THE EASTERN QUESTION.

THE

EASTERN QUESTION.
BY THE LATE

VISCOUNT STRATFOED DE REDCLIFFE
K.G., G.C.B.

A SELECTION FROM HIS WRITINGS DURING THE
LAST FIVE YEARS OF HIS LIFE.

"WITH

A

PREFACE

BY ARTHUR PENRHYN STANLEY, D.D.,
DEAN OF WESTMINSTER.

WITH

A MAP.

LONDON ;

JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
1881,
[All Mights reserved.]

LONDON;
BRADBtfRtf, AGNEVV, & CO., PRINTERS, WIIITEFRIARSf.

PREFACE.
I HAVE been asked to write a few prefatory words
to the accompanying pages, which contain some slight
record of the opinions of Lord Stratford de Eedcliffe
on questions which, having occupied his mind for his
whole public life, were also the constant subject of
meditation in his later years. For such a task there
are many qualifications which belong in a much larger
degree to others whose acquaintance with the departed
statesman extended over a much longer period and
was pursued into more complete intimacy. But I
cannot but respond to a wish so expressed, and at the
same time indulge my own grateful sense of kindness
long experienced. Though I cannot undertake to add
anything which throws light on the subjects discussed,
I may perhaps contribute a few words of myVpwn
recollections, few and far between as they were, yet
still never to be forgotten.
My first sight of Lord Stratford was in the spring
of 1853, when, on returning from my earliest visit to
the East, I found myself at Constantinople. It was

vi

PKEFACE.

on the eve of the troubles which preceded the Crimean
war. Prince Menschikoff had just left the Russian
Embassy, and Lord Stratford, it may well be supposed, had not a moment of leisure to snatch from
the difficulties and responsibilities of the crisis. I
went every day to the Embassy in the hope of being
able to obtain a few moments' interview; for I had
already conceived an intense desire to catch a glimpse
of one whose name was then in all men's mouths. It
was not till the last morning of my stay at Constantinople that he found a vacant half hour to receive me.
Never have I received the impression of so regal a
presence as when, in his own Imperial Embassy, he
entered the room with that majestic figure and commanding countenance which seemed to scatter all
common things to the winds ; and when, after having
addressed to me three searching questions on the
monuments of Egypt, on the geology of Arabia, and
on the Holy Places of Palestine, he suddenly lifted,
or appeared to lift, the veil which hung over the distractions of the Eastern Question. He spoke with that
mixture of frankness and dignity which so remarkably characterised all his expressions; and I remember the kind of thrill which his parting words
inspired: Ct "What is most remarkable in the present
situation is the extreme obscurity of the future. We
cannot foretell what is to take place. It may be that
all this will pass away, and affairs continue to move

PREFACE.

vn

as before. Or it may be that ' the wolf has come at
last5—that we are approaching that great event to
which the world has been looking forward for so
many years, the dissolution of the Turkish Empire.55
That event is not yet accomplished; but Lord Stratford5 s part in the transactions which have centered
round it has since become historical. Mr. Kinglake5s
vivid account of his control over the Eastern capital
contains sentences which will be graven on the mind
of every one who from that time forward heard or
saw anything of Lord Stratforcl5s dealings, as the
very expressions which were needed to give the
key to his tremendous power. "The fierce temper
which was always under control when purposes of
state so required was so far from being an infirmity,
that it was rather a weapon of exceeding sharpness,
being always wielded so as to have more tendency to
cause dread and surrender, than to generate resistance.55 " The care with which every judgment that
he pronounced was enfolded in words so complete as
to exclude the idea that it could ever be varied, was
such that, as though yielding to fate itself, the
Turkish mind used to bend and fall before him.55
He describes how, when "the great Eltchi55 returned
to Constantinople, "the event spread a sense of
safety, but also of awe; 55 and he adds the instructive truth, that all the time " Lord Stratford was
unconscious of exercising the ascendancy which he

viii

PREFACE.

did; and, imagining that men gave way to him
because he was in the right, he never came to understand the awe which he inspired."
I heard in 1855, from the most intimate sources, of
Lord Stratford's conduct during the trying disasters
and anxieties of the terrible winter of the Crimean
war. I heard, and seemed to myself almost to have
seen, the unwearied energy with which, under the
weight of all the cares which his great office drew
upon him, he applied himself, or induced others to
apply themselves, to attend to the innumerable wants
of the soldiers in hospital or in camp, and to control
by all the means in his power the weltering chaos into
which the world of the Bosphorus had fallen. "Whatever could be done by tenders of pecuniary aid where
it was needed, of personal kindness where personal
kindness was felt even more than money or gifts, was
rendered by him in that hour of necessity. "When I
have been told of complaints of letters remaining unanswered which called for an immediate reply, I have
been tempted to ask whether such letters did not
reach him sometimes (it may be through the imperfect
transmission of the posts of the Turkish Empire) by
thirty or forty at a time, and whether in the interval
he had not done all and more than all that such
letters demanded.
I went again to Constantinople in the autumn of
1861. Lord Stratford had then retired from what

PREFACE.

ix

may be truly called his throne in the East; but the
renown of his deeds still lived, and they were regretfully remembered by all of every race and creed who
had benefited by them. Wherever British Consuls
resided on the shores of the iEgean or the Bosphorus,
they had tales to tell of instant redress of wrongs
furnished by Lord Stratford's indignant remonstrances
to the Sublime Porte. Wherever Greek or Armenian
felt that they had suffered in person or fortune, it was
known that in him there existed a terror to evil-doers
which none could confront with impunity, a refuge
for the desolate and oj)pressed which none could seek
in vain. The monks of Mount Athos, however
secluded from the stir of the world, yet glowed with
admiration whenever they mentioned the one European name that had come to their ears,—as the representative of more than English magnanimity and
generosity-—the great name of Stratford Canning.
His policy was as simple as it was effective—to
maintain the Ottoman Empire by reforming its abuses.
The Turks listened to his rebukes because they knew
that he was their friend. In his activity, his constant
vigilance, his entire elevation above any personal consideration, the tottering fabric of the Eastern monarchy,
which for years he held in his mighty grasp, had at
once the best bulwark against its ruin, the best guarantee against its evil deeds. The sentiments expressed
in his early youth to a Turkish statesman who coun-

X

PKEFACE.

selled him- against pressing some claims of English
merchants on the reluctant Porte animated his whole
career and were the secret of his great success. The
Turk had urged him to forego these claims for the
moment, in order that he might carry out the Treaty
of Bucharest, which would be the making of his future
career, and for that purpose to postpone " these little
things" to some more opportune time. The young
English diplomatist paused for a moment, and then
said: " Nothing which concerns the greatness of
England is little." He persevered, and carried both
the claims and the Treaty.
In later years I was more freely admitted to his
presence. The sight of such an example was, indeed,
like passing into an atmosphere raised far above the
base and sordid motives of party strife and triviality.
Such an old age, with the fire of youth subdued but
not extinguished, with the experience of years giving
fresh life to the memory of the past, was sufficient to
enkindle every better feeling. The lightning which
of old had lain beneath his brows and shaken the
Sultan on his throne, seldom broke forth, yet it was
always there, and he knew it. " How striking," he
said, "is that description of David, when in his extreme age he hears of the revolt of Adonijah. The
old man rises up,—gives all the needful directions—
David is himself again ! " So long as that grand
old man continued to exist, one felt, it has been truly

PREFACE.

XI

expressed, as if " somehow the greatness of England
was not extinct." In the long hours in which he
was confined to his lonely chamber, he loyed to dwell
partly on the memory of past years, partly on the
classical studies of which he never ceased to retain
the liveliest recollection, partly on the great and
solemn themes which naturally stole over his solitude.
Stories of his diplomatic life, recollections of the celebrated persons he had met—above all a grateful
admiration for his illustrious kinsman, George
Canning, were amongst the prevailing thoughts that
occupied his mind. " His union of wit, generosity,
and eloquence v (he would say) " impressed me with
a sense of superiority beyond any other man that I
have ever seen." He used to repeat, as eminently
characteristic of him, those lines from his poem on
the installation of the Duke of Portland, speaking of
the effect of the Grecian games :
" Courage and dauntless toil—the thirst of fame
Unquenchable—the blush of generous shame—
Their country's loyal love,, and friendship's holy flame."

Yirgil was constantly in his mouth: the tenderness
and majesty of the Latin poet were a constant solace.
His thoughts went back to the day that the news of
Pitt's death reached Eton. There came in the course
of the lesson these lines:
. . . utcunque ferent ea facta minores,
Vincet amor patriae, laudumque immensa cupido.

xii

PREFACE.

Their appropriateness struck him forcibly at the time,
and, as he repeated them, it seemed as if the lapse of
years had but filled their magnificent cadence with a
yet fuller meaning. He had twice been taken as a
boy into the House of Commons by Pitt. H e recalled
how on one of these occasions " P i t t threw the doors
of the House wide open as he entered, and banged
them behind him.
When he rose to speak, the
Opposition began with hoots and cries. In a deep
yoice, which could not be imitated, laying his hands
on the table, he exclaimed, c Am I to be interrupted
by clamour ?' A dead silence instantly followed. In
that silence I read the history of twenty years." His
poem on Alfred was the result of long and early
meditations. " I once spoke of Alfred to the Sultan—
how great a king he was, how much he had done for
his country, and how he was still remembered. I did
it with the hope of stirring him rip to good deeds.
When I came back from the Palace I read in the
newspapers that they were celebrating in England
at Wantage the 1000th anniversary of Alfred's birth.
He was Sir Charles Grandison on the throne, perhaps
a too complete model of stately virtue. The fact is
that he was too good to be interesting." He often
spoke of Shakspeare. " 'Keverence is the angel of
the world.5 How profound is that line ! I should like
to write an essay upon i t ; on the softening, elevating
effect of Eeverence on the minds of men. Shakspeare's

PREFACE.

xiu

great characteristic was the truth and delicacy of his
thoughts and the truth and delicacy of his expressions."
His memory, even of quotations, was retained with
unusual faithfulness to the end.
He repeated
Ken's evening hymn which he had learned from his
nurse ninety years before, as freshly as if he had
heard it on the preceding day. " I have never read it
since, and I have never forgotten it."
He asked himself the question why there should be
a future existence, and he answered: "Because on
any other hypothesis the world would be a piece of
magnificent nonsense." He asked himself the question,
" W h y am I a Christian ? " and he answered: " I am
a Christian, taking Christianity in the large and on the
whole, and not dwelling on its smaller difficulties or
minute controversies. I am a believer of its grander
parts, I accept it en grand" Amidst the grander parts
of Christianity he sought to dwell on " the greatest
of miracles," that which threw all others into the
shade, the miracle of the moral character of Jesus
Christ. With meditations like these, of which the
pages which follow are the imperfect outpouring, his
life drew to its close.
Ten days before the end, he received a visit from
the son of an aged diplomatic friend, who had preceded him to the grave a few years before at the
advanced age of ninety-three—David Morier, for
whom he always evinced the deepest regard and
respect. The son, who is now the distinguished

PREFACE.

XIV

Minister of England in Portugal, thus records
his final visit:—"His intellect was as clear, his
speech as incisive, his interest in poetry and politics
as keen, as when I last saw him, three years ago. It
was a beautiful English summer afternoon; a warm
sun lit up his pale features, which fully retained their
splendid outlines, and were entirely wanting in the
wrinkles or withered look of extreme old age. I could
not help thinking of the lines :—
(

Slow sinks more lovely ere his race be run/

He seemed some grand old Titan majestically sinking
to his rest in all his glory, as if he knew the Infinite
was waiting to receive him with all due honour.75
He rests in the humble churchyard at Frant, in the
presence of that expanded view over plain and hill
which he had so often enjoyed. He deserved, it
might have seemed, the highest funeral honours which
the nation could bestow. But the dark shadow of the
Turkish Empire cast its own shade of unpopularity
over the statesman who had been so deeply identified
in the public mind with the arduous task of supporting
its existence; and the long retirement from public
life, although glorified by the bright glow of his
setting splendour, threw into the background those
services to his country and to humanity at large
which will long cause his name to be venerated by
all who value the noble career of the Greatest English
Ambassador in this century.
A. P. S.

CONTENTS.
—^
PAGE

PREFACE
TABLE

v

OF EVENTS

.
. .

INTRODUCTION

PAET
LETTERS AND

xvi
xxi

I.
MEMORANDA.

L — T U R K I S H FINANCE
II.—ENGLAND'S

1

POLICY TOWARDS TURKEY

.

.

.

.

I I I . — T H E TRUE MEANING- OF T H E EASTERN QUESTION
IV.—THE GREAT POWERS AND T H E PORTE
V.—SUGGESTIONS

FOR

THE

SETTLEMENT

.
OF

.
THE

.

6

.
.

.
.

10

.

22

EASTERN

DIFFICULTY

29

VI.—TERMS OF PEACE

, 3 2

VII.—THE TREATY OF SAN STEFANO

. 3 8

VIII.—MEMORANDUM ON THE ANGLO-TURKISH CONVENTION
I X . — R E V I E W OF A F F A I R S
B E R L I N TREATY

IN

TURKEY

SUBSEQUENT

TO

.

.

49

X.—MEMORANDUM ON THE CLAIMS OF GREECE TO AN E X T E N SION OF TERRITORY

PAET
REVIEWS AND

ARTICLES.

XI.—TURKEY.—i

65
.
RELATIONS :

AND

HOW

THEY

MAY

MAINTAINED FOR T H E BEST INTERESTS OF MANKIND
XIV.—RECOLLECTIONS

OF

97

BE
.

THE REVIVAL

OF

GREEK

THE

OF

GREEK

134

INDEPENINDEPEN-

DENCE—1
XV.—RECOLLECTIONS OF
DENCE—II

60

II.

XII.—TURKEY.—II
XIII.—INTERNATIONAL

45

THE

159
REVIVAL

182

TABLE OF EVENTS (1875 TO 1878.)
1875.
July 1st.—Commencement of the Insurrection in Herzegovina.
October 7 th.—Repudiation of the Turkish debt.
December 25th.~Purchase of Suez Canal shares by British Government.

1876.
January 31s£.—The " Andrassy Note " communicated to the Porte by Austria,
Germany and Russia. This note, to which England gave a ' l general
support," was drawn up by Count Andrassy, and proposed to the Porte
the following reforms to be applied immediately to the insurgent provinces, of Herzegovina and Bosnia, with a view to their pacification.
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 Provinces under the control of bodies constituted
in the sense of the Firman of Dec. 12.
4. The institution of Special Commissions, 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 Irade of Oct. 2 and the Firman of Dec. 12.
5. The amelioration of the condition of the rural populations.
Whereas these reforms had been already promulgated in the Hatti Houmouyon and former Hatti-Cherifs by the Porte but never really put in force,
the Cabinets of Austria, Germany and Russia deemed it necessary that some
kind of pledge in the form of a signed Convention should be given by the
Turkish Government for their prompt and effectual execution or they on
their part could not undertake to continue their efforts to restrain and pacify
the insurgents.
Febmary \Mh.—The Porte accepted four out of the five reforms contained
iii the Andrassy Note, but declined the third clause, by which the
proceeds of the direct taxation in the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina should:be expended on those provinces. -

xvii

TABLE OF EVENTS.

May 1st.—Outbreak of insurrection in Bulgaria.
May 6th.—Mussulman riot at Salonica, murder of the French and G erman
Consuls.
May 13th.—The Berlin Memorandum drawn up by the Chancellors of the
three Emperors who met for the purpose at Berlin. Proposes to insist with
energy on an armistice of two months between the Porte and the insurgents in order to open a way for direct negotiations between the Turkish
Government and the Herzegovinian and Bosnian delegates on the
following points :—
1. That materials for the reconstruction of dwelling-houses and
churches should be furnished to the returning refugees, and 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
80th Dec. (Andrassy Note,) to guarantee the bona fide application
of the reforms and 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 has 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.
May 19th.—The British Government refused their concurrence in the Berlin
Memorandum on the ground that the proposals could not be carried out
by the Porte, and that if they could, the remedy would be only partial
and fall short of the exigences of the case.
May 2Wi.—-British fleet ordered to Besika Bay..
May 29th.—Deposition of Sultan Abdul Assiz and proclamation of his
nephew Murad V. in his place.
June 9th.—Statement of Mr. Disraeli in Parliament that the steps taken by
Government in the affairs of the East were leading to the maintenance
of honourable peace-—Berlin Memorandum would not be presented,June 23rd.—Alleged cruelties committed by the Turks in the suppression
of the Bulgarian Insurrection published in The Daily News.
June 30th.—Servia and Montenegro declare war on Turkey.
August 2Wi.-—Prince of Servia, repeatedly beaten by the Turks, asks for the
mediation of the Powers.
August 31st.—Sultan Murad V. deposed in favour of his brother, Sultan
Abdul Hamid.
jSejptemher'Gth.—Publication of Mr. Gladstone's pamphlet, " Bulgarian
Horrors,"

h

xviii

TABLE OF EVEHTS.

November 1st.—Armistice of eight weeks demanded by Russia in an Ultimatum dictated by the utter collapse of the Servian army.
November 2nd.—The Emperor of Russia pledges his most sacred word of
honour that he has no ambitious purpose, and if forced to occupy
Bulgaria will only do so provisionally.
November 10th.—The Czar announces publicly at Moscow his intention of
acting alone should the Porte resist the demands of the Powers.
November 20th.—Mobilization of the Russian army announced.
December 23rd.—First meeting of the Conference at Constantinople and
simultaneous announcement of the Turkish Constitution.
December 28th.—Prolongation of the Armistice.

1877.
January 20th.—Close of the Conference at Constantinople and final rejection
by the Porte of the terms offered by the Powers. Reduced to a minimum they were : An International Commission nominated by Europe,
without executive powers, and the appointment of Valis (GovernorsGeneral,) for five years, by the Sultan, with the approval of the guaranteeing Powers.
February 27th.—Peace concluded at Constantinople between the Porte and
Servia.
March 19th.—Opening of the first Turkish Parliament.
March 31st.—London Protocol signed—The Powers accept the assurances of
the Porte as regards Reform—Recommend disarmament in face of
peace with Servia and Montenegro.—Russian Emperor will treat of
disarmament on his side if Turks will send a Special Envoy to St. Petersburg—Should the Sultan fail in his promises, and the state of the
Christian populations not improve, the Powers reserve to themselves
the right of deciding what further must be done.
A-pril 10th.—The Porte's answer to Protocol, She takes her stand on the
Treaty of 1856, and admits no right of interference in her internal
affairs.
April 2ith.—Declaration of war by Russia.
May 1st.—British proclamation of neutrality and entire disavowal and disapproval of the act of Russia, with further declaration that the latter
has intentionally prevented a peaceful solution,
June 12th.—Montenegro recommences hostilities.
June 22nd.—Russians cross the Danube.
June 25th.—Serious Russian reverses in Asia.
July 20th.—Russian repulse at Plevna.
August Uh.—Russian Imperial guard and re-inforcements ordered to
Bulgaria.
October 15t?i.—-Defeat of Turks in Asia.
November 18th.—Fall of Kars.
December 10th.—Fall of Plevna.
December Itth.—Servia declares war a second time.

TABLE OF EVENTS.

xix

1878.
January 8th.—Turkey proposes Armistice.
January 10th.—Capture of the Schipka Pass.
January 20th.—Russians enter Adrianople.
January 23rd.—British fleet ordered to Constantinople and then countermanded.
January 28th,—Terms of Peace as communicated to Count Schouvalofi3
announced in the House of Commons. Chancellor of the Exchequer
moves for a vote of credit for £6,000,000.
February 1th.—Russians continue to advance on Constantinople. British
fleet finally ordered to the Bosphorus.
March 3rd.—Treaty of San Stefano signed at Constantinople between Russia
and Turkey, of which the principal clauses follow: A cession of territory
to Servia and Montenegro and their complete independence. Bulgaria
largely extended and raised to a principality, with a Prince elected by
the people, and a seaport on the -<3Egean. Navigation of the Bosphorus
free to merchant vessels in peace and war alike. 50,000 Russian troops
to occupy Bulgaria for two years. Batoum, Ardahan, Kars and Bayazid,
with the territories comprised, remain in the hands of Russia. A
separate treaty between Turkey and Roumania, who was to make her
own demand for indemnity. Russia to receive the Dobrudja in order
to exchange it for Bessarabia with Roumania. War indemnity of
£47,500,000 besides the Dobrudja.
March 1th.—Prince Bismark consents to preside over a European Congress
at Berlin.
April 2nd.—Lord Salisbury's Circular explaining why England could not go
into the Congress without the whole Treaty of San Stefano being open
to discussion, and animadverting on the discrepancy between Russia's
demands now and her protestations in the past.
April 11th.—Dispatch of Indian troops to Malta.
June 4th.—Anglo-Turkish Convention signed at Constantinople.
Text:—
" If Batoum, Ardahan, Kars, or any of them shall be retained by Russia,
and if any attempt shall be made at any future time by Russia to take
possession of any further territories of his Imperial Majesty the Sultan
in Asia as fixed by the definitive Treaty of Peace, England engages
to join his Imperial Majesty the Sultan in defending them by force of
arms. In return, the Sultan promises to England to introduce necessary
reforms, to be agreed upon later between the two Powers, into the
Government ; and for the protection of the Christian and other subjects
of the Porte in these territories, and in order to enable England to make
necessary provisions for executing her engagements, the Sultan further
consents to assign the Island of Cyprus to be occupied and administered
by her."
June 13th.—First sitting of the Berlin Congress.
July 13th.—Last sitting of the Berlin Congress. " Treaty of Berlin."
Balkans to form Southern boundary of Bulgaria."! Austria to occupy

XX

TABLE OF EVENTS.

Bosnia and Herzegovina provisionally, in the interests of Peace. Montenegro to have Antivari and an increase of territory. Servia also to
receive an extension. Rectification of Greek frontier recommended.
Part of Bessarabia, confiscated by the Treaty of 1856, to be restored to
Russia. The Dobrudja, including Silistria and Mangalia, to Roumania.
Batoum, Kars and Ardahan all to become Russian, with the proviso that
Batoum should be made a free commercial port. War indemnity not
payable till all anterior claims are satisfied.
July 22nd.—Sir Garnet Wolseley located in Cyprus.

INTRODUCTION.
IN presenting these Papers under their collected
form to the attention of statesmen and general readers,
there would seem to be little necessity for adding to a
title-page which says that the subject is the " Eastern
Question " and the writer Lord Stratford de Eedcliffe;
but it is thought that what follows may be here
advantageously quoted. "When submitting to public
attention the sketch of a proposed plan of settlement
in September, 1876, Lord Stratford wrote thus:—
" The purpose which I entertain of stating—in outline,
at least-—a plan of settlement, including all its items,
would doubtless be imprudent on the part of anyone
invested with responsibility. Free as I am from that
trammel, the hope of helping by my experience to clear
the ground of negotiation, and an impulse bordering on
a sense of duty, have alone prevailed over my natural
reluctance to face the risk of so delicate a task. May
those who honour me with their attention be
indulgent. I claim their indulgence in virtue of my
purpose. Peace is the goal in view, peace in the
first instance by hastening the termination of war"
(then existing between Turkey and her dependent-

XX11

INTRODUCTION,

cies); " peace in the second by enabling the Turks to
remain in Europe with a firmer hold on their position,
and less anxiety, not to say less scandal to their
Christian supporters, I have nothing to do with
party politics. Independence, whether silent or outspoken, becomes my very advanced age. I cannot
agree with those sanguine writers who dream of
Turkey being 'the cornerstone of "Western freedom,'
but I go so far as to persuade myself that with competent guidance the Ottoman authorities, and even
their subjects, may be trained to conform to those
changes which alone can realise the policy of giving
them a durable place in the group of European states.
To leave them to themselves would be equivalent to
leaving them at the mercy of ambitious neighbours
actuated solely by selfish views. To set about
driving them across the Bosphorus and Dardanelles
would be to sound the trumpet of war in its shrillest
notes, with the ultimate impossibility of replacing
them on grounds of general interest." Lord Stratford foresaw the inevitable revival of the Eastern
Question in the reckless extravagance of the Porte,
even before bankruptcy and the first local disturbances in Herzegovina had kindled the fire already
laid, and he would have had England sooner recognize what he considered the magnitude and extent of
the danger. He would have had her at once take the
central place among her co-signatories of the Treaty
of Paris—she, who in his opinion, had most to lose
and least to gain by the dissolution of the Ottoman

INTRODUCTION.

xxiii

Empire—and fearlessly and uncompromisingly do that
which in her lay to stop the evil, by right of her
guarantee, which she was not justified in allowing to
be unnecessarily imperilled, without effectual remonstrance. On the ground already occupied by England,
Eussia could not haye found a footing, however
eagerly she sought it.
His long experience had taught him that pressure,
if steadily and properly applied to the Porte by a
friendly Power—recognised as such by her—and
more especially if supported by the rest of Europe,
was always in the end successful. He never advocated force, and constantly insisted that you must
give the Turk a loop-hole, for if you once got him
with his back to the wall, he would fight to the very
end. It was not to be, however, and when at last the
country woke up to the gravity of the impending
crisis, Turkey, dishonoured and disgraced, was already
—whether for good or ill—in the gripe of her inveterate foe.
The papers are arranged numerically in order of
their dates, from 1874 to 1880, the last having been
written a few weeks before the author's death. They
consist, partly, of memoranda hitherto unpublished,
written either for the writer's own use or at the
request of influential people seeking his opinion, and
partly of the more public expression of his views,
which appeared from time to time in the pages of a
leading journal during those eventful years when,
after lying dormant for so long, the Eastern Question

xxiv

INTRODUCTION.

once more became the prominent feature in the history
of European politics. Selections have necessarily
been made, as many passages referred solely to events
passing at the time, and could have no permanent
interest. The volume concludes with several articles
published during the last five years, and reprinted
from the Nineteenth Century Review by kind permission
of the Editor,
December, 1880.

PAET I.
LETTERS AND MEMORANDA.

THE

EASTEEN

QUESTION.
i.

TURKISH FINANCE.
[The following is a memorandum, now published for the first time, on the
financial state of Turkey before she repudiated her debt.]
WRITTEN IN THE AUTUMN OF

1874.

T H E financial state of the Turkish Empire is not alone
interesting to those who have dividends to receive out of the
Porte's revenue. The Governments of Christendom, the
allied Powers, as the strongest of them are called, have no
slight motives for keeping a watchful eye over it. England,
in particular, is deeply concerned in its prosperity. I t is
very desirable for all that Turkey should not become the
occasion of another European war. If there be any exception to this, it would be of one whose successes would be
generally unpopular, and whose reverses could only be
effected at a considerable cost of life and treasure. Three
of the Allies have entered into a treaty by which they are
engaged to maintain the integrity of the Turkish territory.
This treaty bears the signatures of France and Austria,
joined with that of England. Guarantees of this general
kind are always open to criticism, and applied to the Turkish
dominions, the policy of binding any country to a principle
so eventually embarrassing is more than questionable..
B

2

THE EASTERN

QUESTION.

[i.

However, be that as it may, we are thus bound; and a
contingency may occur which may oblige us either to shake
off our responsibility in no very creditable manner, or to
incur, without choice, an amount of sacrifice, equal at least,
to that which attended the Crimean "War. Supposing Kussia,
or Germany, or both, to attack or seriously to menace the
independence of Turkey, we might not be able to achieve
the same success, which twenty years ago, raised us to
so commanding a position in the Conference at Paris.
Instead of dictating, we might have to sue.
Now, weakness, whatever ma}^ be its cause, whether it
spring from internal discord, or from a deficiency in the
means of defence, is that condition of a state which especially
provokes differences and invites hostility. Turkey has always,
unhappily, the former source of weakness in her bosom.
Greeks, Servians, Eoumanians, Bulgarians, Armenians, Ah
banians, Bosnians and Montenegrins, whether subjects or
recognizing the Sultan as their suzerain, look to some opportunity for asserting their independence. They can be easily
kept down by the Ottoman authorities when the Porte is on
terms of amity with the greater Powers, but they are dangerously explosive when they can hope for support from
without. Add to this cause of weakness a state of finance
unequal to the requirements of defence, and it is evident
that the independence of Turkey must either be sacrificed,
or rescued from ruin at the cost of one or all of its guaranteeing allies. Such being the case, it is equally manifest
that England has a very deep interest in the healthy condition of Turkish finance.
Let us see how this matter stands at the present time.
Anything but satisfactory in point of facts, anything but
encouraging in point of opinion. The Turkish Budget
presents a deficit of several millions sterling. The interest
of loans and sinking funds together absorb the half or

1874.]

OFFICIAL EXTKAVAGANCE.

3

nearly half, of the Porte's revenue, more money has to he
borrowed in order to meet the year's demand, and it can
only be obtained on very unfavourable terms. The wretched
system of farming the revenue still continues. The population is generally on the decrease, and with it those productive elements which yield supplies to a treasury. To
crown all, the Government has no regard for economy.
Its purchases are carried beyond its means, and even beyond
its wants. The Civil List, and the salaries and pensions of
numerous officials are on far too high a scale.
The Turks, I doubt not, will pay the dividends on their
loans as long as they can. Their good faith in that respect
is seconded by their interest. They would not willingly
incur discredit, and with it loss of sympathy on the part of
Christendom. The danger lies in their increasing necessities. The Porte has lately made arrangements with
the Ottoman Bank, which, if made in a right spirit and
fairly carried out, may warrant a cautious renewal of confidence on the part of capitalists and shareholders. But
this point does not appear to have been completely attained.
Misgivings are still entertained in some observant quarters,
and economy is not, as yet, the financial principle adopted
at Constantinople.
I t would thus appear that there is ample reason for
inquiring whether the Turkish Government can without
prejudice to its safety so far reduce its expenses as to avoid
the impending danger. To form even an approximative
judgment on this matter we must appeal in some measure to
the past. About twenty years since, when Beschid Pasha was
Grand Vizier, I went with him into an examination of the
financial question in so far as the revenue of his Government was concerned. According to his statements the
annual receipts of the treasury did not exceed seven millions
and a half, or, at most, eight millions sterling. There was
B 2

4

THE EASTEEN

QUESTION.

[i.

a hope, he said, that they might be raised to another million
in a year or two. At that period the Porte had not embarked in its present system of applying for loans to the
European markets. Within the last two or three years
the Turkish revenue has been proclaimed as amounting to
twenty-one millions. There may be some exaggeration in
this statement, but, I think, we may safely set down this
increase at twelve millions. Now, what has happened
politically to Turkey in the interval ? First, the Crimean
War, and then its termination by a general peace, which
ever since, has enabled the Sultan to enjoy the blessings of
quiet and security, with two or three very limited exceptions,
at one time on the side of Canclia, at another in Syria, and
then again at Montenegro. During the same period large
sums have been expended by the Sultan in building superfluous palaces, in purchasing huge iron-clads of little
practical utility, and in making large additions to his army
already sufficient for any immediate exigencies. The public
debt has in consequence assumed by regular degrees its
present gigantic proportions.
I n this manner a precious space of time has been wasted
on objects of little or no use, and productive only of future
embarrassment and eventual peril. I s no stop to be put to
this unwise and untimely extravagance ? Has not Her
Majesty's Government a right, in virtue of its guarantees,
to require the effective adoption of a less reckless emplo}^ment of their protege's resources ? Is it not their bounden
duty to interfere, with or without their partners in the
guaranty, for the purpose of preventing, before it be too
late, a disaster involving the most serious responsibility ?
If such were the view adopted by the British Cabinet,
it may be expected that the Foreign Office would communicate with the French and Austrian Governments, though
friendly suggestions might be at once conveyed, in a con-

1874,]

A FOES CAST OF DxlNGEB.

5

fidential form, to the Sultan's ministers. Sooner or later it
would surely be fair and expedient to intimate the right of
the three allies to withdraw their guarantee if Turkey
continued wantonly to incur the dangers inseparable from
weakness and one of its primary causes, financial destitution. Let it be clearly understood that the question is
purely political. Our peculiar relations with Turkey might
indeed not improbably justify an exceptional interference on
behalf of our numerous bond-holders. But that is not the
matter in hand. A repetition of the Eastern Question, aggravated by its more immediate causes, and attended perhaps
with peril, certainly with much cost, is the apprehension
which has led to this memorandum being submitted to superior knowledge and sounder judgment than its author's. A
lion, he knows, is in the path. A false sympathy might be
created between Turkey and Russia, and the very mischief
which a wholesome policy might be employed to prevent,
would be fostered into vitality by the warmth of a flattering
influence. I t can hardly be denied that such a contingency
is quite possible, but are we sure that the snake does not
already occupy a place in the bosom of its dupe, and is the
diplomacy of three great Powers so defective as to find no
suitable means of counteracting the supposed evil ?
At all events, a timely and well-conducted attempt to
prevent an approaching danger, the reality and extent of
which are matters of experience as well as of calculation,
with right to warrant and duty to impose it, would, even if
it proved unsuccessful, be creditable to the vigilance of
Ministers, and turn aside any popular wish to fasten the
responsibility on the Government.

II.
ENGLAND'S POLICY TOWARDS TURKEY.
[After the repudiation of her debt by Turkey, and the commencement of the
insurrection in Herzegovina, Lord Stratford de Eedcliffe addressed the
following letter to the Times, in which he reviewed the general position
of affairs. This letter will be found to have a direct application to many
circumstances in the present condition of Turkey.]
DECEMBER 31ST,

1875.

THAT Turkey is weak, fanatical, and misgoverned no one
can honestly deny; but to my apprehension it would be a
great and hazardous mistake to infer from its condition in
those respects that the best way for England is to leave it
entirely alone.
Among the Turkish statesmen are some, at least, who in
spite of their religious prejudices and defective knowledge,
have sagacity enough to feel their wants, and prudence
enough to bend rather than to break under the force of
reasonable pressure. Nor are the Sultan's Mussulman
subjects so unmanageable as to give serious alarm to his
Government when reforms of an unpopular kind are to be
carried into effect.
The Eastern question is a fact, a reality of indefinite
duration. Like a volcano, it has intervals of rest; but its
outbreaks are frequent, their occasions uncertain, and their
effects destructive.
The chief Powers of Christendom
have all, more or less, an interest in the fortunes of an
Empire which from being systematically aggressive has
become a tottering and untoward neighbour. Its struggles
for life, the agonies of its dissolution, could not fail to

1875.]

ENGLAND CANNOT BEMAIN PASSIVE.

7

throw all Europe into a state of hurtful agitation, if not into
one of general hostilities. Ambitions, jealousies, apprehensions, and other conflicting passions would be roused
into fearful activity, and the consequence of a fermentation
so violent and extensive may well be dreaded.
Under these circumstances, for England to be an idle
looker-on seems hardly credible. Such an attitude with
reference to interests so positive and perils so imminent
would be a virtual abdication of her high position and its
attendant duties. True it is that of two evils she has only
to choose the lesser, but the choice of either would be better
than indifference alike degrading and dangerous.
War on one side, and an injurious dismemberment of
Turkey on the other, may surely be avoided by British
influence, exercised from a suitable position. The Treaty
of Paris gives us the right of acting with the other parties
to it wherever the affairs of Turkey are concerned. If the
three Northern Powers are left to themselves, they will, of
course, be guided by their own views. ^There is no reason
to mistrust Russia at present; but Russia is, nevertheless,
one of the same triumvirate which partitioned Poland, and the
retirement of England might be taken as her opportunity.
The moral insistance of England would in ail likelihood
be decisive in a conference of the five or the six Powers.
Peace, the support of Turkey, its administrative, in particular its financial improvement, and the equality of all
classes of its population, would naturally be the main points
of her policy ; nor is there ground for apprehending opposition to such principles on the part of others. The Sultan,
moreover, would be more likely to assent to measures
necessary to secure the execution of reforms when proposed
to him by all the Powers and recommended by England
whose counsels have always had a defensive or conservative
character,—defensive as to the Danube and the Bosphorus,

8

THE

EASTEKN QUESTION".

II.

conservative as to the only feasible prolongation of Turkey's
political existence.
Objections may be taken to the necessary measures, but
their character of necessity makes them part of the lesser
evil, and therefore to be accepted with it.
The measures in question are a superintendence of mixed
organization internally, and a joint conventional pressure
from without. The difficulties of this twofold arrangement
would be far from insuperable, and the inconveniences would
be compensated by the result.
These measures, reduced to a system, would doubtless
amount to tutelage ; but the Turkish Empire has long been
virtually in that state, which, if it had been steadily as of
right enforced, would have saved the Porte from its present
embarrassments. No good end is to be attained by underrating either the resources of the Turkish Empire, or the
faculty of its Government to meet the fair demands of the
Christian Powers and to remove the grievances of its Christian
subjects. But there is an evident want of foreign intercourse
to enlighten the native classes, of foreign co-operation to
give a right shape to practical reforms, and, above all, of a
sustained influence not to be trifled with on the part of
friendly Governments.
Stress has been laid in some newspaper articles on that
clause in the Treaty of Paris which has an air of binding
the Powers to abstain from interfering in the internal affairs
of Turkey. But the engagement is, in truth, limited and
conditional. The Christian plenipotentiaries promised only
that the communication of the Sultan's reforms should not
be held to warrant such interference. But other rights to
interfere belong to the Powers, especially to those who
either sided with the Porte in a moral sense, or spent their
money and shed their blood for the Sultan's cause in the
Crimean War. The engagement, taken in its fullest inter-

1875.J

NECESSITY OF KEFORM.

9

pretation, moreover, was an act of reliance on the Sultan's
honour, and, consequently, resumable on the failure of that
counterpledge. By the Treaty of Paris the Porte was
admitted into the community of European States, and the
table of reforms—which, by the way, was framed by the
Ambassadors in conference with the Turkish Ministers at
Constantinople—obtained a place in the Treaty as proof of
the practical effect of that admission.
In a religious sense no Christian can sympathise with a
Mussulman Government. I t is on very different grounds
that the Porte enlists on its side the good will of some and
the forbearance of all the European Powrers. Their interference to the degree and in the manner proposed has no
other object but that of saving Europe at large from a
general war, and some of its States from the injurious effects
of a rival's special aggrandizement; but the welfare of
Turkey, as now circumstanced, would be a natural accompaniment of the plan herein suggested, and those who
recommend it are the best friends of that Empire.
STRATFORD DE EEDCLIFFE.

III.
THE TRUE MEANING OF THE EASTERN
QUESTION.
[In May, 1876, Lord Stratford de KedclifFe presented through the Times the
following review of the circumstances which had given the Eastern
Question its great importance in Europe, and suggested a scheme of
reform which the writer deemed essential to the administration of the
Sultan's dominions. The letter contains, in a short compass, a history of
the Eastern Question, and an explanation of its bearings upon the
general affairs of Europe.]
MAY

16, 1876.

B Y far the greater part of a year has elapsed since the
Christian insurrection in Turkey broke out, and it continues
still to be the chief object of political interest in European
politics. Well it may, for the attempts to settle it have
increased its difficulties and given it a character which more
than ever threatens to disturb the general peace. So rapid
has been the growth of disease compared with the slowness
of treatment, that the dwarf of yesterday may be said to
have become the giant of to-day. By the Press at least,
and particularly by the British portion of it, the real importance of the movement in Herzegovina is now, after much
hesitation, acknowledged. Even in your paramount journal,
articles have lately appeared under the head—a most
significant title—of the "Eastern Question." The mediating
Powers may have their reasons for not facing openly and at
once the Frankenstein who now challenges their interference ; but facts are stubborn, and the awakened intelligence of millions will finally leave them no choice but
that of a commanding action in some effective shape.
At this point it may be useful to describe briefly, in clear

1876.]

THE TURKISH POWER IN EUROPE.

11

terms, the real character and importance of the " Eastern
Question." In a loose and general sense its meaning is
obvious enough to all who have in any degree the habit of
discoursing on political topics. But few, perhaps, even in
the circle of statesmen, have had occasion or taken pains to
ascertain the whole of its constituent elements, and the full
extent of its bearing on European and, in particular, on
British interests. For the origin and very roots of the
question we must refer to the character of the Turks as a
race, to the principles of their peculiar religion, and to the
manner in which the}^ got possession of their dominions to
the west of those waters which separate Europe from Asia.
To their Tartar blood they are indebted for the despotic
temper which facilitates the exercise of their power, but
tends to shorten its duration. Their administrative institutions are based on a creed the principles of which, in their
nature unchangeable, obstruct the progress of that social
development by which nations increase their strength and
secure the respect of their neighbours. Their fanaticism
impelled them to conquest; their despotism enabled them
to hold the conquered in subjection ; but the effect of these
two principles was to keep them in a state of isolation as to
countries not yet brought under their yoke, and of utter
antagonism with a large majority of their fellow subjects.
Moreover, they brought their Asiatic manners into the part
of Europe they subdued as an additional cause of alienation
from all but their followers in religion. Their acquisition of
the Sultan's present dominions in Europe was, no doubt,
the work of time ; but there can be little room for error in
stating that throughout their period of successive conquests,
however on occasions the outward appearances may have
varied, their motives of aggression and principles of government were essentially the same.
*

#

*

*

*

12

THE EASTEKN QUESTION.

[m.

With Turk, as with Christian, Pagan, or Jew, fanaticism
will excite hostility, and the evils of misgovernment will
sooner or later work the ruin of an empire. History confirms the truth of this remark. Six centuries of dominion
did not prevent the final expulsion of the Moors from Spain.
Turkey, from being an aggressive and conquering power,
dropped gradually into a state of self-defence and internal
anarchy. The decline of that Empire may be elated from
after the failure of Sultan Soliman's gigantic expedition
against Vienna. Although it was checkered at first by occasional exceptions, another century had scarcely elapsed
before the downward movement went on more rapidly, and
to judge from present appearances it has not yet slackened
its pace.
While the enervating effects of the Turkish system told
with growing power on the resources of the Empire, those
bordering Powers who either were most molested by its
ambition, or found most reason to reckon on profiting by its
decay, had gathered fresh strength from their superior
knowledge and sounder principles of administration. To a
larger increase of their subjects they added a greater development of industry, a wiser management of their finances,
and a healthier progress in secular instruction and military
discipline. At the same time the Rayahs, that oppressed
and naturally disaffected portion of the Sultan's subjects,
had largely advanced in numbers, knowledge, wealth, the
sense of degradation, and the consciousness of growth. So
long as the Porte contended singly with Austria or Russia,
war after war terminated in treaties adverse to Turkish
interests. At one time it was an actual cession of territory,
at another the elevation of some Ottoman Province into a
tributary state approaching to independence. I t was not
only to the final ascendency of Turkey that the battle of
Lepanto gave an incurable blow. Hungary, the Crimea,

1876.]

WEAKNESS OF THE

POBTE.

13

Bessarabia, and all Turkey north of the rivers Pruth and
Phasis ceased to be part of its Empire, while the Danubian
Provinces and Servia obtained, under Russian protection,
privileges bordering on political separation. More than all
this, Egypt fell oif from the immediate government of the
Sultan, Greece with its adjacent islands became an independent monarchy, and the small but renowned Isle of
Samos, though close upon the coast of Asia, received a
charter of autonomy. By way of compensation for these
losses the Imperial Government shook off a variety of encroachments which had gradually weakened its authority,
and a policy of useful reform, commenced for military
progress by Sultan Selim, was proclaimed by Mahmoud,
and in part realized by that energetic sovereign. The
Janissaries were exterminated, a regular army was created,
the poll-tax levied on Rayahs was suppressed, the provincial
Pashas were shorn of their much-abused powers, the Dere
Beys, or landowners in fee, were brought into a more complete subordination, and, in general, life and property were
in some degree freed from the assaults of arbitrary caprice.
Enough of evil still remained both in practice and principle
to obstruct the recovery of Turkish power. Disunion, ignorance, corruption, a debased coinage, a diminishing population, and financial mismanagement, could hardly fail to
nourish, if not to increase, the weakness originating in
causes less capable of correction. Events, of which some
witnesses may still survive, showed to demonstration 7 nearly
100 years ago that the Porte had ceased to be an independent
power in the full sense of that term v She owed the recovery
of Egypt from French occupation to the arms of England
by land and sea; within ten years from that time, if she
withstood the menace of a British squadron at Constantinople, her courage was derived from the inspiration of a
foreign Ambassador, and her peace with Russia not long

14

THE EASTEKN

QUESTION.

[in.

after took from British mediation whatever advantage it
possessed. Such, in more recent years, was the dependence
of Turkey on Christendom that a Eussian navy was admitted
into the Bospliorus for its protection from the forces of
Mahomet Ali, a provincial pasha; that, under changed
circumstances, its capital was saved from capture by a
disastrous Treaty ; and that its independence was subsequently maintained by the joint battalions of France and
England.
The Treaty concluded at Paris twenty years ago not only
abated the pretensions of Eussia, but gave a more settled
character to the Turk's relation with Christendom as
initiated by the Crimean War. To use a French expression, the Porte then took its place in the family of European
Powers, and an improved charter of reforms, having the
two-fold object of a better treatment of the Ea}Tahs, and the
adoption of sounder principles of Government in Turkey,
was held to justify its admittance to that position. The
charter subsequently proclaimed by Sultan Abdul-Medjid
had been prepared at Constantinople by a joint conference
of Turkish Ministers and European Ambassadors assembled
at the British residence, and was made part of the general
act of pacification under an agreement that its insertion in
the Treaty should not be made a pretext for the interference
of any foreign Power in the internal affairs of Turkey.
England, at the same time, in conjunction with France and
Austria, guaranteed in form the integrity of the Ottoman
dominions, and also guaranteed, together with France, the
first or second loan contracted abroad by the Ottoman
Court. These transactions represent what was meant to
be a fixed policy,—on the part of Turkey the support of
Powers strong enough to protect, on the part of such
Powers restraint of individual ambition and preservation of
peace.

1876.]

NATIONAL IMPROVIDENCE AND FOLLY.

15

It is not an idle curiosity which seeks to know in what
degree the policy thus expressed has answered its intended
purposes. With few exceptions of no great importance, the
Turkish Empire has enjoyed since the Crimean War a
period of unruffled tranquillity within, and of total cessation
of danger from without. The Sultan's allies have invariably
maintained a friendly attitude. The Syrian disturbance was
calmed with aid of British concurrence. Montenegro, unassisted by Russia, was left to an unequal contest with the
disciplined legions of Omer Pasha. Greece in its attenrpt
to detach Candia from the Ottoman Empire received no
countenance from any Christian State. Though Russia
consulted her own exclusive interests in breaking loose
from the Black Sea Clause of the Treaty, the impatience of
a first-rate Power, under the indefinite pressure of so humiliating a yoke, was too natural to warrant the suspicion of
any ulterior designs.
Have the immense advantages of a period thus characterized been turned to account by Turkish statesmen or
their Sovereign ? The answer required by truth is not
satisfactory. Their vast Empire exhibits no signs of real
improvement. Its revenue is, indeed, more than doubled
since the war; but a debt, which may be stated in round
figures at £200,000,000, weighs hard upon its amount, and
the bondholders look in vain for their dividends. The
promised reforms have not been wholly neglected, but the
pledge so solemnly given at Paris has been by no means
redeemed, and the consequences are insurrection in one
quarter and sour discontent together with revengeful mistrust throughout the Empire. Instead of economy (that
basis of national strength), a reckless extravagance has
prevailed. Superfluous buildings are in course of construction at ruinous cost, and railways offering small prospects
of remuneration have been undertaken; ironclads requiring

16

THE EASTERN

QUESTION.

[HI.

for their management a skill which is not forthcoming have
been purchased; the army has been carried to a figure
which exceeds the faculty of payment; and, to crown all,
the salaries and pensions assigned respectively to active or
retired officials are enormously disproportioned to the financial means of the State.
What are the consequences—the immediate perilous consequences—of these follies and delinquencies ? Why,
nothing less than Imperial bankruptcy in Turkey (at least,
for the time), a destructive, though partial, insurrection, a
general inquietude, the interference of foreign dictators,
and the danger of extensive hostilities, involving, perhaps,
the greater part of Europe.
Each and all of these effects are more or less deplorable.
They suggest two other points of inquiry. Could they
have been prevented ? Can they now be remedied ?
*
*
*
*
*
I t would seem a matter of conjecture that the Governments
who ratified the Treaty of Paris must, if properly served,
have been seasonably apprised of the reckless manner in
which the Porte was acting, and that their urgent, but
forcible warnings would have carried weight enough to
check so fatal a career. However the case may be in those
respects, the mischief which it was natural to apprehend
exists in part, and that part threatens to quicken into larger
proportions. The first attempt from without to restore
peace in the insurgent districts, if present appearances may
be trusted, has signally failed. The six Powers who, with
shades of difference, took part in the recent mediation are
supposed to be still engaged in consultation as to the expediency of further proceedings.
With a hope that England will now at length take a more
decided part in the Conference, and that the Conference,
enlightened by recent experience, will extend its views to

1878.]

