GREAT BRITAIN. 



369 



Wales would be a favorable opportunity to se- 

 cure this aim. The tinder-Secretary of For- 

 eign Affairs declined to comply with the re- 

 quest of Mr. Oochrane. Several communica- 

 tions and dispatches which had been exchanged 

 with Russia relative to the treaty with Khiva 

 could not be published at the present time. At 

 the proper time, all the documents would be 

 submitted to Parliament. The present relations 

 between the two Governments were of the most 

 amicable nature, and he did not believe in the 

 hostile intentions which were ascribed to Rus- 

 sia. The English Government was not indiffer- 

 ent in this question, but it regarded the advance 

 of Russia as a step toward opening the re- 

 sources of the countries of Central Asia. The 

 English Government was fully convinced of 

 the necessity of supporting the independence 

 of Afghanistan, and it agreed with Russia in 

 the opinion that the maintenance of a neutral 

 territory between the Russian and the British 

 dominions was a necessity ; it preferred, how- 

 ever, not to enter into any formal agreement 

 with Russia, as this would interfere with its 

 freedom of action. 



In order to strengthen the British rule in 

 India, it was regarded by the Government de- 

 sirable to arrange a visit of the Prince of Wales 

 to India. A special grant for this purpose was 

 demanded from the Parliament and voted. 

 The Radicals of England violently opposed the 

 grant, and a meeting held in Hyde Park, Lon- 

 don, to protest against it, was attended by 

 twelve thousand persons, and addressed by 

 Mr. Bradlaugh. The Prince of Wales left 

 London on October llth, arrived on October 

 18th at the Piraeus on a visit to the King of 

 Greece; from there proceeded to Egypt, where 

 he invested Tefwick Pasha, the heir-apparent 

 of Egypt, with the grand cross of the order of 

 the Star of India, and on November 8th landed 

 at Bombay, where he was received with im- 

 mense enthusiasm. (For an account of the 

 tour of the prince through India, see INDIA.) 



The relations of England to the diplomatic 

 conflict between Germany and Belgium (see 

 BELGIUM) was on April 19th the subject of an 

 interpellation by Mr. O'Reilly, member of. 

 Longford County. Mr. Disraeli stated that 

 Prince Bismarck, as long ago as January, 1874, 

 made the suggestion that England should join 

 Prussia in a strong remonstrance which the 

 latter was compelled to make to Belgium 

 against what Prince Bismarck described as a 

 conspiracy of the Ultramontane and Jesuit ref- 

 ugees against the peace of Germany. Earl 

 Granville, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, 

 replied that he hoped Prince Bismarck would 

 not press Belgium to go beyond the limits of 

 her constitutional institutions. In the House of 

 Lords, Earl Russell asked Lord Derby whether 

 the Prusso-Belgian correspondence was termi- 

 nated, and whether there was any reason to 

 fear that the peace of Europe was endangered 

 thereby. Lord Derby replied that the text of 

 Prussia's first note fully justified Mr. Disraeli 

 VOL. xv. 24 A 



in pronouncing it not a menace, but a friendly 

 remonstrance. He had the assurance of the 

 German embassador, which a hasty examina- 

 tion had given no reason to doubt, that the 

 second Prussian note was conceived in a very 

 friendly spirit. It would be premature to ex- 

 press an opinion on the merits of the question, 

 as England had not been formally applied to. 

 At present he anticipated a result of the con- 

 troversy without uneasiness. The British Gov- 

 ernment valued the independence of Belgium 

 and the peace of Europe, but was happy to 

 think that neither was in danger. 



The exciting rumor of an impending war 

 between Germany and France induced, on 

 May 31st, Earl Russell to ask in the House of 

 Lords that the correspondence between Great 

 Britain and the Continental powers arising out 

 of the recent war alarm be laid before the 

 House. The Earl of Derby replied that the 

 Government desired to conceal nothing it had 

 done, but it would be impossible to give a fair 

 account without largely using confidential com- 

 munications relating to the policy and opinions 

 of other Governments, which would object to 

 such disclosure. The publication of these com- 

 munications would prevent English diploma- 

 tists from receiving information in the future, 

 and to submit a mutilated correspondence 

 might mislead the House. The causes of dis- 

 pute were liable to recur; therefore it was not 

 desirable in the interests of peace to give pub- 

 licity to the details of the controversy. Lord 

 Derby then proceeded to state that persons 

 highest in authority in Berlin of late openly 

 declared that the French army had become a 

 source of danger to Germany, because its mag- 

 nitude showed a determination on the part of 

 France to renew the war; that Germany, in 

 self-defense, might feel impelled to strike the 

 first blow to secure peace, and that it was nec- 

 essary that the French army should be con- 

 siderably reduced. This language, repeated by 

 German representatives here and elsewhere., 

 created extreme uneasiness in France. The 

 French Government immediately disclaimed all 

 warlike intentions. Lord Derby said he ac- 

 cepted this declaration as entirely sincere. He 

 believed no statesman in France contemplated 

 a renewal of the war. France after her hu- 

 miliations naturally desired to have an army 

 which would give her the influence to which 

 she considered herself entitled. One of the 

 difficulties was that the French were unable to 

 conceive that the German apprehensions were 

 genuine. They regarded the representation* 

 made by Germany as a pretext for a fresh war. 

 It seemed to her Majesty's Government that 

 there was a mutual misunderstanding which 

 might lead to grave consequences, for Ger<- 

 many's next step might have been a formal re- 

 quest for France to discontinue her armament, 

 while France on the other hand would proba- 

 bly accelerate it and thereby confirm the sus- 

 picions of Germany. The existence of this 

 mutual distrust afforded a good opportunity to 



