แ

the English Ambassador, Lord Adolphus Loftus, at Livadia, used the following words, which he, on the 21st November, expressed a wish should be published in London, and which accordingly appeared the same evening in the London Gazette, Lord Derby remarking that its publication "might "be opportune since the last few days had brought us the "intelligence of the mobilization of a considerable Russian "force, and of the emission of the new Russian loan for one "hundred million roubles." The following are the words used by the Emperor, and alluded to above:

"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 smallest wish or "intention to be possessed of Constantinople. All that had been said 66 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 acquisition of Constantinople would be a "misfortune for Russia. There was no question of it, nor had it ever "been entertained by his late father, who had given a proof of it in "1828, when his victorious army was within four days' march of the "Turkish capital."

"His Majesty pledged his sacred word of honour in the most earnest "and solemn manner that he had no intention of acquiring Constantinople, and that, if necessity should oblige him to occupy a portion of Bulgaria, it would only be provisionally, and until peace "and the safety of the Christian population were secured."

On the 20th November, Lord Salisbury left for Constantinople. He visited Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and Rome, on his way, reaching the Golden Horn on the 5th December, where the most stringent scheme of reform and guarantees was framed, and waiting for him.

On the 22nd, Midhat Pasha was made Grand Vizier, and it soon became apparent that while Turkey would grant reforms of her own free will, nothing whatever would be gained by coercion, or rather at the dictation of Foreign States. On the 23rd, the Conference as follows assembled:FOR TURKEY.-Safvet Pasha, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Ottoman Empire; Edhem Pasha, Ottoman Ambassador at Berlin. FOR GERMANY.-Baron von Werther, Ambassador of Germany. FOR AUSTRO-HUNGARY.-Count Zichy, Ambassador of Austro-Hungary; Baron de Calice, Extraordinary Ambassador and Minister Plenipotentiary.

FOR FRANCE.-The Comte de Bourgoing, Ambassador of France; the Comte de Choudordy, Ambassador Extraordinary.

FOR GREAT BRITAIN. The Marquis of Salisbury, Secretary of State for India, Special Ambassador ; Sir Henry Elliot, Ambassador of England. FOR ITALY.-Count Corti, Extraordinary Ambassador and Minister Plenipotentiary of Italy.

FOR RUSSIA.-General Ignatieff, Ambassador of Russia.

B

While the Conference was engaged with haughty dignity in proposing impossible and absurd stipulations upon Turkey, the boom of 100 cannon shook the room in which they were sitting, and Safvet Pasha, the President, when an explanation was demanded, quietly informed the disconcerted diplomatists that the Sultan had become a constitutional monarch; that the Ministers would be responsible to a Parliament composed of a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies; and that those Chambers would pass all the laws requisite for the ratification of the Empire.

The following propositions are those which the Government of Her Britannic Majesty judged to be calculated to form the base of a pacification, and per contra those adopted by the Conference.

Mediating Powers, to concede to "Bosnia and Herzegovina a system "of local or administrative "6 autonomy, this expression sig"nifying a system of local "institutions which shall give to "the populations some control

over their local affairs, and shall "furnish at the same time "guarantees against acts of "arbitrary authority, without "there being any question of a "tributary State.

"Guarantees of the same kind "ought to be found against abuses "in Bulgaria, the exact details of "which can be discussed after"wards.

"The reforms to which the "Porte has adhered in its Note to "the Representatives of the Power, "dated the 13th of February last, 66 are considered as necessary to "be comprised in the adminis"trative arrangement for Bosnia "and Herzegovina, and also to "Bulgaria so far as they 'are applicable to that Province."

"5. The administrative di"visions.

"6. The arrangements con"cerning finance and justice.

"7. The removal to Asia of "the Circassian colonies.

"8. The placing of different "districts under the administration "of Servia and Montenegro, &c."

1877.

The prospects of the Conference became gloomier than ever as January advanced; little by little all the demands, at first made with so much arrogance, were abandoned. And as events progressed it became evident that the English Diplomatists were playing the game of the three Conspirators. To give some idea of the spirit with which it was proposed to conduct the diplomatic intercourse between England and Turkey, it will be interesting to publish the following brief, but very significant despatch of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the Ambassador at Constantinople, Sir Henry Elliot :

แ

แ

"Foreign Office, September 5, 1876. 66 Sir,-For your guidance as to the language to be held by you to the "Turkish Ministers in the present juncture, it is right that you should "be accurately acquainted with the state of public opinion in England แ on the subject of Turkey. It is my duty to inform you that any "sympathy which was previously felt towards that country has been completely destroyed by the recent lamentable occurrence in Bulgaria. "The accounts of outrages and excesses committed by the Turkish troops upon the unhappy, and for the most part, unresisting population, "has raised 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 her Majesty's Government would find it practically 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 unsatisfactory and even humiliating position; yet it is im"possible to say that if the present conflict continues the contingency may not arise. The speedy conclusion of a peace, under any circum"stances most desirable, becomes from these considerations a matter of "urgent necessity. Her Majesty's Government leave 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.

แ

"I am, &c.,

"DERBY."

