JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC 
 
, v-- 
 
 \ 
 
.JAPAN & THE NORTH PACIFIC. 
 
JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC, J ; , 
 
 AND 
 
 A JAPANESE VIEW OF THE 
 EASTERN QUESTION. 
 
 BY 
 
 MANJIRO INAGAKI, B.A. 
 
 (Cantab] 
 
 WITH MAPS 
 
 T FISHER UNWIN 
 
 .PATERNOSTER SQUARE 
 
 JMDCCCXC 
 
DS5 
 
TO 
 
 JOHN ROBERT SEELEY M.A. HON. LL.D. 
 
 Regius Professor of Modern History 
 Fellow of Gonville and Cams College 
 
 Cambridge 
 THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY 
 
 DEDICATED 
 
 IN GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF HIS KINDNESS 
 AND IN ADMIRATION OF HIS QUALITIES AS A 
 
 HISTORIAN 
 15Y THE AUTHOR 
 
 31305 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 I FEEL that some explanation is due when a 
 Japanese ventures to address himself to 
 English readers ; my plea is that the matters 
 on which I write are of vital importance to 
 England as well as to Japan. Though I feel 
 that my knowledge of English is so imperfect 
 that many errors of idiom and style and even 
 of grammar must appear in my pages, yet I 
 hope that the courtesy which I have ever 
 experienced in this country will be extended 
 also to my book. 
 
 My aim has been twofold : on the one 
 hand, to arouse my own countrymen to a 
 sense of the great part Japan has to play in 
 the coming century ; on the other, to call the 
 
io PREFACE. 
 
 attention of Englishmen to the important 
 position my country occupies with regard to 
 British interests in the far East. 
 
 The first part deals with Japan and the 
 Pacific Question : but so closely is the latter 
 bound up with the so-called Eastern Question 
 that in the second part I have traced the 
 history of the latter from its genesis to its 
 present development. Commencing with a 
 historical retrospect of Russian and English 
 policy in Eastern Europe, I have marked 
 the appearance of a rivalry between these 
 two Powers which has extended from Eastern 
 Europe to Central Asia, and is extending 
 thence to Eastern Asia and the Pacific. This 
 I have done because any movement in Eastern 
 Europe or Central Asia will henceforth infal- 
 libly spread northwards to the Baltic and 
 eastwards to the Pacific. An acquaintance 
 with the Eastern Question in all its phases 
 will thus be necessary for the statesmen of 
 Japan in the immediate future. I have con- 
 fined my view to England and Russia 
 because their interests in Asia and the North 
 Pacific are so direct and so important that 
 
PREFACE. ii 
 
 they must enter into close relations with my 
 own country in the next century. 
 
 I cannot claim an extensive knowledge of 
 the problems I have sought to investigate, 
 but it is my intention to continue that 
 investigation in the several countries under 
 consideration. By personal inquiries and 
 observations in Eastern Europe, the United 
 States, Canada, Australia, China, and the 
 Malay Archipelago, I hope to correct some 
 and confirm others of my conclusions. 
 
 I have to thank many members of the 
 University of Cambridge for their help 
 during the writing and publication of my 
 book. To Professor Seeley especially, whose 
 hints and suggestions with regard to the 
 history of the eighteenth century in particular 
 have been so valuable to me, I desire to 
 tender my most hearty and grateful thanks. 
 To Dr. Donald Macalister (Fellow and 
 Lecturer of St. John's College) and Mr. 
 Oscar Browning, M.A. (Fellow and Lecturer 
 of King's College) I owe much for kindly 
 encouragement and advice and assistance in 
 many ways, while I am indebted to Mr. G. 
 
12 PREFACE. 
 
 E. Green, M.A. (St. John's College), for his 
 labour in revising proofs and the ready help 
 he has given me through the many years in 
 which he has acted as my private tutor. 
 
 The chief works which I have used are 
 Professor Seeley's " Expansion of England," 
 Hon. Evelyn Ashley's " Life of Lord 
 Palmerston," and Professor Holland's 
 ''European Concert in the Eastern Ques- 
 tion." The latter I have consulted specially 
 for the history of treaties. 
 
 M. INAGAKI. 
 
 CAIUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, 
 April, ,1890. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC . 21 
 
 England and Asia The Persian war The Chinese war 
 Russian diplomacy in China Singapore and Hong Kong 
 Labuan and Port Hamilton Position of Japan ; its 
 resources Importance of Chinese alliance to England 
 Strength of English position in the Pacific at present 
 Possible danger from Russia through Mongolia and 
 Manchooria Japan the key of the Pacific ; her area 
 and people ; her rapid development ; her favourable posi- 
 tion ; effect of Panama Canal on hercommerce England's 
 route to the East by the Canadian Pacific Railway 
 Japanese manufactures Rivalry of Germany and England 
 in the South Pacific Imperial Federation for England and 
 her colonies Importance of island of Formosa Compara- 
 tive progress of Russia and England The coming struggle. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 THE EASTERN QUESTION. 
 i. 
 
 FOREIGN POLICY OF ENGLAND DURING THE SIX- 
 TEENTH, SEVENTEENTH, AND EIGHTEENTH 
 CENTURIES 73 
 
 The vSpanish Empire, its power, and its decline Com- 
 m ercial rivalry of England and Holland The ascendency 
 
14 CONTENTS. 
 
 of France ; threatened by the Grand Alliance The 
 Spanish succession and the Bourbon league England's 
 connection with the war of the Austrian succession The 
 Seven Years' War Revival of the Anglo-Bourbon struggle 
 in the American and Napoleonic wars. 
 
 II. 
 
 FOREIGN POLICY OF RUSSIA DURING THE REIGNS 
 
 OF PETER, CATHERINE, AND ALEXANDER . 95 
 
 Peter the Great, and establishment of Russian power on 
 the Baltic Consequent collision with the Northern States 
 and the Maritime Powers Catherine II. and Poland 
 First partition Russia reaches the Black Sea Russo- 
 Austrian alliance against Turkey opposed by Pitt Second 
 and third partitions of Poland Rise of Prussia Alexander 
 I. and the conquest of Turkey Treaty of Tilsit Peace of 
 Bucharest Congress of Vienna French influence in the 
 East destroyed. 
 
 III. 
 
 THE NEW EUROPEAN SYSTEM . . . .116 
 
 The concert of the Great Powers ; its aims It does not 
 protect small states from its own members, e.g., Polish 
 Revolution How far can it solve the Turkish question ? 
 
 IV. 
 
 GREEK INDEPENDENCE 122 
 
 The Holy Alliance The Greek insurrection Interference 
 of the Three Powers Battle of Navarino Treaty of 
 Adrianople The policy of Nicholas I. ; Treaty of Unkiar 
 Ikelessi Turkey only saved by English and French aid 
 Palmerston succeeds to Canning's policy. 
 
CONTENTS. 15 
 
 v. 
 
 FAGR 
 
 THE CRIMEAN WAR . . . . . .133 
 
 Nicholas I. alienates France from England by the 
 Egyptian question Mehemet Ali and Palmerston's con- 
 vention against him Nicholas I. in England The Pro- 
 tectorate of the Holy Land ; breach between Russia and 
 France Proposed partition of Turkey War of Russia 
 and Turkey The Vienna Note Intervention of France 
 and England to save Turkey Treaty of Paris ; Russia 
 foiled Correspondence between Palmerston and Aberdeen 
 as to the declaration of war National feeling of England 
 secures the former's triumph French motives in joining in 
 the war. 
 
 VI. 
 
 THE BLACK SEA CONFERENCE . . . .166 
 
 French influence destroyed by the Franco-Prussian War 
 Russia annuls the Black Sea clauses of the Treaty of Paris 
 Condition of Europe prevents their enforcement by the 
 Powers London Conference ; Russia secures the Black 
 Sea ; England's mistake Alsace and Lorraine destroy the 
 balance of power. 
 
 VII. 
 
 THE Russo-TuRKiSH WAR OF 1878 . . .174 
 
 Bulgarian atrocities The Andrassy Note ; England de- 
 stroys its effect The Berlin Memorandum ; England 
 opposes it Russia prepares for a Turkish war Conference 
 of Constantinople New Turkish Constitution Russo- 
 Turkish War Treaty of San Stefano Intervention of the 
 Powers The Berlin Congress Final treaty of peace. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 REMARKS ON TREATY OF BERLIN . . . 197 
 
 The position of affairs The Salisbury-Schouvaloff Memo- 
 randum and its disastrous effect on the negotiations at 
 
16 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Berlin Russia's gain England and Austria the guardians 
 of Turkey Austria's vigorous and straightforward Balkan 
 policy Thwarted in Servia but triumphant in Bulgaria 
 Relations of Greece to Austria Solution of the Crete 
 question Neutrality of Belgium threatened Importance 
 of Cohstantinople to Russia ; the Anglo-Turkish Conven- 
 tion England's feeble policy in Asia Minor The ques- 
 tion of Egypt A new route to India by railway from the 
 Mediterranean to Persian Gulf England's relation to Con- 
 stantinople. 
 
 IX. 
 
 CENTRAL ASIA 229 
 
 Rise of British power in India Rivalry of France Aims 
 of Napoleon Russian influence in Central Asia Its great 
 extension after the Crimean War And after the Berlin 
 Congress Possible points of attack on India Constanti- 
 nople the real aim of Russia's Asiatic policy Recent 
 Russian annexations and railways in Central Asia Re- 
 action of Asiatic movements on the Balkan question 
 Dangerous condition of Austria Possible future Russian 
 advances in Asia England's true policy the construction 
 of a speedy route to India by railway from the Mediter- 
 ranean to the Persian Gulf Alliance of England, P' ranee, 
 Turkey, Austria, and Italy would effectively thwart 
 Russian schemes. 
 
LIST OF MAPS. 
 
 1. JAPAN AND THE NORTH PACIFIC . . Frontispiece 
 
 2. THE PACIFIC AND ITS SEA-ROUTES . . 46 
 
 3. THE EXPANSION OF RUSSIA IN EUROPE . . 97 
 
 4. EASTERN EUROPE AND WESTERN ASIA . 115 
 5- THE EXPANSION OF RUSSIA IN ASIA . . ,233 
 
PART I, 
 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
PART I. 
 
 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 England and Asia The Persian war The Chinese war 
 Russian diplomacy in China Singapore and Hong' 
 Kong Labuan and Port Hamilton Position of 
 Japan ; its resources Importance of Chinese alliance 
 to England Strength of English position in the 
 Pacific at present Possible danger from Russia through 
 Mongolia and Manchooria Japan the key of the Pa- 
 cific j her area and people ; her rapid development ; 
 her favourable position; effect of Panama Canal on 
 her commerce England's route to the East by the 
 Canadian Pacific Railway -Japanese manufactttres 
 Rivalry of Germany and England in the South Pacific 
 Imperial Federation for England and her colonies 
 Importance of island of Formosa Comparative pro- 
 gress of Russia and England The coming struggle. 
 
 WITHOUT doubt the Pacific will in the coming 
 century be the platform of commercial and 
 political enterprise. This truth, however, 
 escapes the eyes of ninety-nine out of a 
 hundred, just as did the importance of Eastern 
 
22 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 Europe in 1790,. and of Central Asia in 
 1857. In the former case England did not 
 appreciate the danger of a Russian aggression 
 of Turkey, and so Pitt's intervention in the 
 Turkish Question failed. It was otherwise 
 in the second half of the nineteenth century, 
 when the Crimean War and the Berlin 
 Congress proved great events in English 
 history. In 1857 the national feeling in 
 England was not aroused as to the import- 
 ance of defending Persia from foreign attack. 
 Lord Palmerston had written to Lord 
 Clarendon, Feb. 17, 1857, " It is quite true, 
 as you say, that people in general are 
 disposed to think lightly of our Persian War, 
 that is to say, not enough to see the import- 
 ance of the question at issue." How strongly 
 does the Afghan question attract the public 
 attention of England at the present day ? 
 
 It is very evident that in 1857 very few in 
 England were awake to the vital importance 
 of withstanding Russian inroads into the far 
 East, viz., the Pacific. 
 
 After defeating Russia miserably in the 
 Crimean War and, driving her back at the 
 
JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 23 
 
 Balkans by the Treaty of Paris, Lord 
 Palmerston's mind was now revolving and 
 discussing the following serious thought : 
 " Where would Russia stretch out her hands 
 next ? " 
 
 I think I am not wrong in stating the 
 following as Lord Palmerston's solution of 
 the problem : 
 
 (a) That Russia was about to strike the 
 English interests at Afghanistan by an alli- 
 ance with Persia, 
 
 (6) That she would attack the Afghan 
 frontier single-handed. 
 
 (c) That an alliance would be formed with 
 the Chinese, and a combined hostility against 
 Britain would be shown by both. 
 
 (d) She would extend her Siberian terri- 
 tory to the Pacific on the north, thereby 
 obtaining a seaport on that ocean's coast, and 
 make it an outpost for undermining English 
 influence in Southern China. 
 
 Therefore in 1856 Lord Palmerston de- 
 clared war against Persia remarking that 
 " we are beginning to reveal the first 
 
24 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 openings of trenches against India by 
 Russia." J 
 
 This policy proved a winning one. The 
 Indian Mutiny of 1857, however, scarcely 
 gave Palmerston time to mature his Afghan 
 Frontier scheme, consequently his views with 
 regard to that country were to a great extent 
 frustrated by Russia. 
 
 In the autumn of 1856, the Arrow dispute 
 gave Palmerston his long-wished for oppor- 
 tunity of gaining a stronghold in the South 
 China Sea. He declared war on China. The 
 causes of this dispute on the English side 
 were morally unjust and legally untenable. 
 Cobden brought forward a resolution to this 
 effect that " The paper laid on the table 
 failed to establish satisfactory grounds for 
 the violent measure resorted to." Disraeli, 
 Russell, and Graham all supported Cobden's 
 motion. Mr. Gladstone, who was also in 
 favour of the motion, said, at the conclusion 
 of his speech, " with every one of us it rests 
 to show that this House, which is the first, 
 
 1 Lord Palmerston's letter to Lord Clarendon, Feb. 
 17, 1857. 
 
JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 25 
 
 the most ancient, and the noblest temple of 
 freedom in the world, is also the temple of 
 that everlasting justice without which freedom 
 itself would only be a name, or only a curse, 
 to mankind. And I cherish the trust that 
 when you, sir, rise in your place to-night to 
 declare the numbers of the division from the 
 chair which you adorn, the words which you 
 speak will go forth from the halls of the 
 House of Commons as a message of British 
 justice and wisdom to the farthest corner of 
 the world." 
 
 Mr. Gladstone, it certainly seems to me, 
 only viewed the matter from a moral point of 
 view. If we look at it in this light, then the 
 British occupation of Port Hamilton was a 
 still more striking example of English "loose 
 law and loose notion of morality in regard to 
 Eastern nations." 
 
 Palmerston was defeated in the House by 
 sixteen votes, but was returned at the general 
 election by a large majority backed by the 
 aggressive feelings of the English nation. 
 
 He contended that " if the Chinese were 
 right about the Arrow, they were wrong 
 
26 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 about something else ; if legality did not 
 exactly justify violence, it was at any rate 
 required by policy" J He described this 
 policy in the following way " To maintain 
 the rights, to defend the lives and properties 
 of British subjects, to improve our relations 
 with China, and in the selection and arrange- 
 ment of those objects to perform the duty 
 which we owed to the country," 
 
 This is easy to understand, and showed at 
 any rate a disposition, in fact a wish, for the 
 Anglo-Chinese alliance. 
 
 The Treaty of Pekin was finally concluded 
 in 1860, the terms of which were Toleration 
 of Christianity, a revised tariff, payment of 
 an indemnity, and resident ambassadors at 
 Pekin. 
 
 Whatever might have been the policy of 
 Palmerston in the Chinese War, Russia took 
 it as indirectly pointed at herself. 
 
 General Ignatieff 2 was sent to China 
 
 1 John Morley's "The Life of Richard Cobden," vol. 
 ii. p. 189. 
 
 2 " In the year 1855 or T ^S^ his father's influence 
 succeeded in procuring him a position in the suite of 
 General Muravieff, who as Governor^general of Eastern 
 
JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 27 
 
 immediately as Russian Plenipotentiary. It 
 is said that he furnished maps to the allies, 
 in fact did his very best to bring the negotia- 
 tions to a successful and peaceful close, and 
 immediately after the signing of the agree- 
 ment, he commenced overtures for his own 
 country, and succeeded in obtaining from 
 China the cession of Eastern Siberia with 
 Vladivostock and other seaports on the 
 Pacific (1858). 
 
 Lord Elgin asked Ignatieff why Russia 
 was so anxious to obtain naval ports on 
 the Pacific. He replied ; " We do not 
 want them for our own sake, but chiefly 
 in order that we may be in a position to 
 compel the English to recognize that it is 
 
 Siberia, had undertaken a more accurate investigation of 
 the Amoor territory, and was preparing for its coloniza- 
 tion. During this work, the French and English war 
 with China broke out ; the allies occupied Pekin, and 
 seemed to threaten the existence of the Celestial Empire. 
 This moment was taken advantage of by Russia, who had 
 already been negotiating for some time with China, 
 respecting the cession of a large territory south of the 
 Amoor. Ignatieff was sent to China as ambassador 
 extraordinary " (F, E. Bunnett's " Russian Society," 
 p. 170), 
 
28 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 worth their while to be friends with us rather 
 than foes." 
 
 Here began the struggle between England 
 and Russia in the Pacific. 
 
 In 1859 Russia obtained the Saghalien l 
 Island, in the North Pacific, from Japan, in 
 exchange for the Kurile Island, while Eng- 
 land was bombarding 2 Kagoshima, a port 
 in South Japan (1862), but the English were 
 virtually repelled from there. 
 
 Previous to this period the English policy 
 in Asia was to establish a firm hold of Indian 
 commerce with the South China Sea, for she 
 could not find so large and profitable a field 
 
 1 " The preciousness of Saghalien in the eye of the 
 Russians, however, does not lie so much in its coal 
 beds, its promise of future harvests, its use as a penal 
 colony, or its six hundred miles of length, but in its 
 situation commanding the northern entrance to the sea 
 of Japan, and guarding, like a huge breakwater, the 
 mouth of the great river Amoor " (John Geddie, 
 F.R.G.S., "The Russian Empire," p. 484). 
 
 2 " If war is made to enforce a commercial treaty, we 
 run the risk of engaging in protracted hostilities, and of 
 earning a reputation for quarrelling with every nation in 
 the East. . . . The Japanese may well be jealous of 
 Europeans, who insult their usages and carry away their 
 gold" (Lord J. Russell to Mr. Alcock, Feb. 28, 1860). 
 
JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 29 
 
 of commerce elsewhere. Therefore the Eng- 
 lish attention for the time being was entirely 
 directed in that quarter. 
 
 In 1819 the island of Singapore, as well 
 as all the seas, straits, and islands lying 
 within ten miles of its coast, were ceded to 
 the British by the Sultan of Johor. It then 
 contained only a few hundred piratical fisher- 
 men, but now it is on the great road of 
 commerce between the eastern and western 
 portions of Maritime Asia, and is a most 
 important military and naval station. 
 
 Hong- Kong, an island off the southern 
 coast of China, was occupied by the English, 
 and in 1842 was formally handed over by 
 the Treaty of Nankin. It has now become 
 a great centre of trade, besides being a naval 
 and military station. 
 
 In 1846 Labuan, the northern part of 
 Borneo, was ceded to Great Britain by the 
 Sultan of Borneo, and owing to the influence 
 of Sir James Brooke a settlement was at 
 once formed: Now it also, like Singapore, 
 forms an important commercial station, and 
 transmits to both China and Europe the 
 
30 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC, 
 
 produce of Borneo and the Malay Archi- 
 pelago. 
 
 Owing to the opening of seaports in 
 Northern China for foreign trade in 1842, the 
 growing Russian influence in the Northern 
 Pacific and many other circumstances caused 
 England to perceive the necessity of having 
 a naval dep6t and commercial harbour on 
 the Tong Hai and on the Yellow Sea. 
 England was doubtless casting her eyes 
 upon the Chusan Island or some other 
 island in the Chusan Archipelago, but did 
 not dare to occupy any one of them lest 
 she should thereby offend the chief trading 
 nation of that quarter, viz., China. 
 
 However, in 1885 England annexed Port 
 Hamilton, on the southern coast of the Corea, 
 during the threatened breach with Russia on 
 the Murghab question. 
 
 " Port Hamilton," said the author of " The 
 Present Condition of European Politics," l 
 " was wisely occupied as a base from which, 
 with or without a Chinese alliance, Russia 
 
 1 "The Present Condition of European Politics," 
 p. 175- 
 
JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 31 
 
 could be attacked on the Pacific. It is vital 
 to us that we should have a coaling station 
 and a base of operations within reach of 
 Vladivostock and the Amoor at the begin- 
 ning of a war, as a guard-house for the 
 protection of our China trade and for the 
 prevention , of a sudden descent upon our 
 colonies ; ultimately as the head station for 
 our Canadian Pacific railroad trade ; and at 
 all times, and especially in the later stages 
 of the war, as an offensive station for our 
 main attack on Russia." 
 
 Port Hamilton forms the gate of Tong 
 Hai and the Yellow Sea ; it cannot, how- 
 ever, become a base of operations for an 
 attack on the Russian force at Vladivostock 
 and the Amoor unless an English alliance 
 is formed with Japan. The above writer 
 shows an ignorance of the importance of 
 the situation of Japan in the Pacific ques- 
 tion. Japan holds the key of the North o 
 China Sea and Japan Sea in Tsushima. 1 
 
 1 Earl Russell, Nov. 22, 1861, echoed these condi- 
 tions (four conditions) and equivalent, and added a some- 
 what cunning addition : " The opening of the ports of 
 Tsushima (in place of Osaka, the centre and trading 
 
32 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 She has fortified that island, and placed it 
 in direct communication with the naval 
 station of Sasebo, also with the military 
 forces of Kumamoto. She also can send 
 troops and fleets from the Kure naval station 
 and the garrison of Hiroshima. She would 
 also, if required, have other naval stations 
 on the coast of the Japan Sea ready for any 
 emergency. In this manner she would be 
 able to keep out the British fleet from attack- 
 ing Vladivostock and the Amoor through the 
 Japan Sea. Even if she might not be able 
 to do this single-handed she certainly could 
 by an alliance with Russia. 
 
 If also Japan occupied Fusan, on the 
 south-eastern shore of the Corea, the Japan 
 Sea would be rendered almost impregnable 
 from any southern attack. 
 
 city of the Empire) and the neighbouring coast of Corea 
 as far as Japanese authority extends, to the trade of 
 the treaty powers." It could only be the expectation 
 of some secret advantages that do not at first sight meet 
 the eye that could have induced any one to propose the 
 port of Tsushima for that of Osaka (" Diplomacy in 
 Japan," p. 61). The Japanese wisely declined the 
 British offer. 
 
JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 33. 
 
 Again, Port Hamilton would be useless 
 as a head station for the Canadian Pacific 
 Railway trade without an Anglo-Japanese alli- 
 ance. If you look at the map, you can easily 
 appreciate the situation. Japan, with many 
 hundreds of small islands, lies between 24 
 and 52 in N. lat., its eastern shores facing 
 the Pacific and cutting off a direct line from 
 Vancouver's Island to Port Hamilton. It 
 must therefore depend mainly upon Japan 
 as a financial and political success. 
 
 Japan is now divided into six military 
 districts, while the seas around it are divided 
 into five parts, each having its own chief 
 station in contemplation. The Government 
 are now contemplating establishing a strong 
 naval station at Mororan in Hokkukaido, for 
 the defence of the district and also the shore 
 of the northern part of the mainland, 
 especially of the Tsugaru Strait. The strait 
 of Shimonoseki also has been fortified and 
 garrisoned on both sides, and has close 
 communication from the Kure naval station, 
 and with Hiroshima, and Osaka. Railway 
 communication has also made great strides 
 
 3 
 
34 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 during the last few years, and rapid transit 
 has consequently greatly improved through- 
 out the empire. 
 
 If the Kiushiu, the Loo Choo, and the 
 Miyako Islands are well looked after by the 
 Japanese fleet from the Sasebo naval station, 
 then Japan would be able to sever the 
 communication between Vancouver's Islands 
 and Port Hamilton, and also between the 
 former place and Hong Kong to a certain 
 extent. The San- Francisco- Hong- Kong 
 route would be injured, and Shanghai- Port- 
 Hamilton line would be threatened. With- 
 out doubt Japan is the Key of the Pacific. 
 
 Reviewing the discussion, we find that 
 Port Hamilton is rather useless with regard 
 to the Japan Sea and the Canadian Pacific 
 railway road without a Japanese alliance, but 
 it would be of immense importance in with- 
 standing a Russian attack on the British 
 interests from the Yellow Sea through 
 Mongolia or Manchooria. It is also an 
 excellent position for any offensive attack 
 upon China in case of war breaking out. 
 
 The British occupation of Port Hamilton 
 
JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 35 
 
 was very galling to the Chinese nation, in 
 fact, quite as disagreeable as the occupation of 
 Malta and Corsica was to Italy, and the 
 annexing of the Channel Islands and Heligo- 
 land to France and Germany. It has there- 
 fore somewhat shaken the Anglo-Chinese 
 alliance. 
 
 A Chinese alliance, however, is of far 
 greater importance for English interests than 
 the occupation of Port Hamilton. If relations 
 became strained a severe blow would be dealt 
 to English trade and commerce in that part. 
 The main portion of the commercial trade of 
 China is with the United Kingdom and her 
 colonies ; for instance, in 1887, the imports of 
 China from Great Britain, Hong Kong, and 
 India amounted to about 89,000,000 tael, 
 while the exports to the same countries were 
 48,000,000 tael. It is hardly possible to find 
 two countries more closely connected by trade 
 than England and China. 1 The Hamilton 
 
 1 IN 1887. 
 
 Great Britain 
 Hong Kong 
 
 IMPORTS IN 
 
 VALUE FROM 
 
 ... 25,666,477 tael .. 
 57,761,039 .. 
 
