn of the Turks.
They were ' an historical people who seldom have,
I believe, resorted to torture, but generally ter-
minate their connection with culprits in a more ex-
peditious manner.' This ill-timed joke was greeted
with ' laughter.'
Meanwhile the evidence respecting the Bul-
garian atrocities was accumulating, and on July 18
Mr. Disraeli made another statement in answer to
questions. The following extract will show its
drift. He took the Circassians under his special
patronage, and, after referring to their settlement in
Bulgaria, he proceeded : —
These lands were in consequence portioned out to
them in various parts of Turkey. These men have lived
peaceably for twenty years. Their conduct has been
chap, v.] THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED. 109
satisfactory, and there has been no imputation on them
of savage or turbulent behaviour. They have cultivated
farms and built villages, and during the whole period I
think there has been no complaint of these men. But
we know, of course, what Eastern^populations are, and the
Circassians are a very courageous and an armed popula-
tion. Therefore, if their villages were burnt and their
farms ravaged, it need not be a matter of surprise that
they should take matters into their own hands and en-
deavour to defend themselves. In consequence of the
state of affairs there — a guerilla war, local vengeance, and
personal passions — there is no doubt that towards the end
of May and so on scenes occurred of a description from
which, with our feelings, we naturally recoil. But all this
time our Consuls — and the House will soon have ample
evidence of the fact — were in communication with the
Ambassador, and the Ambassador was— I will not say
remonstrating constantly with the Turkish Government,
for the Turkish Government were most anxious to be
guided by the advice of the British Ambassador — but he
was using his influence with the Turkish Government to
prevent, as much as he possibly could, these distressing
scenes.
Let us compare this description of the pastoral
simplicity and charming guilelessness of the Circas-
sians with authentic facts. The Times Corre-
spondent with the Turkish army in Roumelia, after
some weeks' experience of Mr. Disraeli's proteges f
describes them as ' snake-like fiends/ who lived on
no THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED, [chap. v.
robbery and murder. 1 ' The Circassians,' says Mr.
Baring in his Report, ' have lived by robbery ever
since they have been in the country.' My next
witness is one whom even philo-Turks will respect.
It is Petraki Effendi, the member for Rutschuk in
the Turkish Parliament. In the sitting of February
7, after expressing his surprise that any one should
be found to ' attempt the defence of these people,
who were inexcusable before the whole world,' the
speaker declared that 'their crimes were patent,'
and that ' they are the principal cause of the pre-
sent war.' 2
I cannot listen to the defence of these malefactors.
We all know their character, and it is painful to listen
and painful to enter into further details concerning
them. I served as assistant to the Governor of Widdin,
and during a long period was a member of the ad-
ministrative council. I therefore know every village
in the district of Widdin, as well as the affairs of
the vilayet. Consequently, I can give a circumstantial
account of the evil the Circassians have done to the
country better than any one else, because I was com-
missioned by the Government to survey the districts in
question in the quality of inspector, and to make reports
1 Times of February 8, 1878.
2 This bold speech was one of the chief reasons why the
Turkish Parliament has been dissolved. Those members
who showed any signs of independence have been banished.
chap, v.] THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED, in
to the Sublime Porte on the acts and general behaviour
of the Circassians. Now, I can give you the date of
these Reports, with the names of the places from which
they were addressed, and they ought still to be found at
the Porte. The country some years ago listened to the
appeal of the Government on behalf of the Circassians,
and hastened to offer fraternal hospitality to these savages.
We gave them land, cattle, seed, and food; we even
built their habitations. [To be quite accurate, it is
necessary to correct Petraki Effendi here. The Turkish
Government compelled the Christians to build villages
for the Circassians. The prime object of sending them
into Bulgaria was to terrorise, and when the occasion
required it, ' to diminish ' the Christian population.] As
a recompense for all this, these barbarians commenced
to thieve and steal — at first, it is true, trifling things, such
as poultry, &c. This was the beginning of their exploits.
Gradually, however, impunity and their inherent instinct
for thieving combined, led them to seize hold of larger
prey, and the sheep, cattle, horses, and buffaloes of the
villagers were carried off constantly. You know the rest.
It is not necessary to describe over again the massacres
they have committed, the acts of pillage of which they
are guilty, and their exploits in carrying off young Chris-
tian children and selling them into slavery. These are
facts of public notoriety. All complaints which were
made to the late Government, instead of being listened
to, and the culprits receiving exemplary punishment,
were left unheeded ; the Government endeavoured to
stifle complaints, to hide the truth, and to justify the Cir-
cassians in the eyes of the world. The result of this
ii2 THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED, [chap. v..
policy has been most deplorable, and has led to the
present war. As I said before, I say again, that the
Circassians have been the cause of the present disastrous
war. Those who take up the defence of these malefactors
and thieves become, in so doing, their accomplices or
agents (yatak).
Yet, according to Mr. Disraeli, ' these men have
lived peaceably for twenty years. Their conduct
has been satisfactory, and there has been no im-
putation on them of savage or turbulent behaviour.
They have cultivated farms and built villages, and
during the whole period there has been no com-
plaint of these men.' But it may be pleaded that
Mr. Disraeli was ignorant of the character of the
Circassians. That would be surprising in so well-
informed a man. But it is not ignorance which
Mr. Disraeli professed, but knowledge. He gave
the Circassians a character for good conduct, and
declared that no complaint had been made against
them for twenty years ; and he referred in particular
to the Reports of our own Consuls. In one of
these Reports, which Mr. Disraeli had in his posses-
sion three weeks before he spoke, the Circassians
are described as 'kidnapping the children of
Bulgarians killed in the late affairs,' and as making
the lives of their Christian neighbours generally
chap, v.] THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED. 113
miserable. 1 In the same despatch Consul Reade
gave an account- of one of the worst of the massa-
cres, on the authority of a Prussian engineer who
was near the spot at the time, and of a Turk who
had taken part in the massacre. When this Re-
port — of a British Consul, be it remembered — was
quoted in the House of Commons on the evening
of July 31, the Prime Minister denounced it as
' coffee-house babble.' Yet he had despatches
then, and for weeks, in his possession, testifying
that the French and German Governments had
authentic Reports confirming the worst accounts of
the massacres. 2
On the evening of August II, Mr. Evelyn
Ashley made a motion on the subject, which led
to a lively debate in the House of Commons.
That evening the Premier made his last speech in
the House, and ceased to be Mr. Disraeli. He
was still in the old vein. The gentle Circassians
were heroically defending their invaded home-
steads, and of course atrocities were unavoidable
under the circumstances. But Her Majesty's
Government had been all through intimately ac-
1 Turkey, No. 3 (1876), pp. 333-4.
2 Ibid. p. 6.
ii4 THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED, [chap. v.
quainted with all the facts, and had done all that
it was their duty to do : —
From the very commencement of these transactions
the Ambassador was in constant communication with her
Majesty's Minister, and that could be proved by the
papers on the table. In May, and throughout June, the
Ambassador is perpetually referring to the atrocities oc-
curring in Bulgaria, to the repeated protests l he is making
to the Turkish Government, and'to his conversations with
the Grand Vizier and others on the subject. The hon.
and learned gentleman says that when questions were
addressed to me in this House I was ignorant of what
was occurring. That is exactly the question we have to
decide. I say we were not, and that is the very point I am
now calling attention to. I say that during all this period
we were constantly receiving communications from Her
Majesty's Ambassador informing us of what was occur-
ring in Bulgaria, and apprising the Government of the
steps he took to counteract evil consequences.
Let us now turn to Lord Derby. I do not
quote his statements in Parliament, because they
take the same rosy view of the situation in Bulgaria
as the Premier's statements, minus the latter's
idyllic nights in praise of Circassians and Bashi-
bazouks. On July 14 a deputation, headed by
1 Cf. the speech of July 18 (p. 109) : 'The Ambassador
was — I will not say remonstrating constantly with the Turkish
Government, for the Turkish Government was most anxious
to be guided by the advice of the English Ambassador,' &c.
chap, v.] THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED. 115
Mr. John Bright, waited on Lord Derby at the
Foreign Office to sound him as to the policy of
the Government on the Eastern Question. It was
on this occasion that Lord Derby expressed a wish
to be instructed by his ' employers.' The passage
deserves to be quoted : —
I am very glad, and I think that any Minister who
stands in my position would be glad, to know in time
what your opinion and that of the country is. I have
often thought that it is one of the most difficult parts of
the duty of a Minister in a Parliamentary country that,
being as he is in practice the servant of Parliament and
of the public, as well as of the Queen, he does not always
receive his instructions from his employers beforehand,
but is left to guess what it is that they would desire him
to do, and he only ascertains their real feeling when he
finds that he has gone against it.
After this exordium Lord Derby proceeded
to expound his view of the situation. Having
surveyed all the points of the political compass,
he delighted the deputation with an extremely
optimist picture of the prospects of Europe.
Some of his utterances are remarkable, and I
make no apology for giving them intact. I quote
from the report in the Times of July 15 : —
We can see what is immediately before us — I do not
know that all of us even do that — but it is very difficult
n6 THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED, [chap. v..
to judge of anything beyond the immediate present.
But so far as it is possible for any one to forecast the
future of events, I think it is the most improbable
thing in the world that, in consequence of anything that
is now passing within the limits of the Turkish Empire, a
general European war should ensue. That seems to me
one of those hypotheses which are so remote that it is
scarcely worth while to speculate upon them. I do not
see the quarter from which the war is to come.
France did not want war (he went on to say),
nor Italy, nor Germany : —
There remain only ourselves, and Austria and Russia.
Now, I cannot so insult your understandings as to specu-
late or to assume that there could be any one here who
supposes that England wants to bring about a war. The
very utmost, I think, to which any apprehensions have
reached is a fear that, against our feelings and against
our interest, we might be dragged into war. There is no
party and no set of men in this couutry who would not
regard a European war as the greatest of misfortunes.
He little dreamt then that the Government of
which he is a member would surprise Parliament
and the nation with a sudden demand for a war
vote, and would now be straining every nerve to
put two Army Corps on a war footing ; neither
did he dream of the forcible passage of the Dar-
danelles by a British fleet in violation of treaty.
But let us proceed with our quotations : —
chap, v.] THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED. 117
Well, Austria has a position which is peculiar, and
difficulties of her own. She has that dual system of
administration which in her circumstances is, no doubt,
a necessity, but which renders the difficulty of an enter-
prising and aggressive policy greater than it otherwise
would be. She has within her Empire a great diversity
of races, as we all know, and you may be quite sure that,
if it is only in the interest of her own security, which any
great convulsion in that part of Europe would disturb as
much, or endanger almost as much as that of Turkey
itself — you may be sure that, from reasons of self-interest,
if from no others, the Austrian Government will not
desire to break the peace.
This argument has lost none of its cogency by
the evolution of events, as Lord Derby will find if
he calculates on Austrian support in a warlike
policy. But what about Russia? There was
4 among a large part of the Russian population a
strong sympathy for the insurgent movement
which is going on in Turkey ' : —
But it is one thing to say that the party exists, and
•even that it is powerful, and it is another thing to say
that the power of action is in its hands. If any one thing
is certain in this world, it is certain that the Emperor of
Russia, upon whose personal will and disposition more
turns than upon that of any other man, is a sincere lover
of peace. There are other reasons, such as the condition
•of Russian finance, the difficulties, perhaps greater than
we are aware of here, of Russian administration, the
n8 THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED, [chap. v.
enormous cost of the late Asiatic conquests, and various
other causes which I need not go into, which make an
aggressive policy one at the present time utterly unsuited
to the policy of the Russian Empire.
This confident opinion will not add to Lord
Derby's reputation for political prescience. The
other Powers had gravely warned him that in re-
jecting the Berlin Memorandum the British
Government had taken a step that would inevitably
force Servia and Montenegro into a war which
would probably imperil the peace of Europe.
Lord Derby, however, thought that everything
would come all right if only everybody would
agree to do nothing ; and he fondly persuaded
himself that he had succeeded in converting the
other Powers to his own dolce-far-niente policy.
But some members of the deputation wished to
have some more definite idea as to the policy of
the Government. There was war between Turkey
and the Principalities of Servia and Montenegro ;
there was also insurrection in Bosnia and the
Herzegovina ; and there was a reign of terror in
Bulgaria. What did the Government propose to
do?
As regards intervention between Turkey and the sub-
chap, v.] THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED. 119
jects of the Porte, or between Turkey and the semi-
independent States which form part of the Turkish
Empire, that is a question which has never been so much'
as entertained. We will endeavour to impress that view
upon others, and I have every reason to hope that we
shall succeed. If, as it has been said, the Turkish
Empire is in a state of decay from internal causes —
that is a question upon which I pronounce no opinion^
— but if that is so, it is clear that merely external assist-
ance would be no remedy. The utmost that can be
asked of us is to see fair play. We undertook undoubtedly
twenty years ago to guarantee the sick man against murder,
but we never undertook to guarantee him against suicide
or sudden death. Now that, gentlemen, is in a few words
our policy as regards this war now going on. We shall
not intervene, we shall do our utmost, if necessary, to
discourage others from intervening ; but I don't believe
that under the present circumstances it will be necessary.
That is not a very noble policy ; but it is a very
explicit one. Her Majesty's Government will
make a ring round the combatants and ' see fair
play ;' the combatants in Bulgaria and in Bosnia
and the Herzegovina being, for the most part, on
the one side, trained soldiers and — to quote Lord
Derby's own phrase — ' armed bands of murderers
and robbers ; â– on the other, a few badly armed men,
goaded by cruelty into rebellion, and a multitude
of women and children.
120 THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED. Jchap. v.
That, however, was Lord Derby's policy.
* Fair play ' between the Turks and their defence-
less subjects ; but intervention against the inter-
ference of a third party. The sheep might worry
the wolf to death if they could ; or the brute might
die of apoplexy ; and Lord Derby would not inter-
fere. But no third party must enter the fold even
for the purpose of saving the sheep. ' We shall do
our utmost, if necessary, to discourage others from
intervening.' ' Our utmost ' meant war on behalf
of the Turkish Government in the event of its
being attacked by a foreign Power. This is clear,
to my mind, from two of Lord Derby's despatches.
On July i, 1876, he wrote to Lord A. Loftus, our
Ambassador at St. Petersburg : —
The Russian Ambassador called to-day and asked
me whether, in the event of war breaking out between
Turkey and Servia, Her Majesty's Government intended,
as he had been led to believe, to adhere to a policy of
strict and absolute non-intervention. I said that such
was undoubtedly the case ; but that it must be clearly
understood that Her Majesty's Government entered into
no engagement to continue to abstain from intervention
in the event (which, however, I could not assume as
probable) of a different course being pursued by other
Powers. 1
1 Turkey, No. 3 (1876), p. 351.
-chap, v.] THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED. 121
Here is a tolerably plain hint that intervention
by Russia against Turkey would be met by inter-
vention by England in defence of Turkey. If
anybody disputes that inference, I ask him how-
he interprets the following facts ? The first is a
telegraphic despatch from Lord Derby to Sir
Henry Elliot : —
Foreign Office, August 29, 1876, 11.55 P « M -
I think it right to mention, for your guidance, that
the impression produced here by events in Bulgaria has
completely destroyed sympathy with Turkey. The feel-
ing is universal, and so strong that even if Russia were
to declare war against the Porte, Her Majesty's Govern-
ment would find it practically impossible to interfere.
Any such event would place England in a most unsatis-
factory situation. Peace is therefore urgently necessary.
Use your discretion as to the language which you shall
hold; but you will see how essential it is that the
Turkish Ministers should be alive to the situation, and
that you cannot be too strong in urging upon the Porte a
conciliatory disposition.
This was followed by a written despatch bear-
ing the date of September 5. It runs as follows : —
It is my duty to inform you that any sympathy which
was previously felt here towards that country (Turkey) has
been completely destroyed by the recent lamentable
occurrences in Bulgaria. The accounts of outrages and
122 THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED, [chap. v.
excesses committed by the Turkish troops upon an un-
happy, and for the most part, unresisting, population, has
roused an universal feeling of indignation in all classes of
English society ; and to such a pitch has this risen, that
in the extreme case of Russia declaring war against
Turkey, Her Majesty's Government would find it prac-
tically impossible to interfere in defence of the Ottoman
Empire. Such an event, by which the sympathies of the
nation would be brought into direct opposition to its
Treaty engagements, would place England in a most un-
satisfactory, and even humiliating position. Yet it is
impossible to say that if the present conflict continues the
contingency may not arise. The speedy conclusion of a
peace, under any circumstances most desirable, becomes
from these considerations a matter of urgent necessity.
Her Majesty's Government leaves it to Your Excellency's
discretion to choose the arguments which you shall
employ ; but you will see from what I have stated how
essential it is that the Turkish Ministers should be made
alive to the position in which the conduct of their own
authorities has placed them ; and you will understand
that you are warranted in using the strongest language,
should occasion require it, to enforce upon the Porte the
expediency of a pacific policy, and of moderation in the
terms to be proposed. 1
That means, as plainly as the English language
can express it, that, but for the autumn agitation,
the Government would have gone to war against
1 Turkey, No. I (1877), p. 105.
chap, v.] THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED. 123
Russia in the event of the latter Power intervening
by arms on behalf of the oppressed Christians.
But perhaps I have forgotten the despatch of
May 25 ? Not at all. Here it is : —
The Earl of Derby to Sir H. Elliot
Foreign Office, May 25, 1876.
Sir, — In the course of the conversation with Musurus
Pasha reported in my despatch of yesterday, 1 I took the
opportunity of suggesting to his Excellency that it would
be undesirable that the Turkish Government should mis-
understand the attitude of Her Majesty's Government in
regard to the proposals of the Berlin Conference.
Her Majesty's Government had declined to join in
proposals which they thought ill-advised, but both the
circumstances and the state of feeling in this country
were very much changed since the Crimean war, and the
Porte would be unwise to be led, by recollections of that
period, to count upon more than the moral support of
Her Majesty's Government in the event of no satisfactory
solution of the present difficulties being found.
I merely suggested this in conversation, and carefully
avoided pledging Her Majesty's Government to any line
of policy.
I am, &c.
(Signed) Derby.
The last paragraph clearly deprives this de-
spatch of any value, especially when contrasted
1 Turkey, No. 3 (1876), p. 188.
124 THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED, [chap. v.
with the very positive and decided language of the
two despatches written three months afterwards.
The unequivocal declaration of the two despatches
of August and September must be taken to qualify
the â– merely suggested ' observation to Musurus
Pasha in the previous May, and not the contrary.
Besides, in 'carefully avoiding to pledge Her
Majesty's Government to any line of policy,' Lord
Derby left the door open for the policy of military
intervention revealed in the ensuing August and
September.
Here then, on August 29, 1876, we have the
announcement by Lord Derby of a complete revo-
lution in the policy of Her Majesty's Government.
Down till then their policy was to prevent, if
possible, the diplomatic intervention of any of the
Powers in the affairs of the Ottoman Empire, and
to resist by force of arms any attack by Russia
on Turkey. Even to the very last day of the
Parliamentary Session the Premier played, and
Lord Derby fenced, with the question of the
Bulgarian atrocities. At last came the powerful
narrative of the massacre of Batak from the Special
Correspondent of the Daily News, backed some
days later by Mr. Schuyler's Report. A thrill of
chap, v.] THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED. 125
horror vibrated through the whole nation, without
distinction of parties, as Lord Derby bears witness.
Meetings were suddenly held all over the country,
at which demands were passionately made for
coercing the Turks, for the recall of Sir Henry
Elliot, and in some cases for a change of Govern-
ment But in most places there was a general
desire to treat the question as outside the range
of party politics, and Conservatives vied with
Liberals in the energy of their platform denuncia-
tions.
Mr. Gladstone has been vehemently accused
of having got up the agitation, inflamed the mind
of the country, and embarrassed the Government.
But let us look at the dates.
Down to the middle of August, 1876, the
Government, as represented by the Premier and
Lord Derby, stood, as we have seen, on the policy
of opposing diplomatic intervention in the affairs
of Turkey and of resisting by force of arms any
attempt on the part of Russia to coerce the Porte
into obedience to the demands of the Andrassy
Note. Lord Derby, it is true, thought this policy
a safe one. He had made up his mind that
Russia, for financial and other reasons, was certain
to shrink from war ; an occasional growl from the
126 THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED, [chap. v.
British Lion, uttered through the medium of a
speech or a despatch, being all that was necessary
to keep the Russian Bear in order. This policy
went down like a wall of pasteboard before the
explosion of national feeling which followed the
horrible revelation of the massacre of Batak ; and
Lord Derby had to proclaim a complete change of
front. ' An universal feeling of indignation in all
classes of English society ' had ' placed England in a
most unsatisfactory and even humiliating position ;
because, ' in the extreme case of Russia declaring
war against Turkey, Her Majesty's Government
would find it practically impossible to interfere in
defence of the Ottoman Empire.' The result
would be that ' the sympathies of the nation would
be brought into direct opposition to its treaty
engagements.'
It is clear that at this time Lord Derby
believed that England was bound by the Treaty
of Paris to take up arms in defence of the integrity
and independence of the Ottoman Empire. This
interpretation of the Treaty, however, he character-
istically repudiated when it stood in the way of
his altered policy. ]
1 'Mark, my Lords, the words of that Treaty [of 1856],
for they are important. We undertake to respect the in-
CHAP, v.] THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED. 127
Now when was this collapse of policy an-
nounced ? First, on August 29 ; and then, more
emphatically, on the fifth of the following month.
And when did Mr. Gladstone address the public ?
On Saturday, September 9, he delivered his
Blackheath speech, and his pamphlet was pub-
lished two days earlier. Were I to adopt the
Premier's favourite phrase, I should be justified
in characterizing the allegation, that Mr. Gladstone
stirred up the agitation against Turkey, as ' an
impudent fabrication.' But I prefer to give the
facts, and leave the reader to pass judgment on
them. Mr. Gladstone obstinately refused to speak
or write upon the subject till the reports of the
massacres in the Daily News were confirmed
by official documents. It was not till the publica-
tion of Mr. Schuyler's report, confirming the worst
that had been feared, that Mr. Gladstone made up
his mind to break silence. And his speech and
tegrity and independence of the Ottoman Empire ; . . .
but there is no shadow of a promise to make non-observance
by other Powers a casus belli. The words stop short of that ;
they carefully avoid any such pledge — in fact, they -point
directly to a different course of action. . . As far as that
Treaty is concerned, therefore, we are in no sense bound by
promise to fight for Turkey.' — Lord Derby's Speech in the
House of Lords, Feb. 9, 1877.
128 THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED, [chap, v,
pamphlet, so far from exciting the population, had
a contrary effect. Hitherto they had been beating
the air-- -flinging their denunciations broadcast, but
having no definite aim before them. Mr. Gladstone
gave them a policy, and by so doing calmed their
anger without abating their enthusiasm. How
moderate his policy reads now ! ' Do not let us
ask for,' he said, ' do not let us accept, Jonahs or
scapegoats, either English or Turkish ! It is not a
change of men we want, but a change of measures.
... In my hope and my opinion, when once the
old illusions as to British sentiments are dispelled,
and Lord Derby is set free, with his clear, impartial,
and unostentatious character, to shape the course
of the Administration, he will both faithfully and
firmly give effect to the wishes of the country.' 1
Mr. Gladstone still clung to the wisdom of main-
taining the territorial integrity of the Ottoman
Empire, but qualified by the grant of vassal
autonomy to the insurgent Provinces. The rapid
current of events has borne us so far past Mr.
Gladstone's proposals as to make most of us forget
how very reasonable and moderate they were. It
may be well, therefore, to recall them in his own
words : —
1 Bulgarian Horrors, p. 48.
chap, v.] THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED. 129
Russia has in late years done much to estrange the
Greek Christians of the Levant : and the Slavs will, we
may be sure, be at least as ready to accept help from
Powers which are perforce more disinterested, as from
Powers that may hereafter hope and claim to be repaid
for it in political influence or supremacy. It is surely
wise, then, to avail ourselves of that happy approach to
unanimity which prevails among the Powers, and to avert,
or at the very least postpone, as long as we honourably can,
the wholesale scramble which is too likely to follow upon
any premature abandonment of the principle of territorial
integrity for Turkey. I, for one, will avoid even the
infinitesimal share of responsibility, which alone could
now belong to any of my acts or words, for inviting a
crisis, of which at this time the dimensions must be large,
and may be almost illimitable. 1
This is expanded as follows in the speech at
Blackheath : —
I am in favour of retaining that [Sultan's] suzerainty, .
if we can retain it consistently with the great paramount
end in view ; because I am afraid the harmony of the
Courts and Powers of Europe would be too severely
strained were there a quantity of territorial plunder going
and it came to a question of the distribution of spoils.
Now it any one asks me how I would distribute the spoils,
my answer would be this : I would not distribute them at
all. Those provinces were not destined to be the pro-
perty of Russia, or of Austria, of England ; they were
1 Bulgarian Horrors, p. 53.
K
130 THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED, [chap. v.
destined for the inhabitants of the provinces themselves.
They have the best right to them, they can make
the best use of them. ... I say therefore, let our
measures be as mild as they may be, but, for God's
sake, let them be effectual measures. If it can be
done by a Foreign Commission l which shall, without
absolutely displacing the Turkish authorities, take the
government of these provinces virtually into their own
hands, let it be so done. I myself lean to the simpler
method of saying to the Turk — which I believe to be
very good terms for him : — ' You shall receive a reasonable
tribute, you shall retain your titular sovereignty, your
Empire shall not be invaded ; but never again, while the
years shall roll upon their course, so far as it is in our
power to determine, never again shall the hands of
violence be raised by you ; never again shall the flood-
gates of lust be opened by you ; never again shall the
dire refinements of cruelty be devised by you, for the
sake of making mankind miserable in Bulgaria. 2
This meant * the extinction of the Turkish
/ -executive power in Bulgaria.'
Let the Turks now carry away their abuses in the
only possible manner, namely by carrying off them-
selves. Their Zaptiehs and their Mudirs, their Bim-
bashis and their Yuzbachis, their Kaimakams and their
Pashas one and all, bag and baggage, shall, I hope,
1 Lord Stratford de Redcliffe's proposal.
2 Speech, pp. 22-3.
chap, v.] THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED. 131
clear out from the province they have desolated and
profaned. 1
Mr. Gladstone accordingly urged with all his
eloquence and argumentative skill the true wisdom
on the part of England of acting cordially and
loyally with the other Powers, and in particular,
of securing a good understanding with Russia : —
The union of them all is not only important, but
almost indispensable for entire success and satisfaction.