A PLAtf OF REFORM.

11

the full range of that question of which the Sclavonian insurrection is only a fragmentary exponent, I shrink not
from placing on record an outline of such remedial measures as in my judgment offer the only prospect of bringing
the Eastern difficulty to a peaceful solution. The remedies
must, of course, be equal to the wants. Where there is
weakness there must be support. Where confidence within
is exhausted securities must be called in from without.
When the habits of administration are shown by experience
to be pernicious, safety must be sought in principles of a
sounder kind. The pride of national independence must,
for the time, give way to considerations of welfare and necessity;,; above all, the means—the financial means—of a
State's vitality must be obtained from their only legitimate
sources—industry, credit, and economy.
Hence the first point to be established is equality of all
classes before the civil law.
The next is reform of the fiscal administration.
Thirdly, the admission of all subjects into the Army, with
the exemption from actual service on payment of a regulated
war-tax, the haratch being in all cases for ever abolished.
Fourthly, the Council of State and all other secular
councils, whether in the capital or in the Provinces, to be
composed in due parts of Christian and other non-Mussulman subjects.
Fifthly, the formal recognition of religious freedom, so
that not only public worship and religious edifices are secured from interruption of any kind, but also that no individual or individuals whosoever shall be molested on
account of the religion they profess.
Sixthly, that no suffering or forfeiture shall be inflicted
without the sanction and due process of law established
before the commission of the offence in question.
Seventhly, the establishment of a Board of Trade, the
o

18

THE EASTERN

QUESTION.

[in.

number of whose members shall include, in fair proportion,
foreigners as well as Mussulmans, and other subjects of His
Imperial Majesty the Sultan.
Eighthly, that the preceding articles shall be made the
subject matter of a convention between the Sultan and his
Allies, the Mediating Powers ; and the effective execution of
the same be placed under the superintendence of a mixed,
responsible Commission.
*

*

*

# •

*

•

Objections, however, may be taken J o a plan of settlement comprising so much sacrifice of habitual thought and
departure from rooted practice on the part of Turkey and on
that of its Christian allies so much inconvenient trouble and
complicated machinery. Doubts may also be entertained as
to the right of foreign Governments to carry their interference beyond the line of earnest persuasion or urgent remonstrance. Unquestionably, however, these are means to
be employed, if at all, in the first instance. The terms
suggested above may be worked into a more practicable
shape without ceasing to be efficient. Failure of the experiment would no more close the door against a stronger
pressure than the refusal of Austria's terms by the Insurgents
has done. Proceedings of a more effective kind might, indeed, be warranted by considerations which can hardly be
overlooked with prudence or safety. Their objects would be
the maintenance of peace, the correction of pernicious
abuses, the rescue of millions from injustice and degradation, the retention by Turkey of as much sovereign and
national individuality as circumstances originating from
itself allow it to enjoy. If something more positive in point
of right is required, we must take into account the Porte's
unfulfilled engagements, the services attended with much
cost of life and treasure which the Allies, or some of them
at least, have rendered in recent times to its Empire, and

1876.]

A CHOICE OF EVILS.

19

the sacrifices which they are still eventually bound to make
on its behalf. It would surely be a crying scandal for
Christendom if the Turks, who effected their conquests in
the name of religion, were left to endanger the peace of
Europe, and to oppress a numerous population of Christians,
deriving their ability to do so from the wealth of Christian
countries and the indifference, not to say complicity, of
Christian Governments. Apprehensions are entertained by
some that the Sultan, if pressed too closely by the Allies,
might have recourse to the religious feeling of his Mussulman subjects and thereby get up a fanatical rising of the
masses. Such a resistance is, no doubt, possible, but it
would be full of danger to the Turks themselves, and the
experience of a century, which has been marked by events
destructive of Turkish ascendency, encourages a very
different expectation.
Let it not be forgotten that the actual position of Turkey
is one of dependence amounting virtually to tutelage displayed unmistakably from time to time ; that the Powers
who have opened a mediation between the Sultan and his
insurgent subjects must either give a stronger tone to their
interference or fall back into a state of inaction; that such
interference ending in smoke would be no less fatal to its
objects than inaction itself, and that to join in forcing the
Insurgents into submission is an extremity not to be
supposed.
I t is obvious that where there is only a choice of evils, the
adoption of the least is what may be fairly termed a necessity.
If the plan suggested herein, whether modified or not,
were deemed after due reflection on any account inad*
missible, the great interests involved in the Eastern Ques*
tion, and those of England in particular, would never cease
to engage the attention of Statesmen, and at times to unci 2

20

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

EiiL

settle the most peaceful relations. The command of the
Suez Canal may go far to secure our communications with
India, but we should have ample reasons for regretting the
transfer of Constantinople from its present occupants to
those who will have the best chance of being their successors.
The vast basin of productive countries, to which the Bosphorus and Dardanelles are open outlets, could not be
closed without commensurate injury to our commerce and
influence ; it could not be held by any Power jealous of its
advantages without giving a very precarious character to
our positions in the Levant.
A hint of some arrangement, if not more agreeable to the
Porte, at least more decidedly remedial, has been thrown
out quite recently by the public Press. It was even described as likely to become an object of discussion at Berlin
on the occasion of the Russian Emperor's visit to that
capital. \Herzegovina and Bosnia might, indeed, be put
into a state of vassalage to the Sultan, similar to that in
which Servia stands. A belt of such principalities, including Moldavia, Walachia, and Montenegro, interposed
between Russia and Austria on the one side and Turkey on
the other, might operate as a protection to the Ottoman
dominion in Europe and a pledge of durable peace in that
quarter. I n fairness to the Turkish proprietors, facilities
would have to be given for the settlement elsewhere of such
of them as chose to emigrate and for the sale of their lands
and houses. On the other hand, the Sultan's concession
would carry with it a just claim for tribute from the emancipated Provinces, and they, while entitled to the Porte's
protection, would be secured against the entrance of Turkish
troops, except on the request, in due form, of the provincial
authorities. Arrangements of this kind are by no means
unprecedented even now in the annals of Turkey. To go

1876.]

CESSION OF LAND TO GREECE.

21

no further, Mahomedan Egypt, as every one knows, is tributary to the Sultan; and in Mahmoud's reign, not half a
century ago, a very considerable tract of land was ceded to
Greece for a sum of money by no means equal to its value.
*
*
*
*
*
STRATFORD DE REPCLIFFE.

IV.
THE GREAT POWERS AND THE PORTE.
[This letter was addressed to the Times in September, 1876, when Servia,
worsted in her contest with the Porte, had appealed to the Powers for
mediation. In this letter also will be found reflections and suggestions which are not less applicable to the state of Turkey now than they
were four years ago.]
SEPTEMBER 9TH,

1876.

T H E Eastern Question has by degrees assumed such large
proportions that no one can be surprised at the space it
occupies in all public discussions, whether of the tongue or
of the pen, The special interest which circumstances of the
past engage me to take in its solution will, I hope, induce
you to receive with indulgence some further remarks of
mine on that subject; shown, as it now is, to be pregnant
with the most perilous consequences. Little more than a
year has elapsed since the insurrection in European Turkey
was confined to one small province bordering on the Austrian
dominions. Those who, like myself, had been personally
long mixed up with Levantine affairs could hardly fail to
detect in that very limited disturbance a principle of growth
which threatened to give it an extension fatal to the peace
of other and distant countries. Even the three Northern
Emperors, from whom proceeded the Andrassy Note, and
whose chief motive of interference would seem to have been
Austrian, gave a general character to the demand of reforms
which they addressed to the Ottoman Government. What
in the beginning was an impulse of reasonable foresight is
now proved to have been a just apprehension of consequences
more than probable. It is worth while to bear this in mind

1876.]

UNITED PRESSURE NECESSARY.

23

at the present crisis, because it tends to strengthen the
opinion which, however salutary, is still fluctuating, that
the mediation solicited by Servia should be undertaken with
views of conclusive meaning, and every appliance required
to secure an adequate result./
*
*
*
*
*
Whatever may be the issue of prolonged hostilities in
Turkey, the difficulty of reconciling the parties engaged in
them must evidently be great. The proud habit of command on one side, and the natural love of independence on
the other, would in any case dispose them to keep apart.
To overcome this unavoidable tendency, there must of
necessity be a pressure from without superior to the resistance from within.
What should be the form and character of that pressure
is a point requiring the earliest consideration. But it is not
the only one. The terms of pacification, the constitutional
and administrative reforms to be urged upon the Porte, and
the securities required for their execution, are also matters
which demand immediate attention, and, if possible, a preliminary agreement on the part of the mediators. The
choice of agents fitted for their work by energy as well as
capacity is too obvious to need any special suggestion.
Some few words on each of the preceding points will suffice
for my present purpose.
A well-known proverb tells us that " union is force."
Why should not this maxim guide our counsels now?
Granted that we may fairly flatter ourselves with the belief
that the Sultan's Government give us a larger share of their
confidence than to any other Christian Power. But such
confidence does not of itself go to the extent of taking advice
which recommends sacrifices of a painful, or even unusual,
nature, however indispensable. Mediation carried on by the
six Christian Powers which were parties to the Treaty of Paris

24

THE EASTEKN QUESTION.

[iv.

would naturally make an impression far other than that of
advice tendered by one friendly Government, even with the
utmost degree of truth and earnestness. A truism such as
this speaks for itself. It only remains to inquire whether,
in the present case, a combination of this kind is morally
just and practically attainable. To me it appears to be
both. Good motives, useful objects, apposite circumstances,
and rights derived from treaty, operating together, must surely
be allowed to warrant a concurrent action on the part of those
who have in common a crying evil to suppress or prevent.
The Powers whose mediation is expected have all, more or
less, an interest in stamping out the war and enforcing the
acceptance of terms calculated to last.
So much to show that the combination in question would
be just. That it might be realized without difficulty, if it
be not concerted already, admits of little doubt. The
Andrassy Note was sanctioned and recommended by the
six Powers, and the refusal of England to back the Berlin
proposals had for its effect a general sense of the inefficiency
caused by a want of union. Even the language of Lord Derby
in reply to Mr. Bright and his associates not only gave proof
of his opinion that a mediation would sooner or later be
required, but described the several Powers who might take
part in it as affording no marked reason for suspecting them
of views irreconcilable with ours.
Whatever grounds of antipathy may exist between the
Turks and Servians, originating in differences of faith, of
race, or of policy, and however they may account for the
present hostilities, it must be admitted that the invasion of
Turkey by its Tributary was a measure unauthorized by the
practice of civilized nations. Here, no doubt, is a notable
difficulty in settling the terms of peace, especially if the
offensive party should be entirely overpowered. There are,
nevertheless, considerations of no mean importance, which

1876.]

THE TURKISH PROVINCES.

25

naturally and reasonably ought to operate for the protection
of the Principalities, should they be irrecoverably defeated.
They could not but sympathize with their fellow Slavonians
in Herzegovina. I t was natural for them to cherish the hope
not only of sympathy, but eventually of succour for themselves from a quarter abounding far more in auxiliary
resources. Though living under their own laws, they had
still to pay tribute to their old oppressors. If they were
also animated by motives of territorial interest, they were at
the same time exasperated by the Turkish atrocities in
Bulgaria, and we must remember that the youthful Prince,
who led his countrymen across the frontier, was impelled by
a popular enthusiasm which he could not resist without the
most imminent danger to his Throne and personal means of
existence. I t is next to impossible that the Powers of
Christendom can permit the Turk, however triumphant, to
cast his yoke again over the necks of any emancipated
Provincials. The Servians themselves may be deficient in
civilization as affecting the principles or practice of governments and the imperative duties of humanity; but their
defects of administration are softened by the profession
of Christianity, and their occasional excesses are more the
acts of individual impulse than the consequences of an
established system. There is much reason to think that a
chain of autonomous States, though still, perhaps, tributary
to the Sultan, might be extended from the Black Sea to the
Adriatic with advantage to that potentate himself. But,
at all events, the very idea of reinstating any amount of
Turkish misgovernment in places once cleared of it is
simply revolting.
As we are now supposing the Porte to be victorious, we
cannot in fairness lose sight of those circumstances whence
it has derived the means of victory, and whence, if not
controlled, it may hope to enjoy a harvest reaped by its

26

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[IV.

unsparing sword. Millions on millions extracted from the
moneyed classes of Christendom since the Crimean "War
have enabled it to form those numerous battalions which
are now in the fields of slaughter, and promises of reform
proclaimed by authority and recorded in treaty have obtained
for it the countenance and friendly protection of its Christian
allies, on credit of performances hitherto but faintly and
partially realized. Do not these undeniable facts confer a
right—nay, even impose a duty of mediating with a firm
resolution to carry into full effect the dictates of humanity
and the principles of equitable government ?
These ends being suitably provided for, what lover of
peace, what friend to a state of occupation favourable to
commerce and other European interests, would seek to
disturb the actual possessors of Constantinople and its
dependent Straits ?
Whatever conventional terms may be the result of mediation, it is clear that they will be of little value unless their
execution be secured by something more effective than mere
Turkish authority. Experience proves the necessity of this
precaution. Not that I would accuse either the Sultan,
whoever he may be, or his Ministers of wilful insincerit}^.
They are more to be pitied for weakness caused by their
education and Constitutional position than censured for
want of faith.
Tutored as the Turks have been from time to time during
the whole century, they are still averse from foreign interference, and therefore it is that the present necessity should
be brought home to their understanding in the most considerate manner, consistent with insuring a just appreciation
of the truth. I t were well that the terms of agreement
should be fixed and limited by a convention. A mixed
commission of members, appointed by the several parties,
might be intrusted with the duty of superintending the

1876.]

CONCERTED ACTION OP EUROPE.

27

execution of reforms and reporting to their respective
Governments. The Convention would, no doubt, he more
palatable to the Porte if it were made subject to extinction
or renewal at the end, say, of 12 or 15 yearsl
Such are the principal points susceptible of being stated
by anticipation. There are others, of course, but they are
secondary, and, therefore, may be left with safety and convenience to subsequent arrangement.
I t stands to reason that for mediation of this kind a
thorough understanding should be previously established
among the Powers who take part in it, and the form of
proceeding best suited to this purpose can hardly be other
than that of a Convention. A form of agreement so positive
would by no means preclude the use of identical notes,
presented to the Porte separately by each of the allied
mediators, who, if they came to act ostensibly in concert,
would expose themselves to the annoyance of having
their communications rejected on grounds of diplomatic
etiquette.
It is to be hoped that the concerted action of the six
Powers, if indeed they are now all acting together, will
continue, that the atrocities perpetrated in Bulgaria will not
be lost sight of, and that an European mediation, whether
now or hereafter, will embrace the Eastern Question in its
full extent. Peace, no doubt, is the foremost object, but
peace to be durable must rest on terms applied to the
primary as well as to the immediate cause of war. The
difficulties of negotiating may be thereby increased to such
a degree as to make a certain though less solid arrangement
preferable. But in any ease there must be difficulties
which are capable of yielding to pressure judiciously and
resolutely applied. The greatest, when ultimately overcome, would find their recompense in the result—namely,
the suspension for a long term of years, if not the final

28

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

Civ.

settlement, of that question which now, with few exceptions,
agitates alike the feeling and the thinking world.
Our national hatred of cruelty is now finding vent in
various effusions of writing and speech. Crimes that shock
human feeling are always liable to be stated with exaggeration, and acts of brutality are but too likely to lie at the
door of each party engaged in extreme contention. Even
the present burst of indignation may easily run into excess.
But official reports show that there is really matter enough
for general reprobation. The public expression of it, however, to prove remedial, should be temperate, the offspring
of reason rather than of passion.
I do not wish to pass my opinions for more than they are
worth; what I have at heart is to make them clear. The
sum of them is to close the war in Turkey by a peace which
would leave the Turks at Constantinople under terms of
agreement with the great Powers of Christendom—terms
confirming the autonomy of the tributary Principalities,
extending to the Empire at large the reforms recognized as
necessary for its government on sounder principles of
administration, together with the equitable treatment of all
classes of its subjects, and, lastly, establishing securities for
a faithful execution of the settlement in all its parts. / I
must conclude with a word of regret that the confidence
which to all appearances we are now placing in the other
parties to our mediation was not employed from the beginning to put England in her right position at their side.
STRATFORD DE EEDCLIFFE.

V.
SUGGESTIONS FOR THE SETTLEMENT OF
THE EASTERN DIFFICULTY.
[The following memorandum was written about the same time as the preceding letter, and is therefore inserted here. It has not hitherto been published.]
NOVEMBER, 187$.

As it has come to my knowledge that persons, who approve
my opinions on the Eastern Question, entertain serious
doubts of their practicability, I hold it a duty at the present
momentous crisis to draw up a fuller statement of the proceedings which seem to me best calculated to effect the
desired settlement. The difficulties are great, but not, I
trust, insuperable. The results in view are certainly far
greater still. The first essential step is obviously a conference with, or which might be better, without the Porte.
Equally indispensable is a Formal Convention between the
Six Christian Powers signataries of the general treaty concluded at Paris in 1856. The Powers should declare by
such instrument the reasons of their interference, its
ultimate objects, and the principal measures required to
realize them. The objects in question are these: 1. Bestoration of peace on durable grounds in the disturbed Turkish
Provinces; 2. The territorial status quo of Turkey under
the Sultan's sovereignty, and 3. The reform, with efficient
securities, of its administrative system on sound and equitable
principles.
The next progressive move should be a Capitulation or
Treaty between the Porte and the Six Powers, each and all,
the Porte thereby agreeing in definite, binding terms to

30

THE EASTERN

QUESTION.

[v.

establish forthwith a Commission, composed, in certain proportions, of the Sultan's Mussulman and non-Mussulman
subjects, together with foreigners, and empowered to frame
and carry into lasting effect the prescribed reforms.
Let the President of the Commission be appointed by the
Sultan, and have two lateral advisers named, or at least
approved by the Christian Powers in some manner previously agreed upon.
Foreign Members of the Commission to be appointed and
replaced when necessary by the several Christian Powers,
to whom they would have to report and to be entirely
amenable*
Cases of difference when arising among the members of
the Commission to be referred to the High Contracting
Parties.
Provision to be made against unnecessary delays by rendering those who are convicted of causing them personally responsible. A special committee might be charged with this
judicial duty.
The local application of reforms can only be effected by
joint special agents, Turk and Christian, under the supervision of an officer (consul or agent) representing the Christian Powers, and authorised to act in concert with local
councils, or other recognised parties immediately concerned.
These requirements, though meant to be temporary,
must of course be allowed sufficient time for planting and
taking root.
Some mode of meeting the requisite outlay must be
settled by previous agreement.
I n some districts local peculiarities will require a modification of general rules.
Agents at a distance from the capital will have need of
armed protection by a police or military force.

1876.]

REFORMS MUST BE COMPULSORY.

31

Any indispensable occupation of Turkish territory by
foreigners must be strictly limited as to force, time, and duty.
N.B.—The terms proposed by Lord Derby, and accepted
with some point of difference by Russia, are supposed to
form the basis of settlement in the five disturbed provinces
of European Turkey.
Of those reforms which extend throughout the Empire
my suggestions, as published from time to time, may be borne
in mind as an approximate, if not a complete, summary.
The Porte can hardly be expected to consent to the preceding stipulations, unless a sense of necessity is made to
pervade her counsels in virtue of settled resolutions from
without.

VI.
TEEMS OF PEACE.
[After the capture of the Schipka Pass by the Eussian army, the terms on
which a peace between Russia and Turkey might be based, were thus
considered in a letter to the Times.]
JANUAET 15,

1878.

T H E great question which has occupied Europe so long
is now approaching, if it has not already reached, a point at
which all mystery and reserve must be thrown aside. Fact
must take the place of conjecture, and Cabinets must open
their doors to the rush of public anxiety* After much discouragement, the Russians are riding on the tide of victory ;
the Turks are preparing to sue for peace; the neutral
Powers, with the exception of England, show no inclination
to move ; and England, as far as we know, confines herself
to a faint overture which finds no favour with the Eussian
authorities. Russia has declared herself willing to make
peace, but only by direct and separate negotiation with the
Turks. In these circumstances the question which presses
for solution on the parties to the Treaty of Paris, and more
particularly, perhaps, on England, is this:—Which of two
courses is preferable—namely, by some diplomatic declaration, single or combined, to draw the line which Russia
will not be allowed to pass without remonstrance, or to wait
in silent but watchful neutrality until the Russian conditions
of peace are brought unmistakably to light ? i
^

^

^8?

3fc

^K

A direct negotiation between the belligerents has neces*
sarily the effect of giving the stronger of the two parties

1878.]

THE TREATY OP PARIS.

38

an advantage over the weaker. It is now more than probable that the military position will exercise an overpowering influence on the discussions. Even the general desire
for peace is unfavourable to Turkey, whose Government is
ready to catch at any, the most slender, hope of obtaining
assistance or encouragement from without. On the other
hand, there is now a better prospect of concert among the
neutral Powers, and the Treaty of Paris is less exposed to
the risk of total neglect. There is dignity and an element
of success in affording the Emperor of Russia an opportunity of displaying his regard for antecedent declarations
by an impulse of honourable feeling.
What remains of the Treaty after its partial alteration in
March, 1871, taken in connection with those Imperial declarations, narrows very considerably the range of such conditions as military triumphs might entitle Russia to impose
upon the Porte. The Treaty of that date expressly renews
and confirms every part of the Treaty of Peace concluded at
Paris in the year 1856, except those which are annulled or
modified by the subsequent Treaty of 1871. The only
article of this Treaty which has to be noticed here is the
second, which stipulates that the Sultan shall be at liberty
to open the Bosphorus and Dardanelles in time of peace to
the vessels of war of friendly and allied Powers, in case the
Sublime Porte should judge it necessary in order to secure
the execution of the stipulations of the Treaty of Paris of
March 30, 1856. This last mentioned Treaty contains in
its seventh article the following clause :—" Their Majesties
engage, each on his part, to respect the independence and
the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire, guarantee in
common the strict observance of that engagement, and will
in consequence consider any act tending to its violation as a
question of general interest." Language clearer or stronger
than this it would be difficult to find elsewhere. Its general

34

THE EASTEBN

QUESTION.

[VI.

result is that the Powers, including Eussia, guarantee the
independence and territorial integrity of the Ottoman
Empire, and that the sole discretion assigned to the Sultan
with respect to opening the Bosphorus and Dardanelles to
foreign ships of war is limited by a special motive—namely,
to secure the execution of the Treaty.
To show that Eussia is also restrained by its own de«
clarations, it is enough to refer to Prince Gortchakoff's
despatch of the 18th of May, 1877, O.S., addressed to the
Eussian Ambassador in London, and communicated by his
Excellency to the Earl of Derby. According to the 4th,
5th, 6th, and 7th paragraphs of the despatch in question
Eussia renounces every intention of meddling with the Suez
Canal or Egypt, or acquiring the city of Constantinople, or
dealing exclusively with the Straits. A similar assurance is
given with respect to India. The whole engagement is
made to turn upon the continued neutrality of England,
which exists up to the present time and depends for its
continuance throughout the war on England's own will.
Consistently with this double source of limitation, the
Eussians can do little more than stipulate for the autonomy
or independence of the several Provinces forming the whole
line of the Turkish frontier territory from the Black Sea to
the Adriatic. The declared object of the war was to obtain
relief from Turkish misrule on behalf of Bulgaria, Bosnia,
and Herzegovina, and in that manner to relieve Europe
from the constant anxieties and often-recurring disturbances
of the Eastern Question. England has nothing to apprehend from the execution of such a scheme, except in so far
as Bulgaria is concerned, and that only by means of the
approximation of Eussian influence to the central seat of
Turkish authority. England, indeed, as a Christian and
Constitutional Power, might be expected to look with favour
on such an act of emancipation, though tainted by a suspicion

1878.]

RUSSIAN

35

INDEMNITY.

of having for its origin some motives less pure than those of
simple humanity and religious zeal, the more so as the part
she took in the Stamboul Conference pointed substantially
to that end. The main difficulty lies with Bulgaria; but
might not the objection founded on the independence of
that Province be greatly softened down, if not entirely removed, by assigning to Eoumania that portion of it which
lies between the Danube and the Balkans, and giving to its
remaining and larger parts a system of autonomy sufficient
to secure them from the evils of Mussulman administration ? I t can hardly be doubted that Servia and Montenegro, as well as Eoumania, look to Russia for their
respective shares of profit at the expense of Turkey. But
whatever opinion may be entertained by statesmen in
general of the conduct exhibited by those communities towards the Porte, an expression of blame or a passing remonstrance is the very utmost that the sense of justice could
reasonably prescribe to the Ministry or Parliament of
England.
Granting that Eussia, according to the practice of nations
at every period, is entitled to extend her conditions in some
degree to compensation for the cost and sacrifices of war,
the field which at all lies open to her for that purpose is by
no means extensive. Money may be put out of count in the
present state of Ottoman finance. Land on a considerable
scale could not wrell be demanded without a breach of Treaty
engagements. N Territory conquered and actually occupied
by Muscovite troops in Armenia is the most obvious element
of indemnity still accessible without discredit to Eussia. A
free passage by ships of war from the Black Sea to the
Archipelago may be added conditionally, though not perhaps
without the consent, or at least the acquiescence, of Powers
now at peace. The original right of exclusiveness belonging to the Sultan has been restricted, as every one knows,
D 2

36

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[VI

by Treaty, and a new arrangement more favourable to
Eussian interests might be made, though hardly without the
concurrence of other States. I t is quite natural for Russia
to seek a free passage for her ships of war by the Bosphorus. She may fairly entertain the- wish without
having any sinister or ambitious design in view. The great
objection to her enjoyment of the privilege is the position of
Constantinople on the shores of the Strait. Nothing short
of extreme weakness could justify the Government which
made a concession so fraught with peril to the very heart of
its Empire. Palliatives might nevertheless be used with
salutary effect. One or at most two armed vessels of commanding size might be allowed to pass from time to time,
and the Power whose flag was concerned might be bound to
give notice some days before of their intended passage, and
in such manner that no accumulation of admitted vessels
should occur. There would still be the inconvenience of a
Eussian Squadron in the Archipelago or Mediterranean.
This, from the English point of view, would certainly not
be desirable; but so long as the British Navy maintains its
present superiority, what more should we have to endure than
some additional expense, and the regret of having made
over the Ionian Islands to Greece ?
A word remains to be said on the subject of territorial
acquisitions in Armenia. It is not impossible that Russia
may have made such progress in that country as to negotiate for peace while in actual possession of the whole region
between Erzeroum and Bayazid, including Kars and Batoum,
together with the head waters of the Euphrates. That she
would thereby acquire the means of assailing our Indian
possessions with success may well be doubted, but a considerable increase of her influence in Asia Minor, over
Persia and the Black Sea, would in all likelihood accrue to
her. Whether our interests would be thereby compromised

1878.]

THE DUTY OF RUSSIA.

37

to a degree requiring the last appeal for their protection
rests on no private judgment to decide. I would only ask
whether the Emperor of Russia could push his demands to
such an extent with any pretence of justice, consistency, or
reason. He is bound by Treaty, in concert with other
potentates, to respect " the independence and territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire." He was the aggressor;
the Turks are acting on the defensive. The Russian
disasters had their origin at home ; the Turkish sacrifices
go to the point of exhaustion; they have placed their
Christian fellow-subjects on the same level with themselves.
Whatever their errors may have been, they have paid the
penalty, and now only afford their conqueror a good occasion of shedding on the triumph of his arms the glorious
light of generous moderation and honourable consistency.
STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE.

VII.
THE TREATY OF SAN STEFANO.
[The next letter in the series was written in April, 1878, but not published,
because it was partly anticipated by the announcement of an approaching
Congress at Berlin. It lays bare the unreasonable and excessive demands
made by Kussia in the Treaty of San Stefano, reviews the most objectionable clauses, and indicates a line of policy on which fair terms of peace
might be made.]
APRIL 29,

1878.

MUCH as the affairs of Eastern Europe are at present
entangled, one ray of light breaks through, and suggests a
hope, perhaps only a deceitful one, of no very distant solution. Among those writers who are supposed to reflect
more or less the general impression, an idea begins to
prevail that the time is come for a frank exposure of the
real points of difference between England and Russia.
Much time has certainly been laid out in bandying general
suggestions about Congresses and the comparative vantageground of ships and battalions, while it becomes every day
more clear that the real aim of each party underlies the outward objects of dispute.
Let us " drag this struggling monster into light" It is
simply which of two characters ought to be ascribed to the
treaty of San Stefano. Is the treaty a mere act of pacification between two belligerents, or is it a preliminary arrangement subject to the supervision of all the Powers which
were parties to the treaty of Paris in 1856, and to that of
London in 1871 ?
Between these adverse views of the same object, the one

1878.]

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EUSSIA.

39

entertained by Russia, the other by England, there is a
medium, which would have the effect of admitting the right
of other Powers to interfere, and also the claim of Russia
not only to emancipate the Sclavonian provinces of European Turkey, but to obtain a liberal indemnity for the
severe sacrifices of the war.
The treaty of San Stefano, as it now stands, would virtually reduce the Porte to a state of vassalage and financial
nullity. What remained of the Sultan's dominions would
be subject to constant insecurity; its inhabitants would
have to lie under a stifling weight of taxation, and as to its
host of creditors, foreign and domestic, their lot would be
one of utter despair.
The right of Russia to inflict such a state of prostration
may well be contested. It is certain that the demand of the
Powers when acting together warranted no such consequence.
More certain still is it that the treaties of Paris and London
pledged those who signed them to respect the principles of
Turkish independence and territorial integrity.
The Collective Powers, Russia included, took occasion
from the outbreak in Herzegovina to require more complete
execution of those internal reforms which had been promised by the Ottoman Government, and guarantees sufficient to secure their reality. The Sultan adopted a system
of reform which placed all classes of his subjects on an
equal footing in point of civil rights, but he declined to give
the requisite securities.
The Conference of Constantinople ensued, Russia, we all
know, acted with the other Powers, and a signal failure
was the result of their united efforts. Then came a period
of Russian declarations and interchanges of opinion elsewhere.
The upshot of all was war between Russia and Turkey,
neutrality on the part of other powers, England in parti-

40

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[vil.

cular, and a renewal or continuance of hostilities by provinces endeavouring to throw off the Turkish yoke.
Eussia had no separate cause of quarrel with the Porte,
only a greater degree of interest in the disputed question of
reform and its securities. In taking a course of her own,
she limited her pretensions in the event of being victorious,
and assumed in a general way the air of a champion prepared to combat on behalf of her late partners in Conference. Eight or wrong in point of opinion, the Porte
engaged in the war on a principle of self-defence, and circumstances which strained the resources of Eussia, exhausted those of Turkey.
It has become an European duty to inquire how far the
act of pacification answers to these antecedents. There is
no necessity for going into a detailed examination of the
terms. The broad features of the case cannot be concealed
from the most careless inspection. "Wherever our just exr
pectations have been satisfied, the consistency is little more
than negative. The passage of the Straits, the Danube,
and the Black Sea, are not expressly withdrawn, but left
open for discussion with others not parties to the war;
Constantinople is silently respected, and the conquering
Emperor is content to seek his territorial encroachments in
Asia. Bessarabia, so eagerly coveted by those who owed so
much to the Eoumanians in their seige of Plevna, has the
appearance of an after-thought. But there is no mistaking
the character and would-be effect of the treaty when viewed
in its entire significance. Muscovite not European, excessive not considerate, ruinous not corrective, surer to gall
than to heal, inconsistent with previous bearings, in short,
rather an ambitious spoliation in the guise of peace than a
peaceful rescue from evils pressing, in fact and in prospect,
on national welfare in earth's most civilised quarters. The
preliminaries of San Stefano, to be tolerated at all, must

1878.]

THE OBJECTIONS TO A CONGRESS.

41

of necessity undergo a close inspection and a remedial
curtailment.
Why should not this ratification be effected by amicable
means in the shape of a Congress or even of direct negotiation ? Neither England nor Eussia can possibly be desirous
of war, especially of such a war as might ensue if the bloodhounds were once more let loose. If England is in the
foreground at present, it is only because she is free from
separate considerations which more or less restrain the
other Powers. She represents a common interest differing
only here and there in degree, her own share in some
respects being, perhaps, the greatest.
A. congress was thought at one time to be the most feasible
instrument of pacification; and there are still many who have
not yet given up that persuasion. At whose door is the
hindrance to be justly laid ? Eussia declares she has communicated the terms of her agreement with Turkey in full,
that nothing whatever is reserved, and that she is read}' for
a congress, in which every member would be at liberty to
propose any point of the question for discussion, and likewise to retire, if so disposed. England is understood to
require that the preliminaries of San Stefano should be laid
before the congress for deliberation as the necessary complement of their validity. Eussia would have the English
objections to her treaty specified beforehand.- England
seems to think that the treaty is so impregnated with
objectionable matter that no part of it should be exempt
from the collective judgment of the Powers who signed the
treaties of Paris and London.
If this statement of mine be correct, it would be hard not
to give the advantage to England. But Eussia may prefer
holding out in opposition to a single power, which rather
prepares for war than threatens it. On the other hand a
congress offers much that naturally tends to peace. The

42

THE EASTEKN QUESTION.

[VII.

members, apart from their politics individually, lean to that
side. Acquiescence is readier amongst numbers, than face
to face with a single opponent. Suggestive counsels are
more likely to proceed from several heads than from one.
Even when these favourable chances end in disappointment,
the case is not worse than before, and public opinion will
rise with increased energy to the rescue of its endangered
interests.
A brief statement of the most striking among the objecttionable clauses of the treaty may be useful here. At the
head of them Bulgaria stands out in colossal magnitude, and
the war indemnity is of corresponding proportions.
Added to these is the protracted supervision of Eussia,
which, like Milton's leviathan, lies "floating many a rood "
over a scorching expanse. Of Constantinople, the Straits,
and the Danube, it may be repeated that they are not
appropriated.
Armenia is a volume of itself, and the cession stipulated
at San Stefano, including as it does Batoum, Kars, and
Bayazet, can hardly pass without anxious misgivings*
Beverting to Bulgaria it is surely unfair and unreasonable
to extend that province beyond the limits which it has held
under the Turkish Government. Autonomous and tributary,
it might enjoy an existence free from Turkish misrule and
less inimical to the Sultan.
The arrangement might
perhaps be further improved by detaching the Dobrudscha,
and strengthening therewith the Danubian state of Boumania.
If Turkey is not to be crushed the war indemnity requires
a very considerable reduction. That portion of it which is
not to be covered by a territorial cession, might be fixed at
a large but reasonable amount, payable by annual instalments spread over a limited number of years and leaving
the option of an earlier payment of the whole.

1878.]

RUSSIAN MISTAKES.

43

With respect to Eussian supervision, its dangerous pressure would be diminished without prejudice to its legitimate
purposes by making its application fixed and short, agreeable
to the fair requirements of each separate case, whether civil
or military.
The Eussian authorities recoil naturally enough from
any humiliating dictation; but surely no discredit can
attach to concessions solicited amicably on equitable
grounds, especially when resistance could not be ultimately
maintained without exposing the wilful party to hatred from
underfoot, enmity from more than one side, and irritable
mistrust from all, operating unfavourably to Eussia on
questions avowedly open, and entertaining in other states a
watchful look-out for occasion of retort and practical
retaliation.
Eussia might almost be said to have foreseen these rocks
ahead in giving a preliminary character to the treaty of San
Stefano.
No such foresight appears to have enlightened her statesmen on the subject of Bessarabia. They seem to have
forgotten that the possession of that district only dates
from the treaty of Bucharest in 1812, and that the eagerness
with which they press their demand exposes them to the
suspicion of having some other motive for that injustice
than the wish to remove every memorial of their Crimean
reverses.
There seems to be no essential difference of opinion in
Europe as to the expediency of leaving Constantinople in
the Sultan's hands. Whatever may be the cause of that
forbearance, it follows that his Government should be free
to act upon its own judgment in all that relates to the
interests or rather the duties of the position. But how can
that be if the articles signed at San Stefano are carried into
full effect ? Eussia has the appearance of having been

44

THE EASTERN

QUESTION,

[VII.

tempted to step out of her wonted policy of a bit by bit
advance, and, tiger-like, to over-power her prey at a single
bound. The wisdom of this change in a view to ultimate
success may be unquestionable at St. Petersburgh, but there
is room for doubt among those who, at more or less distance,
can exercise a judgment unbiassed by local predilections.
If there be truth in the argument which threads the
preceding statement, honour and public approval may well
attend upon the party who takes the lead in opening the
path to its application. Statesmanship and its handmaid
diplomacy must be strangely out of order if they fail to hit
upon some creditable expedient for reaching a point of
departure directed to ends of such priceless advantage.
What epithet must we assign to the age we live in, should
Reason, Justice, and Humanity unite their voices in vain
for a peaceful settlement ?
STRATFORD DE EEDCLIFFE.

VIII.
MEMORANDUM ON THE ANGLO-TURKISH
CONVENTION.
[Hitherto unpublished.]
JULY,

1878.

T H E new treaty between England and Turkey is almost
as great in importance as the surprise which its sudden
appearance has excited. Whether we look to its immediate
effects, or to its eventual consequences, the quickest perception, the largest experience, may find it difficult to form
any conclusive judgment, either of the advantages which it
secures, or the hazards and embarrassments which it may
entail. It demands a close, a serious, an impartial examination under each of the principal aspects whereon falls a
colour more or less impressive on any international transaction. There is the moral point of view : how stands the
treaty when measured by the rule of right and wrong ?
Next comes the political consideration : have the contracting parties avoided giving offence to other states ? Practicability has also its place in the account: can the proposed
objects of the treaty be realized by means at the disposal of
its framers ? England in particular has, moreover, to weigh
the merits of the treaty in a constitutional, and also in a
financial sense. Would it be prudent, would it be safe, to
overlook the tendency of engagements imposed upon the
country by ministerial authority alone, and the uncertain
liabilities to which our revenue is exposed by virtue of
the same one-sided power ?

46

THE EASTEE1ST QUESTION.

[VIII.

Such is the range of an incident which has well-nigh cast
into shade the Berlin Congress and all its attendant interests.
Journals, reviews, and debates may in time throw a broad
light upon the whole matter. But a retired individual must
be content to pass in review the more obvious pros and cons
of each division. Let us take them in the order already
adopted.
Morality: I t may be thought wrong for a Christian Power
to form an alliance for the defence of a Mahomedan Empire
even to the extremity of war. I t may be answered that
England has done as much before, and that Her Majesty
the Empress of India is virtually pledged to defend her
millions of Mussulman and Hindoo subjects. But neither
of these replies can be said to go the whole length of
justification. The new alliance is by no means temporary
and occasional, like others which preceded it. Its duration
is indefinite; and as to India, the territory is British property, and we are bound by duty as well as right to protect
its inhabitants. There is still the plea of securing a numerous population of Christians from Turkish misrule. So
pleaded Bussia twenty years ago; and England, in concert with France, opposed the pretension by force of arms,
and crushed it by the Treaty of Paris. But it may be
alleged that England's protection is at once more free from
ambitious motives, and warranted by a clearer treaty-right,
and therefore more likely to prove effectual.
Policy: The intended protectorate can hardly fail to
excite the jealousy of other Powers having Mediterranean
interests—France in particular—and to embitter the enmity
of Bussia against England. Such Powers, nevertheless, as
are content to prolong the Porte's possession of Constantinople and its Straits, may be reconciled by that
motive to the new unassociated alliance. There can no
more be any doubt of England's resolution to maintain at

1878.]

THE ANGLO-TURKISH CONVENTION.

47

any risk her long-established place among the highest of the
world; and whether we look to India, to intermediate
railways, or to the Suez Canal, we may find reasons for
satisfaction at least plausible, if not indisputably sound.
"With respect to antecedent principles of international policy,
the Anglo-Turkish Treaty, while it strengthens a main
object of the Paris settlement, may be censured as a
departure from that union of the principal Powers which
the Berlin Congress so usefully exhibits.
Practicability: Under this head must be classed the
occupation of Cyprus, the protection of Asiatic Turkey,
the defence of British India, and the improvement of the
protected territory not only with respect to land, trade, and
revenue, but also to administrative reforms, and the effective
correction of misrule in principle and practice. I t may be
asserted, with some degree of confidence, that all these
results are attainable by means within the range of British
power, in so far as consists with national realities; but
much must, of course, depend upon the selection of competent agents, the vigilance and vigour of Government; and
much also must be left to professional judgment, whether
civil, military, or scientific. The field, no doubt, is ample,
the want of improvement great, and the final objects in
view important and beneficial in no small degree.
I t remains for me to add a few words on the points of
finance and constitution. The former, I fear, lies open to
serious, it may be, embarrassing contingencies, more easy
to foresee in general than to specify in particular. The
climate and defective harbours of Cyprus, the obstacles to a
successful communication by rail from Aleppo to Busheer,
the ignorance, pride, and fanaticism of Turkish officials,
are so many causes of either difficulty or loss, and consequently of expense. But they may be met, in part at least,
by a more equitable arrangement of receipt and liability

48

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[vin.

than the treaty, as hitherto published, presents.
The
second point in question has reference only to the movement of Indian troops, and the actual occupation of Cyprus
on the single authority of the cabinet. If there be matter
for consideration in these respects, it will probably find its
place in the debates of Parliament.
On the whole it seems fair to conclude from the promises,
taken with reference to the late extravagant enactments of
San Stefano, that circumstances have recently occurred
to warrant the adoption of strong measures in aid of the
Porte's independence, that motives for taking them pressed
emphatically on the British Government, that the adoption
of them without breach of peace is a title to favour,
though not perhaps to entire approval. .Eesults belonging
to the future can hardly be excluded from the account, and
if the balance of pro and con cannot yet be struck with the
requisite precision, statesmen may well reserve their verdict,
and for the present either acquiesce with protest, or object
without blame.
Our ministers have evidently incurred a more than common amount of responsibility. The engagements they have
contracted, however opportune for the moment, are fraught
to all appearance with onerous obligations, unavoidable
difficulties, embarrassing hazards, and uncertain successes.
Was there necessity for exposing the nation to such momentous chances ? Could the evil of the hour have been met
with some measure of a less endangering kind ? The
answers to these essential questions remain to be supplied
by public opinion expressed in its constitutional forms.

IX.
REVIEW OF AFFAIRS IN TURKEY
SUBSEQUENT TO THE BERLIN TREATY.
[In February, 1880, Lord Stratford de Redcliffe drew up the following paper,
now published for the first time, in which he described the condition of
Turkey at that moment, and considered once more the reforms which are
indispensable to the continued existence of the Sultan's rule in Europe.
It will be observed that many of the views expressed in this and the preceding papers have been strikingly justified by subsequent events. The
suggestion of a commission to consider the whole subject of Turkish
finance and debt has recently been put forward — of course for interested
motives—by the Porte itself.]
FEBRUARY,

1880.

EVERYONE knows that the Eastern Question, as it is
called, has been a cause of trouble, more or less serious,
throughout Europe during the last four or five years. The
Turkish provinces in Asia, and Egypt to a certain degree,
have been shaken by the storm. The Congress assembled
at Berlin was looked to as a port of refuge and a source of
durable tranquillity. This sanguine expectation, it must be
allowed, has not proved an immediate or hopeless disappointment. The forms of peace have been renewed and
even maintained during a number of months. The original
seat of disturbance has been quieted. Extreme pretensions
have been reduced. The prostrate have been placed on
their legs. The great channel of Eastern Commerce has
been assigned to its previous guardians. England has
thrown its sword into the lighter scale of a balance which
it concerns the general interest to preserve ; and a point is
reached at which the Porte must feel that it cannot retain a
footing in Europe without an honest execution of its

50

THE EASTERN

QUESTION.

[IX.

promised, its proclaimed, and in some respects its half-tried
reforms.
These results of the Berlin Congress are, no doubt,
beneficial, and even satisfactory, when viewed with reference
to the narrow ground of accommodation left open by
previous mistakes, and the neglect of favourable opportunities. But it is painful to entertain the impression that
they are incomplete and transitory. Eemedies were needed
for an extensive mischief never thoroughly uprooted, but
rather stretching out its fibres underground while the
surface alone was smooth, and throwing up at times a
noxious vegetation fatal to the growth of useful products.
But it seems that instead of remedies we have nothing-but
palliatives, respectable in their way, yet affording no assurance of cure, and already budding into symptoms of
reviving trouble. The financial embarrassments of the Porte
interfere with the enforcement of necessary reforms. There
is additional weakness occasioned by want of confidence
between the Sultan and his ministers. Great discontent
arises from the defective payment of wages and salaries.
The Greeks continue to press their demand for a large
territorial cession by Turkey under pretence of rectification.
The Albanians are displaying a readiness for revolt in order
to obtain some autonomous form of government. The
Bulgarians seem to be irreconcilable with their Mussulman
neighbours. The occupation of Bosnia and the Herzegovina by Austria is still an unsettled grievance in the eyes of
the Porte. A sword, like that of Damocles, hangs over
the Sultan's head in the shape of that indemnity which
Turkey is bound by treaty to pay to Russia.
To any who appreciate the interests affected by this state
of things in prospect, and still more, should apprehensions
ripen into reality, the perception of a remedial plan must
surely be an object of earnest desire. He will not be re-

1S80.]

NxlTUEE OF THE PROBLEM.

51

strained by difficulties ; he will not be ashamed of failure.
It may have been his lot, like mine, to pass many years
from time to time in Turkey, to have much occasional intercourse with various classes of its population, and to learn
by experience the temper of its government, the character
of its policy, and the good or bad qualities of its ministers
and other leading authorities. But there, as elsewhere, and
indeed more than elsewhere, the changes have been great
within fhe last score of years, so great that the experience
of an earlier time may rather mislead the judgment than
enlighten it. There is nevertheless a duty which overrules
all other considerations, and to that paramount obligation I
devote what slender means I still retain of helping to solve
the question, which, being unsolved, threatens a large
portion of the civilized world with unspeakable calamities.
We are now in view of the elements out of which a somewhat hazardous attempt to evolve order has to be made.
Notwithstanding its losses in both continents, the Turkish
Empire still extends over a considerable field of territory.
Its population, as we all know, is composed of various races,
distinguished by their respective languages and creeds, in
some parts intermingled, in others distributed into separate
patches occupying land of more or less extent. One grand
division dualises the whole into what were at one time the
dominant race of conquerors, and the tributary victims of conquest. This harsh line of severance has been gradually softened
by habits of intercourse, and latterly by sovereign concession
or legislative improvement. There is no aristocracy forming a class. Possessors of independent property are few
among the Turks, and those few are for the most part
Ulemahs, that is to say clerical. Ministers and other persons
in authority are taken from the population at large. Their
fortunes, with rare exceptions, consist of salary, perquisites,
and pensions. Education, though of late more liberal,
E 2

52

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[ix.

rests principally on the Koran and its commentaries, a nest
of prejudice, self-sufficiency, and exclusiveness leaving,
however, room for good manners to a surprising degree.
Veils and harems have not ceased to deprive the Moslem
community of female influence, operating elsewhere so
beneficially on the character of society. The army is
exclusively Turkish, Christians and others being taxed for
exemption from military service. The courts of justice for
criminal and civil cases are operative over the rayah classes
wherever a Turk is concerned. Domestic slavery is still
practised in Turkish families. The Sultan has still a despotic
power. He no longer disposes of human life at will; but I
am not sure that he might not return to the old system, if
he were a man of great talent and determined will. Caliph
as well as sovereign, he commands the consciences as well
as the persons of his Mahometan subjects. They are therefore brave and submissive soldiers while serving in the
ranks. Eaised from that level they take the general taint
of corruption, and forfeit their claim to implicit confidence.
The crowning evil is the isolated position of the Sultan,
which exposes him to the flattery and corrupt management of
Palace courtiers, whose secret influence affects the ministers
of the Porte and renders them alike insecure and mistrustful.
We have now reached the crucial point. Can order be
evolved from such chaotic elements ? Can that order be
such as to provide for the good government of the Turkish
Empire and the welfare of its population ? Can such
reforms be obtained as will make the Porte's independence
real and satisfactory to other interested powers, particularly
to England, who has incurred such heavy responsibility on
the subject ? One thing is clear, the inhabitants of Turkey
must be brought into a united feeling for their country
paramount to those separate habits of thought created by
their various races, creeds, and traditions.