 EXPORTS 
 
 IN VALUE TO 
 
 . 16,482,809 tael. 
 
36 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 scheme was wisely abandoned in 1887, and 
 the English Government obtained a written 
 guarantee from China against a Russian 
 occupation in future years. 
 
 Viscount Cranbrook said in his reply to 
 a question asked by Viscount Sidmouth : 
 " That the papers to which he referred did 
 contain a written statement, and a very long 
 written statement on the part of the Chinese 
 Government giving the guarantee in question. 
 It was not a mere verbal statement by the 
 Chinese Covernment, but a very deliberate 
 note. It was found that the Chinese had 
 received from the Russian Government a 
 guarantee that Russia would not interfere 
 with Corean territory in future if the British 
 did not, and the Chinese Government were 
 naturally in a position, on the faith of that 
 guarantee by the Russian Government, to 
 
 IN 1887. IMPORTS IN EXPORTS 
 
 VALUE FROM IN VALUE TO 
 
 India 5537>375 ta el 797,579 tael. 
 
 Continent of Europe) 
 
 (without Russia) { 2 >5 8 7,548 ... u,545,4o< 
 
 The average value of the Haikwan tael during 1887 
 was 45. io-|d. (" The Statesman's Year-book," 1889.) 
 
JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 37 
 
 give a guarantee to the British Government. 
 The Marquess of Salisbury, on the part of 
 her Majesty's Government, had accepted it 
 as a guarantee in writing from the Chinese 
 Government." 
 
 This policy was undoubtedly an exceed- 
 ingly wise and good one. By this England 
 not only regained a firm and complete 
 commercial alliance, but also maintained and 
 strengthened a political alliance against 
 Russian attacks from the Corea and indirectly 
 from Manchooria and Mongolia. 
 
 England also saved money by the abandon- 
 ment of the Port Hamilton scheme, and 
 saved her fleet from being, to a certain 
 degree, scattered in such a far-off quarter of 
 the globe. 
 
 England now holds complete sway both 
 commercially and navally in the Pacific. 
 Lord Salisbury's policy is worthy of all 
 praise, together with Mr. Gladstone's original 
 scheme. If the scheme had never been 
 originated there would not have been so 
 firm an Anglo- Chinese alliance as there 
 now is. 
 
38 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 England's power at the present time is 
 three times as great as that of Russia in the 
 Pacific ; in fact Russia has always been over- 
 weighted in that respect. Therefore it is self- 
 evident she could never be able to withstand 
 the combined Anglo-Chinese fleets. 
 
 It seems to me that the only feasible plan 
 for a Russian attack on Anglo-Chinese 
 alliance would be from Mongolia and 
 Manchooria by means of an alliance with 
 the Mongolian Tartars. This would be 
 preferable to coping with England face to 
 face in the Pacific. 
 
 Chinese history plainly tells us that the 
 Chinese could not withstand an attack of 
 the brave Mongol Tartars from the north, 
 and that they have proved a constant source 
 of dread to them. 
 
 The Great Wall which stretches across the 
 whole northern limit of the Chinese Empire 
 from the sea to the farthest western corner 
 of the Province of Kansal, was built only 
 for the defence of China against the northern 
 " daring " Tartars. 
 
 Ghenghis Khan (1194), the rival of Attila, 
 
JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 39 
 
 in the extent of his kingdom, who overran 
 the greater part of China and subdued nearly 
 the whole of N. Asia, who carried his arms 
 into Persia and Delhi, drove the Indians on 
 to the Ganges, and also destroyed Astrakhan 
 and the power of the Ottoman, was a Mon- 
 golian Tartar. 
 
 In the thirteenth century Kokpitsuretsu 
 invaded China from Mongolia and formed 
 the Gen dynasty which ruled over the whole 
 eastern part of Asia except Japan (1280 to 
 1368). The founder of the present Chinese 
 dynasty was a Manchoorian. Both, how- 
 ever, were of Mongolian extraction, and well 
 kept up the fame of the Tartars for boldness 
 and general daring. Since their times the 
 Tartars have fully maintained their title of 
 beinqr the most warlike tribe in Asia. 
 
 o 
 
 Therefore if Russia were allied with the 
 Mongol Tartars she would be able at least 
 to reach the Yellow Sea, even if she were 
 not able to do China serious harm. 
 
 Her best policy would be to extend the 
 Omsk-Tomsk Railway 1 to Kiakhtavzd Kansk 
 
 1 The Czar approved of the plan for completing the 
 
40 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 and Irkutsk, and from there to Ust Strelka 
 and Blagovestchensk through Nertchinsk ; a 
 branch also might be thrown off from Kiakhta 
 to Oorga, in the direction of Pekin, the 
 metropolis of China ; two branches might 
 also be constructed from Nertchinsk (a) to 
 Isitsikar, through the western boundary of 
 Manchooria, with the ultimate object of 
 reaching some convenient harbour on the 
 Gulf of Leaotong, or the Yellow Sea, via 
 Kirin l arid Moukden (<5)to L. Kulon through 
 the northern boundary of Mongolia in the 
 direction of Pekin ; and to construct a branch 
 line from Blagovestchensk to Isitsikar via 
 Merghen. 
 
 By these means Russia would not only 
 open sources of untold wealth in Siberia, but 
 also secure a larger field of commerce in 
 Manchooria and Mongolia than she has done 
 by the opening of the Trans-Caspian Railway. 
 
 Siberian Railway, and for its connection with the Trans- 
 Caucasian line, Jan., 1890 ; the works are to be com- 
 menced by the ist of May at the latest. 
 
 1 The Chinese Government gave its assent to the con. 
 struction of a railway from Pekin to Kirin via Moukden 
 Jan., 1890. 
 
JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. f 41 
 
 It is clear that there would be more political 
 and strategical advantages in this quarter 
 than in Central Asia. Should Russia ever \ 
 be able to get possession of a seaport in the 
 Gulf of Leaotong or in the Yellow Sea, she 
 would deal a heavy blow against the Anglo- 
 Chinese alliance, and ultimately frustrate, to 
 a great extent, British aspirations in theJEast. 
 
 Russia, however, has worked in quite a dif- 
 ferent way, and is strengthening the defences 
 at Vladivostock both in military and naval 
 forces, and is acting towards the Corea in a 
 gradually-increasing aggressive spirit, which 
 had succeeded in Europe and Central Asia 
 previously for more than one hundred and 
 fifty years. 
 
 Lord Derby well described the Russian 
 tactics in the following speech : " It has | 
 never been preceded by storm, but by sap 
 and mine. The first process has been in- 
 variably that of fomenting discontent and 
 dissatisfaction amongst the subjects of sub- 
 ordinate states, then proffering mediation, 
 then offering assistance to the weaker party, 
 then declaring the independence of that 
 
42 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 party, then placing that independence under 
 the protection of Russia, and finally, from 
 protection proceeding to the incorporation, 
 one by one, of those states into the gigantic 
 body of the Russian Empire." 
 
 But Russia should remember that a Russian 
 annexation of Corea " the Turkey " in Asia 
 would necessitate an alliance of England, 
 China, and Japan, who all possess common 
 interests in the Pacific and Yellow Sea ; also 
 that it might cause a second Crimean war in 
 the Pacific instead of on the Black Sea. 
 
 Japan was comparatively unknown until 
 Commodore Perry, of the United States, 
 introduced her to European society in 1854. 
 Since that date a " wonderful metamorphosis" 
 has taken place in every branch of civiliza- 
 tion. 
 
 The total area of Japan is about ^48,742 
 square miles, or nearly a quarter greater than 
 that of the United Kingdom, while the popu- 
 lation is about 38,000,000. The climate is 
 very healthy, while the natural resources are 
 many. 
 
 Japanese patriotism is very keen, and their 
 
JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 43 
 
 love of country stands before everything ; 
 they are brave, honest, and open-minded. 
 The following facts bear out the above state- 
 ment : In 1281 the "Armada of Mongol 
 Tartars " reached the Japanese shores, only to 
 be easily repulsed in Kiushiu by the Japanese 
 fleet. Hideyoshi in the sixteenth century con- 
 quered the Corea, and General Saigo defeated 
 and subjugated eighteen of the resident 
 chiefs with all their followers in Formosa 
 
 (1873). 
 
 One of the great traits in the Japanese 
 character is that they never hesitate to adopt 
 new systems and laws if they consider them 
 beneficial for their country. Feudalism was 
 abolished in 1871 without bloodshed. In 
 1879 city and prefectural assemblies were 
 created, based on the principle of the election. 
 The new Constitution was promulgated in 
 1889, and new Houses of Peers and Commons 
 will be opened this year (1890). 
 
 Railways are rapidly growing, over 1,000 
 miles already having been laid, and soon the 
 whole country will be opened out by the 
 u iron horse." All the principal towns are 
 
44 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 connected by telegraph l with one another 
 and with Europe. The postal system 2 is 
 carried out on English lines, while the police 
 force is strong and very efficient. The 
 standing army consists of about forty-three 
 thousand men, which, however, could be 
 quickly increased to two hundred thousand 
 in case of war, all trained and equipped under 
 the European system. The navy consists 
 of thirty-two ships, including several protected 
 cruisers, and in this or next year it will be 
 reinforced by three more ironclads and five 
 or six gunboats. The Japanese navy is 
 organized chiefly upon the pattern of the 
 English navy. 
 
 The geographical situation and condition 
 of Japan are very favourable to her future 
 prosperity, both commercially and from a 
 manufacturing point of view. Look at a 
 
 1 There are now more than sixteen million miles of 
 wire, and in 1887 the number of telegrams carried were 
 about five millions ("The Statesman's Year-book," 1889). 
 
 2 The post office carried, in 1887, 54,313,385 letters, 
 55,332,873 post cards, 20,713,422 newspapers and books, 
 163,630 packets, 7,014,859 letters and newspapers free 
 of postage ("The Statesman's Year-book," 1889). 
 

 
 
 
 
JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 47 
 
 map of the world the country lies between 
 two of the largest commercial nations, viz., 
 the United States and China, the former l 
 being England's great commercial rival of 
 the present day, while the latter offers a 
 large field for trade and commerce. 
 
 If M. de Lesseps' scheme of the Panama 
 Canal should happen to be completed on his 
 Suez Canal line, undoubtedly the Pacific 
 Ocean would be revolutionized in every way. 
 Up to now the water-way from Europe to 
 the Pacific has been from the West, viz., via 
 the Suez Canal, or the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 But in case of the " gate of the 
 Pacific " being open, then European goods 
 could be transported in another direction, 
 and the nations in the Pacific would have 
 two sea routes. Japan would be placed 
 practically in the centre of three large 
 markets Europe, Asia, and America and 
 its commercial prosperity would be ensured. 
 
 1 " The English world-empire has two gigantic neigh- 
 bours in the west and in the east. In the West she has 
 the United States, and in the East Russia for a neighbour" 
 (Prof. Seeley's " Expansion of England," p. 288). 
 
48 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 If, however, the Panama scheme failed from 
 one cause or another there would be another 
 sea route. 1 
 
 1 Extracts from a pamphlet written in 1847 by His 
 Imperial Majesty, Napoleon III. : 
 
 "There are certain countries which, from their 
 geographical situation, are destined to a highly pros- 
 perous future. Wealth, power, every national advantage, 
 flows into them, provided that where Nature has done her 
 utmost, man does not neglect to avail himself of her 
 beneficent assistance. 
 
 " Those countries are in the most favourable conditions 
 which are situated on the high road of commerce, and 
 which offer to commerce the safest ports and harbours, as 
 well as the most profitable interchange of commodities. 
 Such countries, finding in the intercourse of foreign trade 
 illimitable resources, are enabled to take advantage of the 
 fertility of their soil ; and in this way a home trade 
 springs up commensurate with the increase of mercantile 
 traffic. It is by such means that Tyre and Carthage, 
 Constantinople, Venice, Genoa, Amsterdam, Liverpool,, 
 and London attained to such great prosperity, rising from 
 the condition of poor hamlets to extensive and affluent 
 commercial cities, and exhibiting to surrounding nations 
 the astonishing spectacle of powerful states springing 
 suddenly from unwholesome swamps and marshes. 
 Venice in particular was indebted for her overwhelming 
 grandeur to the geographical position which constituted 
 her for centuries the entrepot between Europe and the 
 East ; and it was only when the discovery of the Cape of 
 Good Hope opened a ship passage to the latter that her 
 prosperity gradually declined. Notwithstanding, so great 
 
JA PAN AND THE PACIFIC. 49 
 
 In 1887 the American Senate sanctioned 
 the creation of a company for the construc- 
 tion of a maritime canal across Nicaragua, 1 
 
 was her accumulation of wealth, and consequent com- 
 mercial influence, that she withstood for three centuries 
 the formidable competition thus created. 
 
 "There exists another city famous in history, although 
 now fallen from its pristine grandeur, so admirably 
 situated as to excite the jealousy of all the great 
 European Powers, who combine to maintain in it a 
 government so far barbarous as to be incapable of 
 taking advantage of the great resources bestowed upon 
 it by nature. The geographical position of Constantinople 
 is such as rendered her the queen of the ancient world. 
 Occupying, as she does, the central point between Europe, 
 Asia, and Africa, she could become the entrepot of the 
 commerce of all these countries, and obtain over them 
 an immense preponderance ; for in politics, as in strategy, 
 a central position always commands the circumference. 
 Situated between two seas, of which, like two great lakes, 
 she commands the entrance, she could shut up in them, 
 sheltered from the assaults of all other nations, the most 
 formidable fleets, by which she could exercise dominion 
 
 1 " The. total length of the canal from sea to sea would 
 be little short of 200 miles, viz., 154 miles from the Pacific 
 to the lake, 56^- across the lake, and 119 to the Atlantic ; 
 total, 191 miles ; and the Lake of Nicaragua is navigable 
 for ships of the largest class down to the mouth of the 
 river San Juan " (C. B. Pin's " The Gate of the Pacific," 
 P- J 33)- 
 
 4 
 
50 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 and the actual work was begun in October, 
 1889. 
 The President of the country, which has a 
 
 in the Mediterranean as well as in the Black Sea, thereby 
 commanding the entrance of the Danube, which opens 
 the way to Germany, as well as the sources of the 
 Euphrates, which open the road to the Indies, dictating 
 her own terms to the commerce of Greece, France, Italy, 
 Spain, and Egypt. This is what the proud city of 
 Constantine could be, and this is what she is not, 
 ' because ' as Montesquieu says, ' God permitted that 
 Turks should exist on earth, a people the most fit to 
 possess uselessly a great empire.' 
 
 "There exists in the New World a state as admirably 
 situated as Constantinople, and we must say, up to the 
 present time, as uselessly occupied ; we allude to the 
 state of Nicaragua. As Constantinople is the centre of the 
 ancient world, so is the town of Leon, or rather Massaya, 
 the centre of the new ; and if the tongue of land which 
 separates its two lakes from the Pacific Ocean were cut 
 through, she would command by her central position the 
 entire coast of North and South America. Like Con- 
 stantinople, Massaya is situated between two extensive 
 natural harbours, capable of giving shelter to the largest 
 fleets, safe from attack. The state of Nicaragua can 
 become, better than Constantinople, the necessary route 
 for the great commerce of the world, for it is for the 
 United States the shortest road to China and the East 
 Indies, and for England and the rest of Europe to New 
 Holland, Polynesia, and the whole of the western coast 
 of America. The state of Nicaragua is, then, destined to 
 attain to an extraordinary degree of prosperity and 
 
JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 51 
 
 surplus of 57,000,000 dollars, alluding to the 
 commencement of the Nicaragua Canal said 
 in his message to the Senate : 
 
 "This Government is ready to promote 
 
 grandeur for that which renders its political position 
 more advantageous than that of Constantinople is, that 
 the great maritime powers of Europe would witness with 
 pleasure, and not with jealousy, its attainment of a station 
 no less favourable to its individual interests than to the 
 commerce of the world. 
 
 " France, England, Holland, Russia, and the United 
 States, have a great commercial interest in the establish- 
 ment of a communication between the two oceans ; but 
 England has more than the other powers a political 
 interest in the execution of this project. England 
 will see with pleasure Central America become a 
 flourishing and powerful state, which will establish a 
 balance of power by creating in Spanish America a new 
 centre of active enterprise, powerful enough to give rise 
 to a great feeling of nationality and to prevent, by backing 
 Mexico, any further encroachment from the north. 
 England will witness with satisfaction the opening of a 
 route which will enable her to communicate more 
 speedily with Oregon, China, and her possessions in New 
 Holland. She will find, in a word, that the advancement 
 of Central America will renovate the declining commerce 
 of Jamaica and the other English island in the Antilles, 
 the progressive decay of which will be thereby stopped. 
 It is a happy coincidence that the political and commercial 
 prosperity of the state of Nicaragua is closely connected 
 with the policy of that nation which has the greatest pre- 
 ponderance on the sea." 
 
52 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 every proper requirement for the adjustment 
 of all questions presenting obstacles to its 
 completion." Jt is therefore pretty sure, 
 sooner or later, to be completed, and would 
 take the place of the Panama Canal and give 
 the same advantages .with 'regard to the 
 Pacific and Japan. 
 
 "In the school of Carl Ritter," l said 
 Professor Seeley, " much has been said of 
 three stages of civilization determined by 
 geographical conditions the potamic, which 
 clings to rivers ; the thalassic, which grows 
 up around inland seas ; and lastly, the 
 oceanic." He also traced the movements 
 of the centre of commerce and intelligence 
 in Europe, and at last found out why 
 England had attained her present great- 
 ness. 
 
 Without doubt, since the discovery of a 
 new world the whole world has become 
 the oceanic. 
 
 But the discoveries of Watt and Stephen- 
 son, seem to me to have added another stage 
 to general civilization, viz., the railway ; and 
 
 1 Prof. Seeley's " Expansion of England," p. 87. 
 
JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 53 
 
 it seems also to me that we might call the 
 present era " the railway-oceanic." 
 
 The Canadian Pacific Railway scheme was 
 completed in 1887. It has a total length of 
 at least 3,000 miles, starting from Quebec and 
 finishing at Vancouver's Island on the Pacific. 
 Its marvellous success will also considerably 
 change the general tenor of the Pacific even 
 more than the Panama or Nicaragua scheme 
 will do. An express train can cross in five 
 days, while the voyage from Vancouver to 
 Yokohama in Japan, would only occupy 
 twelve. days steaming at the rate of fourteen 
 or fifteen knots an hour. From England 
 the whole journey to Shanghai and Hong 
 Kong by this route would take only thirty- 
 four or thirty-five days, and Australia now 
 has direct communication with the mother 
 country through a sister colony. 
 
 Last of all, Japan would have much better 
 communication with the European markets 
 generally than is possible at the present time, 
 if the English proposed * mail steamers 
 
 1 " The negotiations with the Imperial Government for 
 the establishment of a permanent line of first-class steam- 
 
54 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 should run, and it is said that the Canadian 
 Pacific route would bring Japan within 
 twenty-six or twenty-seven days' reach of 
 England. 
 
 On the other hand, if the Russian Siberian 
 Railway scheme should be carried out to the 
 Pacific at Vladivostock, it would open a very 
 large field of trade and commerce with inland 
 Siberia to Japan. It would be still more so 
 if the Chinese railways were extended so as 
 to open the entire empire. 1 
 
 Japan has not only a splendid future before 
 her with regard to commercial greatness, but 
 has every chance of rising to the head of 
 manufacturing nations. In the latter respect 
 she has advantages over Vancouver's Island 
 and New South Wales, her rivals on the 
 Pacific. She is known to possess valuable 
 
 ships, suitable for service as armed cruisers in case of need, 
 resulted in an official notification that Her Majesty's 
 Government had decided to grant a subsidy of ^60,000 
 per annum for a monthly service between Vancouver 
 and Hong Kong, via Yokohama " (" Canada, Statistical 
 Abstract and Record for the Year 1887," p. 306). 
 
 1 " China is a storehouse of men and means ; its outer 
 <ioor has scarcely yet been opened " (R. E. Webster's 
 "The Trade of the World," p. 317). 
 
JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 55 
 
 mineral resources, having good coal mines 
 at Kiushiu and Hokkukaido. The climate 
 of Japan varies in different localities, but on 
 the whole is exceedingly healthy. Consist- 
 ing as the country does of numerous islands 
 she has many good harbours and trading 
 ports. Wages are low though they might 
 rise if a corresponding increase of labour is 
 required. The credit system is fairly well 
 carried out l and is growing day by day. 
 There are about four hundred banks, inclu- 
 ding the Bank of Japan ; and the medium 
 of exchange has a regular standard. The 
 principal exports are silk, tea, coal, and rice. 
 Japan is not the producer of raw goods for 
 manufacturing purposes, but simply works 
 them up. Her area is not in comparison 
 
 1 Sir H. Parkes, late Minister of England in Japan, said : 
 " The statement of the national liabilities this year (1878), 
 shows that Japan has kept faith with her foreign creditors, 
 the interest on her foreign debt and the sum requisite for 
 the payment of the amount of capital redeemed during 
 the year having been duly provided. There is no reason 
 to doubt that care will be taken to ensure punctual pay- 
 ment in future on this account until the entire extinction 
 of this debt in 1895." Japan has never failed to pay her 
 foreign debts. 
 
56 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 with the commercial greatness which she 
 will attain in the future. She may import 
 raw goods from America, Australia, and 
 the Asiatic countries, in the same way that 
 England does. Her position enables her 
 also to obtain wool from Australia and 
 California, also cotton from China, Man- 
 chooria, India, and Queensland. All these 
 imports are worked up into different 
 manufacturing goods. She has an ad- 
 vantage here over England, for she has 
 not so far to send her manufactured goods, 
 and does not need, like England, to send, 
 them all round the world. 
 
 Thus we see Japan has ample scope from 
 a commercial point of view, and has plenty of 
 friendly countries close at home for the pro- 
 duction of her raw material, and has great 
 advantages in sea routes to America and 
 Australia. 
 
 The Japanese are born sailors, being 
 islanders. 
 
 There are several large steamship 
 companies l whose ships are continually 
 1 There is also a Maritime Insurance Company. 
 
JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 57 
 
 plying along her own shores * and also to 
 the mainland of China, and one company 
 contemplates shortly opening communication 
 with North and South America. It has 
 often puzzled me why Japan does not hold 
 closer relations with Australia, especially 
 as Australia is becoming one of her most 
 important neighbours in commerce. I can 
 certainly predict that if this suggestion comes 
 to pass, that together they will in the future 
 hold the key of the Pacific trade. 
 
 Australia and her near colonies have 
 already begun to play an important part in 
 the affairs of the Pacific ; and why should 
 she not, considering their natural wealth and 
 general progress ? European Powers have 
 begun to take great interest, both commer- 
 cially and diplomatically, in these colonies. 
 England, France, Spain, and Holland long 
 ago saw the advantage of having secured 
 coaling stations in the Pacific, and England 
 and France have always taken great care in 
 selecting posts in the immediate vicinity of 
 
 1 Light-houses fifty-seven in number and some of 
 them are very powerful. 
 
58 -JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 the sea route between America and Australia ; 
 and since the working of the Canadian Pacific 
 Railway and the Panama Canal, they have 
 begun to annex those islands which lie near 
 the route from Panama to the Australian 
 colonies, and from the latter to Vancouver. 
 The French occupation of Tahiti and the 
 Rapa (both containing good harbours) in 
 1880 was with the distinct object of con- 
 trolling the sea route from Panama to 
 Sydney, Brisbane, and Auckland. England 
 also began to fortify Jamaica in 1887, and 
 she is now casting her eyes on Raratonga. 
 The dispute regarding the New Hebrides 
 and the Samoan Conference * were simply for 
 the protection of the Vancouvan- Australian - 
 San - Franciscan sea-ways. England has 
 lately annexed the Ellice Islands and un- 
 doubtedly will shortly occupy the Gilbert and 
 Charlotte Islands. 
 
 1 The Samoan Convention declared the Samoan 
 Islands to be neutral territory. The citizens and sub- 
 jects of the signatory powers will enjoy equal rights and 
 the independence of the islands is recognized with 
 Malietou as king: Jan., 1890. 
 
JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 59 
 
 Germany also has been considering the 
 Asiatic-Australian routes, foreseeing that the 
 whole Pacific question rests on that basis. In 
 1884 she annexed New Guinea, and the Bis- 
 marckian policy proved a severe blow to the 
 British power in the North and West Pacific. 
 There are three great sea routes from New 
 South Wales to Hong Kong and other parts 
 of the North Pacific ; one travels eastward 
 of the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia 
 (6,000 miles) and the other two westward of 
 the above-mentioned islands (5,500 and 5,000 
 miles). 
 
 The German occupation of New Guinea 
 actually resulted in her having the entire 
 control of these three important sea routes. 
 The English possession of the Treasury 
 Islands, the depot made there, and of the 
 Louisiade Archipelago is certainly not strong 
 enough to protect these routes, though they 
 are very important for the defence of the 
 Australian colonies. Even the trade route 
 from Vancouver's Island to Brisbane has to 
 a certain extent been endangered. It would 
 be policy on England's part to annex the 
 
60 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 Solomon Islands if she means to regain the 
 prestige which she has lost owing to the 
 Germanic policy of annexation in the 
 Pacific. 
 
 In order to firmly establish her power in 
 this quarter, Germany, in 1885, raised a 
 quarrel with Spain concerning the sovereignty 
 of the Caroline and Pelew Islands, but this 
 quarrel was composed by the mediation of 
 the Pope. 
 
