UC-NRLF SB 57 537 1.M GIFT OF RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY s A REVELATION. THE "LES RESPONSABILITES" G. GIACOMETTL ll TRANSLATED BY EDGAR WHITAKER. " O praeclarum custodem ovium (ut aiunt) lupum ! " Cic. Philip, iii. 11. LONDON : EFFINGHAM WILSON, ROYAL EXCHANGE, B.C. 1877. PREFACE. " LES RESPONSABILITES," of which the following pages are a translation, appeared in Constantinople only just before the diplomatic exodus which ensued upon the fiasco of the Con- ference. Had the work been published earlier, Mr. Gladstone's pious aspiration that England should " emulate the good deeds of Russia" might probably never have been uttered, or, if uttered, would have failed to arouse the enthusiasm which responded to it. Moreover, certain plenipotentiaries at the Conference might have cut better figures and served better ends, had the knowledge against which they fortified themselves been forced upon them by a timely disclosure of these secret workings of the policy which they supported with almost offensive ostentation. To the delicacy or timidity of the Porte is due the long delay of this disclosure. The existence of the documents which compose it has been known to the Porte for the last two or three years, but the holders of the prize were unable to obtain permission to give them publicity. There was always the fear of envenoming the diplomatic relations between the Porte and St. Petersburg, and so the Turk hid the fox in his bosom and suffered his vitals to be gnawed away rather than commit a diplomatic maladresse. The interest of the book as a piece of political scandal was to some extent forestalled in Constantinople by the fact M264206 1 PREFACE. that several of the mines of General Ignatieff the Mr. X of these pages had been sprung before the work appeared. Close bystanders had thus been able to recognise the engineer in the style of his work, and many a buried fact cast upon the surface by successive explosions had already taught them how dark and strange was the fashion of his burrowings. But, just in proportion as its sensational colour faded, so its historical and dramatic interest grew more hotly vivid from this very cause ; for men who had seen a part wanted to know the whole, and craved to unravel all the mysteries of the plot of which they had witnessed the bloody denouement. The pages of " Les Responsabilites " did not, it is true, exhaust the subject ; but they pieced together the fragments of knowledge already acquired ; linked in a connected tale the scattered phenomena which had been the signs of their times in Constantinople, Jerusalem, Antioch, Mount Athos and other fields in which Russia labours ; threw a distinct light upon the origin of the insurrection in Bosnia and Herzegovina ; and exposed the complex dealings by which the unfortunate Bul- garians were involved in a revolt with which they had no real sympathy. They revealed, moreover, the real feebleness of the hold of the Panslavic idea upon the South-Slavic peoples, showing the idea to be kept alive in that ungenial soil only by the golden stream with which Russia assiduously waters it. But, satisfactory as all this was to the student of current history, to the politician it yielded only regret that the disclosure should have come too late to exercise any influence upon the .forces which were shaping events. Thus, the author's flattering PREFACE. O proposal that I should undertake to prepare an English version of his work did not meet with immediate acquiescence, because I failed to see what practical good it could do at so late an hour, and when the popular interest in England on Eastern affairs seemed to be fast cooling down. While thus hesitating, the telegraph brought the news that the indefatigable General had quitted his retreat at Krusso- dernitza and was starting on a series of missions to the principal Courts of Europe. The news was speedily followed by a whisper that the object of this movement was to induce the Powers to cast the tatters of the Treaty of Paris to the winds, and to suffer Russia to creep back into her old position as " protectress " of the Christian races subject to the Porte, the position from which it was the object of the Crimean war to dislodge her, 1 and of the Ninth article of the Treaty to shut her permanently out. This move of Russian diplomacy creates a new opportunity and fitness for the publication of an English version of Mr. Giacometti's work, which reflects, as in a mirror, the nature of the " protectorate " which Russia aspires to exercise over the Christian peoples of Turkey, and the manner of her manipula- tion of it ; discovers Russia in fact hard at her holy work, bathed in a sweat of lies, her bared arms plunged now in blood and now in gold. As regards the authenticity of the letters, no independent person, competent to form a judgment upon them, has ven- tured to dispute it. On the other hand, those competent to judge have accepted them without misgiving. And, indeed, A 5 PREFACE. the correspondence bears upon its face the stamp of truth. In the style and phraseology of Mr. X's letters, in the tone of their raillery and sarcasm, in the naive frankness of their cynicism, the language of General Ignatieff is unmistakable. Add to this the extraordinary knowledge of detail which the letters display, of men, of things, of places, over all the vast scene in which the action lies, and the conviction is forced upon the reader's mind, that none but the hand which, with consummate skill was guiding that action, could have touched upon all these with the freedom and firmness of Mr. X., and escape as he has done every incongruity and inaccuracy. EDGAR WHITAKER. Pera, Constantinople; March 16, 1877. CYPHERED KEY. If the reader has been pleased to honour with any degree of his attention our preceding pub- lications he will be aware that we have a delicacy with regard to the use of proper names. We feel this delicacy even with respect to those collective beings which are called Powers States. It will be understood that we respect the sentiment all the more when persons are in question. We would not, however, inflict upon the reader the task which we ourselves have had to under- take, of guessing at the Cyphers of Departments, Embassies, Consulates, and Secret Societies. Not to associate him, therefore, with our labours beyond a reasonable degree, we have limited ourselves to composing for his use the following cyphered key : Mr. X ... is a high personage residing at Constantinople. Mr. Y ... is his colleague residing at Vienna. Mr. Z ... is the chief of the Asiatic depart- ment of a great European Power. Monseigneur * is an august personage. A 2 8 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. Monseigneur * *, a near relative of the pre- ceding, is an august personage of the same rank. Monseigneur * * *, a personage yet more august, is the heir apparent of a great empire. Monseigneur * * * * is a personage who can- not be called august, but who reigns over a people of 120,000 souls. Monseigneur * * * * *, another personage by no means august, governs a country over which he has more than once attempted to reign. As regards the actors of minor importance whom this publication will introduce to the stage, their names will be simply represented by dotted lines. The part which they play is alone of value to our theme. The reader will pardon us for imposing on him this slight trouble. It was indispensable to adopt some such method. We treat of a subject which, in a certain point of view, is a lofty one ; it presents however details which call for severe comment. But we shall be careful never to allow the severities of our pen to be confounded with personalities. THE RESPONSIBILITIES. i. The hour is a solemn one. Out of the de- cisions taken at Constantinople there must come peace, or perhaps, war. Europe anxiously listens to the voice of the oracles which the telegraph transmits to her from hour to hour, and she asks herself from minute to minute whether she ought to be alarmed or to rejoice. If peace is to result from the negotiations of which the Tershane palace* has been the theatre, let peace be welcome. None will rejoice at it more than Turkey will, for no power has greater need than Turkey for peace, tranquility and leisure. She has need of these things in order to make up for the sacrifices which have been entailed on her through twenty years of disquiet due to the guilty machinations of ambitious neighbours; she has need of them in order to stanch the wounds to which the vices of a defective administration are not foreign; she has need of them, in the last place, * The Turkish Admiralty, where the late Conference was held. 10 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. in order to develop the reparatory institutions which her new Sovereign has just bestowed on her. The subjoined brief collection of papers will serve better than long arguments to determine exactly the spirit which must have animated the representatives of the Porte at the Conference. The praiseworthy efforts of the delegates from Europe to ensure a conciliatory solution found, it is clear, a sympathetic and grateful response at Constantinople. How comes it then that the labours of diplomacy have not yet borne concilia- tory fruit I This is a complicated