Yet there are two of these great Powers whose position
is such that just now they stand forth far above the rest
in authority, and in the means of effectively applying
that authority, as well as in responsibility, upon this great
1 Bulgarian Horrors, p. 61. This passage has been per-
sistently perverted into a proposal to turn the Turks out of
Europe ? Even so well-informed a man as Mr. Grant Duff
says, in the Nineteenth Century of this month (March), that
Mr. Gladstone ' proposed that his [the Turk's] Government
should be expelled from Europe, bag and baggage.'
Europe and Bulgaria are not quite the same thing. With
regard to Mr. Grant Duff's own proposal ; viz., that the Duke
of Edinburgh should be made the king of a reconstructed
Greek kingdom, having Constantinople for its capital ; there
is one serious objection which Mr. Grant Duff seems to have
overlooked. There is a King of Greece de facto and de jure,
whose Queen also is a Romanoff, and who has ruled his
subjects well. What would Mr. Grant Duff do with him ?
In the very paragraph which has been so perverted Mr.
Gladstone insists on the duty of doing justice to ' the
Mahomedan minority,' who would remain in Bulgaria when
the military and civil authorities were withdrawn.
132 THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED, [chap. v.
question. Those two Powers are England and Russia.
I wish, above all things, to be plain and distinct with
you. It may be in the power of any of these six im-
portant States to mar and to frustrate the wise settlement
of this question ; but undoubtedly it is in the power either
of England or of Russia to make a good settlement im-
possible. And, moreover, if there be so bad an inclina-
tion in them, it is in the power of either not only to
make a good settlement impossible, but to do that with
impunity. If we were wicked enough to prevent this
great good, nobody could punish us for our misconduct.
The Almighty, who has said ' vengeance is mine/ will
take his own time for settling the account. The same is
the case with Russia, if Russia entertains the diabolical
schemes, or even the ordinarily selfish schemes, which
many people are so fond of imputing to her. I am not
such a dreamer as to suppose that Russia, more than
other countries, is exempt from all selfish ambition. But
she has also within her the pulse of humanity, and for
my part I believe it is the pulse of humanity that is at
this epoch throbbing almost ungovernably in her people.
Now, be assured that a really good settlement of this
question depends, not upon a mere hollow truce between
fi England and Russia, but upon their thorough concord,
their hearty and cordial co-operation. Their joint power
is immense. The power of Russia by land of acting
upon these countries as against Turkey is at the present
time probably resistless. The power of England by sea
is scarcely less important at this moment ; for, I ask,
what would be the condition of the Turkish army if the
British Admiral now in Besika Bay were to inform the
chap, v.] THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED. 133
Government in Constantinople that from a given hour,
until atonement had been made, until punishment had
descended, until outrage had been effectually arrested,
not a man, not a gun, not a horse, not a boat should cross
the waters of the Bosporos, or the cloudy Euxine, or the
bright JEgem, to carry aid to the Turkish troops ? . . .
Why should we not act with Russia for good? Why 1
should we not reserve suspicion and resentment for the
time when they are justified by some acts of hers, and not
merely stirred up by old and invidious recollections ? '
And in his pamphlet he said : — 2
The time has come for us to emulate Russia in her
good deeds, and to reserve our opposition until she shall
visibly endeavour to turn them to evil account.
It has been said that Mr. Gladstone's part in
the agitation against the Turkish Government was
deprecated and condemned by the recognised
leaders of his party. The truth, however, is, that
Mr. Gladstone took the lead of the agitation — it is
one of the penalties of transcendent genius to take
the lead when it acts at all — not only under pres-
sure from all parts of the country, but after consul-
tation with the leaders of his party ; and Lord
Granville went down with him to Blackheath and
sat by his side while he addressed the vast crowd
which came to hear him. Lord Hartington went
1 Speech at Blackheath, pp. 25-7. 2 Ibid. p. 58.
134 THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED, [chap. v.
to Turkey to study the question on the spot ; and
on his return he took an early opportunity of de-
claring his views. What these views were, a few
extracts from his able speech at Keighley, 1 on the
evening of Nov. 3, 1 876, will show : —
Time after time the Turks have shown themselves
perfectly willing to adopt the liberal language of enlight-
ened Europe, and have poured forth a perfect torrent of
reform, but upon paper and upon paper only. The
numerous promises they have made to their unfortunate
subjects — promises embodying identical reforms — con
stitute in themselves so many proofs that former promises
had not been kept, and I believe, as a matter of fact, that
it may be shown that scarcely one of the promises of the
Turkish Government to its own subjects has in any
essential particular been observed. Well, then, gentle-
men, if such is the case, if the Turks have been and are
incapable — have been historically proved incapable — of
effecting for themselves the necessary reforms, and of
securing to themselves the necessary protection, does it
not follow that if it is an object to Europe, and to us
more especially amongst all the States of Europe, that
the Christians should be protected, and that Turkey
should be well governed, and if we, of all the States of
Europe, are more especially bound by special claims and
obligations to secure good government to the subjects of
Turkey and equal treatment to all the races living under
her rule — does it not follow, I say, if all this be the case >
1 Report in the Times of November 4.
chap, v.] THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED. 135
that it is necessary that we should go beyond the
promises of the Porte, and that we should in some way
or other, be it more or less, apply some external and
foreign interference, in order to secure the good government
and protection which Turkey herself is unable to provide ?
I want to show you that Europe has been slowly coming
to this opinion. I want to show you that up to a very
recent period our Government had not come to that
opinion, and I want to show you that if it has come to
that opinion, it is very doubtful whether it has embraced
it frankly and fully, and whether without some pressure
from you it is prepared to act fully upon it. . . . But,
however that may be, I may say that I was not astonished,
or that I at all regret the outburst of indignation that took
place on the receipt of the news of these atrocities. Then
for the first time the eyes of England were opened to the
real character of the Government of Turkey. Up to
that time the majority of us had been rejoicing rather
than otherwise in having gained what was considered a
diplomatic triumph. We had done something to foil
the designs of the enemies of Turkey, and to preserve
and uphold the traditional policy of England. But all of
a sudden these Bulgarian massacres and horrors came
upon the public like a revelation, and opened their eyes
to the true character of the Government we had sup-
ported. . . . But, gentlemen, there is no doubt that that
agitation was not only honourable to the people of this
country, but also it was of great service in one direction.
It convinced the Government, if they needed to be con-
vinced, that they could not rely upon the support of the
people of this country in the maintenance of the Turkish
136 THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED, [chap. v.
^r- Government, unless they could show adequate means for
the reform of abuses, for the protection of the Christians,
and adequate security against the recurrence of such
outrages.
Lord Hartington had conversed with the lead-
ing statesmen of Turkey, and the impression which
he carried home with him from Constantinople is
frankly expressed in the following emphatic warn-
ing :—
' Probably, they say, Russia is our enemy. England,
not from love of us, but from jealousy of Russia, is our
friend ; the rest of Europe is divided. Come whatever
may, Russia will be against us, but in the end England
will be for us. The rest of Europe may be one on one
side and one on the other ; but at all events the chances
are equal. 5 Now, gentlemen, that I believe to be the
opinion which really exists at the bottom of the hearts of
a great many of the Turkish statesmen. It is a very
dangerous frame of mind for Turkish statesmen to be in,
and yet can we be altogether surprised that they should
hold such opinions ? Our policy for a great number of
years, our traditional policy, the policy of parties, has
been such as to encourage such a belief in their minds.
If a great change has lately taken place in the feelings
and opinions of the people of England, it is not likely
their statesmen will examine too closely the phases of the
changes of English public opinion. Will they not more
willingly take it from the utterances of the English
Ministers, and are they to be blamed if they think their
chap, v.] THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED. 137
safest inspiration will be derived from the mouth of the
Prime Minister ? I say let Lord Derby write whatever,
despatches he pleases ; let Sir Henry Elliot make what-
ever representations he pleases to the Porte ; and then let
Lord Beaconsfield afterwards get up and make one of his
speeches, in which he denounces vehemently the enemies
of Turkey, in which he denounces in unmeasured terms
English statesmen who have committed no crime of
which I am aware — except that of expressing their own
warm and strong opinions, and representing the opinions
of a great portion of their fellow-countrymen — I say let
Lord Beaconsfield get up and make one of his speeches,
and talk in terms more or less clear about the interests of
England, and I say that the interpretation put on that
speech in Constantinople is that when Lord Beaconsfield
speaks of the interests of England he is thinking of the
intrigues of Russia. Let Lord Derby write as he may, it
will be believed in Turkey that the policy of England is
still what it has always been, and that, come what may,
when the struggle comes England will be still at her back.
Server Pasha's recent appeal to the people of
England, and his passionate denunciation of Lord
Beaconsfield and Mr. Layard for having deceived
the Turks, are an appropriate commentary on Lord
Hartington's neglected warning.
But some persons, more remarkable for skill in
finesse than for solid convictions, appeared to
change their minds. Did Lord Hartington ? The
138 THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED, [chap. v.
following extracts from his speech at the opening
of the Parliamentary Session of 1877 will supply
the answer.
At the time there came authentic accounts of the
suppression of the insurrection in Bulgaria there would
have been nothing inconsistent with the declaration of
the Government if they had given active assistance to
Turkey. The interests of England had been ostentatiously
announced on all occasions. The interests of England
appeared to be the principle of the policy of Her Majesty's
Government. Well, it was to prevent the possibility of
England going to war, or giving material assistance in
defence of the Turkish Empire, that the agitation of the
autumn arose. If there were any exaggerations, as is
alleged, in that agitation ; if there were any unjust impu-
tations upon the Government ; if there was any unneces-
sary disposition to assume to ourselves x the responsibility
of putting everything to rights, the Government were
mainly, if not altogether, responsible. The Government
had declared that the accounts which had been received
of the Bulgarian atrocities were untrue. The Government
had unnecessarily made themselves the defenders of the
Turkish Government, and even in the height of the
agitation the Prime Minister inflamed it to a far higher
pitch. For in that speech at Aylesbury, to which I have
referred, he denounced the leaders of the agitation, he
denounced Servia, he denounced the Secret Societies, he
denounced everything except the Turkish Government..
1 By this expression alone Lord Hartington placed him-
self on the side of the agitators.
chap, v.] THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED. 139
A very few months elapsed, and all Europe perceived
that the Servian cause . . . was the cause of the oppressed
nationalities of Turkey, and that there could be no
settlement of this question and no permanent peace until
the grievances under which those oppressed nationalities
laboured were removed. . . I do not think it is necessary
I should say more with reference to the great and re-
markable agitation in this country last autumn. If there
are those who think that agitation a mischievous one, I
will only remind them of what was said upon the matter
by a member of the Government. 1
Lord Hartington proceeded to quote a passage
from a speech of Lord Carnarvon's during the
agitation, to which I shall refer in its proper
place.
In a speech delivered at Edinburgh on the
6th of last November, 2 Lord Hartington criticised
the political situation in the following language.
Speaking of the policy of the Government, he
said : —
I am quite willing to admit that they have preached
peace — in season and out of season they have preached
peace ; but, as Lord Derby has told you, they have
preached it with the conviction in their hearts the whole
time that they were striving in vain, because they knew
that peace could not be preserved. And why, gentlemen^
1 Times ; February 9, 1877
2 Times, November 7, 1877.
140 THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED, [chap. v.
did they arrive at that opinion? Because they knew
that the status quo in Turkey could not be maintained —
at least, could not be maintained without war, and yet it
seems to me that because they thought that the status quo
in Turkey was the condition of things most conducive
to English interests, they never co-operated heartily in
any of the attempts made by the other Powers of Europe
to bring about some alteration in the condition of the
Turkish Provinces without recourse to war. Well, gentle-
men, I do not want to criticise the Government policy of
the past ; it is a far more important thing for us to con-
sider whether they fully understand the position of things
now, and I must say, from my imperfect means of judging
of the opinions of the Cabinet, I do not think they are
very reassuring. We heard Sir Stafford Northcote one
day declaring that he thought he saw what he called a
little blue sky, and that there was a possibility of peace
being restored. Well, then, why did he think so? Why?
Because he said both parties had shown a great deal of
valour and a great deal of courage, and had covered
themselves with honour in the war ; that the honour of
both might be satisfied ; and if they could arrange their
differences they might do so with honour to both parties.
If I were to agree with Sir Stafford Northcote that it was
only a question of arranging differences, and that they
have only fallen out about trifles that can be easily made
up as soon as their honour is satisfied, it seems to me I
should be taking a most false and inadequate view of the
state of things; and that any efforts they may make to
bring about a restoration of European peace upon the
basis of what Sir Stafford Northcote calls settling their
V
chap, v.] THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED. 141
differences, will be so much time and trouble thrown
away.
I have already referred to Lord Granville's
open approval of Mr. Gladstone's share in the
agitation. He also agreed in Mr. Gladstone's
policy of coercion, as his speeches in the House of
Lords and elsewhere prove. I am reluctant to
weary the reader with extracts, and shall therefore
quote the evidence of two distinguished witnesses
to show that on the question of coercing the Turks
Lord Granville and Mr. Gladstone were agreed.
Speaking at Bradford on the nth of last October,
Lord Salisbury referred as follows to Lord Gran-
ville : —
But what he and others have quite recently maintained
is that we ought to have gone with the other nations
of Europe and imposed the decisions of the Conference
upon the Turk. 1
In his speech in the House of Lords on February
20, 1877, Lord Beaconsfield said : —
' The noble Lord (Granville) and his friends are of
opinion that we should have coerced the Porte into the
acceptation of the policy which we recommend.'
It is unnecessary to quote the Duke of Argyll.
1 Times, October 12, 1877.
S
142 THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED, [chap. v.
Not only did he personally take an active part in
the agitation, but he went even beyond Mr. Glad-
stone in pressing the policy of coercion.
So much for the vehement accusations against
Mr. Gladstone of having got up the anti-Turk
agitation, and advocated a policy of coercion in
opposition to the feelings and wishes of the leaders
as well as of the rank and file of the Liberal party.
For myself, I humbly think that it would have
been better to have put the policy of coercion to
the test of a Parliamentary vote. Of course it
would have been defeated, not only by Tory but
also by some Liberal votes. There are Liberals
whose minds, it seems, are so disciplined by
philosophy that they think it unmanly to feel
deeply for human suffering, and foolish to run any
risk in championing the down-trodden and op-
pressed. There are other Liberals who hate, ' not
wisely but too well,' one despotism in particular
more than they love freedom in general. I am
no politician, and have no knowledge of party
tactics, and perhaps it was wise to avoid giving
these Liberals an excuse for retiring into an anti-
Russian cave of Adullam. That the country was
at one time enthusiastic in favour of a policy of
chap, v.] THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED. 143
coercion — which really meant a policy of peace —
no one who carefully watched the indications of
public opinion can doubt. But what is true of
individuals is also true of parties and of Govern-
ments.
There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune ;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
It would be unjust, however, to appropriate
to the Liberals all the credit of condemning the
Bulgarian atrocities, and advocating a policy
which would make the recurrence of them im-
possible. In the month of October 1876 Lord
Carnarvon spoke of the agitation in the following
terms : —
He certainly had no wish to complain of the public
feeling which the late thrill of horror had elicited. He
did not disagree, if he rightly understood it, with the
public feeling and opinion because it had been somewhat
loudly expressed, and that here and there might have
been exaggeration in the language used. He rejoiced,
on the contrary, to believe that the heart of his country-
men beat so soundly as it did when such a tale of horror
was unfolded. He rejoiced that there was neither delay
nor hesitation in the expression of that feeling; and so
far from weakening the hands of the Government, he
144 THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED, [chap. v.
believed that, if rightly understood at home and abroad,
nothing could more strengthen the hands of his noble
friend the Foreign Secretary than the burst of indignation
which had gone through the length and breadth of the
land.
In the end of September, 1876, a crowded
meeting was held in the Guildhall, under the
presidency of a Tory Lord Mayor, to protest
against the Bulgarian atrocities, and demand
guarantees against Turkish misrule. Lord Salis-
bury was invited to attend. He excused himself
on the reasonable ground of his official position ;
but, in doing so, took care to express his sympathy
with the object of the meeting. I think myself
entitled therefore to claim Lord Salisbury also as
one who regarded the agitation with benevolence.
The Guildhall meeting sent a deputation to
carry their resolutions to Lord Derby. The depu-
tation was headed by the Lord Mayor, and by the
Right Hon. J. G. Hubbard, one of the Conserva-
tive members for the City. In introducing the
deputation the Lord Mayor said : —
The atrocities had forced on the hand of diplomacy,
and, he would add, that the hand of Providence had
pointed to them in the hope that the Christian peoples
would take up the cause of the scattered Christian
chap, v.] THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED. 145
populations of the East, and bring about, through the
power and intelligence of England and of the English
Government, a more benign, a more merciful, and a more
Christian government of those people who were under
the government of the Turkish Empire. 1
Sir Stafford Northcote, speaking at Edinburgh
on September 18, 1876, said : —
We have long known it was our duty — we accept that
duty ; we accept it as freely as any of those who chal-
lenged us could wish — to fulfil the moral obligation into
which this country entered by the treaty of 1856, at the
close of the Crimean War, to use its efforts to protect
the Christians of the Turkish Provinces from misgovern -
ment. We know now from the terrible emphasis with
which these words have been spoken from Bulgaria what
the misgovernment of Turkey means ; and be assured
that the revelations which have been made have in no
degree weakened the sense of duty with which we have
been impressed. We know it is a question which must
be dealt with firmly and vigorously. 2
This justifies me in claiming the Conservative
leader of the House of Commons as a sympa-
thiser with the agitation and an advocate for
* dealing firmly and vigorously ' with the Turkish
Government.
Thus we see that down to the latter half of
1 Times, September 28, 1876.
2 Times, September 19, 1876.
L
146 THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED, [chap. v.
September, I S76, the Eastern Question was treated
on all sides as outside the pale of party politics.
Mr. Gladstone's pamphlet and Blackheath speech
were either altogether approved or respectfully
discussed by the Tory press of London ; and Tory
orators quoted Mr. Gladstone with approbation at
public meetings. 1 But the ' great neutral figure in
English politics ' 2 was in the meantime watching all
this exhibition of English feeling in sullen silence.
At last his opportunity came. At an agricultural
meeting at Aylesbury on September 20, Lord
Beaconsfield delivered his opinion on the autumn
agitation, and on Mr. Gladstone's conduct in rela-
tion to it. ' It would,' he admitted, ' be affectation
for him to pretend that he was backed by the
country.' ' Unhappily a great portion of the
people of this country, prompted by feelings which
have drawn their attention to these extraneous
matters, have arrived at a conclusion which, in the
1 There was one exception to this unanimity. The Pall
Mall Gazette cursed Mr. Gladstone and the agitation from
the very first, and declared that in the ' irrepressible struggle
for empire,' England was bound to uphold the Turkish
Empire, while admitting that to do so was to uphold a
system which inevitably produced horrors like those of
Batak. See Pall Mall Gazette of August 30, 1 876.
2 Description of Lord Beaconsfield by a writer in
Blackwood's Magazine.
chap, v.] THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED. 147
opinion of Her Majesty's Government, if carried
into effect, would alike be injurious to the perma-
nent and important interests of England and fatal
to any chance of preserving the peace of Europe/
Well, Lord Beaconsfield carried his own policy ;
and what does he now think about ' the permanent
and important interests of England,' and the
' chance of preserving the peace of Europe ' ? If
he had co-operated loyally with the other Powers
the peace of Europe would never have been broken.
But he chose to place England in what his ad-
mirers called a proud, and others a perilous isola-
tion ; and the result is that we are at thisL
moment either hated or distrusted by every nation J
in Europe. But let us return to Lord Beacons-
field's Aylesbury speech.
Mr. Gladstone has lately been attacked by
official writers and speakers for having made a
personal attack on Lord Beaconsfield at Oxford.
Mr. Gladstone made no personal attack on Lord
Beaconsfield. He did not assail his character nor
asperse his motives. He attacked his policy, and
confessed that he had been doing his best for two
years to counteract it. But the friends of Lord
Beaconsfield are hardly the persons to declaim
148 THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED, [chap. v.
against the iniquity of personal attacks. If ever a
man clove his way to power by the tomahawk and
scalping knife of savage warfare, that man is the
present Prime Minister of England. His speeches
against the late Sir Robert Peel are charged from
first to last with personal rancour. Imputation of
bad motives has ever been his readiest weapon
of party warfare. It was therefore in keeping with
his antecedents that he should, in the Aylesbury
speech attack Mr. Gladstone's character in the
following strain :
The danger at such a moment is that designing poli-
ticians may take advantage of such sublime sentiments, and
may apply them to the furtherance of their sinister ends.
I do not think there is any language which can denounce
too strongly conduct of this description. He who at
such a moment would avail himself of such a commanding
sentiment in order to obtain his own individual ends,
suggesting a course which he may know to be injurious
to the interests of his country, and not favourable to the
welfare of mankind, is a man whose conduct no language
•can too strongly condemn. He outrages the principle
of patriotism, which is the soul of free communities. He
does more — he influences in the most injurious manner
the common welfare of humanity. Such conduct, if
it be pursued by any man at this moment, ought to be
indignantly reprobated by the people of England j for, in
chap, v.] THE TWO POLICIES COMPARED. 149
the general havoc and ruin which it may bring about, it
may, I think, be fairly described as worse than any of
those Bulgarian atrocities which now occupy attention. 1
In other words, Mr. Gladstone is a greater
criminal for having denounced the Bulgarian atro-
cities than Chefket Pasha and his accomplices are
for having committed them ! The day after the
Aylesbury speech Lord Derby wrote his famous
despatch in denunciation of Chefket and his partners
in guilt. The speech and the despatch reached
Constantinople together, and were doubtless read
at the same time by the Sultan and his ministers.
What effect were they calculated, nay, certain to
produce ? Was it in human nature to believe in the
sincerity of a Government whose Foreign Secretary
demanded punishment for the authors of the Bul-
garian atrocities, while the head of the Government
had on the previous day publicly accused Mr.
Gladstone of more criminal conduct than even the
objects of Lord Derby's denunciation ?
The Aylesbury speech gave the cue to Conser-
vative speakers and newspapers, and the Eastern
Question became henceforth a party question, and
Mr. Gladstone a target for scurrilous vituperation.
1 Lord Beaconsfie Id's Speech at Aylesbury, published by
authority, pp. 8-9.
150 THE CONFERENCE [chap, v
CHAPTER VI.
THE CONFERENCE OF CONSTANTINOPLE.
THE nomination of Lord Salisbury to the post of
Special Plenipotentiary at Constantinople afforded
an opportunity of raising the Eastern Question
once more out of the ruts of party politics. The
appointment was hailed with satisfaction by the
whole of the Liberal press throughout the country,
and by every Liberal speaker who had occasion
to refer to it. The only voice raised against it, as
far as I remember, was that of the Pall Mall
Gazette.
At the point at which we have now arrived the
relative position of parties is as follows.
On one side are Austria, Germany, Russia,
France, Italy, all agreed upon three points : first, that
the true cause of the disturbances in Turkey is the
atrocious mis-government of the Porte ; secondly,
that some mode of self-government for the dis-
chap, vi.] OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 151
turbed provinces is a sine qua 11011 of peace ; thirdly,'
that the promises of the Turkish Government are
absolutely worthless without effectual guarantees,
and that consequently coercion, in some shape or
other, is necessary. This statement is capable of
demonstration out of the Blue Books, as I shall
now show.
In the end of August, 1876, the Italian Govern-
ment proposed to that of Austria that the Powers,
having formulated their demands, should present
them in a Collective Note to Turkey. On hearing
of this, Sir Henry Elliot telegraphed in hot haste
to Lord Derby that he ' thinks the Italian proposal
of a Collective Note very objectionable.' l Lord
Salisbury, on his way to Constantinople, had an in-
terview 'with Signor Melegari, the Italian Minister
for Foreign Affairs, and discussed with him the
present grave state of affairs in the East. His
Excellency began by emphatically expressing the
opinion that the conscience of Christendom would
not be satisfied unless effective guarantees were
provided for the better government of the Christian
populations of Turkey. . . . His Excellency went
â– on to express the opinion, upon which he insisted
1 Turkey, No. 1 (1877), p. 91.
152 THE CONFERENCE [chap. vi.
with much force, that the action of the Powers
ought not to be derived from, or limited by, the
Treaty of Paris. They ought to be unrestricted
in their search for a solution of the questions to
be submitted to the Conference by any obligations
imposed by that Treaty, and he was not prepared to
admit that the Porte would be at liberty to reject
any decisions to which the Conference might
come.' l
On September 26, 1876, the Russian Govern-
ment made a proposal, which is recorded as follows
in a despatch from Lord Derby to Sir Henry
Elliot :—
The Russian Ambassador called upon me this after-
noon, and communicated to me in strict confidence a
despatch from Prince GortchakorT, stating that the
Russian Government wished to propose to those of
England and Austria that in the event of the Porte
refusing the conditions of peace which had now been
offered them [administrative autonomy of a very restricted
kind for the disturbed provinces] the following measures,
should be taken : (1) the occupation of Bosnia by an
Austrian force ; (2) the occupation of Bulgaria by a
Russian force ; (3) the entrance of the united fleets of
all nations into the Bosphorus. Prince GortchakorT says
that he believes the threat of taking these measures would
1 Turkey, No. 2 (1877), p. 19.
chap, vi.] OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 153
be sufficient to accomplish those objects. It would force
the Porte to accept the terms proposed to it ; it would
avert war ; and it would ensure the better treatment of
the Eastern Christians.
In a second despatch the Russian Chancellor states
that when Count Schouvaloff makes this confidential
communication to me he is authorised to add that if, in
my opinion, the entry of the united fleets into the Bos-
phorus would be preferable alone, and sufficient for the
object in view, the Russian Government are ready to
consent to this course, and will abstain from making the
two other propositions mentioned above. 1
What could have been more moderate and
conciliatory than this ? Russia had no fleet at
hand to participate in the proposed naval demon-
stration in the Bosphorus, whereas England had
on the spot a fleet more powerful than those of the
other Powers combined. What Russia, therefore,
in fact proposed was that Constantinople should
be practically occupied by a force of which England
would take the lead, and in which Russia
would have no part at all, or, at the best, a very
subordinate part. This is not only a proof
of the disinterested character of the Russian policy ;
it shows at the same time how little disposed
1 Turkey, No. 1 (1877), p. 317-18.
154 THE CONFERENCE [chap. vi.
Russia then was to reciprocate our unworthy-
jealousy and suspicion.
The policy of ordering the united fleets into
the Bosphorus was cordially approved by the
Austrian Government. Our Ambassador at Vienna
asked whether Count Andrassy ' expected that the
Government of the Sultan would permit a fleet,
evidently intended for a hostile purpose, to pass
the Dardanelles unresisted.' The answer was that
' he thought resistance improbable, since to oppose
the passage of such a fleet would be to declare war
against united Europe.' l
Not satisfied with this, Count Andrassy sent a
despatch to London to urge on Lord Derby, that
' it is not sufficient to obtain the conclusion of an
armistice [with Servia and Montenegro]. It be-
comes of the highest importance that conditions
of peace should be agreed upon without delay by
the Powers, and enforced by them on tlie Porte' 2
The German Government also agreed, and
were even â– disposed to advocate larger concessions
to the insurgent provinces in the direction of
autonomy,' than those proposed by Lord Derby.