1880.]

REFORM TO BEGIN WITH THE SULTAN.

53

The conquering race must cease to be exclusive; those
who have hitherto been held in submission must learn to
partake of power with gratitude and moderation.
The
Sultan must cease to be the Caliph, and must become the
Sovereign of his people. But the reader need not be told
that more than one lion blocks the patlrway to such results.
I t seems to me that an important stride might be made
in the right direction if the Sultan and his Council were
persuaded to abandon all concern about their recent losses,
and to devote their efforts to the cultivation of those resources which are still so largely at their disposal. What
remains to them in Europe is capable of being turned to
good account by reasonable and judicious industry. Asia
Minor, more or less productive everywhere, is a country
in most parts of remarkable fertility, neglected indeed, but
not exhausted by its Mahometan occupants. Syria, Palestine, and Arabia are by no means unproductive appendages
to the Imperial sceptre. Even in the European provinces
lost to Turkey as subject departments, there follows from
their new position a sense of independence which converts their hatred of Ottoman tyranny into a jealous
susceptibilit}^ of meddling patronage on the part of their
deliverers. A tutelary border of this kind may be recognised as subsisting from the mouths of the Danube to
the Adriatic coast. The altered feeling of Boumania is
no secret. I t is reasonable to suppose that the Servians,
in strengthening their independence, have also strengthened
their unwillingness to be made the tools of a foreign,
though Christian, protector.
The occupation of Bosnia
and the Herzegovina by Austria has hitherto assumed no
permanent character, but there is no lack of probability
in favour of its indefinite duration; and accession by
treaty, if the extent were unchangeably limited, would have
the effect of making Austria a sympathetic instead of a

54

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[ix.

predatory neighbour to the Sultan's dominions in
Europe.
According to the press and town gossips, reform is the
foremost and urgent demand of the Porte's best friends,
and it would seem that in Asia Minor some process
bearing that name is in actual operation. But reform has as
many heads as a hydra, and Turkey has need of the whole
growth. The important question is with which to begin,
and the obvious answer is ECONOMY. Magnum est veetigal
parsimonia.
Sufficient provision being made for internal
tranquillity by the formation of an effective Police or corps
of Gendarmerie, Turkey may safely dispense for the present
with numerous armaments and expensive establishments.
Her wdsest policy is to acknowledge what every one knows,
namely, her fiscal destitution, and to replace a nominal
extravagance by an open and honest submission to necessity. For this preliminary reform nothing is required but
the will of supreme authorit}^.
Much might also be gained with a view to ultimate
revival, by clearing up the field of pecuniary obligation.
At present that suffocating incubus presses fatally on what
remains of vitality to the guardian of the great commercial
outlet from the Black Sea and its adjacent shores.
To
liquidate is not the same as to pay, but it has the effect
of bringing an oppressive phantom within the limits of a
distinct outline, and pointing to the manner in which the
component difficulties may be dealt with, possibly lessened,
and, at least, distributed for final extinction on a larger
and more convenient extent of time. The work might be
confided to a Secret Commission, including two or three
foreigners, acting under oath.
This part of the reforming plan might be extended
beneficially, and indeed indispensably, to -»the leading
branches of national prosperity, Trade, Agriculture, Mines,

1880.]

CHANGES REQUISITE IN FINANCIAL SYSTEM.

55

Forests, and what may be termed, Harbourage.
Turkey
is deficient in practical knowledge, capital, and systematic
persistency, and therefore,.at least for a time, these elements
of national progress must be imported from other countries
in proportions due to respect for sovereignty.
Whether reform be applied to Police, to Judicature, to
Administration, or to any other indispensable department,
a sound and productive system of finance must lie underneath as its requisite foundation. I n every case agents
of suitable rank must be employed; and agents, be they
natives or foreigners, Christian or Mahometan, must be paid,
moderately, no doubt, but regularly paid. Here it is that the
shoe pinches. Turkey is in a state of bankruptcy. Its
inhabitants are already taxed to the utmost. The pump,
the hydraulic engine, cannot be worked without assistance
from abroad. As matters now stand there can be no assistance of that kind without sacrifice, none without confidence
exposed in the end to mischance. The most cautious
suggestion of relief can hardly fail to be more or less
unpalatable, though strongly recommended by some commanding interest or some unavoidable requirement.
Turkey reformed is no longer the imperious, fanatical
Power with which the Christian Sovereigns originally made
their treaties. Trade being then the principal object in
view, the Capitulations, as they are called, were framed for
its encouragement, and also for the personal protection
of the merchants and their property engaged in it. The
Porte was at that time willing enough, and magnificently
careless enough, to be liberal in the matters of commercial
exchange, and the custom-house duties were in consequence
comparatively light. Alterations were made some years
ago, but a larger opening is now recommended by justice,
and indeed to all appearance demanded, by the force of
events. Abuses of the diplomatic privilege are confidently

56

THE EASTEKN

QUESTION.

[IX.

stated to have acquired a degree of magnitude seriously
injurious to the Turkish revenue, nor is the charge at
all improbable, considering the number of small countries
which have treaties with the Porte commercially similar to
those of the greater ones, and therefore liable to abuse by
the swarm of Ministers, Consuls, and their respective
adherents.
As all the Powers, great and small, having treaties with
the Porte, may be presumed to stand upon the same footing
with respect to commercial stipulations, there would, no
doubt, be difficulty in procuring the desired agreement.
But right to propose and reason to enforce the proposal
might be expected to have weight, especially if the Sultan
insisted, and the Sultan's most committed and most interested ally were to take the lead by a declared readiness
to follow up advice with example. This surely would be
the most direct road by which the Turkish Government
could regain a portion of that confidence which Europe has
been compelled to withdraw, and avoid the ruinous scandal
of raising a loan on the credit of securities already pledged
by formal engagements to its deluded bondholders.
All other sources of financial relief are not irrevocably
sealed up. Abolition of farming the revenue, improvement
in the mode of collection, and a determined repression of
every corrupt practice, if not already adopted, depend on
the will of those who wield the authority of the State.
Overtopping the level of all these reforms, supposing
them to be realised, towers the war indemnity extorted by
.Russia. Though countenanced by custom, justice and
generous feeling repudiate the crushing infliction. Besides
that, Turkey only stood on her defence. Russia had no
separate right of war against Turkey, nor had she any authority from the other signatories of the Treat}' of Paris to
act for them. Moreover, she obtained by her final triumph

1880.]

THE WAR INDEMNITY.

57

in the field not only the declared object of her hostility in
Europe, and more if Bessarabia be included, but large
accessions of territory for her own special profit in Asia.
There is one way, and to my apprehension one way only,
by which this lien on the Porte's independence, this breach
of Europe's interests, can be in some moderate degree
counteracted. Eoumania, Servia, the Herzegovina and
Bosnia have all obtained, by the decisions of Berlin, either
emancipation from Turkish misrule, or confirmation with
enlargement of pre-existing privileges. Advantages of so
precious a nature may not be convertible into the customary
medium of subsistence, but they possess an appreciable
measure in theory, and if the theory were brought into a
shape of reality, the gain to Turkey, and through it to the
interested parts of Europe would be considerable. The
decision is not within the province of any private individual,
although it might well become a British Administration to
take it in hand. The amount of contribution, after applying a reasonable portion of it to the use of the respective
provinces, might be made an object of negotiation with the
capitalists, and possibly be employed in procuring a diminution of the whole in return for an immediate payment of a
part of the indemnity.
There would still remain the obstacles to good government arising from the social and political condition of the
Ottoman Empire. An assembly formed by elections more
or less popular has been tried with a fair promise of success,
but it has lapsed into vacancy, and we hear no more of its
recall. It may well be doubted whether any kind of national
assembly would find an appropriate sphere of action in
Turkey. Something is wanted between a tool of arbitrary
power and an overpowering democracy. A supreme council
at the seat of government appears to be the least objection-

58

THE EASTEKN

QUESTION.

[IX.

able resource, and that form of consultative authority is
familiar to the inhabitants of Constantinople. Improved
by free elections from the provincial councils open to all
classes, and itself so constituted as to check without excluding the Sultan's interference, it might be found to work
with sufficient effect for present purposes, and in due season
be capable of expanding into a less restrained exercise of
administrative power.
When I was Ambassador at Constantinople I never
recommended reform as a cure of the existing evils.
My language on that subject was scrupulously limited to
what appeared to be the reality of the case. It may be
expressed in the following terms. You are on the road to
ruin, owing in part to your principles of administration, in
part to the abuse of them. In advising reform I do not
pretend to oifer a perfect remedy. Of this only I feel at all
confident. The adoption of judicious reform will make your
future course more useful to yourselves, and more satisfactory to your allies. It is calculated to retard the evil
hour, and to soften its asperity when it comes ; nor does it
by any means exclude the possibility of final recovery.
The questions of Cyprus, Eailways, and Syria I leave to
those who possess information derived from personal acquaintance with the localities. I also refrain from enlarging
on the reasons which afford the Danubian and Mediterranean
Powers, together with England, such ample causes for
opposing the ambitious, never-sleeping policy of Eussia
with respect to the Turkish Empire and its great intermediate channels. It requires but little information to
know that the Bosphorus may be an instrument of good
or of evil according to the policy and power of its occupant.
In hands of an illiberal character, it might become an
obstacle to the commercial intercourse of several nations.

1880.]

THE POSSESSION OF THE BOSPHOBUS.

59

Eussia would probably not be slow to make it an outlet
for naval armaments capable of increase to any amount, and
pregnant with danger to the fleets and territories of Southern
Europe.
Public opinion is already settled on these points.

X.
MEMORANDUM ON THE CLAIMS OF GREECE
TO AN EXTENSION OF TERRITORY.
[Hitherto unpublished.]
Written in the Summer of 1880.

I WANT to show, on t h e strength of responsible documents,
why I t h i n k t h e Christian Powers wrong in forcing on the
Sultan his assent to their territorial demands on behalf of
Greece.
My present impression is t h a t the Greeks have no ground
of claim : the pretext of their not attacking T u r k e y when
threatened or invaded by Russia, has no value, as the
P o r t e did no wrong to Greece at those periods. I believe,
moreover, t h a t neither E n g l a n d alone, nor t h e Christian
Powers united, ever promised more t h a n a consideration of
the Greek pretensions at t h e proper time,* and when the
time came, t h a t they only agreed to advise a rectification of
frontier.! Finally, t h a t to compel T u r k e y by force of arms
to accept the present demand would be not only unjust, b u t
highly impolitic, and contrary to those E u r o p e a n interests
which keep the P o r t e at Constantinople. I
I believe the existing frontier between T u r k e y and Greece
* See Blue Book, Turkey, No. 39 (1878). Berlin Congress, pp. 134
and 135.
t lb., pp. 140 and 197.
X lb., p. 198.

1880.]

THE GREEK CLAIMS UNREASONABLE.

61

to be essentially good. I t separates the rival parties and
affords easy means of defence to the Greeks. I t was
recommended by the three Plenipotentiaries, and accepted
by the London Conference in 1829—30.
That the Greeks should desire a larger extent of territory
is natural enough, and it appears that the Berlin Congress,
including England, has agreed to recommend a rectification
of the frontier.
But what is now required of the Sultan is a large cession
of territory, which far from producing a permanent settlement would only encourage the Greeks in their desire for
still further extension.
Now the Turks have given no cause of offence to the
Greeks, and for the interests of Europe require to be
strengthened by measures of relief, rather than weakened
by further acts of spoliation.
If the Powers of Christendom went so far as to enforce
assent to their demands by war, they would commit an act
of injustice not only dishonourable, but injurious to their
own interests.
A moderate line of extension, however unnecessary,
might and probably would be granted by Turkey to the
Greek Government, and such a line could be traced without
effort on the map.
A sacrifice thus limited might be made without very
serious increase of the pressure upon Turkey, and with the
additional advantage of saving the character of Christendom
from the shame of voluntary discredit and impolicy.
The strongest ground of claim advanced by the Greeks
after all falls far short of their present pretensions. I n the
late war they had prepared for attacking the Turks, and were
quieted by England's promise to have their case considered
whenever negotiations for peace should take place. This
promise was carried into effect at the Berlin Congress, and

62

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[x.

the result was a promise to recommend a rectification of the
Turco-Greek frontier. The Powers are now called upon to
make a very considerable cession to Greece under the misapplied term of rectification, on unsubstantial ground, and
with no satisfactory prospect of a lasting settlement.

PART II.
REVIEWS AND ARTICLES.

TURKEY AND GREECE.
[Of the following articles contributed to the Nineteenth Century by Lord
Stratford de EedclifFe, the first two contain a review of the political
history of Turkey in connection with European politics ; the purpose of
the tlii^d is clearly explained by its own title ; the fourth and fifth comprise a summary of the history of the revival of Greek independence.]

XI.
TURKEY-I
[TO THE EDITOR OF "THE NINETEENTH CENTURY."
MAY, 1877.)

SIR,—The article which occupies the last leaves in this
number of your Eeview was, of course, known to you
beforehand. You were also acquainted with the manner in
which it came under my notice after being wholly out of
sight and memory little less than fourteen years. I t is
with pleasure that I accede to your wish of publishing it.
Whatever interest it retains may be traced to the essential
vitality of the Eastern Question. Your own description of
it as a bird's-eye vietv may best enable the reader to appreciate its character.
Circumstances and personal influences have necessarily
had their effect upon the general question, and require some
special notice in order to explain what here and there might
otherwise seem to be contradictions.
Such statements or remarks as are thus required may find,
I think, their most appropriate place at the close of each
part of my original paper.
Yours truly,
STRATFORD DE

E.]

IN this nether world of ours it often happens that what is
the most talked of is the least known. We like to have
the sources of wonder well stirred within us. Life, in a
F

66

THE EASTEEN QUESTION.

[PART I I .

physical point of view, is excitement. "Wonder, by exciting
our curiosity, quickens the sense of existence, and nothing
leads more to wonder than the mysterious and unknown.
Was ever countiy, for instance, more talked of and written
about than Turkey ? Yet in some respects, and those not
the least important, Japan and New Zealand are better
known to us than the Sultan's empire. Geographically, we
have a fair notion of its outline by sea and by land. Historically, we are not without the means of learning by what
succession of events and under what inspiration the Turks
obtained so vast an extent of dominion. Commercially, we
are acquainted with the principal products of Turkey, and
the foreign articles which enter most into the consumption
of its inhabitants. We possess even a general idea of the
religious tenets and national usages which give more or less
a peculiar form and colour to that complicated texture of
races, creeds, languages, and costumes, which is pictured on
our mind's eye whenever we think of the Levant. But when
some passing occurrence, some political omen, forces our
attention into a closer examination of the actual state of
Turkey, of the relations in which the sovereign and his
people, the various classes of society, the government and
foreign powers stand severally towards one another, we find
it no easy matter to obtain a clear insight into these various
departments of a most extensive and complicated subject.
Have we occasion to appreciate with correctness the causes
of weakness, disturbance, and decay, which operate so
powerfully on the Ottoman Empire, or the character and
extent of those undeveloped resources on which the advocates of Turkish regeneration bottom their hopes, we are
sadly at a loss for information calculated to enlighten our
judgment and to fix our opinion on solid and practical
grounds.
Our marked deficiency in these respects can hardly fail to

1877.]

DIFFICULTY OF DEALING WITH TURKEY.

67

expose us to serious errors. We are liable to form a mistaken estimate of the great interests which may at any
moment be irretrievably compromised by our ignorance, or
to neglect the timely adoption of measures which might
avert, or, at least, indefinitely postpone, a dangerous and
threatening contingency.
The author of these pages would mislead the public if he
pretended to supply the amount of knowledge required to
meet so vast a demand. He can only hope to bring more
prominently and distinctly into view such circumstances in
the state of Turkey as are essential to a clear apprehension
of the subject, and to place in their proper light those
leading considerations which are best calculated to settle
our judgment as to the affairs of that country. Should he
succeed in carrying out the plan thus limited, and render
thereby his own convictions acceptable to others, he would
find in that result a full compensation for the trouble and
anxiety which are sure to wait on the performance of such a
task. His motives for undertaking it are stimulated by recent
events, particularly by the death of Sultan Abdul-Medjid,
and his brother's accession to the Ottoman throne. These
unexpected changes have directed public attention more
than ever towards the seat of power in Turkey, and it is by
no means improbable that a crisis of vital importance to
ourselves and to all Europe ma}' speedily arise out of their
consequences. A residence of some years in the Levant,
and personal opportunities of observing much that has occurred there of late, may perhaps entitle him to an impartial
hearing.
The Turks are separated from us by so many barriers
that, when we are summoned to give them a thought, our
first impression is one of surprise that we should have any
interests in common with them, or that we should entertain
any wish either to press our advice upon them, or to step
F 2

68

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART I I .

forward, at our own cost, in their defence. Why, it may
naturally be asked, should a Christian State concern itself
about the welfare of a people whose rule of action is the
Koran ? Why should those who live under a free constitution desire the maintenance of an empire governed on
despotic principles ? Why should a nation whose Saxon
literature embraces the whole circle of knowledge, ally
itself with a horde of Tartars—for such the Turks originally were—whose written idiom is almost exclusively confined to tracts and commentaries steeped in bigotry and
alien from truth ?
Yet, obvious and natural as these impressions may in
appearance be, we cannot with prudence or safety adopt
them as the grounds of our national policy. Xong before
we had any territorial footing in the Mediterranean, that
spirit of trade and navigation, which belongs so emphatically
to the British Isles, had led us into commercial intercourse
with the shores of Turkey. Those who embarked in the
trade with that country required protection for their persons
and properties against the violence of a despotic government, the cupidity of local authorities, and the prejudices of
a fanatical population. We are indebted to the same great
Princess for the Levant and East India companies, which,
in their day, though now consigned to the common restingplace of humanity, rendered service to the State on no
common scale of magnitude. It was in connection with the
former, and in support of its establishment, that our first
ostensible engagements with the Porte were contracted
under the name of " capitulations." These, and some
additional treaties still in vigour, constitute our legal
securities for justice and friendly treatment wherever the
Sultan's power is practically maintained.
The charter of the Levant Company, though it originated
in the year 1581, dates in its improved shape from the reigns

1877.]

OUR TRADE WITH TURKEY.

69

of James I . and Charles I I . The capitulations, as now
existing, date from the year 1675, but refer in several of
their preliminary clauses to earlier periods, beginning with
the reign of Elizabeth.
The trade which, thus protected, took root and gradually
spread through the Levant, has, we all know, of late years
taken much larger proportions. I t now comprises the
transit trade with Persia, and altogether stands at a high
figure in our table of imports and exports, as annually
presented to the two Houses of Parliament. It also includes
our trade in grain and other important articles of produce
with the Danubian Provinces, and in other articles with the
neighbouring districts of Russia. The shipping employed
in conveying such articles of export from that quarter, as
well as the corresponding articles of exchange manufactured
in Great Britain, must of necessity thread its way through
the narrow, well-fortified channels of the Bosphorus and
Dardanelles. No inconsiderable portion of our trade with
Hungary, and in general with the States of Austria, inclines
to follow the same direction; and that tendency can hardly
fail to be increased by the new and shorter lines of communication, which, as in the recent instance of Kustendjee,
promise to facilitate our means of commercial intercourse,
whether by rail or by canal.
M'Culloch, in his celebrated work, the Dictionary of
Commerce and Commercial Navigation, remarks that " t h e
trade between England and Turkey is of much greater
value and importance than is generally supposed, and it appears to be susceptible of an almost indefinite increase. ,,
He goes on to say that " i n 1825 we exported direct to
Turkey, including what is now the kingdom of Greece,
13,674,000 yards of cotton cloth, and 446,462 lbs. of cotton
twist. In 1831, we exported to Turkey (exclusive of the
Morea) 24,555,000yards of cloth, and 1,735,760 lbs. of twist."

70

THE EASTEKN QUESTION.

[PART IT.

" P l a i n goods " (speaking of Manchester), he adds, " n o w
form the half of our investments for Turkey, and it is impossible, seeing the extent to which articles of this sort are
made use of in all parts of the Empire, to form any clear
idea of the magnitude of this trade."
Ubicini, in his valuable letters on Turkey, refers to the
eventual concession by the Sultan's government to European
foreigners of the power to hold land as property in the
Ottoman dominions.
Calculez (says he, in the pursuit of this idea) Pessor prodigieux que
peuvent prendre, en peu d'annees, 1'agriculture et le commerce de la
Turquie, sortie de son mal precaire, degagee des entraves qui la genent,
maitresse de ses populations, et fecondee a l'interieur par l'industrie et
les capitaux de 1'Europe, dont les amies ladefendront contre les attaques
du dehors.

In confirmation of these prospects, even under the existing system of Turkish law, we learn from the returns
presented officially to Parliament that in the year 1854 our
imports from Turkey, Moldavia, Wallachia, Egypt, and
Syria, amounted in real declared value to £6,131,110, and
from Turkey alone to £2,219,298; that four years later,
namely in 1858, the former of those two amounts had increased to £9,786,299, and the latter to £2,632,716; that,
moreover, taking the account of exports of British and Irish
produce to all the countries specified above for the same
years respectively, in real declared value, the amount for
1854 was £4,475,483 ; for 1858, £7,188,528, and for Turkey
alone £2,758,605 in 1854, £4,256,406 in 1858.
Experience and conjecture, facts and appearances, thus
converge towards the same point, and warrant a steady
belief that the interest we take in the welfare of Turkey is
not imaginary, but well-grounded, substantial, and progressive. Be it remembered at the same time that in giving
our support to the maintenance of the Ottoman Empire, to the

1877.]

THE POBTE'S ENCOURAGEMENT

OF TRADE.

71

improvement of its administration, and to the expansion of
its resources, we promote the interest of a State whose commercial policy is singularly liberal, and from an earlier
period in advance of European legislation. M'Culloch, in
his work already quoted, observes that " in almost all that
relates to her commercial regulations Turkey is entitled to
read a lesson to the most civilised European powers."
Whatever may have been the cause of it, this superiority in
so important a respect is highly to the credit of a government so constituted as that of Turkey. Ascribe it, if you
please, to ignorance or to indifference—that ignorance, which
steps instinctively before others into the right course,
possesses a claim to our goodwill, and that indifference,
which opened a great empire to useful intercourse with all
friendly countries, had at least the merit of not being repulsive in its character. But on either of these suppositions
how are we to explain the positive encouragement given by
the Porte to commercial adventurers from abroad, and
carried even to the extreme of allowing the ambassador and
consuls of their nation to exercise judicial authority within
the Turkish dominions ?
At all events, in so far as the Porte, however mechanically,
acted on the principles of free trade, the advantage which
her adoption of them conferred on foreign countries operated
to the effect of diminishing that estrangement which mutual
fanaticism had long engendered between the Christian and
the Mussulman. England and France in particular were
not slow to improve the opening afforded by these means to
a more cordial understanding between their respective
subjects and the inhabitants of Turkey.
The British
Government appears to have lost no opportunity of cultivating friendly relations with the Sultan. Its endeavours
from an early period were directed towards the maintenance
or restoration of a state of peace in the Levant, and those

72

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PAET I .

endeavours became more frequent and active in proportion
as the declining strength of Turkey yielded to the pressure
of neighbouring powers. Even the apparent exceptions
offered by our policy in 1806, when, in league with the
Eussians, we sent a squadron to the Bosphorus, and in
1827, when we joined with the Czar and the Bourbon in
founding the constitutional monarchy of Greece, were not
the results of any unfriendly sentiment. In the former
case, which was that of a fearful crisis in European affairs,
we had to detach the Porte from a dangerous and unwilling
subserviency to France. In the latter we aimed at bringing
the Porte into an arrangement which promised to have the
effect of closing a breach in her dominions favourable to
Russian aggression, and of realising a system of reform
required for the recovery of her independence and internal
prosperity.
Knolles in his history of the Turks, which was praised
so highly by Dr. Johnson, relates that in the year 1621 Sir
Thomas Rowe, a distinguished diplomatist of that time,
arrived at Constantinople with the character of ambassador
in ordinary from King James the First. Among the important objects which Sir Thomas was instructed to submit to
Sultan Osman, there figures an offer of British mediation
between His Highness and the King of Poland, who were
then at war with each other. In the discharge of this duty
the ambassador is stated to have used the following words
on his sovereign's behalf:—
His Majesty hath commanded me to offer himself as a mediator of
peace to accommodate the late breach with the kingdom of Poland, . . .
which, if your Majesty shall hearken unto the rather for his sako, as
your royal ancestor hath done in the like occasion, His Majesty will
accept it as a respect of your love, which will assure and increase the
commerce and friendship of your dominions.

The Sultan in his reply to the Jking declares that—
whensoever on behalf of the Polacks an ambassador shall arrive at our

1S77.]

DANGEROUS POSITION OF TURKEY.

73

high court, . . . and shall desire our favour and amity, by the mediation
of your resident now in our imperial port, all matters shall be pacified
and ended, and with a pen we will blot out all former differences, and the
peace being so established, your instances and desires for them shall
have grateful acceptance with us.

His Highness's letter concludes with the warmest expressions of goodwill and friendship on his part towards the
King of England, and of a confident expectation that, " as
in times past," the " ancient, perfect, and acceptable course
of friendship will be always observed and maintained."
I t is evident from a perusal of these passages that the
mediation of England was acceptable to the Porte, that it
had been used on previous occasions, and that both parties
felt the value of each other's friendship, the one as taking a
lively interest in the peace and welfare of Turkey, the other
as liking to have an instrument of accommodation on which
reliance could be placed in times of emergency.
The Turkish Empire, in proportion as its power declines,
is exposed on every side to the encroachment of its neighbours. Even Persia, though a Mohammedan country, yet
differing from Turkey on points of religious belief, and
greatly inferior with respect to extent and population, is not
a rival who can be safely despised. Since the last retreat
of the Turks from before Vienna, Austria has succeeded in
recovering much of the territory which she had previously
lost in her wars with t h e m ; and although her habitual
policy on that side is far from being aggressive, she would
not be wanting in power to share the spoil should Turkey
ever be marked by others for dismemberment. Justly or
not, few doubt that France has an eye, eventually, to Syria and
Egypt; nor can anyone be reasonably surprised when Russia
betrays her impatience to possess the golden key of the sick
man's chamber-door. For other powers, who either participate generally in the Levant trade, or have a special
share in that of the Black Sea, there would be little satis-

71

THE EASTEEN QUESTION.

[PART I I .

faction in the transfer of the whole course of the Danube
to Austria, or in that of the Dardanelles and Bosphorus to
Russia, whose commercial policy differs so widely from the
commercial practice of Turkey. For us, who have strong
inducements not to sympathise with such powers, and who,
moreover, are bound, in virtue of our East-Indian possessions, to prevent the Isthmus of Suez from falling into other
and rival hands/ there can be no prospect less attractive
than that of a dissolution of the Turkish Empire. Any
compensation which we might find it necessary in such case
to seek for ourselves on the ground of international
equipoise would probably cost us dear, and prove, at the
best, inadequate.
Considerations of this kind must surely have weighed with
those who successively administered the affairs of England
from after the Revolution of 1688. I have already cited an
early example of the policy thus recommended to the
British Government by circumstances traceable to natural
causes, or, at least, to causes independent of our control.
Another, on a larger scale, is to be found in the later annals
of Europe.
During many years, scarce less than twenty, the Turks
had been engaged with Austria, or rather the Emperor of
Germany, in hostilities, generally disastrous to themselves,
when England in the reign of "William and Mary, seconded
by the States-General of Holland, mediated a peace between
them. The treaty, which was not definitively signed till
January, 1699, was accompanied with separate treaties
between Poland, Russia, Vienna, respectively, and the
Porte.
Again, in 1712, it appears from a letter, addressed by
Sultan Achmet the Third to Charles the Twelfth of Sweden,
and cited in the fifth volume of Russell's Modern Europe,
that England, together with the States-General, had offered

1877.]

THE OLD POLICY OF ENGLAND.

75

their mediation to effect a lasting peace between the Porte
and Russia, which is described as having received a full
ratification from the two contracting parties. England and
her colleague in the mediation are styled in this letter the
" ancient allies " of the Porte.
In 1739 the war, which had commenced between Eussia
and the Porte three years before, and somewhat later between
the Porte and Austria, was brought to a conclusion, not by
the mediation of England, but with the assistance of France.
The terms of peace were advantageous to the Sultan, whose
arms had previously obtained more than one important
success in battle over the Austrians. I t may be inferred
from these circumstances that if the British Government
abstained from taking part in the negotiations for peace,
they were actuated less by indifference to the interests of
Turkey than by a well-grounded reliance on the strength of
the Sultan's position.
The war which broke out in 1787 between the Turks and the
Russians afforded the British Government an opportunity of
displaying a very remarkable consideration for the interests of
the former. They mediated between the belligerents, and
even went so far as to arm in support of their proposition
that the Porte should not be compelled to cede the fortress
of Oczakoff to Russia. In the Parliamentary debates of
1791-2 there is evidence of no small difference of opinion
on this subject; but the views of the Ministers were supported by decisive majorities, and much of the difference is
to be attributed to party spirit, then running high.
In tracing the policy of England towards the Ottoman
Empire from early times we now reach a period when the
great questions brought into play by the Revolution of 1789
gave their own peculiar character to passing events, and
when everything in public life took colour from'the passions
engaged on the one side or the other. Our expedition to

76

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PAET I I .

Egypt at the close of the last century originated, no doubt,
in our state of war with France. But would not our
friendly concern for Turkey and the interest we felt in preventing the transfer of Egypt to another power have alone
induced us to oppose the progress of Buonaparte's arms ?
The Turks, at least, evinced no jealousy of our successes,
and the co-operation of their forces with ours appears to
have been cordial and effective. A few years later, indeed,
the increased necessity of making head against a power
which set no bounds to its ambition and hatred of British
independence, engaged us for Bussian objects in a quarrel
with our old allies. Yet history shows that no sooner had
Bussia been forced by the French Emperor to abandon her
connection with us than we hastened to open a separate
negotiation for peace with them, and that, much as they
stood in fear of France, they finally received our plenipotentiary, and concluded a treat}?- with him. Nor can it be
forgotten that, while Ave were still in a formal state of war
with Bussia, the Porte requested our mediation for the
settlement of her own differences with the Czar, and that,
by aid of confidential communications between the British
Embassy at Constantinople and the Bussian commanders
in Wallachia, the treaty of Bucharest was concluded in
May, 1812.
The events which accompanied the Hellenic war of independence, though often in appearance and effect hostile to
Turkey, were certainly not so in spirit on the part of
England. The war in its origin was kindled by internal
fermentation, fanned, it may well be supposed, by Bussian
sympathy and something more. Our intervention, though
friendly to the Greeks, was yet more friendly to the Turks,
inasmuch as it was directed to a pacification calculated to
limit sacrifices on their part, which could not be entirely
avoided. The Porte, notwithstanding the massacres com-

1877.]

ENGLISH OBLIGATIONS TO TUEKEY.

77

mitted under her authority at Constantinople and Scio,
might have settled the affairs of Greece by accepting conditions grounded on the concession of an independent administration for the Morea, with Turkish garrisons in its
strong places. Sultan Mahmoud, deceived by misrepresentation and self-confidence, determined otherwise, and
the results were not only the establishment of a Greek
monarchy, but, to our great regret, the battle of Navarino
and the Treaty of Adrianople.
I t was not long before we displayed the true character of
our policy in the Levant. At the risk of a war with France
we bombarded St. Jean cVAcre, and helped to drive the
forces of Mehemet Ali out of Syria, and later, at the price
of much blood and treasure, we declared war against Eussia
for the protection of the Porte, and undertook in concert
with France those vast expeditions which terminated so
brilliantly for us and our allies.
The fall of Sebastopol, which most of us are old enough
to have witnessed, had the effect of placing us in a new
position towards the Ottoman Empire. For the first time
in history the Porte has taken part, by means of a solemn
treaty, in that international system which has long prevailed
among the Powers of Christendom, and we have pledged
ourselves by an express and formal guarantee to maintain
the independence and integrity of the Sultan's recognised
dominions. We are no longer exposed, as heretofore, to
the mere hazard of having, in virtue of a traditional polic}r,
but also at our own convenience and discretion, to step
forward in support of Turkish interests when threatened
with some impending danger. We are henceforward bound
by a distinct, imperative obligation, as in the case of Portugal,
to redeem the pledge we have given in concert with our allies.
Should any aggression be made on the territories or national
independence of Turkey, we could not in honour reject the

78

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART II.

appeal which would doubtless be made to our good faith,
even if it were to involve us in hostilities with an aggressive
power or an aggressive coalition. It may be said that such
a contingency is remote or improbable. The answer is
obvious. What has happened already more than once may
at any time happen again. What in earlier times required
a long period and an unusual concurrence of circumstances
to bring it about, may in these days of frequent innovation,
of rapid movement, and of almost morbid impatience, be at
our very doors before we are more than vaguely warned of
its approach. Is this a fanciful representation ? Let us
test it by the experience of facts. Who, in the first week of
February 1848, foresaw that the political movement in
France announced more than the overthrow of a ministry
and some extension of the popular franchise, that before
the close of the month not only a sovereign but a dynasty
would be expelled from the throne and realm of France,
and that a republic would as suddenly be established on the
ruins of the exploded monarchy? Who could have imagined
that, in little more than eight weeks from the period of those
events, Berlin would be in the hands of its populace, Vienna
at the mercy of its students and volunteers, Metternich an
exile, and the Pope a fugitive ? Who among those who went
to bed in authority on the night which preceded the famous
COUJJ cVeiat at Paris, suspected that by daylight next morning
he would be a prisoner or a convict, holding his life at the
will of a successful conspirator who but two days before had
sworn fidelity to the commonwealth over which he presided ?
Let us not forget that a few words addressed by thQ French
Emperor to the Austrian ambassador at his court, on New
Year's day in 1859, gave to Europe the first intimation of a
war which in less than six months made the dream of Italian
resurrection a reality, and that the colossal struggle now
frantically raging in America from one end of the Union to

1877.]

THE UNCERTAINTY OF TREATIES.

79

the other was unperceived by European forethought less
than a year ago, and was then, even to American vigilance,
no bigger than the prophet's embryo cloud on a remote
horizon. Did not the massacres in Syria come upon us by
surprise ? Did we not feel the necessity of hastening to
assist in their suppression ? Were we not placed in the
alternative of either sending out an expedition ourselves, or
relying on the arms and good faith of a rival power? Have
we any substantial security against the recurrence of similar
horrors, of a similar necessity, and of a similar hazard ?
But those who respect the faith of treaties, and acknowledge the claims of international law, maj^ give full credit to
others for acting upon the same principles. Such, consequently, may find in the terms agreed upon at Paris a
sufficient barrier against any danger to wrhich the Ottoman
Empire might otherwise be liable from inherent weakness
or habitual misgovernment. For my own part, I should be
glad to share this confidence, and to find it borne out by
the consistent practice of nations. I fear, however, that
experience, which cannot be discarded from political calculations with safety, points but too often in a contrary
direction. A temporary pressure or change of political
relations will never be wanting to excuse a loose attention to
formal engagements. Duty has the pliancy of a sentiment;
interest operates with the force of a mechanical power.
When the wind is too strong for plain sailing, we take in
our canvas, and drive before the gale sometimes even under
bare poles. The Congress of Vienna has something to
teach us in this respect. Never were the interests of
Europe more generally and deeply concerned than at that
period. Never did plenipotentiaries meet under circumstances of greater solemnity. Never was there a louder call for
honest dealing, and durable settlements. Lo! half a century
has not elapsed since the completion of its labours, and

80.

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART n .

where are now the results of them ? Can anyone deny that
they have become little more than a record and a name ?
Have they held good in Italy ? Have they prevented the
territorial aggrandisement of France? Have they protected
the rights of Switzerland ? Have they not been openly
violated or tacitly disregarded in favour of the very parties
whom they were expressly intended to restrain ? When the
Emperor Nicholas suggested the dismemberment of Turkey,
was he not bound to that treaty which in 1841 declared the
maintenance of the Turkish Empire in its integrity to be a
point of solemn agreement amongst the parties who signed
it ? During the negotiation of the last treaty of Paris in
1856 and since its conclusion, have not appearances in some
measure warranted the prevailing impression that France
and Eussia were prepared to act in concert, though cautiously,
for bringing on a solution of the Eastern Question ? On a
distant and very different theatre, have more than seventy
years of brotherhood in the same constitutional system
prevented the two great divisions of Washington's Union
from tearing their mutual ties asunder, and treating each
other, respectively, as tyrants and rebels, the former enforcing and the latter dissolving those mutual obligations
with equal injustice and questionable faith ? In fine, there
is too much reason to apprehend that the treaty guaranty
may prove a snare to the Turks as well as to ourselves,
without furnishing any reliable security against the dangers
to which their dilapidated empire is exposed from other
quarters. They, while relying on the guaranty, are tempted
to neglect their internal resources, and we, in the sincerity
of our purpose, are disinclined to counteract their negligence
by adequate exertions^
A very important interest, already alluded to, comes in
aid of the motives suggested by our obligations under the
treaty. We are dependent on the Porte for our most direct

1877.]

EGYPT AND THE CANAL.

81

and speediest communication with India. In proportion as
Her Majesty's territories in that country become more
identified with the Government at home, it is desirable that
the established means of intercourse between both should
be, as much as possible, rapid and sure. "Whether the
telegraphic wires, and eventually the conveyance by steam,
be carried over the Isthmus of Suez or along the valley of
the Euphrates, both lines must necessarily stand in need of
Turkish protection, and it is evident that whatever tends to
weaken or endanger that protection must be injurious to our
interests in no common degree.
Let ns imagine Egypt in the possession of a power whose
population, active, warlike, intelligent, and ambitious, is
ever prone to entertain a jealous, and not unfrequently a
hostile, feeling towards England. The Mediterranean shores
of Egypt are so well fortified—thanks to the skill of French
engineers—that whether the Viceroy were to raise the
standard of independence, or to be overpowered by foreign
stratagem, we should have little chance, and the Porte still
less, of forcing his hands, except, perhaps, from the side of
Syria, and not even there if the famous canal, with its intended system of defences and its magnificent breadth of
water, were completed. In the time of the late mutiny we
should have acted with far more immediate effect if a continuous line of electric wires had been at our disposal, and
how much greater would have been our difficulties had the
passage by Suez been closed to our despatches and our
officers—-had Sir Colin Campbell, for instance, been compelled to reach the scene of his future triumphs by a voyage
round the Cape ! The case here supposed may be improbable, the very supposition of it may be unjust; but where
such momentous interests are at stake, it is our business to
look out, and our duty to guard against the worst that may
happen.
G

82

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PA£T II.

These eventualities, remember, are to be taken in connection with the magnitude of their consequences, should
they at any time occur. We must take them also in connection with the requirements of our trade in those inland
seas which bathe the extensive coasts of European and
Asiatic Turkey, with the vast political interests which may
be said to constitute us the natural supporters of the
Ottoman Empire, and with the treaty obligations which, if
they be let to come practically into force, can hardly fail to
involve us in many perilous embarrassments and costly
sacrifices. Our minds are thus involuntarily brought to an
inquiry, bristling indeed with obstacles, but also overflowing
with interest and instruction. What is the real condition
of that empire in whose destiny we cannot but feel that our
country is deeply concerned? How far is the prevailing
opinion of its decay and approaching downfall borne out by
facts ? What are the nature and extent of its remaining
resources ? By what means can they be so drawn out as to
avert or postpone indefinitely its utter ruin and dismemberment ? These questions, in truth, are not of easy solution ;
but they lie in our path, and must be examined, if not removed, before we can hope to arrive at any distinct and
satisfactory conclusion.
We owe to Macchiavelli, who is generally considered to
be a strong-minded and unprincipled writer, the remark,
which no doubt possesses much truth, that a conqueror has
no middle course between the two extremes of mixing his
own people with the vanquished race or exterminating the
latter. The Turkish camp, with a Sultan on horseback for
its leader, acted neither on the one nor on the other of
these two principles. Jew, Christian, Hindoo, idolater,
all, on submission and payment of tribute to the conquering Mussulman, were left in the enjoyment of their property,
in the exercise of their respective forms of worship, and, to

1877.]

CHRIStflA^ SUBJECTS OF TH$ PORTE.

83

a certain degree, under the local authority of magistrates
belonging to their own race and creed. Macchiavelli's
maxim is vividly illustrated by the consequences of this undecided policy, and the Sultan's government is now reaping
in progressive weakness what it originally sowed in the
plenitude of self-relying power. Its Christian subjects,
those of the Greek Church in particular, live and, in despite
of much past oppression and continued humiliation, thrive,
apart from their Mussulman fellow-subjects, as objects of
mistrust, rather than as sources of strength, to the empire
at large. The modern changes in their favour, though
mitigating in practice the disadvantages, have not essentially
altered the character of their political position. Their
numbers, wealth, and knowledge are generally on the increase, while the professors of Islamism decline for the most
part in those respects under the influence of circumstances
peculiar to their social condition.
The Sultan exercises a supreme sovereign authority over
all classes of the population in his empire. He is at the
same time a Caliph, hereditary successor of the Prophet,
and, in our language, Commander of the Faithful. The
laws by which he governs, and distributes justice through
his ministers, are fundamentally those of the Koran and
its supplementary traditions, constituting in the estimation
of Mussulmans, as we all know, the revealed will of God,
immutable and all-sufficient. This rule of administration
derives an obstructive character from its want of capacity
for conforming to the variable wants of society and the expanding views of mankind. It operates moreover as an
ever-growing source of discontent among those portions of
the population who have no convictions to reconcile them
to an arbiter of life, property, and honour, by no means
invariably consistent with sound reason or common experience, and gradually more and more discredited by the
G

%

84

THE EASTEKtf QUESTION.

[PART it

evasions and corruptions which stain while they facilitate its
administration.
The original mission of Islamism to force all nations into
its pale, either as conformists or as tributary subjects, had
naturally the effect of placing its professors in a state of
hostility, at least virtually, with all independent neighbours.
I t sanctified aggression, not otherwise justified, on the
rights of all, and ~made resistance, even of the preventive
kind, a duty and a necessity on their part. The process,
impulsive as it was, and long most wonderfully successful
carried in its bosom a principle of exhaustion, which eventually made further progress impossible, and reduced the
spirit of conquest to a stagnation more fatal to its energy
than productive of a sounder vitality. The same development of power which enabled the border states to say to
the Turkish Empire, " Hither, and no further," rendered
more apparent and less tolerable the vices of its internal
system of government. The Christians within and the
Christians without found in their mutual sympathies a fresh
aliment of hope for the former and of ambition for the
latter.
I t may readily occur to anyone who compares the East
with the West in point of public administration, that, as
a general, though varying, distinction between them, in
Eastern communities the people are held to exist for the
government, and in Western the government for the people.
In this respect the Porte does not belie its oriental origin.
Simplicity of form, constitutional indolence, when there is
no immediate stimulus, serve, however, to qualify the action
of its authority, and, since the introduction of certain reforms, the Sultan's government is less insensible than of
yore to the claims and welfare of the people. But enough
remains of the old leaven to excuse our anxiety as to what
principles and measures are likely to give a permanent

18770

INFLUENCE OF THE HAEEM,

85

character to the reign of Abdul-Aziz Khan. Appearances
thus far announce a desire of improvement on his part, but
whether in a Turkish sense, or, according to the notions
of Europe, reactionary or progressive, is by no means so
clear.
Education as used among the Turks, the practice of
domestic slavery, and, above all, the influence of the harem,
are so many further obstacles to the social and political
regeneration of the Turkish Empire. Each of these difficulties must be taken into account, as affecting, more or
less, the whole population of Turkey, as well the families
who live by their skill, their trade, or their labour, as
those who either belong to the several professions, or enjoy
the advantages of wealth and station alike in town and in
country.
Children of both sexes are brought up together in the
harem to an age which immediately precedes puberty. The
boys are then submitted to a separate treatment. Most
parents in easy, and all in opulent, circumstances have a
tutor at home for their sons. Others resort to such instruction as can be obtained at the established schools,
where, with scarcely an exception, the teaching is confined
to religious doctrine and the simplest elements of knowledge, with no language but Turkish or Arabic. What
passes in the harem is little known without, but the girls,
at best, are sure not to learn more than the boys, unless it
be needlework and household duties. To ride, to throw
the djerid, and to shoot at a target, are manly exercises
reserved, or nearly so, for youths of condition and their
principal attendants.
Of slavery little need be said. The moral effect, especially on young people, of having for servants or companions unhappy creatures possessing no will of their own,
and regarded in law as hardly better than cattle, may be

86

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART II.

easily conceived, though the records of antiquity prove that,
notwithstanding its evil tendency, it may coexist in the same
minds with much intellectual vigour and a high sense of
public duty.
The harem operates far more perniciously on the interests of society. I t confines to the narrow circle of each
family those holy influences of the wife, the mother, and
the daughter, which in Christian countries purify and irradiate the whole sphere of social life, in so far as human
infirmities will allow. I t taints, moreover, and degrades
those influences within its own contracted limits ; it entertains an atmosphere in which the low ungenerous passions
grow into luxuriance, and it tends even to counteract by
their indulgence the purposes of a beneficent Creator.
Mohammedan Turkey is thus infected with a poison
which circulates with its blood, and goes far to explain
those signs of a declining population which, except in the
capital and at some few favoured points, attract the attention and excite the wonder of travellers in that country.
More than a century has passed away since tokens of
depopulation were noticed there. I recollect to have read as
much in some work of Montesquieu, though I can neither
quote the passage nor remember its place. My own observation embraces half that period. Fifty years ago, as now,
houses tumbling into ruin, or spaces cumbered with
fragments of buildings, were visible in town and village.
Graveyards with Turkish tombstones were seen by the
roadside, or in open fields apart and far away from inhabited
places. Both in Europe and in Asia large tracts of desolation, marked here and there by traces of the plough nearly
obliterated, gave evidence of a declining empire. Whatever
increase of buildings and inhabitants may be observed at
Constantinople, or at Smyrna, we cannot venture to take it
as any proof to the contrary, since it is well known that

1877.]

DECLINE OF POPULATION AND EEVENUE.

87

whenever the means of living, or of living securely, in the
provinces falls off without a prospect of revival, the rural
or provincial population flows in upon the capital, and produces there a fallacious appearance of prosperity. Think
of a freehold estate, comprising some forty thousand acres
in surface, with a large proportion of it arable, and much
timber, conveniently situated near a port and market town
within eighty miles of Constantinople by water, selling not
long since for fifteen hundred pounds, after being possessed
during several years by English proprietors, and improved
through the management of an English bailiff.
The decrease of population affects the revenue and the
army as well as the agriculture of the Empire. The taxes
on land and produce are generally assessed for periods of
not less than four or five years. The proprietors in every
separate district of assessment are made responsible for the
whole amount, and consequently, as they diminish in
number, a greater burden is thrown upon each, together
with less capability of meeting the demand and farming with
profit. In regard to the army, which is recruited by conscription from among the Mohammedans, a failure in the
required number has been felt for several years.
This
deficiency makes it difficult for the government to spare
those youths who, in many cases, are wanted for agriculture or the support of a family. Owing to the same cause,
two-thirds of the Ottoman army exist only on paper, and
there follows not merely a greater disposition to disorder
in the provinces, but also a more exhausting pressure on
the service, and less preparation for defence against external enemies. Many parts of Turkey are highlands inhabited by wild tribes warlike in character, independent
in their habits, and brought very imperfectly, if at all,
under subjection to the Porte. Such, for instance, are the
Koords, the Albanians, the Bosnians, the mountaineers of

88

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART it.