question, to which we could only reply by opening up a long discussion. And the work we are now under- taking is not argumentative ; it is a work of pure demonstration. It is not our aim to analyse the reasons whereby the negotiations, past and future, may lead to war or to peace. Our prayers are all for peace ; but war, disappointing our wishes and our hopes, may from one moment to another rear its horrid head and overshadow the whole world. The world then ought to know the causes which have produced war, and may have rendered it inevitable. To set forth these causes is the object RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 11 of the present pamphlet. In other words we propose here to draw up the BALANCE SHEET OF RESPONSIBILITIES. II. The Porte, it is said, is responsible for the present situation. Having been admitted twenty years ago into the European family of nations, Turkey has not done what she ought to raise her population to the level of civilized peoples; she has neglected to provide them with institutions calculated to preserve them from those periodical commotions which are a permanent danger for Europe. Let it be so. We admit all the more readily that re- proach, since, so far as it was merited, the Ottoman people has taken upon itself to remove it. In one never-to-be-forgotten day the people arose, calm as a judge, and at its powerful breath a throne, whose basis had been undermined by flattery from within, and artificial props from without, fell. What more can be said ? Is it necessary, after this declaration, to discuss the quantum of the defects of the previous administration ] To do so 12 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. would be superfluous. We give plenty of tether to the detractors of Turkey ; we acknowledge that the Empire has had its period of vicious govern- ment, a period when great patriots and perhaps even men of genius were required to accomplish, with the fewest possible shocks, the economico- politico social evolution whose time was due. It is true that the administration was defective; it is true that the men who were chosen by the Sovereign from motives of favour, rather than for their merits, were often wanting in enlightenment, in experience, and in the other qualities which go to make up an able administrator. All this is true, we admit it; but the defects of these men were negative defects; their incapacity might prolong the unsatisfactory situation of the country, impede progress ; it had nothing in common with the system of active wrong which tends to arouse popular indignation and to provoke revolt. Let us be forgiven for using a very homely expression, but one which exactly fits our thought : these ill- chosen administrators may have been stupid; no one will venture to say they were wicked. Now it is acts of cruel oppression which drive a people RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 13 to rebellion, and not acts of administrative mis- management, such as Ottoman functionaries were wont to commit under the late reign. What exasperates a population to the point of in- surrectional explosion are the deliberately cruel orders sometimes issued by government func- tionaries drunk with a sense of authority, and which a soldiery, drunk with alcohol, carries out in a spirit yet more cruel. For example, it was the wanton butchery of the peaceable inhabitants of Warsaw in their churches which provoked the Polish insurrection of 1862-1863. " Could it have been imagined" says an Englishman, an eye- witness of that massacre, " that the Christian ' Governor of a Christian town should give orders 6 to trample down a Christian population, an in- * offensive people, because it enters the house of ' God, or approaches it V* We defy any body to state that any Governor in the Ottoman provinces has provoked the passions of the people by acts like this. Who in Turkey has ever entertained the thought of opposing the * Letters addressed to EARL RUSSELL by G. MITCHELL, concerning the events of the 15th October. 14 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. free exercise of religious worship, and the free use of the language of the conquered populations I Who would dare, in the 13th century of the Hegira, to do the contrary of what the great Khalif Omar did at Jerusalem, hardly three years after the death of the Prophet I No: whatever faults may be attributed to Ottoman administration it cannot be shown that those faults have been of a nature to cause the insurrectionary facts from which the present phase of the Eastern question has originated. It is, then, elsewhere than in the internal government of the country that the cause of those facts is to be sought. It is elsewhere, too, that the responsibility of them is to be laid. III. After the war of 1870-1871 there took place at Constantinople a displacement of influences. The enemies of Turkey came to understand that the hour approached when they might begin serious action The reader may judge of this fact by the care with which the subjoined confidential letter, addressed to Mr. Y at Vienna, by Mr. X under date of Pera, Constantinople, RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 15 March 4th, 1871, touches a little on every subject: politics, administration, religion, men and things : No. 1, ' The very interesting information which Y. X. 4 has been good enough to give me respecting the 4 relations of the Prince of Montenegro with our Consul at Ragusa, has given me the greatest 4 pleasure. Our friends at St. Petersburg can now 'judge of the difference there is between Mr, 4 Yonine and Petrovich, and they will understand 4 at last how important it is to us to have near 4 Prince Nicholas an able functionary with affable 4 and distinguished manners calculated to win the attachment of everybody. ' The details you give me concerning your 4 relations with Khalil Bey, and the intimate ties ' existing between him and the famous Saxon ' statesman, do not astonish me at all. I have ' known your colleague of Turkey for many years. Once upon a time, before he had any idea of 4 becoming a great man, he liked Russia, as much, 4 that is to say, as an Osmanli can like us. Since 4 his departure from St. Petersburg, and his political 16 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. ' alliance with Mustafa Nazyl, he has broken off ' completely from his former friends, and he now ' honours us with his unceasing dislike. There is 'nothing wonderful therefore in the fact that ' Khalil Bey should, as soon as he arrived at ' Vienna, have acquired the friendship of M. de 'Beust. The latter, as an avowed enemy of ' Slavism, could not have found a more active ' auxiliary in his intrigues than Khalil Bey. But 'it is sad to see your colleague of Turkey who, ' thinking to evade the danger, intrigues against ' us, and will end by precipitating his country into ' a deep abyss. ' Thanks to the obstinacy of the Turks, and to 4 the self-will of the Patriarch, the breach between ' the Bulgarians and the Greeks has become in- ' evitable. In truth, there was a moment when I ' feared that a reconciliation would be effected ; ' but, the Patriarch being inflexible, the affair has ' become so envenomed that all the efforts of Aali ' Pasha will prove fruitless. It is now that our 'activity should be redoubled. If the Vizier ' accepts the Patriarch's resignation (which is ' almost certain), it will be necessary to inaugurate RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 17 ' the installation of the new Prelate by an address ' from the inhabitants of Thrace, Macedonia. Bosnia, ' and Herzegovina, who will demand national ' bishops. In this way, with each new Patriarch ' we shall gain some dioceses. I have already ' written in this sense to Adrianople and Monastir. ' Your Committee must do the same for Herze- ' govina and Bosnia. ' Have you received the new strategical maps ' of the Western provinces of Turkey ^ I see by ' the reports of our explorers that we have made ' good progress in working on the feelings of the 'populations, and that even the Mussulmans are 'ready to help us in our task of emancipation. 