 Frederick the Great " preferred regiments,, 
 as a ship cost as much as a regiment." 
 Bismarck preferred " the Greater Germany," 
 and his policy was " the German trade with 
 the German flag " (i.e., the German flag shall 
 go where German trade has already estab- 
 lished a footing). This policy proved very 
 successful, not only in the West Pacific, but 
 also in the North Pacific and the eastern 
 coast of Africa. Germany now is the chief 
 colonizing rival of England. 
 
 In 1883 Mr. Chester annexed all the parts 
 of New Guinea with the adjacent islands 
 lying between 141 deg. and 155 deg. of E. 
 long. Lord Derby, however, annulled this 
 
JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 61 
 
 annexation, regarding it as an unfriendly act, 
 and he also assured the Colonial Government 
 that " Her Majesty's Government are con- 
 fident that no foreign power contemplates 
 interference in New Guinea." This occurred 
 in May, 1884. But this prognostication did 
 not prove true, for in November of the same 
 year Germany occupied New Guinea. 
 
 This caused much public indignation in 
 the English colonies against the Home 
 Government, and the public of England 
 recognized that the reasons and complaints 
 -of the Australian Colonies were right and just. 
 
 The movement of Imperial Federation 
 sprang up in England, the chief object of 
 which was " a closer association between the 
 Colonies and Great Britain and Ireland for 
 common national purposes such as colonial 
 and foreign policy, defence and trade/' The 
 result of this was the Colonial Conference in 
 1887 ; and Lord Salisbury, offering a hearty 
 welcome to the Colonial delegates, said : " I 
 do not recommend you to indulge in schemes 
 of Constitution making;" but also said : " It 
 will be the parent of a long progeniture, 
 
62 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 and distant councils of the empire may, in 
 some far-off time, look back to the meeting 
 in this room as the root from which their 
 greatness and beneficence sprang." 
 
 The following subjects were submitted for 
 discussion: (i) The local defence of ports 
 other than Imperial coaling stations ; (2) the 
 naval defence of the Australian Colonies ; 
 (3) measures of precaution in relation to 
 the defences of colonial ports ; (4) various 
 questions in connection with the military 
 aspects of telegraph cables, their necessity 
 for purpose of war, and their protection ; (5) 
 questions relating to the employment and 
 training of local or native troops to serve as 
 garrisons of works of defence ; and, lastly 
 (6), the promotion of commercial and social 
 relations by the development of our postal 
 and telegraphic communication. 
 
 Thus, by means of this Conference, the 
 military federation of the British Empire 
 was established. By its efforts the English 
 squadron in the China Sea and in the Aus- 
 tralian seas are more closely connected 
 together than they have been before, and, if 
 
JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 63 
 
 needed, the English forces in the North 
 Pacific would be reinforced by Australian 
 troops. We saw an instance of this in the 
 late Egyptian campaign. 
 
 One more question remains to be ven- 
 tilated, viz., whether England is able to 
 secure absolute power in the North Pacific 
 with the naval and military forces she has at 
 her command there, using Hong Kong as 
 the centre of war preparations. 
 
 I answer in the negative. It could be 
 maintained only by an occupier of the Island 
 of Formosa, the "Malta" of the North 
 Pacific, which lies between the North China 
 Sea and the South China Sea. Its area is 
 estimated at 14,978 square miles. It has a 
 healthy climate, tempered by the influence of 
 the sea and its mountains. Coal is to be 
 found in considerable quantities, although not 
 of the best quality. Its natural products are 
 plentiful, such as sugar, tea, and rice. It 
 possesses several good harbours, one of 
 which, Tam-sui, or Howei, is surrounded by 
 hills upwards of 2,000 feet high, and has a 
 depth of 3 fathoms with a bar of 7J feet. 
 
-64 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 From this island, with a good navy, any 
 power almost might be exerted over the 
 North and South China Seas, and over the 
 Pacific highways from Hong Kong to 
 Australia, Panama, Nicaragua, San Francisco, 
 Vancouver, Japan, Shanghai. All these are 
 in fairly close proximity to Formosa, and the 
 Shanghai route to Hong Kong actually runs 
 between the island and the China mainland. 
 
 There remain still two or three more facts 
 which must not be neglected in order to 
 obtain a fair view of this important question. 
 
 (a)' It is a fine post for any offensive 
 attack upon China, and also a stronghold for 
 an attack upon the British power in the 
 Pacific. If fortified and defended by a navy 
 from any other power, Formosa would prove 
 a great rival to Hong Kong, which would 
 lose at least half of its importance, commer- 
 cially and strategically, and which has already 
 been somewhat weakened by the French 
 occupation of Cochin China, in 1882. l 
 
 1 The whole history of the French in the East is 
 indissolubly bound up with the history of their efforts to 
 destroy our Eastern supremacy. Mauritius was occupied 
 
JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 6$ 
 
 (b) In case of Asiatic complications, Eng- 
 land would naturally expect reinforcements 
 from Australia, and from the mother country 
 by the Canadian Pacific Railway, but after 
 they arrive at Vancouver, and are on 
 transport, they will be at the mercy either of 
 Japan or the occupier, whoever it may be, of 
 Formosa. Even the Bismarckian policy re 
 New Guinea would be broken down, i.e., all 
 commercial and strategical communication 
 between Hong Kong and Australia would be 
 seriously incommoded by the occupation of 
 Formosa. 
 
 (c] If China herself occupied Formosa 
 thoroughly, 1 and allied with Japan who 
 
 to enable French cruisers to prey on our East Indiamen. 
 Louis XIV. volunteered armed aid to Annam in order 
 to cut off Calcutta from Canton. A French occupation 
 of Tonkin is a serious matter. French cruisers supplied 
 with coal from the mines of Tonkin would lie in the fair- 
 way of our China trade, Burmah and Calcutta would 
 be effectually blockaded, and our outlying Oriental 
 possessions grievously threatened (C. B. Norman's 
 " Tonkin and France in the Far East"). 
 
 1 The inhabitants of the eastern region refuse to 
 recognize the Chinese authority. China cannot control 
 the people of Formosa at all. There is a proverb,. 
 " Every three years an outbreak, every five a rebellion." 
 
 5 
 
<S6 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 occupies the Loo-Choo Islands, they would 
 be impregnable in the sea above 20 of 
 N.lat. 
 
 Again, if the occupier of the Loo Choo 
 Islands z also occupied Formosa on a military 
 basis, she again would have nearly absolute 
 control of the North Pacific. England would 
 be supreme if she held both Hong Kong and 
 Formosa; Germany if the holder would not 
 only complete the Bismarckian policy in New 
 Guinea, but would start a new Germanic 
 policy in the North Pacific. 
 
 Thus we see that Japan, China, England, 
 and Germany, might become important actors 
 in the China Sea, while Russia and China 
 would be actors behind the scenes in Man- 
 chooria and Mongolia. 
 
 The whole result of a historical study of 
 the foreign policy of England and Russia tells 
 us that Russia has increased her influence by 
 
 1 In 1873 a Japanese vessel was wrecked on the 
 eastern coast of Formosa and the crew massacred by the 
 savages. The Japanese Government sent an expedition 
 which was perfectly successful. Eighteen of the tribes in 
 Formosa were defeated and subjugated. 
 
JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 67 . 
 
 annexing and conquering in every T direction 
 of the compass with Moscow as the centre 
 of the Empire. Peter the Great started in 
 the direction of the Baltic, i.e., north-west ; 
 Catherine II. towards the Crimea and Poland 
 in a south and westerly direction ; Alexander 
 I. confined his attention to the Balkans and 
 Caucasus, while Nicholas improved on the 
 same directions, and marched into Central 
 Asia, and since 1858 the Russian attention 
 has been turned on the East, i.e., the Pacific. 
 
 England, on the other hand, has added to 
 her fame by establishing the following naval 
 and coaling stations along the great highways 
 of trade: 
 
 Heligoland in the North Sea, the Channel 
 Islands, Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus, Perim, 
 Aden, Ceylon, Singapore, Hong Kong and 
 Labuan ; the Accession Islands, St. Helena, 
 
 1 The Russian frontier has been advanced toward 
 Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Vienna, and Paris 
 
 about 700 miles 
 
 Towards Constantinople 500 
 
 Stockholm 630 
 
 Teheran ,, 1000 
 
 Peshawar 1300 
 
6S JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 and the Cape of Good Hope, in Africa ; 
 the Bermuda Islands, Halifax, the West 
 Indies, especially Jamaica, and the Falkland 
 Islands in America, besides many important 
 islands in the South and West Pacific. 
 
 By means of these, in the present days of 
 steam, she has been able to maintain her 
 place as the Queen of the Maritime World a 
 position superior to Russia, although the 
 latter country is lord of one-seventh of the 
 globe. 
 
 With such great rivals, we can surely 
 predict that at some future time Russia will 
 work her way into Manchooria and Mongolia 
 to the Yellow Sea and attack the North 
 Pacific. " Everything is obtained by pains," 
 said Peter the Great, in 1722; "even India 
 was not easily found after the long journey 
 round the Cape of Good Hope." J To 
 this Soimonf, who afterwards devoted 
 himself for seventeen years to the explora- 
 tion of Siberia, and was its governor, said 
 that " Russia had a much nearer road to 
 India, and explained the water system of 
 1 E. Schuyler's " Peter the Great," vol. ii. p. 592. 
 
JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 69 
 
 Siberia, how easily and with how little land 
 carriage goods could be sent from Russia 
 to the Pacific and then by ships to India." 
 Peter replied, " It is a long distance and of 
 no use yet awhile." But in the present days 
 of telegraphy and railroads it is not a great 
 distance at all. 
 
 England will without doubt occupy Formosa 
 in order to uphold her power in the same 
 quarter. The result it would be almost 
 impossible to foretell. But this fact remains 
 a certainty that will one day come to pass, 
 that England and Russia will at some future 
 period fight for supremacy in the North 
 Pacific. Japan lies between the future 
 combatants ! 
 
PART II. 
 THE EASTERN QUESTION. 
 
I. 
 
 FOREIGN POLICY OF ENGLAND DURING THE 
 SIXTEENTH, SEVENTEENTH, AND EIGHTEENTH 
 CENTURIES. 
 
 The Spanish Empire, its power, and its decline, Com- 
 mercial rivalry of England and Holland The ascen- 
 dency of France ; threatened by the Grand Alliance 
 The Spanish succession and the Bourbon league 
 England s connection with the war of the Austrian 
 succession The Seven Years 1 War Revival of the 
 Anglo- Bourbon struggle in the American and Napo- 
 leonic wars. 
 
 CHARLES V. of Spain in the height of his 
 power reigned over almost the whole of 
 Western Europe. Besides being King of 
 Spain he was Archduke of Austria, Duke 
 of Burgundy, and Lord of Spanish-America. 
 " The Emperor," said Sir William Cecil, " is 
 aiming at the sovereignty of Europe which 
 cannot be obtained without the suppression 
 
74 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 of the reformed religion, and unless he crushes 
 the English nation he cannot crush the 
 Reformation." Perceiving this important 
 fact, Charles directed his attention to Eng- 
 land, and offered the hand of his son Philip 
 to Mary of England who was anxious to 
 bring back the Catholic Faith into England. 
 
 Their marriage took place in 1554, and 
 proved a great help towards re-establishing 
 the Papal supremacy in England, besides 
 making Spain and England strong political 
 allies. 
 
 Charles V. abdicated in 1555 and sp^nt the 
 rest of his life in seclusion at San Yusti, and 
 the great part of his dominions, viz., the 
 Colonies, Italy, and the Netherlands descended 
 to his son, Philip II., who was by his marriage 
 with Mary nominal King of England. 
 
 On the childless death of Mary the English 
 crown descended to Elizabeth in 1558. Philip 
 thereupon offered marriage to her, but the 
 virgin queen wisely declined. England was 
 by this refusal emancipated from Papal 
 interference and the tyrannies of Philip, 
 and Elizabeth resolved to carry out her 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 7S 
 
 religious and political views independently. 
 Her doctrinal l reform and foreign policy 
 naturally made Spain her bitter enemy. 
 
 In the Netherlands Philip's general conduct 
 raised the inhabitants to revolt, and under the 
 leadership of the Prince of Orange they soon 
 obtained a strong position, and eventually, in 
 1648, after a long and protracted struggle, 
 their independence was recognized. 
 
 Thus the two great sea powers of Philip's 
 age were both common enemies against the 
 arrogance of Spain and were consequently 
 united. 
 
 In France a similar religious struggle, fierce 
 and bitter, was raging. Civil war was rampant 
 and atrocities numerous, the massacre on St. 
 Bartholomew's Day being a notable example. 
 In 1585 the Catholic party formed the 
 " League," whose main objects were the 
 annihilation of the reformed party, and the 
 
 1 " The separation of the Church of England from 
 that of Rome, formally accomplished under Henry VIII. y 
 was a political and legal rather than a religious reforma- 
 tion. The doctrinal changes followed under Edward VI. 
 and Elizabeth" (Taswell-Langmead's "English Consti- 
 tutional History," p. 399). 
 
76 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 elevation of the Guises to the French throne 
 through an alliance with Philip II. of Spain. 
 Its manifesto stated that French subjects 
 were not bound to recognize a prince who 
 was not a Catholic. The death of Henri III. 
 made the situation worse, for two candidates 
 for the French throne appeared, Henry of 
 Navarre, who was supported by the Huguenots 
 and the Cardinal of Bourbon, whom the 
 Leaguers followed, while Philip II. laid claim 
 to the throne on behalf of his daughter by 
 his third marriage with Elizabeth of Valois, 
 sister of Henri III. Hence, after the acces- 
 sion of the House of Bourbon, a coalition of 
 England, Holland, and France was formed 
 against Philip II. of Spain, and from 1600 
 to 1660 the European coalition was England, 
 Holland, and France, versus the Spanish 
 Empire. 
 
 In the meantime Spain had acquired 
 Portugal in 1580, by which both countries 
 became one state, and Philip II. sovereign of 
 the whole oceanic world. Portugal for sixty 
 years remained a dependency of Spain, and 
 then the Spanish Empire had attained to vast 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 77 
 
 and unwieldy dimensions. She could no 
 longer defend her colonies from foreign inva- 
 sion and plunder. The Dutch established 
 themselves wherever they pleased, and 
 plundered and occupied most of the 
 Portuguese possessions. It has been truly 
 said that the Colonial Empire of Holland 
 was founded at the expense first of Portugal, 
 and ultimately of Spain. 1 
 
 England at this time was rapidly rising 
 into the front rank of European nations. In 
 1588 the " Invincible Armada " appeared in 
 the English Channel and was annihilated 
 and disgraced. This was the introduction 
 to that English colonial greatness on which 
 the sun never sets. 
 
 1 " In the sixteenth century all Europe was aghast at 
 the designs of Philip II. of Spain. He had the great mines 
 of the New World, or at least levied a heavy tax on their 
 produce. He seemed to be possessed of inexhaustible 
 riches. He was baffled, beaten, made bankrupt by the 
 Dutch, in whose country there was not an ounce of 
 natural gold or silver, who got all their money by trade, 
 were rapidly becoming the richest nation of Europe when 
 Philip had ruined Spain and brought down the Genoese 
 traders, on his declaring himself bankrupt " (J. E. 
 Thorold Rogers's, "The Economic Interpretation of 
 History," p. 95). 
 
78 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 Then came the beginning of the fall of the 
 Spanish Empire. In 1640 Cardinal Richelieu, 
 the ablest French statesman, provoked Portugal 
 to rebel, his object being the aggrandizement 
 of his own country abroad. The revolt proved 
 successful under John of Braganza, and again 
 Portugal posed as a nation. This proved a 
 deadly blow to Spanish power, and Cromwell 
 finally crushed her power by his invincible 
 foreign policy. He seized Jamaica while 
 Charles II. acquired Bombay. 
 
 This gradual decay of Spain had a 
 corresponding inspiriting effect on England 
 and Holland. Both became commercial and 
 colonial rivals one with another. Ashley 
 Cooper said, c< Holland is our great rival in 
 the ocean and in the New World. Let us 
 destroy her though she be a Protestant 
 Power ; let us destroy her with the help of 
 a Catholic Power." r 
 
 1 " Till this time our merchants were struggling to gain 
 a footing and open up trade between England and 
 different quarters of the globe, and endeavouring to prove 
 that the encouragement of trade was for the royal honour 
 and benefit . . . and their interests coincided with the 
 national ambition of out- doing the Dutch, who would 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 79 
 
 The great naval victories of England and 
 the Navigation Acts, 1651, 1663, and 1672, T 
 crushed the Dutch carrying trade and navy, 
 and England now began to assume the 
 supremacy of the whole oceanic world which 
 has from that time never departed from her. 
 
 However, France gradually filled the breach 
 left by Holland and Spain, and became a great 
 -naval rival of England. The strength of all 
 .the nations round her had been considerably 
 weakened by the Thirty Years' War, while 
 .her commercial and manufacturing progress 
 soon made her one of the strongest European 
 Powers. 
 
 From 1660 to 1672 may be regarded as the 
 
 not acknowledge our sovereignty on the sea, and of thus 
 attaining a mercantile supremacy throughout the world " 
 (Dr. Cunningham's " Growth of English Industry and 
 Commerce," p. 325). 
 
 1 (i) 1651. That the importation of goods into 
 England, except in English ships, or in the ships of the 
 nation producing the goods, was forbidden. 
 
 (2) 1663. That the colonies should receive no 
 .goods whatsoever by foreign vessels. 
 
 (3) 1672. That all the principal articles of com- 
 merce should be prohibited from being imported into 
 England unless by English ships manned by a crew of 
 whom at least three-quarters were English subjects. 
 
So JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 period of the great national rise of France. 
 Louis XIV. laid claim to Belgium and 
 Burgundy in 1665 on the death of Philip IV. 
 of Spain, and in order to enforce his claim his 
 army entered Flanders and Burgundy, but 
 owing to the pressure of the Triple Alliance * 
 the unfavourable Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle 
 was concluded. 
 
 However, later on Louis broke the Triple 
 Alliance and secured the valuable assistance 
 of England and Spain, and with the assistance 
 of the former nation he made a concerted 
 attack upon Holland. France had now 
 reached the topmost rung of the ladder 
 between 1678 and 1688. 
 
 About this period the struggle against 
 absolute monarchy was nearly concluded in 
 England, and was further strengthened in 
 1689 by the Declaration of Rights. The 
 English crown was offered to William of 
 Orange and Mary and accepted by them. 
 Already this personal union had caused an 
 alliance to be formed between England and 
 Holland, at that time the two great Protestant 
 
 1 England, Holland, and Sweden. 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 81 
 
 Powers of Europe, against France the great 
 Roman Catholic upholder. 
 
 If France had remained quiet during the 
 above-mentioned internal discord, England 
 would have been unable to form the " Grand 
 Alliance." Thus Louis committed a great 
 error in assuming an offensive attitude 
 against the two Protestant Powers. This 
 caused a coalition to be formed against him 
 of England, Holland, Spain, and Austria. 
 
 This new system in Europe existed from 
 1688 to 1 700. Then new complications arose, 
 for Charles II., King of Spain, died childless, 
 and the extinction of the Spanish House of 
 Hapsburg seemed to be near at hand. The 
 question of a Spanish successor now occupied 
 the minds of the European cabinets after the 
 Peace of Ryswick. 
 
 There were three claimants : Louis XIV., 
 Leopold I., and the Electoral Prince of 
 Bavaria. The dominions of the Spanish 
 sovereign were still extensive, viz., Spain 
 itself, the Milan territory, Italy, the Nether- 
 lands, and Spanish-America. To unite the 
 Spanish monarchy with that of France or 
 
 6 
 
2 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 Austria, would destroy the European balance 
 of power. Consequently a general council 
 with regard to the succession took place, and 
 the First Partition Treaty was drawn up. 
 Charles II. of Spain, however, made a will, 
 appointing Louis' grandson, Philip of Anjou, 
 as his successor, so Louis XIV. determined 
 to uphold the will rather than the treaty. 
 
 In 1701 the Duke of Anjou was peacefully 
 proclaimed king as Philip V. Louis XIV. 
 on hearing this boasted that " II n'y a plus 
 de Pyrenees." This Bourbon succession in 
 Spain changed the European system, and 
 henceforth we have England, Holland, and 
 Austria, as opposed to France and Spain. 
 
 The Duke of Marlborough, who combined 
 the qualities of a general, diplomatist, and 
 minister skilfully together, was the leader of 
 the Second Grand Alliance against the 
 Houses of Bourbon. 
 
 The inability of France to defend the 
 Spanish Empire, followed by the War of the 
 Spanish Succession, paved the way for the 
 Peace of Utrecht (1713). By this treaty the 
 Bourbons lost Italy and the Low Countries, but 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 83 
 
 retained the throne of Spain, thus still leaving 
 that country open to the influence of France. 
 Hence the permanent alliance of France 
 and Spain was formed in the eighteenth 
 century. 
 
 Meanwhile Holland had fallen into decay 
 through internal exhaustion caused by her 
 struggle against foreign enemies ; thus 
 England had taken her place as the great 
 maritime and colonial power. Thus we see 
 the struggle between England and France 
 (supported by Spain) for the oceanic world 
 in the eighteenth century. 
 
 By the Utrecht Treaty, France ceded 
 to England Newfoundland, Arcadia, and 
 Hudson's Bay territory, while Spain also 
 ceded Gibraltar, the Minorca Island, and 
 the Asiento, the occupation of the two former 
 making another bitter enemy to England. 
 
 Spain had already a hatred of English 
 trade with her colonies in America, so that 
 only a single English ship was conceded by 
 the Treaty of Utrecht, giving thereby only a 
 limited right of trade in South America to 
 England. But this was evaded by a vast 
 
84 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 system of smuggling which arose and proved 
 a constant source of dispute between England 
 and Spanish revenue officers and rendered 
 peace almost impossible. 
 
 In 1733 the first secret pacte de famille 
 had been concluded between France and 
 Spain for the ruin of English maritime trade. 
 The American coast was keenly watched, and 
 the result was "The Jenkins' Ear War," 1739. 
 
 Charles VI., having no son, established an 
 order of succession by the Pragmatic Sanc- 
 tion, signed by nearly all the European 
 Powers, by which his daughter, Maria Theresa, 
 was to succeed to all the hereditary dominions 
 of Hapsburg. But on his death two 
 claimants appeared on the scene the Elector 
 of Bavaria and Philip V. of Spain. 
 
 Walpole did his best to form a Grand 
 Alliance between Hanover and Prussia, also 
 between England, Holland, and Austria 
 However, Frederick's claim to Silesia being 
 refused by Austria, the French and Prussian 
 armies crossed the Rhine, 1741. Thus 
 France began the War of the Austrian Suc- 
 cession. In 1743 the Battle of Dettingen 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 85 
 
 was fought between England and France, the 
 former fighting on behalf of Maria Theresa, 
 and as yet feeling her way carefully before 
 she was brought into direct conflict with the 
 latter Power. 
 
 After the Treaty of Worms the question 
 at issue was changed to that of naval 
 supremacy, and the War of the Austrian 
 Succession fell into the background. 
 
 In 1744, after an attempted invasion of 
 England on behalf of the Pretender, France 
 declared war against both England and 
 Austria. This was bad policy, for if she 
 had fought against one enemy at a 
 time she would have stood a far better 
 chance of crushing England's power. Pro- 
 fessor Seeley says, "If we compare together 
 those seven wars between 1688 and 1815, we 
 shall be struck with the fact that most of 
 them were double wars, and that there is one 
 aspect between France and England, another 
 .between France and Germany. ... It is 
 France," says he, "that suffers by it." l 
 
 England and Holland firmly allied with 
 1 Prof. Seeley's "Expansion of England," p. 95. 
 
86 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 one another, and German troops were 
 subsidized by England. 
 
 Against this alliance the second secret 
 pacte de famille was founded. 
 
 Battles were fought on all sides, by land 
 and sea, both in Europe and America. In 
 spite of French successes at Fontenoy and, 
 Laufeldt, she was severely defeated both on 
 the sea and in America. Louisburg fell, Cape 
 Breton Island was captured, and many other 
 losses sustained. At length the Treaty of 
 Aix-la-Chapelle brought a nominal peace into* 
 the oceanic world, in 1748. 
 
 In 1756 this nominal peace came to aa 
 end, and the Seven Years' War x was fought 
 out, both in the Old and New Worlds; Pitt 
 
 1 " There was between England and France during the 
 Seven Years' War the most disastrous struggle in which 
 France was ever engaged. For all the wars in Europe,, 
 from the Peace of Utrecht to the outbreak of the great 
 Continental War, were waged on behalf of monopolies of 
 commerce, or, to be more accurate, monopolies of market,, 
 for success meant the exclusion of the beaten nation. 
 from the markets now secured by the victorious rival. 
 At the end of the Seven Years' War France was stripped 
 of nearly every colony she possessed. At the beginning 
 of it she was the rival of England in North America and 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 87 
 
 the elder then appeared as a great actor on 
 England's side, and used his great talents to- 
 crush down the French Colonial Empire, and 
 to obtain for his country the sole mastery of 
 the oceanic world. 
 
 He was essentially a war Minister : "The 
 war w r as vigorously carried on throughout 
 1758 in every part of the globe where 
 French could be found, and in 1759 Pitt's 
 energy and his tact in choosing men every- 
 where were rewarded by the extraordinary 
 success by land and sea." l 
 
 The glorious death of Wolfe on the 
 Heights of Abraham was followed by the 
 surrender of Montreal and the brilliant 
 victory of Plassey in India by Clive over 
 the French. Pitt assured his countrymen 
 that "they should not be losers " (in giving 
 pecuniary assistance to Frederick the Great) 
 "and that he would conquer America for them 
 in Germany." 
 
 in India. At the end of it she had scarce a foothold in 
 either " (J. E. Thorold Rogers, " The Economic Inter- 
 pretation of History," p. no), 
 
 1 Macaulay's famous Essay on the Earl of Chatham. 
 
88 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 This proved true. In 1762 the fall of 
 the French Colonial Empire occurred, and 
 England obtained Canada and India. 
 
