Thus the close of the year 1875 saw the insurrection making head, Servia and Montenegro fanning the flame, and a triple alliance entered into by Austria, Germany, and Russia, without consultation with England or France, two of the great Powers more interested than any other of the signatories to the Treaty of Paris, 1856.

1876.

England, after wavering for some time, gave a general support to the Andrassy Note, which was presented to the Porte on the 31st January, and replied to on the 13th February. On the 24th of March, Ali Pasha, Governor of Herzegovina, offered an amnesty on surrender, but this was refused. On the 30th, an armistice of ten days was arranged to enable the Austrian General, Rodich, to mediate, but the insurgents would listen to nothing short of "one-third of the land to become the property of the peasantry, besides other conditions," equally inadmissible.

*

Towards the end of April, the insurrection, fomented by foreign emissaries and agitators, spread to Bulgaria, but was inaugurated by such brutalities on the part of the Bulgarians, who murdered, burnt, and plundered without provocation, that the Porte was compelled, contrary to its procedure in the Herzegovina, to take vigorous measures and stamp out the rebellion at once.

On the 1st of May the Bulgarian insurrection commenced, when even grosser acts of barbarism and brutality than were perpetrated in Herzegovina took place, until the seventh, when the Turkish Government, warned by the past, acted with the decision which should have characterised their proceedings in 1875, and crushed the insurrection.

On the 6th of May, the murder by the mob of the French and German Consuls at Salonica (Mons. Paul Moulin and Mr. Henry Abbott) took place. On the 11th the Czar arrived at Berlin to consult with the Emperor

* Thanks to the indefatigable exertions of Captain Charles Chapman, a mass of correspondence has been brought to light between the Slav Committee and the leaders of the insurrection which they had incited in Bulgaria, revealing a cold-blooded barbarity and inhuman spirit exceeding anything detailed by Mr. Gladstone; take only one or two instructions from the Slav Committee. arranged in Questions and Answers. For example:10. Q. What shall we do with the remaining Turks?-A. Cut their throats and afterwards sack their dwellings.

11. Q. What are we to do with the Mussulman villages?-A. After killing every Turk or Mussulman, excepting those who promise to obey the Revolution, the villages after being plundered must be burnt.

William; the result was the Berlin Memorandum.* On the 13th, a copy was handed to the English Ambassador at Berlin, Lord Ödo Russell. The peremptory tone of the memorandum was what might have been expected after getting in the thin end of the wedge, in the shape of the Andrassy Note. The silent contempt with which England and France had been treated in the arranged interference of the three Emperors, in the first instance, now took the form of bluster, the memorandum stating that if the proposed armistice failed to bring peace, then "the three "Imperial Courts are of opinion that it would become necessary to supplement their diplomatic action by the "sanction of an agreement, with the view of such efficacious "measures as might appear to be demanded, in the interest "of general peace, to check the evil and prevent its development."

On the 19th May, Lord Derby intimated that the English Government "declined to accept a plan in the preparation "of which it had not been consulted, and which it did not "believe would succeed." Following this declaration the English Fleet was ordered to Besika Bay, an anchorage about 15 miles from the Dardanelles.

Events of the utmost importance followed in quick succession. On the 30th May the deposition of the Sultan Abdul Aziz took place, Murad Effendi being proclaimed in his stead with the title of Murad V., by whom an Imperial Hatt was at once issued, decreeing various reforms in the administration of the Empire. On the 4th of June the late Sultan

*

"As the first step the three Imperial Courts propose to insist with the Porte, with all the energy that the united voice of the three Powers should possess, on a suspension of arms being effected for the term of two months, and then to raise the following points for discussion:

"1. That materials for the reconstruction of dwelling-houses and churches should be furnished to the returning refugees, that their subsistence should be assured to them till they could support themselves by their own labour. "2. In so far as the distribution of help should appertain to the Turkish Commissioner, he should consult as to the measures to be taken with the Mixed Commission, mentioned in the Note of the 30th of December, to guarantee the bonâ-fide application of the reforms and then control their execution. This Commission should be presided over by a Herzegovinian Christian, and be composed of natives faithfully representing the two religions of the country. They should be elected as soon as the armistice should have suspended hostilities.

"3. In order to avoid any collision, advice should be given at Constantinople to concentrate the Turkish troops, at least until excitement had subsided, on some points to be agreed upon.

"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."

was found dead, having, so it is supposed, bled himself to death by dividing the artery in his arm with a pair of scissors. On the 15th Hussein Avni Pasha, Minister of War, and Raschid Pasha, Minister of Foreign Affairs, were assassinated at Constantinople by Hassan Bey.

In June, 1876, the chaos at Constantinople was complete, with every appearance of the rapid dissolution of the "Sick Man." The insurrection of the Bulgarians, which began vigorously on the 1st May, and was inaugurated with great brutality by the insurgents, had, it is true, been effectually crushed. Failing to keep open the bleeding wounds of Turkey in this direction, foreign emissaries did their utmost to discredit the Porte, by spreading reports in the first place that the atrocities of the Bulgarians between the 1st and 7th of May were committed by the Turks, and then when this falsehood became apparent by stirring up in every direction, notably in England through Mr. Gladstone's pamphlet, and party agitation, the indignation of the mob against the Turks for their atrocious suppression of that insurrection, quite forgetting to consider that the necessary atrocities" resorted to by the Turks in crushing the Bulgarian Revolt did not exceed those of England in India and Jamaica; of Prussia on harmless peasants during the war with France; and of Russia in Poland, Circassia, Khiva, and elsewhere.