4 Thank God, all is going on well ; but I shall be ' still better satisfied when I get orders to ask for ' my passport.' (Translated from the Russian.) We shall abstain for the present from any attempt to appreciate this document, whose im- portance is self-evident. Similar opportunities of exercising the critical faculties of our readers will not, moreover, be wanting in the course of these pages. Our object in reproducing the above letter 18 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. is to dispense with the necessity of ourselves setting forth the general position of affairs at the period in question, that is to say, at the conclusion of the Franco-German War. This document will serve instead, and it has the advantage over anything we could say in point of actuality and exactness of detail. Thus, at the beginning of the year 1871 a breach had been produced between the Greek and the Bulgarian Churches. There was, in truth, a moment when it might have been feared that a re- conciliation would be effected; but happily the Patriarch of Constantinople is a venerable Pontiff, incapable of deserting the principles upon which his Church is founded ; and therefore he will not yield. It is clear meanwhile that reconciliation is only possible on condition that he bow to the dissi- dents. The system, it will be observed, is always the same. At the present time again it is not the insurrection which must yield ; it is legitimate authority which must capitulate ; peace can only be had at that price. There will then be no re- conciliation, for the writer of the letter is sure of his dissidents, and the efforts of Aali Pasha ivill RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 19 prove fruitless. To any one who can read history, or who has studied Turkey of late years, the whole history of the Eastern crisis is embodied in the eight words which we have underlined above. The efforts of the Grand Vizier, whoever he might be, and of his subordinates of every degree proved fruitless. In politics as in matters religious, ad- ministrative, and financial, the result was Nothing ! A vast intrigue, enveloping the whole country, was incessantly at work, paralyzing its every source of vitality. In the meanwhile the general plan of the cam- paign is frankly displayed ; the writer of the letter pours out his soul without reserve into the soul of his correspondent. We must, he says, redouble our activity. It is necessary that Thrace, Macedonia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina be incited to break away from the Patriarchate, and that, at every change of Patriarch, some dioceses be won over to the cause of the conspirators. Measures have already been taken by the writer as to Adrianople and Monastir. It is for the Vienna Committee to commence the agitation in Herzegovina and in Bosnia. And what about the strategical maps ? and 20 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. about the explorers who work upon the feelings of the populations? How all this smells of the powder that will be burnt in Herzegovina, and of the fumes of the cannibal feats which will be held in Bulgaria by provoking there, in default of an efficacious insurrection, reprisals which will be turned to account in a future atrocitist campaign. Yes, you see, all is going on well, thank God! Providence, however, has yet a prayer to grant; a last joy is still wanting to our conspirator-diplo- matist : his passport " Conspirator-diplomatist ! " an odd assortment of words ! Has the law of nations then no longer any meaning I Is diplo- matic inviolability no longer anything at Constan- tinople but a discreet mantle destined to conceal great crimes within its folds ? IV. We have said that Constantinople had become the den of a conspiracy whose outcome was the INSURRECTION OF HERZEGOVINA, and the events which have been called the BULGARIAN MASSACRES. This truth will be proved to demonstration on a RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 21 perusal of the documents further on. The follow- ing points will be established : That personages invested with a high diplomatic mandate organised and directed the plot ; That all the Consuls under their orders had, to use a homely phrase, " a finger in the pie," and presided over the work of carrying the plot into execution ; That a powerful affiliation of secret societies, having their organised head abroad, enlaced Turkey and her neighbours in a close net ; That these societies corresponded with Ambassadors, issued orders to Consuls, and obeyed the behests of Princes ; That, lastly, the operations of these societies had for their field not only the European provinces of Turkey, but also those in Asia, and even in Africa. r lhe above points being made clear, what we have called the balance of responsibilities will be self-determined, and the world will know whom it is to reproach for the disquiet from which it is suffering, and the evils which it apprehends. 22 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. No. 2. Mr. X ... Pera, Constantinople, 14/26 Nov., 1872. To Mr. Y ... at Vienna, ' I wrote to you lately regarding the new ' intrigues of our dear co-religionists. The Phana- c riotes, after compelling their Patriarch to launch ' their thunders against the Slavic world, are now ' doing all they can to cast out of the Church the ' -venerable Prelate who so worthily occupies the ' Patriarchal throne at Jerusalem. Enchanted to ' find an ally worthy of their cause in the person of ' the famous Khalil-Sherif, they have conceived ' the ingenious idea of putting seals on the ' Patriarch Cyril's property at Constantinople. It 6 is needless to say that I have taken precautions ' against this new act of Greco-Turkish justice. I c wrote immediately to C to work upon ' the Arabs and urge them to protest against the 'illegal decision of the Phanariote Synod at 'Jerusalem. At the same time I wrote to St. 6 Petersburg, and I trust my old plan will at last ' be put into execution, that is to say, to sequester RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. ' the large property which the Church of Jerusalem ' possesses in Russia. ' You see, my dear friend, that my position here 4 is not very enviable. If the present regime lasts ' some months longer our interests will be gravely ' compromised, and we shall perhaps be obliged to ' give up the Exarchate in order to avoid sacrifices ' yet greater. What a misfortune that our Synod c did not accept, three years ago, the convocation of ' the (Ecumenical Council ! The majority of voices 6 being secured to us, we could have avoided the ' Schism, and have forced the Greeks to make 6 concessions. But who could then have foreseen 6 the obstinacy of the Patriarch ? It is true, how- 4 ever, that the fault is not his, and that he would 4 be ready to give in to-day, were he not forced on 'by the grammarians^ that standing scourge of 4 Byzantium. 4 The only hope which remains to us is in 4 the Ministerial changes which everybody expects 4 with the l^airam. ' Our friend A. and the good V. S. are actively 6 at work at this. If we succeed, Byzantium will 4 see within its walls a new Millet-Bashi, and the B 2 24 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 4 Greek Patriarch will again hold out his hand for i Panslavic alms.' (Extract of a private letter translated from Russian.) Those who know the man and his style will recognise in this epithet " dear " an irony quite sui generis. So then, his dear Phanariote co- religionists make "new intrigues;" that is to say, that, faithful to the rights of their Church, they are indignant that Mgr. Cyril, Patriarch of Jerusalem, should desire to place his own under obedience to the Metropolitan of Moscow, in consequence of which the " Phanariote " Synod of the Holy City deposes the spiritual chief who thus squanders his pontifical independence. But all is not yet lost. " The Arabs " will be worked upon, and St. Petersburg will " sequester " the property of the unruly Church. There is. however, a drawback to this. The Synod of Moscow made a mistake in rejecting the convocation of the (Ecumenical Council ! It would have been easy to contrive a majority, and to have thus remained masters of the situation ; whereas here was a somewhat troublesome schism ; this might lead to a declaration of heresy against RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 25 the Bulgarian Church, and even the Russian Church. In such case, how would it be possible to follow up the idea of Russifying all the Eastern Churches ? Decidedly then, this schism was a mishap ; but who could have foreseen that Mgr. Anthimos would refuse u Panslavic money " ? Happily our friend A. . . . , who can boast of nothing Patriarchal in his person or his life, albeit his name corresponds with that of a great Patriarch, does not show the same aversion to the roubles of Panslavism; nor does the good V. S., very great lady and mother of the grand Signor as she is, scruple to defile her fingers with Muscovite gold. So long as these worthy servants of foreign intrigue " work actively," there is still hope for the good cause. No. 3. Mr. X. ... Pera, Constantinople, 23rd Nov. (5th Dec.) 1872. To Mr. Y. ... at Vienna. 