 This wonderful statesman 1 undoubtedly 
 made England the first country in the world. 
 
 Three Wars of Revenge. 
 
 "A height of prosperity and glory unknown 
 to any former age," 2 was reached in England 
 during the administration of Chatham. Now 
 the tide of fortune began to run against 
 England. 
 
 The passing of the famous Stamp Act, and 
 many other " repeated injuries and usurpa- 
 tions," 3 made the relations between England 
 
 1 "His (the elder Pitt) greatness is throughout 
 identified with the Expansion of England ; he is a states- 
 man of Greater Britain. It is in the buccaneering war 
 with Spain that he sows his political wild oats ; his glory 
 is won in the great colonial duel with France ; his old 
 age is spent in striving to avert schism in Greater 
 Britain" (Prof. Seeley's "Expansion of England," 
 p. 144). 
 
 2 The epitaph on Chatham's monument in West- 
 minster Abbey. 
 
 3 The declaration of American Independence. 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 89 
 
 and the American Colonies virtually hostile. 
 At last the Colonies revolted, and it gave 
 Spain and France the long- wished -for op- 
 portunity of taking revenge upon England. 
 France and Spain formed the third pacte 
 de /ami lie, and assisted the insurgent 
 Colonies, and the independence of the United 
 States was acknowledged in 1783. 
 
 In 1789 the French Revolution broke out, 
 and the first effect felt in England was the 
 breaking-up of the Whig party. 
 
 In 1792 Austria and Prussia invaded 
 France in order to put down the Republicans 
 in that country. In retaliation France 
 determined to declare war against all 
 countries governed by kings, which principle 
 she established by the " Decree of November 
 1 9th," and in 1793 she declared war against 
 England and Holland. 
 
 The younger Pitt had now come to the 
 front. He was an economist and advocated 
 a peace policy. In the spring of 1792 he 
 reduced the navy and confidently looked 
 forward to at least fifteen years of peace. 
 There is no doubt that if France had 
 
90 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 remained quiet his hopes would have proved 
 correct, and that the west bank of the 
 Rhine would now be under French rule. 
 
 But France was eager to revenge past 
 injuries put upon her by England ; and, as if 
 in answer to her desires, the second Alex- 
 ander the Great appeared in Napoleon, and 
 began "alarming the Old World with his, 
 dazzling schemes of aggrandizement." 
 
 Against England his whole energies were 
 directed. " Let us be masters," said he, " of 
 the Channel for six hours and we are 
 masters of the world." r In 1798, he 
 captured Malta, occupied Egypt, and under- 
 took a campaign in Syria, as a furtherance to- 
 his desires of obtaining India, at the same 
 time retaining his ideas with regard to 
 
 1 "As in the American War, France avenges on 
 England her expulsion from the New World, so under 
 Napoleon she makes Titanic efforts to recover her lost 
 place there. This, indeed, is Napoleon's fixed view with 
 regard to England. He sees in England never the 
 island, the European state, but always the world Empire,, 
 the network of dependencies and colonies and islands 
 covering every sea, among which he was himself 
 destined to find his prison and his grave " (Seeley's 
 " Expansion of England," p. 33). 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 91 
 
 England. Malta to Egypt, Egypt to India, 
 India to England. 
 
 In 1802 a momentary universal peace 
 occurred. But Napoleon could not rest, his 
 ambition spurred him on. His anger was 
 again kindled by the English retention of 
 Malta, after his defeat in Egypt, and he saw 
 if Malta was wrested from him his lofty 
 schemes would be undermined. In 1803 he 
 again declared war against England and 
 Holland. He arrested all the English 
 residents in France between the ages of 
 sixteen and sixty and kept them confined. 
 
 The younger Pitt was just the statesman fit. 
 to cope with him, and frustrate his aims. He 
 aimed at a European coalition, 1 by which all 
 threatening dangers from the overwhelming 
 greatness of one nation might be averted. 
 
 1 The first coalition of England, Prussia, Holland, and 
 Sweden, was for the purpose of keeping the European 
 Peace. 
 
 The second coalition (1799-1801), composed of 
 Russia, England, Austria, Portugal, Naples, and the 
 Ottoman Empire. 
 
 The third coalition (1805), composed of England, 
 Russia, Austria, and Sweden. 
 
92 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 On October 21, 1805, tne glorious victory 
 at Trafalgar, the outcome and consummation 
 of Nelson's inspiring command, " England 
 expects every man to do his duty," broke the 
 naval power of France. And yet this was 
 followed by the capitulation of Ulm, the 
 defeat at Austerlitz, and the subsequent 
 Treaty of Presburg, which broke up the 
 coalition of England, Russia, and Austria, 
 and seriously affected Pitt's health thereby. 
 Truly, " Austerlitz killed Pitt." l 
 
 At once Napoleon proceeded to turn the 
 whole forces he had on the Continent against 
 England, especially after the Peace of Tilsit, 
 (1807). He first attacked England with the 
 " Continental System," i.e., he prohibited all 
 direct and indirect European trade with the 
 
 1 " Though he was still but forty-seven, the hollow 
 voice and wasted frame of the great Minister had long 
 told that death was near, and the blow to his hopes 
 proved fatal. 'Roll up that map,' he said, pointing to 
 the map of Europe, 'it will not be wanted these ten 
 years.' Once only he rallied from stupor; and those 
 who bent over him caught a faint murmur of ' My 
 country ! How I leave my country ! ' " (Green's " Short 
 History of English People," p. 799). 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 93 
 
 British Isles. This he confirmed by the 
 Decrees of Berlin (1806) and Milan (1807). 
 
 In 1812 he invaded Russia and entered 
 the famous city with the cry of " Moscow ! 
 Moscow !" Even at that moment, however, 
 his real aim of attack was England, across 
 the Channel. 
 
 England was ever uppermost in his 
 thoughts. " He conquers Germany, but 
 why ? Because Austria and Russia, subsi- 
 dized by England, march against him while 
 he is brooding at Boulogne over the conquest 
 of England. When Prussia was conquered, 
 what was his first thought ? That now he 
 has a new weapon against England, since he 
 can impose the Continental System upon all 
 Europe. Why does he occupy Spain and 
 Portugal ? It is because they are maritime 
 countries, with fleets and colonies that may be 
 used against England." : 
 
 Napoleon was driven out of Moscow by 
 fire, and his return march turned literally into 
 a defeat, while his plan of a direct attack in 
 
 1 Prof. Seeley's " Expansion of England," p. 105. 
 
94 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 England, through Belgium, three years after, 
 was frustrated at Waterloo. 
 
 Thus the scene of the great Napoleonic 
 drama in English history closed on June 
 1 8, 1815. 
 
II. 
 
 FOREIGN POLICY OF RUSSIA DURING THE 
 REIGNS OF PETER THE GREAT, CATHERINE 
 II., AND ALEXANDER I. 
 
 J*eter the Great, and establishment of Russian power on 
 the Baltic Consequent collision with the Northern 
 States and the Maritime Powers Catheri?ie II. and 
 Poland First partition Russia reaches the Black 
 Sea Russo- Austria?! alliance against Turkey opposed 
 by Pitt Second and third partitions of Poland Rise 
 of Prussia Alexander I. and the conquest of Turkey 
 Treaty of Tilsit Peace of Bucharest Congress of 
 Vienna French influence in the East destroyed. 
 
 Peter the Great (1689-1725). 
 
 THE Russian territory now extends over one- 
 seventh of the globe, and Alexander III. 
 rules over more than 100,000,000 souls. 
 Russia is a powerful political rival not only 
 of England alone, but of all the European 
 Powers. 1 
 
 1 Napoleon, at St. Helena, prophesied that before a cen- 
 tury was over Europe would be Cossack or Republican. 
 
96 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 However, on Peter the Great's accession to 
 the throne, his country covered an area of 
 only 265,000 square miles, and no harbours 
 were to be found either on the Baltic or the 
 Black Sea. This was felt to be a serious 
 obstacle for a rising Power. Peter himself 
 said, in the preface to the " Maritime Regu- 
 lations " : " For some years I had the fill of 
 my desires on Lake Pereyaslavl, but finally 
 it got too narrow for me. I then went to the 
 Kubensky Lake, but that was too shallow. 
 I then decided to see the open sea and began 
 often to beg the permission of my mother to 
 go to Archangel." l His first and great 
 object was to establish harbours on the Baltic 
 or the Black Sea. 
 
 The Turks were the preliminary object of 
 his attack. The first campaign against Azof 
 (1695) proved a failure, but a new campaign 
 was started again in 1696, and the Czar's 
 " bravery and his genius " were rewarded with 
 
 1 " The English victory at La Hogue, and the revival 
 of the trade with Holland, had much to do with Peter's 
 visit to Archangel " (E. Schuyler's " Peter the Great," 
 vol. i. p. 276). 
 
THE EXPANSION OF RUSSIA IN EUROPE 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 99 
 
 a great victory over Azof. Here begins the 
 modern history of Russia. 
 
 Immediately after the capture of Azof 
 Peter determined to carry out his design of 
 creating a large fleet on the Black Sea. For 
 the purpose, " no sooner had the festivities 
 in Moscow ended than, at a general 
 council of the boyars, it was decided to send 
 3,000 families of peasants and 3,000 streltsi 
 and soldiers to populate the empty town of 
 Azof and firmly to establish the Russian 
 power at the mouth of the Don. At a second 
 council Peter stated the absolute necessity 
 for a large rleet, and apparently with such 
 convincing arguments, that the assembly 
 decided that one should be built. Both 
 civilians and clergy were called upon for 
 sacrifices." l 
 
 Peter also sent fifty men of the highest 
 families in Russia to Italy, Holland, and 
 England, to study the art of ship-building. 
 Peter himself visited Holland and England 
 that he might learn ship-building. " One 
 thing, however, he could not learn there, and 
 1 E. Schuyler's " Peter the Great," vol. i. p. 323. 
 
ioo JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 that was the construction of galleys and 
 galliots, such as were used in the Medi- 
 terranean, and would be serviceable in the 
 Bosphorus and on the coast of the Crimea. 
 For this he desired to go to Venice." l This 
 clearly shows us that Peter had conceived 
 the idea of establishing a strong navy on the 
 Black Sea. 
 
 The revolt of the streltsi recalled him 
 home ; however, he found no difficulty in 
 suppressing the insurrection. 
 
 After this, he sent an envoy to the 
 Ottoman Empire to obtain permission for 
 the Russian fleet to enter -the Black Sea, to 
 which the Porte replied : " The Black Sea 
 and all its coasts are ruled by the Sultan 
 alone. They have never been in the posses- 
 sion of any other Power, and since the Turks 
 have gained sovereignty over this sea, from 
 time immemorial no foreign ship has ever 
 sailed its water, nor ever will sail them." 
 
 Meanwhile Charles XII., King of Sweden, 
 began to assume an attitude of hostility to 
 Peter, and the Battle of Narva was fought, 
 1 E. Schuyler's " Peter the Great," vol. i. p. 368. 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 101 
 
 where Peter was miserably defeated.- ! "After 
 this war, Charles made Russia the great 
 object of his attack instead of Poland. He 
 said, " I will treat with the Czar at Moscow." 
 Peter replied, " My brother Charles wishes 
 to play the part of Alexander, but he will 
 not find me Darius." The Battle of Pultawa 
 (1709) soon decided Peter's superiority, and 
 the Peace of Nystadt (1721) added the 
 Baltic provices and a number of islands in 
 the Baltic to Russia. 
 
 In 1703 " a great window for Russia to 
 look out at Europe"- so Count Algaratti 
 called St. Petersburg was made by Peter on 
 the marshes of the Neva. This step firmly 
 established Russian power on the Baltic. 
 
 But to establish Russian power on the 
 Baltic at all was as great a mistake as ever 
 has been committed by so shrewd a states- 
 man as Peter the Great. The predominance 
 of Russia in the Baltic with her strong navy 
 threatened the interest of the commerce and 
 carrying-trade of the English and Dutch. 
 Hence it was natural enough that England 
 and Holland, two great maritime powers, 
 
 
102 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 should hdV'e'joined to protect their interest in 
 the Baltic as well as the integrity of Sweden 
 against Russian aggression. In the case of 
 the Northern War, England had formed an 
 alliance with Sweden and sent her fleet to 
 the Baltic under command of Admiral Morris 
 to prevent the Russian sway on those waters. 
 Had Peter thought less of the importance 
 of the Baltic, and concentrated his energies 
 on obtaining a sure foothold in the Crimea, 
 Constantinople would now be a Russian 
 southern capital. 
 
 Catherine II. (1762-1796). 
 
 The Seven Years' War had been brought 
 to a finish when Catherine II. ascended the 
 Russian throne. The next great European 
 complication was brought about by the affairs 
 of Poland. 
 
 On the death of Augustus III., Stainslaius 
 Poniatowski was elected King of Poland, and 
 at the request of Prussia and Russia the 
 dissenters, adherents of the Greek Church 
 and the Protestants, received all civil rights. 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 103 
 
 In opposition to this a Confederation of 
 Bar was formed in 1 768, with the object of 
 dethroning the King. Catherine now began 
 to interfere with Poland on behalf of the Greek 
 Christians, and supported the King with 
 her Russian army. This interference made 
 her practically mistress of Poland. Turkey, 
 an ally of the Confederacy, being alarmed at 
 the growing Russian influence and being 
 urged on by France, declared war upon 
 Russia in order to resist the progress of 
 Catherine in Poland ; but this proved dis- 
 astrous, as she was miserably defeated, both 
 on land and sea, and brought to the verge 
 of ruin. This Russian success alarmed 
 Western Europe, and especially the two 
 neighbouring Christian Powers, Prussia and 
 Austria, each of whom had a special interest 
 in the existence of Poland and Turkey. 
 Catherine would not make peace without 
 acquiring territory as a compensation for her 
 exertions and outlay, while Prussia and 
 Austria would not allow her to do this unless 
 they acquired a certain amount of territory 
 themselves. Hence the First Partition of 
 
104 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 Poland took place, by which the three Powers 
 secured equal aggrandizement, Russia re- 
 ceiving the eastern part of Lithuania as her 
 share. 
 
 In 1774 the Treaty of Kutschouk Kain- 
 ardji was concluded with Turkey, by which 
 the independence of the Mongol Tartars in 
 the Crimea was acknowledged by the Sultan ; 
 Russia obtained the right of protection over 
 all the Christian subjects of the Porte within 
 a certain limit, and also the right of free 
 navigation in all Turkish waters for trading 
 vessels. This treaty firmly planted Russia 
 on the northern coasts of the Black Sea. 
 
 In 1783 the Crimea was incorporated with 
 Russia, and in 1787 Catherine visited the 
 southern part of Russia as far as Kherson, on 
 the Black Sea. Joseph II. of Austria, on 
 hearing of her approach to his dominions, 
 hastened to meet her, and together they 
 journeyed through the Crimea, the Czarina 
 unfolding to the Emperor both her own plans 
 and those of Potemkin, her favourite, viz., 
 to expel all the Turks from Europe, re- 
 establish the old Empire of Greece, and 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 105 
 
 place her younger grandson Constantine on 
 the throne of Constantinople. Joseph fell 
 in with her view, and it was hinted that 
 something like a Western Empire should 
 be also constituted and placed under the 
 Austrian sway. In this way a division of the 
 Ottoman Empire was contemplated between 
 the two countries. This soon aroused the 
 suspicions of Turkey, and war was again 
 declared. But now it was two against one, 
 and the fate of Turkey again seemed sealed. 
 William Pitt was the first statesman who 
 directly opposed Russia and tendered assis- 
 tance to Turkey against Russian encroaching 
 power. His foreign policy of opposition to 
 Russia has been followed more or less by 
 generations of English Ministers. The 
 Triple Alliance of England, Prussia, and 
 Holland was formed by Pitt against the 
 " Colossus of the North," in order to preserve 
 the balance of power in Europe, and the death 
 of Joseph II., saved Turkey again. Pitt, by 
 means of this Alliance, demanded that a peace 
 be made between Russia and Turkey on the 
 status quo ante helium, and threatened to 
 
io6 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 maintain his demand by arms. The English 
 people, however, cared very little about a 
 Russian invasion of Turkey, while Catherine 
 disregarded Pitt's threats. 
 
 Soon after a peace between Russia and 
 Turkey was concluded at Jassy, by which 
 Turkey ceded Oczakow and the land be- 
 tween the Dnieper, Bug, and Dniester, con- 
 taining several good harbours, and notably 
 Odessa ; the protectorate of Russia over 
 Tiflis and Kartalinia was also recognized. 
 
 By the above-mentioned acquisitions she 
 felt certain that very soon Constantinople 
 would be in her hands. However, a 
 nearer, and, in her opinion, a more im- 
 portant matter engaged her attention. In 
 1792 the new Constitution of Poland was 
 drawn up by Ignaz Potocki, converting the 
 Elective Monarchy into an hereditary one, 
 the House of Saxony supplying a dynasty of 
 kings. The Confederacy of Jargowitz, which 
 was formed in opposition to this new Consti- 
 tution, called in the help of Russia. 
 
 This now seemed to be a grand oppor- 
 tunity for Russia to finally annex Poland, 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 107 
 
 because the deaths of Frederick the Great 
 (1786) and Joseph (1790), and the French 
 Revolution, which occupied the attention of 
 all Western Europe, set the Czarina free from 
 her most watchful rivals. A Russian army 
 invaded Poland, and the new Constitution 
 was repealed. Prussian troops also entered 
 Poland under the pretence of suppressing 
 Jacobinism, and Russia again found herself 
 frustrated, and concluded a Second Partition 
 (1793) with Prussia, by which she received 
 Lithuania, Volhynin, and Podolia. 
 
 In 1795 the Polish nation rebelled, under 
 the leadership of Xoscruscko, and this led to 
 a Third Partition between Russia, Prussia, 
 and Austria, and the former Power added 
 181,000 square miles, with 6,000,000 in- 
 habitants, together with Curland, to her 
 already vast dominions. 
 
 By this last Partition a road of aggression 
 was open towards Sweden on the north-west, 
 and towards Turkey on the south. 
 
 Many combined circumstances led Russia 
 to assume an aggressive policy towards 
 Turkey specially. Sweden, or rather Fin- 
 
io8 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 land, was not of sufficient importance as a 
 prey to the "northern bear " a warmer 
 climate was also wanted. Catherine had al- 
 ready discovered the mistaken policy of Peter 
 the Great, who had spent all his energy 
 in getting the strongholds of the Baltic 
 in opposition to Charles XII. of Sweden. 
 Russian sway on the Baltic meant a direct 
 opposition from two great sea Powers, viz., 
 England and Holland, whose interests would 
 suffer thereby. A striking proof of the 
 opposition was seen in the case of the 
 Northern War. 
 
 The Partition of Poland produced another 
 stray Power in the Baltic, to wit, Prussia. 
 
 Previous to the Partition of Poland, 
 Prussia Proper and her dominions, Branden- 
 berg and Silesia, were separated, Poland 
 being between them. The First Partition 
 joined the Prussian kingdom to the main 
 body of the Monarchy ; by the Second and 
 Third Partitions Prussia obtained the then 
 South Prussia and East Prussia, thereby 
 uniting all into one compact body. 
 
 Thus unconsciously a powerful Russian 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 109 
 
 enemy was being formed in the Baltic. Thus 
 Russia had three great enemies England, 
 Holland, and Prussia, joined by Sweden and 
 Denmark, on the Baltic. 
 
 Catherine had already obtained a firm footing 
 on the Black Sea coast, and was confident of 
 her ability to occupy Constantinople and 
 make it a Russian southern capital; the French 
 Revolution attracting the attention of Western 
 Europe, the Ottoman Empire was left at the 
 mercy of Russia. Again a Russian occupa- 
 tion would give a fine prospect of extending 
 Russian authority into Danubian territory, 
 Central Asia, and Asia Minor. 
 
 So we may conclude that Catherine's 
 annexation of Poland was only a step towards 
 attaining her great aim, and gave her time to 
 mature her plans. 
 
 At this juncture Catherine died, and was 
 succeeded by Paul (1796). He reversed his 
 mother's policy by concluding an alliance 
 with Turkey against Napoleon, seeing that 
 the latter's policy was to destroy the Turkish 
 Empire for the benefit of France. He 
 changed his policy later, however, after his 
 
1 10 JAPAN AND THE PA CIFIC. 
 
 unsuccessful campaign in Holland, and threw 
 himself into Napoleon's arms by establishing 
 an armed neutrality in the north against Eng- 
 land. 
 
 Alexander I. (1801-1825). 
 
 Catherine died (1796), but her plan did 
 not perish with her. Alexander I. proved a 
 faithful expounder of the late Czarinas 
 schemes. 
 
 His strong - handed policy was chiefly 
 directed against Armenia and the Persian 
 frontier, although the Danubian territory, 
 Poland and Finland, did not escape his 
 watchful eyes. Mingreliaand Imeretia were 
 conquered in 1803, Shiroan in 1805-1806. 
 
 At last Alexander's policy took a definite 
 form at the Treaty of Tilsit (1807), for by 
 the first provision " Russia was to take pos- 
 session of Turkey in Europe, and push on 
 her conquests in Asia as she thought proper." 
 This secret treaty, which was made with 
 Napoleon I., caused great uneasiness in 
 England, and a coolness sprang up between 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. in 
 
 the two Powers (1807-1812), although Eng- 
 land had adhered to an Anglo-Russian 
 Alliance during Chatham's administration, 
 and Alexander joined the coalition of 1805. 
 
 In 1809 Russia gained Finland, with the 
 whole of East Bothnia and part of West 
 Bothnia, as far as the River Tornea, by the 
 Treaty of Friedrichsham. The Peace of 
 Bucharest (1812) was the result of Eng- 
 land's mediation, by which Russia added 
 Bessarabia, and the Pruth was made the 
 boundary between Russia and Turkey, while 
 Russia gave up Moldavia and Wallachia, 
 which at that time were occupied by her. 
 
 The quarrel between Russia and France 
 concerning the " Continental System " l 
 
 1 " Upon the Continental System he (Napoleon) had 
 staked everything. He had united all Europe in the 
 crusade against England; no state, least of all such a 
 state as Russia, could withdraw from the system with- 
 out practically joining England. Nevertheless, we may 
 wonder that, if he felt obliged to make war upon Russia, 
 he should have chosen to wage it in the manner he did, 
 by an overwhelming invasion " (Seeley's " A Short 
 History of Napoleon the Great," p. 169). Prof. Seeley 
 also told the author that " if the Continental System had 
 existed a little longer England would have been ruined, 
 
ii2 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 brought about a French invasion of Russia 
 by 678,000 men (1812). But Russia coped 
 successfully with her powerful foe. 
 
 The Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) met 
 to restore the balance of power and regulate 
 the European relations, and also established 
 the " Pentarchy of the Great Powers." Eight 
 nations signed the Act of the Congress of 
 Vienna, by which Russia was, generally 
 speaking, the greatest gainer, for she received 
 the greater part of the Grand Duchy of 
 Warsaw. 
 
 At the Congress of Vienna, Castlereagh 
 (the English representative) evidently had in 
 view three aims (i) to prevent any revival of 
 the Continental System ; (2) to protect Eng- 
 lish communication with India; and (3) to 
 maintain her supremacy in the Mediter- 
 ranean. For the first aim, England obtained 
 Heligoland, and the kingdom of the Nether- 
 lands was formed, and " the surrender of Java 
 was made to the Dutch by way of increasing 
 the wealth and power of that kingdom, and so 
 
 because it seems to me that a revolution would have 
 taken place in England.'' 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 113 * 
 
 helping to re-establish the due counterpoise 
 to French power which nature has given to 
 the possession of the Low Countries " ; for 
 the second aim, England also obtained the 
 possession of Cape Colony (from the Dutch) 
 and the Mauritius (from France) to render 
 safe the road to India ; and for the third 
 aim, England retained Malta, and also the 
 seven Ionian islands were brought under 
 English protection. 
 
 The Battle of Waterloo stamped out 
 Napoleon's l ambitious schemes. French 
 power and influence in Eastern Europe 
 vanished with Napoleon, and from that time 
 France has not fully recovered, and is there- 
 fore unable to settle the Eastern Question 
 for her benefit. The Napoleonic plan of 
 occupying Constantinople has been stolen 
 by Russia. 
 
 1 " Napoleon's great mistake was that he had laid his 
 plan for an invasion of England and a war in Europe at 
 the same time " (Seeley's " A Short History of Napoleon 
 the Great," p. 115). 
 
 8 
 
III. 
 
 THE NEW EUROPEAN SYSTEM. 
 
 77^6' concert of the Great Powers ; its aims It does not 
 protect small states from its own members, e.g.,. 
 Polish Revolution How far can it solve the Turkish 
 question ? 
 
