This

perfectly unjustifiable, inasmuch as an understanding for a cessation of hostilities had been arrived at, and the officer in command of the Turkish Squadron, which consisted of seven frigates, three corvettes, and two small vessels, thus thrown off his guard, was suddenly attacked by a Russian fleet of six line-of-battle ships, two frigates, and three steamers, under Admiral Nachimoff, and utterly destroyed, every ship except one having been burnt, and 4,000 lives lost by burning or drowning; Osman Pasha, the Turkish Admiral, dying of his wounds at Sebastopol. cowardly act was followed by the appearance of the English and French Fleets in the Black Sea, on the 3rd January, 1854, after which no more Russian war ships appeared in Turkish waters. On the 23rd March, the Russians, under Gortschakoff, crossed the Danube, and occupied the Dobrudscha; and on the 28th March, 1854, England and France declared war against Russia. It is unnecessary to detail the events of the war. Suffice it to say, there was developed an amount of jobbery and corruption, alternate imbecility and rashness on the part of those who were then in power, which would have gone far to ruin England, but for the fortunate circumstance that she had for an allay brave, chivalrous and unselfish France, whose Emperor, with a loyalty and devotion which for all time will be recorded to his honour, remained firm in his friendship. The Army, in spite of mismanagement, covered itself with glory by some of the most brilliant actions recorded in history; and so did the seamen and marines who were landed as a Naval Brigade, but the Navy afloat did not distinguish itself: In the Baltic, nothing was done worthy its ancient fame ; and the same may be said of the Black Sea Fleet; while, owing to gross mismanagement, grave disaster was met with in the attack on Petropauloffskoi, and, at De Castres Bay, something worse than defeat was experienced. On the whole, the tale is a sad one, the pill, made up of jobbery and corruption and the enormous expenditure of blood and treasure, which the British public had to swallow was only slightly gilded over by the bravery and devotion of nameless heroes, but for whose zeal, courage, and devotion, England could not possibly have endured the strain. At length, after two years of war, (Declaration, 8th March, 1854, Proclamation of Peace in the Crimea, 3rd April, 1856,) the terms of peace were settled, and settled in a manner which would have justified even a greater amount of suffering, for by the 11th clause of the Treaty of Peace, the Black Sea was made neutral for ever; and thus, at one and the same time,

the Eastern Question was closed; the aggressive ambition of Russia checked; and, above all, a precedent set for gradually exempting every sea from the horrors of war; in other words, a solid advance towards that universal peace hitherto the day-dream of philanthropists and poets was made.

At the termination of the Russian War in 1856, England did not follow the example of Russia or Germany, and recoup her losses of blood and treasure by the annexation of territory or the levying a war indemnity. No. In concert with her noble ally, France, she was content-and all the world applauded-to secure, as those who fought and bled for their country fondly hoped, permanent peace in those Eastern waters. The stupidity through which England became entangled in war with Russia, and the imbecility with which that war was conducted, were cheerfully condoned in view of the grandest and most statesmanlike solution attained, namely, the insertion of Paragraph XI. in the Treaty of Paris, to which allusion has just been made.

"ARTICLE XI.-The Black Sea is neutralised, its waters and its ports, thrown open to the mercantile marine of every nation, are formally and in perpetuity interdicted to the flag of war, either of the Powers possessing its coast, or of any other Power."

Every one approved, not a tongue wagged against this consummation of a hope so long devoutly wished and prayed for. At last, a portion at least of the earth's surface, no. matter how small as a beginning, was dedicated to peace and good-will amongst its frequenters; a harbinger of happier times, and a real advance in civilisation on this blood-stained globe of ours. Such was the Black Sea to become under this glorious stipulation.

What has become of this material, this real guarantee from Russia to keep the peace, this heaven-born settlement of the Eastern Question? It has been rent by thoughtless, if not treacherous hands from the Treaty; and with it every check on Russian rapacity, cruelty, and duplicity; opening up once more the Eastern Question, and with it the floodgates of every vile passion-to be quenched only by fire and sword, the blood of men, the tears of women.

In 1871, with France prostrate and England deservedly without a friend, Russia, backed by Prussia (now Germany), demanded the removal of this self-same 11th paragraph; and Mr. Gladstone-to his everlasting regret-yielded without a struggle,-quietly yielded to this arrogant demand. Upon Mr. Gladstone rests the dire responsibility

of reopening this cursed Question, which has more than once set Europe in a blaze. This time when the flames burst out who can tell where the conflagration will end.

This then was the position of affairs when Russian intrigues once more stirred up strife in the Turkish Dominions, and with religion again as the stalking horse.

PRESENT.

1874.

Disturbances began in the Herzegovina towards the end of 1874, according to the report of one of the foreign Consuls, in this wise: "The Christian Stanko Perinovo and the Mussulmans Forto and Ali Beg Redjipasics attempted to collect the tithes with more than usual vigour." The turbulent natives, whom Omar Pasha found it so hard to subdue, when in rebellion only a few years before, again rebelled, being encouraged and assisted by Montenegro.