Taurus, Lebanon, and Montenegro. Such were those who,
under the command of Scanderbeg, so long resisted whole
armies sent or led against them by renowned viziers, or
the Sultan himself in person. Such were the progenitors
of Druse and Maronite, opposed in quenchless hatred to
each other, but capable of forming an impenetrable barrier
against the Turks. The Sultan's troops, who may be said
to act as a police with respect to them, would have no
lack of employment, were the military conscription carried
out to its intended extent.
The various defects and sources of incalculable evil,
thus rather enumerated than drawn out into their full
proportions, are the more ruinous in a country where a
low standard of knowledge, a rude system of finance, a
loose method of collecting the revenue, and the want of
internal communications, go far of themselves to neutralise
the advantages of a splendid climate, a productive soil,
and an unrivalled position as well for power as for trade.
The practice of forcing a debased coinage into circulation has been long a source of disorder and discredit,
with consequent weakness, in Turkey.
That of issuing
bonds or assignats on the faith of an arbitrary government has of late increased the mischief. The exposure
of the Mires loan has made it impossible for the Porte
to seek any immediate relief in the money-markets of
Europe. Her ministers have therefore resorted to a fresh
and very extensive issue of paper money, under the name
of kaimes, not, as heretofore, confined to the capital, but
constituting a legal tender in all parts of the Empire.
Necessity may excuse the measure, but its effect, especially
if the kaimes are used for paying up the arrears of the army,
is not the less to be apprehended.
Another evil in the department of finance is the habit of
farming the principal branches of the revenue. It has

1877.]

THE NEED OF RAILWAYS.

89

nothing to recommend it but the ministerial convenience of
having more positive and earlier data for the estimates of
the year. Farming embraces sub-farming, and this part of
the system weighs with peculiar severity on the tax-payer,
without augmenting the receipts of the treasury. Every
artifice is employed by the lowest grade of farmers in order
to realise a profit on their purchase-money, and the exactions
they resort to for that purpose must be supported by
authority as a necessary condition of the system.
No country has more need of railways than Turkey.
Nowhere can they be introduced with less sacrifice. When
they were first adopted in England, the countless millions
spent on turnpike roads, if not entirely confiscated, were
at least superseded by the new invention. In the Sultan's
dominions, with scarcely an exception, there are no roads.
The inland communications are mere tracks, wide enough
in some parts, and in fine weather levelled enough by use,
for carts and small wagons, but generally more fit for horses
and camels. Wherever, by exception, a causeway has been
laid down, for the passage, perhaps, of troops and artillery,
it belongs to earlier times, and now rather interrupts than
assists communication by its broken pavement and clumsy
construction. There are districts in Asia Minor—that of
Siwas, for instance—where grain is so abundant as to sell
for an old song, while on the Black Sea coast, not a hundred
miles off, the rival produce of Eussia commands a high
price. For this impolitic advantage the Eussians are indebted to the want of a carriageable road between Siwas
and the port of shipment. No objection to railways can be
charged to the Koran. Contracts for several have been
made by the Porte with companies or enterprising individuals. With the exception, however, of thirty miles at
Kustendjee, and about the same at Smyrna, none have yet
been carried into effect.

90

THE EASTERN QUESTION

[PART n

Local wants, if not supplied from the seat of government,
have little chance of being supplied at all. No great hereditary properties, no constituted aristocrac}r, no powerful
municipalities exercise that influence which elsewhere gives
weight to provincial applications. Some years ago it was
decided that a road should be made between Broussa, the
capital of what was ancient Bithynia, and the Sea of
Marmora. The whole distance was not greater than twenty
or, it might be, twenty-five miles. The necessary orders
were given, the necessary funds were appropriated. The
Pasha of Broussa was empowered to carry the plans into
effect, and the neighbouring population was required to
devote its labour to the work for little or nothing. To this
hour a good half of the road remains to be made. The
works, for no apparent reason, came to a standstill, even
before the great earthquake had furnished an excuse for
their suspension.
If such and so many are the causes of decline within the
Turkish Empire, they are not disproportioned to those
dangers which threaten its existence from without. These
are by no means confined to the ambition of powerful princes
or to the working of adverse opinions in Christendom. They
spring in great part from causes more strictly natural, from
the physical position occupied by Turkey, and the circumstances which attended its political growth. Consider the
length of frontier which separates the Sultan's dominions
from those of Austria, Eussia, and Persia—to say nothing
of Greece, Egypt, and Barbary. The waters of the Euxine
alone break the continuity of a line extending from the
Adriatic to the Persian Gulf. A policy of conquest, not so
much resigned by choice as dropped through necessity,
operates even now so far as to keep up a jealous attention
at the Porte to frontier interests. The Colossus stands on
fragile feet, and therefore makes them the principal object

1877.]

THE PLANS AND HOPES OF KUSS1A.

91

of its care. Head and heart may shift for themselves,
provided the extremities be respected. The Porte is thus
brought into sensitive contact with its neighbours at a
thousand points. Subjects of discussion, motives for quarrel,
are seldom wanting; intrigues and sympathy work together
for the sick man's r u i n ; the very distances from one point
to another of a vast outline, and of all those points from the
capital, serve to weaken the supreme authority and to harass
its principal instrument, the army.
Russia cannot be at ease while the key of so large a
portion of her empire remains in the Sultan's possession.
If it be the will of Europe that the Bosphorus and Dardanelles should undergo no change of hands, we can hardly
bonder that Eussian policy should seek to command the
means of keeping the Porte in awe. That policy finds a
natural auxiliary in the religious sympathy of the Greeks ;
it finds another in the political or religious discontents of
Moldavia, Wallachia, Servia, and Bulgaria; yet another in
the questionable independence maintained by the highlanders
of Montenegro and even of Bosnia. It made Sebastopol,
its port and arsenal, what they were before the Crimean
war, and it may be numbered among the motives which
prevail with Russia to keep up a military establishment at
once so onerous and so imposing. It works, moreover, by
intrigue, by affiliation with the Armenians, by issuing protections in the form of passports to Christian subjects of the
Porte, by tampering with frontier tribes, and moving the
springs of corruption wherever they can be played with
advantage^
From other motives and in other ways the French, though
not immediately bordering on Turkey, but too often act so
as to warrant a certain degree of mistrust and apprehension
on its part. Their conduct on various occasions in Egypt,
Syria, Greece, Tunis, Algiers, and Montenegro, to say

92

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART it.

nothing of Moldavia and Wallachia, could hardly inspire
the Sultan's government with perfect confidence in their
views. They seem, in general., to entertain a, low opinion
of the Porte's capacity for improvement, and are therefore
naturally inclined to shape their policy according to that
impression, preparing rather to secure their own interests
in case of a break-up than by a system of measures firmly
and strenuously carried out to prevent so perilous a
catastrophe. I t is clear that their conduct tends, by the
discouragement it diffuses, to accelerate the decay of the
Ottoman Empire, and hence, however reluctantly, we cannot but give it a place in the list of dangers to which that
Empire is exposed.
Of other Powers, and the relations in which they respectively stand towards the Porte, little need be said in this
place. The policy of England in the Levant is well known,
and offers no room for question, except as to manner and
degree. Neither Austria nor Prussia is likely, under present circumstances, to take part in any measures unfriendly
to the Porte. Together with Greece and Italy they might
eventually pretend—and Austria the foremost—to have a
share in the spoil, but they can hardly be suspected of
wishing to hasten the overthrow of an empire whose dismemberment would offer much greater advantages to others
than to themselves.
Be it as it may, we must in fairness admit that on mere
grounds of appearance we have no right to impute ambitious
schemes or evil intentions to those who despair of the sick
man's recovery. Unfortunately there is illness enough to
create a world of doubts in the most sanguine mind. The
suspicion, to be fairly sustained, must find its justification
in other circumstances, and the task of making out a case
with respect to them is too invidious to be undertaken
without an immediate necessity.

1877.]-

TURKEY* AtfD COtfSTAtfTIltfOPLE.

93

There is something more agreeable, something more
promising in view, if we attempt to ascertain how far a
disease, apparently deep-seated and attended with many
forbidding symptoms, is nevertheless open to remedies and
capable of yielding to a well-conducted method of treatment.
The inquiry has its interests—it has also its difficulties.
The proofs of disorder lie on the surface, and can hardly be
mistaken. The means of recovery, when recognised, have
much to contend with in their application, and their results
in the commencement must be conjectural. That men are
liable to perish from want of food is unquestionable; but
who can prove at seed-time what the harvest will be ? One
thing is certain—we must sow betimes in order to reap in
season. The alternative is fatal.

May 26, 1877.

The many years which have passed away since I wrote
the preceding pages have not been unproductive of incidents
tending to modify opinions respecting the much-battered,
but well-nigh inexhaustible, question of the East* Not
that my own opinions as to its essential points have undergone any important alteration. They are still in favour of
keeping the Turkish authority at Constantinople; of reforming their political and administrative system; of maintaining,
or, as we must now express it, of restoring peace. Sundry
changes of circumstance took place in the interval between
the treaty of Paris in 1856 and the rising of Herzegovina in
1875, and to them may justly be ascribed any difference
which marks the present state of opinion as to Turkish
affairs compared with that which prevailed at the close of
the Crimean war. I refer in particular to the policy, or
rather the conduct, of Sultan Abdul-Aziz, to the loans con-

94

*HE EASTERN QUESTION,

[PAUT it*

tracted by the Porte in Christendom during his ill-omened
reign, to the act of bankruptcy which marked the extinction
of his credit, and in general to the neglect of those engagements which in reality formed the basis of a new and more
cordial state of relations between Turkey and the chief
countries of Europe at a period unusually favourable to their
fulfilment. The Crimean war, commenced by Russia, had
for its object to prevent that Power from realising a paramount influence in Turkey under a conventional right to
protect all Ottoman subjects of her religion. The treaty of
Paris, which put the seal of Europe on the victorious career
of the Allies, was intended to act as a barrier against the
renewal of any similar pretensions. How far it has secured
that result may be inferred, from the Black Sea Convention
of 1871, and the recent declaration of independence by the
two Danubian Principalities. How far it was fitted to
answer its final purpose may be collected from other circumstances, which must be kept in sight both here and
elsewhere.
By the seventh article of the treaty an engagement was
taken by all the Powers in common to respect, and moreover
to guarantee, the independence and territorial integrity of
the Ottoman Empire. By the ninth article the Sultan's
plenipotentiary annexed to the treaty a copy of His Majesty's
Hat-homayoon, and the Powers engaged not to interfere
with the internal affairs of the Porte in consequence of that
communication. The Powers, no doubt, were bound by that
engagement, but the engagement related to the communication alone, and to nothing else. The Sultan, on his part,
was not the less bound to carry out his proclamation of
reforms, and indeed he took it upon himself, on his imperial
honour, to give it a full practical effect. Virtually this was
the condition on which the Porte was received, to use a
French expression, into the family of European States,

187?.]

TURKISH BAD

f Arrfl.

95

Now what, let me ask, was the proclamation, and what was
the manner in which it was carried out ? The proclamation,
though invested with the forms of imperial grandeur, was,
in truth, a collection of reforms drawn up by a mixed
assemblage of Turkish ministers and foreign ambassadors.
The operation took place at the residence of the British
embassy in Turkey just before the departure of the Ottoman
plenipotentiary for Paris. It was, in truth, on that solemn
instrument that His Excellency founded his claim to the
full confidence of his Christian colleagues in the ensuing
negotiation. 'To the conclusion of peace succeeded a period
of more than nineteen years, during which the Porte was
free from any danger of external origin, undisturbed indeed
by any trouble of a serious character from within, supported
by a threefold increase of its revenue, and gathering in
addition by loans from the capitalists of Christendom very
many millions of sterling money. If we ask to what account
these splendid advantages were carried, the answer must be
that the just expectations of Europe with respect to the
correction of Turkish misrule were, with some few exceptions, painfully disappointed, and that the large sums of
money derived from revenue and loans were either extravagantly wasted, or applied to that extension of naval and
military force in reliance on which the Turkish statesmen
and their sovereign have stood out against the united
demands of all those other Powers who signed the treaty of
Paris.
I would not be extreme in visiting on Turkey the entire
responsibility for these lapses in point of good faith and
political discretion, especially when I look in vain for signs
of any serious endeavour on the part of Europe to check
the course of Turkish impolicy and neglect of the Porte's
obligations during its fatal progress under the sway of Sultan
Abdul-Aziz. But if I had heard that our Government had

96

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PAR* it.

withdrawn from their share in the engagements of Paris on
the ground of the Porte's neglect of those reforms which
the Sultan had accepted and proclaimed, my surprise, if
any, would have been very moderate. That it was a duty
on our part to insist on the full execution of the Imperial
nrman is, I think, unquestionable, though whether to the
extreme of coercion must greatly depend on other and
eventual circumstances. I t is at all events difficult to
conceive how any Christian Power could, without palpable
discredit, throw its sword into the scale of Turkish inviolability so long as the Porte maintains a system of
misrule the more to be deprecated in proportion to the
increased sensibility of its victims on one side, and of their
sympathisers on the other. Finally, it would seem idle to
dwell on such considerations as might attach to the treaty
of Paris, since recent events show but too clearfy that its
practical force, if it has not ceased entirely, has at least for
a time shrunk into a state of abeyance..
The popular movement which took place about two years
ago in the Herzegovina was only an active form of a chronic
disease. The ever-growing proportions it has since taken
are now culminating in open war on a large scale between
the two Powers who perform the part of hotbed to the
Eastern Question. Hostilities are not yet sufficiently advanced to admit of a deeper look into the mill-stream than
that of a general conjecture suggested by a comparison of
the means employed and the resources possessed by each of
the two belligerents. The current notion that Eussia is
superior in the latter respect, and not improbably in the
former also, maybe not far from the truth. But something
must be left for time to reveal, and perhaps there is more to
be gained by reflecting on the past than by peering too soon
into the gloom of futurity.
STRATFORD DE KEDCLIFFE*

XII.
TUBKEY.-II.
FALSE principles of government, corrupt motives of action
inflamed by religious animosities, conflicting interests arrayed against each other, rooted prejudices, and anti-social
manners, have concurred to place the Ottoman Empire on
an inclined plane. The position is one of natural determination towards a state of exhaustive weakness. The progress of other States in knowledge and national development
increases by comparison the dangers of that decline. I t has
increased them practically, as a long series of defeats and
losses on the side of Turkey may serve to testify. The
expansive energies of civilisation can no longer brook the
inertness, and in some respects the exclusiveness, of a
country so fertile in resources, so obstructively situated,
and offering at the same time a field of almost boundless
extent for remunerative enterprise. The problem which
calls for solution is simply this: Can the strength of the
Empire be so far restored by means consistent with the
wants and spirit of the age as to preserve internal order and
to command the respect of foreign Powrers ?
The incurables, who for such means look to the revival of
Mohammedan convictions, must tell us by what process of
faith, no longer entertained even in Turkey by reflecting or
educated minds, can operate as the motive power of a
government compelled by the conditions of its tenure to
restrain the passions, and frequently to counteract the
impulsions, of an ignorant and fanatical race. Under a
system of administration thus inspired, religious belief
H

98

THE EASTEKN QUESTION.

[PART I I .

must evidently be the rule of right, and the measure of
individual worth. How then would Jew and Christian fare
both as to political rights and as to personal consideration ?
Would the peace and well-being of the Empire be secured
by forcibly renewing the submission of one half of its population to the pride and bigotry of the other ? Would there
be " n o complaining in the streets/' no danger of resistance, no appeal to the foreigner, no resentment in Christendom ? Is the war of Hellenic independence a fable, the
chastisement inflicted on Damascus a dream ? Are the
Greeks less sensible than they were of degradation and oppression, or the nations of Europe more deaf to the claims
of humanity and the sympathies of religion ?
Another and ampler basis than that of an unsanctioned
revelation is wanted for the reconstruction of a dilapidated
empire. Where but in the elements of social harmony,
correction of discord and decomposition, can such a foundation be discovered ? That civilising process, which carries
out materially and morally the benevolent purposes of Providence, and knits together the various classes and pursuits
of mankind by the bonds of social interest, combines whatever is necessary for the external defence, internal welfare,
and legitimate advancement of a constituted community.
Keligion, in respect of belief, like the action of the lungs, is
involuntary, and therefore, however essential to moral, as
breathing is to bodily health, is not in that sense properly a
subject of legal enforcement on individuals as such, and
still less a just obstacle to the freedom of legislative enactment in other matters. A body politic, the compound of
individual men, partakes of their mutable and mortal
nature. If linked inseparably to laws believed to be divine,
and therefore unalterable, the interests of the community,
which require change of law with change of circumstances,
must, in the end, be seriously, perhaps even fatally, com-

877.]

THE SULTAN CANNOT REMAIN CALIPH.

99

promised. To this dilemma it would seem that the Turks
are now reduced. They must either be content to govern
on larger principles, with the advantage of extending proportionally their means of improvement and independence,
or they must incur the necessary consequences of persisting
in error, and thereby having to contend with the disaffection
of their Christian subjects and the resentment of their
Christian allies. Sultans may continue to be caliphs for
their Mussulman subjects, but they must learn to act as
sovereigns for the people at large.
The difficulties suggested by this view of the question
are by no means so great as they may appear to those who
have only a general acquaintance with Turkey, its empire,
and its history. The Koran is far from being that inelastic
code of laws which many suppose. I t has long ceased to
be an exact mirror of Islamism as practised by the Ottoman
authorities. The difference which has perceptibly grown up
between the letter and the practice of the law is not merely
one of suspension, such as the disuse of hostilities for the
propagation of the faith, but positively active, as in the case
of treaties and alliances with Christian Powers. This primary departure from the system of policy prescribed by
Islamism dates from the sixteenth century. Solyman the
Magnificent and Francis the First of France first set the
example of an alliance between the sovereign of the Turks
and a Christian Power. The act was founded on mutual
convenience suggested b}^ their respective international
positions at the time. I t led to the establishment of similar
relations between the Porte and other European Powers, to
the reception of consuls in the outports of Turkey, and to
the exercise of jurisdiction by them over their own fellowsubjects. It was the first link in a series of concessions
which may be fitly called extra-Koranic, and which were
gradually made, to meet the necessity, more and more felt
H

2

100

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART if.

by the Porte, of obtaining a less insulated position relative
to the States of Christendom.
Internal reforms were commenced in the same spirit
towards the close of the last century by Selim, the last
Sultan of that name. The Janissaries, excited no doubt by
the Ulemahs, broke into open rebellion, and the reaction
which followed cost the reforming Sultan both his throne
and his life. Mustapha, who succeeded to the throne, was
not more fortunate than his cousin. I t was reserved for his
brother Mahmoud to realise the plans of Selim, and to
revenge that Sultan's death by the extermination of the
Janissaries. This ill-disciplined and unmanageable militia
was replaced by a regular army formed on the European
model. The Sultan put forth all his energy for its completion ; but the weakness of his empire, proved and increased
by successive misfortunes—by the war with Russia which
terminated in the treaty of Adrianople, by the independence
of Greece which followed the battle of Navarino, and by the
victorious progress of Ibrahim Pasha into Syria and Asia
Minor—compelled him to enter into closer relations with
Christian Europe. The proclamation of Gulhane, and the
introduction of extensive reforms under the name of
Tanzimat-kairieh, gave a solemn and imposing earnest of
Mahmoud's sincerity. They laid the foundations of a real
improvement in the Turkish administrative system, and
more especially in the treatment of Rayahs, non-Mussulman subjects bound to pay a yearly poll-tax to the Grand
Seignior. Further and more decided measures of reform
were subsequently adopted. Those of a judicial character
were not the least important. A court was established for
the trial of civil causes between the Porte's subjects and
foreigners. It was a mixed tribunal, taking cognisance
more particularly of differences arising in trade and navigation. Its maxims of law and rules of procedure were

3877.]

PEOGRESSIVE REFORM.

101

derived from Christian sources. Our leading principles and
forms of trial, exclusive of juries, were even admitted by
firman in some of the criminal courts; and at Constantinople, in the highest of those courts where Mohammedan
law prevailed, our Consul-General was allowed to sit with
the power of watching the proceedings, and staying for his
assent the execution of judgment on behalf of British
subjects brought to trial on capital charges.
To these beneficial innovations are to be added the
establishment of lazarettos for quarantine against plague
and cholera; the suppression of the negro slave-trade with
a view to that of slavery; the abolition of torture and of
capital punishment in cases of conversion from Islamism;
and the recognition of Protestantism as one of the protected
and established religions in Turkey.
During the Crimean war a notable enlargement took place
in other branches of social progress, inconsistent, more or
less, with the restrictions of Mussulman law, but required
by the necessities of the Empire. Loans were raised at
interest in foreign countries for the service of the State.
The Porte's Christian subjects were released from the payment of tribute, and were declared to be admissible as
privates and officers to the imperial army. Turkish battalions were placed under the command of British commanders, and British agents were allowed to raise levies
among the Turks for an irregular military corps to be paid
and officered by Her Majesty's Government. At one time
the suburbs of Pera and Galata were held, in aid of the
police, by detachments of the French and English armies.
On the cessation of hostilities all previous reforms, together
with important additions, were confirmed and declared by
an imperial proclamation known as the Hatt~y-homayoon,
solemnly promulgated, and inserted, as a fact, in the
general treaty of peace. Among its new provisions were

102

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART n.

two, in particular, characterised by a liberality which it
would not be easy to surpass. By one the faculty of holding land in fee throughout Turkey was granted to foreign
subjects, with a reserve of some preliminary arrangements.
By the other both natives and foreigners were allowed full
liberty of conscience in religious matters.
These are facts, and we are bound to give them our
candid and serious attention. They remove a part of the
difficulty which Islamism opposes in theory- to the reformation of the Turkish Empire on European principles. They
encourage a hope that the remaining obstacles may be
gradually surmounted. Most of them show to demonstration that in Turkey, as elsewhere, custom and law must ultimately yield to consideration for the safety of the State.
"We are friends to the Sultan's Empire. We do not seek to
overthrow or to undermine its dominant faith. We only
desire that religion should cease to be so applied to worldly
affairs as to render the administration of them ruinous to
the public weal. We urge the expediency, and indeed the
necessity, of carrying fully into effect those salutary reforms
which have been long and strenuously recommended to the
Sultan by his allies, which have been adopted by his supreme
authority, proclaimed by him to the whole world, and recorded under the most solemn forms of international engagement. We desire, in other words, to obtain for the
Porte a real instead of a fictitious independence—the wrellgrounded, durable respect-, and not the mere precarious
sufferance, of contemporary powers.
All classes of the population would gradually feel the
benefit of a change, which could not fail to operate favourably on their interests in a national sense. Any discontents
which may prevail among the Turks arise principally out of
causes independent of their religious prejudices, though
naturally seen in connection with them. A state of trausi-

1877.]

HALTING BETWEEN TWO SYSTEMS.

103

tion in matters of deep and extensive concern is always
attended with inconvenience to many, with a dislocation of
partial interests and a rupture of much that is sanctified, as
it were, by habit and early associations. To halt between
two systems instead of frankly adopting the one which on the
whole is preferable, can have no effect but that of prolonging
evils incident to both. Unfortunately such has been hitherto
the conduct of the Turkish Government, excusable indeed
in some respects, but far from being necessary.
Under the old system, confiscations, crown lands, royalties, property lapsing to t h e . Sovereign, forced labour,
offerings not quite voluntary, requisitions in kind, and other
incidental sources of profit wTere auxiliary to the revenue
derived from tithes, taxes, and customs. The Spahis and
Timariotes, who held their lands on condition of military
service, were bound, when called upon, to take the field
armed and mounted at their own expense. On the extermination of the Janissaries in 1826, a regular army, as
mentioned above, was formed by Sultan Mahmoud, and
later a civil list was established in place of the crown lands
and other imperial sources of revenue. Life, property, and
honour were also secured by charter to subjects of all classes
against the assaults of arbitrary power. The Sultan and
his Government had in consequence to look exclusively
to the exchequer for their ways and means in carrying on
the administration, and providing for the peace, the defence,
and general welfare of the Empire. Hence it became more
than ever necessary that an improved s}rstem of finance
should be adopted, and the collection of the taxes cleared
of all those abuses and corrupt practices which at once
oppressed the people and defrauded the treasury, A child
may perceive that discontent, embarrassment, and ruin
must be the necessary consequences of drying up the old
sources of supply without opening new ones, of depriving

104

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PABT II.

the dominant classes of their long-cherished privileges
without enabling them to realise the compensations offered
by a more liberal and productive course.
Respect for the Sultan, consideration even for his weaknesses, submission to his authority, nay, to his pleasure,
are still universal among the Mussulman population. From
time to time, and not unfrequently, there are disturbances,
now in this, now in that province, but they arise nearly
always from local causes, and are confined within narrow
limits. Excesses may be committed by some body of insurgents ; the magistrates may be overpowered; individuals
may suffer, and the immediate object of aversion may be
swept away. But after a time the Sultan's authority is sure
to ride over all obstacles, and to restore the public peace
with more or less severity and some feeble show of reparation. The army, inadequate as it is to the wants of the
Empire, ill fed, ill clothed, and ill paid, thinned by frequent
marches over miserable roads, and having no reason to rely
upon its officers, rarely, if ever, fails to perform its duty.
Discipline, though imperfect, gives it a constant advantage
over the rude extempore levies opposed to its arms. The
worst of it is that such occurrences tend more and more to
exhaust the strength of the Empire by a twofold process.
Parties brought locally into conflict wear each other down,
and the Government, which finally reduces them to order,
accomplishes its purpose at a loss, not easily repaired, in
men and mone}'. A despot's strength is the weakness of
his subjects; that of a constitutional government resides in
the wealth and goodwill of the people. Ill fares the country
where neither strong hand nor willing heart is to be found.
The fortunes of the Turkish Empire, in their flow, are
mainly to be ascribed to religious enthusiasm, military
discipline, national character, unanimity of purpose, the
confidence of success, submission to a single will, and also

1877.]

PEBSONAL QUALITIES OF THE SULTANS.

105

to the inferiority of its opponents. Their decline may be
generally accounted for by the progress of Christendom,
and particularly of Northern Christendom, in the arts of
war, in population, in produce, and in every branch of
knowledge, by the natural consequences of error in policy,
administration, and social manners, by the mutinous* spirit
of the Janissaries, by the enervating habits of the seraglio,
and by the corrupt intrigues of adventurers at court and in
office. Much, however, in the one period and in the other,
belongs to the personal qualities of the Sultan, or of the
principal depositary of his power.
The nature of the
government and the character of the people make it so.
Mahomet, the conqueror of Constantinople, and his immediate successors are brilliant illustrations of the fact.
Mahmoud, the present Sultan's father, ruled with power,
and commanded general respect notwithstanding his losses,
his reforms, his sanguinary executions, and the vile debaucheries which closed his life. His eldest son and successor fell into contempt through want of resolution and
energy, although his reign, unsullied by any measures of
injustice or cruelty, was marked, on the contrary, by a
course of policy successful, on the whole, both at home and
abroad. His failings were those of a gentle and generous
disposition unsustained by that vigour of mind and body
which the difficulties of his perilous station required. If,
as there is room to hope, his younger brother, the reigning
Emperor, should carry out the reforms and improvements
adopted by Abdul-Medjid, with the energy displayed by
Mahmoud, Turk and Christian, the Empire and its allies,
would have reason to rejoice. Appearances are, so far,
favourable to this expectation, and if it be true that Sultan
Abdul-Aziz intends in good earnest to limit his connubial
establishment to a single wife, the prospect may soon ripen
into a reality. Economy would be the least advantage of

106

THE EASTEBN QUESTION.

[PAKT II.

such a hmitation. The morals and manners of the seraglio
would undergo a transformation much to he desired. The
example would operate most beneficially throughout the
whole range of Turkish society. The harem would cease
to be a curse, and a great step would be made towards an
intermixture of classes. But we must be content to wait a
while in suspense. It is not the first time that a new reign
lias commenced with a clearance in the palace. Four thousand ladies and attendant officers are described in the
Turkish annals as having been dismissed on one occasion.
A vast increase of paper currency and its intended application to the payment of the army are measures of ominous
import. The dismissal of the late Grand Vizir in favour of
the present incumbent is a very questionable move. Other
personal changes in the administration have no distinct
character, and, with the exception of Eiza Pasha, may be
referred to motives of mere convenience.
Eeduction of expense is an excellent thing to begin with,
especially after the measureless extravagance of the late
reign. But much more is wanted. Economy itself, to be
remedial, must be applied with judgment. I t is said that
even the army is to be reduced. Now, the army is already
too small for the defence of the Empire. I repeat that it
does not exceed a third of the numbers displayed on paper.
I t is not equal to the maintenance of internal order, except
by harassing and wasteful exertions. Its increase is more
to be desired than its diminution, and means for that purpose should be sought in other reductions, particularly in
the reduction of salaries and pensions, and also in a more
effective management of the revenue, including its collection
and administration.
Be it remembered that the Sultan's dominions, whether
we look to climate, soil, or position, are rich beyond conception in resources of every kind. We have only to name

1877.]

THE POKTE'S PRESENT DUTY.

.107

the countries which are comprised within their limits, and
every doubt on this point must vanish from our minds.
The wonder is that regions so blessed with all varieties of
produce, with climates so favourable to labour, with coasts
so accessible to commerce, and with full experience of these
advantages transmitted from age to age, should have been
brought to such degradation at a period when other countries far less happily endowed by nature reached so great a
height of prosperity and power. Mesopotamia, Egypt,
Syria, the vast plains of Thessaly and Adrianople, those in
Asia watered by the Hermus, the Maeander, the Cayster,
the Caicus, and the productive provinces extending on both
sides along the Danube from Hungary to the sea—all these
and many other districts of surpassing fertility are only
waiting for the long-expected signal to enter upon a new
career of industry, wealth, and glory. Let the doors be
thrown open to the arts, the science, the capital of Europe ;
let the emulation of the natives be encouraged and their
fortunes sufficiently protected; let the reforms to which the
Imperial Government is pledged be put into a regular course
of execution, and the most satisfactory results would be sure
to follow. Even as it is, the Porte's revenue has increased
by a fourth since the Crimean war, and the financial embarrassments which have accompanied that progress may be
fairly attributed to extravagance, corruption, and mismanagement, or to the cost of putting down disturbances engendered
by a vicious course of administration.
The reforms which are here recommended must be viewed
as a whole in order to be fully appreciated. They are comprehensive in principle and also in application. They are
by no means limited to the Christian subjects of the Porte.
They are calculated to promote the welfare of all classes,
whatever may be the separate creed of each. The imperial
proclamation, in yvThich the new concessions are embodied

108

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART II.

together with the earliest, is a real charter of franchises, the
Magna Charta, in a broader sense than ours, of the Turkish
Empire. Honour to Sultan Abdul-Medjid who gave it, and
to Eeschid Pasha with whom its leading ideas originated!
The various provisions it contains may be severally classed
under the following heads :—
I. Confirmation of beneficial ordinances already proclaimed.
I I . Extension of previous concessions.
I I I . Removal of existing abuses.
IV. Securities for the observance of new measures.
V. Improvements of a material kind.
The field, it must be allowed, is a wide one, and surely in
its compartments there is no want either of liberality or of
apparent sincerity. A system of reform which aims at the
removal of all abuses, the perpetuation of all franchises, the
fusion of all classes, the development of all resources, the
entire liberty of public worship and of private conscience in
religious matters, the extension and security of civil rights,
and an enlarged intercourse with foreigners, can hardly fail
to engage our sympathy, and, considering the difficulties
which surround it in a country like Turkey, to command
our admiration and hearty concurrence. We boast too
much of the spirit of our age to be indifferent to one of its
greatest and least expected achievements. Our free institutions, our Protestant faith, our commercial enterprise, our
skill in manufactures, all these sources of our national
greatness are deeply interested in the triumph of such
principles over bigotry, ignorance, and corruption in one of
their strongest and most extensive holds.
What our Mussulman allies now stand in need of is a
practical application of those principles in full, with an
earnest enforcement of corresponding measures. Unfortu-

1877.]

THE NEW GENERATION IN TUBKEY.

109

nately fresh obstacles occur at this point. The Sultan looks
to his ministers; the ministers look to each other. Some
are restrained by the fear of responsibility, some by their
personal interests; others have to contend with false impressions contracted in their youth, and others again with
an indigenous love of ease and habitual self-indulgence.
Among those statesmen at the Porte who admit the necessity without promoting the progress of reform, no allegation
is more common than the deficiency of suitable agents.
There is no doubt truth, but there is also much exaggeration,
in this plea. Men of sufficient ability are seldom wanting
for the public service, when the authority under which they
act is clear and determined in its views, and adequate
motives for individual exertion are brought into play.
I t will soon be forty years since the present era of
Turkish reforms began. A new generation has sprung up
within that period. The young men of Sultan Mahmoud's
time have now attained the experience of age. Those who
were only children then have already overstepped ihe halfway road of life. It would be strange indeed if there were
none among them whose natural intelligence had taken the
impress of the time, none who felt that in serving a reform
government with zeal they could best fulfil their public
duties and consult their own interests. Their minds have
ripened in the warmth of new ideas; they have had access,
in maturity, to broader avenues of knowledge than were
open to their predecessors, who nevertheless sent out from
their ranks the earliest instruments, the most active
pioneers of reform. Between the two classes, the elder and
the younger, a sufficient supply might surely be found, if
not for giving full effect to all the ministerial offices, at
least for conducting the principal departments, and setting
an example of vigour and consistency to other branches of
the government. A Turk of good manners, who can talk

110

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PAET II.

French, who has visited the chief cities of Christendom,
and has some acquaintance with European literature, is no
longer, as in the last century, a phoenix or a black swan.
The Greeks have ceased to monopolise the main channel of
communication between the Porte and the foreign ambassadors at Constantinople. The functions of chief interpreter
are performed by a Mussulman.
What serves to counteract the natural tendencies of so
important a change is favouritism, which is still but too
often the arbiter of public appointments in Turkey. This
practice may be traced to three distinct sources. 1. The
candidates for office receive their education in general either
at the Porte or in the seraglio. 2. Their first appointment
is made on the recommendation of some influential person at
one of those two seats of power. 3. Their promotion is frequently the result of a similar exercise of patronage. The
relations of patron and client, which formed so strong an
element of public life in ancient Rome, survive to a certain
degree at Constantinople. The great man is at times sustained by his political dependents, who, in turn, look up to
him for the advancement of their fortunes. Official establishments, though of late curtailed, are still expensive, and
the plurality of incumbents have little but their salaries and
their expectations wherewith to support them. Debts are
consequently incurred, and the bankers, who end, employ
their credit, which is considerable, in keeping or reinstating
in office their respective debtors. Hence a routine most
favourable to misconduct, incapacity, and corruption; hence
a discouragement to those who seek to rise by honest means
and honourable exertions; hence an assurance that no
amount of disgrace will permanently exclude the most undeserving characters from office and power. Such pashas
as Eiza and Saffeti must laugh at being dismissed, since,
however clear their delinquency, they are allowed to keep

1877.]

TURKISH REFORM NOT HOPELESS.

Ill

their ill-gotten spoils, with the certainty of returning to
office at no distant period, and in the enjoyment meanwhile
of colossal pensions.
There is much, we must confess, in these abuses to dishearten the advocates of Turkish revival. But they are not
irremediable, and other countries have succeeded in throwing off the same impediments. Even here, in our own
country, the struggle of private interest with public spirit
was long and anxious. I t survived both the Eeformation
and the Eevolution. I t was a cloud on our expanding
prospects in the last century. I t required the resolution,
the integrity, and the genius of a Burke to check its progress ; and even now we look for its death-blow to a doubtful experiment—that of our competitive examinations.
If, in this respect, we are better, on the whole, than those
who went before us, what securities have we against the
dangers of a relapse ? The answer is obvious. "We are less
exposed to temptation, and we act under the control of
public opinion. The servants of the State, whatever their
rank or denomination, are regularly if not abundantly paid,
and an act of peculation brought home to the delinquent
would, at least, be stamped with ignominy and hopeless dismissal from office. Appointments also are made in the
public service on sounder principles and under a stricter
responsibility. The Turks, it is true, have no parliament,
and still less a parliament composed of individuals responsible to a popular constituency. But they have a sovereign
whose power is absolute, whose interest is that the Empire
should be honestly served, and who has no aristocratic,
municipal, or party combinations to manage. In fact,
without the immediate sanction of the Sultan, no issue of
money, no official appointment is made; no act of administration, no decision of council, no sentence of criminal
justice, goes into effect. The laws against malversation,

112

?HE EASTERN QUESTION.

|>AIIT it.

bribery, and corruption are stringent, and to every breach
of them a penalty, more or less severe, is attached.
In aid of the Sultan there is a Privy or Cabinet Council
for affairs of state, whether internal or foreign. There is
also a more comprehensive council, having judicial as well
as deliberative powers, and comprising, together with the
Grand Mufti and others of the Ulemah, most of the principal
functionaries. To these may be added a Board of Keform,
whose president is a member of the administration, and
occasionally, under urgent circumstances, a 'Council of
Notables convened by supreme authority from the provinces
and in part elected there. However, in each province there
is a separate council for local affairs under the presidency
of the respective pashas. In these assemblies the elective
principle is in some degree employed, and a representative
of each non-Mussulman community sits among the members.
The pashas are no longer invested, as of old, with plenary
powers. They are now little more than civil commissioners.
The troops are placed under a military commander, and the
provincial revenue is administered by a separate authority.
No capital sentence can be carried into effect without a
special order from Constantinople. This new distribution
of power, though doubtless in some respects useful, has the
drawback of leaving too much in the hands of the council,
whose leading members are men of influence in their neighbourhood, swayed by local interests, indifferent, if not
hostile, to the imperial policy, and capable at times of giving
law to the pasha.
A surer and stronger link is wanted between the supreme
government and the provincial authorities, and such a link
might perhaps be found without disturbing the present
divisions of the Empire. The existing pashaliks might be
grouped into clusters determined by territorial conformation
or by local convenience, and each of the clusters might be

18*7.]

EDUCATION AND THE ABM*.

113

superintended by a Governor-General or Lord High Commissioner, representing the Sultan, and enjoying the full
confidence of his government. Examples of this kind of
delegation are to be found in Turkish history. One of
them has lately been given in the person of Fuad Pasha,
who, under peculiar circumstances, was invested with extraordinary powers for the restoration of order in Syria.
Another took place a few years before, when the two
adjacent provinces of Thessaly and Epirus were united for
a time under the administration of a single pasha, who in
earlier days would probably have received the appropriate
and well-known title of Bey-ler-Bey, or Lord of Lords. There
would be little difficulty in arranging a sufficient control for
the exercise of so high a trust, and the body of Turkish
statesmen would not be required to supply more than twelve
or fifteen individuals capable of fulfilling its duties, and giving
thereby a general and uniform effect to the Sultan's beneficent
intentions.
The execution of such a plan might in time be greatly
assisted by opening a wider field of instruction to candidates for public employment. The first step has been taken
in this direction. A college, founded by the government,
exists in the principal suburb of Constantinople. The
students are partly Christian and partly Mussulman. They
are brought up together on equal terms. The institution
was originally a school of medicine. I t has been expanded
into larger proportions, and may be said to contain the
rudiments of an university. No principle stands in the way
of its further extension. As a model for similar foundations in the chief provincial cities, its importance can
hardly be overrated.
I have already intimated that, in my opinion, the Turkish
army, far from being too large for the wants of the country,
stands rather in need of a considerable increase, with reference

114

THE EASTERN QtlESTlOtf.

[PART li.

at least to the numbers actually enrolled. The objections
are not entirely of a financial character. The conscription
operates on the Turkish population alone, and the supply
from that quarter is not equal to the demand. This deficiency has been felt for some years, and it is to all appearance a growing evil. How is it to be supplied if not by
recruiting among those portions of the people who, on
religious grounds, have been hitherto exempted from military
service ? This idea has been adopted by the Porte, and
made acceptable to the Christians by substituting a war-tax
for the degrading haratsch, and levying it on all religious
classes alike. But the egg has been addled in the hatching.
The Christians complain of the new tax as pressing unfairly
on them, and as no arrangements have yet been made for;
placing them as soldiers on a proper footing, the army is
still dependent on its one declining source of recruitment.
Whatever may be hereafter the composition of the army,
its numbers cannot be increased without a corresponding
increase of expense. On this account, as well as on others,
it is evident that measures calculated to remove financial
abuses, and to render taxation more productive, stand foremost in the line of reform. Betrenchment and economy are
the best, and indeed indispensable, starting-points. They
alone can at present obtain, for any security the Porte could
offer in raising money on loan, that confidence which might
reopen the money markets of Europe to her proposals. The
pump must have water to make it work. The first remedial
operations in finance would be attended with a stoppage of
the customary expedients, and it is difficult therefore to
imagine how the curative process could be effected without
a temporary accommodation. Ten years ago this harbour
of refuge was closed to the Porte by traditional scruples,
which subsequently gave way to pressure, as other mistaken

1877.]

FOREIGNERS IK THE TURKISH SERVICE.

115

notions will also give way to a similar force of circumstances.
Here, as on other points, much, no doubt, is wanted.
But the resources are natural; the obstacles are conventional. Opinion works in such a manner as to bring out
the former, and to test the latter by their actual utility.
Things deemed impracticable have come into everyday
use. The progress of improvement is no less rapid than
extensive.
I t was during the Crimean war that strangers commissioned by foreign governments were first allowed to take
part in the Porte's financial deliberations. They had to
contend with much jealousy and many prejudices. They
were often baffled in their researches; and if they did any
good, it was all but limited to the prevention of evil. The
Porte has now accepted the services of two gentlemen who
are actually clerks in the British Treasury, and to them, in
honourable reliance on a friendly government, the mysteries
of Turkish finance are said to be fairly unfolded. Even to
those who have watched at hand the course of events in
Turkey, such changes appear little short of miraculous.
They are earnests of further advancement, and seem to
forbid the surrender of a single hope.
It would be a great mistake to suppose that nothing has
yet been done except on paper. In every department some
practical steps have been taken more or less in the right
direction. Progression languishes rather from moral than
from material causes, less from want of will in the government than from the temperament of individuals. The " haul
of all," so well known in our navy, the "strong pull, long
pull, and pull all together," so potent in a British rowing
match, have still to be impressed on our Ottoman friends*
In every great enterprise, energy, method, system, concurrence, are needed for success. In Turkey, as now
I2

116

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PAET if.

circumstanced, and more perhaps than elsewhere, these
qualities of national movement have to be sustained, if not
inspired, from without. Happily for the Turkish Empire,
sufficient means and motives for giving in a friendly spirit
the requisite impulsion to its endeavours are no longer out
of reach. The principal States of Christendom are solemnly
pledged to support the integrity of that Empire, and to
regard it as a member of what is rather affectedly styled
the " great European family." Together they are capable
of urging their joint counsels on the Porte without the
danger to its independence which might accompany the
single interference of a neighbouring and rival power.
Supposing their views to be honest, and their recommendations to agree with the Porte's declared principles, the
pressure thus exerted would be no less safe than useful.
Were interested motives to prevail in secret with one or
more of them, the vigilance of England would not go to
sleep, and the Porte's position would not be worse than if it
were one of political estrangement and insincere profession.
Union, moreover, though perhaps a mere show, would
repress any tendency to foul play by making its exposure
more discreditable and offensive. I t would also be unreasonable to expect the best results from our advice when
tendered with the twofold advantage of inspiring confidence
as British, and commanding attention as European. The
treaty of peace, which guards the Porte expressly against
foreign interference as between the Sultan and his subjects,
would be anything but satisfactory if it were held to preclude the Sultan's allies from insisting on the enforcement
of those reforms which have been adopted freely by him as
of vital importance to his Empire. Who will deny that the
continued neglect of that duty exposes them more and more
to the perils and sacrifices attendant, under their existing engagements, on its dissolution, whether by force or intrigue ?

1877.]

GEE AT BKITAIN AND THE PORTE.

117

Granted that the prospect of a diplomatic conference installed at Constantinople is by no means attractive. But
the advantage or, it may be, the necessity, when weighed
against the inconvenience, will be found to preponderate.
Meanwhile such conferences as may serve to patch up a
local or passing disturbance abound. We are but lately
relieved from one, the parent of numberless protocols, in
Syria. The affairs of Montenegro, those of the Danubian
principalities, have likewise, in turn, been subjects of
European deliberation. We know not how soon or where
the kites may be again collected by a massacre or an insurrection.
It were well to bear in mind that such occasional meetings
have also their portion of inconvenience and risk. Their
failure is discreditable; the effect of their success, at best,
transient and partial. The evils they are meant to correct
are themselves the offspring of one pervading evil, the source
of which is Constantinople. In cases of sickness, consultations are not of good omen; but at times they cannot be
avoided, and then it is usually thought best to call them
where the patient resides, and not on the spot where his
fever was caught or his leg fractured.
In these high matters, to which the principal Powers of
Europe habitually and necessarily direct their attention,
although the interest, the legitimate interest, is common,
and the right equal, our own government occupies a peculiar
position, comparatively advantageous, but also, in proportion
to the advantage, responsible. The causes of this are
manifest. \1 Of all the Powers, Great Britain has most to
lose by the inertness and decay of the Ottoman Empire, and
least to gain by its dismemberment. Though her course of
policy may at times give umbrage to the Porte, the circumstances in which she is placed, and the character of our
institutions, exempt her from its mistrust. Others may be

118

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART it.

more feared, and consequently more favoured, by the
Turkish authorities; but confidence and goodwill depend
less on fear than on hopes and sympathies.
The subject in hand is so large, its bearings so multiplex,
and the questions it embraces so momentous, that even in
this rapid sketch of it there may be enough to weary, if not
to bewilder, the most patient of readers. We never thought
of bringing all its elements, however briefly, within so narrow
a compass ; and even now we do not pretend to more than
a very light notice of two or three outstanding points, which
ought not to be entirely overlooked.
Authors, in seeking to explain the decline of Turkish
power, have noticed two practices in particular as helping
greatly to accelerate it. One, which we have already touched
upon, is the debasement of the coinage. The other is the
exclusion of the Imperial Princes from all share in public
business. The discredit, uncertainty, and temptation to
fraud, which attend the former illusion, have at all times
and in all countries produced, more or less, the same deplorable effects. Our own history may be quoted to confirm
the truth of this remark. A prominent example is offered
by Froude in his account of the financial embarrassments
which occurred under the Protectorate of Somerset. Some
of us can personally remember with what determination
Parliament, on the report of the Bullion Committee in
1816, enacted at every hazard the renewal of cash payments
at the Bank.
With respect to the princes, it stands to reason that the
restrictions to which they are condemned must operate with
twofold venom upon the State. The jealousy which keeps
them spell-bound in the seraglio hoodwinks their understandings, and renders the want of knowledge an heirloom
in the ruling family, at the same time that it confirms their
imperial keeper in those habits of indolence and self-indul-

1877.]

DEFECTS OF THE CURRENCY.

119

gence which the dread of competition and popularity on
their side might otherwise counteract. It tells with unusual
force in a country where so much depends on the personal
acquirements of the sovereign, and at a period when every
government is expected to give proof of qualities commensurate with the wants of its people and the progress of its
rivals. A word would suffice to remove this nightmare
from the palace, and its consequences from the Empire.
I t would certainly require more than a word to redress the
defects of the currency, But the temporary sacrifice essential
to that object would be overpaid by its results, and a real
economy, such as now, it appears, is in progress, followed
by other productive reforms, and sustained by the concurrent
action of friendly Powers, would go far to revive the credit
and open the resources of the Porte to an indefinite extent.
Those to whom every molehill is a mountain, every
redoubt an impregnable fortress, may fancy that the
greatest success in these respects would have little or no
effect—if any, a disastrous one—on that diversity of races
and consequent opposition of feelings and interests which
make the Turkish Empire a hotbed of internal dissension.
That there, as elsewhere, difficulty and danger exist in
circumstances of social antagonism, cannot be fairly denied ;
but candour, while making the admission, is entitled to dissent from its exaggeration. In their days of prosperity, the
most enlightened of Turkish ministers might reasonably have
opposed any serious relaxation of the Mussulman system.
It was sufficient for their purpose that all went on as usual,
and that no defeat or deficit, insurrection or calamity, was
likely to throw more than a passing shadow on the stability
of the Empire. Turks were Turks, and rayahs rayahs.
Both were to move invariably in their separate spheres; and
if Christian heads were exposed to Turkish sabres, it was
natural that they should be occasionally cut off. But the

120

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PAKT II.

successors of those statesmen have no such luxury to enjoy.
They are embarked on a current, generated by false principles and vicious courses, which threatens to sweep them
into ruin—government, religion, empire, and all. It is
only by straining or rowing strenuously against the flood
that they can hope to escape. Their best exertions may
ultimately fail; but, taken in the right direction, they offer
good chances of safety, retarding meanwhile the consummation to be dreaded, and softening the approaches to what in
the end may prove inevitable.
This for the worst. But the danger itself is far less
considerable than might be supposed at a distance. Numerous, and at heart disaffected, as the Sultan's non-Mussulman
subjects are, they have by no means the force either of
union or of endurance. Their separation into different
classes on the ground of race or creed is evidently a source
of weakness to them. They have little sympathy for each
other. They are rivals for Turkish favour, and in some
respects antagonistic among themselves. "What they have
most in common is the habit of submission to Turkish
rule. Neither Greek, nor Armenian, nor Slavonian can
hope to occupy a throne left vacant by the professor of
Islamism. Each class in the supposed case would probably
consent more cheerfully to the Sultan's authority than
accept the rule of an adverse Christian sect. The Christians, in proportion as the Turks extend the circle of their
privileges, and treat them with forbearance and consideration, have less to stimulate their longing for independence,
and less to raise them above the dread of their longestablished conquerors. On the same account their hold
upon the sympathies of Christendom, and the confidence
they might derive from that source, are greatly attenuated.
Besides, the weight of the Ottoman sceptre has never
pressed upon them by an immediate contact with the whole

1877.]