 NAPOLEON THE GREAT fell at the Battle of 
 .Waterloo, 1815. The "concert of the Great 
 Powers," the primary object of which is to 
 avoid the recurrence of universal war in 
 Europe, was first established at the Congress 
 of Vienna in the same year. This new 
 European System is, however, only applicable 
 to the case of a small Power or Powers, but 
 not to the Great Powers themselves. For 
 instance, in the Schleswig-Holstein, as well 
 as the Franco-Prussian War, none of the 
 other Great Powers could interfere, and 
 matters were entirely left to themselves. 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 117 
 
 But in the case of a lesser state or states 
 becoming breaker of the peace, the Great 
 Powers have never hesitated to step in and 
 settle the difference according to their mutual 
 agreement. We see good instance of it in 
 the Independence of Belgium 
 
 The " concert of the Great Powers " is 
 actually a second phase of the Holy Alliance, 
 and the new system has usually its object the 
 protection of a smaller state against the 
 larger. Greek Independence was a singular 
 example of the new system. The revolt of 
 Greece was entirely suppressed by the Sultan, 
 and there was no hope of freeing themselves 
 from the Turkish yoke. Though hardly 
 justifiable, the Great Powers at last inter- 
 fered, and made Greece an independent state. 
 The Independence of Italy was another 
 example. 
 
 Thus we see that under the new system 
 now prevalent in Europe, a smaller state at 
 least attains her end. 
 
 Let us examine the Polish Revolution 
 against Russia. The Poles said, Let us 
 revolt. We shall undoubtedly be beaten by 
 
iiS JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 Russia ; but we don't mind that at all, 
 because we shall at last attain our own end 
 through the interference of the Great Powers. 
 There was every reason for the event turning 
 out as they had calculated. Louis Napoleon 
 was the first European sovereign who inter- 
 fered in the Polish Revolution, and he invited 
 England to join him. England, however, 
 declined, owing to the difficulties of the situa- 
 tion. France, from her isolation, failed in 
 her desires, and Louis Napoleon lost his 
 European confidence. Truly the fall of the 
 French Empire began from that date. 
 
 This Polish Revolution disclosed another 
 characteristic of the new European System. 
 In the event of either country concerned 
 being one of the Great Powers, the system 
 is of no effect at all. The late dispute 
 between England and Portugal comes under 
 this heading. 
 
 One more interesting question needs in- 
 vestigation. How far this new European 
 System is applicable to the question of 
 Turkey, a country which may be placed 
 among the first-class Powers, and where 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 119 
 
 Christian inhabitants are in an inferior 
 position to the Turkish Mahomedans. This 
 is what I have to discuss in the following 
 five chapters. 
 
IV. 
 
 GREEK INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 The Holy Alliance The Greek insurrection Interference 
 of the Three Powers Battle of Nauarino Treaty of 
 Adrianople The policy of Nicholas I. j Treaty of 
 Unkiar Ikelessi Turkey only saved by English and 
 French aid Palmerston succeeds to Cannings policy. 
 
 ALEXANDER I., Emperor of Russia ; Francis, 
 Emperor of Austria; and William I., King 
 of Prussia, formed what was known as the 
 Holy Alliance, the first-named being the 
 chief instigator. 
 
 Its aim was to promote peace and good- 
 will among European nations, based upon 
 Christianity, although it seemed quite liable 
 to be abused for the benefit of absolute 
 monarchy, as in the case of Spain. Nearly 
 all the European Powers joined it, England : 
 
 1 The Prince Regent declared his personal adherence 
 to its principles. 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 121 
 
 being the only one who declined. England's 
 argument was that " such interference is in- 
 consistent with the fundamental laws of 
 Great Britain. It must lead to a system 
 of continual interference incompatible with 
 European interests and the independence of 
 nations." l However, we are forced to admit 
 and acknowledge that the present system 
 of Europe is conducted on the same lines, 
 slightly modified, as the Holy Alliance. 
 
 At the end of the eighteenth century the 
 songs of the poet Rhegus and the revolu- 
 tionary influence of France (1789) stirred up 
 the Greeks to feelings of hatred against the 
 Porte. 
 
 In 1821 the Danubian Provinces (Rou- 
 mania), under the leadership of Hypisilands, 
 rose in rebellion, trusting to receiving as- 
 sistance from Alexander I., the instigator of 
 the Holy Alliance. But their hopes were 
 shattered, and Turkey soon crushed the 
 revolt. This was the only case in which 
 Russia did not interfere with Turkey in the 
 Danubian question. 
 
 1 Lord Castlereagh's Speech, 1812. 
 
122 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 A little reflection, however, will show the 
 cause of the Russian non-interference in this 
 case. Alexander's power and influence were 
 declining, and Russia was filled internally 
 with discontent. Secret societies flourished 
 everywhere, and the Czar dreaded a revolu- 
 tion in his own country if he gave help to 
 the Danubian Provinces, which would be 
 approving a rebellion against a legitimate 
 sovereign. 
 
 The Greek rising in the Morea was 
 answered by a counter Turkish massacre of 
 Greeks in most of the principal cities of 
 Turkey, and Gregory, the head of the Greek 
 Church at Constantinople, was executed. 
 This caused great indignation in the Russias 
 and war appeared imminent, but owing to the 
 mediation of England and Austria it was 
 averted. 
 
 There is no doubt that Russia felt that it 
 was to her advantage to assist a revolutionary 
 movement, in order that she might secure as 
 much influence in Turkey as possible. But 
 Austrian interest in the Balkans was of vital 
 importance. Her policy was naturally to 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 123 
 
 oppose Russia in her desires, in order to keep 
 the Turkish honour unstained and use her as 
 a bulwark against Russia. 
 
 However, great enthusiasm was aroused, 
 not only in England, but also in Germany 
 and Switzerland. 
 
 Lord Byron died, 1 and Shelley wrote for 
 the Greek cause. Lord Cochrane and Sir 
 Richard Church fought, while the German 
 poet, M tiller, and the Swiss Eynard, warmly 
 upheld the cause of the oppressed Greeks. 
 
 Notwithstanding this help, the Greeks 
 were far from fortunate, and the Sultan, with 
 the help of the Egyptians, captured Athens. 
 But their brave defence of Missolonghi 
 aroused the sympathies of the European 
 Powers. 
 
 Nicholas I. (1825-1855). 
 
 On the death of Alexander I. the Holy 
 Alliance vanished (1825), and Nicholas I. 
 ascended the throne (1825-1855). Now the 
 
 1 He was " engaged in the glorious attempt to restore 
 that country to her ancient freedom and renown " (The 
 Epitaph in the Church near Newstead). 
 
124 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 Greeks appealed to England for help, and 
 Canning l saw that it was the best policy for 
 England to assist Greece in order to control 
 the ambitious plans of Russia. Accordingly 
 he sent the Duke of Wellington as the 
 English representative, and a protocol was 
 signed at St. Petersburg by which Greece 
 was to remain tributary to the Sultan, but to 
 be independent as regards commercial rela- 
 tions. This protocol developed into the 
 Treaty of London, between England, France, 
 and Russia, by which the three Powers bound 
 themselves to act as mediators in the 
 Eastern question. The mediation of the 
 Powers was rejected by the Porte, but 
 accepted by the Greeks. The result was 
 that the Turko- Egyptian fleet was totally 
 destroyed at the Battle of Navarino by the 
 
 1 "In the present state of European politics there 
 seems to be in the East a sort of vacuum, which it is 
 advisable to supply, in order to counterbalance the 
 preponderance of the North. ... If anything like an 
 equilibrium is to be upheld, Greece must be supported. 
 Mr. Canning, I think, understands this, and intends to 
 behave towards Greece " (R. C. Jebb's " Modern 
 Greece," pp. 178-179). 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 125 
 
 allies, and the Sultan retreated from the 
 Morea. Canning's death in 1827 gave Eng- 
 land an opportunity of retiring from active 
 participation in the alliance, especially as she 
 regarded the Battle of Navarino as an 
 4i untoward event," so Russia and Turkey 
 were left alone in conflict. 
 
 This, in my opinion, was a halfhearted 
 policy on the part of England, although the 
 Cabinet at that time could do no other, 
 because their tenets would not allow them to 
 help a revolutionary people against a country 
 governed by a legitimate sovereignty. 
 
 Now had the long-wished-for opportunity 
 arrived for Russia to carry into effect on 
 Turkey her long-cherished designs. Diebitch, 
 a Russian general, crossed the Balkans, and 
 soon captured Adrianople ; while Paskevitch 
 took Kars and Erzeroom in Asia. 
 
 These successes resulted in the Treaty of 
 Adrianople (1829), between Russia and Tur- 
 key. By the treaty l Russia gave back almost 
 
 1 This disadvantageous treaty for Russia was made 
 owing to the disappearance of immense numbers of 
 soldiers. 
 
126 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 all her conquests to Turkey, only retaining" 
 the ports of Anapa and Poti, on the eastern 
 coast of the Black Sea, and the Protectorate 
 powers of the Czar over the Danubian 
 Principalities were confirmed and extended. 
 In return Turkey acquiesced in all the 
 provisions of the London Conference. 
 
 This made Greece practically an indepen- 
 dent state. 
 
 Nicholas pursued the policy of Alexander 
 I. with regard to the Asiatic boundaries, and 
 successfully carried on a war with Persia 
 from 1826 to 1828 which was terminated by 
 the Treaty of Turkmantchai (1828), Russia 
 receiving the provinces of Erivan and 
 Nakhitcheven. This was the period of the 
 expansion of Russia, and the first appearance 
 of Russia as a real rival of Great Britain. 
 
 Reviewing the general policy of Nicholas 
 the reader cannot help being struck with the 
 skilful manner and clever system by which 
 the Czar carried out his plans. 
 
 Before his reign the Russian attacks were 
 all made particularly in the south-west and 
 south-east direction, viz., the Danubian 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 127 
 
 territory, and Armenia ; but on his accession 
 he began to attack from a more southerly 
 direction even than Turkey, viz., Greece, 
 whom he assisted in rebellion against her 
 Turkish oppressors. From 1826-1828 he 
 attacked in a south-easterly quarter, viz., 
 Armenia and Persia, at the same time 
 occupying Adrianople and threatening Con- 
 stantinople. Finally, to complete his plans, 
 he struck a fatal blow at the heart of Turkey, 
 viz., its capital, Constantinople, in 1833, with 
 the Treaty of Unkiar Skelessi, by which 
 Turkey was practically made a vassal of 
 Russia. 
 
 This treaty exercised a great influence 
 upon foreign powers. For Russia by it 
 would have obtained actual possession notonly 
 of the Black Sea but also of its only entrance, 
 the Dardanelles, which thus would have 
 become a fortified Russian outpost. 
 
 Turkey now was in a very precarious state. 
 She was almost past the aid of any earthly 
 powers. But luckily two doctors stepped 
 into the breach, namely, England and France, 
 and, after a course of treatment, the following 
 
128 f AP AN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 protocol was indited by the Pentarchy of 
 Powers : " That ships of war have at all 
 times been prohibited from entering the 
 Channel of Constantinople, viz., by the 
 Straits of the Dardanelles and of the Black 
 Sea." 
 
 Reshid Pacha had performed for Turkey 
 great internal reforms, but, unfortunately, he 
 was exiled through a Court intrigue. This 
 proved a great blow to Turkish politics. 
 
 Thus Turkey began to decline again ; and, 
 as John Bright said in an able speech at 
 Manchester (1854), " Turkey is a decaying 
 nation ; " and Cobden on the same occasion 
 said, " Turkey is a decaying country, and the 
 Turks cannot be permanently maintained as 
 a ruling Power in Europe." The Czar 
 himself said that "a sick man is dying," 
 referring to Turkey, in his remarkable con- 
 versation with Sir Hamilton Seymour on 
 January 28, 1853. 
 
 When Turkey appeared at her last gasp 
 she had been saved by England and France, 
 Now, for the second time, the same Powers 
 rescued her from annihilation. 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 129 
 
 England a short time previously had been 
 in a feeble state owing to her severe war with 
 Napoleon the Great. This had exhausted 
 her financially to a great extent. 1 
 
 However, Huskisson's commercial policy 
 (1823), Wellington's Catholic Emancipation 
 (1829), Russell's great Reform Bill (1832), 
 and the Repeal of the Corn Laws by Sir 
 Robert Peel (1846), had exercised a re- 
 freshing influence upon her general pros- 
 perity. 
 
 Here Lord Palmerston, a disciple 2 of 
 
 1 " The pressure of the heavy taxation and of the 
 debts, which now reached eight hundred millions, was 
 embittered by the general distress of the country " 
 (J. R. Green's " A Short History of the English People," 
 p. 812). 
 
 2 " Our ultimate object is the peace of the world ; but 
 let it not be said that we cultivate peace either because 
 we fear or because we are not prepared for war. The 
 resources created by peace are the means of waf. In 
 cherishing these resources we but accumulate those 
 means. Our present repose is no more a proof of our 
 inability to act than the state of inertness and inactivity 
 in which I have seen those mighty masses that float in 
 the waters above your town is a proof they are devoid of 
 strength and incapable of being fitted for action. You 
 well know how one of those stupendous masses now 
 
130 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 Canning, appeared on the scene to play his 
 part in " the European concert." 
 
 reposing on their shadow in perfect stillness, how soon, 
 upon any call of patriotism or necessity, it would assume 
 the likeness of an animated thing, instinct with life and 
 motion ; how soon it would ruffle, as it were, its swelling 
 plumage ; how quickly it would put forth all its beauty 
 and its bravery, collect its scattered elements of strength, 
 and awake its dormant thunders. Such as is one of these 
 magnificent machines when springing from inaction into 
 a display of its strength, such is England herself, while 
 apparently passive and motionless she silently causes 
 power to be put forth on an adequate occasion " 
 (Canning's speech at Plymouth, August, 1823). 
 
V. 
 
 THE CRIMEAN WAR. 
 
 Nicholas I. alienates France from England by the 
 Egyptian question Mehemet All and P aimer sforfs 
 convention against him Nicholas /. in England 
 The Protectorate of the Holy Land; breach between 
 Russia and France Proposed partition of Turkey 
 War of Russia and Tiirkey The Vienna Note 
 Intervention of France and England to save Turkey 
 Treaty of Paris ; Russia foiled Correspondence 
 between Palmers ton and Aberdeen as to the declara- 
 tion of war National feeling of England secures the 
 former's triumph French motives in joining in the 
 
 ALTHOUGH Turkey was unable to withstand 
 Russia alone, yet, with the help of England 
 and France, she was able to prevent the 
 Russian inroad, on the south. 
 
 Nicholas, ever crafty, now turned his 
 attention to fostering the minor disputes 
 which still existed between England and 
 France. 
 
132 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 Being envious of the English naval 
 supremacy in the Mediterranean, France 
 resumed her traditional policy of obtaining 
 influence in Egypt, in order to be able to 
 have a stronghold there against English 
 power, and succeeded in making Egypt a 
 faithful ally. 
 
 England, on the other hand, clung to the 
 alliance with Turkey, and assisted the Sultan 
 in quelling the 'rebellion of Mehemet AH. 
 
 Thus we see there existed a difference 
 between the two Powers, notwithstanding that 
 Russia was a common rival of both. 
 
 Nicholas used this difference as a tool to 
 weaken the allies against his own country. 
 
 In 1839 Mdhemet Ali, with the silent ap- 
 proval of Russia, determined to become an 
 independent monarch. 
 
 Thiers, a minister of Louis Phillipe, in 
 helping Mehemet Ali, the viceroy of Egypt, 
 had fallen into a Russian trap, although he 
 'believed and hoped that he was following the 
 traditional policy of Napoleon the Great. 
 This proved, however, a mistaken policy ; 
 for it was the general European feeling that 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 133 
 
 if war resulted the Egyptians would be 
 victorious, Constantinople would be in 
 danger; the Treaty of Unkiar-Skelessi would 
 come into force, the Russians would rush to 
 help the Porte, while the Anglo-French fleets 
 would be barred from the Dardanelles. 
 
 Lord Palmerston saw that the united 
 action of the five Great Powers might settle 
 the Eastern Question and destroy the 
 influence of Russia, which seemed to be too 
 arbitrarily strong. His idea was that a 
 Conference should be held by the five Great 
 Powers, and this was approved of by 
 all. 
 
 There was no doubt that the Conference 
 was not as unanimous as could be wished, and 
 certainly England did not agree with France 
 on several points. 
 
 At length Palmerston made a convention 
 with three of the Powers for an armed 
 interference in the Eastern Question. France 
 was left alone. And Palmerston determined 
 to pursue the above-mentioned policy. 
 
 Admiral Stopford captured Beyrout, and 
 Sir Charles Napier bombarded Acre. The 
 
134 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 fall of the fortress of Acre which was thought 
 to be impregnable before the English fleet, 
 terminated the war, and Mehemet Ali became 
 only an hereditary ruler over Egypt under 
 the over-lord of the Porte. 
 
 The breach between England and France 
 having become serious, Russia having obtained 
 her desires stationed her fleet at Sebastopol, 
 where it remained quiescent during the 
 English bombardment of Acre. 
 
 Thus, although Lord Palmerston succeeded 
 in crushing the French Minister's scheme, 
 yet he fell into the snare laid for him by 
 Russia, viz., of bringing about a diplomatic 
 disagreement between England and France. 
 
 But Russia did not gain by the transaction, 
 for she in her turn lost her single-handed 
 power over Turkey, which was given into 
 the hands of the Five Powers. 
 
 Lord Palmerston offered the following 
 condition to the Turkish Government. 
 " England having, in conjunction with other 
 Christian Powers, succeeded in restoring 
 Syria to the Sultan, she is entitled to expect 
 that the Sultan, in return for such assistance, 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 135 
 
 should secure his Christian subjects from 
 oppression." J 
 
 At last the Syrian affairs were settled, but 
 still England was always dreading a French 
 attack both on Egypt and Syria. 
 
 In 1844 the Emperor Nicholas paid his 
 famous visit to England. What was his 
 object in coming to England at such a period? 
 The only idea that I can put forward is, that 
 he wanted to see to what extent the Anglo- 
 French disagreement 2 with regard to Syrian 
 
 1 Holland's " European Concert on the Eastern 
 Question," p. 206. 
 
 2 " The growth of intimate relations between England 
 and that country France . . . was manifestly viewed by 
 him with jealous distrust, calculated as it was to affect 
 most seriously any designs which might be entertained 
 at St. Petersburg for enlarging Russian territory at the 
 expense of Turkey. To detach England from this 
 alliance would naturally be regarded by the Czar as a 
 master-stroke of policy, and the recent conduct of France 
 in the Eastern Question may have seemed to furnish an 
 opening for making the attempt. If, however, as 
 currently believed at the time, one main object of his 
 visit was to ascertain for himself whether this was possible, 
 he must soon have been satisfied to the contrary by the 
 very decided language with which Sir Robert Peel 
 received his suggestions as to the probably selfish action 
 of France, in the event of the affairs of Turkey coming 
 
136 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 affairs had reached ; also to widen them as 
 much as possible in order to make it im- 
 possible to form an Anglo-French alliance 
 against him, and thus leave him a free hand 
 in the settlement of the Eastern Question 
 when the fall of Turkey should take place. 
 
 Nicholas was at once informed, after his 
 arrival, by the British Prime Minister, ''that 
 no foreign influence in Egypt would be 
 allowed by the British Government, who 
 desired to keep the way open to India." He 
 at once perceived that the English were 
 fearful of the French historic Napoleonic 
 plans ; and he at once used this fear to his 
 advantage. 
 
 He first proposed a partition of Turkey, 
 knowing that the English Government would 
 not dare to agree to it, because it would hurt 
 the national feeling of England. Soon after 
 the Anti-Napoleonic Revolution was over 
 the Holy Alliance was concluded between 
 several European Courts, and the moral 
 feelings in the western states of Europe were 
 
 to a crisis" (Sir T. Martyn's ''Life of the Prince 
 Consort, 1 ' vol. i. p. 216). 
 
THE EA S TERN Q UES TION. 1 37 
 
 to defend the weak against the strong, and 
 to resist unjust aggression. These feelings 
 were clearly shown during the Russian 
 oppression of Poland (1837), and in the 
 Independence of Greece (18211829). 
 
 In England these feelings had manifested 
 themselves, and any English Government 
 which should venture to shock them would 
 have been certainly upset. Therefore, a 
 proposed partition of Turkey by Russia was 
 received by the English Government with 
 decided disfavour. 
 
 Then the Czar proposed that the guardian- 
 ship of the Holy Land should be entrusted to 
 Russia. This was his great aim, and was his 
 principal object. 
 
 England found herself in a dilemma. 
 What was she to do ? She had already 
 refused the Czar's first proposal, and she felt 
 obliged to accept the second. " The three 
 representatives of the Conservative party, 
 namely, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Robert 
 Peel, and Lord Aberdeen, met the Czar and 
 signed a secret memorandum, promising to 
 exert their personal influence on behalf of the 
 
138 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 Greeks as opposed to the Latin Chinch at 
 Jerusalem, and so practically to forward 
 Russian claims to the guardianship of the 
 Holy Places, as opposed to those of France, 
 who was to be ignored in the matter. This 
 memorandum, to a certain extent favouring 
 Russia's claim to a protectorate of the Greek 
 Church, was never placed in the Foreign 
 Office archives, but was forwarded in suc- 
 cession from one English Foreign Secretary to 
 another, until, as we shall show, poor Lord 
 Aberdeen (Wellington and Peel being dead) 
 was called on for his pound of flesh in 
 
 Thus Nicholas attained the end he had in 
 view, and left England, well pleased with the 
 brilliant reception he had met with. " The 
 Greek and the Catholic Church," Lord 
 Palmerston had written to Canning, 1849, 
 " are merely other names for Russian and 
 French influence." 
 
 France at once perceived that the Czar's 
 visit to England was connected with some 
 
 1 Thornton's " Foreign Secretaries of the Nine- 
 teenth Century," vol iii. p. 100. 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 139 
 
 secret arrangement to the prejudice of French 
 interests, and felt highly indignant. 
 
 France did not lose any time, and 
 commenced plans to overturn Russian in- 
 fluence in the Holy Land. Russia resented 
 this, thinking that France would be her only 
 enemy. The Holy Land dispute soon became 
 general. 
 
 The Turkish compromise did not please 
 Russia and France. " Suddenly, the French 
 ambassador at Constantinople, M. de Lava- 
 lette, was instructed to demand that the 
 grants l to the Latin Church should be 
 strictly executed in the Holy Land." 2 
 
 In 1852 Lord Aberdeen was made the 
 British Prime Minister, and "the Emperor 
 Nicholas heard the tidings of Lord Aberdeen's 
 elevation to a premiership with a delight he 
 did not suppress." 3 
 
 Nicholas thought that now an alliance 
 
 1 In 1840 France succeeded in obtaining from the 
 Porte a grant of distinguished privileges in regard to the 
 Holy Land. 
 
 2 Ashley's "Life of Lord Palmerston," vol. i. p. 279. 
 
 3 Kinglake's " History of Crimean War," vol. i. 
 p. 82. 
 
140 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 between England and France was impossible, 1 
 and at the same time, seeing that Prussia 
 and Austria were neutral, determined to 
 obtain " the key of the Black Sea." 2 
 
 However, he wanted to ascertain whether 
 England would keep her secret engagement 
 
 1 Baron Brunnon, the Russian Minister, said to Count 
 Vitzthum, " he knew that his Emperor (Nicholas), relying 
 on Lord Aberdeen's well-known love of peace, and on 
 the protocol which had been signed by Aberdeen in 
 1844 under entirely different circumstances, regarded 
 two things impossible : first, that England should 
 declare war against Russia ; and secondly, that she 
 should conclude an alliance against Russia with France '' 
 (Count Vitzthum's " St. Petersburg and London," vol i. 
 p. 66). 
 
 2 " Men dwelling amidst the snows of Russia are 
 driven by very nature to grow covetous when they 
 hear of the happier lands where all the year round there 
 are roses and long sunny days. And since this people 
 have a seaboard and ports on the Euxine, they are forced 
 by an everlasting policy to desire the command of the 
 straits which lead through the heart of an empire into 
 the midst of that world of which men kindle thoughts 
 when they speak of the v^gean and of Greece, and the 
 Ionian shores, and of Palestine and Egypt, and of Italy, 
 and of France, and of Spain, and the land of the Moors, 
 and of the Atlantic beyond, and the path of ships on the 
 ocean " (Kinglake's " Invasion of the Crimea,'' vol. i. 
 P- 54). 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 141 
 
 to come to a separate understanding with 
 him. He again proposed a partition of 
 Turkey, on January 28, 1853, at the same time 
 making use of the curious expression to Sir 
 Hamilton Seymour that " a sick man is 
 dying," and that his (the sick man's) 
 property should be divided according to 
 agreement between England and Russia. 
 Nicholas' idea was (a) that Servia, Bosnia, 
 Bulgaria, and the other principalities of the 
 Danube, should become independent states 
 under Russian protection, and (b) that he 
 would " have no objection to offer," to the 
 occupation of Egypt and Candia by England 
 " in the event of a distribution of the 
 Ottoman Succession upon the fall of the 
 Empire," (c) that Constantinople should 
 never be held by the English or French, or 
 any other great nation, and Greece should 
 not strengthen herself " so as to become a 
 powerful state," and (e} that Russia should 
 occupy Constantinople provisionally, not "as 
 a proprietor, of course, but as a trustee." 
 
 " In answer to these overtures," Kinglake 
 says, " the Government of the Queen dis- 
 
142 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 claimed all notion of aiming at the possession 
 of either Constantinople or any other of 
 the Sultan's possessions, and accepted the 
 assurances to the like effect which were given 
 by the Czar. It combated the opinion that 
 the extinction of the Ottoman Empire was 
 near at hand, and deprecated the discussions 
 based on that supposition as tending directly 
 to produce the very result against which they 
 were meant to provide." l 
 
 Then the Czar sent Prince Menschikoff to 
 Constantinople, and entrusted to him the two 
 following missions : viz., (a) to set forth a 
 Russian claim on the Holy Places, and (b) 
 that all orthodox Christians, who were 
 subjects of Turkey, should be placed under 
 the immediate protectorate of Russia. 
 