1 Turkey, No. i (1877), pp. 405-6. Cf. p. 472.
2 Ibid. p. 240.
chap, vl] OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 155
* M. de Biilow/ says the British Charge d' Affaires
at Berlin, ' again referred to the necessity of effec-
tively providing for the future of the Christian
populations ; and, if I mistake not, he is in favour
of making larger concessions in the direction of
autonomy. His last words to me on this occasion
were : " Some radical measures must be taken to
rescue these poor people from their wretched
condition.'"
We have already seen how earnest the French
Government was in advocating the same policy.
It pressed and implored Lord Derby to accept the
Berlin Memorandum, and Lord Derby and Lord
Beaconsfield have stated repeatedly that they
rejected the Berlin Memorandum mainly because
it pointed to coercion in case of the Porte's refusal.
We did not think that it was our duty to give our
assent to that document, and why ? Because it called
upon Turkey to accomplish objects which were, in the
then state of the country, impossible ; and in case of their
not being achieved it intimated ulterior measures which
could bear no other interpretation but the military occu-
pation of Turkey. That military occupation would have
been a violation of those great treaties whose provisions
were guiding us. That military occupation would have
been the violation of the independence and of the terri-
156 THE CONFERENCE [chap, vl
torial integrity of the country. Under these circumstances
Her Majesty's Government, in pursuance of the object
they had before them, declined to sanction the Me-
morandum. 1
If we accepted the Memorandum we should have
bound ourselves to concur in those ' efficacious measures '
by which diplomatic action would be supported ; and I
think the experience we have since had excludes any
reasonable doubt that what was meant was that we should
join in a military occupation. To that policy we did not
assent.' 2
Both the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary
thus admit, that to sanction the Berlin Memorandum
I was to join in a policy of coercion against the
Porte. But all the other Powers accepted the
Berlin Memorandum : therefore, by the confession
of Lord Beaconsfield and Lord Derby, all the other
Powers advocated a policy of coercion. It is un-
necessary to carry the proof further.
So much as to the acts and intentions of
Austria, Germany, Russia, France, and Italy.
Down to the eve of the Conference they had acted
loyally together, and were agreed on the following
points : —
1 Lord BeaconsfielcVs Guildhall Speech, November 9,
1876.
â– Speech of Lord Derby in House of Lords, February 8,
1877.
chap, vi.] OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 157
1 . That the root of all the evil was the atrocious
misrule of the Porte.
2. That radical reforms in the Turkish adminis-
tration were necessary.
3. That the Western Powers had a right to
interfere between the Sultan and his Christian
subjects, and to enforce the execution of the
reforms which they might deem necessary.
4. That, in the interests of humanity and of
the peace of Europe, it was expedient to coerce
the Porte into obedience to the will of Europe, in
•case pacific efforts failed.
Down to the end of August, 1876, on the other
hand, the position of Lord Beaconsfield and Lord
Derby was as follows : —
1. That the insurrections in Bosnia, the Herze-
govina, and Bulgaria 'was but a petty local dis-
turbance,' 1 caused, in the case of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, by the intrigues of Austrian officials
and the connivance of the Austrian Government ; 2
in the case of Bulgaria, by 'secret societies,' 3
1 Lord Derby's Speech in House of Lords, February 20,
1877.
2 Ibid.
3 Lord BeaconsfieWs Aylesbury Speech.
158 THE CONFERENCE [chap. vi.
whose emissaries had invaded the mild Circassians
and the gentle Bashi-bazouks.
2. That radical reforms were to be deprecated,
the proper remedy being the summary suppression
of the insurrection by Turkish troops. 1
3. That it was the duty of Her Majesty's
Government to oppose all diplomatic intervention
in the affairs of the Ottoman Empire. 2
4. That any coercive intervention against
Turkey must be met, on the part of England, by
forcible intervention in defence of the integrity
and independence of the Ottoman Empire. 3
In the end of August, 1876, Lord Derby
frankly owned, as we have seen, that the policy of
the Government was completely frustrated by the
autumn agitation. In the event of Russia making
war on Turkey, the English Government, he said,
could no longer take up arms for the Porte. And
this he considered a ' humiliating ' fact. For a
time, accordingly, Lord Derby yielded to the
stream and gave in his adhesion to a policy not of
intervention merely, but of coercion, towards the
1 Turkey, No. 2 (1876), p. 96. Cf. p. 8.
2 Ibid. No. 2, p. 8 ; No. 3, p. 174.
s Turkey, No. 3 (1876), p. 351 ; No. 1 (1877), p. 105.
chap, vi.] OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 159
Turksh Government. In a despatch to Sir Henry-
Elliot, dated September 22, 1876, he 'intimated
that an effective reform of the administration of
the disturbed Provinces, with securities for its
proper execution, was a condition on which the
mediating Powers must INSIST as necessary to a
full and satisfactory pacification} I will not do
Lord Derby the injustice of supposing that he
used words without weighing their meaning. To
i insist ' means to carry your point in spite of
opposition, and I leave hair-splitters to distinguish
between that and ' coercion.'
Let us now see what Lord Derby meant by
'an effective reform of the administration of the
disturbed Provinces.' I quote the following ac-
count of it from the ' Instructions ' of the Govern-
ment to Lord Salisbury on the eve of his departure
for Constantinople : —
(a). The status quo, speaking roughly, both as re-
gards Servia and Montenegro.
(b). That the Porte should simultaneously undertake,
in a Protocol to be signed at Constantinople with the
representatives of the mediating Powers, to grant to
Bosnia and Herzegovina a system of local or administra-
1 Turkey, No. 1 (1877^, p. 295.
160 THE CONFERENCE [char vi.
tive autonomy, by which is to be understood a system of
local institutions which shall give the population some
control over their own local affairs and guarantees against
the exercise of arbitrary authority. There is to be no
question of a tributary state.
Guarantees of a similar kind to be also provided
against mal-administration in Bulgaria.
Such was the outline of reforms which the
Government left Lord Salisbury, after consultation
with the other Powers, to fill up. It was not a
violent or sweeping programme certainly ; but the
Government seemed determined that it should be
at least enforced. The Porte tried to ward off the
intervention by the promise of Midhat's vaunted
Constitution. But the Government gave Lord
Salisbury distinctly to understand that he was not
to be diverted from his object by any ruse of that
sort. The following extracts are from the paper
of ' Instructions ' which he carried with him to the
Conference. After enumerating the objections of
the Porte, the * Instructions ' proceed ; —
Her Majesty's Government have been unable to agree
in this view of the matter. They have replied that the
mere announcement of reforms by the Porte cannot be
accepted as sufficient, and that even if Her Majesty's
Government would be disposed to accept such an an-
nouncement no other Power would do so. . . .
chap. VI.] OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 161
The immediate necessity of the situation is to restore
tranquillity to the disturbed Provinces. The course of
events has made it obvious that this can now only be
done by concert with the Powers ; and it is in vain for
the Porte to expect that the Powers will be satisfied with
the mere general assurances which have already been so
often given, and have proved to be so imperfectly exe-
cuted. . . . No doubt the Conference will give due
weight to the reforms already promulgated, which will
properly form an important element for consideration.
But pacification cannot be attained by proclamations, and
the Powers have a right to demand, in the interest of the
peace of Europe, that they shall examine for themselves
the measures required for the reform of the administra-
tion of the disturbed Provinces, and that adequate
security shall be provided for carrying those measures
into operation.
Her Majesty's Government have thought it desirable
to refer to these objections advanced by the Porte, as
they will probably be again put forward at the Conference
or on your Excellency's arrival at Constantinople, and it
is therefore right that you should be ih a position to state
positively that they cannot be entertained. . . .
The cruelty with which the attempted rising in the
Balkans was suppressed has aroused the indignation of
the civilised world, and made it equally imperative that
the recurrence of such outrages should be adequately
guarded against. . . .
The whole history of the Ottoman Empire since it
was admitted into the European concert, under the en-
gagements of the Treaty of Paris, has proved that the
M
1 62 THE CONFERENCE [chap. vi.
Porte is unable to guarantee the execution of reforms in
the Provinces by Turkish officials, who accept them with
reluctance and neglect them with impunity.
The despatch which contains these admirable
instructions is signed by Lord Derby ; but it
embodies the deliberations of the Cabinet, and in
some of the paragraphs there are a vigour of style
and an epigrammatic neatness of phrase which
betray a more practised pen than Lord Derby's.
The do-nothing policy is gone, and individual
members of the Government protest that they
intend to exact from the Porte a sufficient security
against Turkish misrule. In a speech at Man-
chester on October 26, 1876, Mr. Cross expressed his
own and quoted Lord Carnarvon's approval of the
autumn agitation. * All persons had taken part in
the expression of horror and disgust at what had
occurred, high and low, Liberal and Conservative.'
The despatch in which Lord Derby denounced the
Bulgarian Atrocities, and demanded condign pun-
ishment for the authors of them, 'was not a mere
empty despatch for insertion in a Blue Book, but
it was one which was to be followed out' x Mr.
1 Brave words ! But how have they been fulfilled? The
Porte laughed Lord Derby's despatch to scorn. Not one of
chap, vi.] OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 163
Cross quoted the case of the Lebanon in 1 860-1
and declared that 'the cases of Bosnia, Herzegovina,
and Bulgaria should be dealt with in a similar
manner/ that is, by military coercion.
Some weeks later Mr. Cross returned to the
subject and declared as follows l : —
The Great Powers have a right to examine for them-
selves what provision would be sufficient to secure the
good administration of these Provinces, and to see that
adequate provision is made that all these measures shall
be carried into effect. With all due respect to Turkey,
I would say that of course the time has come when all
what I may call the ' waste paper currency ' of the
Turkish promises shall be paid in sterling coin.
Sir Stafford Northcote, speaking at Bristol on
November 13, 1876, said : —
I believe it to be impossible really to secure the
peace of Europe unless we take steps also for the im-
proved administration of the Provinces of Turkey. As
long as you leave that sore open — as long as you do
nothing to heal what is at the bottom of the cause of
the authors of the massacres has been punished, and Lord
Derby, at Mr. Layard's request on behalf of the Sultan, gave
his passive sanction to the employment of Chefket Pasha,
the chief of the criminals, in a high command in Bulgaria,
where he repeated, as I have been assured by one of the
Stafford House doctors who was an eye-witness, some of his
most brutal crimes. — Turkey, No. 1 (1878), pp. 53-4.
1 Speech at Birmingham, No. 20, 1876.
M 2
1 64 THE CONFERENCE [chap. vi.
these disturbances, any peace you may promote for the
moment will be but a hollow peace, and be but as a
patchwork — a piece of sticking-plaster put over a wound
when there is festering matter still left below.
Here then we have the Government at last in
avowed harmony with the nation and with the rest
of Europe. 'Pacification cannot be attained by-
proclamations.' The ' sticking-plaster ' policy is
abandoned. 'The waste-paper currency of the
Turkish promises shall be paid in sterling coin/
The Conservative press applauded, and the Liberal
press joined in the chorus. ' The Foreign Secretary,'
said the Times of October 27, 1876, in an article
on Mr. Cross' speech, ' has turned his back upon
the course he formerly adopted, and we hope that
the new departure of his policy [which was, in fact,
a return to the traditional policy of the country]
will be rewarded with a success which will unite
the whole nation in gratitude to him.'
The Russian Government cordially and grate-
fully responded to this new attitude of the British
Cabinet. In replying to Lord Derby's invitation
to the Conference of Constantinople, Prince
GortchakofT, after expressing his agreement
generally with the bases of negotiations laid down,
chap, vi.] OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 165
took exception to the formal recognition of the
independence and integrity of the Ottoman Em-'
pire. The following extract will sufficiently indi-
cate the Imperial Chancellor's point of view and
line of argument : —
If the Great Powers wish to accomplish a real work,
and not expose themselves to the periodical and aggra-
vated return of this dangerous crisis, it is impossible that
they should persevere in the system which permits the
germs of it to exist and develop with the inflexible logic
of facts. It is necessary to escape from this vicious circle
and to recognise that the independence and integrity of
Turkey must be subordinated to the guarantees demanded
by humanity, the sentiments of Christian Europe, and the
general peace. The Porte has been the first to infringe
the engagement which she contracted by the Treaty ot
1856 with regard to her Christian subjects. It is the
right and duty of Europe to dictate to her the conditions
on which alone it can on its part consent to the main-
tenance of the political status quo created by that treaty ;
and since the Porte is incapable of fulfilling them, it is the
right and duty of Europe to substitute itself for her
to the extent necessary to ensure their execution. Russia
can, less than every other Power, consent to renew the
experiences of palliatives, of half-measures, of illusory
programmes, which have led to the results which are
under the eyes of all, and which react on her tranquillity
and internal prosperity ; but, if she is more directly, ^
more sensibly interested in putting an end to it by real
1 66 THE CONFERENCE [chap. vk
and adequately guaranteed improvements, she none th~
less considers this question one of general interest, call-
ing for the concord of all the Powers with a view
to its pacific solution. With reference to the personal
views which she brings into the pursuit of this object, they
are free from all exclusive aniere-pensees ; the most
positive assurances in this respect have many times been
given by the Imperial Cabinet. 1
The difference between the two Cabinets, how-
ever, was merely a difference of form. For
although Lord Derby acknowledged the inde-
pendence of Turkey in words, he was rudely
invading it in fact. What should we think of a lip
acknowledgment of the independence of England
by a Foreign Minister who should at the same
time summon a Conference to meet in London for
the avowed purpose of drawing up a constitution
for Ireland ; bidding his plenipotentiary meanwhile
to * state positively ' to our Government that anjr
proposed legislative measures of its own ' cannot be
entertained ' ? I think we should all agree that an
acknowledgment of our independence thus qualified
would look remarkably like the addition of insult to>
injury, and we should prefer the downright, because
the more honest, language of Prince Gortchakoff.
1 Turkey, No. i (1877), p. 719.
chap. VI.] OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 167
Let us now consider the circumstances under
which the Conference met at Constantinople. On
November 10, 1876, the Emperor of Russia de-
livered a speech at Moscow in which he made the
following declaration : —
I desire above all things that the Powers should
arrive at a common agreement ; but should I be . dis-
appointed in that hope, and see that we cannot obtain
such guarantees as we have a right to demand of the
Porte, I am firmly determined to act alone ; and I am
certain that in that case the whole of Russia will respond
to my appeal if I should judge it necessary, and the
honour of the country require it. 1
On November 13 the Czar ordered the mobilisa-
tion of a portion of the Russian army, the reasons
for which are explained in the following circular
despatch from Prince GortchakofT: —
Tsarskoe Selo, November ^ 1876.
The sad events which have deluged with blood the
Balkan Peninsula have deeply agitated Europe.
The Cabinets have consulted together, and have
recognised the necessity, for the honour of humanity, and
for the sake of general peace, of putting an end to this
state of things.
They have put a stop to bloodshed by imposing an
1 Nouvelle Etude sur la Question & Orient. Par G.
Robin-Jacquemyns, p. 26.
168 THE CONFERENCE [chap. vi.
armistice on both parties, and have agreed to fix the
basis on which peace is to be established, so as to give
the Christian population serious guarantees against the
incorrigible abuses of the Turkish Administration, as well
as against the unbridled arbitrary proceedings of the
Ottoman functionaries, and to reassure Europe against
the periodical return of a crisis attended with so much
bloodshed.
The Imperial Cabinet, finding itself in presence of a
question where political interests should make way before
the more universal interests of humanity and European
peace, has done its utmost to bring about an agreement
amongst the Great Powers.
For itself, it will neglect no effort in order that this
agreement may bring about a practical and substantial
result, and one which will satisfy the exigencies of public
opinion and of general peace.
But while diplomacy has been deliberating for a whole
year with a view to reduce to practice the combined
wishes of Europe, the Porte has had time to summon
from the recesses of Asia and Africa the ban and arriere-
ban of the least disciplined forces of Islamism, to arouse
Mussulman fanaticism, and to crush under the weight of
its numbers the Christian populations who are struggling
for their very existence. The perpetrators of the horrible
massacres which have so shocked Europe remain un-
punished, and at this very moment their example tends
to propagate and perpetuate throughout the whole of the
Ottoman Empire, and in full view of indignant Europe,
similar acts of violence and barbarism.
Under these circumstances, His Majesty the Em-
chap, vi.] OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 169
peror has deemed it necessary to mobilise a portion of
his army, though he is firmly resolved, for his part, to
seek after and to endeavour to obtain by all the means in
his power the purposes laid down by agreement amongst
the Great Powers.
His Imperial Majesty does not wish for war, and will
do his utmost to avoid it ; but he is determined not to
halt before the principles which have been recognised by
the whole of Europe as just, humane, and necessary, and
which public opinion in Russia has taken up with the
greatest energy, have been fully carried out, and secured
by efficient guarantees.
You are authorised to read this despatch to the
Minister for Foreign Affairs, and to give him a copy
of it.
I have, &c.
(Signed) Gortchakow.
On the 5th of the following December Prince
Bismarck made a speech in the Reichstag. After
quoting the declaration of the Czar, and denouncing
the Bulgarian massacres as ' revolting to the con-
science of the whole of Europe,' he said : —
Should the Conference not lead to any result, and
should Russia determine to obtain by force of arms what
she has failed to obtain by pacific means, we shall put no
veto on her action, since the objects she pursues are also
our own, and we have no reason to believe that she will
pass the limits of those objects. No one shall succeed
in disturbing our friendly relations with Russia, for the
170 THE CONFERENCE [chap. vi.
alliance of the Three Emperors, formed some time ago,
subsists to-day in its integrity. 1
This was a distinct warning to Europe, three
weeks before the Conference met, that Germany
and Austria, failing any result from the Conference,
would sanction a declaration of war by Russia.
The Foreign Minister of France, the Due
Decazes, pledged France, in the event of war
against Turkey, to a policy of ' absolute neutrality,
guaranteed by the most absolute non-interven-
tion.' 2
Signor Depretis, the Prime Minister of Italy,,
took occasion, in a speech to his constituents a
short time before the Conference, to reprobate ' an
excessive prudence ' which should sacrifice * the
grand principles of civilisation and humanity ta
the traditions of diplomacy and the cold calcula-
tions of political interests.'
After the Conference had met, Lord Beacons-
field told Odian EfTendi, a special agent of the
Turkish Government in London, ' that it was im-
possible to suppose that in a contest with Russia
the latter Power should not in the end come off
1 Nouvelle Etude stir la Question d' Orient, p. 22.
2 Turkey, No. 25 (1877), p. 138.
chap. VI.] OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 171
victorious. The struggle might last for more than
one campaign, but the ultimate result could scarcelv
be doubtful.' l
The Governments of the Great Powers, there-
fore, sent their representatives to the Conference
with one fact plain and distinct in their minds. If
pacific counsels did not prevail with the Porte,
coercion was to follow — if not by united Europe,
certainly by the sword of Russia. In the latter
case they engaged to let Russia deal in her own
way with the Porte, which must, on its part, bear
the entire responsibility of the consequences. This
is plain from the extracts quoted above ; but it is
still more plain from the language of Her Majesty's
Government and Special Plenipotentiary. And
first, as to the language of the Government. Lord
Salisbury's Instructions conclude with the following
solemn warning : —
In authorising your Excellency to declare this deter-
mination on the part of Her Majesty's Government at the
Conference, should occasion require it, they desire at the
same time that it should be understood by the Porte that
Great Britain is resolved not to sanction misgovernment
and oppression : and that if the Porte by obstinacy or
apathy opposes the efforts which are now making to place
1 Turkey \ No. 2 (1877), p. 260.
172 THE CONFERENCE [chap. vi.
the Ottoman Empire on a more secure basis, the re-
sponsibility of the consequences which may ensue will
rest solely with the Sultan and his advisers. 1
On December 5, 1876, Lord Salisbury arrived
at Constantinople. Soon afterwards a Preliminary
Conference was held of all the Signataries of the
Treaty of Paris except Turkey, who was not al-
lowed to take part. On the 19th Midhat Pasha
was installed into the office of Grand Vizier in the
room of Mehemet Rushdi Pasha. On the 23rd
the first meeting of the full Conference took place,
the Preliminary Conference having in the mean-
time agreed upon the reforms which the Six
Powers deemed essential in the interests of
humanity and the peace of Europe. The discus-
sions went on till January 20. On January 21, the
Conference held its last meeting. In the previous
discussions the original terms of the Conference â–
were reduced bit by bit till the nadir of conces-
1 Turkey, No. 2 (1877), p. 9.
2 Which were, in fact, the terms of the English Govern-
ment. In the Preliminary Conference Russia proposed a
plan of her own. This being thought too sweeping by the
Government of Her Majesty, Russia at once withdrew it, and
invited the English Plenipotentiary to submit the English
proposals. From that moment Lord Salisbury took the lead,
and was supported by the Russian Plenipotentiary down to
the * irreducible minimum.'
chap, vi.] OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 173
sion was reached in the 'irreducible minimum.'
Yet even this shadow of the original substance
was scornfully rejected by the Porte. And then
Lord Salisbury delivered the warning with which
his Government had charged him. He reminded
the Porte of the great benefits which had accrued
to it under the Treaty of Paris, — a Treaty which
the Six Powers had observed ' without reservation.'
But the Sultan had, on his part, made ' promises
of reform,' and ' the engagements of the Treaty
were not and cannot be unilateral.' If the Sultan
should now, at the eleventh hour, decline to ' listen
to the counsels of the Six guaranteeing Powers,'
and still refuse to fulfil the engagements under-
taken by the Porte under the Treaty of Paris, ' the
position of Turkey before Europe will have been
completely changed, and will be extremely
perilous. . . . We can foresee dangers near at hand
which will threaten the very existence of Turkey,
if she allows herself to be entirely isolated.' Lord
Salisbury, therefore, proceeded to ' free Her
Majesty's Government from all responsibility for
what may happen ; ' and in accordance with Lord
Derby's instructions ' formally ' declared : — ' The
responsibility of the consequences will rest solely
I
174 THE CONFERENCE [chap. vi.
on the Sultan and his advisers/ To increase the
solemnity of the occasion, Lord Salisbury added :-- -
1 In communicating to your Excellencies [the
Turkish Plenipotentiaries] the modified summary,
I am, moreover, authorised by the Plenipotentiaries
to declare that it is the final communication which
will be made to you by us.' l But perhaps Lord
Salisbury exceeded his instructions ? So it was
said, in organs which affected official inspiration.
But in a despatch dated ' February 5, 1877,' not
only is Lord Salisbury's general conduct at the
Conference approved of, but the grave warning in
which he throws the responsibility of war, with all
its consequences, ' solely on the Sultan and his
advisers ' is specifically ratified by the Queen and
her Government. 2
Here, then, we see the Turkish Government
solemnly arraigned before the Areopagus of united
Europe, solemnly judged, solemnly condemned.
And the mouth which pronounces the sentence is
that of the Special Plenipotentiary of England.
The rashness of the Porte in thus defying
Europe seems, at first sight, incomprehensible.
1 Turkey ', No. 2 (1877), pp. 361-2.
* Ibid. p. 378. 1
chap, vi.] OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 175
"But there was a method in its rashness. It be-
lieved, in fact, that in the last resort British
interests would compel England to come to the
rescue. Had it any reasonable ground for such
belief? Let us see.
We have seen that the instructions to Lord
Salisbury and the declarations of some of the
foremost members of the Government, plainly
pointed to a policy of coercion. ' Great Britain
is resolved not to sanction misgovernment or
oppression, and if the Porte by obstinacy or
apathy opposes the efforts which are now making
to place the Ottoman Empire on a more secure
basis, the responsibility of the consequences which
may ensue will rest solely with the Sultan and his
advisers.' This is the language of the Cabinet,
and some of the leading Ministers took great pains
to emphasize its stringency. ' The waste paper
currency of the Turkish provinces,' said the Home
Secretary, 'shall be paid in sterling coin.' The
' sticking-plaster ' policy, the Chancellor of the
Exchequer assured us, would be flung aside in
favour of a radical cure which should probe and
close the ulcerous sore. And even the Foreign
Secretary permitted himself to say that the Go-
i 7 6 THE CONFERENCE [chap. vk
vernment would ' insist ' on adequate securities for
the execution of the suggested reforms.
But what happened ? On the day before the
Conference opened, Lord Derby wrote to tell Lord
Salisbury 'that Her Majesty's Government had
decided that England will not assent to, or assist
in, coercive measures, military or naval, against the
Porte.' 1 This most important piece of information
was despatched from London on December 22,
and would reach Lord Salisbury rather more than
a week after the Conference opened. But on the
IO/ th — that is, four days before the Conference
opened — it was communicated by Lord Derby to
the Turkish Ambassador in London. 'I had
informed him,' says Lord Derby, '-that, although
Her Majesty's Government did not themselves
meditate or threaten the employment of active
measures of coercion in the event of the proposals
of the Conference being refused by the Porte, yet
that Turkey must not look to England for assist-
ance or protection if that refusal resulted in a war
with other countries.' 2
On December 24, the Turkish Ambassador
1 Turkey^ No. 2 (1877), p. 56.
2 Ibid. p. 182.
chap. VI.] OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 177
called on Lord Derby, and handed him the follow-
ing telegram which he had received from Safvet
Pasha, the Foreign Minister of the Porte, and one
of the Plenipotentiaries at the Conference : —
I have read it to the Grand Vizier. His Highness
received this communication with deep gratitude, and
begs you to express to His Excellency Lord Derby his
acknowledgments. You will explain to his Lordship, in
the name of the Grand Vizier, that the Sublime Porte
reckons more than ever on the kind support of the
Government of Her Britannic Majesty, under the difficult
circumstances we are passing through. The great wisdom
and spirit of justice which distinguish the eminent
Minister who directs with such loyalty the foreign re-
lations of England form a sure guarantee for us, that he
will gladly give us a new proof of his kindness and
valued friendship. 1
The question is, what had Safvet Pasha read
to the Grand Vizier to excite such ' deep gratitude '
and lively hope ? It is impossible to doubt that
it was Lord Derby's intimation that England
* would neither assent to nor assist in coercive
measures, military or naval, against the Porte.'
This was Lord Derby's own impression at the
1 Turkey, No. 2 (1877), pp. 62, 182.
N
178 THE CONFERENCE [chap. vi.
time, as he has frankly put on record. 1 Musurus
Pasha suggested afterwards another explanation
which, to speak plainly, is too childish to deserve
any notice. Safvet's telegram, his Excellency
thinks, was in answer to some complimentary
expressions about Midhat Pasha, which Lord
Derby had used on the occasion of his telling
Musurus that England would not sanction a
coercive policy. These ' unofficial ' compliments
Musurus had taken the trouble to telegraph to
the Porte, but not the intimation about coercion !
