364 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



asserted the necessity of a modification of their 

 policy. He desired no party advantage, but 

 he wanted to relieve his country from a most 

 serious risk of dishonor and guilt. He would 

 be the basest of men if, believing that danger 

 existed, he did not endeavor to avert it. 



After the House had agreed to suspend the 

 ordinary business, Mr. Gladstone, in moving 

 his first resolution, said he did not intend to 

 move a censure on the Government, because he 

 did not see what public interest would be there- 

 by promoted. He did not refrain because he be- 

 lieved them uncensurable, for he knew no chap- 

 ter in the history of the last 60 years of the 

 foreign policy so deplorable as that of the last 

 18 months. He repeated his former accusa- 

 tions as to Sir Henry Elliot's encouragement 

 of the Turks during the Conference. The Con- 

 ference became a farce from the moment Tur- 

 key was informed that England would not en- 

 force any decision that might be arrived at. 



THB TOWBB, LONDON. 



There was a power behind Lord Salisbury 

 which determined he should not succeed, and 

 when the Porte was informed of the fact it 

 drew from the Grand Vizier expressions of 

 gratitude to Lord Beaconsfield. Mr. Layard's 

 mission was another mistake, because Mr. Lay- 

 ard is a partisan of Turkey. A declaration by 

 the House that Turkey had lost all claim to 

 the moral and material support of England 

 was, in his opinion, necessary, because, under 

 the name of moral support, as much had been 

 done as might at some not distant day be done 

 in the name of protection of British interests. 

 The squadron sent to Besika Bay to protect 

 Christians had been increased to a fleet to 

 overawe the seaboard provinces of Turkey. 

 For the last two or three Inonths England 

 had been relapsing into the position where 

 outrages were to be regarded as a matter of 

 sentimental regret, action in regard to which 



was to be determined by what might be con- 

 sidered British interests. The reforms in the 

 Turkish Constitution, in which Lord Derby 

 had expressed disbelief, were revived in Earl 

 Derby's answer to Prince GortchakofF's circu- 

 lar. In that answer, Lord Derby, not express- 

 ing the feeling of the country, had ventured, in 

 the name of the country, to rebuke the Power 

 which had made itself the organ of the united 

 Governments, and the solemn conclusions of 

 Europe. He (Mr. Gladstone) looked with some 

 suspicion on the movement of Russia alone. 

 The settlement of the question by Austria and 

 Russia would be unsatisfactory, because, as 

 neighboring states, they are exposed to great 

 temptations. But the conscience of mankind 

 would no longer be content with remonstrances 

 and expostulations. If England is not ready to 

 advance, she must be prepared to see the duty 

 pass into other hands. Mr. Gladstone declared 

 that the Porte, especially Midhat Pasha, direct- 

 ly instigated the atroc- 

 ities. It was incompat- 

 ible with the honor 

 of England to be con- 

 tent with protests and 

 remonstrances after 

 the atrocities had been 

 mentioned in a royal 

 speech. No British in- 

 terest, Mr. Gladstone 

 continued, was endan- 

 gered. Russia was not 

 mad enough to touch 

 British interests. She 

 knew England had' 

 given her a good posi- 

 tion. She could plead 

 that what she asked is 

 what all Europe asked. 

 But others were con- 

 tent with refusal and 

 she was not. It was a 

 terrible thing to infuse 

 into the minds of the 

 Turkish Christians that 



Russia was their only hope. The Eastern 

 question could no longer be trifled with. It 

 could only be satisfactorily settled by the unit- 

 ed action of Europe. His complaint against 

 the Government is, that whenever they had 

 seemed to concur in promoting united action 

 they had always done so under conditions that- 

 rendered it futile. He personally adhered to 

 all the resolutions he had originally placed on 

 paper, but was thankful for Lord Hartington's 

 aid as far as it went, and would feel even more 

 thankful for the aid of the Government, be- 

 cause he fully recognized the importance of 

 unanimity. The cause of those who revolted 

 against their Turkish oppressors was one of the 

 noblest that ever animated a human breast. ' 

 Whether England now defended or deserted 

 the cause of oppressed nationalities, the knell 

 of Turkish tyranny had sounded ; its down- 

 fall, come from whose hands it might, would 