 The above second mission was planned by 
 Russia owing to her deep sympathy with the 
 Sclavonic races, who had adhered to the same 
 religion although they were still under 
 Turkish rule. But this bond was rapidly 
 getting weaker, and the Christian inhabitants 
 
 1 Kinglake's "Invasion of the Crimea," vol. i. p. 90. 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 143 
 
 were determined to throw off, if possible, the 
 Mahomedan yoke. 
 
 But the second demand of Russia, to my 
 mind, was an unjust claim, because it would 
 have considerably affected the independence 
 or dignity of the Sultan. 1 
 
 The English Ambassador in Turkey, Lord 
 Stratford de Redcliffe, a great opponent of 
 Russia, advised the Porte to stand firm and 
 resist to the utmost the second- demand. 2 He 
 and Lord Clarendon (the English Foreign 
 Secretary), however, tried to persuade the 
 Porte to agree to the first demand, but the 
 Porte, with decided firmness, declined to 
 accept this advice. 
 
 1 The Grand Vizier said the mission was meant "to 
 win some important right from Turkey, which would 
 destroy her independence, and that the Czar's object was 
 to trample under foot the rights of the Porte and the 
 independence of the Sovereign " (Kinglake's " Invasion 
 of the Crimea," vol. i. p. 99). 
 
 2 " That the Sultan's promise to protect his Christian 
 subjects in the free exercise of their religion differed 
 extremely from a right conferred on any foreign Power to 
 enforce that protection, and also the same degree of 
 interference might be dangerous to the Porte when 
 exercised by so powerful an empire as Russia, on behalf 
 of ten millions of Greeks " (Lord Stratford's view). 
 
144 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 This was followed, on May 21, 1853, by the 
 departure of Prince Menschikoff from Con- 
 stantinople, with the threat that " he had come 
 in his great coat, but would return in his uni- 
 form." Russia then crossed the Pruth on July 
 2nd, and occupied the Danubian Principalities 
 as a preliminary to her demands. On the 
 same day of the Russian invasion the repre- 
 sentatives of the Great Powers assembled at 
 Vienna. This Congress drew up what is 
 known as the "Vienna Note." Russia ac- 
 ceded to the terms contained in the Note, 
 but the Porte refused, and offered certain 
 amendments. The Powers after a time 
 accepted them, and forwarded them to Russia, 
 who, however, rejected them. 1 The Con- 
 ference then dissolved. 
 
 In October, 1853, the Porte declared war 
 on Russia ; and the destruction of the 
 
 1 " When the Emperor gave his reasons for rejecting 
 the modifications we found that he interpreted the Note 
 in a manner quite different from ourselves, and in a great 
 degree justified the objections of Turks. We could not 
 therefore honestly continue to give an interpretation to 
 the Note, and ask the Turks again to sign it, when we 
 knew that the interpretation of the Emperor is entirely 
 different" (Lord Sheridan's letter to Earl Russel, Sept. 
 22, 1853). 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 145 
 
 Turkish fleet at Sinope sealed the Russian 
 acquiescence to the declaration. 
 
 England and France allied themselves with 
 Turkey against Russia, and declared war on 
 March 28, 1854. 
 
 The siege of Sebastopol lasted for nearly 
 a year, and its fall was followed by the Con- 
 gress of Paris. 1 The plenipotentaries of 
 
 1 " I thought the Emperor Alexander had shown con- 
 siderable moral courage in making peace after the 
 Crimean War, contrary to the general feeling in Russia, 
 
 and Prince D gave me the following curious details 
 
 of what occurred on that occasion, which he said had 
 been related to him by one of the Ministers present : 
 The Emperor called a Council of War at St. Petersburg, 
 which was composed of the following members : Prince 
 Dolgorouky, Minister of War; the Grand Duke Con- 
 stantine, Minister of Marine ; M. de Broek, Minister of 
 Finance ; Count Blondoff. Prince Moronzow, and, I 
 think, M. Lapouchine, Minister of the Interior. The 
 Emperor first called on the Minister of War to report on 
 the state of the army, and he said the resources were 
 exhausted, that more recruiting was almost impossible, 
 and that he did not see how the war could be continued. 
 The Emperor next addressed himself to his brother, 
 who, together with Count Blondoff, was in favour of con- 
 tinuing hostilities at all risks. The Emperor asked what 
 was the state of the navy ? The Grand Duke answered, 
 ' Sire, we have a fleet in the Baltic, and another in the 
 Black Sea. 5 The Emperor acquiesced, but added, 
 
 10 
 
146 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 France, England, Russia, Turkey, Sardinia, 
 Austria, and at last Prussia, assembled at 
 Paris (February, 1856), and the " Treaty of 
 Paris " was signed, by which the following 
 matters were settled : 
 
 i. The Great Powers " declare the Sub- 
 lime Porte admitted to participate in the 
 
 1 True ; but those fleets have never left our harbours. 
 Are they fit to oppose the English and French fleets ? ' 
 The Grand Duke was obliged to reply in the negative. 
 * Then,' said the Emperor, * it appears we have no army 
 and no fleet ? ' The Grand Duke sighed, looked down, 
 but made no answer. The Emperor next addressed the. 
 Minister of Finance, and asked what report he could 
 give. He said, 'Sire, we have just made one disadvan- 
 tageous loan, upon conditions imposed upon us at Ham- 
 burg, and I believe another to be impossible.' The 
 Emperor then addressed the Council, and said, 'Gentle- 
 men, it appears from what We have just heard that we 
 have neither army, navy, nor money ; how, then, is it 
 possible for me to continue the war ? ' Count Blondoff 
 then stepped forward and said, with deep emotion, 
 ' Sire, after the report we have just heard, it is clear that 
 your Majesty is forced to make peace, but at the same 
 time you must dismiss your incompetent Ministers, who 
 have not known how to serve either your father or your- 
 self dismiss us all.' The consternation of the other 
 members of the Council at this outburst was great, but 
 peace was signed forthwith" (Lady Bloomfield's "Court 
 and Diplomatic Life "). 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 147 
 
 advantages of the public law and system 
 (concert) of Europe. Their Majesties en- 
 gage, each on his part, to respect the inde- 
 pendence 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" (Art. VII.). 
 
 2. " The Black Sea is neutralized ; its 
 waters and its ports thrown open to the 
 mercantile marine of every nation, are form- 
 ally and in perpetuity interdicted to the flag 
 of war, either of the Powers possessing its 
 coasts, or of any other Power" (Art. XL), 
 and, " The Black Sea being neutralized 
 according to the terms of Article XL, the 
 maintenance or establishment upon its coast 
 of military maritime arsenals becomes alike 
 unnecessary and purposeless; in consequence, 
 His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, 
 and His Imperial Majesty the Sultan, engage 
 not to establish or to maintain upon that 
 coast any military maritime arsenal " (Art. 
 XIII.)- 
 
148 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 The docks and fortifications at Sebastopol 
 were destroyed by the Western Powers ; but 
 it was allowed that Russia and the Porte 
 should keep up " the number of light vessels 
 necessary for the service of the coast" (Art. 
 XIV.), and merchant ships of all kinds were 
 allowed freely to enter it. 
 
 3. All control over the mouth of the 
 Danube was taken from Russia and entrusted 
 to the authority of the Riverain Commission 
 (Art. XVII.). " A Commission shall be 
 established, and shall be composed of dele- 
 gates of Austria, Bavaria, the Sublime Porte, 
 and Wurtemburg (one for each of those 
 Powers), to whom shall be added commis- 
 sioners from the three Danubian Principali- 
 ties, whose nomination shall have been 
 approved by the Porte. This Commission, 
 which shall be permanent: (i) Shall prepare 
 regulations of navigation and river police ; 
 (2) Shall remove the impediments, of what- 
 ever nature they may be, which still prevent 
 the application to the Danube of the arrange- 
 ments of the Treaty of Vienna ; (3) Shall 
 order and cause to be executed the necessary 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 149 
 
 works throughout the whole course of the 
 river ; (4) Shall, after the dissolution of the 
 European Commission, see to maintaining 
 the mouths of the Danube and the neigh- 
 bouring parts of the sea in a navigable state " 
 (Art. XVII.). 
 
 4. A portion of Bessarabia on the left bank 
 of the Danube was ceded by Russia in order 
 to make the Turkish defence against Russia 
 more easy, and more fully to secure the 
 freedom of the navigation of the Danube 
 (Art. XX.). 
 
 There is no doubt Russia was beaten by 
 the combined alliance against her. She had 
 entirely overreached herself and miscalcu- 
 lated the temper of the other Powers. She 
 had thought that an Anglo-French alliance 
 was impossible, and that Prussia and Austria 
 would have remained neutral. Prussia indeed 
 did maintain a neutrality at the commence- 
 ment of the war, and the King of Prussia 
 himself said, " I am resolved to maintain a 
 position of complete neutrality, and to this 
 I add with proud elevation that my people 
 
ISO JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 and myself are of one mind. They require 
 absolute neutrality from me." 
 
 Austria, however, only maintained a con- 
 ditional neutrality. The Austrian Emperor, 
 in replying to the Russian Ambassador, Count 
 Orloff, said, " Then must Austria be equally 
 free to act as her interest and dignity may 
 direct," if Russia was to cross the Danube, 
 or seek to occupy fresh territory, or not 
 evacuate the Principalities when the war was 
 over. 
 
 Later on both Prussia and Austria formed 
 a defensive alliance against Russia, and with 
 the consent of the Porte, the Principalities 
 were provisionally occupied by Austria. 
 
 In England Lord Aberdeen did his utmost 
 to bring about a peace between Russia and 
 Turkey, but it was a hopeless task. Lord 
 Palmerston, on the other hand, described 
 the aggressive policy of Russia as follows : 
 
 " The policy and practice of the Russian 
 Government has always been to push forward 
 its encroachments as fast and as far as the 
 apathy or want of firmness of other Govern- 
 ments would allow it to go, but always to 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 151 
 
 stop and retire when it was met with decided 
 resistance, and then to wait for the next 
 favourable opportunity to make another 
 spring on its intended victim. In further- 
 ance of this policy, the Russian Government 
 has always had two strings to its bow 
 moderate language and disinterested pro- 
 fessions at Petersburg and at London ; active 
 aggression by its agents on the scene of 
 operations. If the aggressions succeed 
 locally, the St. Petersburg Government adopts 
 them as a fait accompli which it did not 
 intend, but cannot, in honour, recede from. 
 If the local agents fail, they are disavowed 
 and recalled, and the language previously 
 held is appealed to as a proof that the agents 
 have overstepped their instructions. This 
 was exemplified in the treaty of Unkiar- 
 Skelessi, and in the exploits of Simonivitch 
 and Vikovitch in Persia." J And Lord Palmer- 
 ston wrote as follows to Lord Aberdeen 
 (July 4, 1853), when the combined fleets of 
 England and France were at Besika Bay : 
 " In the meantime, however, I hope you will 
 1 A letter to Lord Clarendon, May 22, 1853. 
 
f52 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 allow the squadrons to be ordered to go up 
 to the Bosphorus as soon as it is known 
 at Constantinople that the Russians have 
 entered the Principalities, and to be further 
 at liberty to go into the Black Sea, if 
 necessary or useful for the protection of 
 Turkish territory. The advantages of such 
 a course seem to be 
 
 " First. That it would encourage and assist 
 the Turks in those defensive arrangements 
 and organizations which the present crisis 
 may give the Turkish Government facilities 
 for making, and the benefit of which, in 
 strengthening Turkey against attack, will 
 continue after the crisis is over. 
 
 " Secondly. It would essentially tend to pre- 
 vent any further inroad on Turkish territory 
 in Europe or in Asia, and it is manifest that 
 any such further inroad would much increase 
 the difficulties of a settlement. 
 
 "Thirdly. It would act as a wholesome 
 check upon the Emperor and his advisers, 
 and would stimulate Austria and Prussia to 
 increased exertions to bring the Russian 
 Government to reason. 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 155 
 
 " Fourthly. It would relieve England and 
 France from the disagreeable, and not very 
 creditable, position of waiting without ven- 
 turing to enter the back door as friends, while 
 the Russians have taken forcible possession 
 of the front hall as enemies. 
 
 " If these orders are to be given, I would 
 suggest that it is very important that they 
 should be given without delay, so that we 
 may be able, when these matters are discussed 
 this week in Parliament, to say that such 
 orders have been sent off. Of course they 
 would at the same time be communicated to 
 the Russian Government." 
 
 But the Premier did not agree with 
 Palmerston's views. 
 
 The combined fleets, at the request of the 
 Sultan, passed up to Constantinople (October 
 7, 1853). Palmerston then made two propo- 
 sitions to the Cabinet : 
 
 " First. That instructions should be sent 
 to Constantinople that, in the event of war 
 having been declared, the two squadrons 
 should enter the Black Sea, and should send 
 word to the Russian admiral at Sebastopol 
 
154 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 that, in the existing state of things, any 
 Russian ship of war found cruising in the 
 Black Sea would be detained, and be given 
 over to the Turkish Government. 
 
 "' Secondly. That England and France 
 should propose to the Sultan to conclude a 
 convention to the effect that, whereas war has 
 unfortunately broken out between Russia and 
 Turkey, in consequence of differences created 
 by unjust demands made upon Turkey by 
 Russia, and by unwarrantable invasion of the 
 Turkish territory by a Russian army ; and 
 whereas it is deemed by England and France 
 to be an object of general European interest, 
 and of special importance to them that the 
 political independence and the territorial 
 integrity of the Ottoman Empire should be 
 maintained inviolate against Russian aggres- 
 sion, the two Powers engage to furnish to the 
 Sultan such naval assistance as may be 
 necessary in existing circumstances for the 
 defence of his empire ; and they moreover 
 engage to permit any of their respective 
 subjects who may be willing to do so, to enter 
 the military or naval service of the Sultan. 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 155 
 
 In return, the Sultan is to engage that he will 
 consult with England and France as to the 
 terms and conditions of the new treaty which 
 is to determine, on the conclusion of hos- 
 tilities, the future relations of Russia and 
 Turkey." 
 
 But Lord Aberdeen in reply said : 
 
 " I cannot say that I think the present 
 state of the Russo-Turkish question would 
 authorize such a proceeding on our part as 
 that which you intend to propose." 
 
 On November i, 1853, Palmerston again 
 said in concluding another letter to Lord 
 Aberdeen : 
 
 " It seems to me, then, that our course is 
 plain, simple, and straight. That we must 
 help Turkey out of her difficulties by 
 negotiation, if possible ; and that if negotia- 
 tion fails, we must, by force of arms, carry 
 her safely through her dangers." 
 
 After the destruction of the Turkish fleet 
 at Sinope, Palmerston wrote to Aberdeen as 
 follows : 
 
 " Will you allow me this opportunity of 
 repeating in writing what I have more than 
 
156 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 once said verbally, on the state of things 
 between Russia and Turkey? It appears to 
 me that we have two objects in view : the 
 one to put an end to the present war between 
 these two Powers ; the other to prevent, as 
 far as diplomatic arrangements can do so, a 
 recurrence of similar differences, and renewed 
 clangers to the peace of Europe. 
 
 " Now it seems to me that, unless Turkey 
 shall be laid prostrate at the feet of Russia 
 by the disasters of the war an event which 
 England and France could not without 
 dishonour permit no peace can be con- 
 cluded between the contending parties unless 
 the Emperor consents to evacuate the Princi- 
 palities, to abandon his demands, and to 
 renounce some of the embarrassing stipula- 
 tions of former, treaties upon which he has 
 founded the pretensions which have been the 
 cause of existing difficulties. 
 
 " To bring the Emperor to agree to this, 
 it is necessary to exert a considerable 
 pressure upon him ; and the quarter in which 
 that pressure can at present be most easily 
 brought to bear is the Black Sea and the 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 157 
 
 countries bordering upon it. In the Black 
 Sea, the combined English, French, and 
 Turkish squadrons are indisputably superior 
 to the Russian fleet, and are able to give the 
 law to that fleet. What I would strongly 
 recommend, therefore, is that which I pro- 
 posed some months ago to the Cabinet, 
 namely, that the Russian Government and 
 the Russian admiral at Sebastopol should be 
 informed that so long as Russian troops 
 occupy the Principalities, or hold a position 
 in any other part of the Turkish territory, no 
 Russian ships of war can be allowed to show 
 themselves out of port in the Black Sea. 
 
 <( You will say that this would be an active 
 hostility towards Russia ; but so is the decla- 
 ration already made, that no Russian ships 
 shall be permitted to make any landing or 
 attack on any part of the Turkish territory. 
 The only difference between the two declara- 
 tions is that the one already made is incom- 
 plete and insufficient for its purpose, and that 
 the one which I propose would be complete 
 and sufficient. . If the Russian fleet were 
 shut up in Sebastopol, it is probable that the 
 
158 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 Turks would be able to make in Asia an 
 impression that would tend to facilitate the 
 conclusion of peace. 
 
 " With regard to the conditions of peace, 
 it seems to me that the only arrangement 
 which could afford to Europe a fair security 
 against future dangers arising out of the 
 encroachments of Russia on Turkey, and the 
 attempts of the Russian Government to 
 interfere in the internal affairs of the Turkish 
 Empire, would be that arrangement which I 
 have often suggested, namely, that the treaty 
 to be concluded between Russia and Turkey 
 should be an ordinary treaty of peace and 
 friendship, of boundaries, commerce, and 
 mutual protection of the subjects of the one 
 party within the territories of the other ; and 
 that all the stipulations which might be 
 required for the privileges of the Princi- 
 palities and of Servia, and for the protection 
 of the Christian religion and its churches and 
 the Ottoman dominions by the Sultan and 
 the five Powers. By such a treaty, Russia 
 would be prevented from dealing single- 
 handed with Turkey in regard to those 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 159 
 
 matters on which she has, from time to time, 
 endeavoured 'to fasten a quarrel on the 
 Sultan." 
 
 Lord Aberdeen's reply was : 
 
 " I confess I am not prepared to adopt the 
 mode which you think most likely to restore 
 peace." 
 
 Lord Palmerston tendered his resignation 
 on receiving this reply, but withdrew it ten 
 days after when the Cabinet adopted his 
 views. 
 
 On June 16, 1854, Lord Palmerston 
 wrote to the Duke of Newcastle, then 
 Minister of War " Our only chance of 
 bringing Russia to terms is by offensive and 
 not by defensive operations. We and the 
 French ought to go to the Crimea and take 
 Sebastopol. If this blow were accompanied 
 by successful operations in Georgia and Cir- 
 cassia, we might have a Merry Christmas and 
 a Happy New Year." 
 
 Thus we see that the English policy during 
 the Crimean crisis changed from peace 
 tactics to defensive operations, and was sub- 
 sequently turned into an offensive line of 
 
160 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 action which terminated in a brilliant triumph 
 for England. 
 
 But how was Lord Palmerston able to 
 carry out his war policy so vigorously ? The 
 answer is a very simple one. He was backed 
 and urged on by the nation at large, who 
 were incensed at the insolence of Russia. 
 Thus he was able to pursue his plans, being 
 encouraged and supported by a people who 
 were well able to carry out what they resolved 
 upon. 
 
 Kinglake said he (Lord Palmerston) " was 
 gifted with the instinct which enables a man 
 to read the heart of a nation." 
 
 His judgment was rightly pronounced, for 
 Palmerston saw the feelings of his national 
 constituents and steered his course well and 
 skilfully, i 
 
 1 The strength of Lord Palmerston's character and his 
 determination in matters of ready action is well illus- 
 trated through an incident recorded by Baron Bunsen 
 (" Memoirs of Bunsen"): " Bunsen andJPalmerstbn had 
 elected to be rowed over to Portsmouth from Osborne, 
 when guests of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, and, the 
 weather being rough, the Foreign Minister took the helm, 
 demonstrating the connection between steering the vessel 
 of State, as Bunsen phrased it, and steering a boat at 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 161 
 
 What, then, was the national feeling of 
 England at that time ? 
 
 "In the present instance," said the Prince 
 Consort, " their (the English) feeling is some- 
 thing of this sort : The Emperor of Russia is 
 a tyrant, the enemy of all liberty on the 
 Continent, and the oppressor of Poland." 
 From these royal remarks, 1 do not think 
 I shall be far wrong in saying that the grow- 
 ing tendency of the English people towards 
 liberalism since the Reform Bill of 1832, and 
 the teaching of William Wilberforce, had led 
 them to consider Russia not only as a national 
 enemy but as a general opponent of the rights 
 of humanity and civilization. No wonder 
 that a war became a necessity after this 
 public manifestation. 
 
 At the end of the last chapter I stated that 
 England had rapidly increased in wealth and 
 prosperity since the Repeal of the Corn Laws. 
 Gladstone, in the House of Commons, stated 
 
 sea 'Oh, one learns boating at Cambridge, even though one 
 may have learnt nothing better] remarked Lord Palmer- 
 stem; and guide the craft safely to shore he certainly 
 did. But when they landed, alas 1 the train was gone." 
 
 II 
 
i62 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 that such was the vigour and elasticity of the 
 English trade, that even after the disadvantage 
 of a bad harvest, and under the pressure of 
 war, the imports from day to day, and almost 
 from hour to hour, were increasing, and that 
 the very last papers laid on the table showed 
 within the last three months of the year that 
 there was an increase of ,250,000 in the 
 national exports. 1 This, then, was one of the 
 reasons which enabled England to carry on 
 this war so successfully. 
 
 Let us turn our attention for a short time 
 to France, which at this period was under- 
 going considerable internal agitation. Re- 
 publicanism was now abolished and Mon- 
 archy reigned in its stead in the hands of 
 Napoleon III. (1852). There seemed every 
 prospect of the French Monarchy being firmly 
 re-established. 
 
 The French Emperor was very desirous of 
 starting a European War for the purpose of 
 securing his seat on the throne, and also for the 
 aggrandizement of his country abroad. 2 The 
 
 1 Gladstone's speech, May 8, 1854. 
 
 2 " Napoleon's object was clear : in the first place, to 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 163 
 
 interests of his country, both religious and 
 political, were opposed to those of Russia 
 with regard to the Holy Places, while both 
 England and France had a common interest 
 in keeping the Ottoman Empire from Russia. 
 This latter interest acted as a means of union 
 between the two Powers, both of whom were 
 ready at any moment to attack Russia, and 
 the publication of the Czar's memorable 
 conversation with Sir H. Seymour still 
 further cemented that union. 
 
 The result we have already seen. Russia 
 was humiliated. 
 
 wrest from the Emperor Nicholas the moral hegemony 
 which he wielded on the Continent, and then, after 
 conquering Russia, to get his hands free to tear up 
 the treaties of 1815, restore to France her so-called 
 natural frontiers, and reconstruct the map of Europe in 
 accordance with Napoleonic ideas " (Count Vitzthum's 
 " St. Petersburg and London," vol. i. p. 73). 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE BLACK SEA CONFERENCE. 
 
 French influence destroyed by the Franco-Prussian War 
 Russia annuls the Black Sea clauses of the Treaty of 
 Paris Condition of Europe preuents their enforcement 
 by the Pou>ers London Conference y Russia secures 
 the Black Sea ; England's mistake Alsace and Lor- 
 raine destroy the balance of power. 
 
 RUSSIA had convinced herself that the separa- 
 tion of England from France was not a 
 sufficient guarantee to hinder the possibility 
 of the alliance of the two Powers against her, 
 because a common interest would unite them 
 immediately. Russia now determined to 
 crush down one of the two Powers, indepen- 
 dently of the other, and was only waiting for 
 an opportunity to do so. 
 
 In 1870 the Franco-Prussian War broke 
 out through the question of the Spanish 
 Succession. England maintained a strict 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 165 
 
 neutrality, and this now seemed a glorious 
 opportunity for Russia to carry out her long- 
 cherished designs. She supported Prussia 
 morally, in this way hoping to crush France, 
 and then only England would be left to 
 attack. The result proved favourable ; 
 France was defeated by Prussia, and this 
 was followed by the fall of the Monarchy, 
 and the proclamation of the Republic (Sep- 
 tember 14, 1870). 
 
 Russia now looked around, and at a 
 glance saw the favourable position she 
 occupied, and her strength. Austria had 
 been weakened by the war with Prussia in 
 1866, Spain and Italy were convulsed with 
 revolutions, Turkey was naturally weak ; 
 Prussia had suffered somewhat in 1866 with 
 Austria, and with France in 1870. France 
 herself had undoubtedly received a crushing 
 blow, while England was worried over the 
 Alabama claims with America. 
 
 Thus we see the balance of power was 
 considerably shaken by the Franco-Prussian 
 War, while an alliance among the Western 
 states seemed impossible. 
 
 
1 66 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 In 1870 Western Europe was startled by 
 Prince Gortchakoff's declaration that the 
 Black Sea clauses of the Treaty of Paris, 
 1856, were null and void. " He declared it 
 would no longer be submitted to by his 
 Imperial master." : 
 
 England naturally felt very indignant, but 
 was practically helpless, as she was unable to 
 get any ally from among the Western Powers, 
 and she felt unable to cope singly with 
 Russia. The Government were perplexed, 
 and the Premier, Mr. W. E. Gladstone, sent 
 Lord Odo Russell to the German Chancellor 
 to ask his advice on the subject, and to inform 
 him that " the question was of such a nature 
 that England, with or without allies, would 
 have to go to war with Russia." 
 
 Prince Bismarck, who was afraid of a Franco- 
 Russian alliance, and wished to conciliate 
 the Russian Emperor, recommended that a 
 conference should be held in St. Peters- 
 burg. The English Government objected 
 to this, so a Conference was held in London 
 
 1 Earl Russell's " Recollections and Suggestions, 
 1813-1873," p. 476. 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 167 
 
 where the following provisions were agreed 
 to : 
 
 " Article I. Articles XL, XIII., and XIV., 
 of the Treaty of Paris, 1856, are abrogated. 
 