I have too good an opinion of Musurus Pasha's
acuteness and sense of duty to trust the accuracy
of his memory in this particular.
But the important point, after all, is that Lord
Derby informed the Turkish Ambassador in
London, two days before the Conference met, and
two weeks before he informed Lord Salisbury, that
Turkey had nothing to fear from England if she
chose to reject the proposals of the Conference.
So nervous, indeed, was Lord Derby lest Lord
Salisbury should put too much force into his
arguments, that he wrote to him again on January
1 Turkey, No. 2 (1877), p. 182.
chap, vi.] of Constantinople: 179
13: 'But having reference to the Conference
breaking up without result, it will be necessary to
avoid all appearance of menace, and to hold no
language that can be construed as pledging Her
Majesty's Government to enforce those proposals
at a later date.' 1 He had previously told the
French Ambassador that he need not look for any
support from the English Cabinet ' in measures of
coercion against Turkey ; l 2 and he steadily refused
to let Lord Salisbury sanction the presentation of
any identic Note or Protocol to the Porte on the
part of the Plenipotentiaries. 3 The more attenuated,
too, the programme of the Conference became, the
more pleased was Lord Derby. 4 In truth, Midhat
Pasha made no secret of his belief that Lord
Salisbury did not truly represent the policy of
Her Majesty's Government. It is Lord Salisbury
himself who reports that ' the Grand Vizier believed
he could " count upon the assistance of Lord Derby
and Lord Beaconsfield." ' 5
The Grand Vizier had excellent reasons for his
belief. The ' Instructions ' which the Government
1 Turkey, No. 2, p. 261. 2 Ibid. p. 136.
3 Turkey, pp. 21, 54, 183, 281. 4 Ibid. p. 183.
5 Ibid. p. 183.
n 2
180 THE CONFERENCE. [chap. vi.
gave to Lord Salisbury for his guidance in the;
Conference are excellent. They convey a warning
and a menace to Turkey. But they are private.
Neither Turks nor Englishmen knew anything
about them till after the Conference. Lord
Beaconsfield's"'Guildhall speech, on the other hand,
was addressed to Europe, and was understood to
indicate the policy of the Government.
And what was that policy ? It was a scarcely
veiled threat against Russia, with an implied pro-
mise of assistance to Turkey if Russia should assail
her. That was the interpretation put upon the
speech by those organs in the press which had
close relations with the Premier and Foreign
Secretary. Its mischievous effect was at once
courteously pointed out by Prince Gortchakoff
' On visiting Prince Gortchakoff this morning,'
says Lord A. Loft us, ' I found his Highness rather
disturbed in mind by the speech of the Earl of
Beaconsfield at the Lord Mayor's banquet, which
his Highness feared would have a bad effect at
Constantinople, and would encourage the Porte in
a policy of resistance to the counsels of Europe. 1
1 Turkey, No. i (1877), p. 707.
chap. VI.] OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 181
How this kind of ' encouragement ' affected the
result of the Conference was very clearly explained
by Lord Salisbury in his able and instructive
speech in the House of Lords on February 20,
1877. I give his own words : — '
It is true that we went into the Conference, first of all,
to restore peace between Turkey and Servia, and then to
obtain a government for the Turkish Provinces ; but un-
doubtedly we also went to stop a great and menacing
danger, namely, the prospect of a war between Russia
and the Porte. This, then, being the evil which we came
to avert, it naturally was in pointing out that evil that
our moral influence on the Porte rested. We said to
Turkey, ' Unless you do this or that, this terrible danger,
which may well involve the loss of your Empire, is ready
to fall upon you. We hope that our influence and advice
may be able to avert it — indeed, we came here for that
purpose. But we warn you that we shall accept no
responsibility for the future if you treat our advice with
disdain.' Undoubtedly it was in this sense true that the
fear of the result of a rupture of the Congress — the fear
of a breach with Russia — was the motive force of the
Conference. Russia was the motive power of the Con-
ference.
And Russia was ' the motive power of the
Conference/ because she had an army mobilised on
the frontier. The edge of this danger, however,
1 Times report, February 21.
1 82 THE CONFERENCE [chap, vk
was blunted by two facts, as Lord Salisbury pro-
ceeds to explain. In the first place, the Turks
believed that the interests of the other Powers
would compel them to intervene between Russia
and the destruction of the Turkish Empire. This
was a belief, let me add, which was carefully
fostered by the supporters of -the Government in
Parliament and in the press. It was also fostered
by our Ambassador at Constantinople. Nay,
more; Lord Beaconsfield and Lord Derby both
used language which could bear no other meaning
than that England, though she might not prevent
Russia from declaring war, was bound, both in her
own interest and also in defence of the Treaty of
Paris, to step in and arrest the sword of Russia as
soon as the independence and integrity of the
Ottoman Empire were put in jeopardy.
The second cause which, according to Lord
Salisbury, destroyed the motive power of the
Conference was the false reports of the condition of
the Russian army which the pro-Turkish press of
London propagated : —
To myself certainly it appears that one of the causes
which led the Turks to this unfortunate resolution was
the belief which was so sedulously fostered, I know not
chap. VI.] OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 183
by whom, but by irresponsible advisers, that the power
of Russia was broken, that the armies of Russia were
suffering from disease, that the mobilisation had failed,
and that, consequently, the fear of war was over.
It is Lord Salisbury's opinion, therefore, that
the Turkish Government would have accepted the
terms of the Conference if they had only believed
that Russia would declare war, that her army was
efficient, and that they would be left absolutely
alone in the agony of a mortal combat. Nobody
who has taken the trouble to master the facts in
the light of Turkish law and Turkish history will
doubt that Lord Salisbury was perfectly right. It
is laid down in the ' Multeka,' which is to the Turk
what the decrees of Trent or of the Vatican are to
an Ultramontane, that the Commander of the
Faithful cannot make war, even in self-defence,
without a Fetva (dogmatic sanction) from the
Grand Mufti. And the Grand Mufti does not
grant his Fetva till he is assured that the resources
of the Sultan are such as to afford a reasonable
prospect of success. ' The Fetva is now so indis-
pensable a preliminary to any political act,' says
Eton, ' that the Sultan who should dare to omit it
would be declared an infidel by a Fetva issued by
1 84 THE CONFERENCE. [chap. vi.
the Mufti himself; and such a proceeding would
be sufficient to excite against him both the populace
and soldiery, and to precipitate him at once from
his throne.' l
In the war just ended the Sultan could not
have moved a battalion without the Fetva of the
Sheik-ul-Islam ; and that Fetva was only given
on condition that the Sultan ' is assured that his
State possesses the force necessary to resist the
enemy, and that the war may possibly have a
result favourable for his country.' 2 Can any one in
his senses suppose that the Sultan would have
demanded, or the Sheik-ul-Islam granted a Fetva
to fight the armies and navies of United Europe ?
The policy of coercion, I repeat, was the policy of
peace, of true statesmanship, and of real kindness
to the Turks.
1 Survey of the Turkish Empire, by W. E. Eton, Esq.,
edition of 1809, p. 22. One of the very best books ever
written on Turkey, and by no means out of date now. The
author spent twenty years in different parts of Russia and
Turkey. He displays a thorough knowledge of both
countries.
2 Turkey, No. 26 (1877), p. 7.
chap, vii.] AFTER THE CONFERENCE. 185
CHAPTER VII.
AFTER THE CONFERENCE.
In what position did the failure of the Conference
leave Russia and the other Powers in respect to
Turkey ? In diplomatic phrase the Six Powers
were called 'Mediating Powers.' Five of them
regarded themselves as mediators between the
Porte and its Christian subjects. The English
Government took a different view. The agitation
having done its work by the conversion of the
Government to its policy, the country returned to
its normal calm. It was satisfied with the declara-
tions of the Government and with Lord Salisbury's
mission, and waited in patience and hope for the
deliberations of the Conference. Whether the
Government mistook this lull in the public feeling
for a sign of reaction, I know not ; but a change
in the policy of the Government itself is traceable
from the opening of the Conference — a change
1 86 AFTER THE CONFERENCE, [chap. vn.
back into the old tracks of the Aylesbury speech-
Lord Salisbury is pressed to yield, one by one, the
guarantees on which Lord Derby had told him
that he was to ' insist.' And when the other
Powers withdrew their ordinary ambassadors from
the Porte as a mark of their displeasure, the
English Government was careful to let the Porte
know that the withdrawal of Sir Henry Elliot had
no such significance. 1
From this retrograde change in the policy of
the Government there followed naturally a corre-
sponding view as to the office of the respective
Plenipotentiaries at the Conference. The other
Powers were mediating between the Porte and its
insurgent subjects. The English Government, on
the contrary, viewed the matter as a quarrel be-
tween Russia and Turkey, and the Conference as
1 In a despatch to Lord Odo Russell, dated October 16,.
1876, Lord Derby says : ' The object of the withdrawal of the
Ambassador would have been to show displeasure on the
part of England.' — {Turkey, No. 1 (1877), p. 482.) When the
Conference failed, this ' show of displeasure ' was watered
down to an order that ' Sir Henry Elliot should come to.
England to report upon the situation.' — {Turkey, No. 2 (1877),
p. 57.) Sir H. Elliot, moreover, was careful not to depart for
some considerable time after the other Ambassadors, and he
took leave of the Porte in a highly complimentary and
encouraging speech.
chap, vii] AFTER THE CONFERENCE. 187
a Court of Arbitration between them. As this is
a point of great importance, it is well to give the
evidence.
In a despatch from Pera, dated January 22^
1 877, Lord Salisbury says : — ' The principal object
of my mission — the conclusion of a peace between
Russia and Turkey — has not been attained.' l
Lord Beaconsfield confirmed this view of the
matter in the House of Lords on February 20,
1 877 : ' What was the position of my noble friend
(Lord Salisbury) at Constantinople ? Why, he
was there as a mediator between Russia and
Turkey.'
Let us then adopt the view of our own Govern-
ment and regard the Conference as a Court of
Arbitration between Russia and Turkey. The
unanimous award of the ' mediators,' pronounced
by Lord Salisbury, was that the Turkish Govern-
ment was entirely in the wrong, and that â– the re-
sponsibility of the consequences' — namely, a
declaration of war by Russia — ' will rest solely on
the Sultan and his advisers.' 2
Here we have the precise case provided for by
1 Turkey, No. 2 (1877), P- 377-
2 Ibid. p. 362.
188 AFTER THE CONFERENCE, [chap. vn.
the Eighth Clause of the Treaty of Paris and by
the Declaration annexed to the Treaty of 187 1.
Let me quote. The former says : —
If there should arise between the Sublime Porte and
one or more of the other signing Powers any misunder-
standing which might endanger the maintenance of their
relations, the Sublime Porte, and each of such powers,
before having recourse to the use of force, shall afford
the other Contracting Parties the opportunity of prevent-
ing such an extremity by means of this mediation.
The Declaration of 1871 says: —
The Plenipotentiaries of North Germany, of Austria-
Hungary, of Great Britain, of Russia, and of Turkey,
assembled to-day in Conference, recognise that it is an
essential principle of the law of Nations that no Power
can liberate itself from the engagements of a Treaty, nor
modify the stipulations thereof, unless with the consent
of the Contracting Powers, by means of an amicable
arrangement.
Now I assert, on the evidence before the
reader, that no Power was ever more distinctly
released from a treaty engagement, ' by means of
an amicable arrangement,' than Russia was by the
verdict of the ' Mediating Powers ' at the Con-
ference of Constantinople. Look at the plain
facts.
Two days before the Conference met, the
chap, vil] AFTER THE CONFERENCE. 189
French Ambassador in London called on Lord
Derby to inquire whether England would join in
a policy of coercion, adding that ' much would
depend on the attitude assumed by England.'
Lord Derby replied that Her Majesty's Govern-
ment would not be prepared themselves to employ
measures of active coercion in order to extort the
consent of Turkey to the proposals which had
been drawn up at Constantinople ; while, on the
other hand, they would not hold out to the Porte
any hope of assistance or protection in the event
of war ensuing on the refusal to entertain these
proposals.' '
Lord Derby held similar language to the
German Government. Five days after the Con-
ference met he wrote to Lord Odo Russell as
follows : —
It was stated by your Excellency in your telegram of
yesterday that Count Minister had reported that I told
him that Her Majesty's Government could not exercise
any pressure on the Porte to compel the acceptance of
the proposals to be made by the representatives of the
Six Powers, and that it had consequently been intimated
to you by the Emperor that he feared that if pressure
were not equally exercised by all the Powers, the Porte
1 Turkey, No. 2 (1877), p. 57.
iqo AFTER THE CONFERENCE, [chap. vn.
might feel encouraged to resist, and war with Russia
would ensue, much to the regret of His Imperial Majesty.
. . . Though Her Majesty's Government would not be
prepared themselves to employ measures of coercion to
extort consent, they would not hold out to the Porte any
hope of assistance or protection in the event of war ensu-
ing on the refusal to entertain the proposals. My language
to Count Schouvaloff was no less explicit, and on all
other occasions I have spoken to the same effect. 1
In harmony with this policy, Lord Salisbury
was instructed by his Government to declare that
' if the Porte by obstinacy or apathy opposes the
efforts which are now making to place the Otto-
man Empire on a more secure basis, the responsi-
bility of the consequences which may ensue will
rest entirely with the Sultan and his advisers. 2
On the failure of the Conference Lord Salis-
bury made this declaration in the name of his own
Government and of the other. ' Mediating Powers,' 3
and then wrote to the Cabinet in London : ' The
principal object of my mission — the conclusion
of a peace between Russia and Turkey — has
failed.' 4
There never was a clearer case in the annals of
1 Turkey, No. 2 (1877), p. 69. 2 Ibid. p. 9.
3 Ibid. p. 362. 4 Ibid. p. 377-
chap. VII.] AFTER THE CONFERENCE. 191
diplomacy. The Five Powers — and Russia herself
most of all — wished to prevent war between
Russia and Turkey by adopting a policy of blood-
less coercion towards the latter. I say ' bloodless
coercion,' because the idea of Turkey resisting
united Europe is an absurdity. The Turks would
certainly not have resisted under such circum-
stances ; and if they did, what would it have
mattered ? Just as much as the resistance of a
tipsy ruffian in the grasp of six powerful police-
men. The English Government stood aloof from
this pacific policy, and preferred to let Russia and
Turkey fight it out. But in announcing that
decision the Government announced at the same
time that the guilt of the war ' rests solely on the
Sultan and his advisers ; ' in other words, that
Russia was free to declare war against Turkey, the
Treaties of Paris and the Declaration of 1871 not-
withstanding.
But Russia, in spite of the liberty thus accorded
to her by the award of her co-signataries to the
Treaty of Paris, was still anxious to avoid the
ultima ratio of battle. Prince Gortchakoff accord-
ingly sent the following despatch to the Cabinets
of Europe : —
T92 AFTER THE CONFERENCE, [chap. vir.
Circular. St. Petersburg, January 19, 1877.
M. l'Ambassadeur, — The refusal opposed by the Porte
to the wishes of Europe involves the Eastern crisis in a
new phase. The Imperial Cabinet has from the outset
considered this question as an European one, which
should not and cannot be solved but by the unanimous
agreement of the Great Powers. As a matter of fact all
exclusive and personal considerations were disclaimed by
all the Cabinets, and the difficulty resolved itself into
inducing the Government of Turkey to govern the
Christian subjects of the Sultan in a just and humane
manner, so as not to expose Europe to permanent crises
which are 'revolting to its conscience, and endanger its
tranquillity.
It was, therefore, a question of common unanimity
and interest. The Imperial Cabinet has accordingly
endeavoured to bring about an European concert to
appease this crisis and prevent its return. It came to an
agreement with the Austro-Hungarian Government, as
the one most immediately interested, in order to submit
to the European Cabinets propositions which might
serve as a basis for a general understanding and common
action.
These propositions, set forth in Count Andrassy's
despatch of the \%\h December, 1875, had obtained the
adhesion of all the Great Powers, and also of the Porte.
The want of executive sanction having, however, rendered
this agreement abortive, the Cabinets were placed, by
the Berlin Memorandum, in a position to pronounce
on the principle of an eventual concert, having in view
more effectual measures for realizing their mutual aim.
chap, vii.] AFTER THE CONFERENCE. 193
The agreement not having proved unanimous, and
diplomatic action being thus interrupted, the Cabinets
recommenced negotiations in consequence of the
aggravation of the crisis by the massacres in Bulgaria,
the revolution in Constantinople, and the war with
Servia and Montenegro.
On the initiative of the English Government they
agreed upon a basis and guarantees of pacification to be
discussed at a Conference to be held at Constantinople.
This Conference arrived during its preliminary meetings
at a complete understanding both as to the conditions of
peace and as to the reforms to be introduced. The
result was communicated to the Porte as the fixed and
unanimous wish of Europe, and met with an obstinate
refusal.
Thus after more than a year of diplomatic efforts
attesting the importance attached by the Great Powers
to the pacification of the East, the right which they have,
in view of the common welfare, to assure that pacification,
and their firm determination to bring it about, the Cabinets
again find themselves in the same position as at the com-
mencement of this crisis, which has been moreover
aggravated by bloodshed, heated passions, accumulated
ruin, and the prospect of an indefinite prolongation of
the deplorable state of things which hangs over Europe,
and justly preoccupies the attention of both peoples and
Governments.
The Porte makes light of her former engagements, of
her duty as a member of the European system, and of
the unanimous wishes of the Great Powers. Far from
having advanced one step towards a satisfactory solution,
O
194 AFTER THE CONFERENCE, [chap. vii.
the Eastern question had become aggravated, and is at
the present moment a standing menace to the peace of
Europe, the sentiments of humanity, and the conscience
of Christian nations.
Under these circumstances, before determining on the
steps which it may be proper to take, His Majesty the
Emperor is desirous of knowing the limits within which
the Cabinets with whom we have till now endeavoured,
and still desire so far as may be possible to proceed in
common, are willing to act.
The object held in view by the Great Powers was
clearly defined by the proceedings of the Conference.
The refusal of the Turkish Government threatens
both the dignity and the tranquillity of Europe.
It is necessary for us to know what the Cabinets,
with whom we have hitherto acted in common, propose
to do with a view of meeting this refusal, and insuring
the execution of their wishes.
You are requested to seek information in this respect,
after reading and leaving a copy of the present despatch
to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Accept, &c.
(Signed) Gortchakow.
Observe the care with which the Russian Chan-
cellor avoids every allusion calculated to wound
English susceptibilities. It was England's dog-in-
the-manger policy that had thwarted the humane
and pacific efforts of European diplomacy thus far.
Yet not a whisper of reproach escapes from the
chap, vii.] AFTER THE CONFERENCE. 195
Russian Government. Even our defeat of the
Berlin Memorandum is glided over by a euphem-
ism — ' the agreement not having proved unanimous.'
Let us now turn to England and see how the
failure of the Conference affected public opinion.
Lord Derby returned, as we shall presently see,
to his optimist views, and thought war very im-
probable. The general opinion, however, was,
that war was inevitable. Russia, it was believed,
could not, without dishonour, go back from her
pledges ; and it was the adversaries and revilers
of Russia who pressed this point with most
persistency. Let one example suffice. The Pall
Mall Gazette of January 22, 1877, after quoting
the Emperor's pledge at Moscow to act indepen-
dently if the other Powers shrank from enforcing
the proposals of the Conference, proceeds :
No words could have more distinctly pledged the
Czar to act at this moment and under the circumstances
that have actually arisen. If his language had been
chosen with a view to exclude the plea that Russia need
not take the responsibility of forcing results where all
Europe had failed to persuade, it could not have been
more explicit or more emphatic ; and we are not inclined
to make light of that circumstance. Besides the Czar
must take action — of some sort. If he does not push his
02
196 AFTER THE CONFERENCE, [chap. vn.
armies forward — now or in a few weeks' time — he must
call them home ; and, obvious as are the risks of the
one operation, it is as credible as the other. If we call
up a vision of those armies ordered back again, and going
back, we look upon a spectacle in which we can scarcely
believe. It is not only a spectacle of humiliation, but
even of ludicrous humiliation, and that on a very wide
scale. We are not inclined to be sympathetic and soft-
hearted in presence of a Russian defeat, but the difficulties
of this alternative are so great that we do sincerely wish
that Russia, for her own sake, had not intrigued herself
into her present deplorable position. She has no longeY
even a choice of war or humiliation. The former alterna-
tive can be forced upon her at any moment. Should it
seem good to Turkey that the conflict which she believes
to be inevitable, and which in the judgment of all Europe
can only be deferred for a time, had better commence at
once, Russia will have to fight whether it pleases her or
no. And there happen to be many sound reasons for
thinking that war would be far more advantageous for
Turkey now than it is likely to be a year or two hence.
Indeed, a survey of the condition of Europe at this
moment, of the policies and relations of the various
Powers, leads straight to that conclusion : and the Turks
have shown so much audacity up to this point that there
is no difficulty in supposing them inclined to adopt it.
This is one of the mildest specimens of the
articles published at that time by the philo-Turk
press of London — articles written for no other
i
chap, vil.] AFTER THE CONFERENCE. 197
purpose that I can imagine than that of goading
Russia into a war which would be ' advantageous
for Turkey.' The coarsest abuse was poured out
upon a nation of 80,000,000, from the Emperor to
the Mudjik. And the same counsellors, whose
advice has proved so disastrous to the Turks, are
now doing their utmost to prove that an Anglo-
Russian war would be ' advantageous ' for Eng-
land.
But let us turn from what Lord Salisbury-
called mildly the ill-advised 'utterances' of reck-
less newspapers to the responsible declarations of
Her Majesty's Government. Lord Derby made a
speech in the House of Lords on February 8, 1877,
from which I cull a few extracts. The Conference,
he maintained, was not a failure. It had done
several good things. For example, \ the Conference
had done much in various ways to prepare and
smooth the way for peace, if peace is desired. In
the first place, it has gained time. . . . The state
of opinion which exists in Russia is now, so far as
we can ascertain, not that which existed a few
months ago. Then report told us of a general
-excitement, of a general ardour and enthusiasm
for a new crusade. Now the reaction has come,
198 AFTER THE CONFERENCE, [chap, vil
and we are told that among influential persons in
Russia there is a strong disposition to consider
calmly and coolly the chances and risks of war, and
not rush into them hastily.' Another good fruit ot
the Conference was that the original programme,
1 which there was no hope of the Porte accepting,
was cut down in material points [which there was
just as little hope of the Porte accepting by the
methods of Lord Derby's diplomacy]. The ques-
tion is now between that which can be peaceably
obtained from the Porte and that which has been
ineffectually asked from the Porte, and Europe will
have to consider whether the difference between
the two is so wide as to give any reasonable cause
for war. . . . Russia is only one of Six Powers
which have taken a common part in the discussions
of the Conference. The Emperor may, therefore,
perfectly well say to his subjects that he sees no
reason why he, single-handed, should endeavour to
resent a slight which was equally sustained by all
Europe, or to enforce views which were equally
those of every other European Power.'
I have every wish to write respectfully of Lord
Derby. His final resignation of office is proof, if
proof were needed, of his sincerity and patriotism.
chap, vil] AFTER THE CONFERENCE. 199
His name has till now been a tower of strength to
the Ministry. His calm and pacific speeches have
acted as a successful antidote to the bellicose rhe-
toric of Lord Beaconsfield. He has therefore been
utilised till his wily chief, aided by Mr. Layard,
could ' educate ' the country into a warlike temper
by a series of manoeuvres which I refrain from
characterising. Having served this useful purpose,
Lord Derby's presence in the Cabinet became incon-
venient, and he has accordingly been got rid of.
It is a situation which disarms criticism. But I can-
not proceed with my task without criticising Lord
Derby's policy, and my difficulty is to describe it in
language which shall be at once courteous yet just.
Now let the reader look back at the extracts from
the ' Instructions ' to Lord Salisbury (p. 160-3), an d
the extracts from the speeches of Mr. Cross and
Sir Stafford Northcote (pp. 163, 164) and compare
them with the passages which I have just quoted
from Lord Derby's speech of Feb. 9, 1877. We are
back again in the policy of ' the waste-paper currency
of Turkish promises' and the 'sticking-plaster'
remedies which the Home Secretary and the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer had assured us had been
abandoned for ever. We believed them. And this
200 AFTER THE CONFERENCE, [chap. VII.
is our reward. ' It is in vain for the Porte,' said the
Government in November, ' to expect the Powers
will be satisfied with the mere general assurances
which have already been so often given, and have
proved to be so imperfectly executed.' In the follow-
ing February we are told by the Government that it
is not in vain at all. ' Pacification cannot be at-
tained by proclamations,' said the Government in
November. In February the same Government
tells us that it can. ' It is therefore right,' said the
Government in November, ' that you should be in
a position to state positively that these objections
advanced by the Porte cannot be entertained.' In
November this consistent Government thinks it
a matter of congratulation that the original pro-
gramme of the Conference ' has been cut down in
material points' in consequence of 'these objec-
tions advanced by the Porte,' which ' cannot be
entertained.'
To the surprise of everybody, however, and to
the disappointment of not a few, Russia made an
enormous concession. In the Protocol of March
31, the Six Powers merely invited the Porte to
carry out its own promised reforms in its own way,
merely adding that they ' proposed to watch, by
chap, vii.] AFTER THE CONFERENCE. 201
means of their representatives at Constantinople
and their local agents, the manner in which the
promises of the Ottoman Government are carried
into effect' In presenting the draft of the
Protocol to Lord Derby the Emperor of Russia
made the following declaration through his Am-
bassador in London l : —
After the sacrifices which Russia had imposed upon
herself, the stagnation of her industry and of her com-
merce, and the enormous expenditure incurred by the
mobilisation of 500,000 men, she could not retire nor
send back her troops without having obtained some
tangible result as regards the improvement of the
condition of the Christian populations of Turkey. The
Emperor was sincerely desirous of peace, but not of
peace at any price.
The London Protocol was Russia's ultimatum
to the Porte before declaring a war of which ' the
responsibility,' according to the judgment of
Europe as pronounced by England, would ' rest
solely on the Sultan and his advisers.' That this
was the light in which Russia regarded the Proto-
col is plain from the declaration of the Emperor
quoted above. Declarations of a similar kind were
1 Turkey, No. 8 (1877), p. 2.
202 AFTER THE CONFERENCE, [chap. vn..
made to the other Cabinets. 1 In order that the
reader may judge for himself how singularly
moderate the Russian ultimatum was, I append
the text of the Protocol as finally amended by
Lord Derby. 2
The Powers who have undertaken in common the
pacification of the East, and have with that view taken
part in the Conference at Constantinople, recognise that
the surest means of attaining the object which they have
proposed to themselves is before all to maintain the
agreement so happily established between them, and
jointly to affirm afresh the common interest which they
take in the improvement of the condition of the Christian
populations of Turkey, and in the reforms to be intro-
duced in Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Bulgaria, which the
Porte has accepted on condition of itself carrying them
into execution. They take cognisance of the conclusion
1 See Documenti Diplomatic! concernenti II Protocolo di
Londra, pp. 5, 6, 13.