6 The Bairam has changed nothing in the pro- ' visional state of things which I spoke of in my 26 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 1 last letter. Notwithstanding all that persons of ' sound and enlightened minds could do, the clique ' of intriguers has carried the day, and our petit ' creve de Paris remains as hefore at the head of the ' foreign affairs of the poor sick man, whom we ' are trying to cure in spite of himself. * It would be useless to give you all the details ' of the struggle we have had to sustain against ' Midhat's party, protected as it is by my western ' colleagues. You will ask me, perhaps, whence 6 comes this infatuation of the Western Ambassadors ' for a statesman who is the true representative of ' the Turkish ancien regime, and has not the slightest 6 tie with European civilization, of which my col- ' leagues would have it appear they are the 6 disinterested protectors in our chaotic east. The 'sympathy with which they honour him comes ' simply from the fact that Midhat carries his hos- ' tility to Russia to the verge of absurdity. The ' cruelty of which he gave proofs when in Bulgaria ' a matter for which I certainly cannot blame him, so ' far as the interests of the government he served 4 are considered is the chief reason of the popu- 6 larity which he has acquired in certain embassies. RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 27 4 It is thanks to these considerations that Khalil 4 too continues to be in the good graces of my ; colleagues, and that he has managed to retain his ' place for the present, in spite of the just indigna- ' tion of the Sultan against his giddy minister. The latter, instead of serving the true interests of the ' country of his adoption, does nothing but commit ' folly upon folly, and that solely in order to spite 6 the sovereign of his native country and our ' brothers by race, It is but lately that M. Chris tich c confided to me that it has become almost ' impossible for him to protect the interests of his ' country against the ill-will of a minister animated ' as Khalil is, by the most hostile feelings towards c the Slavs. Having surrounded himself with ' persons belonging to the very famous ' Young ' Turkey' party, and with Poles who have again s come flocking in like crows to the quarry, he stirs ' up under hand the c Old Phanariotes,' and makes c impossible any compromise between the Greeks ; and Bulgarians. It is true at the same time that 6 the fanatics of the Patriarchate make his task an ' easy one. Those degenerate descendants of John 6 Chrysostom are delighted at having found a pro- 28 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 4 tector who can enter into the spirit of their 4 intrigues. I have written lately to our consuls 4 to cease giving subsidies and assistance to the 4 Greek churches and schools. Perhaps by this 4 means their eyes will be opened, and the sheep 4 who have lost their way through the Phanariote 4 propaganda will return to the fold. 6 As to the Bulgarians I cannot sufficiently 4 commend their tact and savoire faire. They 4 have thoroughly understood the advice I gave 4 them through O . . u, and they behave in a way 4 which puts their enemies at a loss for any accusa- 4 tion against them to the Government 4 I received yesterday a letter from Prince 4 Nicholas, who informs me of the bad state of his 4 affairs in Albania. As you will see by the 4 enclosed copy, he unfortunately says nothing 4 regarding the consequences of the arrests effected 4 by Shevket. Has he written anything to you on 4 that subject] Mr. H. . . . reports that the 4 Agents of the Prince lately dispatched to Scutari 4 have had to return at once to Cettigne, for fear 4 of being arrested by the police. Have you no 4 means of arranging this affair with your com- RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 29 6 mittee, and of pointing out to it the line of action 6 it must take in the event of its proving impos- 6 sible for Montenegro to maintain her agents in 4 Albania. Be so good as to let me know what 4 you have done on this head (Extract of a letter translated from Russian.) So then, persons of "' sound and enlightened minds" wished to cure the " poor sick man;" the " clique of intriguers " objected to this. Three years later, when these same intriguers had already long been laid on the official shelf, the " sound minds " had free scope to apply their regimen. The desired result was soon obtained : A dose of Herze- govina, a drop of Bosnia, a grain of Bulgaria, a dram of Servia and Montenegro, sufficed to bring the patient into the satisfactory state so much desired by his good friends the Slavo-Russians. Is it not perfectly " ridiculous," too, in Midhat Pasha to be hostile to Russia I In sober truth, if that statesman had not given proof, during the first Bulgarian insurrection, of a degree of severity which the writer of the above letter has chosen to term cruelty, it would have been a dishonour to him. But there is always a grain of sympathy in 30 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. every true Muscovite heart for energetic acts even where they are, by straining the note, designated as acts of cruelty ; because, to be sure, so much of that sort of thing had to be resorted to in Poland and elsewhere. On the other hand, it is very clear that the same statesman who has been guilty of giving serious thought to a constitutional regime and the liberties of the people cannot " have the slightest tie with European civilization." The proper way is to keep promising constitutions, as has been done in Poland ; but one must take care not to grant them, if one would have anything in common with a civilized statesman. Learn this principle, Your Highness, or make up your mind to be a barbarian for ever. And what shall we say about that other would- be civilized statesman, the " Khalil " who ventures to " spite the brothers by race " of the illustrious diplomatist-conspirator 1 Can one conceive a Turkish minister of state guilty of the " folly " of being " animated by the most hostile feelings towards the Slavs." And the Poles, those " crows flocking into the quarry," just like the Cossacks do when they fall upon a Ruthene town ! What RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 31 audacity ! As for the " Old Phanariotes " but one method remains to be tried in order to awaken them to a sense of shame, and that is, to cut off the supplies from their churches and schools. But when we come to the Bulgarians, what tact they have, and how readily they listen to Mr. O . . u ! On the other hand, Prince * * * * is put out. Shevket Pasha has had the bad taste to lock up the emissaries sent by His Highness to raise disturbances in Albania ! The Vienna Com- mittee ought really to take measures for protecting the Prince and his agents from such outrages ! No. 4. Mr. X ... Pera, Constantinople, 27 Nov. (9 Dec.) 1872. To Mr. Y ... at Vienna. 6 Mehmed Rushdi Pasha has again fallen under ' the pernicious influence of the Minister of Foreign ' Affairs. Ever since his advent to power, that 6 statesman has been leaning now to one side and ; now to the other ; but he has at length given ' himself over body and soul to the interest of the ' Magyarophile policy of Khalil & Co. 32 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. ' You have no doubt heard of the compliments ' which the Sultan has thought proper to make to 'his Sadrazam at the Bairam audience. These ' compliments, spread far and wide by the Young ' Turkey party and its adherents, the Grceculi of the ' Phanar, have produced a most painful impression 'upon that part of the population of Stamboul ' which knows how to appreciate at their true value ' the pompous promises of Khalil and Austro- ' Hungarian humbug.' ' The consolidation of Khalil's power has had ' as its first consequence, the recrudescence of the ' Greek attacks against the Patriarch of Jerusalem ' and the Bulgarian Exarch. These two prelates, 6 who will probably fall, thanks to their devotion ' to our interests, are the object of so many attacks, ' that I admire the patience with which they are ' borne. Mgr. Anthimos in particular, who could ' if he chose, stir up against the Porte very grave ' difficulties, conducted himself in an admirable ' manner. After the outrage which the very ' perspicacious Tur co-Egyptian diplomatist lately ' inflicted on him, he has had the wisdom to con- ' form exactly to the line of conduct which I had RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 33 4 traced out for him. For the rest, he will not 4 have to wait long, for, with the fitful and pas- 4 sionate character of the Sultan the present order 4 of things cannot be expected to last more than 4 two, or at most, three months longer. c As regards Mgr. Cyril, his position is much 4 more serious. If the Porte sanctions his deposi- 4 tion the Synod of Jerusalem will forthwith 4 proceed to the election of a new Patriarch, and 4 thus shall we be frustrated of our rights over the 4 Holy Sepulchre. In order to obviate such a 4 disaster, I have written to P. . . . , C. . . . , 4 and Y. . . . , to agitate dextrously among the 4 population of Syria and Palestine for the creation c of an Arab Church, independent of the Pa- 4 triarchate, and which would elect for its chief, 4 Mgr. Cyril. 