 "Article II. The principle of the closing 
 of the Straits of the Dardanelles and the 
 Bosphorus is maintained, with power to his 
 Imperial Majesty the Sultan to open the 
 said Straits 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 stipula- 
 tions of the Treaty of Paris. 
 
 "Article III. The Black Sea remains, as 
 heretofore, open to the mercantile marine of 
 all nations." 
 
 Article IV. The Commission managing 
 the navigation of the Danube " is maintained 
 in its present composition " for a further 
 period of twelve years. 
 
 "Article VIII. The high contracting 
 parties renew and confirm all the stipulations 
 of 1856, which are not annulled or modified 
 by the present treaty." 
 
 This treaty resulted in what Russia wished, 
 
168 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 viz., the opening of the Black Sea to Russian 
 war ships a right which she had held previous 
 to the Crimean War. 
 
 Mr. Disraeli (afterwards Lord Beaconsfield) 
 vigorously attacked the Gladstonian policy 
 by saying that " the neutral character of 
 the Black Sea is the essence of the Treaty 
 of Paris, and that that, in fact, was the question 
 for which we had struggled and made great 
 sacrifice and endured these sufferings which 
 never can be forgotten," and the " point upon 
 which the negotiations for peace (at Vienna, 
 1855) was broken off was the neutral character 
 of the Black Sea." ' 
 
 1 " No sooner had Napoleon learned that an English 
 Cabinet Minister was to go to Vienna than he sent thither 
 also his own Minister of Foreign Affairs, M. Drouyn de 
 Lhuys, while Prince Gortschakoff, who had already been 
 designated as Nesselrode's successor, represented Russia 
 at the Conference. The first two points the cessation of 
 the Russian protectorate over Moldavia and Wallachia, 
 and the regulation of the navigation of the Danube in 
 conformity with the resolutions of the Congress of Vienna 
 presented little difficulty. On the other hand, a lively 
 word combat, and a not less lively interchange of des- 
 patches, arose over the third point, which demanded 
 the revision of the Dardanelles Treaty of July 13, 1841} 
 and the abrogation of Russian supremacy in the Black 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. i6g 
 
 In answer to this attack Mr. Gladstone 
 replied, " I do not speak from direct com- 
 munication with Lord Clarendon, but I have 
 been told since his death that he never 
 attached a value to that neutralization. 
 
 Sea. The words, ' mettre fin a la preponderance russe 
 dans la Mer Noire,' were of a very elastic nature, and 
 capable of various interpretations. The Western Powers, 
 mindful of Europe, demanded the neutralization of the 
 Black Sea and a limitation of the number of Russian and 
 Turkish war ships. Gortschakoff declared that Sebastopol 
 was not yet taken, and probably never would be taken, 
 and that Russia must reject any attempt to limit her 
 naval forces as a humiliation unworthy of a Great Power. 
 Austria then proposed a compromise that Russia should 
 pledge herself to maintain the s/atus quo of 1853 ; and 
 that each of the Western Powers should be entitled to 
 station two frigates in the Black Sea, in order to see that 
 Russia did not increase her fleet. At the same time 
 Austria promised to consider it as a casus belli if Russia 
 kept there a single ship of war more than in 1853. 
 M. Drouyn de Lhuys, who, in the interest of exhausted 
 France, was anxious to bring the war to an end, accepted 
 this proposed compromise, and induced Lord John 
 Russell to do likewise. Both were disavowed. Drouyn 
 de Lhuys sent in his resignation, and was succeeded at 
 the Ministry on the Quai d'Orsay by Walewski ; but Lord 
 John Russell, scorned alike by his friends and foes, 
 returned to London, and, in spite of all, remained 
 Minister for the present " (Count Vitzthum's, "St. Peters- 
 burg and London." 
 
i;o JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 Again I do not speak from direct communi- 
 cation, but I have been told that Lord 
 Palmerston always looked upon the neutra- 
 lization as an arrangement which might be 
 maintained and held together for a limited 
 number of years, but which, from its cha- 
 racter, it was impossible to maintain as a per- 
 manent condition for a great settlement of 
 Europe." 
 
 However, Russia had regained what she 
 had lost at the close of the Crimean War by 
 skilful diplomacy. She now was perfectly at 
 liberty to keep her fleet in the Black Sea, and 
 to refortify Sebastopol and Keotch to such 
 an extent as to render them impregnable. 
 
 She felt gratified at the result of the 
 Franco- Prussian War, and on hearing that 
 Prussia had annexed Alsace and Lorraine, 
 General Ignatieff, the Russian Ambassador 
 at Constantinople, hastened to the German 
 Ambassador, Count Karserling, and said, 
 " Permit me to congratulate you, and thank 
 you ; for you it is a prodigious mistake, but 
 on Russia you have conferred the greatest 
 possible boon." At the time of the annexa- 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 171 
 
 tion of the two French provinces, Germany 
 thought that they would prove of the greatest 
 value to the German Empire, but this idea 
 proved a mistake, and since then Russia has 
 used, and still uses them, as a pivot on which 
 the Eastern Question turns. 
 
 Frederick III.'s idea of selling back Alsace 
 and Lorraine would no doubt prove a great 
 benefit, not only to the German nation, but 
 also to the maintenance of the balance of 
 power in Europe. 
 
 Yet, though Bismarck defeated Napoleon 
 III. in a sanguinary war, Prince Gortschakoff 
 had beaten all the signitary powers at the 
 Treaty of Paris by one stroke of the pen, and 
 the greatest gainer in the Franco-Prussian 
 War was not Germany but Russia. Verily, 
 indeed, is it once more proved that the Pen 
 is mightier than the Sword. 
 
VII. 
 
 THE RUSSO-TURKISH WAR OF 1878. 
 
 Bulgarian atrocities The An dr assy Note; England de- 
 stroys its effect The Berlin Memorandum; England 
 opposes it Rtissia prepares for a Turkish war Con- 
 ference of Constantinople New Turkish Constitution 
 Russo- Turkish War Treaty of San Stefano 
 Intervention of the Powers The Berlin Congress 
 Final treaty of peace. 
 
 THE Slavs migrated to the Balkan Peninsula 
 as early as 450 A.D., and Bosnia remained the 
 only Slavonic part of the Turkish Empire 
 where a native nobility owned the land and a 
 peasantry tilled it for them. 
 
 Having been defeated by the Turks, the 
 nobility became Mahommedans to save their 
 patrimony, while the peasantry, having 
 nothing to lose, remained Christians ; but the 
 tyrrany of their nobility at length obliged the 
 Turks to put an end to the Feudal System in 
 Bosnia (1850-1851). 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 173 
 
 In August, 1875, Herzegovina (the south- 
 western district of Bosnia) revolted against 
 the Sultan, being aided by a strong natural 
 position and receiving the assistance of both 
 Servia and Montenegro. 
 
 While this revolt was going on the 
 Bulgarians also rose in rebellion against the 
 Sultan (1876), but were put down by the 
 Turkish Government, although not without 
 shameful cruelties and outrages being com- 
 mitted by the Turkish troops and militia, 
 which caused great indignation throughout 
 Europe, 1 and specially so in Russia. This, 
 therefore, gave the latter country a good 
 opportunity of claiming to be a general pro- 
 tector of the Christians in Turkey. 
 
 The Austro- Hungarian Minister, Count 
 Andrassy, on behalf of Austria, Germany, and 
 Russia, drew up a Note in which five 2 chief 
 
 1 In 1876 (September) Mr. Gladstone published his 
 pamphlet entitled " Bulgarian Horrors and the Question 
 of the East." It passed through almost countless editions 
 and created a great sensation. 
 
 2 " First, religious liberty, in the sense of religious 
 equality, full and entire; second, the abolition of tax- 
 farming ; third, the exclusive application to Bosnia and 
 
174 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 concessions were insisted upon from the Porte 
 as necessary for the pacification of the re- 
 volted provinces. 
 
 Lord Derby, on behalf of the English 
 Government, signed : it, but added that the 
 
 Herzegovina of their own direct taxation ; fourth, the ap- 
 pointment of an executory Commission to carry these 
 reforms into effect, to be composed equally of Mahom- 
 medans and Christians; fifth, the amelioration of the 
 condition of the rural population by some more satisfac- 
 tory arrangement between the Christian Rajahs and the 
 Mahommedan Agas, or landowners " (The Duke of 
 Argyll's " The Eastern Question," vol. i. p. 161). 
 
 1 " Sir H. Elliot was directed to give a * general sup- 
 port ' to the Andrassy Note. It will be seen that in the 
 mode of giving this ' general support ' to the action of the 
 European Powers, Her Majesty's Government here con- 
 trived to reduce the value of it to the lowest possible 
 amount, and expressly to negative the significance of it. 
 . . . But. more than this it is distinctly implied that any 
 such meaning, if it were entertained, would be a violation 
 of the Ninth Article of the Treaty of Paris. The Turks 
 were thus encouraged to claim under that treaty a 
 licence and immunity which it never was intended to 
 afford. It is evident, therefore, that the British Cabinet 
 only joined the other Powers, first, because it was impos- 
 sible to deny the justice of the demand made on Turkey; 
 secondly, because it would be inconvenient to stand 
 alone against the united opinion of all the other Cabinets 
 of Europe ; thirdly, because Turkey herself saw some 
 advantage in accepting the communication " (Ibid. vol. i. 
 p. 166). 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 175 
 
 integrity l of the Ottoman Empire was to be 
 respected. Here the Czar caught a key-note 
 of the English policy, and he played on it 
 afterwards to his own advantage. 
 
 The Porte accepted the conditions of the 
 Note, but the rebels did not trust the Turkish 
 promises, so the insurrections continued. 
 
 The Czar then, with Gortschakoff, met 
 Bismarck and Andrassy at Berlin, and, 
 together, they drew up the " Berlin Memo- 
 randum," 2 in which the three Powers asked 
 
 1 Lord Derby said that " the Note now proposed was 
 sure to lead to farther diplomatic interference in the in- 
 ternal affairs of Turkey." 
 
 2 " First, the provision of means sufficient to settle the 
 refugees in their homes ; second, the distribution of these 
 means by a mixed Commission, with a Herzegovinian 
 Christian as President ; third, the concentration of 
 Turkish troops into certain places ; fourth, the retention 
 of arms by the Christians ; fifth, the Consuls or Delegates 
 of the Powers to have a watch over the application 
 of the promised reforms and repatriation of the people. 
 The Memorandum farther proceeded thus in its closing 
 paragraph : If, however, the armistice were to expire 
 without the effort of the Powers being successful in 
 attaining the ends they have in view, the three 
 Imperial Courts are of opinion that it would become 
 necessary to supplement their diplomatic action by 
 the sanction of an agreement, with a view to such 
 
176 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 the Sultan to grant an armistice for two 
 months in order that the demands of the 
 insurgents might receive a fair consideration. 
 Italy and France added their voices, but 
 England refused l to sign the Memorandum 
 and sent a powerful squadron to Besika Bay, 
 expecting that the Sultan would refuse the 
 Memorandum because it would endanger the 
 integrity of the Ottoman Empire. This 
 
 efficacious measures as might appear to be demanded in 
 the interest of general peace, to check the evil and pre- 
 vent its development " (The Duke of Argyll's " The 
 Eastern Question," vol. i. p. 193). 
 
 1 " The objections of detail taken by the English 
 Cabinet to the Berlin Memorandum were at once met by 
 Prince Bismarck by the declaration that these points 
 were entirely ' open to discussion, that they might be 
 modified according to circumstances, and that he, for 
 one, would willingly entertain any improvement which 
 Her Majesty's Government might have to propose.' . . . 
 France implored Her Majesty's Government to reconsider 
 its decision, and declared that persistence in it would, at 
 such a momentous crisis, be nothing short of a ' public 
 calamity.' She ' could not conceal the apprehensions for 
 the future to which this refusal have given rise.' Italy 
 did the same. The position was, that England objected 
 to everything proposed by others, and had nothing to 
 propose herself. Continued trust in the Turks was her 
 only suggestion " (The Duke of Argyll's "The Eastern 
 Question," vol. i. pp. 202, 203). 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 177 
 
 " Berlin Memorandum " displays the skilful 
 way in which Russia, under the clever 
 guidance of the Czar and his Minister Gort- 
 schakoff, carried on negotiation. She was 
 only seeking a preten.ce l for a single-handed 
 war policy with Turkey, and in order to do 
 this she proposed measures at Berlin which she 
 knew would prove objectionable to England. 
 Germany, who dreaded a special alliance 
 between France and Russia, was obliged to 
 agree to these measures, thus becoming a 
 tool of Russia, who wanted to make England 
 first deviate from the Treaties of Paris and 
 London, and, if possible, to break down the 
 balance of power in Europe which she herself 
 had already done by her withdrawal from the 
 Black Sea clauses in the Treaty of Paris. 
 
 1 "At the first meeting of the Congress (June 13, 
 1878) Lord Beaconsfield made his concerted objec- 
 tion to the advanced position of the Russian troops 
 at the gates of Constantinople. Count Schouvaloff re- 
 plied that this advanced position had been taken up 
 by the Russian army in consequence of the entry of the 
 English fleet into the Bosphorus. Prince Bismarck, the 
 President of the Congress, expressed himself satisfied 
 with the Russian reply" (The Duke of Argyll's "Th- 
 Eastern Question," vol. ii. p. 144). 
 
 12 
 
178 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 England fell into the snare together with the 
 other Powers. She objected to the Berlin 
 Memorandum, refused to sign, and sent a 
 fleet to Besika Bay in support of her 
 objection. This was just what Russia 
 desired. 
 
 A new Sultan now ascended the throne, 
 and Russian influence declined while that of 
 England increased. 
 
 In July, 1876, Prince Milan of Servia, and 
 Prince Mikita of Montenegro, declared war 
 against Turkey, having open assistance from 
 Russia. The rebels, however, were sub- 
 jugated by the Turks. 
 
 In November, 1876, Alexander II. of 
 Russia, made a public declaration that " if 
 Turkey did not give due guarantees for the 
 better government of her Christian subjects 
 he would force them to do so, either in 
 concert with his allies or by independent 
 action." 
 
 The European Powers, in consequence of 
 this proclamation, proposed a Conference at 
 Constantinople to settle the matter. The 
 Czar, seeing that the Conference was inevit- 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 179 
 
 able, agreed to it. The representatives met, 
 and, as was to be expected, asked nearly the 
 same conditions as had been contained in the 
 " Andrassy Note." 
 
 The promulgation of a new Constitution for 
 the Ottoman Empire was the result of the 
 Conference, much to the disappointment of 
 Russia, who did not expect that any such result 
 would be arrived at. Thus, in order to stop 
 any further reforms or concessions being 
 made by Turkey, she succeeded in removing 
 from power the author of the new Constitu- 
 tion, viz., Midhat Pasha, who was an impor- 
 tant personage in Turkish politics. 
 
 The following little story shows the skilful 
 way in which the Turkish Minister was 
 removed from power by the agency of 
 Russia : 
 
 " During the Conference, the day after the 
 Turks had proclaimed their new Constitu- 
 tion, General Ignatieff met Sir W. White. 
 
 " ' Have you read the Constitution ?' asked 
 Ignatieff. ' No,' said the Englishman ; 
 * what does it matter? It N is not serious.' 
 4 But/ said Ignatieff, 'you must really read 
 
 
I So JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 one Article;' and so saying he pointed out the 
 Article which set forth that all provisions to 
 the contrary notwithstanding the Sultan was 
 to retain an absolute right to banish from the 
 capital any person whose presence might 
 seem objectionable to him. ' Mark my 
 words,' said Ignatieff, ' the first man to be 
 exiled under that clause will be Midhat 
 Pasha, the author of the Constitution.' 
 
 " The prediction was fulfilled to the letter. 
 Meeting Ignatieff some time after, Sir W. 
 White recalled the prophecy and its fulfil- 
 ment. ' Oh ! yes,' said the general, care- 
 lessly ; ' I arranged that.' ' But you had left 
 Constantinople before Midhat 's exile/ ' Cer- 
 tainly, but I arranged it just before I left.' 
 ' How ? ' 'It was very simple ; the weather 
 was stormy in the Black Sea, and I could not 
 leave for some days after the departure of 
 my colleague. I went on board my steamer 
 and anchored exactly opposite the Sultan's 
 palace. I did not go and bid him farewell, 
 but waited. In a day or two, as I anticipated, 
 there came an aide-de-camp from the Sultan 
 to express his regret and surprise that I, 
 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 181 
 
 whom he had known better than any of the 
 Ambassadors, should be departing without 
 paying him a farewell visit. I replied that, 
 of course, I should have been delighted to 
 have paid my respects to His Majesty, but 
 that it was no longer necessary. I had paid 
 my farewell visit to Midhat Pasha, as, under 
 the Constitution, it was to him, not the 
 Sultan, that such an act of respect was due. 
 Almost immediately after arriving in Russia 
 I heard of the exile of Midhat. My parting 
 shot had secured his downfall.' " l 
 
 The Conference failed, and Russia declared 
 war against Turkey, for now she had obtained 
 what she had been striving for during the 
 diplomatic transactions, viz., a pretence for a 
 single-handed policy with regard to Turkey, 
 and, secondly, she had obtained sufficient 
 time for making all necessary war prepara- 
 tions. Now, although she had already got 
 back what she had lost in the Crimean War 
 (through the Franco-Prussian War), yet she 
 was determined to obtain what she had 
 
 1 "Truth about Russia," p. 282. 
 
iS2 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 intended to take at the Crimean War, viz., 
 Constantinople. 
 
 A large Russian army crossed the Pruth 
 (April, 1877), and encamped before Constan- 
 tinople. In Asia Kars was captured. This 
 led to the Treaty of San Stefano. 
 
 By this treaty the Ottoman Empire in 
 Europe was completely abrogated. It re- 
 cognized the independence of Servia, Monte- 
 negro, and Roumania; Bulgaria was created, 
 and its boundaries now extended to the Black 
 and Aegean Seas, embracing several valu- 
 able harbours. Although the latter country 
 still remained tributary to Turkey, yet Russia 
 had the appointment of a Christian prince in 
 her hands. It has now to have a separate 
 administration, to be supervised by Russian 
 commissioners, and was also to be garrisoned 
 by Russian troops. 
 
 In Bosnia, Crete, Thessaly, and Epirus a 
 certain amount of reform was to be intro- 
 duced by the Porte under the supervision 
 of Russia. It was also enacted that the 
 part of Bessarabia taken from Russia in 
 1856 should be ceded back to her, to which 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 183 
 
 Lord Palmerston attached great value, " be- 
 cause," he said, " it is not of local, but of 
 European interest." Kars, Batoum, and 
 other adjoining districts in Asia were added 
 to Russia, by which cession she undoubtedly 
 held the strongholds of Armenia. Turkey 
 had to pay Russia three hundred million 
 roubles. 
 
 The results of this treaty may be described 
 as follows : It was nothing less than (i) 
 "To take all the European dominions of the 
 Ottoman Empire from the Porte and put 
 them under the administration of Russia ; " 
 (2) " to make the Black Sea as much a 
 Russian lake as the Caspian ; " (3) to give 
 Russia a firm hold of the Mediterranean, and 
 thereby imperil the naval supremacy of Eng- 
 land in that quarter. 
 
 Naturally, England could not accept the 
 Treaty of San Stefano without some altera- 
 tions. Lord Derby resigned on the refusal 
 of his demand that the treaty should be laid 
 before Parliament, and Lord Salisbury sent 
 out a vigorous circular which showed the 
 injustice towards other races of a large 
 
1 84 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 Bulgaria establishing Slav supremacy in the 
 Balkan Peninsula under Russian influence; 
 also the loss of the ports of Bourgas and 
 Batoum by the Turks would give Russia 
 command of the Black Sea trade, while 
 the cession of Kars to her would also in- 
 fluence Turkey's Asiatic possessions. This 
 would also affect the English interests in 
 the Persian Gulf, the Levant, and the Suez 
 Canal, which were in the Ottoman keeping, 
 and therefore was a matter of extreme soli- 
 citude for England. She would be willing, 
 however, to join in general stipulations made 
 by the joint Powers, but would not submit to 
 Prince GortschakofTs commands. Again, an 
 unpaid pecuniary debt owing to Russia by 
 Turkey would give the former dangerous 
 power. 
 
 The following words occur in the first 
 despatch of the English Government to 
 Russia : 
 
 "The course on which the Russian Govern- 
 ment has entered involves graver and more 
 serious consideration. It is in contravention 
 of the stipulation of the Treaty of Paris 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 185 
 
 (March 30, 1856), by which Russia and 
 the other signatory Powers engaged, each 
 on its own part, to respect the independence 
 and the territorial integrity of the Otto- 
 man Empire. At the close of the Con- 
 ference of London of 1871, the above 
 plenipotentiary, in common with those of 
 the other Powers, signed a declaration 
 affirming it to be an essential principle of 
 the law of nations that no Power can liberate 
 itself from the engagement of a treaty, nor 
 modify the stipulations thereof, unless with 
 the consent of the contracting parties by 
 means of an amicable arrangement. In 
 taking action against Turkey on his own 
 part, and having recourse to arms without 
 further consultation with his allies, the 
 Emperor of Russia has separated himself 
 from the European concert hitherto main- 
 tained, and has at the same time departed 
 from the rule to which he himself had 
 solemnly recorded his consent." l 
 
 The English Government addressed a 
 second despatch to Russia, stating that the 
 1 Lord Beaconsfield's speech, April 8, 1878. 
 
i86 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 English Government is " of opinion that 
 any treaty concluded by the Governments 
 of Russia and the Porte affecting the treaties 
 of 1856 and 1871 must be a European treaty, 
 and would not be valid without the assent 
 of the Powers who were parties to those 
 treaties." 
 
 The Russian Minister's (Gortschakoff's) 
 reply was received at last : " We repeat 
 the assurance that we do not intend to 
 settle by ourselves European questions 
 having reference to the peace which is to 
 be made." 
 
 Then the English Government sent an- 
 other despatch to Russia and the other 
 foreign Courts, and it was communicated 
 through an English Ambassador at St. 
 Petersburg that the Russian Emperor 
 " stated categorically that questions bear- 
 ing on European interests will be concerted 
 with European Powers, and he had given 
 Her Majesty's Government clear and positive 
 assurance to this effect." 
 
 At length Austria, with the full apprecia- 
 tion of Russia, invited England to a Confe- 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 187 
 
 rence at Berlin for the object of establishing 
 "an European agreement as to the modifi- 
 cations which it might become necessary to 
 introduce in existing treaties in order to 
 make them harmonize with the present 
 
 situation." 
 
 The English Government, however, stipu- 
 lated beforehand " that it would be desirable 
 to have it understood in the first place that 
 all questions dealt with in the San Stefano 
 Treaty between Russia and Turkey '* should 
 be fully considered in the Congress, and 
 "that no alteration in the condition of things 
 previously established by treaty should be 
 acknowledged as valid until it has received 
 the consent of the Powers." 
 
 Russia replied that " the preliminary treaty 
 of peace between Russia and Turkey will be 
 textually committed to the Great Powers 
 before the meeting of the Congress, and 
 that in the Congress itself each Power will 
 have full liberty of assent and of its free 
 action " (" la pleine liberty de ses appreciations 
 et de son action "). 
 
 This was a diplomatic triumph for Eng- 
 
i88 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 land, and the treaty was formally submitted 
 to the Congress. But there were certain 
 facts which must not escape our notice, for 
 just before the publication of the Treaty of 
 San Stefano the excitement in England had 
 attained its zenith. Russia, perceiving this, 
 and hearing that England was quite ready to 
 take up arms against her, took the utmost 
 precautions not to injure English interests ; 
 so a Russian occupation of Constantinople, 
 or any other circumstance which might 
 excite the enmity of England, were omitted 
 in the San Stefano Treaty. 
 
 When this became known in England the 
 excitement abated somewhat ; and, seeing 
 this, Russia consented to submit the treaty 
 to the Congress. 
 
 The Congress was opened at Berlin, under 
 the presidency of the German Chancellor, 
 Bismarck ; and Beaconsfield firmly stood his 
 ground at the Congress, previously calling 
 out the reserve forces and summoning seven 
 thousand Indian troops to Malta. Austria 
 began to arm. Russia now could not be 
 obstinate. 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 189 
 
 The following conditions were fixed and 
 drawn up by the Congress : 
 
 Bulgaria. 
 
 Article I. Bulgaria is constituted an auto- 
 nomous and tributary principality under the 
 suzerainty of His Imperial Majesty the 
 Sultan ; it will have a Christian Govern- 
 ment and a national militia. 
 
 Article III. The Prince of Bulgaria shall 
 be freely elected by the population and con- 
 firmed by the Sublime Porte, with the assent 
 of the Powers. No member of the reigning 
 dynasties of the Great European Powers 
 may be elected Prince of Bulgaria. 
 
 In case of a vacancy in the princely dignity, 
 the election of the new prince shall take place 
 under the same conditions and with the same 
 forms. 
 
 Eastern Roumelia. 
 
 Article XIII. A province is formed south 
 of the Balkans which will take the name of 
 " Eastern Roumelia," and will remain under 
 the direct political and military authority of 
 
IQO JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 His Imperial Majesty the Sultan, under 
 conditions of administrative autonomy. It 
 shall have a Christian Governor-general. 
 
 Article XVII. The Governor-general of 
 Eastern Roumelia shall be dominated by 
 the Sublime Porte, with the assent of the 
 Powers, for a term of five years. 
 
 Crete, &c. 
 
 Article XXIII. The Sublime Porte under- 
 takes to scrupulously apply to the island of 
 Crete the Organic Law of 1868, with such 
 modifications as may be considered equit- 
 able. 
 
 Similar laws adapted to local requirements, 
 excepting as regards the exemption from 
 taxation granted to Crete, shall also be 
 introduced into the other parts of Turkey 
 in Europe for which no special organization 
 has been provided by the present treaty. 
 