Sir A. Buchanan writes from Vienna on April 8, 1877 : —
' His Excellency [the Austrian Minister] informed me that a
telegram had been sent to the Austrian Chargd d' Affaires, on
the 6th inst., instructing him to state to the Porte that peace
or war is now in its hands, and to recommend it urgently to
accept the principle of the Protocol, as Europe will consider
the Turkish Government responsible for the consequences
which may be expected from its refusing to do so.' — Turkey,.
No. 25 (1877), p. 27.
2 As usual, the English Government was the only Govern-
ment that made any serious objection to the Protocol.
Russia yielded, and accepted Lord Derby's corrections.
chap, vil] AFTER THE CONFERENCE. 20^
of peace with Servia. As regards Montenegro, trie
Powers consider the rectification of the frontiers and the
free navigation of the Boiana to be desirable in the
interest of a solid and durable arrangement. The Powers
consider the arrangements concluded, or to be concluded,
between the Porte and the two Principalities, as a step
accomplished towards the pacification which is the object
of their common wishes. They invite the Porte to con-
solidate it by replacing its armies on a peace footing,
excepting the number of troops indispensable for the
maintenance of order, and by putting in hand with the
least possible delay the reforms necessary for the tran-
quillity and well-being of the Provinces, the condition of
which was discussed at the Conference. They recognise
that the Porte has declared itself ready to realise an im-
portant portion of them. They take cognisance specially
of the Circular of the Porte of February 13, 1876, and of
the declarations made by the Ottoman Government
during the Conference, and since through its representa-
tives. In view of these good intentions on the part of
the Porte, and of its evident interest to carry them im-
mediately into effect, the Powers believe that they have
grounds for hoping that the Porte will profit by the
present lull to apply energetically such measures as will
cause that effective improvement in the condition of the
Christian populations which is unanimously called for as
indispensable to the tranquillity of Europe, and that
having once entered on this path, it will understand that
it concerns its honour as well as its interests to persevere
in it loyally and efficaciously. The Powers propose to
watch carefully, by means of their representatives at
204 AFTER THE CONFERENCE, [chap. vn.
Constantinople and their local agents, the manner in
which the promises of the Ottoman Government are
carried into effect. If their hopes should once more be
disappointed, and if the condition of the Christian
subjects of the Sultan should not be improved in a
manner to prevent the return of the complications which
periodically disturb the peace of the East, they think it
right to declare that such a state of affairs would be in-
compatible with their interests and those of Europe in
general. In such case, they reserve to themselves to
consider in common as to the means which they may
deem best fitted to secure the well-being of the Christian
populations, and the interests of the general peace.
Done at London, March 31, 1877.
(Signed)
Munster. Derby.
Beust. L. F. Menabrea.
L. d'Harcourt. Schouvaloff.
One might have thought that here was a
document harmless enough to enable the English
Government to act for once in loyal concert with
the pacific endeavours of the other Powers. But
from the first day of negotiations for the pacifica-
tion of Turkey till now some spirit of mischief has
brooded over the counsels of the English Cabinet,
and constrained it to act in discord with the other
Powers. The natural result followed. The Turks
were encouraged by the sullen and separate action
chap, vii.] AFTER THE CONFERENCE. 205;
of England, and resisted the only measures which
would have saved it from ruin. The London
Protocol was no exception to this perverse and
fatal policy. In spite of protests from other
Powers, 1 the English Government appended a
declaration to the Protocol which forced other
Governments to do the same. So that when
unanimity was most sorely needed, England
again broke it. The inevitable result followed.
The Porte rejected the Protocol because it re-
garded the declaration appended to it by Lord
Derby as an encouragement from the English
Government to do so. This is put beyond a
doubt by a despatch from the Italian Charge
d'Affaires at Constantinople to his Government
on April 5, 1877. In a conversation that day
with Safvet Pasha, the Turkish Minister for
Foreign Affairs, the latter said : ' I know that
Italy has made a declaration in the sense of Lord
Derby's, and we are encouraged in seeing that
your Government associates itself with that of
England in manifesting its sympathies for us.'
' I replied,' says Signor Galvagna, ' that the
1 Documenti Diplomatici concernenti II Protocolo di
Londra, p. 1 5.
2o6 AFTER THE CONFERENCE, [chap, vil
Sublime Porte did not need a new proof of the
interest which Italy has always taken in the
prosperity and integrity of the Ottoman Empire.'
' And it is for that reason/ replied Safvet, * that we
hope to see Italy proceeding always in company
with England (procedere sempre di conserva con
l'lnghilterra).' Signor Galvagna speedily unde-
ceived him, and warned him in plain language
that the safety of the Ottoman Empire depended
on the Porte's conciliating the Powers generally,
rather than on the hope of seeing them acting
against each other. 1
The history of the Protocol would not be
complete without citing the evidence of Midhat
Pasha. 'This document,' 2 he says, 'had in it, I
think, nothing in any sense compromising the
integrity and independence of the Empire. It
would have been easy then to remove or attenuate
any expressions in it which might offend our
dignity. But it was rejected by the Government
with an insolence and arrogance such as the
greatest Power on earth should not have employed.'
1 Documenti Diplomatici concementi II Protocolo di
Londra, p. 21.
2 In a letter published in the Morning Post last
January.
207
CHAPTER VIII.
THE WAR AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.
After the evidence supplied in the previous
chapter, no one will dispute that it was worse
than useless to trust any longer to 'the waste-
paper currency of the Turkish promises.' The
only alternatives that remained, since England
defeated the pacific expedient of collective co-
ercion, was the ' sticking-plaster ' policy which
Sir Stafford Northcote denounced, or the sword
of Russia. The Emperor of Russia chose the
latter, and on April 23 (new style), declared war
against Turkey in a Manifesto 1 which I quote in
refutation of the reiterated fiction that the Czar
proclaimed a crusade : —
We, Alexander II., by the Grace of God Emperor and
Autocrat of all the Russias, &c,
Make known : —
Our faithful and beloved subjects know the lively
1 Turkey, No. 25 (1877), p. 107.
208 THE WAR AND [chap. viii.
interest which we have always devoted to the destinies
of the oppressed Christian population of Turkey. Our
desire to ameliorate and guarantee their condition has
been shared by the whole of the Russian nation, which
shows itself ready to-day to make fresh sacrifices to relieve
the condition of the Christians in the Balkan Peninsula.
The life and property of our faithful subjects have
always been dear to us. Our whole reign testifies to our
constant anxiety to preserve to Russia the benefits of
peace. This anxiety did not cease to animate us at the
time of the sad events which came to pass in Herzegovina,
Bosnia, and Bulgaria. We made it pre-eminently our
object to attain the amelioration of the condition of the
Christians in the East by means of peaceful negotiations
and concerted action with the great European Powers,
our allies and friends.
During two years we have made incessant efforts to
induce the Porte to adopt such reforms as would protect
the Christians of Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Bulgaria from
the arbitrary rule of the local authorities. The execution
of these reforms followed, as a direct obligation, from the
anterior engagements solemnly contracted by the Porte
in the sight of all Europe. Our efforts, although sup-
ported by the joint diplomatic representations of the
other Governments, have not attained the desired end.
The Porte has remained immovable in its categorical
refusal of every effectual guarantee for the security of its
Christian subjects, and it rejected the demands of the
Conference of Constantinople. Wishing to try all possible
means of conciliation in order to persuade the Porte, we
proposed to the other Cabinets to draw up a special
chap, viii.] ITS CONSEQUENCES. 209
Protocol, comprising the most essential conditions of the
Conference of Constantinople, and to invite the Turkish
Government to join this international action, which traces
the extreme limits of our peaceable demands. But our
expectation was not realised. The Porte has not deferred
to this unanimous wish of Christian Europe, and has not
complied with the demands of the Protocol.
Having exhausted our peaceful efforts, we are obliged
by the haughty obstinacy of the Porte to proceed to more
determined action. The sentiment of equity and that of
our own dignity render it imperative. Turkey, by its
refusal, places us under the necessity of having recourse
to arms. Deeply convinced of the justice of our cause,
and relying in all humility upon the grace and assistance
of the Most High, we make known to our faithful subjects
that the moment foreseen by us when we pronounced
these words, to which the whole of Russia answered with
such unanimity, has actually arrived. We expressed our
intention of acting independently, should we deem it
necessary, and should the honour of Russia require it.
To-day, in invoking the blessing of God upon our valiant
armies, we give them the order to cross the frontier of
Turkey.
Given at Kischeneff, the 12th day of the month of
April of the year of grace 1877, the 23rd of our reign.
(Signed) Alexander.
France, Italy, Austria, Germany received the
Russian Declaration of War with tacit acquies-
cence. The English Government, faithful to its
P
2io THE WAR AND [chap. viii.
policy of isolation — doing nothing itself, and pre-
venting others from acting — greeted the Czar's
declaration of war with an acrimonious despatch,
dated May i. The 'sticking-plaster' policy is now
once more in the ascendant, and one is tempted to
say that the previous promises of Her Majesty's
Government are as much 'waste-paper currency â– as
those Turkish promises which the Home Secretary
had assured the people of England, amidst the
cheers of a Birmingham audience, ' shall be paid in
sterling coin.'
Let me extract the cream of this singular docu-
ment : —
While declaring that they cannot consider the Protocol
as having any binding character on Turkey, the Turkish
Government have again affirmed their intention of carrying
into execution the reforms already promised. Her
Majesty's Government cannot therefore admit, as is con-
tended by Prince Gortchakow, that the answer of the
Porte removed all hope of deference on its part to the
wishes and advice of Europe, and all security for the
application of the suggested reforms.
The reader will remember that Lord Salisbury,
a competent authority, had declared in the House
of Lords on February 20, 1877, that the mobilisa-
tion of the Russian army was ' the motive power of
chap, viii.] ITS CONSEQUENCES. 211
the Conference.' Yet the despatch of May 1 de-
clares that ' Her Majesty's Government have not
concealed their feeling that the presence of large
Russian forces on the frontiers of Turkey ....
constituted a material obstacle to internal pacifica-
tion and reform.' The Russian declaration of war,
moreover, ' is in contravention of the stipulation of
the Treaty of Paris of March 30, 1856, by which
Russia and the other Signatory Powers engaged,
each on its own part, to respect the independence
and the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire
... In taking action, against Turkey on his own
part, and having recourse to arms without further
consultation with his allies, the Emperor of Russia
has separated himself from the European concert
hitherto maintained, and has at the same time de-
parted from the rule to which he himself had
solemnly recorded his consent.'
In short, the British Government, in this de-
spatch, throws the entire blame of the war on Russia,
having, three months previously, declared in the
hearing of Europe and by the mouth of England's
Special Representative, that the * responsibility ' of
the war ' will rest solely on the Sultan and his
advisers ; ' having also agreed to regard the Con-
212 THE WAR AND [chap. viil.
ference at Constantinople as the answer to the
Eighth Clause of the Treaty of Paris and to the
London Declaration of 1871. What will history
say of this style of diplomacy, this playing fast and
loose with solemn engagements ? We hear much
of the ' duplicity' of Russian diplomacy. Would
that we could declare with a clear conscience that
foreign nations are without excuse for retorting the
accusation ! ' Perfidious Albion ' is not a phrase of
Russian invention.
Is it possible to suggest any explanation of this
extraordinary change in the policy of the Govern-
ment ? Yes ; and in that explanation lies the
danger of the present crisis. Between Lord
Salisbury's warning to the Porte and the Russian
declaration of war, Mr. Layard had been sent to
Constantinople ; and he immediately set himself
to reverse the policy of the Government, as repre-
sented by Lord Salisbury. Lord Salisbury had
warned the Porte, in the name not only of his own
Government, but of the other guaranteeing Powers,
that since the Treaty of Paris \ could not be uni-
lateral/ the Porte, by refusing to fulfil its share of
the engagements, had forfeited the rights which
depended on such fulfilment. Its status under the
chap, viii.] ITS CONSEQUENCES. 213
Treaty was 'completely changed.' Mr. Layard
saw that it was all up with the Porte unless he
could extricate it out of this dilemma, and he set
at once about the work of extrication. By hook
or by crook Russia must be put in the wrong in
the public opinion of England. By hook or by
crook Turkey must be put in the right, not by
getting her to fulfil her promises, but by diplomatic
legerdemain. Mr. Layard accordingly drew up a
4 Memorandum ' for the Turkish Government,
showing how this could be done. It is published
in Blue-book No. 25, p. 162, and is an instructive
comment on England's ' neutrality.' According to
this ' Memorandum,' the Porte was to appeal to the
Eighth Article of the Treaty of Paris. * Her an-
swer to the Protocol,' — so runs the 'Memoran-
dum' — 'whatever may have been its intention,
has been universally considered as a defiance and
provocation to Russia, who avails herself of this
impression to lead Europe to believe that Turkey
alone is responsible for the war which may ensue.'
Why, it was not Russia, but the British Govern-
ment which declared that ' Turkey alone is re-
sponsible for the war which may ensue.'
It is of the utmost importance to Turkey (continues
214 THE WAR AND [chap, viil
the Memorandum), that this impression should be re-
moved, and the best mode of doing so is by showing
that she is willing and ready to make peace, and to place
herself in the hands of the Mediating Powers with that
object. . . It must not be forgotten that the declarations
made by the British Government as to the impossibility
of coming to the aid of Turkey in case of a war with
Russia remain in full force, and that public opinion in
England would not support or approve any Government
that was prepared to help Turkey. It is of vital im-
portance to Turkey that she should seek to change or
modify this opinion, and the best way to do so is to show
that she is ready to make reasonable sacrifices in the
interests of peace. . . If Turkey is anxious that the
present state of things should cease, and that Russia
should be compelled to declare war, a proposal for
mediation on her part would be more likely than any-
thing else to make Russia come to a decision, and to
avoid loss of time. Russia would have either to accept
mediation or to refuse. In the first case she would be
placing herself under the control of the Powers, who
might call upon her to disarm, and Turkey might either
disarm of her own free will, relying upon the support of
the Mediating Powers, either making a condition on the
subject or not, as might appear most prudent, or she
might propose an immediate simultaneous disarmament
as the first condition of the mediation. If Russia refused
this condition, she would undoubtedly place has elf in the
wrong before public opinion.
Turkey can lose nothing by appealing to the Eighth
Article of the Treaty of Paris, which it is her right, o
chap, viil] ITS CONSEQUENCES. 215
rather her duty to do. If the appeal succeeds, so much
the better ; if it does not, Turkey is precisely in the same
position as regards her defensive and other measures,
with the immense advantage of having given a proof to
the world of her earnest desire for peace.
The British Ambassador, intriguing with the
Turkish Government how to reverse the declared
policy of his own country in order to put Russia
' in the wrong before public opinion,' is not an
edifying spectacle. The Porte took Mr. Layard's
advice, and in a circular despatch to the Powers
appealed to the Eighth Clause of the Treaty of
Paris, in order — I quote the words of Mr. Layard's
advice — 'that Russia should be compelled to
declare war.'
Lord Derby fell into the trap thus cunningly
laid for him, and backed up the appeal of the
Porte to the Eighth Clause of the Treaty of Paris. 1
Here again the English Government stood quite
alone ; the other Governments repelled the Turko-
Layard conspiracy on the evident ground that the
arbitration contemplated by the Eighth Clause of
the Treaty of Paris had been already exhausted by
the Conference of Constantinople and the Protocol
1 Turkey, No. 25 (1877), p. 93.
216 THE WAR. [chap. viii.
of London. 1 Russia sent a Circular despatch in
this sense to the Powers, and the English Govern-
ment alone took exception to it in the scolding
despatch of May I.
1 ' The Duke (Decazes) told me this afternoon that Halil
Pasha, the Turkish Ambassador, had communicated to him
a despatch from the Porte appealing to the Eighth Article of
the Treaty of Paris, and calling upon the Powers to mediate
between Russia and Turkey.
' The Duke had, he said, observed to Halil Pasha that
there were two branches of the question : there was, first, the
difference between the Porte and all the Powers, produced by
the rejection of the Protocol ; and in the second place there
was the special quarrel between Turkey and Russia. In
order to put the other Powers into a position to mediate, the
Porte must set herself right with them. In short, the first
step for the Porte to take was to signify its acceptance of the
Protocol. There would then remain the questions of a
cessation of hostilities and of disarmament, and upon these
questions mediation might perhaps be feasible.' — Lord Lyons
to Lord Derby, Turkey, No. 25 (1877), p. 92. Cf. pp. 93,
104.
217
CHAPTER IX.
'THE CHARTER OF OUR POLICY' AND THE
TERMS OF PEACE.
In his speech in the House of Lords, on January
26, 1877, Lord Beaconsfield said : 'The charter of
our policy with regard to the politics of Eastern
Europe is the despatch of May.' In that despatch
Lord Derby laid down on behalf of Her Majesty's
Government four points, which specially affected
British interests, and therefore vitally touched the
-conditions of our neutrality. These were Egypt,
the Suez Canal, the Straits of the Dardanelles and
the Bosphorus, and Constantinople. Egypt and
the Suez Canal must be kept outside the theatre
of Russia's operations ; no alteration must be made
in the status quo of the Straits without the consent
of England ; and ' Her Majesty's Government are
not prepared to witness with indifference the
passing into other hands than those of its present
218 CHARTER OF OUR POLICY AND [chap, ix..
possessors of a capital holding so peculiar and
commanding a position ' as Constantinople. 1 As
to Egypt and the Suez Canal, an impartial neu-
trality would surely have laid on the Sultan the
same embargo which it laid on the Czar. As a
matter of fact, however, the Sultan was allowed
to embrace Egypt and the Suez Canal within the
area of his operations against Russia, while the
Emperor of Russia was prevented, by the condi-
tions of neutrality laid down by Lord Derby, from
defending himself in that quarter. Nevertheless,,
the Russian Government overlooked this unfairness,
and frankly accepted Lord Derby's somewhat one-
sided conditions. In his reply to the despatch of
May 6 — ' the charter of our policy ' — Prince Gort-
chakoff promised to exclude Egypt and the Suez
Canal from the field of warfare, and to submit
whatever arrangement Russia might propose in
regard to the Straits to the final decision of the
Great Powers. As to Constantinople, while re-
serving the right to occupy it for military purposes
if necessary, Prince Gortchakoff declared that it
could not be allowed to fall into the hands of any
1 Russia, No. 2 (1877), p. 1.
chap, ix.] THE TERMS OF PEACE. 219
of the European Powers, and that its future destiny,
if the issue of the war should raise that question,
must be decided by the common voice of Europe. 1
Before the receipt of Prince GortchakofFs
despatch, however, Mr. Cross delivered the oft-
quoted speech in which he appeared to deny to
Russia the right of \ approaching ' Constantinople,
and still more of occupying it even temporarily.
Russia had no official cognizance of the Home
Secretary's speech, and was in no sense bound by
it. But the Emperor of Russia and his Govern-
ment were evidently most anxious to have a
complete and friendly understanding with England.
They determined accordingly that the ambiguity
which Mr. Cross's language had cast over ' the
charter of our policy ' should be cleared up with-
out delay. Count Schouvaloff was in Russia at
the time, and immediately on his return to London
1 Russia, No. 2 (1877), p. 3. — ' As far as concerns Constan-
tinople, without being able to prejudge the course or issue of the
war, the Imperial Cabinet repeats that the acquisition of that
capital is excluded from the views of His Majesty the Emperor.
They recognise that, in any case, the future of Constantinople
is a question of common interest, which cannot be settled
otherwise than by a general understanding ; and that if the
possession of that city were to be put in question, it could not
be allowed to belong to any of the European Powers.'
220 CHARTER OF OUR POLICY AND [chap. ix.
he made a clean breast of the Russian terms to
Lord Derby. In the important Memorandum
which contains what may be called ' the charter
of Russian policy,' the Emperor repeats his promise
about Egypt, the Suez Canal, and the Straits.
But—
With regard to Constantinople, our assurances can
only refer to taking possession of the town, or occupying
it permanently. It would be singular and without pre-
cedent, if, at the outset of war, one of the belligerents
undertook beforehand not to pursue its military operations
up to the walls of the capital. It is not impossible that
the obstinacy of the Turks, especially if they knew them-
selves to be guaranteed against such an eventuality, may
prolong the war instead of bringing it to a speedy ter-
mination. When once the English ministry is fully
assured that we shall under no circumstances remain at
Constantinople, it will depend upon England and the
other Powers to relieve us of the necessity of even
approaching the town. It will be sufficient for them to
use their influence with the Turks with a view to make
peace possible before this extreme step is taken. . . .
England appears to fear lest the spreading or consequences
of the war should lead us to threaten Bassorah and the
Persian Gulf. It is not at all to our interest to trouble
England in her Indian possessions, or, consequently, in
her communications with them. 1
There are those, I am sorry to know, who pro-
1 Turkey, No. 15 (1878), p. 3.
chap, ix.] THE TERMS OF PEACE. 221
claim aloud that the solemn assurances of the
Emperor of Russia and of his Government are not
to be believed. But the necessary corollary of that
opinion is, that we should break off all diplomatic
intercourse with Russia. Indeed, according to
these wiseacres, we ought never to have held such
intercourse with her ; for their impeachment of her
honesty and veracity extends back into the twi-
light of Russian history. It is not necessary to
answer absurdities; but, as a matter of fact, the
Emperor gave hostages for his good faith on this
occasion. He exposed his plans, and thereby
gave Lord Beaconsfield an opportunity of defeating
them, if he thought them incompatible with * the
charter of our policy.' * What is necessary to
England,' said the Emperor, ' is the maintenance
in principle of the Ottoman Empire, and the in-
violability of Constantinople and the Straits.' It
may indeed be questioned whether ' the mainte-
nance of the Ottoman Empire,' either in principle
or in fact, is * necessary to England.' But the
Czar may be excused for believing what English
statesmen and publicists were constantly dinning
into the ears of Europe. He accepted our Govern-
222 CHARTER OF OUR POLICY AND [chap. ix.
ment's definition of English policy, and he pro-
mised to respect it.
Has that promise been violated by the Treaty
of San Stefano ? The best answer to that question
is to state the terms of peace which the Emperor
of Russia frankly communicated to our Govern-
ment before a single Russian soldier crossed the
Danube. By comparing these with the Treaty of
San Stefano, the reader will be able to judge for
himself how far the promises of Russia have corre-
sponded with her deeds.
This Memorandum, 1 in which the Emperor of
Russia took the English Government into his
confidence, bears the date of June 8, 1877, and the
opening paragraph runs as follows : —
His Majesty the Emperor attaches the greatest im-
portance to the maintenance of good relations between
the two countries. He will make every effort to that
end ; but the English Cabinet, on their side, must do the
same.
'With regard to Constantinople,' the Memo-
randum proceeds, ' our assurances must be under-
stood to mean its possession or permanent occu-
1 Turkey, No. 15 (1878), pp. 1-2.
chap. IX.] THE TERMS OF PEACE. 223
pation. 1 It would be a singular fact and without
precedent if, at the outset of a war, one of the
belligerents undertook beforehand not to pursue
its military operations up to the walls of the
capital.' But ' the English Ministry is fully as-
sured that we shall under no circumstances re-
main at Constantinople . . . When once we have
engaged in the war we cannot admit of any re-
strictions on our eventual operations. They re-
main entirely subordinate to the military require-
ments.'
It was impossible to have reserved in more
explicit language the right of Russia to occupy
Constantinople temporarily, and at the same time
the right of judging for herself as to the circum-
stances which might render such an occupation
necessary.
Having thus cleared the ground, the Memo-
randum states the terms on which the Emperor was
willing to make peace at once, or any time before
his army crossed the Balkans. In the latter case
1 the terms of the Imperial Cabinet might be al-
tered.' Until then they would be as follow : —
1 The Foreign Office translation is ambiguous. The
original is, ' Nos assurances ne peuvent porter que sur une
prise de possession ou une occupation permanente.'
224 CHARTER OF OUR POLICY AND [chap. ix.
Bulgaria up to the Balkans l to be made an autonomous
vassal province under the guarantee of Europe.
The Turkish troops and officials to be removed from
it, and the fortresses disarmed and razed.
Self-government to be established in it with the
support of a national militia to be organised as soon as
possible.
The Powers to agree to assure to that part of Bulgaria
which is to the south of the Balkans, as well as to the
other Christian provinces of Turkey, the best possible
guarantees for a regular administration.
Montenegro and Servia to receive an increase of
territory to be determined by common agreement.
Bosnia and Herzegovina to be provided with such
institutions as may by common consent be judged com-
patible with their internal state and calculated to guaran-
tee them a good indigenous administration.
These provinces being situated conterminously with
Austria-Hungary gives the latter a right to a prepondera-
ting voice in their future organisation.
Servia, like Bulgaria, to remain under the suzerainty
1 Two days later the Russian Ambassador was instructed
to communicate the following correction to Lord Derby : —
\ After a mature examination of the situation on the spot,
Prince Gortchakow had come to the conclusion that the separa-
tion of Bulgaria into two provinces would be impracticable.
Local information proved that Bulgaria must remain a single
province, otherwise the most laborious and intelligent part of
the Bulgarian population, and notably that which had most
suffered from Turkish maladministration, would remain ex-
cluded from the autonomous institutions.'
chap, ix.] THE TERMS OF PEACE. 225
of the Sultan ; the relations of the suzerain and the
vassals to be defined in a manner to prevent dis-
putes.
As regards Roumania, which has just proclaimed its
independence, the Emperor is of opinion that this is a
question which cannot be settled except by a general
understanding.
If these conditions are accepted, the different Cabinets
would be able to exercise a collective pressure on the
Porte, warning it that if it refused it would be left to take
the consequences of the war.
If the Porte sues for peace and accepts the terms
enumerated above before our armies have crossed the
line of the Balkans, Russia would agree to make peace,
but reserves to herself the right of stipulating for certain
special advantages as compensation for the costs of the
war.
These advantages would not exceed the portion of
Bessarabia ceded in 1856, as far as the northern branch
of the Danube (that is to say, the delta formed by the
mouths of that river remains excluded), and the cession
of Batoum, with adjacent territory.
In this case Roumania could be compensated by a
common agreement, either by the proclamation of its
independence, or, if it remained a vassal State, by a
portion of the Dobrudscha.
If Austria-Hungary on her side demanded compensa-
tion, either for the extension required by Russia, or as a
security against the new arrangements above mentioned
for the benefit of the Christian principalities in the
Balkan Peninsula, Russia would not oppose her seeking
Q
226 CHARTER OF OUR POLICY AND [chap. ix.
such compensation in Bosnia and partly in the
Herzegovina.