4 Khalil does not confine himself to ecclesi- 4 astical agitation. He has just had recourse to w another device which will give you an idea of 4 his friendship for us. The news of the robbery 4 of the Roustchouk post has suggested to him 4 the ingenious idea of throwing the responsibility 34 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. ' of that act upon the Bulgarians, whom he is now ' endeavouring to persuade His Majesty are the c most dangerous enemies of the Empire. You c cannot imagine the annoyance this news has given 6 me. Thanks to the stupidity of our M * one of the persons who took part in that act of ' brigandage, happens to have been affiliated by ' our agency at Roustchouk. If the Turkish police ' should arrest this individual, I fear revelations c which cannot but do us the greatest harm. I am 6 surprised that so sensible a man as Mr. M. . . . ' can have associated with our cause a person ' whose antecedents he was ignorant of. This ' unpardonable fault should serve as a lesson 'to us ; and in fact, I have already acted upon e it by instructing all our consuls to abstain c henceforth from affiliating anybody without c previous sanction from me. ' I learn that Khalil has proposed to Mehmed- ' E-ushdi that the too famous hangman-in-chief, ' Midhat, should be sent to Sofia as President of ' the Committee of Inquiry. Here we are then, ' on the eve of new exploits by this terrible hero of RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 35 'bloody assizes, who assuredly will not let slip * such an opportunity of expediting ad patres some ' hundreds of unfortunate ghiaours ! ' ' Very many thanks for the most interesting - details you give me regarding the Tcheque 'struggle. What a misfortune, however, that this 4 cause, so noble in principle, should not have been ' preserved from the intrigues of new Judases ! ' The example of Sabina has, unhappily, found ' imitators, and this cannot fail to compromise the ' the most sacred of causes.' (Extract of a letter translated from Russian.) He was in a very bad humour, our amiable diplomatist-conspirator, on this 27th November (9th December), and not without reason. The Sultan has so far forgotten himself as to address a compliment to his anti-slavic minister ! The cabinet is now invested with the style and title of a com- mercial firm, and appears as t; Khalil & Co." In the same way the " Old Phanariotes " and the " grammarians " now degenerate into " Grceculi." As to the policy of Count Andrassy, the style in which it is characterised may be thought by some pure Tartar " Austro-Hungarian humbug "is at 36 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. any rate not very diplomatic but then, why do people thus persist in crossing Your Excellency 1 On that day nearly everything went wrong in a most provoking way, even to the associate of " your Roustchouk agency " who takes it into his head to take part in the robbery of the Post. Were he to be arrested and to make revelations, what a mess ! However, some good is to be got out of every evil. That highway robber to whom you have become affiliated, one does not exactly know how, will at any rate serve as a caution against such awkward- nesses for the future, and there will be this advan- tage to Your Excellency, that nobody henceforward must be affiliated " without your previous sanction." This same 27th November (9th December) was an unlucky day for you even in the matter of the " too- famous hangman-in-chief " who did not after all accord you the satisfaction of sending ad patres some hundreds of honest people ; for he preferred indulging in his constitutional reveries at home to accepting that mission. And Mgr. Anthimos, that prelate " so devoted to your interests !" And Mgr. Cyril whose deposition may have the effect of " frustrating you of your rights over the Holy RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 37 Sepulchre !" Lastly, to crown this series of mis- fortunes, in Bohemia the Tcheque cause refuses to prosper just as if it were not " the most sacred of causes." Certainly Your Excellency must have felt that the 27th November (9th December) was quite an unlucky day. Happily there remained the solace of " agitating dextrously " in Syria and Palestine. This was something after all. No. 5. Mr. X ... Pera, Constantinople, 7/1 9th Dec. To Mr. Y ... at Vienna. ' The Greeks decidedly do not intend to remain ' quiet. Since the advent to power of their sorry 'protector, they dabble in such a quagmire of ' intrigues that one must be as blind and obstinate ' an enemy of the truth as Khalil to continue to ' put faith in the lies which are daily put forth by 'his friends the sarafs and orators of the Phanar.' ' Thanks to the perfidious insinuations of these ' miserable Galata stock-jobbers, the orthodox East ; is about to lose the eminent prelate who is the ' glory of our Church ; and, what is yet more sad, 38 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 'here are the Greeks, those boasted friends of c liberty, imploring the protection of the Austrians ' and Prussians, and soliciting the intervention of 'Protestants in their ecclesiastical affairs, whilst ' refusing the right to do so to their co-religionist, ' Russia. Their rage has been still more heightened ' against us at the news of the sequestration of the ' conventual property in Bessarabia. This loss is ' so material a one for the Phanariote prelates that ' I would be ready to wager we should soon see 6 the old men of the Synod prostrate themselves ' before us, acknowledging their culpa, were it not ' that they stand in fear of the " grammarians " of ' Galata ! It is these last, supported by some ' banker-orators and by the scribblers in the Neologos 'and the phare du Bosphore, who keep alive the ' flame of discord. ' The only thing which might put an end to 4 this melancholy reign of intrigues would be a ' change of ministry, or at any rate the removal of 6 Khalil, who alone has an interest in all these ' religious dissentions. I just learn from the Palace ' that it is by no means improbable we may before ' long be delivered from this incorrigible mischief- RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 39 ' maker ! The old and faithful friend of the most ' estimable mother of Madame Novikow has also ' lately promised Madame I ff to act in that 4 sense at the Palace (Letter translated from Russian.) The survivors of the old Midhat ministry cer- tainly had the merit of putting our diplomatist beside himself. The whole Greek population of Constantinople are now angrily stigmatised as " miserable Galata stock-jobbers." On the other hand, the Patriarch whom the Synod of Jerusalem has judged unworthy to remain at its head is styled " the eminent Prelate who is the glory of our " that is, the Russian " church." Passion blinds one, truly. Here is a most able diplomatist, and yet one who cannot understand that a prelate who is the glory of the Russian Church, must necessarily be the shame of the Greek Church, which is now fully alive to Russian designs against Hellenism, with respect to matters ecclesiastical as well as secular. But for all that, if he is carried away by his feelings as a man, as a diplomatist he does not lose his head. The Ministry must be made to fall ; he must gain this point even if it be necessary c 2 40 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. to use the good offices of ladies. These last he does not hesitate to name at full length, except in the instance of " the old and faithful friend of the most estimable mother of Madame Novikow." We humbly confess that the cypher in our possession has failed to furnish us the key to this mysterious reference. No. 6. Mr. Z . . . St. Petersburg, 8/20 th December, 1872. To Mr. Y ... at Vienna. ' As General Ignatieff keeps you informed of c all that passes at Constantinople it would be ' superfluous for me to repeat to you the dishearten- 'ing accounts which we receive from Tzargrad. ' The advent to power of Khalil Pasha certainly ' was not calculated to give us the hope of regain- ' ing the influence which we lost through the fall c of Mahmoud Pasha. ' You will easily perceive by the General's 6 letters that he always retains that optimism which 'marks his character. For my own part I will 4 frankly own to you that I no longer believe in the 1 brilliant expectations of our friends at Constanti- RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 41 4 nople. The Anglo- Austrian intrigue is so power- c ful at Constantinople that I no longer hope for 4 the speedy return to power of Mahmoud, the more ' especially since the Sultan himself, with his weak 4 and vacillating character, seems to have allowed 4 himself to be persuaded that it is necessary to 4 maintain the present ministry in power. 4 Prince Gortchakoff has just written to the 4 General to suspend for sometime all attacks 4 against the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the 4 Grand Vizier. Khalil's character and the state 4 of feeling in Turkey enable us to foresee that 4 some favourable circumstance must shortly arise 4 which by proving the incompetency of these two ' statesmen, will oblige the Sultan to confide the 4 administration of affairs once more to our friends. 4 In the meanwhile we are of opinion that it 4 would be useful to prepare the ground in quite a 4 different way. As Montenegro and Servia may 4 obtain for us the opportunity we are looking for, 4 you will devote your attention to those two 4 countries. By favouring the material and moral 4 development of those two advanced posts of 4 Slavism, we shall be serving our cause much more 42 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. ' effectually than by palace intrigues unworthy of ' our great country and the idea it represents. ' You have no doubt learnt the latest decision c regarding the sequestration of the property 6 of the Church of Jerusalem. Though it comes ' rather late, this measure will not be the less ' salutary in its effects upon our religious ad- ' versaries. The Greeks, it is to be hoped, ' will understand the insanity of their attacks * against Russia and the Bulgarians, especially ' when they see the (Ecumenical Patriarchal 6 Throne, of which they are so proud, de- ' pending upon the benevolence of a Khalil, ' who, in order to satisfy his rancour, keeps urging 4 them against us." (Letter translated from Russian.) People at St. Petersburg see things more clearly than they do at Constantinople, and Mr, Z . . . sneers at the optimism of Mr. X ... Upon the whole there is a little more dignity in the above letter than in the preceding ones. The palace intrigues are pronounced " unworthy," and a preference is expressed for operations on the side of Servia and Montenegro, " those two RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 43 advanced posts of Slavism." It is indeed from those quarters that the road must be opened which leads to the conquest of Tzargrad, " the CITY of the TZARS.": such is the name which the Slavs already give to the Turkish capital. Mr. Z . . . , it must he owned, too readily allows himself to be discouraged. Why so soon despair of the " return to power of Mahmoud " 1 Make your minds easy, good doctors of the " poor sick man," Mahmoud will come back in due time, and through him you will have the satisfaction of arousing European opinion, by means of the trade of October. No. 7. Mr. X ... Pera, Constantinople, 13/25 Dec., 1872. To Mr. Y ... at Vienna. 