GENERAL REVIEW OF THE SUBJECT.

121

surface of their everyday life. From the time of the
conquest they have been allowed in some important respects
to manage their own affairs. Even the collection of the
haratsch, before the abolition of that tax, was entrusted to
their own magistrates. The amount to be levied on each
district was fixed by the Porte, or, it might be, by the
pasha; but the assessment was regulated by the elders or
notables of each religious community. What they most
felt, and what in reality they had most to complain of, was
the arbitrary abuse of power, the unauthorised exaction, the
oppressive or humiliating treatment of individuals. But all
these motives to revolt have been gradually dispelled, and
are more likely to die away from want of fuel than to gather
fresh strength from an increase of liberty and the prospect
of further improvement.
More, much more, might be written on this inexhaustible
theme. What is written already might have been more
judiciously treated, more clearly developed, more ably compressed. Writer and reader have, nevertheless, travelled on
together, and have now reached, not indeed the terminus,
but a station where they may conveniently take breath, and
review, as from some elevated point, the various stages of
their road. The object of the journey is not an idle one.
Its character is serious. It cannot be dismissed from
thought like a railway excursion or a dissolving view. Let
us, before we part, compare notes, and determine, if possible, whether from argument and statement, as here set
forth, we are warranted in drawing conclusions on which
our minds may rest with a certain amount of conviction,
and whether we are entitled, in conscience, to wish that our
convictions should pass, as eventual rules of action, into the
minds of others more powerful than ourselves.
Has it been fairly established in the preceding pages that
we have, as a nation, strong motives, continually in opera-

122

THE EASTEEN QUESTION.

[PART II

tion, and founded on our own immediate interests, for
maintaining and improving our friendly relations with
Turkey; that a considerable and growing portion of our
trade is derived from the Turkish dominions; that, from
a political point of view, we have much to apprehend from
their decline or dissolution; and that our communications
by steam and telegraph with India and our immense possessions there are dependent on the goodwill and protection
of the Ottoman Government ?
In the next place, are we satisfied that it has been our
policy and also our practice, from an early period, to cultivate friendly relations with the Porte ? Have we not in
later years, and in critical emergencies, either hastened
to her succour by means of counsel, mediation, and even
occasionally by active assistance, or taken part, however
reluctantly, in coercive measures calculated to bring her
into a state of political harmony with the Powers of
Christendom ?
Thirdly, is it not proved that, as one of them, we have
given our formal guaranty for the independence and integrity
of the Sultan's dominions, and incurred thereby a positive
obligation to redeem our pledge, when called upon, at the
cost or immediate risk of British treasure and blood ?
Fourthly, is it not manifest that, whether from within or
from without, the Turkish Empire is exposed to an imminent
danger of falling into confusion and becoming eventually a
prey to the ambition of its most powerful neighbours—of
neighbours liable at any time to become adverse to our
policy and jealous of our prosperity ?
Fifthly, has it not been shown that Turkey, notwithstanding its many causes of weakness and social embarrassment, possesses a fund of resources which have only to be
worked by means within reach in order, as a consequence of
the process, to retard indefinitely, if not to avert entirely,

1877.]

ENGLAND'S INTEREST AND DUTY.

123

the impending catastrophe ? May it not be added, with
truth, that the obstacles to improvement are so far from
being irremovable that many of them, and some in appearance the most obdurate, have already yielded to the pressure
of necessity and the evidence of facts ?
Sixthly, can it be denied at the same time that the
Turkish Government has displayed, together with a sense
of its weakness, an utter incapacity for extricating itself,
without support and assistance, from the dangers which
surround i t ; that, left to its own unaided exertions, it has
no reasonable prospect of escape ; that even now it depends
for existence on the forbearance of the Christian Powers;
and that we are bound in duty no less than entitled to
require, as the price of our generosity, its strenuous enforcement of such measures as are necessary, according to
its own proclaimed and recorded confession, to sustain its
vitality, and to justify the responsible confidence of its
allies ?
If, as it would seem, there can be only one true answer to
these questions, the inevitable conclusion to be drawn from
them may be left with safety to the deliberate judgment of
the country. The interests of our trade with Turkey,
Persia, and the Danube; those of our political power on
the shores of the Euxine, the Archipelago, and the Mediterranean ; those, again,- of our direct communication with
India—to say nothing of China and Australia—are palpably
concerned in the decision. Are we to relinquish, when it is
most needed, a policy dating from one of the best periods of
our history ? Are we to surrender a position acquired by
the exertions of our diplomacy and by the triumphs of our
arms ? Are we to wait with fettered limbs and bandaged
eyes for that solution which we have most reason to deprecate of the Eastern Question ? Or are we, in a wiser
and nobler spirit, to confront the peril, which hitherto wTe

124

THE EASTEEN QUESTION.

[PART II.

have never ceased to acknowledge—to employ at once,
though with some inconvenience and doubt, the means required for meeting it with effect, and to do our best, without
hesitation, for diverting a calamity which, be it far or near,
must be attended in its consummation with evils of the
greatest magnitude ?
A straight, an obvious course lies open before us. It is
recommended no less by a consistent view of our interests than
by rights and obligations pressed home on our sense of duty
by a just apprehension of worse. We are free to enter upon
it, or rather to persist in following it, without any immediate sacrifices, even of a financial kind, and with no greater
difficulties to encounter than must ever attend upon a course
of diplomatic action limited by its object rather than by
time, and applied, in concurrence with other Powers, less
in earnest, perhaps, than ourselves, but engaged ostensibly
as we are, to the complicated affairs of a distant empire and
a mistrustful government.
Should doubts remain, let the alternative, such as it is
described above, be fairly and fully weighed. Let it be
weighed together with our special engagements, and let this
additional consideration be thrown into the scale. A course
of policy which has for its object the maintenance of peace
by means of an improved system of administration throughout the Turkish Empire, and of the concurrent operation of
the Porte and her allies, even were it to fail as to the ultimate results, would, in its progress, work, beneficially for
Europe, to the relief of millions who are still suffering
under the joint effects of ignorance, misgovernment, and
fanaticism.
It is reasonable to presume that, under Providence, every
great depositary of power in this world has its mission. The
Crown and Parliament of England have theirs, a proud and
also a responsible one* I t is the mission of knowledge,

1877.]

INFATUATION 0# THfi POKTE.

125

freedom, and humanity, issuing from the highest of sources,
and hallowed throughout its course by Christian love.
Power is the instrument of our practical fidelity to its
duties. Let us take heed. Indifference to the end may
involve a forfeiture of the means.

June 18, 1877.

Such are the opinions which I threw upon paper some
four or five years after the termination of the Crimean war,
of that war which rescued Turkey from the domineering
pretensions of Eussia by means of auxiliary forces derived
from England and France, placing in a strong light both
the weakness of the Ottoman Empire and the strength of
those motives which brought the two allies to its support,
with the moral or more than the moral concurrence of other
European Powers. In a general sense, and from my point
of view, those opinions have undergone no change. But
circumstances have not maintained the same consistency.
Turkey, instead of calling out the political sympathies of
Western Europe as a State threatened with loss of independence by the demands of an ambitious neighbour, has
now exposed itself to just reproach by causing a great disturbance, attributable in its origin to the Porte's oppressive
principles of government, and later to its haughty rejection
of those salutary counsels which it received from all its cosignataries of the treaty of Paris. I t has, moreover, incurred
the imminent peril attached to open unaided war with a
contiguous empire far more powerful than its own in every
respect, and whose eventual triumph might entail disastrous
consequences on the greater part of European Christendom.
There may have been, and probably were, intrigues from
without which ripened into insurrection the discontent of
Bosnia and Herzegovina; but surely it required a deep

126,

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PAST ii.

sense of misrule on the part of a suffering and unarmed
population to lay itself bare, by acts of disobedience, to the
rigours of an unsparing and fanatical despotism. The reign
of Sultan Abdul-Aziz gained no favour even from those of
his subjects who were of His Majesty's own race and
religion, nor can it be forgotten that in his ill-omened time
the neglect of promised reforms went hand in hand with the
acquisition of millions obtained from the wealth of Christendom, and cancelled by an act of indefinite bankruptcy.
I t can hardly be denied that facts of this kind weigh
heavily in the balance when the Porte's engagements, distinctly implied, though perhaps not always formally expressed, are put into one scale, and its fragments or shadows
of performance into the other. The marked disproportion
between them may well throw doubt on the Porte's appeal
to the beneficial clauses of the treaty of Paris. If any
degree of validity may still be ascribed to that treaty, it
cannot with justice or reason be made to bear upon those
securities which all Europe, so to say, has deemed it necessary to demand for the complete execution of the proclaimed
reforms, and the restoration of peace on solid grounds in
the disturbed provinces. Whatever may be the results of
the war * which is now unhappily in progress on a colossal
scale, the mediating Powers have respected the permanent
independence and integrity of the Turkish Empire. The
temporary interference of foreign agents with the internal
arrangements of the Porte must of course be unpleasant to
the Sultan and his Mussulman subjects ; but its necessity,
supposing its real character to be such, originates with the
Turkish authorities, and has for its object the tranquillity
of Europe and the welfare of Turkey itself.
The capacity of Mussulman Turkey for reforms may not
* Bussia declared war against Turkey April 24th, 1877.

1877.]

?HE WORK OF MlDHAT PASHA.

327

be equal to its need of them, but it has always appeared to
me sufficient for the introduction of a real and progressive
improvement; On this account it is the more to be regretted,
and also the more to be resented, that nearly a score of
years from the treaty of Paris, so remarkable for increase
of revenue and freedom from disturbance, should have left
such scanty traces of advancement and good faith, and such
ample proofs of impolicy and extravagance. How could
Austria, whose territory bordered on the insurgent district
and was peopled with numerous sympathisers, look with
indifference on a movement so likely to compromise her
interests, and, in the probable event of its expansion, to
produce a mischievous excitement elsewhere ? Were not
the elements of that political disease, the Eastern Question,
discernible in the first local symptoms of resistance to
authority ? Was it to be expected that the insurgents
would consent to lay down their arms, and resume their
previous habits of obedience, on a simple assurance of
pardon and better treatment for the future ? Sympathies
naturally sprang up on both sides of the frontier. Popular
enthusiasm impelled the Christian Governments at the
same time that its effects alarmed the Porte, so that, while
the pressure from without increased, the resistance within
hardened into positive refusal. In proportion to their
determination to reject the demand of securities, the Turks
abounded in professions and enactments of reform. They
replied to the armed menace of Russia by an exhaustive
display of force, they threw down the barrier of creed, and
united the various classes of population into one patriotic
mass under the common appellation of Ottomans, represented by a Parliament composed of two houses—a Senate
and Deputies. Great and radical indeed is this change in
the institutions of Turkey. Can it succeed ? can it last ?
are the obvious questions which it suggests. A mixture of

128

5?HB EASTERN QUESTION,

[PART ii.

antagonistic elements shaped by a flash of urgency, and
forced at once into action under circumstances severely
trying, may well be viewed with surprise and doubt. The
sincerity of its principal author is to all appearance unshaken, although it was probably hurried into existence as
a refuge from the importunity of foreign dictators. There
are those who would have given it a fair chance by leaving
the Porte, as it were, on trial for a reasonable time after the
departure of the ambassadors from Constantinople, and
reserving the right of their Governments to interfere afresh
upon the evident failure of the new system. Such a course
would certainly have postponed the war, and perhaps might
even have prevented it from ever breaking out. Come
what may short of a Turkish dismemberment, the work of
Miclhat Pasha is not likely to pass away without leaving
salutary traces of its temporary existence. The Sultan's
uncontrolled authority, the inveterate corruptions of the
metropolitan Ministry, and the cat-and-dog relations between
Mussulmans and Christians can never be the same as heretofore.
Although it is not my intention to censure bygone transactions, I cannot entirely suppress the regret with which I
look back on some of the incidents preliminary to the
present deplorable war. What, for instance, could be more
ominous of failure than the want of union among the mediating Powers from the very commencement of their proceedings ? What more offensive to the Turks than the
unscrupulous hostilities of Servia and Montenegro ? What
more disreputable both to Turkey and to Europe than the
manner in which the convicted perpetrators of the Bulgarian
outrages escaped from the pursuits of justice ? What more
injudicious than the unyielding obstinacy with which the
Porte repelled the modified counsels of its allies, and
refused to settle the terms of a mutual disarmament with

1877.]

ATTITUDE OF THE GREAT POWERS.

129

Russia by means of an accredited representative at St.
Petersburg ?
No doubt the Eastern Question is a network of difficulties
and clangers, affecting very important interests, exciting
violent passions, and even when lulled into a state of rest
liable to break out again with ruinous activity. The elements of which it is composed explain its character. A
northern Power, possessing a vast extent of territory, and
capable of bringing a most formidable array of forces into
the field, presses down to the south upon an empire which,
though apparently verging towards its ruin, comprises whole
regions of splendid fertility and the choicest positions for
sway and trade. The former is thought to covet, at the
very least, some important portions of its neighbour's
dominions, and to seek the accomplishment of its views by
an intriguing policy in times of peace, and by downright
conquest in times of war. The Porte facilitates its rival's
success by a system of misrule which paralyses its natural
advantages, and comes in aid of strong original causes to
produce a spirit of disaffection among the majority of its
subjects. Russia, on the other hand, is thereby furnished
with millions of partisans from within the Turkish Empire,
and the energies of an impulsive sympathy from without.
Of late, indeed, she has drifted into a position of which she
has availed herself to assume the guise of Europe's
champion, and at the same time to drive the Sultan into a
single-handed war fraught with chances fatal to his independence. Other European Powers, for various reasons
and in different degrees, see at all times much to alarm
them even in the prospect of a rupture between the two
parties. They know that the small dark cloud on the
horizon may surge into a sweeping tempest, and they must
lose no time in determining when and by what means they
may have to protect their own particular interests even to
ic

130

T E E EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART II.

the extremity of war. Of such inducements to hostile
action, England may be said to have the lion's share.
Whatever consideration obliges her to rest her sheet
anchor on peace, she may be carried into stormy latitudes
by resistless forces incidental to a wide expanse of surface
on land as well as at sea.
We of the British Isles have to thank Providence for
being still able to hold to the anchor of peace. We are
declared neutrals. But the contest which is now raging in
the home of the Eastern Question throws all generalities
into the shade. Public curiosity fastens eagerly on news
from the seat of war, whether it be on the banks of the
Danube or among the mountains of Armenia. Speculation
on tip-toe strains its sight to catch a glimpse of things
beyond our actual horizon, and the dimness of the objects
would seem to sharpen the appetite for discovery. No
wonder that such should be the case. The mill-stone is
accessible to all, and I cannot deny my wish, like that of
thousands, to penetrate its mysteries, and also, unlike that
of many, my sense of inability to reach their place of seclusion. What opinions I may venture to entertain are at the
service of my readers. The first to be mentioned turns
upon the supposition that Russia is bent on something
more than the redress of grievances in European Turkey.
If so, the present appearances warrant a conjecture that the
intended passage of the Danube is a demonstration, and the
incursion from Circassia the reality. Imagine the Russians
to advance so far on the two lines of invasion as to bring
the Porte to terms. What more plausible than for them to
say: " W e are content to redeem our pledge in Europe.
We ask nothing there for ourselves ; but we are entitled to
a fair indemnity for the cost and sacrifices of war, and on
this ground we propose to retain a part or the whole of
territory in Asia already won and actually occupied by our

1877.J

POSSIBLE DANGERS OF THE FUTURE.

131

armies " ? A demand so appropriately stated might include
a cession of Erzeroum, and with it the entrance of the
Euphrates Valley, which terminates only in the Gulf of
Persia. There are politicians who see in such an acquisition by Russia a danger which threatens our Indian dominions, and consequently raises the question of what should
be done to counteract it. An answer may perhaps be suggested by the map. Any one who consults that oracle will
perceive that distance alone presents a serious difficulty to
hostile enterprise from that quarter; and surely, if we had
to contend with an enemy in the Indian or Persian seas, our
resources in point of force, recruiting, or provisioning,
would not be inferior to his. As for the Suez Canal, it
may be that our possession of shares would not preclude
the necessity of employing force for the defence of its
freedom ; but it may perhaps fairly be said that " sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof," especially as we may reckon
confidently on having all neutral nations on our side when
called upon to act on its behalf. We must not, however,
lose sight of the facilities to be derived from the river by
an invading army, nor of the effect which the possession of
Armenia might have in helping to cover the line of advance
from the Caspian Sea into Central Asia.
Other more exposed interests may be brought into jeopardy by the existing war, should it take a turn decidedly
favourable to Russia. The fettered navigation of the
Danube, an indefinite occupation of the befriended provinces in Turkey, a free passage of the Dardanelles, and
even the appropriation of Constantinople itself, are all contingencies which the negotiation of a peace dictated by
Russian victory might raise into dilemmas of the most
formidable kind. More than one question is involved in
the solution they require. Which of them, if any, would
leave us no choice but that of hostile resistance ? Which
K 2

132

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART II.

would entitle us to the co-operation of one or more auxiliaries ? Could we enter upon hostilities with a reasonable
prospect of success, and with no sacrifice greater than what
the fruits of success would repay ? It is clear that not one
of the enumerated conditions could be accepted by the
Porte without more or less injury, commercial, territorial,
or political, to the interests of other States, and more particularly, in some respects, to those of Great Britain. The
mere introduction of Russian armed vessels into the Archipelago and Mediterranean from the Black Sea would make
a very objectionable alteration in the relative position of
other naval Powers, and be a constant source of anxiety and
peril to the Ottoman authorities. The transfer of Constantinople itself to the possession of Russia would manifestly place the adjacent straits at the mercy of a Power
whose maxims of trade and exclusiveness of policy might at
any time hamper, if not suspend, the trade of Europe with
the countries which they enclose. Questions of vital importance had better rest with governments and representative assemblies, but private individuals may fairly, and
sometimes even usefully, hazard an opinion on exceptional
points. In the present instance two things are clear to the
commonest understanding; the one as pressing on every
government concerned, the other as touching all that is
most valuable to every inhabitant of a contented country.
Every nerve should at once be strained to prepare for the
expected crisis, not only by readiness of measures and
means within, but by union of counsels and concert of operations without. The other indispensable duty is to ascertain,
as nearly as possible, the amount of effective means for a
successful issue. If there be one proposition more obvious
than another, it is that war, at the best, carries with it such
great sacrifices that to undertake it without necessity or
calculation is akin to madness. History records the con-

1377.]

THE PROPER TREATMENT OF RUSSIA.

133

sequences of neglect in these matters, and our recent
proclamation of present neutrality seems to warrant the
expectation of a deliberate but unfettered policy in this
country.
If the Russians, like other nations of the high north,
have a natural leaning towards the sun and the brighter
regions of the earth, we have the assurances of their sovereign and his ministers that they confine their views of
success in Turkey to points on which they have already in
principle the concurrence of Europe; and it may be found
wiser to display our reliance on their sincerity, while we
observe their movements with vigilance, and prepare to
counteract any failure in their promises.
STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE.

XIII.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS:
AND HOW THEY MAY BE MAINTAINED FOR THE BEST
INTERESTS OF MANKIND.
(OCTOBER, 1877.)

is little risk of contradiction in stating that the
international relations of the civilised world were never so
extensive as they are at the present time, never perhaps
more important, or more liable to serious disturbance. In
countries previously well-peopled, a great increase of population is almost everywhere more or less discerned. Turkey,
if not a solitary exception, is at least the only part of Europe
or Asia where any marked decrease of population is recognised by statistical writers. I t was natural that commerce,
if not obstructed by special causes, should expand in something of the same proportion. Science, exploring with
signal success the powers of nature, has operated in the
same direction. The elements, multiplied in number, have
been enlisted in its service.
Steam and rail unite to
facilitate the personal intercourse of the various races of
mankind, and the products of their labour and skill are
conveyed from one region to another with unusual speed
and reciprocal advantage. Japan is no longer an isolated
group of islands. China is no longer open only to foreign
trade. The Celestial Empire has felt the power of European
armies even to the submission of its capital and the surrender
of a portion of its dependencies. Australia, that vast insular
THERE

1877.]

POLITICS AS MODIFIED BY THE TELEGEAPH.

135

continent, New Zealand, and other inferior but not unimportant holds of savage life, have been made to teem with
civilised inhabitants, and greater still is the development of
the divine command to " increase and multiply " in those
" wilds immeasurably spread" the discovery of which we owe
to the genius of one undaunted navigator.
If we turn from the mere extension of these communities
which stand in reciprocal relations with each other, we can
hardly fail to perceive what vital interests are involved in
the maintenance of those relations on sound principles and
durable forms. Political security, commercial prosperity,
the power which upholds a state, and the trade which more
or less in every country nourishes the arts and comforts of
peace, supplies the sinews of war, and enlarges the circle of
beneficence, are bound up in great measure with external
ties of a kindred and interchangeable nature. We are living
in an age of wonderful approximation, if that word may
suffice to express the grand result of steam-engines, electric
wires, and submarine telegraphs. The London merchant
seizes a favourable opportunity, and from his counting-house
at Gracechurch Street or King's Arms Yard despaches an
order for sale or purchase to his correspondent at Eio,
Cincinnati, or Benares. Scarcely has he had time to sleep
oif the effects of an unrestricted dinner when he learns by
telegraph that his purpose is fulfilled, and, it may be,
another thousand added to the million in prospect. The
State official, whatever may be his department, is not
behind the merchant in rapidity of despatch. He transmits
a command or instruction to some remote settlement or
theatre of war, and decides the fate of an army or the
fortunes of a colony in less time than the mails used to
consume in passing from York to London. Far more than
this, I hope not to err in stating that convivial hilarity has
been hushed into astonishment by the communication of a

136

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART 11.

message and reply which have traversed the Atlantic between
the first spoonful of soup and the last glass of claret.
Advantages of so remarkable a kind are now in many
countries at the disposal of individuals and their Governments. Hence a large increase of international transactions, and on critical occasions of no small rivalry in using
the quickest means of promoting their success.
I t happens unfortunately that the extension and importance of international relations carry with them a proportionate
liability to disturbance. In matters of trade there must be
competition, and competition is a fertile source of enmity
and wrong, of obstructive statutes and fraudulent devices.
Nations are brought into contact, contention, and hostility
on grounds of conflicting interest or questionable right.
No distance prevents such incidental collisions. The consciousness of power engenders arrogance, which stimulates
pretension and disdains compromise. Prosperity in its
course of growth is apt to be daring and combative. The
despot whose habit is dictation which defies resistance, the
republic which in the guise of patriotism insists on a
neighbour's submission to wrong, are often alike the causes
of quarrel that withers the fruits of industry and destroys
the spirit of enterprise. As the effects of these provocations are constantly multiplied by the augmented activity of
human intercourse, it would be difficult to employ too much
care in searching into their nature and providing timely
means of controlling them. Much, no doubt, has been
done from early times to check the evils of disturbance
traceable to such sources, and much of a remedial kind is
actually in force ; but numerous events within the memory
of living men may be cited to show that room enough
remains for useful inquiry and practical improvement. I
cannot presume to prosecute the one or to suggest the
other in any degree adequate to the demands of so vast a

1877.]

WHAT INTERNATIONAL INTERESTS MEAN.

137

subject. Even my aim falls short of any such completeness*
But having acquired, by no merit of my own, some little
experience of the matters in question, I may j)erhaps be
allowed to lay before the public such ill-digested notions as
my course of life, whether active or otherwise, has brought
within my range of thought.
Since international relations involve the best interests of
mankind in the largest sense, it were well to consider
without further delay in what those interests essentially
consist. Let us take them one by one in the order of their
importance.
I t may well be thought that in a list constructed on that
principle the first place belongs of right to morality. Does
any one ask the meaning of that word when so applied ?
The answer is obvious : namely, that in the first dealings of
one nation with another fairness should be the prevailing
spirit on both sides, equally whether the parties differ from
each other largely in power, wealth, and knowledge, or stand
on much the same level in those important respects.
Humanit}' comes next, but chiefly as a part of morality.
The temptations to act with violence and cruelty are strong
when commanders from civilised countries have to deal with
the inhabitants of newly discovered regions; and their
excesses are not unfrequently provoked by the savages
themselves, apt, as they are in general, to be treacherous,
thievish, and irritable. But strength and knowledge on one
side, weakness and ignorance on the other, show by their
contrast which of the two parties is bound to set the good
example. Let history speak in illustration of my meaning.
Though separated in reality by a long lapse of years, Cook
and Cortez may be brought within the compass of a single
frame. Both were endowed with mental qualities that
challenged inquiry and commanded admiration. The great
English circumnavigator passed over the untrodden waters

138

THE EASTEKN QUESTION.

[PART II.

like a divinity, and wherever he found the human form approached it with a friendly feeling and sympathetic consideration. The famous invader of Mexico saw in the halftamed population of that country nothing but a swarm of
inferior creatures to be subdued by fear and plundered
without mercy.
Look here upon this picture, and on this.

Apart from consequences, has not England reason to be
proud of her seafaring representative ? Can Spain entertain
the same sentiment in favour of her unscrupulous marauder ?
How is it now in the lands they respectively discovered ?
The descendants of those savages who ignorantly murdered
Cook are now described as more inclined to intercourse with
strangers, and give more signs of progressive civilisation,
than any other originals of the Pacific islands. The Mexican
population, on the contrary, though long intermingled with
immigrants from Europe and their offspring, have relapsed
into a state of very imperfect settlement, more remarkable
for a wild spirit of independence and a normal aversion to
strangers, than for a love of constitutional order and social
improvement.
Among the best interests of mankind we can hardly be
wrong in giving a high place to the acquisition of knowledge,
or in calling to mind how much the communications of one
country with another tend to promote the enjoyment of this
universal benefit. I t requires but little reflection to perceive
how deeply the human mind is affected by climate and local
position, and what varieties of thought and modes of investigation are suggested by the influence of surrounding
objects. The shepherds of Chaldsea in their nightly watches
were the earliest observers of the planetary movements and
other marvels of the sky. The mountainous regions of
Greece, Palestine, and Helvetia, fostered that love of inde-

1877.] IMPROVED STATE OF FEELING BETWEEN NATIONS.

139

pendence which distinguished their respective inhabitants.
The development of art in its finest expressions may be
traced to the inspiration of some genial climate, and to the
perfections of form and colour derived from the same source.
What would the world have been if the various races of
mankind had been shut in by impassable barriers; and
what do the least favoured parts of the earth not owe to that
spirit of enterprise which has gradually brought the nations
into more or less of fellowship, and given, one might almost
say, by general interchange, the character of common stock,
to the special advantages of each ?
But those—even those of whom it may be said that
Knowledge to their eyes her ample page,
Eicli with the spoils of time, did ne'er unroll—

can hardly fail to recognise in peace and commerce the
foremost of those interests which stand in close connection
with the subject of this essay. To name them is enough.
The first is almost as much the life of international relations
as the air we breathe is a necessary condition of human
existence. The second may be fitly described as being at
once the child and parent of the other. Illustrations would
be thrown away upon a statement at once so obvious and so
true.
Taking it then for granted that morality, knowledge,
peace, and commerce are those interests which, in a social
sense, ought to be constantly and practically kept in view
when nations are dealing with each other, it is satisfactory
in some degree to learn from history that together with the
increase of population and intercourse there has been a
gradual resort to measures which tend to strengthen and
extend the relations attendant on that progress. The
beginnings, indeed, of international intercourse have but
too often borne a character of injustice and violence, ending

140

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[I-AUT I I .

in the subjugation, if not the extinction, of one party by the
other. Even to this hour a score of consecutive years free
from disturbance or actual hostility is, we all know, of rare
occurrence ; but such are the requirements of trade, such is
the force of peaceful habits, that even in the heat of war the
means of carrying it on are supplied by neutrals, and to run
a blockade is rather esteemed as an act of courage than
censured as a breach of law.
Mankind on the whole have shown in various ways from
the earliest times, and by steps interruptedly progressive,
the importance they attach to those great interests which
are involved in the communications of one country with
another, and the high degree in which they feel the duty of
promoting them by all available means. They have not,
perhaps, been equally careful to give a strictly moral character to their international relations ; but whatever may be
defective in that respect is rather a consequence of inherent
carelessness than of perverted principle.
We have now to enter upon another department of this
extensive subject, one which may serve to throw light on
the correctness of what I have asserted in the preceding
paragraph. A mere list of words indicating the various
ranks of persons employed for the maintenance or extension
of international interests goes far to show how deeply those
interests are valued throughout the civilised world. The
names of ambassador, legate, nuncio, internuncio, envoy,
minister, charge d'affaires, consul, consul-general, viceconsul, to say nothing of political and consular agents, are
familiar to all of us. Multiply these by the number of
persons employed in various countries under the several
denominations, or in aid of their object, and we find what
might almost be termed an army of civilians devoted to the
great service of which we are treating. Taking furthermore
into account the expenses of such and so many establish-

1877.]

THE ORIGIN OF EMBASSIES.

141

ments, headed by individuals more or less qualified for the
performance of important and at times entangled functions,
we can hardly refuse our tribute of gratitude to those who
have taken the lead in providing for the welfare of nations
on one of its weakest sides. Whatever defects may still
remain in the general machinery, it is highly encouraging
to know that so much has already been done in the right
direction, and it may well be hoped that in proportion as
errors are perceived and new wants felt, the same spirit
which has hitherto animated the directors of human intelligence will continue to operate with wholesome effect.
Whatever the original term may have been, the employment of embassies for international purposes wroulcl seem to
date from a very remote period. Early instances of the
practice are to be found in the Old Testament. Among
the earliest, if not the very earliest, are those mentioned in
the twentieth and twenty-first chapters of the book of
Numbers.
The fourteenth verse of the former is thus
worded : " And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto
the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou
knowest all the travel that hath befallen us." The request
preceded by this preface was permission for the Israelites
to pass through the Edomite country. The ambassadors
are indeed styled messengers, but the circumstances, as
stated in the Bible, were precisely those which according to
modern definition characterise an embassy. The second
instance recorded in the Pentateuch, is similar to the first
in form, object, and result, differing from it only with
respect to the sovereign for whose permission to traverse
his country Moses applied. We are left to conjecture in
what manner the ambassadors were personally treated, but
silence warrants a supposition that they had nothing to
complain of on that account, and that safety at least was
their accustomed privilege. Nor is there reason to believe

142

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART II.

that less security than now was afforded to individuals
charged with a public commission from one sovereign to
another, though of rank inferior to that of ambassadors, if
such indeed were employed at any early period of historical
times. The K.ripv£ of the Homeric Greeks appears to have
acted without risk of personal molestation when on duty,
as well as the itplo-fivs, who possessed the ambassadorial
character in a higher and more exclusive sense, and who, as
we learn from iEschylus, was exempted by custom and
public opinion, if not by law, from violence or insult.
It may be doubted whether ambassadors among the
Greeks and Eomans commanded the confidence of their
countrymen to the same amount as they enjoyed in respect
of foreigners. Embassies appear to have been formed of
numerous members. Demosthenes, when he was sent to
treat with Philip of Macedon, had several colleagues.
Mention is made in history of embassies entertained in
Athens at the public expense, as composed of members
more or less numerous. Livy and Cicero use the plural
number in making mention of legates, whether received or
sent out by Eome. "When the Jews sent an embassy to
Augustus Caesar, it was composed of at least more than one
legate. Virgil describes JEneas as sending a hundred
envoys (centum oratores) in one company to some neighbouring court of Italy. As each of them carried a branch
of olive in his hand, their appearance in a body must have
been that of a shrubbery, not much inferior to the moving
wood in Shakespeare's Macbeth. We must presume that
the charge undertaken in common was explained by only
one of the orators at a time. Had it been otherwise, the
roar of Pope's hundred oxen might well have been preferred
by the royal listener.
According to modern usage the lowest rank of diplomatic
agency is as much protected as the first. Besides their

1877.]

THE HIGH OFFICE

OF AMBASSADOR.

143

difference in point of dignity and display, an important
privilege is still, as for some time back, attached to the
title of ambassador, and attached to it exclusively: I mean
the personal representation of his sovereign. An agent so
qualified is understood in monarchical states to be on equal
terms with the king or emperor to whom he is accredited,
and therefore at liberty to appeal by word of mouth from
the administration of a country to their master. An envoy
is presented to the sovereign, but the transaction of diplomatic business lies between him and the minister alone. A
charge d'affaires has no recognised claim to approach the
throne except by favour. These distinctions are at present
kept practically in view less than formerly, and those who
write in the public journals appear in general to ignore
them altogether, but it remains to be shown that they have
been at any time submitted by competent authority to a
new form of regulation.
There is a tone of grandeur in its sound which makes the
term " ambassador " a natural object of curiosity as to its
origin and derivation. If the Spaniards had claimed it as
of their invention, the likelihood would have been greatly on
their side. Grandiloquence is one of their national attributes, and their substitution of an x, pronounced gutturally,
for the double s in the French and English forms of the
word, augments its effect on the ear. But this conjecture
is not borne out by the opinion of inquirers. The languages
of Greece and Rome have been rummaged in vain for some
root from which the title may have sprung. The lexicographers have been reduced to the necessity of making
guesses which do more honour to their ingenuity than to
their judgment. But to pursue the inquiry further would
be a mere. wraste of time. I t is enough to know that we
have the word, and are not ignorant of its meaning. The
time and place of its adoption, and whether it preceded or

144

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PAST ir.

followed that of its correlative, " embassy," are questions
which may be left without reproach to the hunters of literary
butterflies. To trace the working of the system in which it
culminates, to mark the advantages and defects of international practice, and to suggest available means of correction or improvement therein, are the pursuits which best
deserve our attention, and hold out most remunerative
rewards to well-conducted study. But the present occasion
does not admit of more than some irregular notices of the
matter comprised in this very expansive outline.
It is somewhat singular that so little, if anything, should
be known of the time or place where diplomatic agents,
whatever their rank or character, became resident. I t is
clear enough that by ancient practice an embassy ceased
with the conclusion of the errand from which it derived its
vitality. From a witty saying attributed to Sir Henry
Wootton it may be inferred that the custom had begun in
the reign of James the First. He said that ambassadors
were respectable persons sent to lie abroad for the benefit
of their country. This expression has a sound at least of
residence. In the time of Queen Mary the appearances
suggest that the Spanish ambassador resided permanently
in England; but, supposing that to have been the case, it
may have been an exceptional consequence of her Majesty's
marriage with Philip. It is certain historically that Elizabeth in the course of her eventful reign received special
embassies, that of Sully amongst the number; and it may
be thought probable that her diplomatic communications
with France and Scotland bore the same character, but it
would seem that she had a resident ambassador at Madrid
in the person of Chaloner. Be that as it may, whenever
the credentials of an ambassador first bore a stamp of permanency, it was a step in the right direction, a sign of
increased anxiety for the maintenance of friendly or profit-

1*77.]-

AMBASSADORS TREATED AS HOSTAGES.

145

able relations between one country and another—a proof,
in fine, of progress in all the elements of civilisation.
A similar improvement has taken place in the most important respect of all. So general among nations has been
the sense of supreme importance belonging to the security
of ambassadors in the performance of their official duties,
that even in Peru, when Pizarro brought it under the
Spanish yoke, the principle was distinctly recognised. As
a royal commission has not the effect of subduing human
frailties, ambassadors have sometimes, though rarely, been
convicted of intrigues, nay, even of crimes against the State
in which they exercised their respective functions. But the
instances in which they have been punished under the local
law, or by the will of the injured sovereign, are rarer still.
The guilty representative has, with few exceptions, been
sent away, or at most sent back to his own master with an
explanatory complaint, or an appeal to the employer's sense
of justice and power of correction. As far back as the
palmy days of Rome there is evidence that the principle
which underlay such conduct prevailed in the minds of its
noblest citizens. One of the Scipios when in power is
credited with a sentiment which redounds greatly to his
honour. A Roman embassy having been ill-treated by the
Carthaginians, he was asked what he meant to do in the way
of revenge : " Certainly not what the Carthaginians have
done," is the reply ascribed to him. In modern times, on
the occasion of war breaking out, the idea of treating an
ambassador as a hostage is not without example. In Turkey
at least a case of that kind has occurred within a century
from the present time. I t took place in the person of
M. Bulgakoff, the Russian representative at Constantinople.
I t was his fortune to undergo a term of confinement in the
seven towers, which, though now untenanted, served in his
day for a state prison. The battle of Navarino, wThich took

146

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART I *

place just fifty years ago, might easily have given him a
leash of successors at once. An almost total destruction of
the Turkish naval power was the result of that conflict.
The combined squadrons of England, France, and Eussia
formed the victorious force. Those countries were formally
at peace with the Porte; their representatives were at the
Sultan's court. Well might the Sultan's suspicions of
treachery be roused to a state of fury, and indeed there is
reason to believe that Sultan Mahmoud's first intention
was to make the respective ambassadors responsible for
what he naturally saw in the light of an unwarrantable
outrage. A message was conveyed officially from the Porte
to the three embassies that in the Porte's opinion the law
of nations had been violated. Yet prudence prevailed under
the influence of some wise counsellors, and the ambassadors
were allowed to retire without other hindrance than the
refusal of passports. What a triumph was this for the
cause of international respect! How greatly did it tell in
favour of the world's capacity for moral improvement in
matters of political conduct!
The consular department stands next for consideration in
continuing the present subject of inquiry. Lower in dignity, as belonging rather to individual interests than to
those of the state in general, it has risen with the growth
of trade to a level of practical importance with the diplomatic order. Eesiding in a foreign country, consuls enjoy
a certain amount of special respect from its authorities in
virtue of their appointment by an independent sovereign
Power. But they are amenable to local jurisdiction unless
when exempted from its action by the provisions of a treaty.
I n Turkey, by treaties of old date, styled capitulations, the
foreign consuls are not only independent of the national
law, but are themselves entitled to settle differences between
their own countrymen, and even, in cases of dispute between

187?.]

THE CONSULAR DEPARTMENT.

147

the latter and the dependents of other consulates, to exercise a joint authority for judgment as well as trial. From
this example of liberality it may be inferred not only that
the encouragement of commerce was a part of the Sultan's
policy, but that the office of consul stood well in the estimation of public men and their respective governments.
At what period a resort to consular establishments became
necessary may be left without inconvenience to conjecture ;
but it will interest the curious to know that the first appointment of the kind bearing its present name took place
in Italy under the questionable auspices of our Eichard the
Third. Surely it was a grand title wherewith to invest a
mercantile officer. It would seem, however, that the Italians
acquiesced in its adoption, if they did not suggest it, and
therefore we are in a manner bound to accept it as an
appropriate appellation, though the lictor with his axe and
bundle of sticks no longer bears it company.
Convenience, to which the gradations of diplomacy are
probably to be ascribed, was no doubt the parent of similar
degrees in the consular line. The functions of a consulgeneral are deemed co-extensive with the country to which
he is sent. A consul's are confined in principle to a district. A vice-consul is either the consul's aid, or an agent
empowered to act as a full consul, with smaller appointments and in some district or seaport of minor importance.
I n countries where the foreign trade is on a large scale, the
consular service naturally tends to grow up into the same
proportions. Individual traders of the same country as the
consul look naturally to him for advice, assistance, and such
protection as the limited extent of his privileges, or his communication with the authorities on whom he depends, may
afford. But the range of consular duty is wider than this.
He is expected to keep a watchful eye over all that passes
within his district of a nature to interest his own governL2

148

THE EASTEKN QUESTION.

[PART II.

ment and country. With this view the consul is generally
instructed to maintain a double correspondence, namely,
with the ministerial office at home, and also with the diplomatic chief whose orders he is bound to respect. He has,
moreover, in our service, to draw up at fixed periods a statistical report on the state of trade where he is. He fills no
little space in the neighbourhood of his residence.
It
depends upon himself to be an object of high respect
among those who form the social circle around him.
Though by no means a star of the first magnitude, he
appears to them of greater dimensions than a superior
luminary in the distant capital. He and his colleagues act
as spectacles to the ambassador, and, in states where the
Foreign Office stands in awe of a Parliament, they go far to
illuminate a whole series of blue books, and thereby show
the importance progressively attached to international intercourse and the promotion of its interests. I t is no
wonder that the post of consul should be much prized by
the mercantile class. In places where we have no regular
trade or other interest to serve, but in which nevertheless a
British subject, or even a British vessel, may now and then
by accident require assistance, there is no difficulty in
finding a respectable native merchant ready to accept the
appointment of consul, with no other remuneration than the
honour of hoisting our union-jack over his door. The arrangement may have its disadvantages, though it must be
allowed to supply an occasional want on the principle of
strict economy.
In a country like ours, the whole consular establishment
must require an expense of no inconsiderable amount. The
interests which profit by it are too important to be left
without such means of support and encouragement as the
State can reasonably supply. Liberal and frugal tendencies
are therefore brought into mild conflict with each other,

1877.]

THE BBMUNERATION OF CONSULS.

149

and the spirit of party which presides in our parliamentary
constitution occasions no small fluctuation in those discordant principles. In illustration of this remark I may
be allowed to mention what Lord Castlereagh, when Foreign
Minister, once said to me on my return from abroad: "You
left us squandering pounds, and you find us squabbling for
sixpences.'' The recollection of this passage in my intercourse with an illustrious but unfortunate statesman carries
me back to another circumstance of the past connected
with nry present theme. It fell to my lot, when charged
with our mission to the United States, to draw up a scale of
salaries appropriate to our numerous consulships in that
part of the New World. I recommended for each a yearly
allowance proportioned to the work to be done, and sufficient
to enable the consul to live on terms of social equality with
the respectable classes of his district. He was not expected
to entertain ex officio, but it seemed desirable that his mode
of living should be that of a gentleman possessing a moderate
income. How, as a rule, could he otherwise have the degree
of influence required for the wholesome discharge of his
duties ? How, for instance with a family, could he be free
from those anxieties and temptations which depress the
mind, and sometimes add discredit to a failure of energy ?
With respect to fees, which consuls are authorised to receive from their clients on account of certain chancery acts
prescribed by law, the annual amount of them is subject to
so much variation that it may well be thought best to form
them into a fund at the disposal of the Government. In
such case they would be equally available for the payment
of salaries, but with the advantage of not giving a character
of uncertainty to the consular stipend. Fixity of income
goes far to insure the regulation of expense and keeping out
of debt, that frequent source of embarrassment and humiliation. If the remembrance of so remote a transaction may

150

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART it.

he relied on, my plan was approved at the Foreign Office
and carried more or less into effect, until another party
came into power with retrenchment figuring in its programme. The word went forth, and a change more or less
slashing was brought to bear on our table of American
salaries, with no other view but the single one of reduction.
This, if correctly stated, lies open to a strong feeling of
regret. The machinery for protecting and promoting such
interests as those which underlie the term international
relations has a just claim to efficiency as the principle of
its financial maintenance. Cheapness, as the exclusive
aim of settlement in such cases, may prove in the end
to be extravagance. Economy may be consulted with
more advantage in a judicious selection of places where
consular authority is most needed, and where a greater or
lower degree of rank and appointment is the most suitable.
In recent years the increase of attention paid to the
qualification of candidates for official employment may be
fairly taken as an earnest of good results. Competition
with its attendant examinations is calculated, no doubt, to
provide the State with servants well grounded in the
rudiments of such knowledge as office of any kind generally
requires. It helps to bring into use the mechanical talents
from a wider range of capacities. I t tends to deprive ignorance, sloth, and dulness of the preferment they were wont
at times to obtain in the reign of patronage. But it can
hardly pretend to' develop or even to ascertain the higher
qualities of mind, the judgment, the foresight, the resolution, the morality, which are the true elements of usefulness
and honourable success in public life. " Cramming " and
" coaching," to use the slang of the day, will often serve to
obtain a preference for some youth whose only superiority
over his rivals lies in a quick memory. An illustrious
dignitary of our Church, who had gained the university

1877.] PBOPOSED CHANGES IN THE CONSULAB SEBVICE.

151

scholarship at Cambridge, told me that he had answered
correctly a score of the two dozen questions put to him
during his examination, and that a few months later he
could not have answered four of them. In the first competition paper I ever saw, one of the questions which had
been employed to test the comparative merit of the candidates was the name of a stream in Dorsetshire.
It is refreshing to learn from the public journals that the
improvement of our consular service engages the serious
attention of Her Majesty's Minister for Foreign Affairs. It
appears that a measure having this object in view has actually
passed through its first stage of operation. The countries
to which it applies are Turkey, Persia, and Egypt, where
under present circumstances it is most wanted. The formation of a body of " student dragomans," eligible for eventual
employment as consuls or interpreters, can hardly fail to be
useful in a high degree. Whatever may be his rank, a
consul who is ignorant of the national language where he
resides, especially if it be at a seaport, acts under needless
difficulties. He must employ an interpreter, and, if his
own salary be small, pay him at a rate which is fitter to
cause discontent and embarrassment than to obtain good
work or to exclude temptation. The principle of opening
two doors of preferment to those who stand in the first
instance at one, might perhaps be carried further with advantage to the public. I t might even be introduced with a
prospect of good results into the home as well as into the
foreign service. Together with the growth of population,
wealth, knowledge, and activity throughout Europe, to say
nothing of America, the business of every official department increases from year to year, and in England more
particularly the frequent changes of ministry tend to make
the chief of each department more and more dependent for
information, and consequently even in some degree for

152

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PABT I I ,

opinion, on his subordinate officers. I t is, therefore,
evidently desirable that the clerks in each of the leading
establishments should be something more than the title in
modern acceptation implies, that their minds should not be
tethered down in one narrow circle, but acquire first elements of judgment and a freer spirit by more extended
practice in the official region. Grooves of thought, confining the movements of intellect to some inexpansive
line, are to be found in more than one of the learned professions, and rare even is the lawyer who can discuss the
merits of a political measure with the large comprehension
of a statesman. Let the clerks of each first-rate department be interchangeable at convenient times, and even
attached now and then for a while to some diplomatic
mission or consulship abroad, and it would be strange if
the traveller, enlightened by variety of scene and occupation, did not finally prove a safer counsellor to his chief
than if he had stagnated during his best years in one same
pool of almost mechanical routine. It should not be forgotten that the functions of a consul in the East are judicial
as well as commercial, and that a moderate amount of legal
knowledge is not only a creditable accomplishment, but an
acquisition not to be omitted without serious prejudice to
the interests concerned. This is the more important at
the Turkish capital, because the ambassador's court, as
originally instituted—a court of last appeal—has been
transferred to the Consul-General, who has, moreover, the
privilege in certain cases of a seat at the chief native tribunal, where Turkish law and the Turkish language are
naturally in use.
When, as in some rare cases, in Egypt and at Hamburg
for instance, a diplomatic character is attached to the consulship, the rule of international law affords a more complete
security to the individual who holds the double office. If

1877.]

SUGGESTED REFORMS.