Such are the bases to which His Majesty the Emperor
would give his consent with a view of establishing an
understanding with England and with Europe, and of
arriving at a speedy peace.
Count Schouvaloff is authorised to sound Lord Derby
(' pressentir l'opinion ') on the subject of these conditions
of peace, without concealing from him the value which
the Imperial Cabinet attaches to a good understanding
with the Cabinet of London.
Then follows this most important proviso : —
In thus indicating, with perfect openness, the object
which the Emperor has in view, and which he will not
exceed so long as the war is confined to this side of the
Balkans, His Majesty offers a means of localizing the war,
and preventing the dissolution of the Turkish Empire ;
but it is important for the Emperor to know if, within
the limits indicated, he can count upon the neutrality of
England, a neutrality which would exclude even a tem-
porary occupation of Co?istanti?iople and the Straits by
the latter Power.
Let the passage which I have marked by italics
be carefully noted. Russia there stipulates that, so
long as she fulfils her part of the engagement ' the
neutrality of England . . . shall exclude even a
temporary occupation of Constantinople and the
Straits by the latter Power.' The importance of
chap, ix.] THE TERMS OF PEACE. 227
this stipulation cannot be exaggerated, as we shall
see presently.
Did Her Majesty's Government make any ob-
jection to these terms ? None, on the ground of
'British interests.' They asked Mr. Layard con-
fidentially to sound the Porte with the view of
discovering whether it would be willing to accept
mediation on the Russian terms. Mr. Layard
declined to do anything of the kind in a despatch
which is too well known to need comment here.
On August 7, the Emperor was still willing to
offer the same terms : —
The conditions of peace required by the Emperor are
those lately communicated to Lord Derby by Count
Schouvaloff, and will remain the same as long as England
maintains her position of neutrality. If, however, England
abandons that position, matters will have entered a new
phase. His Majesty has no ideas of annexation beyond
that, perhaps, of the territory Russia lost in 1856, and
perhaps that of a certain portion of Asia Minor. 1
What answer did the English Government
make to this second communication of the Russian
terms of peace ? In language of great friendliness
they expressed their ' satisfaction ' at the modera-
tion of the Emperor's conditions. 2 Now if the
1 Turkey -, No. 9 (1878), p. 2. 2 Ibid. p. 3.
Q 2
228 CHARTER OF OUR POLICY AND [chap. ix.
reader will compare these conditions with the
Treaty of San Stefano, he will find that they differ
from it in no essential particular — certainly in none
that concerns 'the charter of our policy' as laid
down by Lord Beaconsfield and Lord Derby.
By-and-by the Russian army crossed the
Balkans and occupied Adrianople. The English
Government thereupon wished to pledge Russia
against even a temporary occupation of Constanti-
nople. Russia renewed her former assurances, but
refused to go beyond them. 1 Lord Derby then
asked Prince GortchakofT to pledge his Government
not to occupy Gallipoli. The Prince gave the
pledge on condition that Gallipoli should not be
occupied by an English force, and that Turkish
regular troops should not concentrate there. Lord
Derby accepted these conditions. Yet regular
troops were concentrated at Gallipoli, and Russia
adhered to her engagement notwithstanding. 2
At this point the diplomatic situation is as fol-
lows. Russia disclaims any intention of acquiring
Constantinople, but reserves the right of occupying
it temporarily should l the march of events ' — an
elastic phrase — require it. She will not occupy
1 Turkey, No. 3 (1878), pp. 1-3.
2 Ibid. pp. 4> 6, 11, 13.
chap, ix.] THE TERMS OF PEACE. 229
Gallipoli on the two conditions already specified-^-
one of which, however, had been violated to the
prejudice of Russia. Our Government is, moreover,
engaged to a ' neutrality which would exclude
even a temporary occupation of Constantinople
and the Straits by the latter Power' (see p. 227).
Now mark what happened. On January 24,
the Russian Ambassador called on Lord Derby
and told him that the Turks had violated the
engagement as to Gallipoli, but that the Russian
Government meant nevertheless to ' remain faithful
to their intentions, and were even going beyond
them.' 1 Yet on that very day Admiral Hornby
was in receipt of the following telegram : —
Admiralty, 23rd January 1878, 7 p.m.,
to
Admiral Hornby, Vourla.
Most Secret.
Sail at once for the Dardanelles, and proceed with the
Fleet now with you to Constantinople. Abstain from
taking any part in the contest between Russia and
Turkey, but the waterway of the Straits is to be kept
open, and in the event of tumult at Constantinople you
are to protect life and property of British subjects.
Use your judgment in detaching such vessels as you
1 Turkey, No. 3 (1878), p. 13.
230 CHARTER OF OUR POLICY AND [chap. ix.
may think necessary to preserve the waterway of the
Dardanelles, but do not go above Constantinople.
Report your departure, and communicate with Besika
Bay for possible further orders, but do not wait if none
are there.
Keep your destination absolutely secret. — Acknow-
ledge.
I humbly submit that the Government which
perpetrated this flagrant breach of its engagement
with Russia is hardly in a position to accuse the
latter of duplicity, secrecy, or bad faith. Sir
Stafford Northcote admitted in the House of
Commons that the fleet had orders to force a
passage in the event of a firman being refused.
With remarkable forbearance the Russian Govern-
ment took no notice of the incident, and Lord
Derby's return to office was purchased by the re-
treat of the British fleet to Besika Bay.
On February 5, at 5 P.M., Mr. Layard tele-
graphed the following information to his Govern-
ment : —
Although the armistice has been concluded, the
Russians are pushing on towards Constantinople. Not-
withstanding the protest of the Turkish Commander, the
Turkish troops were compelled by General Strogoff to
evacuate Silivria last night, and the protest of the Turkish
Commander was refused. The Russian General declared
CHAP, ix.] THE TERMS OF PEACE. 231
that, according to his orders, it was absolutely necessary
that he should occupy Tchataldja to-day.
At 5.15 P.M. the following day this telegram
was in the hands of the Government. It could
not have been more opportunely timed, and the
dramatic effect of it was heightened by the intima-
tion that it had come round by Bombay, because, ac-
cording to Mr. Layard, the ' telegraph with Europe
was cut off except through Bombay,' a statement
which, like many of Mr. Layard's statements, was
incorrect. It served his purpose, however, of
paralysing the Opposition and passing the Vote of
Credit. As to the telegram itself, it was true in
fact, but suggested an absolutely false impression.
It concealed half the truth, and thereby suggested
a direct falsehood. The impression conveyed was
that the Russians were advancing on Constanti-
nople in violation of the armistice. The fact was
that they had advanced on Tchataldja, forty miles
from Constantinople, in fulfilment of the armistice.
After the Russians entered the lines of Tchat-
aldja the British fleet was ordered again to Constan-
tinople — this time openly and for the alleged pur-
pose of protecting British subjects in case of a
Mussulman rising. The Times immediately
232 CHARTER OF OUR POLICY AND [chap. ix.
stigmatised this plea as a hypocritical pretext, and
asserted — what everybody knew — that what was in
fact intended was a demonstration against Russia.
The other Powers at the same time declared that
there was no danger whatever of any disturbances
at Constantinople, and they declined accordingly
to ask permission for any of their war-ships to enter
the Dardanelles. The firman for which our Govern-
ment asked was refused by the Sultan, and our
fleet, by the orders of the Cabinet, forced its way
into the Dardanelles against the emphatic protest
of the Sultan.
Still the Russian Government forbore to resent
this violent and menacing proceeding. In a
courteous despatch Prince Gortchakoff accepted
our plea, and intimated that some Russian troops
would co-operate with the British fleet in its
humane and pacific mission to Constantinople. Lord
Derby immediately protested, and declared that the
cases were not parallel :
In the one case the ships of a friendly Power are sent
into the proximity of the city in order that they may
afford the protection which British subjects are entitled
to require of their Government in case of need ; in the
other the troops of a hostile army are marched into the
town in violation of the existing armistice.
chap, ix.] THE TERMS OF PEACE. 233
That is to say, the forcible entrance of the
British fleet into the waters of Constantinople
against the protest of the Sultan was a friendly act,
while the entrance of some Russian troops into the
suburbs of Constantinople, with the Sultan's per-
mission, and on precisely the same errand as the
British fleet, would have been a ' hostile' act! The
result was that the English fleet cast anchor in the
Sea of Marmara, about an hour's distance from
Constantinople, and the Russian troops marched to
San Stefano, about double the distance in point
of time. Thus, while deprecating the approach
of the Russians to Constantinople, we have ac-
tually forced them to take virtual possession of it.
First of all, we stipulate that they shall not
take permanent possession of it. The Russian
Government agrees, but reserves the right to
occupy it temporarily. We acquiesce with
' satisfaction.' The Russians reach Adrianople,
and at once we earnestly entreat them not to oc-
cupy the capital or Gallipoli. They agree on con-
dition that we shall land no troops at Gallipoli,
nor send any part of our fleet into the Bosphorus
or Dardanelles. We ratify the engagement, and
then immediately send ' most secret orders ' to our
234 CHARTER OF OUR POLICY AND [chap. ix.
Admiral at Besika Bay to enter the Bosphorus nolens
volens of the Sultan. The Russians answer this
menace by embracing the lines of Tchataldja with-
in the terms of the armistice, and we retaliate by
passing a war vote in a panic. The fleet is ordered
a second time into forbidden waters, and passes the
Dardanelles by an act of war against the Sultan.
The Russian troops, thereupon, occupy San Stefano,
and we denounce their conduct as a breach of
faith. Peace is signed ; yet our fleet remains in
the Sea of Marmara in violation of the Treaty of
Paris. Russia objects, and we declare that our
fleet shall remain where it is so long as the troops
occupy the environs of Constantinople. The Rus-
sian troops thereupon, by agreement with the
Porte, move towards Buyukdere, for the purpose of
embarking. The British Ambassador immediately
prevents embarkation by threatening to bring the
British fleet to Constantinople. And all this fussy
mischief-making is defended on the plea that it is
necessary for the purpose of keeping the Russians
out of Constantinople ; the truth being that, for all
military purposes, the Russians have been in posses-
sion of Constantinople since the middle of February
— and this entirely in consequence of our infatuated
policy.
chap, ix.] THE TERMS OF PEACE. 235
The rest of Europe, meanwhile, has been look-
ing on in mingled contempt, wonderment, and
distrust at these reckless freaks of British states-
manship. And what is the explanation of it all ?
We are told that our interests are ' undermined '
by the Treaty of San Stefano. But how stand the
facts ? All the clauses of the Treaty of San
Stefano which can by possibility touch British
interests were communicated to our Government
in the middle of last June, and, so far from ob-
jecting, they received them with 'satisfaction.'
Russia engaged not to touch Egypt or the Suez
Canal : she has not touched them. She promised
to reserve the question of the Straits for the
decision of a European Congress : she has re-
served it. She stipulated for the right to occupy,
while she disclaimed the intention of holding,
Constantinople : she has resisted the temptation to
occupy Constantinople, though urged thereto by a
victorious army, and provoked by the forcible
entrance of the English fleet into the Sea of
Marmara.
But let us look at these ' undermined ' interests,
and see if we can discover the damage they have
received. They are four in number: and with
236 CHARTER OF OUR POLICY. [chap. ix.
respect to two of them (Egypt and the Suez Canal),
Mr. Cross, in his famous speech, said truly that if
either were attacked by Russia, 'it would not be a
question of the interests of England, but of the whole
world.' As Russia is not very likely to challenge
the hostility of ' the whole world,' we may safely
consider that two at least of the British interests
which make up ' the charter of our policy ' have
escaped the ' undermining ' craft of the wily Igna-
tieff. There remain Constantinople and the Straits.
But the importance of Constantinople and the
Straits to England depends on their being used as
a base of operation against India. Destroy the
nexus between these two ideas, and you destroy
the special value of Constantinople as a factor in
British policy. England will be less interested in
its fate than almost any of the great Powers of
Europe.
chap, x.] RUSSIA AND INDIA. 237
CHAPTER X.
RUSSIA AND INDIA.
FROM a ' British interest ' point of view the future
of Constantinople concerns England less than it
concerns any of the Great Powers, save only in its
bearing on the supposed designs of Russia on
India.
Now, if Russia has no designs on India, her
possession of Constantinople would not greatly
concern us. Has she any such designs ? ' It is
not at all to our interests/ says the Memorandum
of Russian policy communicated to our Govern-
ment last June, 'to trouble England in her Indian
possessions.' Nor would it be at all to the interests
of Russia, I believe, to possess herself of Constanti-
nople. Let us examine the question, then, by the
test of Russian interests. And first, as to India.
It is the settled belief of a large section of English-
men that Russia is pursuing her conquests in
238 RUSSIA AND INDIA. [chap. x.
Central Asia for the purpose of pushing her
frontier to some convenient point from which she
may be able to invade India. In considering the
possibility of such an enterprise, it is necessary to
remember that the conditions of warfare have
greatly changed since the oriental expedition of
Alexander the Great. An army now requires a
very different train from that which would have
sufficed for the days of spears and bows and
arrows. The campaign which has just ended has
lasted more than nine months, reckoning from the
crossing of the Turkish frontier to the signature
of the armistice at Adrianople ; and it has re-
quired the active service, from first to last, of at
least 400,000 soldiers. Yet Turkey lies close to
the enemy's frontier. No hostile population inter-
vened, and no physical barriers of any moment had
to be surmounted. We may safely assert, there-
fore, that a prudent commander would not under-
take the conquest of India from any base of opera-
tion open to Russia with an army of less than
500,000. Half that number would probably be
required to keep open his lines of communication.
But let us suppose, for argument's sake, that an
army of 200,000 would give Russia a bare chance
chap, x.] RUSSIA AND INDIA. 239
of success. That host, with all its necessary
equipments, Russia would have to transport
through hundreds of miles of what is, to a large
extent, a trackless waste. Through most of it there
are no other roads than camel-paths. An army of
the size I have supposed would therefore require,
according to the estimate of military experts, a
transport service of about 400,000 camels, 300,000
horses, and 1,500,000 camp followers. The territory
to be traversed is poor, and singularly ill-suited to
supply the wants of so huge a multitude. But let
us suppose that by some miracle the difficulty could
be overcome. Even under the most favourable
circumstances the invading army would take many
months to traverse the distance between its base
and our frontier. And what should we be doing
meanwhile ? We should be doing two things.
We should be making preparations to meet the
attack on a scale commensurate with the occasion
and with our vast resources, and our agents would
be busy stirring up disaffection in the rear of the
invaders and hampering their communication over
an extent of roadless territory so vast as to be
incapable of being effectively guarded. Consider-
ing the difficulties and dangers Russia had to en
240 RUSSIA AND INDIA. [chap. x.
counter in invading so puny a Power as Khiva, it is
easy to estimate the risks she would have to face
in a march to India. Financially the enterprise
would be most ruinous. According to Major
Wood, a competent authority, every round shot now
brought to Central Asia costs Russia 2/. in trans-
port alone. What would a park of artillery cost
by the time it reached the frpntiers of British
India ?
But let us postulate another miracle, and assume
that the Russian army escaped all the perils and
difficulties which I have indicated, and which, in
fact, would be insurmountable. Let us suppose that
it arrived 200,000 strong, and thoroughly equipped,
at the base of the range of lofty mountains which
guard our Indian Empire. I believe I am correct
in saying that the only practicable route for any
invading army that Russia could send against us
in India would, according to the best military
opinion, be through Afghanistan. This would
limit such a force as I have supposed to the choice
of one of two passes — the Kyber and the Bolan.
A British army received a generation ago a memo-
rable lesson as to the difficulty of traversing the
Kyber Pass in the face of a comparatively insignifi-
chap, x.] RUSSIA AND INDIA. 241
cant foe. The passage of the Bolan Pass would be
hardly less perilous when disputed by a determined
adversary. The mouths of these passes are in our
possession, besides a series of detached forts and
military stations scattered along our frontier at the
foot of the mountains. Here, supposing it to
advance so far without molestation, the Russian
army would find us fresh and ready to give it a
warm reception, — behind us boundless resources in
men and money, plains seamed by railways, and an
ocean owning our undisputed sway. Defeat to the
Russian army under such circumstances would be
absolute ruin. Its prestige gone, swarms of enemies
would rise up behind and around it to cut off its
retreat. And the blow of so great a disaster would
reverberate far beyond the Indus ; it would imperil
not only the Asiatic position of Russia — it would
shake her to her centre even in Europe. 1
Let us, however, make another concession for
the sake of argument. Let us suppose that our
1 It may be as well to state that the whole of this chapter
was written before I saw Mr. Laing's able article in the Fort-
nightly Review of March. In fact, I used the same line of
argument against a Russian invasion of India in a volume
entitled The Eastern Question: its Facts and Fallacies y
which I published a year ago. My calculations are chiefly
taken from the able writings of General Sir John Adye.
242 RUSSIA AND INDIA. [chap. x.
arms received a check in our first encounter with
Russia. This, no doubt, would be a serious
mishap, as it might encourage disaffection on the
part of some of our native population. But we
should have made ample preparation for such a
contingency, and, with the certainty of being able
to rely on the loyalty of our most warlike tribes in
the emergency, we should be able to dispute the
advance of Russia step by step, while at the same
time harassing her in the rear.
But if, contrary to all reasonable calculations,
Russia should succeed in breaking our power in
India and driving us to our ships, even in that
case she would be only at the threshold of her
difficulties. Having got rid of us, she would have
to begin afresh the conquest of India for herself.
Her only chance against us would lie in the
seduction of some of our Indian subjects from
their allegiance, thus turning their arms against us.
But it is safe to say that no appreciable section of
the people of India would help Russia to break
our yoke for the purpose of having her own im-
posed in its stead. If they assisted her to get rid
of us at all, it would certainly be in order to get
rid of foreign rule altogether. So that Russia,
chap, x.] RUSSIA AND INDIA. 243
after driving us out of the country, would find her-,
self surrounded by hostile populations — both
those who helped her against us and those who
fought on our side — all eager to drive her after
us.
The defeat of the English rule in India, there-
fore, supposing it possible, would be only the
beginning of Russia's troubles. She would have
to subdue India to her own rule and reorganise its
civil service ; and no one who will take the trouble
to think out the problem can doubt that long
before its solution India would accomplish the
ruin of Russia. The task is one which, under
such favourable conditions as Russia could not
expect, has taken ourselves more than a century to
fulfil.
Thus we see that, when the theory of a Russian
conquest of India is dragged out into the light and
confronted with what the late Emperor Napoleon
used to call ' the irresistible logic of facts,' it is
found to have no more substance in it than a
nursery bogey. Lord Hardinge, who afterwards
succeeded the Duke of Wellington as commander-
in-chief, characterised the fear of a Russian invasion
of India as ' a political nightmare.' ' Lord Har-
244 RUSSIA AND INDIA. [chap. x.
dinge is quite right,' said the Duke, when this was
reported to him. ' Rely upon it, you have nothing
to fear from Russia in that direction/
So much as to the possibility of Russia con-
quering India if she wished it. But does she wish
it ? She is a country which is supposed, even by
those who fear and dislike her most, to understand
her own interest uncommonly well. Would it,,
then, be to the interest of Russia to acquire India,
even if she could do so without firing a shot or
sacrificing a man ? My belief is that, on the mere
ground of an enlightened self-interest, Russia would
decline the perilous gift of India, if England were
to make her the offer of it. I will go further, and
hazard the opinion that there is not a single State
in Europe which would accept India at our hands.
Indeed, I doubt whether we should accept it our-
selves at this moment if it were offered to us by a
foreign Power. Being there, we must of course
make the best of our position. We have con-
tracted responsibilities towards the people of India
which we are morally bound to discharge, even at
the cost of some detriment to interests which are
purely British. But it may be questioned whether
our profit from India is not more than counter-
chap, x.] RUSSIA AND INDIA. 245
balanced by the loss. India gives employment to
some portion of our educated population, and a
change of rulers might possibly affect a certain
class of British merchandise injuriously for a season.
On the other hand, the possession of India adds
considerably to our annual expenditure, and crip-
ples us seriously as a European Power. The pro-
tection afforded by the ' streak of silver sea ' may
be sneered at ; but it is a very real protection.
Not only does it make this country almost invul-
nerable to attack ; it affords at the same time a
good security against any reasonable motive for
attack. States whose frontiers touch each other
have the materials for a quarrel ever ready to their
hands. Their relations are always liable to be dis-
turbed by questions of boundary, or of race or
religion. There is scarcely a State on the conti-
nent of Europe which would not gladly rectify its
frontier at the expense of its neighbours. The
frontier of England was made by nature, and
cannot be altered by man. Were Ireland sepa-
rated from France by no stronger barrier than a
narrow river or a mountain range, it might at this
moment be a French province. India is our great
weakness as a military power. It keeps our rela-
246 RUSSIA AND INDIA. [chap. x.
tions with Russia — most needlessly, as I think, yet
as a matter of fact — in a state of chronic friction ;
and if we were engaged in war with Russia or with
any other Power, half our strength would be neu-
tralised by the necessity of keeping a large army
in India to prevent a rising of our Mussulman
population.
These are considerations which would certainly
prevent any English Government from running
even a moderate risk for the acquisition of India,
though India is undoubtedly more profitable to us
than it would be to any other Power. Yet a
number of sane people among us are dominated by
an insane fear that Russia would risk her existence
to wrest India from our grasp. Of what use would
India be to her ? It would be more likely to im-
poverish than to enrich her exchequer, and in the
event of war with this country, India would be a
source of much greater weakness to her than it is
now to us, with our undisputed command of the
sea. Nor does Russia need any outlet, as we do,
for a redundant population. On the contrary, her
population is far too sparse for the area over which
she rules. In short, if the enemies of Russia could
devise a scheme more certain than any other to
chap, x.] RUSSIA AND INDIA. 247
lead her to ruin, it would be to tempt her to engage
in the desperate hazard of a war of conquest in
India. So that, in refusing to believe that Russia
harbours any design of the sort, I am not crediting
her with any transcendental unselfishness or any
extraordinary freedom from political ambition. I
am crediting her with nothing more than the pos-
session of reasoning faculties, and a lively sense of
her own interests. Even the most timid or most
violent of Russophobists do not believe that Russia
is a nation of lunatics ; yet they speak and act as
if this were their settled conviction.
But it may be answered that Russia, without
intending to acquire India for herself, would be
likely to use her position in Central Asia or
Armenia to intrigue against us in India. And this
will certainly be the case if we succeed in convinc-
ing Russia that British interests are in eternal anta-
gonism to Russian interests. In that case it will be
the interest of Russia, as of any other Power in
similar circumstances, to do us all the mischief she
can. But I have shown that there is no necessary
antagonism between the interests of Russia and
our interests as rulers of India. Where, then,
does this conflict of interests lie ? In Constantino-
248 RUSSIA AND INDIA. [chap. x.
pie ? Now, I do not wish to see the Russians in
possession of Constantinople (I do not mean a tem-
porary occupation, which is a different matter), for
the same reason that I should not wish to see the
French, or for that matter the English, in posses-
sion of it ; namely, because they have no business
there. I wish to see Constantinople restored to
those who are politically the residuary legatees of
its present possessors. The Turks have never es-
tablished a righteous claim of ownership either to
Constantinople or to any other territory under
their withering rule. The so-called right of con-
quest is simply the right of the sword ; and that is
a right which is never legitimate unless sanctioned
by justice. A people deprived of the elementary
rights of justice and humanity, which is the condi-
tion of the Rayahs of Turkey in law and fact, owe
no allegiance to the governing Power, and are jus-
tified in rising against it as often as a fair chance
of success presents itself. Length of time cannot
convert brigandage into a legitimate rule or conse-
crate slavery into lawful ownership. The rule of
the Turk has ever been that of the brigand and
the slave-owner, and it was one of the cardinal
blunders of the Treaty of Paris to admit him into
chap, x.] RUSSIA AND INDIA. 249
the society of civilised States. Constantinople)
therefore, has never belonged to the Sultan as
of right ; and if it cannot at present be made the
capital of a Greek or Slav State, or Confederation
of States, it might surely be made a Free City
under the protection of Europe.
But if I were a believer in the sordid gospel of
British interests before all things, and at the same
time feared a Russian invasion of India, I should
consider it part of my mission as a British patriot to
do what I could to entice Russia to Constantinople.
For Russia at Constantinople would mean Russia
in command of some of the fairest and most fertile
regions of the globe — regions now lying desolate
under the blight of Turkish misrule ; but which
would again blossom as the rose under the fostering
influences of civilised government. An idea of the
withering curse of Mussulman domination may be
gathered from one pregnant fact mentioned by
Professor Paparrigopoulos, of Athens, in his ' His-
tory of the Hellenic Nation.' l In the beginning of
the thirteenth century the annual revenue of the
Byzantine Empire was 26,000,000/. sterling, equi-
1 'lo-Topla rov 'EXXtjvikov "Edvovs, vol. iii. bk. x.
250 RUSSIA AND INDIA. [chap. x.
valent to about 1 30,000,000/. sterling at the pre-
sent day. Yet at that time the chief part of Asia
Minor, with its numerous nourishing cities, had
been wrested from the Byzantine Empire by the
Turks. Lower Italy, too, had been seized by the
Normans, and the Crusades had entailed losses
which seriously reduced the public revenue. Free-
dom from customs' dues and other privileges had
been gradually granted to the Venetian, Genoese, and
Pisan Colonies, which had settled in Constantinople
and other parts of the Empire ; and this made
another hole in the public revenue. In short, the
Turkish Empire of our day possesses an extent of
territory far more productive than that owned by
the Byzantine Empire in the early part of the
thirteenth century. Yet, whereas the public revenue
of the former amounted to 130,000,000/. sterling,
that of the latter before the commencement of the
present war was only about 18,000,000/.
The process of decay might be illustrated in
detail. Let a few examples suffice. And first, as
to agriculture. Turkey possesses all the conditions
favourable to agricultural development in a degree
unapproached by any other country in the world :
climate, geographical position, fertility of soil, easy
chap, x.] RUSSIA AND INDIA. 251
channels of exportation. Possessing the climates,,
it yields the fruits and products, of all the zones.
Astride on Europe and Asia, it commands the
richest territories of both continents, and is still
sovereign over the fertile valley of the Nile. It
abounds in lakes, is indented by numerous bays
and gulfs, and is washed by six seas, alL which
offer it rare advantages for maritime commerce.