6 Khalil Pasha has kept his word well ! He had ' promised Mgr. Anthimos to give his attention ' after the Bairam to the Greco-Bulgarian question, ' and he has done so after his fashion. 4 Having been invited by the Grand Vizier to ' call upon the Minister of Foreign Affairs in order 44 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. * to set forth the wishes of the Bulgarian com- ' munity, the Exarch was received by Khalil ' Pasha in a manner worthy of that statesman. ' Instead of listening to the explanations and ' wishes of the venerable prelate, the Ottoman c Minister declared to him, with the greatest ' haughtiness, that the Porte had decided to annul ' the firman promulgated under Aali, since the ' relations between the Orthodox and the Bulgarian ' Churches are no longer the same as formerly. ' Neither the respectful observations of Mgr. ' Anthimos, nor his protestations, having had any ' effect in shaking Khalil's resolve, the Exarch had ' to leave the presence of the Minister, carrying ' with him the conviction that the greatest of ' iniquities was soon to be consummated. ' According to the information I receive, Khalil * wishes to annul the former firman, and to sub- * stitute another for it, recognizing the Bulgarians ' officially as schismatics who are thrust out of ' the pale of Orthodoxy. I confess I did not know 6 Khalil in this new capacity until now. So then, ' we must add to all the others in which he has * already been recognized, the quality of a profound RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 45 ' theologian, and an authority in matters of dogma. ' That he should venture to pronounce a decision ' on a purely Christian dogmatic point is such an ' utter absurdity that I would refuse to believe the ' fact had I not been, so to say, a witness of the c theological prowess of the Reverend Father ' Khalil. ' I am very curious to see how he will decide : on the incident which will before long happen in 4 the Church of Antioch. Thanks to our relations ; with the Primates and Prelates of that Patri- ' archate, the Synod of Antioch will infallibly ' repeat the history enacted at Jerusalem, with this ' difference, that the Patriarch will be disavowed 'by his Synod for having declared against us. 'We shall see how the learned Turco-Egyptian 'will demean himself under these circumstances.* ' It is needless to tell you that the affair of ' Antioch will not stand alone : Roustchouk, Viddin, ' Varna, and other Bulgarian towns will soon give ' signs of life, and the local authorities will have to ' reckon with the effervescence provoked by the * The Synod of Antioch disappointed the hopes of the fomenters of dissension. 46 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. ' inexpressible partiality of Young Turkey. I have ' already given my instructions on this head to our * consuls and agents, who will have to abstain from ' any ostensible intervention. Who laughs longest ' will laugh best.' (Letter translated from Russian.) He who has " laughed longest " is doubtless the one who has had an interest in rejoicing over the frightful misfortunes which have happened in Bulgaria, and the consequences they produced, through the management of operators so clever as those " consuls " who were " instructed to abstain from any ostensible intervention." In reading phrases like this, one fancies the documents in which they are contained are not letters written in a diplomatic residence, but extracts from the archives of a secret police office. No. 8. Mr. X ... Pera, Constantinople, 28 Dec. (9 Jan.) 1872. To Mr. Y ... at Vienna. ' You have no doubt read in our newspapers ' here, and especially in those published in Turkish, RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 47 'that the Porte, taking into consideration the ; armaments which have been going on for some 4 time past in Servia, has instructed the governors 4 of the frontier provinces towards that principality, 4 and the commandants of the troops in garrison 4 in those parts to hold themselves prepared for any 4 eventuality. This news, and the rumours of con- 4 siderable armaments in Turkey, have obliged the 4 Servian government to address to the Porte a de- 4 mand for explanations. In reply to M. Christich's 4 inquiries, Khalil Pasha stated that all these ' rumours were without foundation, and that the 4 Government would cause them to be officially 4 contradicted.' 4 Notwithstanding this reply of the Minister c and the official contradiction, the Servians certainly 4 will not be re-assured as to the warlike tendencies 4 of the present Ministry. The Sultan's Govern- 4 ment, which appears to receive pretty correct 4 information of all that passes in Servia and the 4 Slavic Provinces in the north-west of the Empire, 4 does all it can not to be taken unawares.' 4 1 have lately ascertained that the Porte, fearing 4 a speedy explosion of the discontent which it 48 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 4 unceasingly provokes by its silly policy, wishes to 4 open a campaign before the Servians are ready to 4 undertake the realisation of their projects. Khalil 'and his friends think that the Servians, when 4 once chastised as the Greeks were in the matter 4 of Crete, would become as submissive and servile ' as the Hellenes. . One must belong to the con- 4 ceited clique of ' Young Turkey ' to be able to 4 suppose that the Servians are as cowardly as the 4 Greeks. It is to be hoped that the eyes of these 4 gentlemen will soon be opened ; but, please God, 4 it will be a little too late for the dear sick man ! ' The Greek papers have not deceived you in 4 notifying so pompously the conversion of Mon- 4 sieur C. . . . (or G. . . . Effendi, in official 4 language). I am, however, in a position to re- 4 assure you on this head. If Mr. C. . . . has re- 4 entered the pale of the Church so unworthily 4 presided over by the Patriarch Anthimos, that step 4 must not be attributed to his personal repentance 4 nor to his conviction of the injustice of the cause 4 represented by the Exarch. Mr. C. . . . has 4 been obliged to return within the Phanariote fold, 4 in the first place through the insinuations of his RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY 49 ' wife, a Greek by birth and conviction, and next 6 by pecuniary considerations, so powerful in those ' quarters. Occupying as he does a somewhat ' important post in the service of the Porte, ' Mr. C. . . . was simply afraid of finding himself ' calumniated by the Greeks, and of losing his ' salary (about 8,000 roubles) in consequence. This ' gentleman who enjoys, justly enough, great con- ' sideration among his fellow countrymen, has taken 6 part in, or let it rather be said, has secretly di- 6 rected the whole course of the Bulgarian negotia- c tions. This will suffice to give you a correct ' estimate of the sincerity of his conviction.' (Private letter translated from Russian.) Not so silly as your Excellency is pleased to call it, the policy which consists in being pretty correctly informed of all that passes in Servia and the Slavic provinces of the Empire, and which desired to open a campaign before the Servian projects could be realized. Fortunately you were awake, you and the lady whom you lately desig- nated as the " old and faithful friend of the most estimable mother of Madame No vikow;" and you two together, no doubt, took measures to prevent 50 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. its being possible to judge whether the Servians could become as " servile " and as " cowardly " as the Greeks. Only in that way could it be con- trived that the matter should not be put to the proof before it would be " a little too late for the dear sick man." As regards the personage whose name we abstain from giving as you do at full length, and to whom the Porte seems to have the weakness of assigning a salary equivalent to 8,000 roubles, we perfectly understand that what you consider as an act of apostacy in him, should not provoke the feelings of religious indignation, usually so ticklish. For, did he not " secretly direct the whole course of the Bulgarian negotiations 1" How you must have laughed at the people who were so simple as to be astonished, you being there, at the bloody scenes of which Bulgaria in the end became the theatre ! No. 9. Mr. X ... Pera, Constantinople, 4/16 January, 1873. To Mr. Y ... at Vienna. ' The struggle between the (Ecumenical Patriarch ' and the Bulgarians has assumed of late a diplo- RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 51 4 matic character. Whilst the Greeks set on foot 4 all the intrigues they can devise in order to com- 4 promise the Bulgarians towards the Porte, the ' latter oppose to their adversaries a line of conduct 'full of frankness and of firmness based on the 4 consciousness which they have of their strength. 