The above despatch is a matter for the deepest regret. For not only does it credit the great mass of the English public with "sympathies" the direct opposite of those really felt, but assumes, on ex-parte statements, a series of outrages and excesses to have taken place without the shadow of an excuse on the part of the perpetrators, which on examination dwindle down to events unfortunately of too frequent occurrence in war: witness the records of severities

practised by Germans on unarmed French peasants in 1870-1; by Russians in the last few years against defenceless peoples absolutely conquered; and even by the English during the Indian Rebellion and the Jamaica Mutiny. A real statesman like Lord Derby should not have allowed such opinions to mislead him, as they must have done, or he never could have been induced to pen such a despatch as that printed above.

Subsequent investigations have had the effect of diluting Mr. Gladstone's Bulgarian Horrors in about the same proportion as the impalement atrocities of Canon Liddon and Mr. MacColl; such atrocities, when officially investigated by Mr. Consul Holmes, resolving themselves literally into "scarecrows." The English Consul says

"After much reflection, however, the matter is, I think, as clear as "possible. Near most Bosniac farm-houses there are stakes, such as "Mr. MacColl describes, around which the haricot beans are fixed up to dry, with something above them to keep off the birds. At the time "of Mr. MacColl's voyage down the Save it is probable that most of "the beans had been garnered, but a portion might have been left on one of the stakes which attracted his attention. This, on being "pointed out to some practical joker amongst the officers of the steam"boat with its accidental likeness to a body, together, perhaps, with the "previous conversation of the travellers, suggested the hoax, which, on seeing that it was seriously accepted, was kept up to the end of the journey.'

On the 18th, the coup de grace was given to the ill-starred, ill-judged, ill-managed Conference by the Grand Council of Turkey peremptorily rejecting any, even the slightest demand; a determination formally announced by Safvet Pasha on the following day (20th)—a result richly deserved by this mis named Conference, which is thus aptly described in a new rendering of child's alphabet

C was a CONFERENCE which went to CONSTANTINOPLE; where it found a CONSTITUTION, to its CONSTERNATION.

The Conference having thus come to an end, the several discomfited diplomatists took their departure from Constantinople, and a dead calm, a stifling pause-a sure precursor of the coming hurricane-set in, only slightly relieved by the publication of a circular by the Russian Government, as follows:

PRINCE GORTSCHAKOFF'S DESPATCH.

"St. Petersburg, 1877. "The refusal of the Porte to accede to the wishes of Europe has caused the Eastern crisis to enter upon a new phase. The Imperial

"Cabinet has regarded it from the outset as an European question, "which should and could only be solved by the unanimous accord of "the Great Powers. In fact, any thought of harbouring exclusive or personal ideas was repudiated by all the Cabinets, and the difficulty was thus reduced to bringing the Turkish Government to rule the “Christian subjects of the Sultan in a just and humane matter, in order "not to expose Europe to permanent crisis, revolting to her conscience "and disturbing her tranquillity. The question was, therefore, one of "humanity and general interest. The Imperial Cabinet in consequence "endeavoured to bring about a general European accord, in order to "allay the crisis and prevent its recurrence. It came to an under"standing with the Austro-Hungarian Government, as the most imme"diately interested, in order to submit to the European Cabinets "proposals which might serve as the basis of a general understanding "and of common action. These proposals, which were contained in "the despatch of Count Andrassy of the 18th (30th) December, 1875, "obtained the adhesion of all the Great Powers and that of the Porte. "The failure to give them an executory sanction having, however, "rendered this undertaking barren of results, the Cabinets were called "6 upon by the Berlin Memorandum to state their views regarding the "principle of an eventual accord, with a view to the adoption of more "efficacious means of effecting their common object. United diplomatic "action was subsequently interrupted, but the Cabinets again met in consequence of the aggravated state of the crisis, caused by the massacres in Bulgaria, the revolution in Constantinople, and the war "with Servia and Montenegro. At the initiative of the English Govern"ment the Cabinets agreed upon the bases and the guarantees of paci"fication to be discussed at a Conference to meet at Constantinople. "This Conference, in its preliminary deliberations, arrived at a complete "understanding both respecting the condition of peace and the reforms "to be introduced. It communicated the result to the Porte as the "firm and unanimous wish of Europe, but met with an obstinate refusal "from the Turkish Government. Thus, after more than a year of "diplomatic efforts, demonstrating the price which the Great Powers "attach to the pacification of the East, and the right which they possess "of ensuring it in view of the general interests involved, and their firm "desire to obtain it by means of an European understanding; the "Cabinets again find themselves in the same position as at the com"mencement of this crisis, which is however still further aggravated by "the blood that has been shed, the passions that have been raised, and "the indefinite prolongation of the deplorable state of things which "weighs upon Europe and justly pre-occupies public opinion and the "Governments. The Porte pays no regard to its former engagements, "to its duties as a member of the European concert, or to the unanimous "wishes of the Great Powers. Far from having made a step towards a satisfactory solution of the Eastern Question, the Ottoman Empire "has been and remains a permanent menace for the peace of Europe, as "well as for the sentiments of humanity and the conscience of the "Christian peoples. Under these circumstances, before deciding on "the course which he may think right to follow, his Majesty the Emperor "wishes to know what course will be determined upon by the Cabinets "with whom we have acted up to the present, and with whom we desire as far as possible to continue proceeding in common accord.

66

66

The

object which the Great Powers have in view has been clearly defined by the acts of the Conference. The refusal of the Turkish Govern66 ment touches the dignity and peace of Europe. It is important for