153

cases of this kind were more frequent, the trading classes
might have reason to rejoice; but it is by no means unlikely
that the inconvenience to any independent state of having a
nursery of foreign arrogance, far away from metropolitan
control, in every provincial town and seaport, has had the
effect of limiting the admission of such rights as the full
extent of international privilege confers.
Permission to trade, which has not yet been entirely
exploded from the consular service, may derive credit from
its economical tendency, but can hardly be thought to merit
approval on any other ground, whether moral, political, or
commercial. The trading consul, careful as he may be to
avoid reproach, is by the mere fact exposed to much that
necessarily detracts from the respect due to his official
character and reliance on the impartiality of his decisions.
He may be called upon to give judgment in his own cause;
he may have to contend with the local authorities on his
private account; he is lucky indeed if he escapes being an
object of jealousy or suspicion to rival traders. I t is needless to remark that of all men a magistrate, in which capacity consuls are generally entitled to act, at least under the
name of arbiters, ought to be free from the bias of private
interests, and above any kind of disparaging suspicion.
Among the papers belonging to the period of my official
life I have recently found one which, more than thirty years
old, contains opinions so much in accordance with those I
still entertain, that I may strengthen my present statement
by inserting a few of its passages here. I t is in the form
of a simple memorandum, and as its immediate bearing was
on Turkey I probably drew it up for transmission to Downing Street:
Mucli might be effected by opening the several departments of the establishment to each other. Surely the public service would gain if attaches
were placed within reach of practical consular knowledge, if consuls were

154

THE EASTEEN QUESTION.

[PART II.

less rooted to one spot or one circle, if linguists were called into a wider
sphere of action, if Englishmen had less to apprehend from being classed
with native agents, and the native more to hope from their connection
with the service—in short, if more activity, variety, and promotion,
founded on solid acquirements, were opened to all.
Our general system holds out few prizes to them, and if they are
well paid, they are undistinguished and tethered into caste.
A consul is now considered as placed for life, except in cases of gross
misconduct. . . . A system founded on the principles of transfer, promotion, and uncertain tenure might go far in the way of remedy, and,
as consuls now retire on pensions, there would be no hardship.
The rank of consul-general would perhaps be more useful as a prize
for the meritorious than in any other point of view.
A succession of students should be provided.

We are told by writers on the law of nations that every
nation has a right to trade with those who are ready to
agree with it in the practice, and therefore that to molest
its traffic is an injury. Whatever modifications of this right
the counter-claim of belligerents may have introduced, the
consuls or protectors of trade are entitled to every consideration and encouragement consistent with the good order and
independence of the country where they reside. The example
of a State whose subjects carry on an almost unlimited commerce, and whose outlying dominions are of unparalleled
extent, must tell more or less on the policy of other States ;
and England is therefore bound not only to give full protection to her own commercial interests, but also in so doing
to act by methods sound in principle and acceptable to the
world at large. Her standard, which floats respected in
every clime, declares her sense of the obligation by virtuallybearing on its folds a watchword for all who would strike off
from commerce the shackles of selfish error, and secure in
time by general concurrence the unrestrained diffusion of
nature's ever-multiplying productions, and of art's still increasing contributions to the comfort of mankind.
Thus it is that we move as a nation on the line marked
out by Providence, and happy is our lot in other matters

1877.]

THE DIPLOMATIST'S SPHEKE OF ACTION.

155

also when we take for our guide the rule of action which
an earnest search into the laws of Almighty Wisdom can
hardly fail to suggest. Oceans have been justly styled the
bridges of human intercourse. The fact implies the intention, and therefore we act in obedience to the Creator when,
by means of statute, treaty, or subordinate agency, we promote the interchange of produce, and encourage by protecting the salutary process. Attention to the qualification of
persons employed in carrying these processes into effect is
evidently no small part of our duty. "With respect to
consuls little remains to be said on this point, and what
might be added belongs, with slight shades of difference, if
any at all, to the more privileged class of diplomacy. An
ambassador, as the personal representative of his sovereign,
ought, in the abstract at least, to possess that degree of
superiority which ability, education, manners, and character,
united to good purpose, naturally confer. He should live
on terms of equality with the first of the land, and, in
serving the interests of his country with vigilance and firmness, remember that his mission has its roots in peace,
though its branches may be shaken and its leaves scattered
for a season. Such is the spirit in which he should inform
his government and execute its instructions, never shrinking from responsibility when the urgency of circumstances
appears to call for an independent decision. More on this
part of the subject would be superfluous. Similar requirements, differing it may be in degree, befit all the members
of diplomacy when acting in chief. No one need be told
that the service is one of honour proportioned to its importance. To make it a profession confined to those who
plod through its earlier stages would be favourable to a few
deserving individuals ; but critical emergencies may require
an exceptional choice, and recourse might be had to the
Houses of Parliament with every chance of success. The

156

THE EASTEBN QUESTIOK.

[PART II.

education of that contentious and untrammelled arena is
calculated to invigorate, enlarge, and elevate the mind, nor
is it hkely that faculties of keen intelligence so exercised
would disappoint the public when called to the management
of some weighty negotiation. A prominent example of this
kind has recently occurred, and the appointment was
approved from first to last, notwithstanding its unusual
character and unsuccessful issue.* Perfection is not for this
world. The ideal has no material reality. Every medal
has its reverse. Even day itself is composed of light and
darkness. Commerce, that source of blessings to our race,
the bond of nations, and first-born of peace, may be charged
with the contradiction of supplying those who are at war
with the means of mutual destruction.
I t is nevertheless consoling to observe the improvement
which from time to time has taken place in the general
view of what constitutes the true principle of commercial
agreements. There was a day when a treaty regulating the
traffic between two countries conferred no credit on the
negotiator unless it gave some decided advantage to his side
of the bargain. A better principle now prevails in such
matters, and the treaty which gives no advantage to either
party, but provides equally for the interests of both, is held
to be the soundest. The settlement of disputes by arbitration has not yet superseded the rougher method of appealing to the sword, but a few successive instances of it which
do honour to the present century, and the tendencies of
public opinion, encourage the hope of its becoming ere long
a fixed rule of international law. The annual conferences,
such as took place quite recently at Geneva, are no light
signs of a movement in the right direction, and may with
reason perhaps be hailed as harbingers of a pacific era.
* Mission of the Marquis of Salisbury to Constantinople, December,
1876.

1877.]

THE ERROE OF TOO MUCH RETICENCE.

157

Present appearances in the political, religious, and commercial departments of our civilised world hang with the
gloom of heavy clouds over the dawn of that prospect; but
as hope lay under a load of evil in Pandora's box, and as,
from our experience of nature's operations, we perceive that
extremes are apt to produce their contraries, we may be
allowed to hold good against the suggestions of utter discouragement. The reader need not be reminded of the
destructive wars which, on a colossal scale and with frequent recurrence, have marked the last thirty years ; what
mighty changes in the relative condition of states have in
consequence taken place, side by side with a series of
scientific triumphs for the most part auxiliary to the arts of
peace and the brotherhood of human societies. Still less
need he be told that the spirit of violence and unscrupulous
enmity is now culminating in horrors which render every
field of battle the slaughterhouse of an heroic soldiery with
no result but that of preparation for other scenes of carnage
more hideous still. Exhaustive sacrifices declare the
patriotism and religious zeal of either belligerent. There
is no visible relaxation of hostility in Turkey or in Eussia.
The charities of Christendom bend over the sufferers with
impartial benevolence. Surgeons and nurses of repute encounter in numbers privation and danger at the call of
humanity. Eeporters of every description throng the fields
of conflict. Voices of sorrow and indignation resound from
every quarter. The neutral Governments alone, as it would
seem, are mute and motionless. Neither the waste of life
in regular armies, nor wTanton cruelties of the undisciplined,
have called forth any authoritative expression of censure on
such astounding excesses. Still less are they known to
have made any overture leading to the acceptance of their
mediation by the belligerent Powers. Their reticence at
such a crisis may be regretted the more as European

158

THE BASfiEBN QUESTION.

[PART it

interests are concerned in no small degree. Eussian
ambition and Turkish vengeance are alike to be apprehended, and consequently to be kept in check. Whatever
may be thought of their respective lines of conduct, the
tributary frontier provinces have claims on the sympathy of
all who believe as Christians, and reprobate as men political
oppression. Their position, if Eussia should prove too
weak to stipulate on their behalf, would probably be
grievous in the extreme. Should victory declare itself
finally in favour of Eussia, the sovereign of that country
may find himself compelled by the clamour of his subjects
to demand concessions injurious to the interests of Europe,
and emphatically to those of England. To obtain the concurrence of several independent Powers in the course of
action suggested by these remarks would, no doubt, be a
task of considerable difficulty. But to overcome the worst
difficulties for a great and beneficent purpose is true glory,
and well might Englishmen be proud of their government
if the attempt were made in good faith and by suitable
means, though without any adequate success.
STKATFOKD D E

EEDCLIFFE.

XIV.
RECOLLECTIONS OF THE REVIVAL OF
GREEK INDEPENDENCE.
[PART I., AUGUST, 1878.]
SOME papers recently laid on the table of the House of
Commons relate to transactions concerning Greece of a
somewhat distant date, but closely connected with the
interests of that country in its present and prospective
state.
I t so happened that I was called upon to take an active
part in the negotiations which led to the revival of Hellenic
independence, nor have I ever ceased to give my earnest
attention to the conduct of the Government established at
Athens, and the condition of the people submitted constitutionally to its rule. These circumstances concur to
flatter me with the hope of rendering some little service to
the cause of inquiry by putting into a convenient shape such
recollections as I retain of the occurrences in question. I n
aid of a memory subject to the usual infirmities, I shall have
recourse to the surer testimony of correspondence, quotations from which will occasionally find a place in the
following pages.
I t was not till after my return from America in the
autumn of 1823 that I had anything to do with the affairs
of Greece. Even then I had first to go through a series of
conferences, having for their object the friendly settlement

160

THE EASTEKN QUESTION.

[PART II.

of all our outstanding differences with the United States.
This interesting but fruitless negotiation occupied several
months of the following year, and its failure, though much
to be regretted, had the consolation of not being attributable
to the British Government or its representatives.
The appointment in view was an embassy at the Sultan's
court, and consequently an immediate connection with the
conflict still raging between the Porte and its Hellenic
subjects. Hence it was that I had to visit St. Petersburg
before I went to my further destination at Stamboul. The
basis of a mediation between the contending parties, to one
at least of whom a friendly proposal of that kind was
thought likely to 'prove agreeable, had to be laid down at
the former capital, and happy should I have been to share
in the accomplishment of so laudable a plan. Mr. Canning
was at that time Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and he
directed me to draw up a statement of the various points
which would probably have to be considered in discussing
the range and character of the intended offer. The memorandum, which I wrote in consequence, is too long for
insertion here, but parts of it, and those the very first, may
be introduced with some degree of advantage. They follow
word for word :—
It is presumed that the British Government would hail the complete
independence of Greece, if effected by the Greeks themselves, as the best
solution of the difficulties connected with the present conflict between
that country and the Porte ; but sentiments of humanity, and the
natural sympathy between a people in the possession of liberty and a
people struggling to obtain it, must not be allowed to ojjerate to the
exclusion of all other considerations. Some views of British policy may
perhaps combine with the best feelings of human nature to induce
Great Britain to stand forward without reserve in support of the independence of Greece, but there is no denying that to place herself in
such an attitude she must act in contradiction to that pacific and comprehensive system of policy which she has adopted for the most beneficial
purposes, at the risk of being involved in war without the support of her
principal allies, and on very questionable grounds of justice.

1878.]

MEMORANDUM ON GREEK AFFAIRS.

161

The opinions of the leading powers of Europe have been given in
favour of an arrangement which, though it holds out important advantages to Greece, would nevertheless have the effect of replacing that
country under the sovereignty of the Porte. I t is not to be expected
that the Sultan would give up so large a portion of his empire without
an appeal to arms, especially at the requisition of a single power. The
right of Great Britain to make such a requisition under the presentcircumstances would find but little countenance either in the principles
of the law of nations, or in any specific ^ obligations contracted by
Turkey.
I t is therefore evident that in the conferences at Petersburg there can
be no question of the complete independence of Greece, but only of its
pacification on terms consistent on one side with the sovereignty of the
Porte, and calculated on the other to secure the Greeks in essential
points from the violence and misgovernment of their former possessors.
If the Sultan cannot be required to relinquish the entire sovereignty of
Greece, neither can the Greeks be required to return to their former
position under his sway.
Considering the dreadful extremities to which the war in Greece has
been carried, and the very great uncertainty of its final issue, the Allied
Powers cannot fail to serve both the contending parties by engaging
them to sacrifice a part of their respective pretensions for the restoration
of peace. But if the same motives which preclude Great Britain and
the Allies from insisting on the independence of Greece restrain them
also from going to war in support of the plan wThich they are preparing
to urge on the acceptance of the Porte, it is but fair that they should
abstain from employing any degree of coercion to bring the Greeks into
their measures.
The Greeks may act unwisely in preferring a precarious independence
accompanied with war in its worst shape, to any arrangement which
the Allied Powers are likely to effect in their behalf, but it would
surely be the height of injustice and cruelty to deny them the right of
judging for themselves in a case of such vital importance. I t thus
appears that in attempting the pacification of Greece the Allies are
bound to stop short of war.
But it would be a fatal mistake to suppose, while determining not to
go the length of hostilities, that any plan of pacification at all acceptable
to the Greeks can be pressed with success upon the Porte by other
means than those of a virtual compulsion.
The Turks, in shutting their eyes to the most obvious considerations
of policy and humanity, might plead the example of nations far superior
to them in the arts of government, and enjoying the advantages of a
purer religion. But to induce the Porte to recede in any degree from
the contest in which she is now engaged, an apprehension of something
worse than the continuance of that contest, however sanguinary and
impolitic, of some evil more to be dreaded than an insurrection of the
M

162

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART I I .

Janissaries, must be presented to her imagination. War, though not
actually menaced, with some of the principal powers of Europe, or, at
least, with one of them, must be made to appear the probable consequence
of protracted hostilities between the Porte and her Greek subjects. The
Turkish ministry must be led to view the danger as a natural result of
that state of things, to which their acceptance of the proposed plan of
pacification could alone put an end.

The memorandum continues in a similar strain:—
I n order not to alarm the pride of the Turkish Government at the
same time that their fears are excited, a tone of conciliation and friendly
interest must be adopted at least in making the first communication.
Particular attention should be paid to this point, equally whether the
charge of opening and conducting the negotiation be entrusted to the
Eussian minister alone, or to the representatives of all the Allied Powers
at Constantinople.
The adoption of the one or of the other of these two modes of proceeding will probably depend on the principle on wiiich the Allied
Powers may see fit to ground their intervention.
If Russia be put
forward to interfere on behalf of the Greeks in virtue of her specific
stipulations with the Porte, the Russian ambassador will naturally
become the organ of her proposals and remonstrances. The ambassadors
of the four other principal powers can hardly in that case take any other
than an auxiliary and occasional part in the negotiations with the Porte.
If the suggestion of Austria, on the other hand, be adopted, and the
offer of mediating between the Porte and her insurgent subjects be made
in the name of all the Allied Powers on the general ground of the great
European interests, the ambassadors of those powers will probably be
called upon to act collectively.
Of these two distinct modes of proceeding neither is free from inconvenience. The one has the disadvantage of bringing Russia again into
collision with the Porte ; and the other may be thought to carry with
it the risk of committing England to all the principles of the Holy
Alliance.
Considering the alternative with reference to the Turks alone, the
most effectual course would perhaps be found to embrace both the
above-mentioned principles.
The ambassadors of the five Allied Powers ought to be instructed to
communicate to the Porte in similar terms, though separately, the
common views of their respective sovereigns with regard to the pacification of Greece, at the same time that the Russian ambassador might
interfere in the same sense in virtue of treaty stipulations subsisting
between his Court and the Turkish Government. A joint representation, grounded on general principles and expressed in a more authoritative

1878.]

TUKKISH AND GREEK BOUNDARIES.

163

tone, might he held in reserve, in case the Porte should obstinately
persist in rejecting the proposal of the Allies; and it is worth considering
whether the important measure of breaking off all friendly relations
with the Turkish part of the Porte's dominions might not, if necessary,
be finally resorted to.
Such a measure would doubtless be attended with considerable inconvenience to trade, but besides that it would lead the Turks to
apprehend war with the principal powers of Europe as its probable
though not immediate consequence, their supplies of grain for the consumption of Constantinople would be rendered very precarious by it,
and their finances would be materially affected.
It may be objected to this expedient that the Allies, if prepared to
resort to it against the Porte, ought equally to employ it, if necessary,
for the purpose of influencing the Greeks. But the objection is not well
founded.
The Allied Powers have diplomatic relations with the former and
none with the latter. Those relations they have a perfect right to
suspend on grounds far short of what would justify an appeal to arms;
and the interruption of commerce must follow on a withdrawal of that
protection without which the Christian merchant could not safely pursue
his business in Turkey.
The Turks, to say nothing of their religion, are known to differ, toto
ccelo, from the nations of European origin in custom, language, and laws.
They are themselves so sensible, and indeed so proud, of this difference,
that they recognise no general law of nations, and in their discussions
with other countries rest their claims exclusively on treaty.
If the Greeks were to persist in rejecting the overtures of the Allies
after the Porte had acceded to them, they could be made to know that
they had nothing more favourable to expect from European mediation,
and that they would thenceforth be left without further countenance
from any Christian power than what would result from a fair application
of the rules of neutrality.

The memorandum concludes with the following addition:—
It will not be easy, however desirable, to come to an early decision as
to the number of islands and extent of country to be comprised within
the limits of Greece. It is important that the Greeks of the continent
should have, if possible, a good natural boundary to separate them from
their Turkish neighbours. In general, military possession or a very
decided superiority in population is what may be expected to offer a
principle for regulating the extent of their territory.

The instructions intended for me were already in part on
paper when one of the public journals announced as an
M 2

164

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART I I .

authentic fact that both belligerents were committed to a
refusal of any mediation which might be offered. The
knowledge of this both-sided resolution put necessarily a
stop to farther progress in diplomatic equipment. The
Russians took offence at this interruption, and seemed to
fancy that some political design lay in ambush under its
skirts. After a delay of no unreasonable length the mission
to Petersburg was again taken up with that degree of
change in form and purpose which circumstances required.
I was to go by Vienna, to communicate with the Emperor
and his chief Minister there, and to have powers for settling
by convention the boundary between our territories and
those of Russia in North America. As to mediation,
the task was limited, or nearly so, to an interchange of
explanations regarding the proposed conference, its suspension by England for the present, and the views entertained
respectively in prospect of its eventual resumption. The
principal instruction composed for my guidance was not
only ample in itself, but an accompaniment of fifty enclosures left nothing to be desired on the score of information.
I t contained the following passage:—" You will take advantage of your residence there (at St. Petersburg) to enter
into explanation with the Russian Ministry upon the whole
question of Greece; and as well to learn their ulterior views,
as to state explicitly the opinion of your Government upon
it." A subsequent paragraph served to show how utterly
useless would have been an attempt at mediation following
close upon the occurrence referred to above, and also to
explain more fully the form and character of the occurrence
itself. To these specific explanations succeeded a statement of the general principles on which the British policy
was grounded at the time ; and so much historical interest
adheres to them that I am induced to repeat the very words
in which they are expressed:—

1878.]

CONVERSATIONS WITH PRINCE METTEENICH.

165

To preserve the peace of the world is the leading object of the policy
of England. For this purpose, it is necessary in the first place to prevent
to the utmost of our power the breaking out of new quarrels; in the
second rplace, to compose, where it can be done by friendly mediation,
existing differences, and, thirdly, where that is hopeless, to narrow as
much as possible their range ; and, fourthly, to maintain for ourselves
an imperturbable neutrality in all cases where nothing occurs to affect
injuriously our interests or our honour.

It became my business to inculcate the application of
these principles to the impending question of mediation
whether at Vienna or at Petersburg. On visiting the capital
of Austria I lost no time in waiting on Prince Metternich,
and requesting an audience of the Emperor. From our
resident ambassador there, Sir Henry Wellesle}r, I met with
all suitable and friendly support; from the Sovereign and
his Chancellor a reception of which I had no reason to
complain. My discussions with the Prince wrere frank and
full. His Imperial master listened graciously, and stated
his opinions without any apparent reserve. Nevertheless
the same language in substance proceeded from both. They
would not admit the uselessness of opening a conference for
immediate mediation; they professed to hold cheap the
Greek declaration which had operated so powerfully on the
British Cabinet; they would be no party to what they
deemed an encouragement on our part to revolution, and
they were not disposed to adopt our doctrine of excluding
by previous engagement the eventual use of force from the
means of obtaining compliance. Prince Metternich referred
me at one time to M. Gentz, a well-known political writer,
who was then employed privately by him in drawing up
parts of the State correspondence. Discussion with so able
a man was interesting enough, but the questions in hand
derived no advantage, in a British sense, from his capacious
mind. I t was evident that Austria meant to side with
Bussia, not perhaps so much from sympathy as from un-

166

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PAJIT I I .

willingness to loosen her friendly connection with that
power, which in Prince Metternich's time was ever an object
of dislike to the Germans, and of apprehension to their
central authority.
Christmas still found me at Vienna. The long wintry
region to be traversed on the way to St. Petersburg, as yet
unrailed, had one advantage—namely, that of delay. Time
was wanted to smooth down the ruffled tempers of Count
Nesselrode and his autocratic master. A serious overflow of
the Neva had recently occurred, and, instead of operating
like the waters of Lethe, it had increased the vexation caused
by what they deemed to be English trickery. A tardy
arrival on the scene of negotiation was more likely to do
good than harm, and the notion was subsequently justified
by a courteous reception. At a customary state ball in his
"Winter Palace the Emperor was pleased to single me out
for a long conversation which had the effect of accrediting
me to the highest society as much as the royal letter had
accredited me to himself. When business began, I had to
deal with Count Nesselrode, assisted by M. Politica, who
had been one of my diplomatic colleagues at Washington.
The course to be pursued required a certain degree of
management. The Russians, although they were out of
humour, had no wish to break with us. I t seemed therefore best to give precedence to the North American
boundary question, and to keep in reserve the less palatable
subject of Turkey and Greece. A brief succession of conferences sufficed to produce a conventional regulation of the
boundary line, which was subsequently ratified by the
respective Governments.
A rougher road then opened before us. Count Nesselrode betrayed some little impatience at my continued
silence about the mediation. The French and Austrian
representatives, MM. de la Ferronaye and Lebzeltern, had

1878.]

RUSSIA AND TURKEY.

167

their share of this feeling. To say the truth, it was time
for the delay to cease. I t could no longer be concealed that
my instructions were limited to explanation on our side and
a mutual interchange of views as to any eventual co-operation for restoring peace in the Levant. France and the two
Emperors wished to have England a party to their conference, but to all appearance were ready to come to an
agreement without her. A preliminary conversation with
Count Nesselrode was soon brought to a stop by his unwillingness to go on when he learned to what limits I was
restricted. We agreed, however, to take the Emperor's
pleasure, and the consequence was a renewal of our talk.
But the second endeavour proved as useless as the first.
I could take no part in a conference, and our Russian ally
would not give up a resort to coercion as a final means of
obtaining assent to an offer of mediation. The audience—
the audience of leave—ensued, and the Enrperor detained
me nearly three-quarters of an hour, anxious, as it seemed,
to explain the principles on which his general policy was
founded, and their application to the affairs of Turkey and
Greece in particular. My report of what passed on the
occasion contained all the principal points of his Majesty's
discourse, and after a lapse of more than fifty years I may
venture to repeat by quotation some parts of it not wrholly
destitute of historical interest.
The Emperor declared that throughout his late difference with the
Porte he had laboured conscientiously to avoid the necessity of an appeal
to arms. He assured me that in proceeding to take'measures for restoring
tranquillity in the East his only motives were those of humanity towards
the Greeks, of concern for the general welfare of Europe, and anxiety
to remove as far as possible all subjects of irritation between himself
and the Sultan. " I am well aware," said his Imperial Majesty, "that
the resources of Russia, great as they are, could scarcely be called into
action without exciting, perhaps not unreasonably, the vigilance and
solicitude of other sovereigns, and it is on this very account that I have
made it a solemn duty since the evacuation of France by the Allied

168

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PAUT II.

Forces to keep my empire in an attitude of perfect repose." . . . His
Imperial Majesty was so explicit in his assertions that the intervention
which he contemplated was of a strictly pacific character, that I ventured
to avow my embarrassment in endeavouring to reconcile those assertions
with the evident unwillingness which existed to satisfy the scruples of
Great Britain by a positive and binding assurance to the same effect.
The Emperor condescended to reply that we had only to go into the
conferences in order to be completely satisfied, but I listened in vain
for an explanation of the causes which deterred the Russian Cabinet,
anxious as it is for the co-operation of Great Britain, from promising to
satisfy the British ministers in the only manner which they are disposed
to appreciate. . . . Speaking of the war in Greece, the Emperor betrayed a mind divided between sympathy with a people of his own
persuasion goaded into rebellion by their sufferings, and disapprobation
of the revolutionary principles which had been mixed up with the
causes of their struggle.

These extracts carry me back to Vienna and my audience
of the Emperor Francis, whose language on the subject of
mediation was in substance the same as that of his imperial
brother, but with a difference in something more than
manner and expression. He told me, frankly, as he said,
that " if England chose to take her own line in the affair,
he was also prepared to follow his own. He should place
himself at the side of the Emperor of Russia, who had
need of countenance and support against his own nation—a
nation ambitious as in the days of the Empress Catherine
and still cherishing hopes of conquest on the side of
Turkey. . . . He was prepared to go into the Conference
without England—not that by so doing he saw any prospect
of effecting the pacification of Greece . . . but to tie up
Russia from taking any active part in the war between the
Turks and the Greeks. . . . The best, he thought, that
could happen would be that the Sultan should succeed in
putting down the insurrection, and then that of his own
accord he should improve the condition of his Christian
subjects. He had no feeling for rebels. They were to be
reduced to submission," &c.

1878.]

ME. CANNING ON THE GREEK DIFFICULTY.

169

The two Emperors and their respective ministers being
so unmistakably of the same mind, my only remaining duty
was to return to London. I left St. Petersburg with the
persuasion that no conference in which Austrian counsels
prevailed would have any satisfactory, or indeed any efficient
issue at all, and such in fact turned out to be the sequence
of my mission, which could pretend to no greater merit
than that of protecting the Greeks from an ominous act of
interference with their struggles for liberty. The homeward
journey had no political interest, but it gave me an opportunity of passing through Moscow and Berlin, to say nothing
of Warsaw, which I had visited on my way out. Although
in the latter city I found the Emperor Alexander and his
Minister for Foreign Affairs, I had no further communication with them on the subject of Greece.
After a gracious reception by the King and a few months
of quiet in England, I started with fresh instructions for
Constantinople, and found myself again mixed up with
the Levantine affairs. During the interval a deputation
from the heads of the Greek insurrection appeared in
London, and its members were admitted to a conference
with the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. The chief
object of the mission was to obtain the consent of England
to become the protectress of Greece. Mr. Canning's reply
was recorded in a 'precis of the conference, from which I
extract the following passage, showing in addition the
determination at that time of the Hellenic leaders :—
" There might be a point in the contest/' said Mr. Canning, "in which
Great Britain might exert her influence to promote a compromise between the Greeks and the Porte, not for the entire independence of
Greece, for that would be asking everything, and could not be the subject
of a compromise (if they could conquer it, it was well, and that was
their affair), but for anything short of independence which might form
the basis of an arrangement with the Porte. The Greek deputies
declared such a plan to be impossible. The Greeks would never again

170

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

live in amity with the Turks established among them.
either conquer or die."

[PART IT.
They must

In a despatch from the Secretary of State to the King's
Ambassador at Vienna, dated October 3,1825, the following
instruction occurs :—
Your Excellency will not fail to point out to Prince Metternich that
the language of his Majesty's proclamation sufficiently implies the resolution of his Majesty not to contract with the Greeks any other relations
than those of the neutrality which his Majesty has hitherto scrupulously
observed.

My journey to Constantinople commenced about the
middle of October. From the French coast to Naples it
was by land. At Naples I embarked on board the " Revenge,"
Admiral Sir Harry Neale's flagship. On the way thither,
in passing by Geneva, I fell in with Prince Adam Czartoryski
and Count Capo d'Istria, both in honourable exile, alike in
their attachment to countries labouring under eclipse, the
former looking for a crown which never encircled his brows,
the latter destined to a success of inferior dignity in Greece,
where he met the blow which closed his career for ever.
I t was a part of my duty to seek information about the
state of things in Greece from the Government established
under British colours at Corfu.
There, on the classic
soil where Alcinous reigned of old, I was detained till
Christmas by an illness which threatened my own happiness
as well as the life of another.
The subsequent portion of my voyage was lengthened by
contrary winds and other incidental circumstances. A new
year had begun before we entered the Archipelago. I n our
progress up that sea we anchored for the greater part of a
wintry Sunday between the Morea and the rocky little island
of Hydra. I t was an eventful pause. News reached us
there of the Emperor Alexander's death at Taganrog. Two
of the leading Greek insurgents came onboard the 'Revenge.'

1878.]

DIFFICULT NEGOTIATIONS.

171

After nightfall we were caught in a hurricane. A royal brig
attendant on the admiral was lost. Nevertheless we hurried
on, as best we could, to Smyrna. Beyond, the winds were
still adverse. At the Dardanelles I exchanged the ' Revenge '
for the ' Medina/ while the admiral's band softened my
regret into tears by playing, as I took leave on deck, the
national air of Greece, expressive, as it was, of plaintive
and 'almost hopeless resolution. In short, after a fresh
detention in the Strait, 1 had nothing for it but to get on
horseback and ride overland to the city of bazaars and
minarets. My interview off Hydra with Prince Alexander
Mavrocordato and his companion M. Zographos had cast a
deep shade on my diplomatic prospects ; but the change of
sovereigns in Russia led me to expect some fresh instructions, and it might be of consequence that I should receive
them without any avoidable delay. The Greeks had little
reason to indulge in nattering dreams of triumph. "Whatever their courage might inspire, it was clear that their
resources were ebbing down to low-water mark; that acts of
a piratical character, imposed perhaps by their necessities,
had raised in Christendom feelings of impatience to their
disadvantage ; and that a lamentable want of union among
their chiefs and classes diminished the effect of what still
remained to them as elements of resistance. Peace with
Turkey on condition of their deliverance from the evils of
Mussulman rule and social contact in the Morea, leaving its
fortresses to be garrisoned by Turks, seemed by no means
entirely excluded from their contemplation. Little might
serve to rekindle much brighter views, but for the time it
appeared that a sense of weakness had chilled those noble
yet perilous aspirations, to which the Hellenic mind is
naturally prone.
I had scarcely reached Constantinople when the Secretary
of Embassy, who was acting as minister at the time of my

172

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART II.

arrival, approached me with a very unpleasant intimation*
His first words almost were these: ' I am sorry to inform
your Excellency that there is a traitor in the embassy.' Of
course I asked for the grounds of his information. They
were such by his statement as warranted suspicion, but not
enough to fix a positive charge on the person suspected.
c
Can you refer me,' I said, 6 to any one who can fully substantiate what you aver ?' He named the Dutch Ambassador,
a man of excellent sense, and in every way respectable. Of
him I made inquiry, but could only learn that in his persuasion the charge was no fancy. Conceive my embarrassment. Important negotiations were in the wind. The
suspected individual was an official channel of communication between the Embassy and the Porte. I esteemed his
capacity; his judgment was sound; he had much experience
of local affairs; he was in favour with the Turkish ministers.
I could not set him aside without a risk of increasing my
difficulties with the Porte, nor indeed could I act in that
decisive manner with any degree of justice while the grounds
of accusation were incomplete.
Enough of this. I had to make the best of an untowrard
situation. Sooner or later my principal business was to
negotiate, and plenty of guidance flowed from my instructions. My attention was notably directed to the pacification
of Greece. The renewal of diplomatic relations between
Turkey and Russia had also to be hastened by British
exertion. The Sultan and his ministers were still inexorable on the former question, nor were they so without
good reason of what may be termed the mechanical kind.
The Greeks, as I have already intimated, were nearly run
to earth, and the burden of the war rested almost entirely
upon shoulders well able to bear it. The famous Mehemet
Ali, Pasha of Egypt, commanded in Candia, and by means
of his son Ibrahim and a powerful squadron threatened the

1878.]

ENGLISH MEDIATION FIFTY YEARS AGO.

173

chief holds of the insurrection, particularly those in the
Morea. No true alliance was yet constituted in favour of
Greece. Austria, at least in sentiment, sided with the
Turks. Eussia kept aloof, making it her first point to
settle what remained of her own difference with Turkey.
It lay at that time almost exclusively with England to bring
Sultan Mahmoucl and his ministers into a more conciliatory
state of mind. The weight of responsibility, which devolved
in consequence on me, was not much lessened by the readiness of the Greeks to rely upon our intercession, or the
willingness of Eussia and France to leave the field open to
our single-handed experiment. The Porte had no inclination
whatever to entertain our suggestions, and it became evident
that her apprehensions would have to be awakened before
any wholesome impression could be made.
I did not reach Constantinople till the 27th of February,
and even that late arrival at the scene of my intended
negotiation was achieved by leaving on board the ' Medina '
my family as well as my official correspondence. Important
events then came to my knowledge, namely, the accession
of Nicholas to the throne of Eussia, the Duke of Wellington's
mission to St. Petersburg, Lord Strangford's unauthorised
suggestion to Count Nesselrode of England's readiness to
join the other allies in conference for the pacification of
Greece, and the positive disavowal of that notion by the
British Government. The instructions which I took with
me from London still held good. England was forced to
act alone on the subject of Greece, and resolved, in virtue
of her unfettered position, to make a single-handed effort in
order to obtain the desired pacification. As her diplomatic
instrument in Turkey for carrying that purpose into effect,
I had to persuade the Porte by means of friendly argument
that Turkish interests would be best consulted by its acceptance of our proposed mediation and yielding to those

174

THE EASTEKN QUESTION.

[PART II.

reiterated demands of Russia which appeared to have justice
in their favour.
From the Duke of Wellington I received as much support
as it was in his power to give, but he was on his departure
at the end of March when his first communications to me
were written. He had not then heard from me, nor did I
receive his despatches before the 20th of April. H e enjoined me officially to assure the Porte that the Russian
Government entertained sincerely the most pacific intentions
towards Turkey, at the same time that they were determined
to obtain a satisfactory execution of their outstanding demands, which his Grace thought just, and no longer to be
resisted without imminent danger to the Sultan and his
empire. Such were the points of his injunction. With
what an honest, friendly earnestness he pressed them on my
attention, may be collected from his private letter to me,
which, coming from so great a man, can hardly fail to
interest the most careless of readers.
ST. PETERSBURG : March 27 (15), 1826.

MY DEAR SIR,—I inclose a letter which I think you had better at
once communicate in extenso to the Keis Effendi. It is precisely the
truth as it exists here ; and the Government of the Porte had better
know it.
The Porte may rely upon ifc that the present Emperor will never
interfere in the cause of the Greeks, excepting as our own Government
would, in the form of a friend : that is as long as he remains at peace.
If in a state of hostility, of course H. I. M. will avail himself of every
instrument which can be of service to his own cause and injurious to
his enemy. But, if at peace with the Porte, H. I. M. will not interfere
excepting as a friend. I am likewise quite certain that the desire here
is to finish all little questions with the Porte, and to remain at peace.
It is impossible that the Ottoman Government should not see that
all the advantage of a final settlement is on their side, and that they
should not take the first step towards such settlement, particularly on
points in which justice is already on the side of the Emperor. I have,
therefore, thought it best to write down clearly and distinctly what I
saw and know to be going on here.
Of course, I can give you no instructions, but I consider myself

1878.]

THE STRUGGLE AT MISSOLONGHI.

175

responsible for the advice I give you to show the official letter which I
send with this.
Believe me, ever yours most sincerely,
(Signed)

WELLINGTON.

The Sultan declined receiving a communication of the
Duke's letter, and it was only by a little tour de main that
I overcame his reluctance.
The Duke took with him to England a protocol, being the
record of an understanding to which he had brought the
Russian Government respecting Greece, and in the following year it formed the basis of that triple convention which
received its formal ratification in the month of July.
My own proceedings, separate as they were, and, to say
the most of them, preliminary, occupied in its early part the
intervening period. A somewhat cold reserve on the part
of the Turkish Ministers, and the use they made of their
customary forms to keep me at a distance, were warnings of
ominous import. I succeeded, however, in obtaining a
private interview with the Reis Effendi before the public
ceremonies of waiting on the Grand Vizir and Sultan
Mahmoud. I had also the advantage of confidential intercourse with M. Minjiacky, the Russian charge d'affaires, a
sensible, trustworthy man. He ought to have been superseded by M. Ribeaupierre, invested with the more representative character of envoy, but the expectation of that mark of
improvement in the relations between Russia and Turkey
was still disappointed. The Porte turned a deaf ear alike
to friendly warnings, to useful offers, and to imperative
demands. The Greeks, meanwhile, were holding out at
Missolonghi, their national assembly was about to meet,
and they were in treaty for, if they had not already engaged,
the services of three distinguished individuals, Count Capo
dTstria, Sir Richard Church, and Lord Cochrane, in the
respective positions of President, General, and Commodore.

176

THE EASTEBN

QUESTION.

[PAET II.

A far more important event was at hand. About the middle
of June a revolt of the Janissaries took place at Constantinople. It was speedily extinguished in the blood of their
leaders, and in the ashes of their establishment. A general
and complete suppression of the order ensued, and the
attention, the energies, the resources of Mahmoud were
utterly absorbed in the formation of a regular army.
The breathing-time thus afforded to Greece, in so far as
the Porte was concerned, agreed, or nearly so, with the fall
of Missolonghi followed by a great discouragement in the
insurgent ranks. Decorum and policy both required that
all communications between them and the British Embassy
should be carried on with secrecy, and Captain Hamilton,
who commanded what little force we had in the Archipelago,
became the medium of our confidential intercourse. Through
him I received a formal request to intercede on their behalf
with the Porte on terms which were more in keeping with
the language I heard off Hydra in the month of January
than that which had been held, as before stated, by the
Greek deputies in Downing Street.
This opening for
mediation afforded by a voice from under fortune's wheel
was lost upon the Turks, who adhered invariably to their
cuckoo note, denying the right of any foreign party to come
between a sovereign and his rebel subjects. In England
the Sultan's vigour in dealing with his refractory Janissaries
inspired a certain deference which had the effect of retarding
our prosecution of the Greek affair. Much correspondence
of temporary interest filled up the interval of many months
which preceded the London convention of the 6th of July,
1827. Meanwhile the new Government of Kussia was by
no means idle, Their charge d'affaires had spared no pains
to bring the Porte into a tractable state of mind respecting
their own affairs. A formal conference was at length agreed
to. I t took place at Ackermann, and ended in an apparent

1878.]

ME. CANNING ON LORD COCHRANE,

177

settlement of the differences in question. Articles were
signed, and M. Kibeaupierre made at last his appearance
in the Turkish capital.
For the time being it was principally at sea that the war
made itself felt. Incidental acts of piracy and a mistaken
exercise of belligerent rights continued to disturb the peace
of Europe and to inflict serious injury on the trade of
neutrals. To inflame these causes of inquietude and complaint there prevailed a rumour of some lawless enterprise
proposed by Lord Cochrane with the view, it was thought,
of increasing his fortune in the waters of Greece under the
Hellenic flag. This danger was never realised, but in what
light it was regarded at home the following private letter
from Mr. Canning to me, under date of July 3, 1826, may
best explain:—
I really know not what to say to you about Lord Cochrane and his
expedition. Last year our proclamation put him down, but I suppose
he is convinced, as I am, upon a little reflection, that the fulmen thereof
is nearly brutum ; and that as he cannot be tried for burning Constantinople till he has actually burnt it—after which it may be quite
impossible to prove the fact in a court of justice to the satisfaction of
twelve London jurymen—he thinks that, being already proscribed from
the British service, an exile, and very nearly an outlaw, he has very
little to apprehend from any further process of the law, and may gain
by a few months' buccaneering in the Archipelago. . . .
What is certain is, first, that Lord C. has sailed in a yacht, nobody
knows where. He had been for some months at Brussels; he came over to
England furtively, took a review of certain steamboats building in the
river Thames, and embarked somewhere in Cornwall—supposed for the
Mediterranean.
Secondly, that two frigates have been some time building for the
Greek Committee at New York, one of which is now finished, the other
not so, or ever likely to be so, as the money for both is not forthcoming,
nor indeed for one without selling the other—which the Yankees, who
put no enthusiasm in the business, intend to do.
Thirdly, that of the steamboats building here one has sailed, not
armed, and that three or four smaller ones, laden with arms, have
sailed also—supposed to be intended to furnish the " Perseverance " in
some port at which they are to touch on their way.

178

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART IX.

Now against all these elements of a formidable armament our Act of
Parliament of 1819 does not afford any preventive protection.
Yachts may sail from this country, and so may steamboats, if unarmed, without any question, and so may arms as a matter of merchandise ; and, however strong the moral evidence of their destination, the
law cannot interfere to stop them. It is only when these elements of
armament are combined that they come within the provisions of the
law ; and if that combination does not take place till they have left this
country, the law is powerless against them. The only weak part in this
law, quoad the Turk, is that the export of cannon might still be prevented
by order in Council, as it was last year, when undoubtedly that prohibition made the proclamation effectual. But it would not have had that
effect long. Cannon would have been exported to other countries to
which the export was not and could not be prohibited, and would have
been picked up there by the ships for which they were destined; or
what our manufacturers have dreaded most, other countries which have
foundries would have got the trade into their hands. The six months'
suspension, if we were to believe the representations of the manufacturers, had nearly ruined two of the principal establishments in this
country.
The warlike steam vessels and the warlike stores have both cleared
out for Malta. But the Act of Parliament (of which, for your edification, I enclose a copy) applies to Malta as strongly as to England, and
the Governor would unquestionably put it in force against any attempt
to put together the armament there. In the Ionian Islands the law has
no force ; but orders are sent to the Ionian Government not to harbour
Lord Cochrane there for an hour.
After all, therefore, perhaps the enterprise may be more difficult in
execution than in conception. But if it does take place, you must make
the best excuse you can, and you may represent the open assistance
rendered by the Turk Ibraham Pasha as increasing in an incalculable
degree the difficulty which the British Government has in restraining
British subjects.
At length the British Government, associated with France
and Russia, to the exclusion of Austria, was able to give a
more decided character to its Eastern policy. The articles
of the triple convention are too well known, besides having
been lately presented afresh to Parliament, for me to think
of inserting them here. Peace to be maintained in general,
to be restored in particular, the emancipation of the insurgent
Greeks on terms consistent with the Sultan's suzerainete, and
a strict observance of neutrality with all its obligations in

1878.]

179

AN ANXIOUS CRISIS.

the meantime, were the professed objects of Great Britain.
The respective representatives of the three contracting
powers at Constantinople were to be charged with the
presentation of an offer of mediation and the demand of an
armistice to the Turkish Government. If the overtures were
not accepted within a month from the time of their communication, other measures short of hostility were to be taken.
The " Commander of the Faithful" stood out against the
efforts of three as he had stood out against those of one.
The month assigned to reflection came to an end. The
allies kept their word, and three squadrons, forming an
united force of nine ships of the line, were brought into
Hellenic seas. The object of this formidable movement
was to produce a de facto armistice by force instead of the
one to which the Porte's consent had been unavailingly
proposed. The admirals were bound to report their proceedings to the plenipotentiaries residing at head-quarters,
who met by agreement every day for the purpose of
comparing and considering the respective reports as they
came in. On one of the Sundays in October I was
on the point of starting for the daily rendezvous when a
packet from Smyrna was put into my hands. Within it I
found a shabby little note addressed in apparent hurry to
our consul there by the commander of a small English
vessel who, being becalmed at some distance frcm the
Morea, had heard what convinced him that a great battle had
taken place between the allied squadrons and the TurcoEgyptian fleet. I put the note into my pocket and went to
our place of meeting at the French embassy. The mutual
communications which ensued were quite satisfactory. Sir
Edward Codrington had met Ibrahim Pasha under sail on
his way from the Gulf of Corinth to attack some position
of the Greeks, and had checked his progress by a friendly
but determined veto. Interposition of such a kind was in
N 2

180

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART II.

perfect keeping with the instructions. Thereupon the conference broke up, and its members had risen to separate,
when I placed the ominous note in my French colleague's
hand. His Excellency had no sooner read it than he raised
his head, exclaiming, " Trois tetes dans un bonnet, n'est-ce
pas ? " Nothing could be done at the moment, and we
parted with a strong shade of anxiety cast upon our previous
contentment.
The thunders of broadside and explosion heard by Captain Cotton left no doubt that a decisive, and probably to
the Turks a disastrous, event had occurred. Its confirmation, borne upon a flood of cruel details, would soon arrive.
What if it looked as having originated with the allies, and
the Turks charging it on them were to see it in the light of
a treacherous surprise ? Would the ambassadors in that
case be treated as hostages, and, according to the practice
of earlier times, be made to do penance in the Seven
Towers ? The prospect was by no means attractive, and
still less so when it became known that the Porte was
already in possession of what I had learned from Smyrna,
where a great indiscretion had been committed by our
consul, who, without apprising me of the fact, had made his
Pasha acquainted with the contents of the tell-tale note.
It was believed that the Sultan in his first gush of anger
meant to deal sharply with the ambassadors, and that he
had been diverted from that course by the prudent suggestion of an octogenarian Vizir, the very man who, years
before, had been ousted by Mehemet Ali from the government of Egypt. All I can state upon my own personal
knowledge is, that we were openly charged by the Eeis
Effendi with having violated the law of nations, and that
the tramp of soldiers making the circuit of the British
premises at night confirmed during several days the apprehension of some evil design.

1878.]

THE SETTLEMENT AT BERLIN.

181

When the battle of Navarino, its cause and its result,
came into full light, the Porte's resentment gradually cooled
down, at the same time that the Sultan's unbroken adherence to his repulsive policy remained without a shadow
of change. In concert with my colleagues I employed the
month of November in occasional efforts to obtain a more
favourable hearing at the Porte. Explanations were given,
arguments were urged, warnings were repeated to no purpose. The lamented decease of Mr. Canning in August had
been followed at home by those rather hesitating counsels
which are apt to accompany an uncertain tenure of office.
Nothing in the shape of instruction had reached me since
the astounding incident of Navarino. The object we had
to pursue was the pacification of Greece without the menace
of war. What then remained for us to do, except to threaten
a simultaneous departure, opening the door to incalculable
consequences, to confirm the threat by corresponding preparations, and ultimately to give the strongest proof of our
truth and consistency by its execution ? In the sight of all
Europe, moreover, the dignity and honour of our Sovereigns
were in danger of being compromised.
More, perhaps much more, remains to be written on this
very important portion of the great question so recently set
at rest by the Congress of Berlin in a manner which does
credit, as most people think, to those who were chiefly concerned in its proceedings. Set at rest for ever would be a
bold word; but if, like the root of some " vicious weed,"
the trouble now suppressed should spring up again at a
period more or less remote, much present advantage is still
our own, and we have good authority for saying that " Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."
STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE.

XV.
RECOLLECTIONS OF THE REVIVAL OF
GREEK INDEPENDENCE.
[PAET II., NOVEMBER, 1878*]

The instructions under which I left England in the
autumn of 1825 related chiefly to Eussia, and more particularly, as the reader already knows, to the question of
Greece. Their common object, in so far as it appeared
capable of treatment at the time, was the restoration of
peace either disturbed or threatened in the Levant. Peace
in that quarter was disturbed by the Greek insurrection,
and endangered to a further extent by certain claims of
Eussia offensive to Turkey. Insuperable obstacles, for the
most part chargeable on weather, prevented my reaching
Constantinople before the 27th of February, 1826. Other
instructions, occasioned by the death of the Emperor Alexander and the Duke of "Wellington's embassy, awaited me
there. A later batch, under dates of the 10th and 14th of
February, arrived on the 9th of March. These last instructions were dictated by an apprehension of change in the
imperial policy at St. Petersburg, and a consequent
danger of impending hostilities. They imposed upon
me the duty of acting without delay at the Porte, and
pressing the admonitions of the Government with open and
somewhat peremptory vehemence on the Sultan and his
Ministers.

I878.J

OBJECTS OF THE MISSION IN 1825.