4 The demands of the Greeks may be summed up 4 under the four following heads : 4 1. Annulment of the Firman decreed under 'Aali, and drawing up of another in which the 4 Bulgarians will be declared schismatics. ' 2. Change in the costume of the Bulgarian 4 clergy. 4 3. Maintenance, in the possession of the 4 Greeks, of the churches, convents, schools, and 4 other public establishments which are situated in 4 the provinces having a mixed population. 4 4. Maintenance of the right of the Greek 4 patriarchate to send its bishops into the Bulgarian 4 provinces. 4 These rights, which our good friend Khalil 4 seems disposed to grant to the Greeks, are so 4 contrary to the interests of the Bulgarian Church, 4 that the Exarch, notwithstanding his extreme 52 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. c repugnance to do so, has been obliged again to ' come forward and combat the intrigues of our ' enemies. It was the day before yesterday that ' Mgr. Anthimos went to see the famous minister, ' who had invited him to go and talk over this ' unfortunate affair. Their interview, however, ' was of short duration, and led to nothing. After ' making a show of politeness and kindliness at ' first, Khalil ended by threats when he found that ' the Exarch was not disposed to yield to the claims of the Phanariotes on the smallest point. ' The affair of the Exarchate is, moreover, not ' the only one which has gone wrong, thanks to ' the intrigues and vile calumnies of our ex-friends. ' By means of an outcry raised by the Phanariotes ' and their new allies, the scribblers at Vienna, our c consuls in Macedonia have begun to be crossed in * a thousand ways. You have no doubt learnt that ' a commission of enquiry has been appointed by ' the Patriarch to proceed to Mount Athos. I ' certainly should not have bestowed any attention ' on these Greco-Turkish machinations had not our ' enemies perfidiously mixed up the names of L ... ' and J ... in their calumnies. I have, conse- RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 53 4 quently, had to write to those gentlemen to quit 4 their posts for a time and to come here, after ' having given our friends the necessary instructions ' for nullifying the new Greek intrigues. 'I accept with the greatest gratitude your 'obliging proposal with regard to the Clio, and I c feel certain that the Imperial Ministry will not c refuse to ratify the promise you have madeto the ' excellent editor of that very influential journal. ' For the rest, should the prince still begrudge the ' money, I engage to pay from my own purse the c 5,000 roubles which you have promised to the ' editor of the Trieste paper. The co-operation of 6 that journal will be the more useful to us since it 6 is looked up to as a great authority among the ' Christian populations of the Turkish provinces, ' and thus the Clio will be of more service to us ' than the Bulgarian papers published in Roumania, ' and the small Servian prints.' (Private letter translated from Russian.) True, the Bulgarians must have been conscious of their force, that is to say the force of a great empire, whose ambitious views they were uncon- sciously serving. As to the four Greek points, it 54 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. was high time to bring about the ministerial change which was destined to consign them to the waste- paper basket. If they had succeeded in being carried out, before six months were over no Bulgarian peasant would have seen a Russian priest without crossing himself as he withdrew to a safe distance. This simple measure would have quashed the Bulgarian question and have made impossible the cold-blooded murders which pro- voked the massacres of Bazardjik and Batak. It is easy to understand that Russian influence was at work to annihilate the four Greek points. This letter is important too as showing the tip of the cloven hoof as regards Mount Athos. It is a very serious affair that Mount Athos business, although it is one which most people know nothing about. If an end be not put to the Slavic intrigue by means of which the Russian monk is insensibly supplanting the Greek monk, Macedonia will before long become a second Bulgaria. Now, it would seem that the first has already produced calamities enough. RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 55 No. 10. Mr. X ... Pera, Constantinople, 8/20 February, 1873. To Mr. Y ... at Vienna. ' So here we have a new ministry, although in ' truth it is but a clumsy re-plastering of the old ' one. Bonnet blanc, blanc bonnet ; this stereotyped ' phrase expresses the state of things to perfection. ' You no doubt recollect the young aide-de- ' camp whom Fuad Pasha took with him to Syria 6 in 1860. Who could then have supposed that * this young soldier, belonging to an Ottomanised ' Greek family, would be called within thirteen ' years to the first post in the Empire ! ' The advent of Essad Pasha demonstrates very 6 clearly the force arid persistence of the fixed idea ' of the Sultan, the new Ladrazam being greatly ' devoted to Prince Youssouf, and intimately, ' bound up with his interests. ' The dismissal of Mehmet Rushdi was brought ' about independently of any political motives and 6 solely through a cabal of the ladies of the Palace, ' who found the young and brilliant general to ' their taste. I cannot therefore, yet forecast the D 2 56 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. ' nature of my relations with him. What vexes ' me in the meanwhile, is to see Khalil still in ' possession of his portfolio and thus, although his ' power is greatly shaken, enabled to continue his ' silly intrigues against Slavism. ' This minister last week sent word to the ' Exarch that the Porte was firmly resolved to 6 authorise the Patriarchate to send its bishops to ' all the Bulgarian Exarchies. This communication 6 so greatly afflicted Mgr. Anthimos that he would 4 have fallen ill, had I not endeavoured to reassure c him with a promise of the decisive support of our ' government. By my advice, he made reply to ' Khalil through the medium of his vicar, that, 6 seeing the complaints and protests which were ' reaching him from all the Bulgarian Exarchies, he ' feared that the arrival of Greek bishops would 6 create great disorders ; and that he consequently c threw all the responsibility of what might happen 6 upon those who, against his advice, might have * recourse to that measure. 6 Our friends at Toultcha have carried out the ' orders we gave them some weeks ago. They have ' got the Bulgarians of Toultcha to sign an address RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 57 ' to the Metropolitan of Roustchouk protesting 6 against the annulment of the Firman. This ' protest has already produced a great impression 6 here, and it is to be hoped that this and other ' demonstrations of the same kind which are in * course of preparation in Bulgaria and Thrace, ' will prevent Khalil from precipitating matters, * if they do not even have the effect of making him 6 lose the seat which he so unworthily occupies at 6 the Council of Ministers. ' If these demonstrations do not suffice to give 4 us the victory, I shall have recourse to the ultima 6 ratio the cotillon. c The dust which I have managed to throw into ' the eyes of the commission of enquiry at Roust- 6 chouk has succeeded, if not completely, at any 4 rate in part. The members of the commission are ' now persuaded that all that affair was got up and ' carried through by the Bulgarian emissaries from 6 Bucharest. I trust that in the end it will be 6 acknowledged at St. Petersburgh that I was in the ; right, especially when it is seen how easily we ' contrive to save appearances.' (Translated from Russian.) 