The country is, besides, intersected by broad and
deep rivers, ready to bear its produce to the sea :
in Europe, the Danube, Save, Morava, Sereth, and
Olto ; in Asia, the Euphrates, Tigris, Kizil-Irmak,
and the storied Jordan ; in Africa, the fertilising
Nile. In no country of the world have the gifts of
God been lavished in richer profusion. In none have
they been so grossly and so systematically abused
by the perverseness of man. The silence of desola-
tion now broods over vast tracts of land which
once waved with golden harvests, and over scores
of flourishing cities which were the homes of busy
industries and an advanced civilisation. Regions
which formerly supported the capitals of ancient
kingdoms — Pergamos, Sardis, Cyzica, Prusium,
Troy, Nicomedia, and many more — have been
reduced by Turkish rule to cheerless solitudes,
broken at intervals by the tents of nomad Kurds or
252 RUSSIA AND INDIA. [chap. x.
Turcomans. According to Ubicini, who wrote
twenty years ago as an apologist of the Turkish
Government, the annual produce of corn in Asia
Minor was then estimated at 25,000,000 Turkish
kiles, representing a value of about 3,000,000/.
And he thinks that this amount might easily be
increased tenfold, 'if the great productiveness of
the soil were turned to account.' 1 ' The same
remark applies,' he adds, i to all other productions
which serve for local consumption or for export-
ation.'
The decay of every kind of manufacturing
industry is not less conspicuous than that of agri-
culture. A few examples must suffice on this head
also. In 1 81 2 there were two thousand looms of
muslin at work in Tirnova and Scutari. In 1841
the number had fallen to two hundred, and I
question whether they now reach one hundred.
Diarbekir and Broussa, which were once so famous
for their velvets, satins, and silk stuffs, have been
ruined by Turkish misrule, and do not now produce
a tenth part of what they yielded even fifty years
ago. Aleppo and Bagdad tell the same tale.
Turkey also abounds in mineral wealth. It
1 Lettres sur la Turquie, i. p. 307.
chap, x.] RUSSIA AND INDIA. 253
possesses copper mines which yield thirty per cent
of ore, while the best English mines, I believe,
yield no more than ten per cent. And it has coal
in abundance within easy access of its iron and
mineral ore. In Asia Minor alone eighty-four
mines were in full operation when the country
passed into the hands of the Turks. I believe the
number now worked is under a dozen, and these
yield, under Turkish mismanagement, but a small
part of their wealth.
Am I not right, then, in saying that a policy
which had for its supreme object to keep Russia
away from India would welcome her to Constanti-
nople? She has no motive to vex us in India,
except in so far as it might enable her to check-
mate us in Turkey. On the other hand, we have
no motive, from an exclusively British-interest
point of view, to checkmate Russia in Turkey,
except for the purpose of preventing her from
troubling us in India. But put Russia in possession
of the fair lands which now lie fallow under the
dominion of the Turk, and can anybody out of
Bedlam imagine that she would turn her back on
the buried treasures which lie so invitingly at her
feet in order to waste her resources on the stake —
fatal if lost, profitless if won — of conquering India?
254 RUSSIA AND INDIA. chap, x.]
Prince GortchakofT might well declare that so
egregious an absurdity belongs to the * domain of
political mythology.' '
But is there any evidence that Russia really
covets Constantinople at all ? Successive Emperors
and Governments have disclaimed any such desire.
But let us put aside all such disclaimers, and let us
again test the question by the touchstone of
Russian interests. Would it be to the interest of
Russia to be mistress of Constantinople ? I
believe, on the contrary, that it would be her ruin.
The possession of Constantinople would force her
to annex a considerable portion of territory in-
habited by populations whose gratitude for deliver-
ance from Turkish oppression would soon change
into hatred of their new masters. But let
us suppose, against all probability, that Russia
succeeded in reconciling with each other and to her
own rule the various races of her new territory.
She would then have to face a new difficulty. The
attraction of Constantinople would be such that the
political centre of gravity of the Empire would
inevitably settle on the Bosphorus. The result
would be a conflict of interests. Moscow would
1 Turkey, No. i (1877), p. 736.
chap x.] RUSSIA AND INDIA. 255
be jealous of Constantinople, and Constantinople
would look down on Moscow. Byzantium and
Muscovy would refuse to amalgamate, and the
Russian Empire would go to pieces in the vain
effort of mutual assimilation. All intelligent
Russians know this, and, consequently, do not
wish to possess Constantinople. What they do
wish they have more than once frankly avowed.
Three months after the Peace of Adrianople, the
late Chancellor Nesselrode wrote as follows to the
Grand Duke Constantine of that day, uncle of the
present Emperor : —
There was nothing to prevent our armies from
marching on Constantinople and overthrowing the
Turkish Empire. No Power would have opposed, no
danger menaced us, if we had given the finishing stroke
to the Ottoman monarchy in Europe. But, in the opinion
of the Emperor, that monarchy, weakened and under the
protection of Russia, is more advantageous to our in-
terests, political and commercial, than any new combina-
tion which might force us either to extend our territories
by conquest, or to substitute for the Ottoman Empire
some States which would not be slow to compete with us
in power, in civilisation, in industry, and in wealth. It is
on this principle that his Imperial Majesty has always
regulated his relations with the Divan.
The letter from which this extract is taken, let
256 RUSSIA AND INDIA. [chap. x..
it be remembered, was a private letter addressed
to a member of the Imperial family. So that the
writer had no motive for disguising his real senti-
ments.
In the summer of 1853 Count Nesselrode made
a similar disclaimer on behalf of his Imperial
Master ; and in the course of the same year the
Emperor held his memorable conversation with
Sir Hamilton Seymour on the condition of the
Sick Man and the destiny of his inheritance. I
quote the following extracts : —
With regard to Constantinople, I am not under the
same illusions as Catherine II. On the contrary, I regard
the immense extent of Russia as her real danger. I
should like to see Turkey strong enough to be able to
make herself respected by the other Powers. But if she
is doomed to perish, Russia and England should come to
an agreement as to what should be put in her place. I
propose to form the Danubian Principalities, with Servia
and Bulgaria, into one independent State, placed under
the protection of Russia ; and I declare that Russia has
no ambition to extend her sovereignty over the territories
of Turkey.
England might take Egypt and Crete ; but I could
not allow her to establish herself at Constantinople, and
this I say frankly. On the other hand, I would undertake
to promise, on my part, never to take Constantinople, if
the arrangement which I propose should be concluded
chap, x.] RUSSIA AND INDIA. 257
between Russia and England. If, indeed, Turkey were
to go suddenly to pieces before the conclusion of that
convention, and I should find it necessary to occupy
Constantinople, I would not, of course, promise not to
do so.
On a subsequent occasion the Emperor said : —
I would not permit any Power so strong as England
to occupy the Bosphorus, by which the Dnieper and the
Don find their way into the Mediterranean. While the
Black Sea is between the Don, the Dnieper, and the
Bosphorus, the command of that Strait would destroy the
commerce of Russia and close to her fleet the road to
the Mediterranean. If an Emperor of Russia should one
day chance to conquer Constantinople, or should find
himself forced to occupy it permanently, and fortify it
with a view to making it impregnable, from that day
would date the decline of Russia. If I did not transfer
my residence to the Bosphorus, my son, or at least my
grandson, would. The change would certainly be made
sooner or later ; for the Bosphorus is warmer, more
agreeable, more beautiful than Petersburg or Moscow ;
and if once the Czar were to take up his abode at
Constantinople, Russia would cease to be Russia. No
Russian would like that. There is not a Russian who
would not like to see a Christian crusade for the delivery
of the mosque of Saint Sophia ; I should like it as much
as anyone. But nobody would like to see the Kremlin
transported to the Seven Towers.
These are the views of all thoughtful Russians ;
S
258 RUSSIA AND INDIA. [chap. x.
but their chief recommendation is that they are
the dictates of common sense and political
prudence. The practical protectorate of an im-
potent Turkey ruling over a cluster of petty vassal
Principalities will suit Russia much better than the
actual possession of Constantinople with its con-
tiguous territory. But whatever objections may
be urged on other grounds, our Indian Empire runs
no risk from either contingency. The more that
Russia gravitates towards the South, the less likely
is she to meddle with India.
Thus we see that the policy of Russia, tried by
the rule of selfishness, is in no way antagonistic to
British interests. In truth, there are not two States
in the world whose interests so imperatively
demand mutual co-operation on the part of their
respective Governments. Let it go forth through-
out the East that there is an entente cordiale
between Russia and England, and neither country
need fear any rebellion on the part of its Asiatic
subjects. It is in our mutual hostility that the hopes
of the disaffected lie.
What, then, ought to be the policy of England
in the present emergency ? I think I have in the
preceding pages given some good reasons to show
chap, x.] RUSSIA AND INDIA. 259
that there is no necessary antagonism between
British and Russian interests. Russia has no
more idea of conquering India than she has of
capturing the man in the moon. Not being a
nation of idiots, the Russians know that the one
enterprise would be almost as feasible and quite as
profitable as the other. But if the notion that
Russia meditates the conquest of India is so
utterly groundless and irrational, how shall we
account for its dominating the minds of so many
able men, some of them remarkable for political
capacity and for experience in affairs ? As well
ask me to account for any of the myriad super-
stitions that have at various times awed and
vexed mankind. Why did the laws of England
condemn innocent women to be burnt as witches ?
Why did the same laws visit with capital punish-
ment a theft in a shop to the amount of five shil-
lings ? Why was Sir Samuel Romilly's Bill for
the abolition of that atrocious law rejected in the
House of Lords by a majority of three to one —
the majority including the most eminent members
of the Episcopal Bench and all the Law Lords, and
being backed by the unanimous recommendation
of all the judges in the land ? Why did the Duke
s 2
260 RUSSIA AND INDIA. [chap. x.
of Wellington and a large proportion of the ablest
men in the kingdom believe that the Reform Bill
of 1832 involved the ruin of the State ? Why did
Mr. Disraeli declare in 1866 that Mr. Gladstone's
very moderate Reform Bill would \ change England
from a first-rate empire to a third-rate republic ' 1 >
Why did the same minister maintain, two years
ago, that the title of Empress of India would be
an eternal security to our Indian Empire against
the ambitious designs of Russia ? What did Lord
Palmerston believe about the Suez Canal ? Read
his words : —
It may safely be said that as a commercial undertaking
it is a bubble scheme, which has been taken up on political
grounds and in antagonism to English interests and
English policy. . . . The political objects of the enter-
prise are hostility to England in every possible modification
of the scheme.
But why should the French nation plan this
subtle scheme for the ruin of England ? Lord
Palmerston had his answer ready : —
We have on the other side of the Channel [he wrote
in 1862] a people who, say what they may, hate us as a
1 Disraeli's Speeches on Parliamentary Reform t p. 397.
chap, x.] RUSSIA AND INDIA. 261
nation from the bottom of their hearts, and would make
any sacrifice to inflict a deep humiliation upon England. 1
When Lord Palmerston spoke and wrote thus
he was the popular and trusted Prime Minister of
England, and probably the majority of Englishmen
shared his opinions. There is probably not a sane
man in the kingdom now who does not consider
those opinions more fit for the babble of the nur-
sery than for the debates of a deliberative assembly.
Yet we are separated from that delusion by a
period of no more than sixteen years. I venture
to predict that long before we span the same space
of time lying before us the Russian hobgoblin will
have been laid in the spacious tomb of obsolete
superstitions, and the only wonder will be that
sane men and sensible women ever allowed them-
selves to be disturbed by so unsubstantial a
phantom.
1 Ashley's Life of Palmerston , ii. pp. 224, 326.
262 ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS, [chap. xi.
CHAPTER XI.
ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS.
I THINK I may now assume that we have nothing
to fear from any designs of Russia on India, so
long as we deal frankly and justly with her, and
do not wantonly make it a matter of vital interest
to her to give check to our policy in Europe by
creating disaffection in India. But if Russia has
no designs on India, it is plain that our chief
interest in the terms of peace lies in their bearing
on the future of the liberated provinces. Two
courses are thus open to us. We may pursue a
policy inspired by an unworthy jealousy or an
unreasoning fear of Russia, and resolve accordingly
to abate as much as possible the charter of rights
which she offers to the victims of a long and cruel
bondage ; or we may co-operate with her and the
other Powers in the work of reconstruction, and
even in advocating, if we see a chance, an extension
chap. XL] ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS. 263
of freedom. By the former policy we shall be gra-
tuitously throwing away an opportunity — perhaps
our last — of ingratiating ourselves with the future
rulers of the lands which have virtually ceased to
be the Turkish Empire. We shall at the same
time be playing into the hands of Russia with a
maladroit skill which will serve her much better
than the cunning of IgnatiefT or the skill of Gort-
chakofF. We shall compel the liberated races of
Turkey to look to her as their only friend and
protector, and we shall be giving Russia at the
same time a plausible excuse for future interven-
tion. By the latter policy we shall, in the first
place, be making some atonement for past wrongs.
England must bear the largest share of blame for
the crime — for crime it is — of having turned for so
long a time ' the keys of hell ' — to use Mr. Lowe's
forcible expression — upon 'the prisoners of hope.'
The Rayahs of Turkey would long ago have broken
their fetters and achieved their freedom, if the
brutal — and not more brutal than purblind — selfish-
ness of the Christian Powers, and of England in
particular, had not conspired with the tyrant to
keep his victims down. Let us then, even at the
eleventh hour, grace at least with our benediction
264 ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS, [chap, xi.
a deliverance which we did nothing to accomplish
and much to thwart. Should there be a question
of revising the bounds of the liberated territory, let
us make sure that if any retrenchment is made, not
an inch of soil on which the sun of freedom has
smiled shall be given back to bondage. If Bulgaria
is to be a loser, let Greece, not Turkey, be the
gainer. But surely the better policy would be —
better in the interest not of humanity merely, but
of the peace of Europe— that, if the Sultan is still
to retain any sovereign power in Europe, his direct
sway should not extend beyond Constantinople
and its environs. When we are about it, why not
give Greece at once the provinces to which she has
a fair claim ? To leave them under Turkish ad-
ministration, while the Slav provinces are rejoicing
in freedom, would be not less short-sighted than
cruel. And if the Greeks are to be released from
the yoke of the Pashas, the rule of the Turk in
Europe is gone. And who can regret it? He
came in as a scourge, and as a scourge he has
remained to this day. Yet in the hour of his
doom I would deal gently even with the Turk.
The Greek War of Independence, with its im-
tent o onclusion, ought to be a sufficient warnin
chap. XL] ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS. 265
against the folly of attempting to put artificial
bounds to the natural development of a vigorous
nationality.
Let vested interests be respected. Let the
liberated provinces pay tribute enough to support
the Sultan and his Court during his lifetime ; but
let it be understood that no fresh interests can be
created. Let civil and religious freedom be at the
same time secured to the Mussulman population
on their passing under Christian rule. This would
surely be the kindest policy for the Turk himself.
His dominion is gone beyond the possibility of
restoration, and 'he hates him that would upon
the rack of this tough world stretch him out
longer.'
There was a rumour that Prince Bismarck had
a policy, worthy of the occasion and of his own
political genius, to propose to the Congress. Ac-
cording to this rumour, it was his intention to
counteract Russian preponderance in South-eastern
Europe, not by abridging the freedom of the Slavs,
but by conferring the same boon on the Greeks
and Albanians. The European half of the Turkish
Empire would have been broken up, and its disjecta
membra would be distributed in equitable propor-
266 ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS, [chap. XIj
tions among Greeks and Slavs- Austria and Italy
at the same time receiving their share of compen-
sation.
But this and all other plans for settling the
Eastern Question have been upset by what looks
like a policy of gratuitous perverseness on the
part of our own Government. To the very last
they have opposed themselves not to Russia
merely, but to the whole of Europe ; and now even
the Turks fight shy of them. Let us see how the
facts stand. At the commencement of the war
between Russia and Turkey we offered Russia
certain conditions in return for our neutrality.
These conditions Russia accepted, and she has
scrupulously fulfilled her engagement ; while our
Government, as I have proved by their own pub-
lished documents, have on more than one occasion
broken faith with Russia. Every point in 'the
charter of our policy ' has been reserved by Russia,
not only for the discussion, but for the decision of
the Congress. But the preliminaries of the Con-
gress are no sooner settled than the English
Government begins to raise difficulties. The other
Powers are satisfied. England alone stands aloof.
And why ? It is against precedent to pledge any
chap. XL] ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS. 267
one Power to a particular course of action before
entering the Congress. It was not done in the
Congress of Vienna. It was not done in the
Congress of Paris. A Congress is not a tribunal
whose awards are binding on any of its members ;
it is a friendly gathering of Sovereign Powers to
adjust differences by amicable discussion. No
member can veto, not even a majority can veto,
the discussion of any question which may be flung
into the arena. The minority can claim liberty of
discussion, and the majority can only protest, and,
if they think fit, withdraw. Cavour introduced the
question of Italy into the Congress of Paris, and
the Austrian Plenipotentiary on that occasion ex-
ercised the right which Russia now claims — he re-
fused to accept the discussion. Russia's claim has
been perversely — I wish I could think not malici-
ously — misrepresented as a claim to veto discussion
on certain questions. Russia has made no such claim.
She has communicated the Treaty of San Stefano
separately to the Five Powers, and she concedes
to each and all of them the right of raising a
discussion on any of its clauses. But she claims
for herself the same liberty which she concedes to
others — neither more nor less. They may discuss
268 ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS, [char xi.
all the clauses of the Treaty. She may decline to
discuss some of them.
' As different interpretations have been given
to the liberty of appreciation and action which
Russia thinks it right to reserve to herself at the
Congress, the Imperial Cabinet defines the mean-
ing of the term in the following manner : —
' It leaves to the other Powers the liberty of
raising such questions at the Congress as they may
think it fit to discuss, and reserves to itself the
liberty of accepting or not accepting the discussion
of these questions.'
This is what Lord Beaconsfield professes to
consider a case of 'great emergency/ calling
for the immediate mobilisation of our reserves
and the preparation of an expeditionary force to
be landed on some point of menace to the Russian
army in Roumelia. Our children will hardly
credit the mingled wickedness and folly of this
gasconading policy. Is there a nation in Europe
which would, under the circumstances, claim less
than Russia has claimed ?
Let us test the point by some examples.
It has been stated in all the papers of April I,
that Austria insists on the following points :
chap. XL] ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS, 269
I. An Austrian commercial and military convention
with Servia, Bosnia, Montenegro, and Albania.
II. The management of the future railway to Salonica
to be under the controul of Austria.
III. Bulgaria to have no port on the ^Egean Sea.
IV. The Sultan's supremacy in the territories left to
him to be secured.
V. A direct understanding to be concluded by treaty be-
tween Austria and Turkey respecting the above conditions.
Would it not be competent for any Power in
Congress to decline discussion on any or all of
these Austrian demands ? If so, is Russia alone to
be debarred this freedom ? The sixth clause of the
Treaty of San Stefano, for example, constitutes
Bulgaria into an autonomous Tributary State.
Suppose Austria were to raise a discussion on the
expediency of substituting the ' irreducible mini-
mum ' of the Conference of Constantinople for the
autonomy of the Treaty of San Stefano, would it
not be competent for Russia to decline discussion
on that point ? In other words, would she not be
within her rights if she said : ' Gentlemen, you may
discuss that question if you like. But my mind
is made up, and I will not discuss it with you ? '
Of all the Signataries of the Treaty of Paris
Austria is the one most directly affected by the
270 ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS, [chap. xi.
Treaty of San Stefano. Yet Austria thinks the
claim of Russia reasonable, and that of England
unreasonable. On March 14 the Austrian Am-
bassador made the following communication to
Lord Derby : —
The Austrian Government maintains that all the
stipulations which affect European interests ought to be
discussed at the Congress, and that Europe will decide
upon them ; but as Prince Gortchakoff has declared to
Austria that it was the Congress which would decide
what are the Articles of the Preliminaries of Peace which
affect the interests of Europe, and that all the points which
were found to be of European interest would be submitted
to its deliberations, and could not be considered as valid
until they obtain the assent of all the Powers, it appears
to Austria that the object of the English declaration — that
is to say, the reservation of her full liberty of action, a
point of view which Austria entirely shares — is thereby
attained, and Count Andrassy thinks that under these
circumstances it is neither for the interest of England nor
of Austria to raise difficulties in regard to this question.
Gn March 12 our Ambassador at St. Petersburg
had an interview with Prince GortchakofT, who
gave him the following explanation : —
Prince Gortchakoff also, in reply to my inquiry,
stated that on the receipt of the text of the Treaty, a
complete copy of it would be officially communicated to
the Treaty Powers.
chap. XL] ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS. 271
I observed to his Highness that any member of the'
Congress could therefore refer to, or bring into discussion,
any Article of the Treaty.
His Highness replied that, of course, he could not
impose silence on any member of the Congress, but he
could only accept a discussion on those portions of the
Treaty which affected European interests.
In plain language, Russia allows the Congress
to decide what European interests are affected by
the Treaty of San Stefano.
The Congress would itself thus divide the
clauses of the Treaty into two categories. In the
former would be placed all the clauses which
would be ruled to affect European interests ; and
on these Russia has pledged herself to enter on a
full and friendly discussion. In the latter would
be placed — and that by the Congress — such clauses
as were decided to affect Russian interests only.
If, after this arrangement, any member of the Con-
gress should choose to raise a discussion on the
interests which the Congress itself had ruled to
be purely Russian, still Prince Gortchakoff ' could
not impose silence ; ' he would simply not take
part in the discussion, since he ' could only accept a
discussion on those portions of the Treaty which
affected European interests.'
272 ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS, [chap, xl
What could be more reasonable or more fair ?
Yet Lord Salisbury — of whom I wish to speak
with all the respect due to his great talents and
high character — appears to me to have missed the
distinction which has proved quite satisfactory to
every Government in Europe but our own. In the
Circular Despatch which he has just published he
recalls Prince Gortchakoft's promise, pending the
discussion of the terms of the armistice, 'that
questions bearing on European interests would be
concerted with the European Powers, and that he
had given her Majesty clear and positive assurances
to this effect.' To that engagement Prince Gortcha-
koff still adheres. It is Her Majesty's Govern-
ment which has receded from the compact by seek-
ing to impose on Russia conditions from which
the other members of the Congress would be free.
But Lord Salisbury objects, not so much to
' any single article in the Treaty,' but to ' the
operation of the instrument as a whole,' because it
makes the 'independent action and even exist-
ence ' of the Porte ' almost impossible.' That is
a very good reason why a European Congress
should meet to lay the foundation of a stable
fabric on the ruins of an atrocious system, which
chap, xi.] ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS. 273
no human ingenuity or power can ever restore. It
is a very bad reason for breaking up the Congress
and resorting to the perilous venture of arms
before all the methods of a pacific solution have
been exhausted. Even if the contention of the
British Government in this matter had been right,
where was the harm of going into the Congress,
and testing by facts whether Russia meant to play
false with her promises ? In that case Russia would
have to deal, not with England simply as now, but
with united Europe. Will not the world now say
that we have declined the Congress because we
distrusted the justice of our cause ? And the
inevitable conclusion will be that it is England,
not Russia, which will be considered false to her
professions. There is no gainsaying the fact
that what Lord Beaconsfield has denned as 'the
charter of our policy' has been scrupulously re-
spected by Russia, and is now held over by her for
the decision of the Congress. But now Lord
Beaconsfield starts a new policy. ' British interests '
have receded before a grander programme. He
professes to be now defending 'the liberties of
Europe.'
T
274 ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS, [chap, xl
As a humble subject of the crown of Great
Britain, I submit that it is the business of Europe
to defend its own liberties by its own blood and its
own treasure. And I protest against the quixotic
knight-errantry of a Premier who laughed at the
agony of the enslaved Christians of Turkey, and
now comes forward as a Bombastes Furioso to
champion ' the liberties of Europe.'
And when Lord Salisbury deplores the com-
plete collapse of the Turkish Empire, I must recall
to his memory that this is the very catastrophe
which everybody outside the charmed circle of the
British Cabinet and its philo-Turk supporters fore-
saw as the result of a collision with Russia. As
one of the humblest of outside spectators, I wrote
as follows while Lord Salisbury was sitting in the
Conference of Constantinople : —
It is not a question of Turkey being coerced : the
only question is, Who will coerce her ? Europe united, or
Russia single-handed ? A sincere resolution on the part
of any two of the Great Powers to coerce Turkey would
ensure the obedience of the Porte, while the policy which
seems to have prevailed necessitates war within a few —
probably a very few — months, and with war the total
collapse of the Turkish Empire, and the precipitation
of several political problems which are hardly ripe for
chap, xi.] ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS. 275
solution, and which a wise statesmanship should have-
striven to mature gradually. 1
Lord Salisbury himself, however, was not one
of those who were blind to the issue of the conflict.
'We can foresee dangers at hand which will
threaten the very existence of Turkey, if she
allows herself to be entirely isolated.' Such was
Lord Salisbury's warning at the close of the Con-
ference ; and for the catastrophe thus foreseen he
declared that 'the responsibility would rest solely
on the Sultan and his advisers.'
Russia has been blamed for not conceding
the pledge on which our Government insists. My
own belief is that the cause of Russia is so just
that she would lose nothing eventually by making
that concession. But we ought to remember that
Russia's experience of giving pledges to England
is not encouraging. Russia gave us a pledge
about Khiva, and kept it. Yet so industrious
have been her calumniators in this country that
probably ninety-nine out of every hundred of
educated persons are persuaded that the Emperor
broke his word. Now what are the facts ? The
1 The Eastern Question : its Facts and Fallacies. Preface,
p. vi.
276 ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS, [chap. xi.
Emperor's pledge was made to Lord Granville
through Count SchouvalofT, and here is Lord
Granville's own version of it, in a despatch to
Lord A. Loftus : —
With regard to the expedition to Khiva, it was true
(Count Schouvalow stated) that it was decided for next
spring. To give an idea of its character, it was sufficient
to say that it would consist of four-and-a-half battalions.
Its object was to punish acts of brigandage, to recover fifty
Russian prisoners, and to teach the Khan that such con-
duct on his part could not be continued with the impunity
in which the moderation of Russia had led him to believe.
Not only was it far from the intention of the Emperor to
take possession of Khiva, but positive orders had been
prepared to prevent it, and directions given that the con-
ditions imposed should be such as could not in any way
lead to a prolonged occupation of Khiva. 1
How has that promise been broken ? The
Russians conquered Khiva and imposed a war
indemnity of 250,000/., to be paid by instalments
in eighteen years. The Khan of Khiva pressed the
Russians to leave a garrison permanently in his
capital to keep the lawless Turcomans in order.
But the Russians declined. In the treaty of peace,
however, the right bank of the Oxus, a sterile strip
1 See Parliamentary Papers, Central Asia, No. 1 (1873),
p. 12.
chap. XL] ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS. 277
of arid land, was ceded to Russia, and by a treaty
with the Ameer of Bokhara in the following
September the greater part of this acquired terri-
tory was annexed to Bokhara. Moreover, the
Russian occupation of Khiva was not prolonged
unnecessarily, and Captain Burnaby, who never
loses an opportunity of scoring a point against
Russia, states that there was not a single Russian
within the Khanate of Khiva when he was there
three years ago. It ought to be added that one of
the first articles in the Russian Treaty with Khiva,
as with every other Asiatic State, stipulates for the
immediate abolition of slavery.