On this subject Consul Holmes, reporting to Lord Derby, says:

Early last winter (1874) some 164 of the inhabitants "of the district of Nevessin left their homes and went into "Montenegro. After remaining there some months, however, 66 they petitioned the Porte to be allowed to return to "Nevessin. The Governor-General advised the Porte to "reply that as they had chosen to leave their country for "Montenegro, they might remain there. The Government, "however, decided to accept their request, and allowed them "to return. Shortly afterwards they appeared in revolt, "declared that they were oppressed, refusing to pay their "taxes or to admit the police among them; and they have "been endeavouring, by intimidation, to cause their "neighbours in the surrounding districts to join them. The "Mutesarif of Mostar invited them to come to that place to "state their grievances, which he assured them would be "redressed, but they refused, and the Governor-General tells "me that they cut to pieces a man quite unconnected with "them, who had gone to Mostar to seek redress for some "grievance, and threatened with the same fate any within "their reach who should do so in future."

The further atrocities perpetrated by the malcontents are recorded by Consul Holmes, in a despatch to Lord Derby:

"With reference to my despatch regarding the disturbance "in the Herzegovina, I have the honour to inform your

"lordship that on the same day the Governor-General sent "Haidar Bey and Petrarchi Effendi, two notables of Serajevo, " "to communicate with the insurgents, who belong to the four villages of Loukavach, Sovidol, Belgrad, and Terrousiné, "in the district of Nevessin. Before they reached the "villages, however, the disaffected peasants, who had forced. "and persuaded many others to join them, had attacked and captured a caravan of twenty-five horses on the road from "Mostar to Nevessin, belonging to some merchants of "Serajevo, laden with rice, sugar, and coffee, which they "carried off to the village of Odrichnia. At the same time "they murdered and decapitated five Turkish travellers, "named Salih, Kassumovich, Marich, Samich, Ali, of "Nevessin, and another whose name is not yet known, a "native of Hrasné. One of the insurgents, named "Tchoubaté, at the head of about 300 followers, drove away "about forty zaptiehs placed in the defile of Stolatz, and separating into small bands, have for the moment "intercepted the various roads in the neighbourhood. One "band is stationed over the bridge at Kruppa, and renders "the road between Mostar and Meteovich unsafe. The "detached bands of insurgents are endeavouring to force "others to join them by burning the houses of those who "refused to do so, and using other means of intimidation. "The Governor-General has received telegrams from Mostar, "signed by the two commissioners and the Mutesarif and "the commander of the troops at Mostar, stating these "facts; also that the headless bodies of the Turks have "been recovered and buried."

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Thus both from a Foreign and British official source, we see how the insurrection commenced; its continuance, certainly, was not due to Turkish "oppression" and "brutality," on the contrary, the ruling power seems to have been rather apathetic than coercive or repressive, while on the other hand the insurgents appear to have acted consistently with the ill-famed repute in which they have been held in Europe for many years, as a turbulent peasantry, reckless of human life, and delighting in burning and destroying whenever they have an opportunity.

1875.

At the beginning of 1875, a desultory warfare had commenced, which by July had attained considerable proportions, many of the people having, as stated by the foreign Consul above named, been "long prepared for insurrection." This gentleman also records, certainly without

condemnation, that "in the district of Belic the brothers "Kovacevic form bands which do every sort of harm to the "Mussulman inhabitants, plundering, burning their houses, "and killing them whenever they can.'

At the same time he states that strenuous efforts at conciliation were made by the Turks, but without avail, horses, arms, and ammunition, arriving in quantities from some "unknown person," encouraging the rebels to make inadmissible demands. During the summer the Emperor of Austria made a journey to Dalmatia, the immediate effect of which was to give strength and encouragement to the insurrection, the rebels seeing in this journey a sort of "political and military reconnaissance to get information "about the country, to see from which side it could be "attacked most easily, and what it was worth if it was bought from the Sultan. This was the common topic in "all the bazaars."

66

In August, the European Cabinets, through the Consular agents, endeavoured to make peace, but without success, although the insurgents said they wished to remain faithful subjects of the Sultan, "taking off their hats at the mention of his name."

The Porte made propositions in favour of the insurgents to even a greater extent than originally demanded, but the rebels would not listen to any terms.

From this moment the mask was thrown away; the wellplanned and long proposed insurrection was tout à fait accompli, and a change of front became necessary; the Herzegovina-Turko difficulty being raised to the dignity of an Eastern Question, at the instance of and for the purposes of the three Emperors.

The three Imperial Courts-Austria, Germany, and Russia-took counsel together soon after the return of the Emperor of Austria from his tour of inspection; and the result was the famous Andrassy Note-made known to the English Government in a despatch dated 30th December.*

"1. Religious liberty full and entire.

"2. Abolition of the farming of taxes.

"3. A law to guarantee that the product of the direct taxation of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be employed for the immediate interests of the Province, under the control of bodies constituted in the sense of the Firman of December 12th.

4. The institution of a Special Commission composed of an equal number of Mussulmans and Christians, to superintend the execution of reforms proposed by the Powers, as well as those proclaimed in the Treaty of October 2nd, and Firman of December 12th.

Lastly, the amelioration of the condition of the rural populations."