At this crisis, when peace was of essential importance for the integrity of the Ottoman Empire, and every effort ought to have been made to maintain it, in accordance with the Treaty of Paris, 1856, signed by France, England, Russia, Prussia, Austria, Turkey and Italy, a new element of discord was added to the already sufficiently embarrassing situation by the belligerent attitude assumed against the Sultan by Prince Milan of Servia, at the instigation of Russia.

Servia formally and deliberately declared war against Turkey on the 1st of July, 1876, making common cause by treaty or agreement with Montenegro.

The Russian General Tchernayeff, having entered the service of Servia some two months previously, assumed command, and on the 6th, the battle of Sienitza, near Novi Bazar, in Bosnia, was fought between the Turks and the insurgents, in which the latter were defeated, the Servians losing 1,500 killed; on the 18th at Tzior, resulting in a still greater loss to the Servians; on this date a Turkish extraordinary commission was sent to Bulgaria, to inquire into the alleged cruelties, and redress any proved wrong;

and on the same day also, the Emperors of Austria and Germany met at Salzburg in furtherance of their political views in concert with the Czar, but no step was taken to put a stop to the grave violation of international law, so grossly infringed by the presence of a large body of Russian troops in the Servian ranks, under the command of the Russian General Tchernayeff, that is, of insurgents in open rebellion against a friendly power with which Russia was at peace.

Even now, if England had only seized the opportunity of stepping in with dignity and decision, all might have been well. Lord Beaconsfield, then Mr. Disraeli, should have said, Turkey has her hands full of internal troubles, it would be mean and cowardly in the extreme to let and hinder the speedy settlement of those troubles, and England will neither by word or deed add to the fearful embarrassments in which her old ally is placed. On the 21st, Moukhtar Pasha defeated the insurgents in the Herzegovina. A week later the tables were turned, and victory was with a force of 20,000 Montenegrins and Herzegovinians, Moukhtar Pasha having then only 5,000 men under his command. On the 24th, the Servians attacked Osman Pasha, near Saitschar, on the Servian frontier, and were put to flight, again suffering great loss. Towards the end of the month, the mental incapacity of the new Sultan became too marked to be any longer overlooked, and after a brief reign, he was deposed, and on the 31st of August, his brother, Abdul Hamid II. was proclaimed Sultan of Turkey. September opened with a great battle near Alexinatz, ending in the defeat of the Servians. On the 6th, Mr. Gladstone's pamphlet on Bulgarian Horrors and Questions of the East appeared, followed up a few days after by the late Prime Minister addressing an open air meeting at Blackheath on the subject, and thus inaugurating a party squabble which has since done it is to be feared irreparable mischief.

On the 12th there was a smart action at Greoratz, and on the 17th an armistice was agreed upon for seven days; on the same date the Servian troops in Deligrad proclaimed Prince Milan King of Servia. In England, the party agitation on the Turkish Question gained ground, and successfully diverted the attention of the nation from the real point at issue, namely, the "Balance of Power." On the 22nd of October, the Turkish fortress of Medun surrendered to the Montenegrins; the next day the Turks took Djunis, when the Sublime. Porte decided that they. could without loss of honour and prestige grant an armistice

for six months. General Ignatieff, the Russian Ambassador at Constantinople, on the 30th, presented an ultimatum to the Sultan of Turkey, demanding an immediate armistice, to which the Sultan agreed on the following day without difficulty, the advisability of such a step having been decided upon some days before this demand!!! On the same day Alexinatz surrendered to the Turks, after a gallant resistance. Thus ended active operations in the field, the fortune of war having been throughout with the Turks.

At the same time the "atrocity party had it all their own way, and "horror" upon "horror" was published, and the agony piled up until it culminated in the "impalement" on their own story of Canon Liddon and Mr. McColl.

Early in November a Conference in Constantinople was finally determined upon, but it was not until the 9th that any real inkling of the policy of Her Majesty's Ministers could be arrived at. On that day the Prime Minister said, at the Lord Mayor's banquet at the Guildhall, that—

"The policy of England is a policy of peace; but she is as ready "for war as any nation, and though she will not draw the sword in "other than a just war, if she does it, she will not sheathe it until she "has seen that right is done."

Which, taken with the rest of his speech, pointed to the determination of the cabinet at all events to resist Russian aggression.

His Majesty the Czar of Russia said on the following day, to the notables of Moscow, that—

"In a few days negociations will commence in Constantinople "between the representatives of the Great Powers, to settle the "conditions of peace. My most ardent wish is that we may arrive at a general agreement. Should this, however, not be achieved, and "should I see that we cannot obtain such guarantees as are necessary "for carrying out what we have a right to demand of the Porte, I am "firmly determined to act independently, and I am convinced that in "this case the whole of Russia will respond to my summons, should I "consider it necessary, and should the honour of Russia require it. "May God help us to carry out our sacred mission!"

On this day (10th), the Marquis of Salisbury was nominated Special Ambassador from England to the Conference at Constantinople, and the Czar about the same time ordered the mobilization of his army in Bessarabia.

An incident which has met with less attention than it deserved, namely, an appeal by the Times to Prince Bismarck to intervene, met with just execration from every patriotic Englishman.

On the 2nd November, the Czar in a conversation with