Let us test the promise of the Emperor of
Russia by a parallel case. Gn crossing the frontier
into France the King of Prussia issued a proclama-
tion in which he said : —
The Emperor Napoleon having made by land and sea
an attack on the German nation — which desired, and still
desires, to live in peace with the French people — I have
assumed the command of the German armies to repel this
aggression, and I have oeen led by military circumstances
to cross the frontiers of France. I am waging war against
French soldiers, not against French citizens.
This proclamation bears the date of August
11, and was published in the Times of August I2>
278 ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS, [chap, xi.
On August 19 the Crown Prince published a pro-
clamation at Nancy of which the opening sentence
is : ' Germany makes war on the Emperor, not on
the people of France.' 1
At the close of the war the French people
accused the Prussian Court of having violated the
pledge thus given by the forcible seizure of Alsace
and Lorraine. I do not say that the French are
right ; but they had much better ground for their
accusation than those who accuse the Emperor of
Russia of having broken his word of honour in
respect to Khiva. 2
The conversation of the Emperor of Russia
with Lord A. Loftus at Yalta in November, 1876,
has been even more scandalously misrepresented.
I quote the Emperor's words :
His Majesty then referred to his relations to England.
He said he regretted to see that there still existed in
England an inveterate suspicion of Russian policy, and
a continual fear of Russian aggression and conquest. He
had on several occasions given the most solemn assurances
that he desired no conquest, that he aimed at no
aggrandisement, and that he had not the slightest wish or
1 See Times of August 30, 1870.
2 The strip of territory taken from Khiva is much smaller
in proportion to the size of the country than the portion of
French territory annexed by Germany in 1871.
chap. XL] ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS. 279
intention to be possessed of Constantinople. All that had
been said or written about a will of Peter the Great and the
aims of Catherine II. were illusions and phantoms ; they
never existed in reality, and he considered that the ac-
quisition of Constantinople would be a misfortune for
Russia. There was no question of it, nor had it ever
been entertained by his late father. . . . His Majesty
pledged his sacred word of honour in the most earnest
and solemn manner that he had no intention of acquiring
Constantinople.' l
To begin with, there is here no pledge whatever
except as regards Constantinople. But the date
of the conversation is important. It took place on
November 2, 1876 — that, is nearly two months
before the Conference at Constantinople. The
Emperor ' desired no conquest,' ' he aimed at no
aggrandisement ; ' and therefore he wished to avoid
war altogether by getting England to join the
other Powers in a pacific policy of coercion towards
the Porte. The Emperor gave no pledge then as
to what he should do in the event of war being
forced upon him. When war was forced upon him
and he stood on Turkish soil, he hastened to com-
municate his intentions frankly to the English
Cabinet. He told them that he intended to annex
Bessarabia and some territory in Asia Minor. He
1 Turkey, No. 1 (1877), p. 643.
280 ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS, [chap. xi.
renewed at the same time his pledge about ' British
interests.'
The Emperor has not the slightest wish or intention
in any way to menace the interests of England either
with regard to Constantinople, or Egypt, the Suez
Canal, or India. With respect to India, His Majesty
not only considers it impossible to do so, but an act of
folly if practicable. 1
So much for the pledge of the Emperor of
Russia at Yalta. So far from thinking that it would
be violated by the annexation of Bessarabia and
part of Armenia, our Government expressed their
* satisfaction ' at the Emperor's intentions. 2 This
they did on August 14, 1877, and on the 9th of the
following November the Prime Minister of England,
in his speech at Guildhall, insinuated a charge of
breach of faith against the Emperor of Russia on
the ground that he had ' pledged his Imperial word
of honour on one occasion that he sought no in-
crease of territory.' The Czar gave no pledge, as
I have shown. But if he had done so, the pledge
could not have bound him under a totally different
set of circumstances. He * desired no conquest or
aggrandisement,' and therefore wished to avert, by the
1 Turkey, No. 9 (1878), p. 2. 2 Ibid. p. 3.
chap. XL] ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS. 281
common action of Europe, a war of which conquest
would be one of the inevitable results. Instead of
being a pledge against annexation, therefore, the
Emperor's conversation at Yalta was a warning that
if the separate action of England compelled him to
act independently, he meant to ' annex territory '
— a warning which he repeated in categorical lan-
guage when England's policy made war necessary.
But let us test the Emperor's so-called ' pledge '
by another parallel case. In the very speech in
which the Premier impeached the honour of the
Czar, in the event of his seeking ' increase of
territory,' Lord Beaconsfield himself declared :
4 England is the country of all others whose policy
is peace. We are essentially a non-aggressive
Power. There are no cities and no provinces that
we desire to appropriate.' Observe the verb ' desire '
is the word used in both cases. The Czar ' desired '
no conquest. Lord Beaconsfield ' " desired " no cities
and no provinces.' Yet within a very short time
of this ' pledge,' if we must call it so, Lord Beacons-
field annexed to the British Crown — not a province,
but — a Republic as large as France ; and that, too,
against the protest of the President and his Govern-
ment. I am not disputing the policy of the an-
282 ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS, [chap. xi.
nexation ; I am merely pointing out that we are
not exactly the people to lecture other nations on
the iniquity of annexations. Mr. Farrer has
demonstrated this in a very instructive manner in
the Fortnightly Review of March.
I quote the following figures from his article.
During the last 1 30 years England has conquered
2,650,000 square miles, and nearly 250,000,000
people. These figures do not include Australia
or any territory annexed without conquest. She
has also established a garrison on every coign of
vantage in every quarter of the globe. On the
other hand, Russia has conquered within the last
130 years 1,642,000 square miles, but only
17,133,000 people — that is, about one-fifteenth of
our conquered population during the same period.
If we compare the wealth and resources of the
respective territories conquered, the contrast will
appear still more striking.
If Mr. Farrer had discussed the means by
which we have possessed ourselves of some of
these territories, I believe he would have no diffi-
culty in showing that Russia has no reason to
shrink from the comparison. Let me give one
example.
chap, xi.] ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS. 283
India is at present the cause of that insensate
hostility to Russia which animates so large a
section of educated society in England. I believe
that our rule in India is now, on the whole, a bless-
ing to the population of that dependency. But
there was a time when the case was very different.
On December 1, 1783, Mr. Burke undertook to
prove to Parliament — and he proved it with an
affluence of evidence — the following indictment
against the English rule in India : —
I engage myself to you to make good these three
positions : First, I say that from Mount Imaus (or what-
ever else you call that range of mountains that walls
the northern frontier of India), where it touches us in
the latitude of 29 , to Cape Comorin, in the latitude
of 8°, there is not a single prince, state, or potentate
great or small, in India, with whom they [East India
Company] have come into contact whom they have not
sold — I say sold — though sometimes they have not been
able to deliver according to their bargain. Secondly, I
say that there is not a single treaty they have ever made
which they have not broken. Thirdly, I say that there is
not a single prince or state who ever put any trust in the
Company who is not utterly ruined, and that none are in
any degree secure or flourishing but in the exact pro-
portion to their settled distrust and irreconcilable enmity
to this nation. 1
1 Burke's Works, iii. 457. The italics are Mr. Burke's.
284 ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS, [chap. xi.
We have improved since those days. And has
not Russia improved ? Show me any country in
the world which has made more progress in the
same interval of time than the Empire of Russia
has made under her present enlightened and
humane ruler. Is it nothing to have given free-
dom to forty millions of human beings (I include
the Crown peasants), and not freedom merely, but
land enough to live on, and as their own freehold
too ? Is it nothing to have abolished slavery in
every region of Asia over which Russia has es-
tablished her influence ? Is it nothing to have
purified the courts of justice and established trial
by jury throughout Russia ? Is it nothing, I will
add, that when other Powers of Europe were
callous and faint-hearted, the Emperor of Russia
should have undertaken alone to give freedom to
the Christians of Turkey ? Sciolists have told us
that one main cause of the Russian war against
Turkey was a wish to destroy Midhat Pasha's sham
Constitution. They did not know that Finland is
a Russian province with parliamentary institutions
as free as those of England — so free that the con-
scription has never been applied to Finland. 1
1 I believe the Parliament of Finland have voted the con-
chap, xi.] ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS. 285
And this development of a great nation, as well
as the prosperity of our own, it is now proposed to
arrest by a war which history will characterise as
the least provoked, and therefore as the most
iniquitous war of this century. ' It is really pain-
ful,' said Prince Gortchakofif a year ago, 'to see
two great states which together might regulate
European questions for their mutual advantage and
the benefit of all, excite themselves and the world
by an antagonism founded on prejudices or mis-
understandings.' J Russia would gladly be our
friend if we would only let her. Another Emperor
Alexander of Russia, whom Pitt described as ' the
most magnanimous and powerful prince ' of his
age, made striking sacrifices ' for the deliverance of
Europe.' Mr. Tierney greeted the expression with
a sneer, and Pitt retorted : — ' Does it not promise
the deliverance of Europe when we find the armies
of our allies (the Russians) rapidly advancing in a
career of victory, at once the most brilliant and
auspicious, that ever signalised the exertions of
any combination ? ' 2
scription within the last few months. The Finns volunteered
in multitudes to fight against the Turks in the late war.
1 Turkey, No. 1 (1877), p. 736.
2 Hansard, vol. xxxiv. p. 1046.
286 ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS, [chap. xi.
Forty years ago there was a crisis in the East
very similar to that which we now behold. Under
the wise and generous guidance of Canning
England, France, and Russia formed an alliance to
coerce the Turk to give freedom to Greece.
Austria then played the part that England has
played now ; she refused to join the allies, and gave
indirect encouragement to Turkey. Canning did
not live to conduct his own far-seeing policy to a
successful issue. He was succeeded by the re-
actionary Duke of Wellington — a great soldier
and a poor statesman — and the consequence
was a dead-lock in the negotiations for the pacifica-
tion of Greece. A Treaty was signed in London
creating Greece into an autonomous vassal State,
paying annual tribute to the Porte. This Treaty,
however, the Porte refused to execute, with some-
thing like connivance from the Wellington Cabinet.
Russia at last made war on the Porte, and
extorted the complete independence of Greece in
the Treaty of Adrianople ; France having in the
mean time cleared the Morea of Ibrahim Pasha's
savage Egyptians.
The English Government looked sulkingly on
the sacrifices which Russia and France were making
chap, xi.] ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS. 287
in the cause .of freedom, and gave its good-will to .
the Porte. It was an ignoble policy, and Lord
Palmerston scarified it at last in a powerful speech,
which would do very well for the debate of next
week on the mobilisation of the Reserves, and
with an extract from which I may fittingly con-
clude this chapter. The following passage, mutatis
mutandis, is a striking illustration of the way in
which history repeats itself: —
The Morea, indeed, has been cleared of the Turks
... I wish the arms of England had had a more direct
and prominent share in that honourable exploit. But
w y were the arms of France checked at the Isthmus of
Corinth ? Was it that France herself shrank back with
alarm at the consequences of a further advance ? or was
it that the narrow policy of England stepped in and
arrested her progress ? Why did France go to Greece at
all, unless it was to obtain by force what Turkey would
not yield to persuasion — namely, the evacuation of that
territory which is destined for liberated Greece ? And if
that was her purpose, why did she stop short before that
purpose was fully accomplished ? Shall I be told that
this purpose is accomplished — that the Morea and the
Cyclades are to be this liberated Greece, and that the
Isthmus of Corinth is its northern boundary ? I say that
will not be, that cannot be, it is impossible that it should
be. A larger and wider limit, extending at least to the
line drawn from Volo to Arta, is indispensably necessary
288 ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS, [chap. XI?
to Greece ; it is necessary for reasons which I shall not
now go into, but reasons political, commercial, and mili-
tary. Every man who has any local knowledge of the
country, and whose judgment is worth having, agrees
now, I believe, about this —be he English, or French, or
Russian, or Greek ; be he naval, or military, or diploma-
tic. . . . But in this, as in clearing the Morea, France
will hold the first, and England the second place. The
merit of giving this extended limit will, in public opinion,
be accorded to the enlightened liberality of France.
France will have the credit of being supposed to have
dragged England reluctantly after her. England will bear
the odium of having vainly attempted to clog the progress
of France. ... I have seen that it has been said else-
where that the allies are negotiating with Turkey. I
should have thought that the allies had had enough of
negotiating with Turkey about Greece, and that they had
by this time discovered that even Turkey herself would
rather that on this subject they should dictate. ... I said
that the delay in executing the treaty of July, 1827, had
brought upon them that very evil of war in the East of
Europe which that treaty was calculated to prevent. In
that war my opinion is that the Turks were the aggressors.
Turkey seized Russian ships and cargoes, expelled
Russian subjects from Turkey, and shut the Bosphorus
against Russian commerce — all in violation of treaties,
and declared her intention of not fulfilling the Treaty of
Akerman ; and all this upon no other pretence than
certain things which Russia had done in conjunction with
her allies, England and France, to prevail upon Turkey
to accede to some arrangement about Greece. ... It
chap, xi.] ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS. 289
is also my opinion that Austria should be made clearly
to understand that the days of subsidies are gone by ;
and it should be distinctly explained to Turkey that the
people of England will be little disposed to pay for the
recovery of unpronounceable fortresses on the Danube
after they have been lost by the obstinate perverseness of
Turkey. . . . Have the Government employed to the
bjst advantage the opportunities of negotiation which
they have had? . . . Have they, in shOit, laboured bona
fide and in good earnest to bring about peace in the only
way in which it can be accomplished ? If they have not,
and if by any want of resolution and decision they shall
ultimately have endangered the tranquillity of all Europe ;
if, balancing between a wish to assist Turkey and an in-
ability to find any pretence for doing so, they have, by the
ambiguity and mixed character of their language to Turkey,
allowed her to be deceived by what she is to expect from
England, and have thereby been instrumental in encouraging
her resistance to a just accommodation ; then, indeed, they
will have incurred a responsibility which I should be sorry
to share. . . . Time was, and that but lately, when England
was regarded by Europe as the friend of liberty and
civilisation, and therefore of happiness and prosperity in
every land, because it was believed that her rulers had
the wisdom to discover that the selfish interests and
political interests of England w ere best promoted by the
extension of liberty and civilisation. Now, on the con-
trary, the prevailing opinion is that England thinks her
advantage to lie in withholding from other countries that
constitutional liberty which she herself enjoys. ... It is
thus that they [Europe] see in the delay in executing the
U
290 ENGLAND AND THE CONGRESS, [chap. xi.
treaty of July, not so much fear of Turkish assistance, as
invincible repugnance to Grecian freedom. 1
1 Palmerston's Speech on Treaty of July, 1827, which
England prevented from being executed till 1829. The
Speech was delivered in the House of Commons on June 1,
1829. — Hansard, 2nd series, vol. xxi. pp. 1663-66.
•chap, xii.] WAR ' WITH A LIGHT HEART: 291
CHAPTER XII.
CONSEQUENCES.
EIGHT years ago the Government of France,
then considered the first military Power on the
Continent, made war upon Prussia 'with a light
heart.' The war ended with the overthrow of a
dynasty, the capture of Paris, the loss of two French
provinces, and with a war indemnity which, but
for the enormous internal resources of the country,
would have reduced France to the rank of a second-
rate Power.
That disastrous war, however, was not the war
of a nation, but of a Government. Seventy-eight
departments out of eighty-nine declared against it ;
yet the war-party carried the day. The ruler of
France had been lyi obscure adventurer, who aspired
to a brilliant throne at a time when he was unable to
pay his tailor's bill. People laughed at him as a
moody and eccentric dreamer, and respectable
u 2
292 WAR < WITH A LIGHT HEART' [chap. xti.
society, on the whole, fought shy of him. Yet that
dreamer became Emperor of the French and, for a
time, Dictator of Europe. And the secret of his
success lay in an indomitable perseverance, a sincere
belief in himself and in his race, a happy knack
of coining glittering phrases, and, to crown all, a
complete lack of principle in the furtherance of his
ends. On the eve of his catastrophe he had lost
his vigour and his nerve. He had a well-meaning,
but feeble and vacillating, minister; and he was
much under the influence of a high-spirited lady, on
whom he had conferred the title of Empress. At
the critical moment, when the question of peace or
war was being discussed in the French Cabinet, the
Emperor retired into an inner chamber to consult
the Empress, and when he came back he declared
for war. The Empress had, in a few impassioned
sentences, persuaded him that France had been
insulted, and must be avenged.
Absit omen ! But England at this moment
appears to me to resemble with startling closeness
the condition of France just before the outbreak of
the Franco-German War. The mad war-party in
France had no definite purpose before them beyond
what they expressed in the vague and criminal cry of
CHAP, xii.] AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 293
* a Berlin ! ' Our war-party is in the same predica-
ment. All the other Powers of Europe are urging
us to go into Congress in order to discuss and to
adjust the dislocation of political affairs caused by
the Treaty of San Stefano. We decline unless
Russia binds herself by conditions which have no
precedent in the history of civilised diplomacy, and
from which every other member of Congress is to
be free ; and because Russia, in courteous and
conciliatory language, declines to make the con-
cession, we cry out for war.
Now let us consider what war 'with a light
heart ' means for England. For a time it may be
popular. By raising the income-tax above the
stratum of the household suffrage voters the
-Government has contrived to relieve the working-
classes, in appearance, from the immediate pinch
of war. It is a singular policy for a Conservative
Government. But the relief to the working classes
is only in appearance. It is they, after all, who
will have to suffer most in the event of a great war.
Every article which conduces to their comfort and
well-being will be more difficult of access. In so
unprovoked a war Russia will spare no effort to
damage us. Privateers under her letters of marque
294 WAR < WITH A LIGHT HEART' [chap. xii.
will sweep our commerce off the seas. Our~carry-
ing trade will be transferred to neutral bottoms ;
and once lost, it will not be easy to recover it, as
America has found to her cost.
England profited by her calamity. America
and Germany, in case of war, will profit by ours.
1 have argued elsewhere that, on the mere
ground of self-interest, Russia can have no designs
on India. But if we force an unjust and cruel war
on Russia, she will undoubtedly do her best to.
paralyze us by stirring disaffection in India. Who
can divine the result? Those who know India
best shake their heads gravely at the security of our
tenure in the event of another mutiny. One of
the best informed and most experienced men in
our Indian Civil Service has assured us that the
Mussulmans only await a favourable opportunity
for hazarding once more the recovery of their
rule on the chances of another revolt. 1 On the
eve of sending a Plenipotentiary into a peace
Congress, eighteen months ago, our Premier
1 The Mussulmans of India. By W. W. Hunter, chap,
iii. Mr. Hunter is well known as the author of Annals of
Rural Bengal, and a learned Dissertation on the non- Aryan
Races of India. His experience of the country, I believe,,
extends over thirty years.
chap, xil] AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 295
threatened Russia glibly with the possibility of
more than two campaigns against a British army.
But in a struggle such as this, though we might
make Russia bankrupt, we should not exhaust her.
And if we had trouble in India, where should we
find our men for the third campaign ? Does any-
body suppose that this country would submit to
the conscription ? In our last trial of strength we
found it hard enough to conquer Russia in more
than one campaign, though we had the first mili-
tary Power in Europe, backed by Sardinia and
Turkey, on our side. This time we should fight
alone, and when Russia and ourselves were tho-
roughly exhausted, we should probably find the
military Powers of the Continent beginning to re-
model the map of Europe, and possibly also of
Turkey, without our being able to prevent serious
detriment to British interests.
And with these possibilities staring us in the face,
our Government is driving the country recklessly to
the dizzy brink of a war of which no one can forecast
the end or the consequences. A man who kills
his fellow in a passion is by the law of England
condemned to be hanged. How shall we appraise
the guilt of a Government which heedlessly sends
296 WAR ' WITH A LIGHT HEART' [chap. xil.
myriads of human beings to mutilations, wounds,
and death ?
A war without adequate cause is murder on a
huge scale ; and no war, however adequate the
cause, is justifiable until every expedient of a
pacific solution has been exhausted.
' The wars of civilised nations (says Dr. Johnson)
make very slow changes in the system of empires.
The public perceives scarcely any alteration but an
increase of debt ; and the few individuals who are
benefited are not supposed to have the clearest
right to their advantages. If he that shared the
danger enjoyed the profit, and, after bleeding in the
battle grew rich by the victory, he might show his
gain without envy. But at the conclusion of a ten
years' war how are we recompensed for the death
of multitudes, and the expense of millions, by
contemplating the sudden glories of paymasters
and agents, contractors and commissioners, whose
equipages shine like meteors, and whose palaces
rise like exhalations ? '
Consider for a moment what wars have entailed
on the working classes of England. From the war
with France in 1691 to the year 1871 J comprises a
1 I have not been able to get the figures down to the
present year.
chap, xil.] AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 297
period of 178 years, of which 67 years were war,
and in peace ; and the capital expenditure for
war during that period was 910,589,522/. Our
payments in hard cash, for interest only, during
the same period has been 2,130,882,179/. ; making
a total in loans and interest, of 3,041,471,701/.
And this enormous sum does not include
increased taxation, nor does it take account of the
injury to trade and private property incidental to
a state of war. And it is to be noted that the
figures given above do not represent the full
amount of the cost.
This is for simple interest only (says Mr. Henry
Lloyd Morgan) ; yet even this gigantic sum repre-
sents only a comparatively small portion of the
actual costs of war. Moreover, it must be remem-
bered that all this has been abstracted from the
working capital of the country ; therefore, in
reality, compound interest should be charged, to
represent even the outlay for payment of the
simple interest ; to which must be added a much
larger sum for extra taxation to carry on war.
How different might England have been now,
how different the condition of the working classes,
if all this huge waste of treasure had been avoided !
And no dispassionate student of history can
298 WAR < WITH A LIGHT HEART' [chap, xn.
doubt that the vast proportion of it might have
been avoided to the country's honour and interest.
And have the classes who now live in prosperity
and ease considered what war might mean for
them ? Have they reflected on the enormous
difference which Mr. Disraeli's Reform Bill l has
made in the balance of political power in this
country ? The great majority of the voters, that
is, of the law-makers of Great Britain, are now
1 ' I desire to protest, in the most earnest language which
I am capable of using, against the political morality on which
the manoeuvres of this year have been based. If you borrow
your political ethics from the ethics of the political adventurer,
you may depend upon it the whole of your representative
institutions will crumble beneath your feet. ... I entreat
honourable gentlemen opposite not to believe that my feelings
on this subject are dictated simply by my hostility to this
particular measure, though I object to it most strongly, as
the House is aware. But even if I took a contrary view — if
I deemed it to be most advantageous— I still should deeply
regret that the position of the executive should have been so
degraded as it has been in the present Session ; I should
deeply regret to find that the House of Commons has ap-
plauded a policy of legerdemain ; and I should, above all
things, regret that this great gift to the people — if gift you
think it — should have been purchased at the cost of a
political betrayal which has no parallel in our Parliamentary
Annals, which strikes at the root of all that mutual confidence
which is the very soul of our party Government, and on
which only the strength and freedom of our representative
institutions can be sustained.' (Hansard, vol. 188, p. 1539.
July 15, 1867.) Lord Salisbury's Speech on the third reading
of Mr. Disraeli's Reform Bill.
chap, xii.] AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 299
men working for wages, with no other property to
attach them to the present order of things. God
forbid that I should suggest the probability of their
ever wishing to tamper with the property of other
people ! But they have it in their power to do so,
and therefore it behoves those who have property
to recognise its responsibilities with at least as
much promptness as they insist on its rights. If
the working-classes of the United Kingdom
abstain from interfering with the existing rights of
property, it will be because they believe in the
beneficial influence of those rights on society at
large, not from any feeling in favour of the
abstract sacredness of private property.
The world has seen many democracies built on
the broadest basis of the suffrage ; but it has never
seen, till England set the example, a State in
which the great majority of voters were men
living on weekly or daily wages. The democracies
of antiquity are no exception to this remark, for
the class corresponding to our labourers did not
consist, in those States, of freemen in full possession
of political power, but of slaves who were excluded
from the franchise, and had no means of making their
power felt except by the expedient of a servile war.
3 oo WAR < WITH A LIGHT HEART' [chap. xii.
Nor is America a case in point, for the citizens of
the Union who live on daily wages are in a
minority of the whole population ; and, moreover,
land is so plentiful that even a working man may,
with ordinary intelligence and thrift, become the
owner of land after a few years of industry, or may
otherwise raise himself above the level of his present
social position.
France, too, has universal suffrage. But the
great majority of the French population has
property in the soil. Some years ago — and there
is no reason to suppose that the relative propor-
tions have changed since then — the population of
France was distributed as follows : —
Town population ....
Landed proprietors and their families .
Agricultural labourers and their families
Artisans employed in agricultural districts
Total .
7,000,000
20,000,000
3,000,000
2,000,000
32,000,000
The town population includes, of course, a
large portion of the propertied class— such as
merchants, professional men, government employes,
and persons living on their private income; so
that, on a fair estimate, the proportion of the
population of France who live on wages — in other
chap, xii.] AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 301
words, who have no direct interest in property---
would seem to be about one-third. With us the
proportion is quite the other way, and the classes
interested in property, in landed property especially,
are growing rapidly and alarmingly smaller.
Various causes, into which it is not necessary here
to enter, are conducing to this result. But the
result itself is one which no thoughtful person can
contemplate without serious misgivings as to its
possible influence in certain contingencies.
These considerations ought not, indeed, to in-
spire us with any feelings of distrust or suspicion
towards those whom Mr. Lowe has described as
1 our masters ; ' but it ought to make that portion
of our population which is sometimes vulgarly
spoken of as ' society ' think twice before it embarks
on an enterprise which may bring misery to the
working classes of England, and with misery the
temptations which usually follow in its train. The
Parisian crowd who shouted ' a Berlin ! ' as the
French guard marched through the streets of the
capital to defeat and captivity, were soon heard
crying * a la frontiere ! ' to the ministers who made
the war ; and a little later, ' a bas ! â– to the dynasty
of -Napoleon. If indeed the Government should
302 WAR ' WITH A LIGHT HEART: : [chap. xii.
succeed in dragging the country into the most
criminal war of modern times, I venture to predict
that those whom the late Foreign Secretary de-
scribed as his ' employers ' will, within a year, exact
a stern retribution from those who so needlessly
provoked it. It is perhaps in keeping with the
character and career of the Prime Minister that he
should feel a gambler's excitement in a great
European war. He has given no hostages to
fortune. He leaves nothing behind him but a
name ; and if the Treaty of San Stefano is
confirmed in its chief points by Europe, Lord
Beaconsfield's political reputation will have re-
ceived a blow from which, at his age, he can have
no hope of recovery. If we go to war, therefore,
it will not be for the honour or interest of England,
but in defence of the posthumous reputation of the
Right Honourable Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of
Beaconsfield.
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