183

This niay be effectively illustrated by a few words from
the authentic correspondence of the time. I was ordered
to ask an audience of the Eeis Effendi immediately on the
receipt of the despatch dated the 10th of February, and
".to urge him in the most strenuous manner to obtain
from the Divan an instant declaration of their readiness
to treat for an accommodation with the Greeks upon any
reasonable basis which the Ottoman Government might
suggest."
I was to send the declaration, if it could be obtained, tvith
as little delay as possible, to the Duke of Wellington at
St. Petersburg, and, if the Divan hesitated, " t o tell the Eeis
Effendi that the Porte was not to reckon upon Great Britain
as an ally in a war undertaken against the Porte by Russia
for the protection of the Greeks."
Another important subject occupied several pages of the
same despatch, namely, the intelligence, communicated to
Mr. Canning by Count Lieven, the Russian ambassador in
London, of a plan entertained by the Pasha of Egypt and
the Porte for transferring the Christian population of the
Morea to the banks of the Nile, and replacing them by a
Mussulman population from the same quarter. " Great
Britain," says the instruction, " will not permit the execution of a system of depopulation which exceeds the permitted violences of war, and transgresses the conventional
restraints of civilisation.''
This I was ordered to declare to the Porte "in the most
distinct terms" provided there was reason to believe that
the intelligence in question derived sufficient confirmation
either from reliable sources or from positive facts.
The communications which ensued between the British
Embassy and the Ottoman Minister were anything but
satisfactory. The Porte, in reply to every urgent inquiry,
assumed an air of indignant innocence, but shrank at the

184

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PAET I I .

same time from giving a clear unquestionable denial of the
charge. Ibrahim Pasha conducted his operations in Greece
with that degree of unsparing cruelty which justified the
worst suspicions, but no overt act was traced to him with
the effect of proving that he had adopted the alleged
plan,
Much more, say a volume, might be written to explain in
full the discussions and transactions of the year now treated
of; but articles of a review have their allotted, though
somewhat elastic, limits, and it is time to go forward instead
of lingering to no good purpose over a bygone period.
It is right, nevertheless, to premise that the negociations,
or rather the efforts to produce them, conducted by one or
more of the embassies, covered a space of twenty-one
months, including the suppression of the Janissaries and the
Turko-Eussian conference at Ackerman, on the conclusion
of which M. de Eibeaupierre arrived at Constantinople as
envoy, and his appearance in this character seemed to
announce the restoration of a durable peace between the
Czar and the Sultan. The limited functions of charge
d'affaires had been previously exercised by Monsieur Minciacky, who left no reason to doubt his having given what
little support his position allowed to the steps I had to take
at the Porte in obedience to my instructions.
The Greeks meanwhile, impelled by a sense of increased
weakness, were anxious to take refuge from despair under
British mediation, and the Turks were resolved in similar
degree to stand out for a complete suppression of their
resistance by force of arms. The Sultan gathered strength
to this resolution from the sympathies of Austria, and the
ill-concealed language of the Internuncio in favour of
Turkish unwillingness to take our offers into friendly consideration.
Intrigues, which have since come to light with the force

1878.]

DEPARTURE OF THE AMBASSADORS.

185

of conviction, were secretly on foot, and tended, no doubt,
to stimulate that political obstinacy which in fact needed no
such aid, as its resistance to the battle of Navarino and the
retirement of the ambassadors sufficiently proved.
I t is not at ail unlikely that the latter event was invested
with a deceptive colouring by the agents of intrigue. Their
dupes were not long in discovering the fallacy and lamenting its effects. They perceived, when it was too late, that
they had thrown away their last chance, nay, their best
prospect of bringing the war to a close on moderate terms,
and avoiding its extension to other more powerful and dangerous adversaries. The allies wished to relieve the insurgent Greeks from Turkish misrule by jDeaceable means;
but it was their determination at any cost to preserve the
lawful trade of nations in the Levant waters from piracy and
every other kind of violent and injurious interruption.
On the 8th of December, rather more than six weeks
after the destruction of the Turkish* fleet, when every hope
of a peaceful issue by diplomacy was exhausted, the French
and British embassies embarked. The Eussians followed
a few days later. The application for passports had been
rejected by the Porte. The French were the first on board.
The English party, including of course the ambassador and
his family, had to find their way after dark to the two small
mercantile vessels hired for their voyage. A fresh north
wind with rain had the good effect of screening them from
public notice, and giving them a quick night passage to the
Dardanelles, where the Pasha in command received their
compliments with courtesy, and allowed them to pursue
their exodus without a moment's detention. In spite of
much talk about the danger of meeting with pirates in the
Archipelago, we got safely to Smyrna, where a frigate commanded by Captain Crofton was in waiting to receive and
convey us into smoother waters. Communication with the

186

THE EASTEEN QUESTION.

[PART IK

Greeks on our part was out of the question, but it was
satisfactory to know that recent events had relieved them
for the time from any immediate attack by the Turkish
forces. The relief had not come too soon. They were so
reduced in means and hopes, that the terms of peace they
were ready to accept might have favoured my offers of
mediation at the Porte, if, taken as proofs of weakness, they
had not confirmed the Sultan in his resolution to stand out
against every specific overture short of absolute submission.
That precious breathing-time, which had been afforded to
Greece by the mutiny and suppression of the Janissaries,
was preceded by an outbreak of plague, moderate in character and extent, but alarming enough to make communication more or less a matter of clanger, and consequently to
slacken the flow of public business, which in Turkey is
never remarkable for its rapidity. Cases of the fatal disease
had occurred in a street adjoining the British Embassy, and
it had become necessary to adopt the usual measures of
restriction on personal intercourse, and the fumigation of
everything wanted from without for domestic use. Ambassadors were not exempted from this inconvenient operation,
and it fell to my lot to undergo the unsavoury process on
my return from a visit to the Turkish prison, or Bagnio, as
it was called. This touch of a well-known calamity is
memorable as having been the last appearance of plague at
Constantinople, or indeed in Egypt, where it was thought to
originate, as it did to all appearance in the time of Pericles,
its illustrious victim.
The homeward voyage was lengthened by a visit to Malta
and a much longer stay at Corfu, where it was natural to
expect, from day to day, that despatches indicating the
views of Government would shortly arrive. On failure of
this expectation no course remained but to proceed overland
without further delay. The Ministry, meanwhile, had

1878.]

RUSSIAN DECLARATION OF WAR.

187

undergone a considerable change. The Duke of Wellington had become the head of a new combination; Lord
Dudley wTas Minister for Foreign Affairs. The cause of
Greek independence seemed to have gained nothing by the
change. " Untoward " was the epithet attached ex cathedra
to the battle of Navarino. Eussia, on the other hand, was
preparing for war with Turkey. "What line would be taken
by England was by no means clear to public conception.
The Russian declaration of war took place in April. For
Hs cause or excuse the Emperor Nicholas was at liberty to
plead the language employed by Sultan Mahmoud in a proclamation issued after the departure of the ambassadors from
Constantinople. That the Sultan was ill advised in taking
so hazardous a step, can hardly be doubted when the consequences, fatal as they wrere to his policy, are taken into
consideration. I t is reasonable enough to suppose that he
was led into that mistake by the intrigues of those who were
alien to the triple convention, although there wras ample
ground in the Sultan's character to account for any degree
of intemperance on his part. Be that as it may, the Russians, in declaring war pursuant to their own impulse, did
not break off from the obligations imposed on them by their
special alliance with France and England. The London
Cabinet had to choose between a suspension of all proceedings calculated to carry their declared purpose into effect,
and the adoption of some plan sufficient to obtain a practical armistice in the Morea. I t was not easy to understand
how there could be any hesitation on the subject. Russia
of the Greek Church had agreed by treaty with Protestant
England and Catholic France to bring about a state of peace
in the Levant which would have the effect of wresting
Christian Greece from Mohammedan misrule. Was it possible for such an alliance to shrink in utter failure before
the obstinate resistance of such an opponent, contending for

188

THE EASTEBN QUESTION.

[PART II.

so bad a cause ? Our great captain was not long in taking
his final resolution. He accepted the offer of France to
send a powerful expedition into the Morea on behalf of the
Alliance, and accordingly an army, rated at 20,000 strong,
took up a position in that country under the command of
Marshal Maison. Nothing could be more effective, with a
view to peace, than such a measure, and nothing more
generous and trustworthy than the conduct of the French
Government throughout this trying period. England had
no reason to regret the confidence she placed in her gallant ally.
A few weeks later diplomatic measures were adopted in
keeping with the military movement, and the action required
for carrying them out was common to the three Powers.
The position of Eussia as a belligerent did not prevent
M. Bibeaupierre from joining General Guilleminot and
myself in the Bay of Poros, and acting in concert with his
previous colleagues for the purpose which our respective
instructions had jointly in view.
At this point some little advantage may perhaps accrue
from stating rather more particularly than heretofore in
what manner or to wThat degree the abolition of the Janissaries and the Sultan's consequent jmvation of troops had
operated on the mind and relaxed energies of Greece. The
insurgents could reasonably hope for a breathing-time,
precious, even if short in its duration. The Greeks in their
recent extremity had awakened sympathies which wTere not
slow to produce an encouraging effect. The fall of Missolonghi had been attended with such heroic actions and such
affecting circumstances that their partisans in every country
bestirred themselves to get assistance for them, either in
money, or in arms, provisions, and clothing. Their actual
necessities concurred with their prospective hopes to animate
their patriotic zeal.

1878.]

THE GREEK LEADERS.

189

I t was somewhat later, during the interval between the
fall of Missolonghi and the signature of the triple convention that the Greeks looked abroad for leaders capable of
giving effect to the last remnant of their nearly exhausted
means. Lieutenant-Colonel Fabvier, a French officer of
distinguished merit, had already the command of a portion
of their reduced and disheartened troops. In their distress
they turned towards the British Isles, and finally succeeded
in obtaining the services of Lord Cochrane for their navy
and of Colonel Church for their army. The former of these
enterprising commanders added, while in their service, but
little to his brilliant reputation. The latter served his new
country, as it may be called, long and usefully with the
success of a Fabius rather than of a Caesar, and died in
Athens at a very advanced age.
I t remained for the Greeks to make a more important but
also a more doubtful acquisition in the person of Count
John Capo d'Istria. Before they came to any decision
reference was made to my opinion, and, to say the truth, I
encountered no small difficulty in making up my mind. The
choice of a president in the very crisis of their affairs would
probably determine the fortunes of the insurrection. Count
Capo d'Istria had much to recommend him to their confidence. He possessed abilities above the common standard.
Though self-taught, his knowledge was of the European
cast. He had learned state-business and the art of diplomatic writing in a ready school. He had large intercourse
with the statesmen of several countries. He had the credit
of having promoted the Greek insurrection in its beginning,
and of having sacrificed his position hi Eussia to that cause.
Above all, he was a Greek, a Greek of the Ionian Islands,
but still a Greek. With a full recognition of the advantages
thus attached to his person, my previous acquaintance with
him called for a close consideration before his title to the

190

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PABT.II.

entire confidence of Greece could be admitted. I knew
that with plausible manners and an habitual air of candour
he joined a natural finesse which bordered occasionally on
deception. I knew that he could hate free England and
serve despotic Eussia at the same time. I thought it by no
means impossible that he might be a Greek in sentiment
and not the less a Eussian by position. If prepared to act
with independence, he would not onfy risk the loss of his
claim to Eussian support, but he would also be liable to the
cravings of personal ambition, for the indulgence of which
the character of the Greeks and the condition of their
country would offer abundant temptations.
The two scales of the balance were thus brought to an
equipoise. But a necessity, which could not with safety be
thrown aside, caused the former of them to preponderate.
The Greeks stood in need of a foreigner to direct their
counsels, first, for the purpose of overruling their internal
factions, and, secondly, for that of linking their course of
operations with the established practice of Europe. Count
Capo d'Istria was to all appearance the only foreign statesman whose qualities and circumstances at all corresponded
with the required conditions. I t was an obvious conclusion that the Greeks would act wisely in offering him the
Presidency, and hence the offer being made was graciously
accepted and carried duly into effect after an interval of
several months.
The Count was in function as President when the three
representatives reached their field of conference at or off the
insular village of Poros. It was a part of their duty to
consult with him, or rather to obtain information by his
means respecting the actual condition and future prospects
of Greece. The President lived on shore, where also the
Eussian Plenipotentiary fixed his abode. The French and
English ambassadors, stayed on board their respective ships.

1878.]

DIPLOMACY UNDEK DIFFICULTIES.

191

An armistice, not established by convention, but existing
de facto, prevailed throughout the Morea. The securities
for its duration were the French army on shore, and the
English squadron either in the harbour of Navarino or near
it. The Greeks had a small force on the continent hot far
from Missolonghi. Athens remained in possession of the
Turks. The Russian forces wTere invading Turkey on the
Danubian side of the Black Sea. England and France
were still in a state of formal peace with the Porte, and the
Dutch ambassador at Constantinople was the depositary of
our mercantile interests in Turkey.
The situation had little to recommend it in point of convenience. As the season advanced, our communications
were occasionally interrupted by strong gales of wind and
other forms of inclement weather. Our Russian colleague
had the double advantage of being on dry land and near the
President, who was himself very ill lodged in a very small
town, but neither of them could entirely avoid his share in
the common fund of troubles.
Such, in short, was the state of affairs, and the position
of those who were called upon to lay the foundations of a
new Greece, and also to suppress an old cause of disturbance in the Eastern world. The task, in itself by no means
an easy one, was rendered more difficult by the character
and relations, and not impossibly by the views, of him to
whom we were bound to look for information and friendly
assistance. He stood like a party wall between those who
owned his authority and those who were commissioned to
mature their independence. I t was evident that dislike of
our interference overpowered his sense of its usefulness and
necessity. The failure of our endeavours would have been
no disappointment to him. He let fall occasional doubts of
our competency, and showed a constant unwillingness to
supply those local statistics which he was best qualified to

192

THE EASTERN

QUESTION.

[PART I I .

obtain, and which we required in order to adopt a sound and
equitable opinion. It became necessary to control these
tendencies of his mind by some display of determination on
our side. We gave therefore a peremptory tone to our
requisitions, and I did not hesitate to declare that as Venice,
the source of his titular distinction, had been raised upon
piles, so would we have papers whereon to build the reviving State of Greece. Week after week passed away
before we could obtain the desired particulars, and during
the tedious interval we had no resource but to talk over our
respective impressions and to familiarise ourselves with the
more prominent features of our appointed work.
Meanwhile the symptoms of returning peace grew stronger
with every day, and it soon became evident that a large
portion of the French army then occupying the Morea could
be recalled without a shadow of imprudence. Such part of
it as Marshal Maison on his retirement left in the country
was quite sufficient for any supposable contingency, and I
repeat that the confidence reposed in France by her allies
was fully justified.
Count Capo d'Istria appears to have thought it a pity
that even this reduced force should remain idle. He proposed to the French commander that it should be employed,
together, no doubt, with a Greek detachment, in a tempting
attack on Athens, and its unsuspecting garrison of Turks*
The proposal was not rejected, and even our admiral, to
judge from his language in private, was inclined to favour
acceptance. I t would seem that the Count had reserved
me for his latest dupe; and when I told him frankly, in
reply to his overture, that an enterprise so objectionable
under the circumstances could meet with no countenance
from me, he threw himself back in his chair and had not a
word to say. I t is indeed difficult to imagine how he could
have thought a British ambassador capable of taking part

1878.] SCHEME FOR THE PACIFICATION OF GREECE.

193

in a surprise at the very best so unfair and inconsistent with
the political situation. For him it was natural enough, in
the spirit of a Greek President, or in the interest of belligerent Eussia, to covet the possession of Athens, nor would
the success of the scheme have been at variance with the
personal feelings of most Englishmen; but neither France
nor England was at war with the Porte, our negotiations
were directed to a peaceful settlement, and the armistice,
which prevailed de facto, spread an segis of honour over the
position of the Turks. My refusal was sure to be approved
at home, and it soon came out that the Government of
France had put an immediate veto on their officer's too
genial compliance.
After a term of several wreeks, which was almost as
trying to health as to patience, we succeeded in obtaining as large an amount of information as we could hope
to derive from the country in its disordered, not to say
distracted, condition. A natural want of confidence in the
efficiency of such loose materials restrained us insensibly
from bringing our impressions to a decisive issue. "Weariness at length brought on the desired conclusion. Early
one morning, after a night of broken sleep, I came to the
resolution of urging my colleagues to join in giving a formal
character to our repeated discussions and preparator}^
deliberations. No time was lost in acting on this suggestion. A sketch was drawn up in the form of articles
declaring our joint opinion on the several points which had
to be settled for the pacification of Greece. They were not
many all together, and those of most importance could be
counted on the fingers of a single hand.
I t was evident that the relative situation of the contending parties could only be one of territorial separation. The
limits of independent Greece and its form of government
were the questions of most difficulty. With respect to the
o

194

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PAET II.

latter we had to consider whether it would be best to advise
the creation of a monarchy, or that of a republic, single or
confederate in its constitution. Regarding the former, what
extent of territory would it be suitable to propose for the
insurgent Greeks withdrawn from Turkish rule, and endowed with the rights of a separate Power ? Was the
Porte to be mulcted to the degree of abandoning all that part
of its dominions wherein the insurgent banner had been
raised, or would it be enough to establish Greek independence within the more classical circumscription of
Hellas, the Peloponnesus, and the central islands of the
Archipelago ?
Considerations of the gravest character affected each and
all of these propositions. The Greeks who had defied the
Porte were comparatively few and poor. How could they
support the charge of a royal Court with all its attendant
requirements ? Yet they had need of an imposing authority,
of a government adapted to their wants, their weaknesses,
their passions, and their obligations, capable at once of
fostering their good and restraining their evil tendencies,
of forming them into a community progressive by means
of industry, and inoffensive on principle. Democratic or
republican forms were little calculated to secure their internal peace, to conciliate the good will of their neighbours, or
to fit them for acquiring the confidence of Europe. On the
whole, therefore, our conclusion rested on a form of government kingly in principle, if not by name, subject of course
to constitutional limitations leading to gradual enlargement,
and consigned to a chief magistrate selected, whether to
wear a crown or a princely coronet, from among the families
of foreign royalty.
The question of territorial extent was obviously subject
in a greater degree to the consent of that sovereign from
whom the sacrifice would have to be exacted. Every State

1878.]

THE PROPOSED NEW GREEK FRONTIER.

195

is naturally averse to an}' curtailment of its dominions, and
the Sultan lay under a religious obligation to maintain, if
possible, the integrity of his. A cession of territory would,
moreover, be doubly repugnant to his feelings when made
in favour of subjects set up at his very door in all the pride
of triumphant rebellion, and sheltered by the protection of
Christian Powers allied with his normal and ever-encroaching rival. If peace and a remission of the Eastern danger
were really the chief objects in pursuit, we were bound in
reason to put some measure to our demands. We were not
at liberty to take for our only guides the admiration of Hellenic genius, or sympathy compounded of religion and
humanity.
Such, no doubt, were the sentiments prevailing more or
less in Downing Street, and therefore both duty and
prudence appeared to circumscribe my sphere of action. I t
was thought at first that if the future territory of Greece
included to the north the sites of Thermopylae on one side
and of Actium on the other, and to the south and east the
Morea together with those islands where a Greek population abounded, as much would be obtained as the London
Conference was likely to approve, or the Ottoman authorities could be persuaded to cede. In the course of discussion
this outline underwent a considerable change. I t was deemed
preferable to propose an extension of the northern line of
frontier to the mountain range which divides Thessaly
from the district of Zeitoun. The reasons for this enlargement were mainly geographical, and we had the
advantage of the French ambassador's opinion in support
of it. General Guilleminot having applied himself to the
study of geography, and published a complete map of Greece,
his suggestions carried with them a personal weight in addition to the consideration derived from his official character.
Reference to papers of this period laid before Parliament a
o2

100

THE EASTERN QaESTlOtf.

[PAR? n.

short time ago will enable the reader to judge in what degree
the diplomatic triumvirate went into the subjects committed
to their inquiry, and how far their opinions were borne out
by the reasons and arguments they detailed collectively to
explain them.
Our labours came to an end in the latter half of December, and on Christmas Day His Majesty's frigate, the
"Dryad," in which I had taken my full share of numerous
conferences with their complement of simultaneous protocols
and subsequent reports, was tossing about in sight of
Malta, escorted by troops of thunderclouds and flashes of
lightning. From Malta, after a pause of some few days,
the good ship found its way through the Straits of Messina
to Naples, where I completed my communications with
the Government at home, and had leisure to recruit my
health in the delightful climate of that fascinating city.
"Whether at Poros or at Naples, the official correspondence had not always the smooth flow of an unruffled
stream. The operation of raising Greece from its bed of
ruinous exhaustion had some resemblance to that of replacing a foundered vessel, like the "Eurydice," on the
surface of the sea. Opinions would vary as to the method
of applying the requisite power; at times the hauling
forces might not work in the same line, or the ropes might
be entangled, or the pulleys found unequal to their task.
Apart from figurative expressions, the Greeks, embodied
in their President, had naturally put in their claim to a
much greater extent of territory than the grounds of their
pretension warranted, and the Eussian Envoy at times
held language which sounded like the preface to a serious
divergence in the views of the triple alliance. The mention of Candia in our joint report from Poros was also a
cause of unpleasant disagreement, although it had not
been recommended as a part of the emancipated domain,

1878.] DOUBTFUL POLICY OF THE BBITISH GOVEBNMENT. 197

but only named as an outside object fit for unprejudiced
consideration.
There are traces in the unpublished despatches of a
rather impatient wish among the authorities in London to
discover some opening for a more immediate renewal of
negotiations with the Porte. There is also evidence in
the same chapter of correspondence that no symptoms
but of Mahmoud's unshaken resistance to every proposal
of Alliance could be detected at Constantinople. In justice
to the Sultan's conduct it must be admitted that, if the
sequel proved its flagrant imprudence, the resolution displayed in standing out against the destruction at Navarino,
the departure of the embassies, and the war with Eussia,
did credit in no common degree to his Highness's spirit
and strength of mind.
My personal connection with the affairs of Greece was
now on the eve of coming to a close, which bore an appearance of finality, though in course of time it turned
out to be only a passing interruption.
There was no
possibility of disguising a certain mistrust of me and my
political inclinations entertained at the Foreign Office by
its actual chief. There was also on my side a misgiving
as to the policy of our Government with respect to Greece
in its future relations with Turkey. This twofold motive
for seeking to bring the position into a clearer light prevailed with me to take a decisive step for that purpose,
I wrote to Lord Aberdeen in consequence, and stated distinctly my readiness to return to Constantinople and carry
out his instructions, provided the Conference of London
approved and adopted in substance the unanimous opinions
submitted as definite results of the conference at Poros.
I n the contrary case he was to understand that I should
prefer retiring from the embassy, and, not to waste time,
I consulted the public interests by placing my conditional

198

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART II.

resignation at his disposal. The answer arrived without
any unnecessary delay. It announced the acceptance of
the Poros conclusions by the superior Conference of
London, and also the appointment of Sir Eobert Gordon
as my successor to the Embassy at Constantinople. The
surprise occasioned by this contradictory decision wTas
relieved by an item of additional information, to wit, that
liberty to consider any counter proposals from the Porte
was reserved to each member of the Alliance.
The latitude thus given to the approaching negotiation
had its intended effect. The northern frontier of Greece
was thrown back to the line originally talked of, but not,
it must be allowed, without an important compensation
by the establishment of what remained to Greece in a state
of unqualified independence.
Many pages of despatch are compressed into this brief
statement, in the hope of conveying a general impression
of the truth to the reader's mind without taxing his indulgence to the point of weariness.
"While Naples is still the scene of these reminiscences,
mention may fitly be made of an illustrious person to whom
the opportunity was offered of assuming the sovereignty of
Greece with the sanction of the three allied Powers. Among
the distinguished foreigners then residing there was Prince
Leopold, who kindly permitted me to see him from time to
time. On one occasion he did me the honour of asking
what I thought of his accepting the crown in question. The
answer was naturally suggested by the circumstances of
Greece emerging languidly from a state of almost absolute
depression, and the chances in prospect of its recovery and
eventual aggrandisement. Manifold privations and difficulties
would have to be encountered for a season more or less
protracted, but a prize of most attractive value loomed out
in the distance, and a man's own heart could alone be his

1878.]

THE GKEEK QUESTION IN 1831.

199

adviser in a case composed of such divergent elements.
The whole world knows what kind of decision was ultimately
taken by the Prince, and we also know how much reason
the Greeks have had to look with envy on the Belgians.
It was thought by many at the time that Capo d'Istria
had turned the scale in Prince Leopold's mind by holding
up to him the proffered kingdom in its darkest colours.
There may be some truth in this conjecture, but the naked
facts were sufficient to discourage a man in whose high
qualities consummate prudence and judicious firmness were
more conspicuous than the spirit of daring enterprise.
Greece was a dead letter to me till the early part of 1831.
I n the interval a great change of administration had taken
place. Lord Grey had succeeded to the Duke of Wellington, Lord Palmerston had taken the direction of the Foreign
Department. I t was proposed by him that I should go on
a special mission to Constantinople. His object was to
obtain an additional extent of territory for the new independent State. The line of frontier recommended at
Poros and sanctioned by the London Conference had not
been finally confirmed by the Porte's assent. The Sultan
had narrowed the proposed territory by agreement with the
French and English ambassadors, and there was reason to
believe that the latter in acceding to his Highness's requisition only carried out the instructions of his Government.
Lord Palmerston deemed it advisable to correct the lapse,
and the task of realising his wish was not only consistent
with my personal opinions, but one which from antecedent
circumstances seemed naturally to devolve on me.
I made my preparations accordingly, and as soon as the
instructions were ready took leave. At my last interview
with the Secretary of State I could not conceal my decided
apprehension that the terms to be proposed would prove
insufficient. Sir James Graham was present; but neither

200

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART II.

he nor his colleague could suggest any additional means of
surmounting the difficulty.
I t was already the month of November before I was at
liberty to start. A boisterous passage across the Channel
and a journey impeded at times by the inclemency of the
season brought me with no unnecessary delay to Naples,
and then on to Brindisi, where a frigate commanded by
Captain Grey waited to receive me. I lost no time in
embarking, and soon reached Corfu, whence the Lord High
Commissioner's barque conveyed me to Corinth. The rest
of my journey to Napoli di Romania, the temporary seat of
the Greek Government, was performed on horseback.
That part of the Morea which I crossed on my road
thither was the very type of desolation. A few scattered
flocks of sheep, here and there a ruined cottage or a herdsman's hovel, a stray horse or a lean donkey, some little
wood in the valleys, and a watercourse marked by aquatic
shrubs were the only visible signs of a country either inhabited or capable of habitation. The plain of Argos, as I
descended in the evening from the hills, presented a field
of greater promise ; but the light was too faint for observation, and it had sunk into a settled gloom before the arch of
the town gate at Napoli echoed to my horse's feet.
The struggle for independence which left such melancholy
traces of its fury had ceased. Turk and Greek were at
peace with each other. But Greek was at war with Greek.
The Morea, freed from its turbaned oppressor, was the
scene of civil conflict. Two hostile parties were in presence, one composed of the avroxOoves or local natives and
headed by Coletti, whose main strength lay in his mountain
followers of more than doubtful character, the other having
the prestige of government, but also more of the foreign
and doctrinal element than suited the wild habits and lawless notions of the Pelecari and their chief. Coletti had

1878.]

THE OBSTINACY OF GKEECE.

201

served in the Court of Ali Pasha of Yanina, no very strict
school of morality; he was in high credit with the French,
and a reputation, by no means undeserved, for bravery and
intelligence gave him a plausible title to their support.
The ruling President of Greece at this time was Count
Agostino Capo d'Istria, a younger brother of Count John,
who had fallen not long before by the hand of an enthusiastic
assassin* His abilities were not of a superior cast, and his
leaning towards Russia, though it procured him the favour
of that power, diminished what little claim he possessed to
the confidence of his country. The influence of England
was exerted to prevent a collision between the adverse
forces, but it made no impression on the Government., and,
right or wrong, the insurgents held out for the redress of
their grievances. Some skirmishing took place near Argos,
and there was bloodshed, but not enough to produce any
positive result. Walking one day for exercise on the road
to Argos, I met a horseman with blood streaming down his
leg. " W h a t has happened to you, my friend?" I said,
and he answered in Greek, " There is war, sir! " and war
indeed there wras of that kind which checks all wholesome
progress without creating any remedial energy. Very sad,
but what could be done ? I added my efforts to those of
Mr. Daw7kins, our Minister in Greece. All was unavailing.
The Government, if it deserved that name, had no ears for
any suggestion coming from beyond its own restricted
circle. Finally an appeal to the Conference in London was
our only resource. I drew up a statement of what I had
urged in vain upon the President's consideration, and after
sending it to Lord Palmerston resumed my journey to
Constantinople.
I found the "Actseon" at anchor in the Dardanelles
Captain Grey had completed his voyage from Napoli in
less time than it took the "Alban," a smaller steamer

202

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PAET II.

placed at my disposal by the kindness of Admiral Hotham,
to carry me from one coast to the other. I was at liberty
to choose between sail and steam. Experience of long
detentions from the prevalence of northerly winds induced
me to favour the latter. " Have you plenty of coal ? " I
said to the " Alban's" commander as we passed up the
Straits. "Yonder are piles of wood; shall we take a supply
on board ? " " Quite unnecessary/' was the reply ; and on
we steamed far away from the " Actaeon." When alone in
the Sea of Marmora our captain discovered that his coal
would not last. I was walking on deck when he apprised
me of this dilemma. I naturally reminded him of the
wood. " H o w came it," I asked, " t h a t you declined my
suggestion? " " He had not been able to gauge the coal. ,,
" How much is left ? " " Enough for three hours, perhaps
a little more.' , I looked around: the coast was scarcely
visible. " Which is the nearest point ? " " Sulini, I
believe, there on the horizon." " S t e e r a direct course
to it," I added, and turned away. This was done, and our
coal just served to reach the place. I was so disgusted
that I left the steamer, and proceeded to Constantinople on
horseback. The Turks pulled an old battery to pieces, and
the stakes it furnished gave fuel to the " Alban's " boiler.
But neither did the " Alban " nor myself arrive before the
"Aetseon." I t amused me to think how my reliance on
steam, as the vanquisher of sail, had been defeated.
I was now on the scene of action. My colleagues in the
approaching negotiation were the Eussian Minister and the
French charge d'affaires. We had to deal with a Turkish
Eeis Effendi unknown to me. His name I have forgotten.
The Eussian was Monsieur de Bontenieff, the Frenchman
Monsieur de Varennes—both very estimable members of
diplomacy, and no less anxious than myself to obtain the
Porte's consent to our proposals.

1878.]

THE SECBET AGENT.

203

I have already stated my apprehension that the terms I had
to offer, and theirs were the same, would not suffice to carry
our point. Swayed by a religious feeling, the Turks will
never cede territory except under the pressure of positive
necessity. The Greeks are the last to whom they would
willingly make a sacrifice of that kind. To sell any portion
of the land acquired by their ancestors under the shade of
the Prophet's banner is, in their view, a shame and a sacrilege.
Moreover, the amount of purchase money to be paid by
Greece in return for the required cession was limited, and
of little value but what it derived from the guarantee of the
Allies. So deep was my conviction of its insufficiency that I
looked about for some additional means, if possibly such
could be found, for overcoming the scruples of the Porte.
It happened that just at this time Mehemet Ali was acting in
a manner to make him more than usually an object of suspicion at Constantinople. I had heard something of this
jealousy in Greece, and fresh information showed that the
fear of danger from Egypt might be expected to work powerfully on the Sultan's mind. The occasion was not to be
neglected, and I was fortunate enough to find a secret
channel by which impressions derived from that source
might be made to favour our proposals. In a quarter of
Stamboul called the Fanal, there lived a Greek, with whom
I had been long acquainted. He possessed that sort of
talent which, used with much patient and timid discretion,
had gradually earned him a position of some consequence
among the leading Turks, and even a degree of influence at
the Seraglio. I had reason to believe him well disposed
towards English interests, at least so far as they might tally
with his own. I made up my mind, therefore, to throw out
a line for his co-operation; but it was necessary to proceed
with great circumspection. The slightest alarm given to
his timidity would be certain to shut him ug^ if not to make

204

THE EASTEEN QUESTION.

[PAET II.

him a dangerous confidant. A friendly communication took
place, and we agreed to meet. His house, at some considerable distance up the " Golden Horn," was to be the
scene of our interview. I promised to go at night, and he
undertook to send his own boat for my conveyance. The
night appointed for my visit chanced to be one of the most
boisterous. A strong north gale with driving rain blew
down the harbour. I had to walk no small distance to the
water, and then to embark alone on its troubled waves. On
board I crouched under my umbrella in utter darkness, and
shivered to the blasts that rushed over me. The return
was only so far better that the wind no longer beat against
our faces.
My conversation with the agent in question led to a satisfactory understanding between us. He engaged to work in
my favour with the Sultan; I displayed a readiness to
consult his Majesty's wishes to the full length of my tether.
A confidential intercourse under his auspices could be
maintained simultaneously with the official negotiation.
Secrecy was an indispensable condition, and the port now
brought into view could only be approached by delicate
steering among rocks and quicksands. On the one side,
I should have to act independently of my colleagues, whose
knowledge of the plan would insure a failure, on the other
to awake the Sultan's hopes of eventual assistance from
England without committing my government or compromising my own character. Negotiations in Turkey, whether
open or secret, are not apt to move by rail. Months
were consumed in the twofold process by which I hoped to
attain the desired end. We were deep in July before we
arrived at the goal, nor did I get rid of the cough, which
had crowned my nocturnal adventure, until I anchored once
more in the waters of Napoli di Romania, and imbibed the
rays of a southern sun.

1878.]

NEGOTIATIONS WttH THE SIJLTAK.

205

I t would answer no good purpose to explore the labyrinth
of papers and conferences which encumbered the pathway to
a successful issue. They differed little from other negotiations
of the day. Incidents are more significant, and to them, however few, I shall confine my attention. One Eeis Effendi died
under suspicions of poison. His successor gave us no end of
trouble. I stood in need of every appliance to obtain the
requisite ascendency. One cause of difficulty had been
foreseen in the very outset. The Grand Vizier was employed on special business in one of the distant provinces,
and I knew from experience that the Porte would be likely
to use his absence as a pretext for reference and delay. I
had drawn Lord Palmerston's attention to the circumstance,
and obtained his permission to send a confidential agent to
the Vizier's head-quarters. Mr. David Urquhart, who was
recommended to me on account of his personal acquaintance
with the Minister, undertook the service, and gave me no
reason to repent of the precautionary measure. I found it
necessary to take the embassy into my own hands. The
exercise of this power was left to my own discretion; and
though it caused me some regret to supersede the charge
d'affaires, I could not hesitate to do so in the interest of my
negotiation. Turks revolt from the idea of two co-existing
Kings of Brentford* A plurality of ships, on the contrary,
commands their respect, and I took care to have a sufficient
number at my disposal from time to time. These were
precautions of an auxiliary nature. But a stumbling-block
of large dimensions stood at the very door. I knew to a
certainty that the acting interpreter was not to be trusted. I
knew it, but could not venture to put him aside. More
danger lay in suspending than in employing his services.
I thought it best to have a frank explanation with him at
once. Delicacy was out of the question. My opinion of
his character was no secret. I told him at our first meeting

206

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PAUT n.

in so many words that it was unchanged; that, nevertheless, I would not make a scandal without fresh cause ; the
sole test of his conduct in my judgment would be success ;
if my ship went down, his boat should infallibly share its
fate. He bowed, and silently accepted the terms. My
communications with the Porte continued to pass through
him, but of those with the Sultan he had of course no hint
whatever. The former took colour chiefly from the Ministers; the latter had less of outline, but a more substantial reality. In both departments the progress, if
any, was step by step. The Sultan in his way fought
as hard with me behind the scenes as his Ministers did
with my colleagues and me in front of them. An appearance at least of concession in some particulars became a
necessity. I yielded to the pressure so far as to consent
that the new frontier line of Greece should be shortened,
without receding, by having its termini, east and west, at
the respective Gulfs of Volo and Arta, the waters of both
being thrown open to the trade and vessels of either State.
This arrangement, to speak truly, involved a very small
sacrifice, and with it the permanent advantage of a more
complete separation.
As soon as a complete understanding was effected with
the Sultan, there remained the task of making its result
acceptable to my colleagues and working it, with their concurrence and with that of the Turkish Plenipotentiaries,
into the form of a regular convention. I n the midst of one
of our joint conferences, a messenger direct from the palace
suddenly made his appearance, and announced the Sultan's
desire that we should agree to that conclusion which really
seemed to promise satisfaction to all parties. Such an
intimation could obviously have no binding effect on the
representatives of the Alliance, but it created a general inclination to seek the solution of all remaining difficulties in

1878.]

A FOECED CONCESSION.

207

a fair consideration of his Majesty's wishes. Thus it was
that we at length reached our goal. The several points of
agreement were thrown into a conventional form, and a final
meeting was appointed for signing the document.
We fondly imagined that cup and lip- were now brought
into contact, and that any apprehension of further disappointment would be entirely misplaced. Dis aliter visum. Our
place of meeting was an imperial kiosk on the European
side of the Bosphorus, half-way between Therapia and
Yenikeui. We entered upon business soon after ten o'clock
one morning, and broke up at four the next. There was
an interval for dinner, and no doubt the pipe, as usual,
played its part. The rest of the sixteen hours passed away
on wings laden with cavil, expostulation, and complaint.
Our Mussulman antagonist began by opening a fire of small
shot upon our lines. From mere politeness we gave way
on matters of no essential consequence. He took courage,
and endeavoured to wring more serious concessions from us.
Our refusal provoked him. He was reminded that we had
met to sign, and not to dispute. He declared that he would
rather cut off his right hand than put his signature to such
a convention. We took the liberty of telling him that if he cut
off one hand, he would still have to sign with the other. At
last it became necessary to threaten him with the Sultan's
indignation. Even the fear of that peril did not immediately
subdue him. Weariness and despair at length came to our
aid, and the hateful convention received his signature before
the light of another sun had fully risen upon its pages.
Such were the means, such were the slow and weary
steps, by which the new Hellas was lifted up to that great
mountain ridge whence the eye of the traveller may range
unchecked over the pastures of Thessaly. Six-and-forty
years have all but closed over that memorable transaction.
So long have the Greeks enjoyed the fertile territory which

203

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART i t

was then shaken out of the Sultan's grasp for their benefit,
and so long, there is reason to fear, have they left the price
of that cession a dead weight on the resources of their
confiding benefactors.
The main object of the mission was now accomplished,
and my thoughts were at liberty to prepare for an early departure. But I could not of course embark without taking
leave of the Sultan. I was given to understand that my
final audience would be confidential, and that the occasion
would be used to apprise me of his Majesty's reliance on the
goodwill of England, in case his relations with Egypt should
assume a hostile character. My secret ally from the Fanal
would act as interpreter, and a special agent would be sent
to London on the Sultan's behalf. These were delicate
matters, it must be allowed, and I felt keenly the danger of
saying either too much or too little. In the one case I
might cause very serious embarrassment at home; in the
other I might throw the Sultan at once into the arms of
Eussia. Subsequently, when I had access to the Turkish
instructions, it relieved me from much anxiety to find that
they tallied entirely with the language I had held. Whatever
pledge was implied in that language I amply redeemed by
submitting to my chief the expediency of sending a small
squadron to keep watch over the ambitious movements of
Mehemet Ali. That no such course was taken may or
may not be regretted ; but the truth is that Lord Grey, our
then Prime Minister, having no ships to spare on the existing establishment, could not make up his mind to apply to
Parliament for more.
The audience went off as I had been led to expect. I t
took place in the palace of Beylerbey, on the Asiatic shore
of the Bosphorus. For reasons already stated the official
interpreter did not attend me. His Highness the Caliph
was extremely gracious. For the first time he received me.

1378.]

SULTAN MAHMOUD.

209

on his legs. None of his ministers were present. At the
close of our political conversation he caused me to be
invested with his grand order and the insignia thereof.
I never saw him again; but the outline of his character
and person as they appeared to me in his lifetime may here
find an appropriate place. Resolution and energy were the
foremost qualities of Sultan Mahmoud's mind. His natural
abilities would hardly have distinguished him in private life.
In personal courage, if not deficient, he was by no means
superior. His morality, measured by the rules of the
Koran, was anything but exemplary. He had no scruple
of taking life at pleasure from motives of policy or interest.
He was not inattentive to changes of circumstance, or
insensible to the requirements of time. There was, even
from early days, a vein of liberality in his views. But,
either from want of foresight, or owing to a certain rigidity
of mind, he missed at critical times the precious opportunity, and incurred thereby an aggravated loss. His reign
of more than thirty years was marked by disastrous wars
and compulsory cessions. Greece, Egypt, and Algiers
escaped successively from his rule. He had to lament the
destruction of his fleet at Navarino. On the other hand, he
gathered up the reins of sovereign power which had fallen
from the hands of his later predecessors; he repressed
rebellion in more than one of the provinces; and his just
resentment crushed the mutinous Janissaries once and for
ever. Checked no longer by them, he introduced a system
of reforms which tended greatly to renovate the Ottoman
Empire, and to bring it into friendly communion with the
Powers of Christendom. To him, moreover, is due the
formation of a regular and disciplined army in place of a
factious, fanatical militia, more dangerous to the country
than to its foes. Unfortunately his habits of self-indulgence
kept pace with the revival of his authority, and the premature
close of his life suspended for a while the progress of inv

210

THE EASTERH QUESTION.

[PART it.

provement. Mahmoud, when young, had a rather imposing
countenance. His dark beard set off the paleness of his
face, but time added nothing to its expression. His stature
was slightly below the average standard. His constitution
was healthy. He wrote well, he rode well, and acquired a
reputation for skill in archery. I t may be said with truth
that whatever merit he possessed was his own, and that much
of what was wrong in his character resulted from circumstances beyond his control. Peace to his memory !
We may now turn back to the subject of Greek affairs.
After my departure from Napoli the civil dissensions had
not only continued, but assumed a more threatening and
dangerous aspect. The Conference acting in London had
taken my suggestions into consideration, and in consequence
of their being adopted, orders had been sent out to Greece
with the view of enforcing the desired effect. A duplicate
of the instruction was addressed to me, and it so happened
that it came to hand some two or three days after I had
learned from Mr. Dawkins that matters were coming to an
immediate extremity between the adverse parties. I had a
fast sailing cutter at my disposal, and it occurred to me, on
a calculation of time and distances, that my duplicate, if
sent on at once, might possibly arrive before the original
and prevent a fatal explosion. Acting on this hope, I
earned the satisfaction of learning afterwards that my
despatches had reached Mr. Dawkins on the morning of a
clay which was to have been terminated by the capture of
Fort Palamidi and the subversion of the existing government. The Greeks were happily spared a scene of this
perilous and disgraceful kind. But Count Agostino's
position was no longer tenable, and his retreat upon St.
Petersburg left no doubt as to the source from which he
derived his political inspiration. On his way to Odessa he
stopped a few days in the Bosphorus. His vessel cast
anchor between Buyukdere, where the Eussian Minister

1878.]

GREEK ENQUIRIES FOR A "POLICY."

211

resided, and Therapia, where I was living. With Monsieur
de Boutenieff he was in frequent communication. The
British Embassy had not the fortune to receive even a card
from the ex-Vice-President. With his retirement ended the
Capodistrian administration of Greece, which, at first a
necessity, and in its progress a questionable benefit, was
finally shaken off as a galling and unprofitable burden.
But little remains for me to note. The heats of July had
set in when I found myself free to embark. My secret intermediary with the Sultan had not disregarded his own interests
while promoting the success of those negotiations which it
was my province to conduct. The Island of Samos was
about to obtain an independent administration, and he
wished to be its governor with the title of Prince. I was
heartily disposed to befriend him in this respect, but with
the condition that a free constitution should be secured to
Samos and its inhabitants. At the moment of embarkation
it came to my knowledge that the Prince in petto had
obtained the Sultan's consent to his appointment, but left
the Samians to whistle for their constitution. It looked as
if I had been purposely entrapped; but, however that might
be, it was too late for me to take any counter step or even
to seek an explanation.
Under this passing cloud the sails were set, and I turned
my back once more on the city of Constantine. Napoli di
Romania lay in our way, and we sailed up the gulf, but with
no intention of making any stay in its waters. A deputation was sent off, headed by Colocotroni, and composed of
other notables more or less distinguished by their conduct
or position. After the customary interchange of news and
compliments, I was requested to state my opinion as to
what should be the policy of Greece when left to the enjoyment of its newly acquired independence. My first reply
was an expression of surprise that, having worked out their
freedom at so much cost, they should look to a stranger,

212

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART II.

however desirous to help them, for advice as to their future
course. They were not discouraged by this evasion, but
returned more pressingly to the charge. Finding it useless
to parry their advances any further, 1 said that since they
appeared to value my opinion in good earnest, I would not
withhold it, more especially as it might be conveyed to them
in half a dozen words. Your immediate business, I continued, is to repair the ravages of war, to plough your lands,
to build ships, and above all to increase your families.
" Material prosperity is the true basis of moral and political
advancement. Institutional securities come in their time.
A strong hand is your first need." They smiled and thanked
me, but I doubt their having given much heed in practice to
my counsels, frank and simple as they were. The convictions which then possessed me on this subject have never
varied. But the Greeks do not see with my spectacles.
Their " grande idee " is a pernicious illusion. The Turkish
Empire is not yet weak enough to become their prey, but it
may be used as their garden and field of productive industry.
Grant them a natural ambition, they must still employ the
means required for its success. Efforts beyond their
strength, immoral enterprises, exaggerated pretensions, can
only end in failure and humiliation. They have to strike
root into a soil which many stubborn conditions of their
present existence concur to circumscribe. They have to
gather strength from without as well as from within. Their
true policy consists in meriting the confidence of Europe,
and cultivating the goodwill of their neighbours, at the same
time that they give free play to the springs of internal progress, and uphold, for their protection, the authority of law
in all its departments. The loftiest trees have drawn the
principle of life from slips or seeds, and risen to their
majestic height by the slow accessions of annual growth.
Our voyage came to a close at Ancona, and the remainder
of our way to London was only the work of a few days.

1878.]

MISTAKES OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT.

213

The joy of returning to a peaceful home was enhanced by
the kind and flattering approval with which I was greeted
by Palmerston. Strange to say, a few weeks later, while I
was still but the length of a moderate line of houses from
his abode in Great Stanhope Street, he never disclosed the
slightest wish to hear what I thought of the Greeks in their
actual position, or of what remained to be done in order to
place the administration of their country on a firm and suitable footing. His choice of a Bavarian lad to wear the
crown of Greece had nothing but the scarcity of candidates
to recommend it. The Regency constructed under his
auspices could hardly have been formed of elements more
incongruous and unpromising. The character of Prince
Otho, which in later years operated so fatally on the interests of Greece, might easily have been ascertained from
the books of the Jesuits by whom he was brought up.
"Without pretending to any peculiar sagacity, I could have
pointed to the danger of setting up three regents invested
with co-ordinate powers. The Greeks had already broken
into three parties, and they would be sure to paralyse the
action of the government by sowing dissension among its
directors, one of whom was to be the nominal chief, primus
inter pares—an object of jealousy to his colleagues, and
himself exposed to the temptation of coveting a more than
equal share of authority. There may have been reasons
for incurring the hazards of a distracted Regency; but if
the measure was unavoidable, the results of that necessity
are not the less to be deplored. To say the least, we were
unfortunate in what was done for Greece at a time when its
future destinies were in the mould; nor were we more happy
in what we declined to do for Turkey at the same decisive
period. It followed upon the Sultan's disappointment that,
in despair of getting help from England, he turned with
open arms towards Russia, and, come what might, accepted
the aid of a Russian army encamped within the forts of the

214

THE EASTEKN QUESTION.

[PART I I .