58 RUSSIA S WORK IN TURKEY. In order not to tire the attention of the reader we shall close with the above letter the first series of documents which we have undertaken to present to the public. An instructive lesson is to be derived from it. One sees a personage invested with high functions, and sheltered by diplomatic inviolability, placing at the disposal of an intrigue, a plot, all the powerful elements of action which he owes to his privileged position. He conspires against a friendly Government to which he is accredited. Can there be a more serious crime ? Is it not absolutely equivalent to a violation of territory I A soldier passes a frontier with his gun on his shoulder; it suffices to provoke a fearful war between two States. What then should be the consequences of the introduction of an army of foreign agents who come to foment disturbances and lay trains for the explosion of civil war ] It is true, as the writer of these letters so naively lets us know, that no handle can be obtained against him, "seeing how easily we contrive to save appearances ! " RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 59 VI. We have now been let into the intimate con- fidence of the guiding spirit. Let us next descend a degree in the hierarchy, and watch step by step how the plan of operations has been carried out in its most essential details. No. 11. Cyphered dispatch from Mr. . . . Consul at Scutari to the Committee at Vienna, dated 8/20 August, 1812. ' The imprisonment of the Albanians who ' would not, or rather, who could not deliver to the ' Turkish authorities the most influential chiefs ' of the Mirdites, has produced in the country a ' great effervescence, which, I am inclined to 6 believe will end by creating an untoward in- ' fluence on the relations of Montenegro with the ' Christians of this province. These last, irritated ' by the ever-increasing oppression of the Turks, 4 and observing the apparently impassible de- ' meanour of the Montenegrin Government, which ' they attribute to a sentiment of fear, may become ' reconciled with the Turks, and prove to be as 60 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. ' exasperated against the Montenegrins as they ' have hitherto been devoted to their interests. ' In order to remedy this state of things as far ' as possible I have sent two of our friends to the ' Mirdites and the neighbouring tribes with 6 presents in money and some arms. My agents ' are charged to soothe our allies with promises of ' a speedy solution of their disputes with the 6 Turks. ' As regards the policy of Montenegro I have ' recommended my agents to explain to the chief ' Shion that Prince Nicholas is ready to fall upon ' the Turks, and that he is only waiting till the 'latter afford him a plausible pretext for com- ' mencing hostilities.' (Translated from Russian.) The above document, like all those which will follow, is full of revelations touching the dis- tribution of arms and money to those destined to rise in revolt. It would fatigue the reader to be stopped at every moment by long critical reflections. We shall therefore confine ourselves to throwing in relief by a few short remarks, the salient points of each dispatch. RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 61 There is nothing more remarkable in these documents than the cynicism with which the writers, in the midst of the most overwhelming admissions of the work on which they are engaged, speak as if the agitation which they have exerted themselves to produce is the result of Turkish oppression, and not of their own manoeuvres. No. 12. Extracts of a cyphered dispatch from Mr. . . ., Consul at Seraievo to the Committee at Vienna, dated 10/22 August, 1872. 6 All these changes have at last completely dis- 6 credited the government in the minds of the ' population, who already feel, without any necessity ' to impress it on them, that deliverance will come ' to them from Servia, free and strong through the ' support of Russia. ' The conflict at Kolashin has so alarmed the ' Turks that they have concentrated eight batta- ' lions in the direction of Albania and Herzegovina. ' It remains to be seen, however, whether this ; measure of precaution will suffice to arrest the 62 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 4 aggressive movements which are in preparation on 4 both sides' (Translation from Russian). " The aggressive movements which are in pre- paration on both sides!" The avowal is one to be remembered, in connection with the idea that " deliverance will come from Servia, free and strong through the support of Russia." No. 13. Extract of a cyphered dispatch from Mr Vice-Consul at Mostar to the Committee at Vienna, dated ll/23rd August, 1872. 4 The agent whom I sent to Niksich and 4 Popovo returned this morning bringing several 'petitions from the inhabitants addressed to the ' Imperial Government. 4 After exposing in detail all that they have to 4 endure at the hands of the Mussulman authorities 4 our co-religionists implore the clemency of the 4 Imperial Government, and ask either to be taken 4 into Russia where they may dwell secure from 4 persecution, or else the means to fight against the 4 enemy of our religion, and to throw off a yoke RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 63 ' which has become too odious to be any longer ' supportable. ' The sums of money which I have sent to the ' relations and friends of Cocacerwich have enabled ' 18 of them to proceed to Montenegro and to place 4 themselves at the disposal of the Commander of c the valiant Montenegrin bands. As to the others, ' being unable to leave the country on account of c their families, they have begged those who went ' to Montenegro to send them, as soon as they can, 6 gunpowder, to enable them to fly to arms at the first 'call of Prince Nicholas.' The " Imperial Government " here in question is not, as will be understood, that of the legitimate Sovereign of the petitioners ; it is to a foreign Sovereign that the populations are incited to address their petitions, and it is the Consul of that foreign Sovereign who corrupts them by distributions of money to enable them to take service in the army of the future enemy of their country ! No. 14. Extract of a cyphered dispatch from Mr. . . . Consul at Seraievo to the Committee at Vienna, dated 21st August (2 September), 1872. 64 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. c The festival at Belgrade has produced an ' excellent impression everywhere. The patriots of 6 Seraievo have been so electrified by it that several ' notables have come to see me declaring their ' readiness to devote the half of their fortune for ' the armament of the volunteers in case of a war ' between Turkey and Servia. ' Finding them in this frame of mind I have ' thought myself called upon to congratulate them ' on their patriotic sentiments, and to promise ' that I would inform the Imperial Government of 4 them. I have endeavoured to soothe their minds ' with regard to the imminence of war, remarking 6 that if hostilities do not begin now, that does not ' mean that they are indefinitely postponed. . . . ' I explained to them that Servia, which is ' preparing seriously for an approaching war, will ' require the co-operation of all her children. You ' will do well therefore to carry out your plans of ' armament. ' After long discussions which we had together * they decided to send two members of their society c to Belgrade, to place in Prince Milan's hands the 4 money which they desire to give to the country' (Translated from Russian.) RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 65 The " country " of the Bosniacs is the princi- pality over which reigns he who will one day declare war against their own sovereign; for hostilities are far from being "indefinitely post- poned," the Consul has declared it in the paternal discourse made with the view of keeping them " electrified." The foreign u Imperial Government " to whom Europe is indebted for the happy readiness of the populations to revolt, comes in here with an unparalled d propos. No. 15. Cyphered dispatch from Mr. . . . Vice-Consul at Ragusa to the Committee at Vienna, dated 26 August, (6 September), 1872. 4 After four months' absence, C . . . arrived 1 yesterday at Mostar, bringing several letters and 4 petitions from the inhabitants of Herzegovina, 6 addressed to the Imperial Ministry of Foreign ' Affairs, and to the higher functionaries at St. ' Petersburg. ' Thanks to the zeal and savoirfaire of C ... ; the Montenegrin cause has gained ground in that { country, where even the Catholics begin to be 66 RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 'accustomed to the idea of one day becoming ' subjects of Prince Nicholas. ' I hope soon to be able to transmit to the ' Committee the interesting and detailed account fi of his journey and of his conversations with the ' monks and the most influential proprietors in the ' country. As to the letters and petitions for St. ' Petersburg I have sent them direct to the Asiatic ' Department.' ' This morning two agents of the Servian ' Society, 'Mlada Srbadia ' arrived here. They came 6 to see me, and they told me that the chiefs of the 'Society instructed them to visit the convents of ' Herzegovina and Dalmatia, and establish there 'popular libraries' The. "popular libraries" play an important part in the conspiracy, as will appear by the documents further on. Cyphered dispatch of Mr. . . . Consul at Ragusa, to the Committee at Vienna, 28 August (9 September), 1872. . . '-Prince Kh . . ., who arrived here the day ' before yesterday, is already at Cettigne. On his ' way he was not only able to see the princely RUSSIA'S WORK IN TURKEY. 67 ' family, but to converse with several of our friends 4 in this city. ' His arrival at Cattaro having coincided with ' that of V . . .it was easy for me to arrange that ' they should travel together to Montenegro, and ' Mr. KhilkofF writes to me that they intend 'pro- 4 ceeding from thence into Bosnia. ' / have received the 1 0,000 florins from the 1 Central Committee, and shall make it my duty to t carry out, as soon as possible, its decision with ' regard to the new agency at Budna. As to the ' aid destined for the Montenegrins I have requested MAY 11 MAY 14 1348 LD 21-100m-9,'47(A5702s L) LP REC'D DEC 6 4Jun'63fiC U.C.L.A. INTER LIBRARY LOAN