Bosphorus, and also within sight of his defenceless capital.
The ground we then lost was indeed recovered some ten
years later, but at no small expense, in the very teeth of
France, and even at the risk of a general war.
Although I have reached the close of our subject, as
expressed by the heading of this article, I cannot lose sight
of the occasion on which to all appearance the papers relating to it were recently presented to Parliament. A war
between Eussia and Turkey can hardly take place without
affecting the interests of Greece, or at least operating
sensibly on the feelings of its inhabitants. Such a war as
that which found its end in the Preliminaries of San Stefano
and their correction by the Congress of Berlin, could not
possibly leave unmoved those views of future enlargement
which are so fondly cherished by the Hellenic mind. The
victories of Eussia, the embarrassments of Turkey, and the
Slavonic encroachments have concurred to edge their appetite
for territorial extension, and to bristle up their cherished
pretensions to the succession whenever it may please
Christendom to smooth the way for that fatality. If the
information gathered from newspapers may be credited,
they accuse the British Government of having deserted their
cause, they are discontented with the Congress for limiting
its favour to a simple recommendation, and they reproach
the Porte with acts of wanton cruelty committed by Turkish
soldiers in Thessaly and elsewhere.
It lies not with me to determine the measure of right or
wrong which attaches to such complaints, but I venture to
offer some few remarks on the relations, whether of neighbourhood, of custom, or of treaty, in which the Hellenic
kingdom stands towards the Ottoman Empire and its sovereign. At best they cannot be much more than superficial,
and the space which remains for expressing them is already
much reduced.
The main object of the late Congress was peace arranged

1878.]

THE GEEEK CLAIM TO THESSALY AftD EPIBUS.

215

in a spirit of compromise on such grounds as to offer a fair
prospect of its duration. The claims of Greece were admitted for consideration, and the Porte was finally advised
to rectify the frontier of that kingdom. That friendly recommendation could only apply to the line of boundary
which begins at the Gulf of Volo and terminates in that of
Arta. That line was adopted with a view to the separation
of both parties, and the defence of the weaker one. I t was
declared by the Convention of July 9 (21), 1832, to be a fixed
and irrevocable settlement.
There is reason to believe that the Greeks entertain a
claim to Thessaly and even to Epirus also. If that be true,
the term rectification would have to give way to that of
cession, and, it must be allowed, to a cession of considerable
extent and corresponding value. If the Sultan could be
persuaded to make so great a sacrifice, which is extremely
improbable, he would naturally insist upon an indemnit} r ,
difficult if not impossible for Greece to pay, or, after experience of the past, to be secured by the guarantee of friendly
Powers. With regard to the principles of separation and
defence the maps present no local features equal to those
which mark the present frontier. Thessaly, with the help
of Pindus, might give to Greece a mountain boundary, but
one of greater length, and therefore inferior as a line of
defence. Epirus, to judge from its standing in the maps,
possesses no such advantage on its northern side.
The Greek who learns from history or by national tradition in what manner his ancestors were dethroned and degraded by the armies of Islam, and who perhaps has felt
the weight of Mussulman misrule in his own generation,
can hardly fail to sigh for a more complete emancipation of
his race and a more extensive dominion for its glory and
security. But the Turk on his side is equally open to fear
of losing the proud, imperious mastery so hardly won by his
Caliphs, and at times so pitilessly exercised by himself, to

216

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

[PART II.

say nothing of the jealous vigilance and haughty reserve
with which the authority of a people alien in creed and
manners has to be guarded.
It would seem, therefore, that a simple rectification of the
frontier is all that can be reasonably expected, and if the
localities admit of so plausible an adjustment, the Porte
would do well to accept the resolution of Congress, and be
ready to give it the desired effect.
Mere justice requires that the system of liberal reform,
to which the Ottoman authorities are solemnly pledged, and
which is partly in course of operation, should be taken into
the account, especially as English good faith is formally engaged to promote its success with all the influence derived
from treaty, acknowledged power, and practical experience.
The Eastern Question is not so dead but that it may
work out its own solution upon the failure of present
expedients; and if it should be found impossible for the
ill-matched elements of Turkish power to satisfy the requirements of Europe, the claims of native occupancy, and
inheritance never lawfully forfeited, may fairly obtain a
favourable and effectual hearing. I t rests with Greece, as
now constituted, to consider by what untainted rules of
policy, by what measures of internal development, she may
prepare for the eventual abdication, remembering always
that for neighbours mutual goodwill, leading to confidence,
is a vital condition of that peace so earnestly maintained by
the Congress of Berlin.
STRATFORD DE BEDCLIFFE.

THE END.

BRADBURY, AGNEW, & CO., PRINTERS, W H I T E F R I A R S .

50

ALBEMARLE STREET,

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December 1880.

MR. MURRAY'S
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OF

WORKS

IN

GENERAL LITERATURE,
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TICS.

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H O M E AND COLONIAL LIBRARY.

D R . W M . SMITH'S ATLAS OF ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY.

2

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COMMENTARY.

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T H E HOLY BIBLE, according to the Authorised Version, A.D. 1611, with
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CRITICAL COMMENTARY, and

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an Episcopate of Forty Years.
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Crown 8vo, 14s.

A Boy's Voyage Round the
World.

Edited by

Woodcuts.

SAMUEL

SMILES.

Small 8vo, 6s.

Hawaiian

Archipelago; Six'

Months among the Palm Groves, Coral
Reefs, and Volcanoes of the SANDWICH
ISLANDS.

trations.

By

ISABELLA

BIRD.

Illus-

Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d.

Ride Through the Disturbed
Districts of M E W Z E A L A N D to Lake
T a u p o at the time of the Rebellion ; with
notes of the South Sea Islands. By Hon. •
H. MEADE.

Typee

Illustrations.

and O m o o ;

8vo, 12s.

or the

Marquesas and South Sea Islanders. By
H . M E L V I L L E . 2 vols, post 8vo, 7s.

Notes and Sketches of New
South Wales.
Post 8V0, 2S.

B y Mrs. M E R E D I T H .

Mutineers of the "Bounty,"
and their Descendants; with their Settlements in Pitcairn and Norfolk Islands.
By L a d y B E L C H E R . Illustrations. Post
8vo, 12s.

in Voyages and Travels.
America, West Indies, Arctic
Regions.
A Lady's Life in the Rocky
Mountains.

trations.

By I S A B E L L A B I R D .

Illus-

Post 8vo, ios. 6d.

The Ascent of the Matterhorn.
Byf,EDWARD W H Y M P E R .
100 Illustrations. Medium 8vo, ios. 6d.

Siberia in Europe; a Naturalist's Voyage to the Valley of the Petchora in N . E . Russia.
By HENRY
SEEBOHM. With M a p and Illustrations.
Crown 8vo, 14s.

Mexico and the Rocky Mountains. By GEORGE F. RUXTON. Post
8vo, 3s. 6d.

Pioneering in South Brazil.
Three Years of Forest a n d Prairie Life
in the Province of Parana. B y T . P .
BIGG W I T H E R .

Illustrations.

2 vols,

crown 8vo, 24s.

A Month in Norway.
HOLLWAY.

Voyage up the River Amazons,
and a visit to Para.
EDWARDS.

Baltic.

the

By

CHARLES

DARWIN.

The Bible in Spain; or the
Journeys, Adventures, and Imprisonments of an Englishman in the Peninsula.
B y G E O R G E BORROW.

a

Year's

Wandering over Untrodden Ground from
the Straits of Magellan to the Rio Negro.
By Capt. M U S T E R S . Illustrations. Post
8vo, 7s. 6d.

Manners, Customs, Religion, and L a n guage. By G E O . BORROW. Post 8vo, 5s.

Gatherings from
RICHARD FORD.
NASSAU.

By

Woodcuts.

Illustrations.

M'CLINTOCK.

Post 8vo, 7s. 6d.

Perils of the Polar Seas.

True

Stories of Arctic Discovery and Adventure. B y Mrs. CHISHOLM. Illustrations.
Small 8vo, 6s.

Communistic Societies of the
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Social Practices, and Present Condition.
By C H A R L E S N O R D H O F F .

Illustrations.

8vo, 15s.

Etchings

Europe.
on the Mosel: a

Series of T w e n t y Plates, with Descriptive Letterpress.

By E R N E S T GEORGE.

Folio, 42s.

Etchings from the Loire and
South of France. I n a Series of T w e n t y
Plates, with Descriptive Text. B y
E R N E S T GEORGE.

Folio, 42s.

Field Paths and Green Lanes.
Being Country Walks, chiefly in Surrey
and Sussex. By L o u i s J . J E N N I N G S .
Illustrations. Post 8vo, ios. 6d.

Rambles among the Hills; or
Walks on the P e a k of Derbyshire a n d
in the South Downs.' B y L. J . J E N NINGS. With Illustrations. Post 8vo, 12s.

Twenty Years

in the Wild

West of Ireland ; or, Life in Connaught.
By Mrs. H O U S T O U N .

Crown 8vo, 9s.

By

Post 8vo, 7s. 6d.

Sir

FRANCIS

HEAD.

General Geography.

A R C T I C S E A S , and t h e Discovery of t h e

F a t e of Sir John Franklin and his Com-

Spain.

P o s t 8vo, 3s. 6d.

Bubbles from the Brunnen of

Voyage of the " F o x " in the
panions^ By Sir L E O P O L D

Post 8vo, 5s.

The Gypsies of Spain; their

Post 8vo, 9s.

The Patagonians;

Post 8vo, 2s.

An Account of a Yacht Voyage to Iceland, J a n Mayen, and Spitzbergen. B y
Lord D U F F E R I N . Illustrations. Crown
8vo, 7s. 6d.

P o s t 8vo, 2s.

World.

By a L A D Y .

Letters from High Latitudes :

By WILLIAM H .

Voyage of a Naturalist round

By J. G.

F c a p . 8vo, 2s.

Letters from the Shores of the

The Naturalist on the River
AMAZONS, with Adventures during
Eleven Years of Travel.
By H . W.
B A T E S , illustrations. Post 8vo, 7s. 6d.

11

A

H i s t o r y of A n c i e n t Geography among the Greeks and Romans,
from the Earliest Ages till the Fall of the
Roman Empire. B y E . H . BUNBURY.
2 vols. 8vo, 42s.

Art of Travel; or Hints on
the

Shifts and Contrivances available

in Wild Countries.

Woodcuts.

By F R A N C I S G A L T O N .

Post 8vo, 7s. 6d.

Dictionary of Greek and Roman
Geography. Edited b y Dr. W M . S M I T H .
2 vols, royal 8vo, 56s.

Atlas of Ancient Geography
Biblical and Classical, compiled under
t h e superintendence of D r . W M . S M I T H
and Mr. G E O R G E GROVE. Folio, £6 : 6s.

Student's Manual of Ancient
Geography. By Canon BEVAN, M . A .
Woodcuts. Post 8vo, 7s. 6d.

Student's Manual of Modern
Geography, Mathematical, Physical, and
.Descriptive. B y Canon B E V A N , M . A .
Woodcuts. Post 8vo, 7s. 6d.

A School Manual of Modern
Geography, Physical a n d Political.
J O H N RICHARDSON, M.A.

By

P o s t 8vo, 5s.

A Smaller Manual of Modern
Geography. Physical and Political. Post
8vo, 2S. 6d.

Journal of the Royal Geographical Society. 8vo. From 1831 to the
present time.

12

Mr. Murray's

List of

HANDBOOKS FOR TRAVELLERS.
Foreign.
Handbook —Travel

Talk;—

English, French, German, and Italian.
i6mo, 3s. 6d.

H a n d b o o k — H o l l a n d a n d Belgium. Maps and Plans. Post 8vo, 6s.

Handbook—North Germany;
the Rhine, the Black Forest, the Hartz,
Thiiringerwald,
Saxon
Switzerland,
Riigen the Giant Mountains, Taunus,
Odenwald,
Elass, and Lothringen.
M a p and Plans. Post 8vo, 10s.

Handbook—Switzerland ; The
Alps of Savoy, and Piedmont.
Maps
and Plans. I n Two Parts. Post 8vo, 10s.

Handbook—South Germany;
Tyrol,
Bavaria, Austria, Salzburg,
Styria, Hungary, and the Danube from
U l m to the Black Sea. Maps and
Plans. Post 8vo, 10s.

Handbook—France.

Part I.

Normandy, Brittany, T h e French Alps,
the Loire, Seine, Garonne,,'and Pyrenees.
Maps and Plans. Post 8vo, 7s. 6d.

Handbook—France.

Part I I .

Auvergne, the Cevennes, Burgundy, t h e
Rhone and Saone, Provence, Nimes,
Aries, Marseilles, the French Alps, Alsace, Lorraine, Champagne, etc. Maps
and Plans. Post 8vo, 7s. 6d.

H a n d b o o k — P a r i s a n d its E n virons. Maps and Plans. i6mo, 3s. 6d.

Handbook — Mediterranean :
Its principal Cities, Seaports, Harbours,
and Borderlands. With nearly 50 Maps
and Plans. Post 8vo.

Handbook—Algeria and Tunis;
Algiers, Constantin, Oran, the Atlas
R a n g e , etc. Maps and Plans.
Post
8vo, 10s.

Handbook — Spain ; Madrid,
T h e Castiles, Basque, Asturias, Galicia,
Estremadura, Andalusia, Ronda, Granada, Murcia, Valencia, Catalonia, Aragon,
Navarre,
Balearic
Islands.
Maps
and Plans. Post 8vo, 20s.

Handbook—Portugal; Lisbon,
Oporto, Cintra, etc. Map. Post8vo, 12s.

H a n d b o o k — N o r t h Italy; Piedmont, Nice, Lombardy, Venice, Parma,
Modena, and Romagna.
Plans. Post 8vo, 10s.

Maps

and

H a n d b o o k — C e n t r a l Italy; T u s cany, Florence, Lucca, Umbria, The
Marches, and the Patrimony of St. Peter
Maps and Plans. Post Svo, 10s.

The Cicerone; or, Art Guide
to Painting in Italy. B y Dr. J A C O B
BURCKHARDT. Post 8T0, 6S.

Handbook—Rome and its Environs. Map and Plans. Post 8vo.
Handbook—South Italy; Two
Sicilies, Naples, Pompeii, Herculaneum,
Vesuvius, Abruzzi. Maps and Plans.
Post 8vo, 10s.

Handbook—Egypt; the Nile,
Egypt, Nubia, Alexandria, Cairo, T h e
Pyramids, Thebes, Suez Canal, Peninsula
of Sinai, T h e Oases, the Fyoom. M a p
and Plans. I n Two Parts. Post8vo, 15s.

Handbook —• Greece;

Ionian

Islands, Athens, Peloponnesus, vEgaean
Sea, Albania, Thessaly, and Macedonia.
Maps and Plans. Post 8vo.

Handbook—Turkey in Asia;
Constantinople, T h e Bosphorus, Dardanelles, Brousa, Plain of Troy, Crete,
Cyprus, Smyrna, Ephesus, the Seven
Churches, Coasts of the Black Sea,
Armenia, Mesopotamia.
Maps and
Plans. Post 8vo, 15s.

Handbook—Denmark;

Sles-

wig-Holstein, Copenhagen, J u t l a n d , Iceland. Maps and Plans. Post 8vo, 6s.

Handbook—Sweden;
Stockholm, Upsala, Gothenburg, the Shores
of the Baltic, etc.
Post 8vo.

Maps and Plans.

Handbook—Norway; Christiania, Bergen, Trondhjem, the Fjelds,
Iceland. Maps and Plans. Post 8vo, 9s.

H a n d b o o k — R u s s i a ; St. Petersburg, Moscow, Poland, ^ Finland, The
Crimea, Caucasus, Siberia, and Central
Asia. Maps and Plans. Post 8vo, 18s.

Handbook — Bombay.

Map.

Post8vo, 12s.

Handbook — Madras.
and Plans.

Maps

Post 8vo, 15s.

Handbook—Holy Land; Syria,
Palestine, Sinai, Edom and the Syrian
Deserts, Jerusalem, Petra, Damascus,
and Palmyra. Maps and Plans.
Post
8vo, 20s.

Travelling
Moimted

Map of Palestine,

and in a Case.

12s.

English,
Handbook—London as it is.
Map and Plans.

i6mo, 3s. 6d.

H a n d b o o k — E n v i r o n s of L o n don, within 20 miles round of the Metropolis. 2 vols. Post 8vo, 21s.

Handbook—England & Wales.
Condensed in one Volume.
Forming
a Companion to Bradshaw's Railway
Tables. M a p . Post 8vo, 10s.

Handbooks for Travellers.
Handbook—Eastern Counties;
Chelmsford, Harwich, Colchester, Maldon, Cambridge, Ely, Newmarket, Bury,
Ipswich, Woodbridge, Felixstowe, Lowestoft, Norwich, Yarmouth, Cromer. M a p
and Plans. Post 8vo, 12s.

Handbook — Kent;
Canterbury, Dover, Ramsgate, Rochester,
Chatham.
7s. 6d.

M a p and Plans.

Post 8vo,

Handbook—Sussex; Brighton,
Eastbourne,
Chichester,
Hastings,
Lewes, Arundel, etc. M a p . Post 8vo, 6s.

Handbook—Surrey and Hants;
Kingston, Croydon, Reigate, Guildford, Dorking, Boxhill, Winchester,
Southampton, New Forest, Portsmouth,
Isle of Wight. Maps and Plans. Post
8 v o , 1 0 s . ••
•

Handbook—Berks, Bucks, and
O x o n ; Windsor, Eton, Reading, Aylesbury, Henley, Oxford, Blenheim, and
the Thames. M a p and Plans. Post 8vo.

Handbook—Wilts, Dorset, and
Somerset; Salisbury, Stonehenge, Chippenham, Weymouth, Sherborne, Wells,
Bath, Bristol, etc. Map. Post 8vo, 10s.

Handbook—Devon ;

Exeter,

Ilfracombe, Linton, Sid mouth, Dawlish,
Teignmouth, Plymouth,
Devonport,
Torquay. Maps and Plans. Post 8vo,
7s. 6d.

Handbook—Cornwall; Launceston, Penzance, Falmouth, T h e Lizard, Land's End. Maps. Post 8vo, 6s.

Handbook—Gloucester, Hereford, and Worcester ; Cirencester, Cheltenham, Stroud, Tewkesbury, Leominster,
Ross, Malvern, Kidderminster, Dudley,
Evesham. Map. Post 8vo.

Handbook — North

Wales ;

Bangor, Carnarvon, Beaumaris, Snowdon, Llanberis, Dolgelly, Cader Idris,
Conway. Map. Post 8vo, 7s.

Handbook — South

Wales ;

Monmouth, Llandaff, Merthyr, Vale of
Neath, Pembroke, Carmarthen, T e n b y ,
Swansea, the Wye. Map. Post 8vo, 7s.

H a n d b o o k — D e r b y , N o t t s , Leicester, and Stafford ; Matlock, Bakewell,
Chatsworth, T h e Peak, Buxton, H a r d wick, Dovedale, Ashborne, Southwell,
Mansfield, Retford, Burton, Belvoir,
Melton Mowbray, Wolverhampton, Lichfield, Tamworth. Map. Post 8vo, 9s.

13

H a n d b o o k — S h r o p s h i r e & Cheshire, Shrewsbury, Ludlow, Bridgnorth,
Oswestry, Chester, Crewe, Alderley,
Stockport, Birkenhead. Maps and Plans.
Post 8vo, 6s.

H a n d b o o k — L a n c a s h i r e ; Warrington, Bury, Manchester, Liverpool,
Burnley, Clitheroe, Bolton, Blackburn,
Wigan, Preston, Rochdale, Lancaster,
Southport, Blackpool. M a p . Post 8vo,
7s. 6d.

Handbook—Northamptonshire
and R u t l a n d ; Northampton, Peterborough, Towcester, Daventry, Market
Harborough, Kettering, Wallingborough,
Thrapston, Stamford, Uppingham, Oakham. Maps. Post 8vo, 7s. 6d.

Handbook—Yorkshire ; Doncaster, Hull, Selby, Beverley, Scarborough, Whitby, Horrogate, Ripon,
Leeds, Wakefield, Bradford, Halifax,
Huddersfield, Sheffield. Map and Plans.
Post 8vo, 12s.

Handbook — Durham

and

Northumberland; Newcastle, Darlington, Bishop Auckland, Stockton, Hartlepool, Sunderland, Shields, Berwick, T y n e mouth, Alnwick. Map. Post 8vo, 9s.

Handbook—Westmorland and
Cumberland ; Lancaster, Furness Abbey,
Ambleside, Kendal, Windermere, Coniston, Keswick, Grasmere, Ulswater, Carlisle, Cockermouth, Penrith, Appleby.
Map. Post 8vo.

Travelling
District,

Map of the Lake

3$. 6d.

Handbook—Scotland;

Edin

burgh, Melrose, Abbotsford, Glasgow,
Dumfries, Galloway, Ayr, Stirling, Arran,
T h e Clyde, Oban, Inverary, Loch Lomond, Loch Katrine and Trossachs, Cale<donian Canal, Inverness, Perth, Dundee,
Aberdeen, Braemar, Skye, Caithness,
Ross, and Sutherland. Maps and Plans.
Post 8vo, 9s.

Handbook—-Ireland ; Dublin,
Belfast, T h e Giant's Causeway, Bantry,
Glengariff, etc., Donegal, Galway, Wexford, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Killarney. Maps and Plans. Post 8vo, 10s.

H a n d b o o k — H e r t s , Beds, Warwick. Map. Post8vo. [Inpreparation.

Handbook — Huntingdon and
Lincoln.

Map.

Post 8vo.
[In prepara

Hon.

14

Mr. Murray's List of Works
ENGLISH CJATHEDRALS.

H a n d b o o k — Southern C a t h e drals. Winchester, Salisbury, Exeter,
Wells, Rochester, Canterbury, Chichester, and St. Albans. Illustrations. 2
vols. Crown 8vo, 36s.
Handbook — Eastern
Cathedrals. Oxford, Peterborough, Ely, Norwich, and Lincoln. Illustrations. Crown
8vo, 18s.

H a n d b o o k — Western Cathedrals. Bristol, Gloucester, Hereford,
Worcester, and Lichfield. With 60 Illustrations. Crown 8vo, 16s.

H a n d b o o k — Northern Cathedrals. York, Ripon, Durham, Carlisle,
Chester, and Manchester.
2 vols. Crown 8vo, 21s.

Illustrations.

Handbook—Welsh Cathedrals.
Llandaff, St. David's, Bangor, and St.
Asaph's. Illustrations. Crown 8vo, 15s.

H a n d b o o k — S t . Alban's C a t h e dral. Illustrations. Crown 8vo, 6s.
H a n d b o o k — S t . Paul's. Illustrations. Crown 8vo, 10s. 6d.

RELIGION Al D THEOLOGY.
The Speaker's Commentary on A Dictionary of Hymnology;
T H E B I B L E . Explanatory and Critical,
W i t h a Revision of the Translation. By
Bishops and Clergy of the Anglican
Church. Edited by Canon COOK. Medium 8vo. Old Testament, 6 vols., 135s.
N e w Testament, 4 vols. See p. 2, ante.

The New Testament : Edited,
with a short Practical Commentary, b y
Archdeacon C H U R T O N and Bishop B A S I L

J O N E S . With 100 Illustrations.
Crown 8vo, 21s.

2 vols.

The Student's Edition of the
Speaker's Commentary on t h e Bible.
Abridged and Edited b y J O H N M .
F U L L E R , M. A.

Crown 8vo,

See p . 2.

Dictionary of the Bible ; its
Antiquities, Biography, Geography, and
Natural History. By various Writers.
Edited b y Dr. W M . S M I T H .
Illustrations. 3 vols. 8vo, 105s.

Concise Bible Dictionary. For
the use of Students and Families. Condensed from t h e above. Maps and 300
Illustrations. 8vo, 21s.

Smaller Bible Dictionary; for
Schools and Young Persons. Abridged
from the above. Maps a n d Woodcuts.
Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d.

Dictionary of Christian AntiQ U I T I E S ; comprising the History, Institutions, and Antiquities of the Christian
Church. Edited b y D r . W M . S M I T H ,
and Archdeacon C H E E T H A M . Illustrations. 2 vols. 8vo, £3 :13 : 6.

Church Dictionary.
HOOK.

By Dean

8vo, 16s.

Dictionary of Christian
Biography, Literature, Sects, a n d Doctrines ; from the Times of the Apostles
to the Age of Charlemagne. Edited b y
D r . W M . S M I T H a n d Professor W A C E .

Vols.. I. & I I . 8vo, 31s. 6d. each.

A Companion to existing H y m n Books.
Setting forth the Origin and History of
the H y m n s in the most popular Hymnals,
together with Biographical Notices of
their Authors and Translators, and their
Sources and Origins. B y R e v . J O H N
JULIAN.

8VO.

T h e Student's M a n u a l of E n g lish Church History. From the reign of
H e n r y V H I t h to t h e Silencing of Convocation in the Eighteenth Century. By
Canon P E R R Y . Post 8vo, 7s. 6d.

Student's M a n u a l of Ecclesiastical History. From the Times of the
Apostles to the Establishment of t h e
H o l y Roman Empire a n d the Papal
Power.

cuts.

By P H I L I P S M I T H , B.A.

Wood-

Post 8vo, 7s. 6d.

Student's Old Testament HisTORY.
From the Creation to t h e r e turn of the Jews from Captivity. B y
P. S M I T H . Woodcuts. Post 8vo, 7s. 6d.

Student's New Testament HisTORY.
With an Introduction connect; ing the History of the Old and N e w
Testaments.

cuts.

By P H I L I P S M I T H .

Wood-

Post 8vo, 7s. 6d.

History of Latin Christianity,
including that of the Popes to the Ponti
ficate of N I C H O L A S V. ByDeanMiLMAN
9 vols, crown 8vo, 54s.

Book of Common

Prayer ;

with Historical Notes. By Rev. T H O M A S
J A M E S . With Initial Letters, Vignettes,
etc. 8vo, 18s.

The Convocation Prayer Book,
Showing what would be the Condition
of t h e Book if Amended in conformity
with the Recommendations of the Convocations of Canterbury and York, 1879.
Post 8vo, 5s.

in Religion and Theology.
Signs and Wonders in the Land
of H A M . W i t h Ancient a n d Modern
Parallels and Illustrations. B y Rev. T .
S. M I L L I N G T O N . Woodcuts. 8vo, 7s. 6d.

The Talmud:

Selected Ex-

tracts, chiefly Illustrating t h e Teaching of the Bible. With an Introduction.
By Bishop BARCLAY.
Illustrations.
8vo, 14s.

Notes on some Passages in the
Liturgical History of the Reformed English Church.
B y Lord SELBORNE,
8vo, 6s.

History of the Christian Church
from the Apostolic Age to the Reformation, A . D . 64-1517. By Canon R O B E R T SON. 8 vols, post 8vo, 6s. each.

Undesigned Scriptural Coincidences in the Old and New Testaments ;
a Test of their Veracity.
BLUNT.

B y Rev. J . J .

History of the Christian Church
in the First T h r e e Centuries.
J. J. B L U N T .

By R e v .

Post 8vo, 6s.

The Parish Priest; His Duties,
Acquirements, and Obligations. By Rev.
J. J.

BLUNT.

Psalms of David; with Notes,
Explanatory and Critical.

By Dean

W E L L S , Canon E L L I O T T , a n d
COOK.
M e d i u m 8vo, 10s. 6d.

Canon

The Witness of the Psalms to
Christ and Christianity. T h e Bampton
Lectures for 1876. B y t h e Bishop of
Derry. 8vo, 14s.

Manifold

Witness for

C h r i s t : being an Attempt to Exhibit the
Combined Force of Various Evidences,
Direct and Indirect, of Christianity. B y
Canon B A R R Y .

8vo.

12s.

University Sermons.
J. J. BLUNT.

F I R S T S E R I E S . 1877. D o n n e , Barrow,

South, Beveridge, Wilson, Butler.
Introduction. Post 8vo, 7s. 6d.
SECOND SERIES.

By Rev.

P o s t 8vo, 6s.

Church and the Age : a Series
of Essays on the Principles a n d Present Position of the Anglican Church.
By various writers. 2 vols. 8vo, 26s.

The Synoptic Gospels,—The
D e a t h of Christ,—The W o r t h of Life,—
Design in N a t u r e , a n d other Essays.
B y Archbishop T H O M S O N .

Cr. 8vo, 9s.

Companions for the Devout
Life. Lectures delivered a t St. J a m e s '
Church. 1875-76. B y A r c h b . of Dublin
—Bps. of E l y and Derry—Deans of St.
Paul's, Norwich, Chester, and Chichester — Canons Ashwell, Barry, a n d
Farrar—Revs. Humphry, Carter, a n d
Bickersteth. Post 8vo, 6s.

1878.

With

Bull,

Hors-

ley, Taylor, Sanderson, Tillotson, Andrewes. Post 8vo, 7s. 6d.

Masters in English Theology.
Lectures delivered a t King's College,
London. By Canon BARRY, Dean of St.
Paul's, Prof. P L U M P T R E , Canons W E S T C O T T and F A R R A R ,
and Archdeacon
CHEETHAM.
P o s t 8vo, 7s. 6d.

Essays on Cathedrals.

By

various Authors. Edited, with an I n troduction, by D e a n H O W S O N . 8vo, 12s.

The Cathedral: its Necessary
Place in t h e Life
By

and Work

the

BISHOP

of

of the
TRURO.

Crown 8vo, 6s.

The Gallican Church.

From

the Concordat of Bologna, 1516, to t h e
Revolution. With an introduction. B y
W . H . J E R V I S . Portraits. 2 vols. 8vo, 28s.

Continuity

Post 8vo, 6s.

Biblical Researches i n Palestine and the Adjacent Regions. A Journal of Travels a n d Researches. W i t h
Historical Illustrations.
By EDWARD
ROBINSON, D . D . Maps. 3 vols. 8vo, 42s.

The

Classic Preachers of the English Church.

Church.

Post 8vo, 6s.

15

of Scripture, as

declared b y the Testimony of Our Lord
and of the Evangelists a n d Apostles.
By Lord H A T H E R L E Y . 8VO, 6S. ; or cheap
edition, 2s. 6d.

Bible Lands.

Their Modern

Customs a n d Manners, illustrative of
Scripture.

D.D.

By

HENRY

Illustrations.

V A N LENNEP,

8vo, 21s.

The Shadows of a Sick Room.
With Preface
i6mo, 2s. 6d.

by

Canon

LIDDON.

Manual of Family Prayer; arranged on a card. 8vo, 2s.
Treatise on the Augustinian
Doctrine of Predestination.
MOZLEY.

B y Canon

Crown 8vo, QS.

Foundations of Religion in the
Mind and H e a r t of Man.
BYLES.

B y Sir J O H N

P o s t 8vo, 6s.

Hymns adapted to the Church
Service.
is. 6d.

The

B y Bishop H E B E R .

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By

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W i t h a Biographical Sketch.

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Lex Salica; The Ten

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Village

21

Ideas of the Day on Policy.

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By CHARLES BUXTON.

8vo, 6S.

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TEMPLE.

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R e m a i n s of E M A N U E L D E U T S C H .

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22

Mr. Murray's

List of Works

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English Studies : Essays by the

Historical Essays.

Stokers and Pokers, or the

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By Earl

other Essays.

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B y t h e late

Earl

P o s t 8vo, 7s. 6d.

2 vols. 8vo, 24s.

Gleanings of Past Years. I.
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Hon.

W.

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The Amber-Witch : a Trial for
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23

POETRY, T H E DRAMA, ETC.
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Life and Poetical Works of

Notes b y

SCOTT, JEFFREY, WILSON,
GIFFORD,
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Rev. GEORGE

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BERG, C B .

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Heber.

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Dean MILMAN.

By Lord

Horace.

Miscellanies. By Lord Byron.

Ancient

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24

Mr. Murray's List of Works
NAVAL AND M l LITARY WORKS.

Army

(Published by I History of the Administration

List.

and Government of the British A r m y from
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Authority.) With an Alphabetical Index.
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Origin and History of the First

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Admiralty Manual of Scientific
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use of Travellers.

E d i t e d by Sir J . H E R S C H E L and R O B E R T

MAIN.

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A Dictionary of Naval and
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Our

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'

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Deeds of Naval Daring; or,
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25

RURAL AND DOMESTIC ECONOMY, ETC.
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26

Mr. Murray's List of Works

EDUCATIONAL
DR. WM. SMITH'S
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WORKS.

A Smaller Dictionary of Greek

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and Roman Antiquities. Abridged from
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A Dictionary of Christian Antiquities. The History, Institutions, and
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A

Classical

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ter.

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Mrs.

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200

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in General Education,
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S T U D E N T S MANUALS.

27

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Student's Old Testament His-

Student's Manual of Modern

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and Woodcuts.

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the History of t h e Old and N e w TestaBy P H I L I P

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SMITH.

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28

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Dr. W M . SMITH.

Schools.

Edited b y

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T.

D.

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29

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A Boy's Voyage Round the
1

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30

Mr. Murray's

List of

Works.

The Home & Colonial Library.
Class A - B T O G R A P H Y , H I S T O R Y , &c.

i. DRINKWATER'S Gibraltar.

2s.

2. The Amber Witch.

2s.

3. SOUTHEY'S Cromwell and Bunyan.

5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

BARROW'S Sir Francis Drake. 2S.
British Army at Washington. 2S.
French in Algiers.
2S.
Fall of the Jesuits.
2S.
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2S.
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2s.
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GLEIG'S Battle of Waterloo. 3s. 6d.

15. STEFFENS' Adventures.

16.
17.
18.
19.

2s.

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Stokers and Pokers.
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FRANCIS H E A D .

20. GLEIG'S Life of Munro.

2s.

3s. 6d.

DR. W M . SMITH'S

1. BORROW's Bible in Spain. 3s. 6d.
2. BORROW'S Gipsies of Spain. 3s. 6d.
3. 4. HEBER'S Indian Journals 7s.
5. Holy Land. IRBY & MANGLES. 2s.

6. HAY'S Western Barbary.
7. Letters from the Baltic.

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2s.

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Sir F. HEAD.

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25. Letters from Sierra Leone. 3s. 6d.

ANCIENT

ATLAS.

AN ATLAS OF ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY, BIBLICAL AND CLASSICAL.
Intended to illustrate the * Dictionary of the Bible,' and the ' Dictionaries
of Classical Antiquity.' Compiled under the superintendence of WM.
SMITH, D.C.L., and GEORGE GROVE, LL.D. Folio, half-bound,
£6 :6s.
i. Geographical Systems of the Ancients.
2. T h e World as known to the Ancients.
3. Empires of the Babylonians, Lydians,
Medes, and Persians.
4. Empire of Alexander the Great.
5. 6. Kingdoms of the Successors of Alexander the Great.
7. T h e Roman Empire in its greatest extent.
8. T h e Roman Empire after its division
into the Eastern and Western Empires.
9. Greek and Phoenician Colonies.
10. Britannia.
IT. Hispania.
12. Gallia.
13. Germania, Rhsetia, Noricum.
14. Pseonia, Thracia, Mcesia, Illyria, Dacia.
15. Italy, Sardinia, and Corsica.
16. Italia Superior.
17. Italia Inferior.
18. Plan of Rome.
19. Environs of Rome.
•20. Greece after the Doric Migration.

21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.

Greece during the Persian Wars.
Greece during the Peloponnesian War.
Greece during the Achaean League.
Northern Greece.
Central Greece—Athens.
Peloponnesus.—With Plan of Sparta.
Shores and Islands of the iEgean Sea.
Historical Maps of Asia Minor.
Asia Minor.
Arabia.
India.
Northern P a r t of Africa.
i E g y p t and ./Ethiopia.
Historical Maps of the Holy Land.
36. T h e Holy Land. North a n d South.
Jerusalem, Ancient and Modern.
Environs of Jerusalem.
Sinai.
Asia, to illustrate the Old Testament.
M a p , to illustrate the N e w Testament.
43. Plans of Babylon, Nineveh, Troy,
Alexandria, and Byzantium.

Index.

3i

INDEX.
ABERCROMBIE'S Works -

20

Acland's India
Admiralty Manual
^Esop's Fables
Agricultural Journal
Albert (The) Memorial
Speeches
Army Lists Austin's Jurisprudence

-

8
16
22
25
18
21
24
20

BARBAULD'S Hymns

-

29

Barclay's Talmud - 15
Barkley's T u r k e y - 10
M y Boyhood
25
Barrow's Autobiography
8
Barry's (Sir C.) Life
- 7, 20
(Canon), Witness for
Christ 15
(E.) Architecture - 19
B a t e s ' R i v e r Amazon - 11
Bax's Eastern Seas
8
Bees and Flowers 25
Belcher's (Lady) ' B o u n t y '
Bell's (Sir Charles) Letters 6
Bell's Tower of London
4
Bertram's Harvest of the
Sea
- 17
Bible Commentary
2
Bigg Wither's Brazil
- 11
Birch's Ancient Pottery 18
Bird's Sandwich Islands 10
Japan
9
R o c k y Mountains - 11
Bisset's Sport in Africa 9, 25
Blackstone's Comments - 20
Blomfield's (Bp.) Memoir
6
Blunt's Works
- 15
——(Lady A.), Bedouins,
&c.
10
Borrow's Works 11, 22
Boswell's Johnson
7
Brewer's Studies - 4, 6, 22
British Association
- 16
Brugsch's Egypt 3
Bunbury's Geography n
Burbidge's Borneo
10, 17
Burckhardt's Cicerone 12, 19
Burn's Nav. & Mil. Terms 24
Burrows' Constitution - 20
Buttmann's Works
- 29
Buxton's Memoirs, &c. 6
Political Handbook 20
Byles on Religion - 15
Byron's Life
7
Poetical Works
- 23
CAMPBELL'S

Chancellors

and Chief-Justices
Lord Bacon Napoleon
Life
.
.
Carnarvon's Athens
Agamemnon^
Cartwright's Jesuits
Cathedral (The)
Cathedrals of England
Cesnola's Cyprus Chaplin's Benedicite
Chisholm's Polar Seas

-

8
6
7
.
8
- TO
23
4, 16
- 15
4, 19
10, 18
- 16
u

Choice of a Dwelling
20, 25
Church and the Age
- 15
Churton's Poetical Works 23
Classic Preachers - 15
Clode's Military Forces 24
Martial Law - 20
Coleridge's Table-Talk - 22
Cookery
- 25
Cooke's Sketches - „ 19
Cook's Sermons
- 16
Crabbe's Life and Works 23
Crawford's Argo - 23
Cripps on P l a t e
- 18
Croker's Geography
- 29
Stories for Children 29
Crowe's Flemish Painters
ig
Painting in Italy - 19
Titian - 7, 19
Cumming's South Africa g, 25
Curtius' Works
- 21
Cust's Annals of the Wars 24
DARWIN'S Works

-

-

17

Erasmus, Life
8
Davy's Consolations
- 21
Salmonia
- 25
D e Cosson's Blue Nile 9
Dennis' Etruria
- 19
Dent's Sudeley
5
Derby's H o m e r
- 23
Derry's Bampton - 15
D e Ros's Young Officer
24
Deutsch's Talmud
- 21
Dilke's Papers of a Critic 22
Douglas's Gunnery a n d
Bridges
- 8, 24
Horse-Shoeing
- 25
Ducange's Dictionary - 27
Du Chaillu's Africa
9
Dufferin's H i g h Latitudes 11
Speeches, &c.
20, 22
Duncan's Artillery
- 5, 24
Durer, Albert
- 7, 19
English in Spain ? - 5, 24
E A S T L A K E ' S Essays

-

Eldon's Life
Elgin's Letters
Ellis's Madagascar
Memoir
Ellis's Catullus _
Elphinstone's India
Elphinstone's Turning
Elton's, E . , Africa
Elze's Byron
English in Spain Essays on Cathedrals

8
7
9
6
- 23
5
- 17
9
7
- 5, 24
- 15

FERGUSSON'S

6

Architec-

Gibbon's Roman Empire 3, 27
Giffard's Naval Deeds - 24
Gill's Ascension
9, 16
River of Golden Sand 8
Gladstone's Rome - 16
Essays 20, 22
Gleig's Waterloo 5
Washington 5
Glynne's Churches
- 19
Goldsmith's Works
- 23
Gomm's, Life
7
Grey's Win. I V t h 6
Grote's Histories
3
Works 20, 21
Life
7
Mrs.
7
H A L L A M ' S England

-

4

Middle Ages 4
Literary History - 22
Remains
- 23
Hall's English Grammar 28
First Latin Book - 28
Hamilton's Guards
- 5, 24
Hamilton's Rheinsberg 6
Handbooks for Travellers 12,14
Hatch's Aristotle ^
21
Hatherley on Scripture - 15
Hayward's Statesmen 6
H e a d ' s Engineer - 24
Burgoyne
7
Bubbles from Nassau 11
Stokers and Pokers
22
Heber's Poetical Works 15, 23
Herries' Life
6
Herschel's Memoir
8
Hollway's N o r w a y
n
H o m e and Colonial Library 30
Homer, Iliad, Odyssey - 23
Hook's Church Dictionary 14
H o o k ' s (Theodore) Life
7
Hope's, B., Worship
- 16
Houghton's Monographs
6
Poetical Works
- 23
Houstoun's Wild West n
Hutchinson's Dog-Breaking 25
Hutton's Principia Grseca 29
J A M E S O N ' S Ital. Painters 7,19
Jennings' Field P a t h s a n d
Rambles
11, 22
Jervis's Galilean Church 4, 15
Jesse's Gleanings
17
Jex-Blake's Sermons \ - 16
Johnson's (Dr.) Life
7
Julian's Dictionary of
Hymnology
^- 14
J u n i u s ' Handwriting
- 22
K E R R ' S Country House 20, 25
K i n g Edward V l t h ' s
Grammars - 29
Kirk's Charles t h e Bold
4
Kirkes' Physiology
- 17
Kugler's Italian Schools 19
German Schools - 19

tural Works
Forbes' Burmah Forsyth's Hortensius
Novels and Novelists
Foss' Biographia Juridica
Frere's India and Africa

19
8
20
21
8
21

G A L T O N ' S A r t of T r a v e l

n L A N E ' S Modern Egyptians,
4 9
11 |
, „
• •
'
11 Lawrence s Reminiscences 7

Geographical Journal George's Mosel & Loire

32
Layard's Nineveh 9
Leathes' H e b . Grammar 29
Leslie's H b k . for Painters 19
Levi's British Commerce 21
L e x Salica
21
Liddell's Rome
- 3, 27
Lispings from Low Latitudes
22
Little Arthur's England
26
Livingstone's Travels 9
— Life
6
Livingstonia
9
Loch's China
5
Lockhart's Spanish Ballads 23
Loudon's Gardening
- 25
Lyell's Works
17, 18
Lytton's Julian F a n e
6

Index.

Somerville's Life
8
Nordhoff's Communistic
Societies
11, 20
Physical Sciences, &c.
Northcotes's Note-Book
5
16, 18
Stael, M a d a m e d e 7
5
O W E N ' S Modern Artillery 24 Stanhope's Histories
Pitt
6
Oxenham's Latin Elegiacs 31
Miscellanies
22
Retreat from MosP A L G R A VE'S T a x a t i o n 21
cow
- 5, 22
Palliser's Monuments - 22
10
Parkyns' Abyssinia
9 Stanley's Sinai
Bible in H o l y Land . 10
Peel's Memoirs
6
Percy's Metallurgy
- 16
Eastern, Jewish, and
Scottish Church - 4, 16
Perry's St. H u g h 6
Canterbury
4
Philip's Literary Essays
22
Westminster Abbey
5
Philosophy in Sport
- 16
Sermons in E a s t - 16
Pope's Works
- 23
Bp., Memoir 6
Porter's Damascus
- 10
Arnold
6
Prayer-Book 14
M ' C L I N T O C K ' S Arctic
Corinthians - 16
Privy Council J u d g m e n t s 21
Christian Institutions 15
Seas
11 Puss in Boots - 29
Stevens's M a d a m e de Stael 6
Macdougall's Warfare - 24
6
Macgregor's R o b R o y - 10 Q U A R T E R L Y R e v i e w
21 Stephens's Chrysostom Stories for Children
- 29
Madras, Letters from 8
Street's Architecture of
Mahon's Belisarius
7
9
Spain and Italy - 19
Maine's (Sir H . S.) Works 21 R A E ' S B a r b a r y
9 Stuart's Nile 3, 9, 18
Malcolm's Persia - 10 Rassam's Abyssinia
Rawlinson's Herodotus
3 Student's Manuals 14, 26, 28
Mansel's Lectures
21
Ancient monarchies
3 Sumner's Life
6
Bampton Lectures - 15
Russia in the E a s t 10, 20 Swainson's Creeds
- 15
Letters, Reviews, &c. 21
Redcliffe (Lord S. de), EastSwift's Life,
7
Marco Polo's Travels 9
ern Question
- 20 Sybel's French Revolution 5
Markham's Histories
- 26
Chinchona
- 25 Reed's Shipbuilding, &c. 16 Symonds' Records of the
'Japan
- ' 9
Rocks- 18
Marryat's Pottery
- 18
- 23
Masters in Theology
- 15 Rejected Addresses
7 T E M P L E ' S India Matthise's Greek Gram. 29 Reynold's Life
8, 21
- 21 Thibaut's Musical Art
Mayo's Sport in Abyssinia 9, 25 Ricardo's Works 19
Meade's New Zealand - 10 Robertson's Church HisThielmann's Caucasus
10
tory 4, 15 Thomson's Sermons
Melville's T y p e e and Omoo 10
15, 16
Meredith's N e w So. Wales 10 Robson's School ArchiTitian's Life and Times 7, 19
tecture
- 19 Tocqueville's France
Michel Angelo
- 7, 19
5
10, 15 Tomlinson's Sonnet
Middleton's Rembrandt
19 Robinson's Palestine
- 23
Physical Geography 18 Tozer's T u r k e y & Greece 10
Millington's Land of H a m 15
Alpine Flowers
- 25 Tristram's Land of Moab 10
Milman's Histories
- 4, 16
Sub-Tropical Garden 25
St. Paul's
- 5, 14
Great Sahara 9
Rowland's Constitution
20
Christianity - 4,16
Laws of N a t u r e
- 20 Truro, Bp. of. T h e CatheLatin Christianity - 4, 14
dral, &c.
15
Fall of Jerusalem - 23
Turkey, Lady's Life in - 10
15 Tyler's Primitive Culture
Horace - 7, 23 S T . J A M E S ' L e c t u r e s
21
(Bishop) Life of
6 St. J o h n ' s Wild Sports - 25 Tylor's Hist, of Mankind 21
Libyan Desert
9
Mivart's Essays
- 20
7 VAMBERY'S Travels _ T h e Cat
- 17 Saldanha's Memoirs
8
Moore's Life of Byron 7 Sale's Brigade in AfFghanVan Lennep's Asia Minor
9
istan
5
Moresby's N e w Guinea
10
Bible Lands - 15
Mossman's J a p a n 8 Scepticism in Geology - 18 Vatican Council
- 16
Motley's Histories
4 Schliemann's T r o y a n d
Virchow's Freedom of
Barneveld
-* 4, 6
Mycenae
9, 18 I Science
- 18
Mounsey's Satsuma RebelSchomberg's Odyssey - 23
lion
- .J
8 School and Prize Books - 29
Mozley's Predestination
15 Scott's Architecture
- 19 W E I G A L L ' S Princess Charlotte
6
Muirhead's Vaux-de-Vire 23 Seebohm's Siberia 11, 17
Murchison's Siluria
- 18 Selborne on the Liturgy 4, 15 Wellington's Despatches 5, 24
White's N a v a l Architecture 24
Memoirs
8 Shadows of Sick Room - 15
Whymper's Matterhorn - 11
Music and Dress - 25 Simmons' Court-Martial _ 20 Wilberforce's Life
6
Musters' Patagonians - 11 Smiles' Popular Biographies
3
and Works 5, 6, 8, 18, 22, 25, Wilkinson's Egyptians Wilson's Life and D i a r y
7
N A P I E R ' S English Battles
5 Smith (Dr* G.), Geography
Dr. John, Life of 6
Nautical Almanack
- 24
of India
8
N a v y List
24 Smith (P.) Ancient History 3,4 Wilson's Michel Angelo - 7, 19
-# 8
N e w Testament
- ,14 Smith's ( D r . W m . ) Diction- Wood's Oxus Newth's Works on Science 16
aries 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 14, 26 Words of H u m a n Wisdom 22
Nicholls, Sir G., Poor Laws 21 Smith's (Dr. Wm.) Ancient
Nicolas' Historic Peerage
5
Atlas 11, 27 Y O U N G ' S N y a s s a 9
Nile Gleanings (Stuart) 3, 9, 18
8
Educational Course 3, 28 Yule's Marco Polo'Nimrod - 25
- 21
Smaller Histories 16, 29 — — A . F . , Crete