 Bosnia and Herzegovina. 
 
 Article XXV. The provinces of Bosnia 
 and Herzegovina shall be occupied and ad- 
 ministered by Austria- Hungary. 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 191 
 
 Montenegro, Servia, and Roumania. 
 
 Article XXVI. The independence of 
 Montenegro, Servia, and Rouinania is re- 
 cognized by the Sublime Porte, and by all 
 the high contracting parties, subject to the 
 conditions set forth in the following : 
 
 In Montenegro the difference of religious 
 creeds and confessions shall not be alleged 
 against any person as a ground for exclu- 
 sion or incapacity in matters relating to the 
 enjoyment of civil and political rights, ad- 
 mission to public employments, functions, 
 and honours, or the exercise of the various 
 professions and industries in any locality 
 whatsoever. 
 
 The freedom and outward exercise of all 
 forms of worship shall be assured to all 
 persons belonging to Montenegro, as well 
 as to foreigners ; and no hindrance shall be 
 offered either to the hierarchical organization 
 of the different communions or to their rela- 
 tions with their spiritual chiefs. 
 
 Article XLV. The principality of Rou- 
 mania restores to His Majesty the Emperor 
 
192 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 of Russia that portion of Bessarabian terri- 
 tory detached from Russia by the Treaty of 
 Paris of 1856. 
 
 Cessions in Asia. 
 
 Article LVIII. The Sublime Porte cedes 
 to the Russian Empire in Asia the territories 
 of Ardahan, Kars, and Batoum, together with 
 the latter port. 
 
 Article XIX. His Majesty the Emperor 
 declares that it is his intention to constitute 
 Batoum a free port, essentially commercial. 
 
 Article LX. The valley of Alaxhkerd and 
 the town of Bayazid, ceded to Russia, are 
 restored to Turkey. 
 
 The Sublime Porte cedes to Persia the 
 town and territory of Khotou for its delimi- 
 tation of the frontiers of Turkey and of 
 Persia. ' 
 
 1 " The topics regulated by the three Treaties of Paris, 
 London, and Berlin are : 
 
 " (i.) The admission of the Porte to the concert c ' 
 Europe (P. Art. 7). 
 
 " (ii.) The agreement as to resort to mediation (P. 8). 
 
 " (iii.) Religious equality in Turkey (P. 9 ; B. 62). 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 193 
 
 The Anglo-Turkish Convention. 
 
 Article I. 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 order to enable England to make neces- 
 
 " (iv.) The navigation of the Straits (P. 10 ; L. 2). 
 
 "(v.) The navigation of the Black Sea (P. 12 ; L. 3). 
 
 "(vi.) The navigation of the Danube (P. 13-19; L. 
 4-7; B. 52-57; L. 1883), 
 
 " (vii.) Roumania (B. 43-51). 
 
 " (viii.) Servia (B. 34, 40-42). 
 
 "(ix.) Montenegro (B. 26-31, 33). 
 
 "(x.) Bulgaria (B. 1-12). 
 
 " (xi.) Eastern Roumelia (B. 1321). 
 
 "(xii.) Bosnia and Herzegovina (B. 25). 
 (xiii.) Other European provinces (B. 23). 
 
 " (xiv.) The Armenian provinces (B. 61). 
 
 "(xv.) Cessions to Greece (B. 24 ; Cons, of 1881). 
 
 ' '(xvi.) The Russian boundaries (B. 45, 58-60). 
 
 "(xvii.) The Persian boundary (B. 60)." 
 (Holland's " European Concert in the Eastern Ques- 
 tion "). 
 
 I 1 
 
194 . JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 sary provision for executing her engagement, 
 His Imperial Majesty the Sultan further 
 consents to assign the island of Cyprus to be 
 occupied and administrated by England. 
 
 Beaconsfield having thus attained " peace 
 with honour " for England, returned, and in 
 a speech : in the House, said, " They are 
 not movements of war, they are operations 
 of peace and civilization ; we have no reason 
 to fear war. Her Majesty has fleets and 
 armies which are second to none." 
 
 1 In the House of Lords, July 18, 1878. 
 
VIII. 
 
 REMARKS UPON THE TREATY OF BERLIN. 
 
 The position of affairs The Salisbury- Schouvaloff Memo- 
 randum and its disastrous effect on the negotiations 
 at Berlin Russia's gain England and Austria the 
 guardians of Turkey Austria 's vigorous and straight- 
 forward Balkan policy Thwarted in Servia but 
 triumphant in Bulgaria Relations of Greece to Austria 
 Solution of the Crete question Neutrality of Belgium 
 threatened Importance of Constantinople to Russia; 
 the Anglo-Turkish Convention England s feeble policy 
 in Asia Minor The question of Egypt A new route 
 to India by rail-way from the Mediterranean to Persian 
 Gulf England's relation to Constantinople. 
 
 LET us now review and make a few remarks 
 on the Treaty of Berlin. 
 
 Firstly, the whole treaty seems to me to 
 be virtually a repetition * and revision of the 
 conditions of the European concert in the 
 Eastern question. 
 
 Prince Bismarck's opinion was that the 
 
 1 See Holland's " European Concert in the Eastern 
 Question." 
 
196 JAFAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 Treaty of San Stefano meant to alter " the 
 state of things as fixed by former European 
 Conventions," consequently the Berlin Con- 
 gress followed for " the free discussion of 
 the Cabinets' signatories of the treaties of 
 1856 and 1871." 
 
 The Treaties of Paris and London bein^ 
 
 & 
 
 still in force, and owing to the rise of a new 
 nationality and the redistribution of territory, 
 these treaties were altered and amended by 
 the Congress. 
 
 Before we criticize the Treaty of Berlin 
 we ought to bear two things in our mind, 
 (i) At the Conference of Paris, 1856, Eng- 
 land, France, and Turkey were victorious, 
 while Russia was conquered. (2) At the 
 Berlin Congress, 1878, Russia was victorious 
 over Turkey, while England and France 
 were neutral. 
 
 In both meetings it was asserted and 
 claimed that the Powers collectively had 
 the right of settling the Eastern Question 
 as against Russia's single-handed inter- 
 ference, England leading the van with fair 
 words but selfish interests. 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 197 
 
 On Russia concluding the San Stefano 
 Treaty with Turkey, England said that, 
 according to the conditions of the Treaty 
 of Paris, the Great Powers of Europe 
 " engaged each on its own part to respect 
 the independence and integrity of the 
 Ottoman Empire," and consequently Turkish 
 affairs produced a general interest through- 
 out Europe. 
 
 Russia had committed a serious breach 
 of " the law of nations " by a treaty single- 
 handed with Turkey. When the European 
 Congress at Berlin was consented to by 
 Russia, England said that the Treaty of 
 San Stefano was not valid without the con- 
 sent of the signatory Powers of the Treaties 
 of Paris and London. She also demanded 
 from Russia that, "in^the Congress itself, 
 each Power should have full liberty of 
 assent and free action." These demands 
 seemed perfectly reasonable. However, 
 England, before the Berlin meeting, con- 
 tracted a secret agreement with Russia, in 
 which the modifications asked for by Eng- 
 land in the Treaty of San Stefano were 
 
198 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 specified. This agreement did not leave out 
 the bringing in of other changes by mutual 
 consent, but, if these failed, tended to be a 
 mutual engagement by the ambassadors of 
 Russia and Great Britain as to their general 
 behaviour and conduct at the Congress. This 
 secret agreement between the two Powers 
 practically blocked the full liberty of the 
 other Powers and the full amount of good they 
 might otherwise have done. England had 
 been one of the first to attack Russia for 
 committing a breach of the Treaties of 
 Paris and London ; yet she overlooked the 
 fact that she herself had morally broken 
 the same treaties by her secret negotiation 
 with Russia, the other Powers not being at 
 the time cognizant of the fact. 
 
 Once more Russia, by the Black Sea 
 Conference, had gained full freedom on the 
 Black Sea, now she had regained the part 
 of Bessarabia which she had lost during the 
 Crimean War, the principal object of which 
 was to drive Russia from the banks of the 
 Danube. The above-mentioned territory 
 was ceded to Russia through the influence 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 199 
 
 of Lord Salisbury, who had secretly promised 
 Schouvaloff, the Russian ambassador, that he 
 would support the Russian demand with 
 regard to that land. 
 
 By the Berlin Treaty England and Austria 
 were invested with a special responsibility 
 for protecting the integrity of the Ottoman 
 Empire against Russian aggression Eng- 
 land in Asia Minor, and Austria in the 
 Balkans. 
 
 If Russia attacked through Asia Minor 
 the English interests would be imperilled ; 
 and by the disappearance of the Balkan 
 States, then Austria would be open to 
 Russian immediate attacks a consummation 
 which w r ould be little desired by that 
 Power. 
 
 This responsibility has undoubtedly from 
 that time engrossed the attention of Austria 
 and Hungary. She has had to encounter 
 several difficulties. Bessarabia was no longer 
 a Turkish province, and had been ceded 
 to Russia by the Salisbury-SchouvalorT 
 memorandum. Also there was no possi- 
 bility of the Balkan States being confede- 
 
200 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 rated owing to the different races, language, 
 and feelings of the nationality. 
 
 In September, 1879, Bismarck visited 
 Vienna and concluded an Austro-German de- 
 fensive alliance against the alliance of France 
 and Russia. Bismarck, however, described 
 the German policy in the following terse 
 manner : " Fight by all means, if you feel 
 yourself strong enough to beat Russia 
 single-handed. France and Germany will 
 see all fair, and you can hardly expect any- 
 body effectually to help you." 
 
 Notwithstanding these rather unfavourable 
 circumstances, and her financial difficulties as 
 well, still the policy of Austria is at the 
 present time carried on straightforwardly and 
 vigorously, and the duty with which she 
 charged herself at the Berlin Treaty is ably 
 done, and is well backed up by the five 
 million Magyars who inhabit Hungary and 
 the adjoining provinces. This nation had 
 been cruelly put under Austria by Russia 
 (1848-49), and consequently their hatred 
 against Russia was deeply rooted. 
 
 At present, therefore, Russia's schemes 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION.- 201 
 
 with regard to Constantinople have been 
 frustrated, and Austria holds the lead in the 
 Balkan Peninsula race. 
 
 Austria was asked to occupy Bosnia and 
 Herzegovina, in order to secure peace and 
 order there. She did so, and, notwithstand- 
 ing an armed resistance, entered and fulfilled 
 her promise. She is now strengthening her 
 hold on these states by stationary garrisons 
 of soldiers in different parts, and also Jesuits, 
 who exercise a moral influence over the 
 people. The affairs of Servia have also 
 deeply occupied the attention of the Austrian 
 Government. She captured King Milan, 
 and used him as a tool for her own purposes. 
 Russia, however, desired to get hold of 
 Servia through the ex-queen. 
 
 Intrigues at the Servian Court were 
 numerous, and at last the miserable divorce 
 of the king and queen leaked out. The 
 present young king ascended the throne. 
 This was a blow to the Austrian influence. 
 
 Bulgaria had been declared an independent 
 country by the Berlin Treaty. 4 On this state 
 the question of supremacy between Russia 
 
202 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 and Austria in the Balkans hangs to a great 
 degree. In 1855 Bulgaria and Eastern 
 Roumelia were united into a single state. 
 This revolution occasioned very great dis- 
 pleasure in Russia, and under her influence 
 Prince Alexander was kidnapped and com- 
 pelled to abdicate, and Prince Ferdinand of 
 Coburg was elected as the ruling prince. 
 
 Although of German extraction, he is 
 an Austrian by allegiance, and a Roman 
 Catholic. He was originally an officer in 
 the Hungarian army. There seems to me no 
 doubt that his election was illegal, because, 
 in the first place, by the Berlin Treaty the 
 ruling prince must belong to the Greek 
 Church. 
 
 Prince Ferdinand was quite ready to sub- 
 mit his claim for decision to the Great 
 Powers, and abide by the result. All the 
 Powers except England and Austria declared 
 that he had no claim to the crown, but the 
 two had their own way, and he ascended 
 the Bulgarian throne another repulse and 
 blow to Russian influence. Prince Alexander 
 meanwhile was given a post in the Austro- 
 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 203 
 
 Hungarian army. Only recently, to show 
 the friendly spirit that exists between Austria 
 and Bulgaria, a loan has been concluded 
 and advanced by the former to the latter. 
 
 Undoubtedly Austria committed a slight 
 mistake in her policy with regard to Greece. 
 She had arrogantly displayed her fleet and 
 strength at Salonika, which no doubt was a 
 source of irritation to Greece. Her best 
 policy would have been kindness and con- 
 sideration, not forcible means, for the pros- 
 perity of Austria was. to a certain extent 
 dependent on her treatment of neighbouring 
 countries, and, together with the Great Powers 
 she was to a certain extent dependent upon 
 Greece's action. The latter, therefore, was 
 a necessary bulwark against Russian en- 
 croachments, and was thus of primary im- 
 portance to England, France, and Italy. 
 If, therefore, the Turks were driven from 
 Europe, Greece would occupy the place of 
 Turkey with regard to Russia, and would be 
 the only obstacle to Russian Mediterranean 
 advance. " I would never permit," said the 
 Czar Nicholas, " such an extension of Greece 
 
204 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 as would render her a powerful state." Truly 
 Greece might well be called the Belgium of 
 the Mediterranean ! 
 
 By the Berlin Treaty the Porte was advised 
 to cede Thessaly and Epirus to Greece. This 
 was done, and as the Greeks were noted for 
 being good traders and sailors, great progress 
 and improvement was made in their newly 
 acquired territory. 
 
 It is difficult to see the reason why the 
 Berlin Congress did not advise the Porte to 
 cede Crete to Greece. If the island was left 
 alone it would be harmless, and exercise no 
 influence on the naval supremacy of the 
 Mediterranean. 
 
 However, an occupation of Crete by a Euro- 
 pean Power would to a great extent change 
 the balance of naval power in the Mediter- 
 ranean, destroy European tranquillity and 
 peace, the Levant would be in the hands of 
 the Cretan occupiers. Again, its position 
 would completely command the ^gean Sea, 
 and if properly fortified might be rendered 
 almost impregnable. Its natural wealth, 
 population, and general productiveness 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 205 
 
 afford ample resources both in times of 
 war and peace ; in fact, it might be very- 
 well termed the Second Gate to the Black 
 Sea. 
 
 Therefore it seems to me the best policy 
 to let this important island remain in a 
 neutral state by an agreement between the 
 Great Powers, and the sooner it is agreed 
 to the better it would be for the peace of 
 Europe generally. 
 
 In my opinion it would have been better 
 to have placed it under Grecian rule for the 
 following reasons : - 
 
 (i) Because Greece herself was a neutral 
 nation. (2) They were a commercial people, 
 and peaceful, which would have a beneficial 
 effect upon the island. (3) More than half 
 of the Cretan population are of Grecian 
 extraction. 
 
 There is no doubt that if any one l of the 
 Great Powers had proposed the cession of 
 
 1 At the ninth meeting of the Congress "the Greek 
 delegates asked the Congress to sanction the annexation 
 to the Hellenic Kingdom of the island of Crete, and the 
 province of Thessaly and Epirus " (The Duke of Argyll's 
 "The Eastern Question," vol. ii. p. 167). 
 
206 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 Crete to Greece it would have met with the 
 general approbation of the Congress. This 
 would not have met with Turkish opposition, 
 particularly as England had before the Berlin 
 Congress mentioned it in the Anglo-Turkish 
 agreement ; and to show that Turkey did not 
 attach much importance to Crete, it is related 
 in Turkish history that it was offered to 
 Mehemet Ali as a reward for his help in the 
 Greek insurrection ; besides, the national force 
 of Turkey was not large enough to utilize 
 the strong natural position of the island. 
 
 Austria, 1 unless she had been influenced by 
 her national vanity, would have agreed to 
 such a proposal owing to the great value as a 
 national defence that she received from the 
 Balkan States. Again, Germany, France, 
 
 1 "Russia had pointedly and emphatically declared 
 that she would not oppose any larger measure of liberty 
 which the Congress might desire to secure to the 
 provinces bordering on Greece. There was no symptom 
 of any serious opposition from any other Powers. But 
 England had deserted the cause of Greece, because they 
 sold it to the Turks as part of the price to be paid for the 
 island of Cyprus" (The Duke of Argyll's, "The Eastern- 
 Question," vol. ii. p. 170). 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 207 
 
 and Italy could find no reasonable argument 
 for opposing this plan. 
 
 The policy of England with regard to a 
 neutral state has always been to strengthen 
 its national power, and that to such a degree 
 as to properly maintain its fixed neutrality. 
 
 In 1815 England ceded the Java Islands 
 to the Dutch on the formation of the Nether- 
 lands at the Congress of Vienna. Why did 
 she do this ? For this reason : because by 
 doing this the new States would be rendered 
 neutral in .case of a French or German inva- 
 sion, and by this cession of Java the Dutch 
 national power was increased in every way, 
 and their power of maintaining a strict 
 neutrality rendered stronger. 
 
 Another instance may strengthen my 
 statement. Corfu, an important military 
 and naval post, was put under English 
 protection at the Vienna Congress, 1815. 
 Lord Palmerston at one time saw that it 
 would be impolitic to hand over Corfu to 
 Austria, and declared that the islands ought 
 never to be abandoned by England. 
 
 However, when the new kingdom of 
 
208 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 Greece was formed England cordially agreed 
 to hand over Corfu and several other islands 
 to Greece, on the condition that the Greeks 
 should choose a king subject to the approval 
 of England. The fortifications of Corfu were 
 demolished, and the neutrality of the islands 
 was declared by the Great Powers. 
 
 These circumstances, then, tend to show us 
 that England was distinctly favourable l to 
 the cession of Crete to Greece, and they were 
 considerably strengthened by the fact that 
 Greece was an ally of England, and the 
 commercial relations between the two were 
 very free. 
 
 There is no doubt that the marriage of the 
 Crown Prince of Greece with a German 
 Princess (1889) has morally strengthened 
 the position and power of Greece. However, 
 Greece still needs material strength for the 
 maintenance of a strict neutrality. 
 
 1 " Returning to Greece," said Beaconsfield, " no one 
 could doubt as to the future of this country. States, 
 like individuals, which have a future, are in a position to 
 be able to wait " (The Duke of Argyll's " The Eastern 
 Question," vol. ii. p. 169). 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 209 
 
 Turning to another country, we find that it 
 is a matter of considerable doubt whether 
 Belgium can maintain a firm neutrality in 
 case of a Franco-German war. At the time 
 of Lord Palmerston she might perhaps have 
 been able to do so, but the recent discoveries 
 in the world of science, and their application 
 to military purposes, and the immense increase 
 of the French and German armies, have 
 changed the military world, and the neutrality 
 of Belgium is a doubtful point. In 1887 an 
 important discussion on this question took 
 place, which resulted in the fortification of 
 Namur and Liege. This was followed by 
 the fortification of the Meuse, but it is said 
 that the Belgians have not enough troops to 
 garrison these newly-made defences. It has 
 been publicly admitted in Belgium that their 
 national force is not sufficient to defend a 
 violation of neutrality against France and 
 Germany, therefore Belgium must regard 
 the first violator of her neutrality as her 
 national enemy, and will be obliged to ally 
 herself with a nation which is an enemy of 
 the state which has violated neutrality. This 
 
 14 
 
210 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 is not the Belgium which Lord Palmerston 
 meant it to be. 
 
 Another important fact is that since the 
 Franco-German war German attention has 
 been turned to the North Sea, and a new 
 naval harbour and arsenal have been built at 
 Wihelmshafen. Two other large harbours 
 in the North Sea have also been improved 
 lately, viz., Hamburg and Bremen. Kiel, 
 the finest port on the Baltic, has been confis- 
 cated, and is now connected with the North 
 Sea by a canal, through which ships of large 
 tonnage may one day pass. Numerous 
 ironclads and fleets of large merchant and 
 emigrant steam vessels have been constructed 
 which, in case of war, can be armed and 
 turned into transports. Her land forces have 
 been well organized and augmented, and 
 military tactics scientifically developed. From 
 these threatening facts it is certain that in the 
 event of a Franco-German war both Holland 
 and Belgium would occupy most dangerous 
 positions. Having these events staring them 
 in the face, only one expedient could present 
 itself to the two states, viz., union. This 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 211 
 
 would enable them to show a powerful front 
 to the rival Powers, and would enable them 
 both to maintain a united fixed neutrality, 
 thus showing Lord Palmerston's mistaken 
 policy of the separation of the two states to 
 be a weak one with regard to the present 
 state of affairs, though perhaps it may have 
 served its purpose at that time. 
 
 All these arguments go to prove that a 
 cession of Crete to Greece would be beneficial 
 to both European and Grecian interests. 
 
 Constantinople was hardly mentioned in 
 the Berlin Treaty, although it is said that 
 Lord Beaconsfield had suggested to General 
 Ignatieff a Russian occupation of the Bos- 
 phorus with an English one of Mitylene. 
 Ignatieff said, however, that " Mitylene was 
 too near, as it was only two hours' steam 
 from the north of the Dardanelles." Lord 
 Beaconsfield did not, therefore, press the 
 discussion. The importance of Constanti- 
 nople can be explained in a few words. 
 
 By possession of the Straits Russia would 
 be able to make the Black Sea a second 
 Caspian, whose coasts are left undefended, 
 
212 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 and it would become a great Russian arsenal, 
 for ten or fifteen thousand troops would 
 be sufficient to shut out an English fleet from 
 the Straits, and by this means quite two 
 hundred thousand Russian troops could be 
 withdrawn from the Black Sea and turned to 
 the Balkans, Asia Minor, or Central Asia. 
 
 The Anglo-Turkish Convention. 
 
 Notwithstanding the fact that Austria has 
 fulfilled her contract in preventing Russian 
 aggression through the Balkans, yet Russia 
 could find a way through Asia Minor, 
 although her progress through Asia was 
 stopped by England at the Anglo-Turkish 
 Convention. 
 
 By this treaty, however, England committed 
 a still more grave and serious breach of the 
 Treaties of 1856 and 1871 than by this 
 Berlin Treaty. Yet although England and 
 Russia had made a secret agreement before- 
 hand, still the Berlin Treaty was discussed 
 and drawn up by the Congress. Therefore 
 England was only morally to blame. But 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 213 
 
 the Anglo-Turkish Convention was concluded 
 between the two countries themselves, and 
 was never submitted for the consideration of 
 the Great Powers. Lord Beaconsfield sought 
 to screen England by declaring that Russia 
 had concluded the San Stefano Treaty with 
 Turkey without the knowledge and consent 
 of the Powers, and Russia herself, therefore, 
 had broken the principles of the 1856 and 
 1871 Treaties. Yet this did not conceal the 
 fact that England herself had not acted up 
 to her tenets in the Anglo-Turkish Conven- 
 tion. 
 
 The Porte ceded Ardahan, Kars, and 
 Batoum, together with its port, to Russia. 
 England occupied Cyprus, and engaged to 
 defend Asiatic Turkey, Syria, Palestine, 
 Assyria, Arabia, and Armenia, against Rus- 
 sian invasion. 
 
 Has England performed her contract in 
 Asiatic Turkey as Austria has done in the 
 Balkans ? We will see. Cyprus is left 
 almost in the same condition as it was before 
 our English occupation, and nothing has 
 been done by England for the defence of 
 
214 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 Asiatic Turkey, while only a few hundred 
 soldiers guard against a Russian invasion 
 
 o o 
 
 in Asia Minor. Surely this cannot be 
 a sufficient number of men to withstand a 
 Russian army. What, then, has become of 
 the Anglo-Turkish Convention ? Russia has 
 taken advantage of this, and is doing her 
 utmost to bring about war in that quarter. 
 
 By the Berlin Treaty the Russian Emperor 
 declared that it was his intention to constitute 
 Batoum a free port essentially commercial. 
 Lord Salisbury interpreted this remark that 
 the port of Batoum was to be only a com- 
 mercial port. The Russian Emperor has, 
 however, changed his intention, and Batoum 
 is essentially a fortress, and is connected with 
 Poti by a railway through Kutais. 
 
 Why cannot, therefore, Russia have an idea 
 of breaking the Berlin Treaty with equal 
 freedom as England did with regard to the 
 Treaties of 1856 and 1871 by concluding the 
 Anglo-Turkish Convention single-handed ? 
 It seems to me that Russia has a great 
 opportunity of advancing to Erzeroum, and 
 from there proceeding to Alexandretta ; and 
 
 i 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 2 1 5 
 
 from there to Constantinople. At any rate 
 she has ample opportunities of reaching the 
 Persian Gulf by piercing the northern fron- 
 tiers and western part of Persia, and thus 
 completing the far-seeing policies of Peter 
 the Great, Nicholas, and Alexander. 
 
 How can England withstand this ? When 
 Cyprus was placed under English administra- 
 tion both France and Italy were opposed to 
 this, France especially so, because she had a 
 special interest with regard to Syria* How- 
 ever, she concluded a secret agreement with 
 England, that the latter would consent to a 
 French Protectorate over Tunis, which was 
 done in 1881, a protectorate which is now 
 extending to Tripoli. Many regard this 
 action of France as an indirect third offer of 
 Egypt to England, the first having been 
 made by Nicholas I., and the second by Louis 
 Philippe. 
 
 Whatever the French occupation of Tunis 
 might be, England occupied Egypt in 1885, 
 thus fulfilling Lord Palmerston's prophecy of 
 a quarter of a century before, when he said 
 that " if a practicable waterway were created 
 
216 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 between the Gulf of Pelusium and the Red 
 Sea England would be compelled sooner or 
 later to annex Egypt, and that he opposed 
 M. de Lessep's scheme because he considered 
 it undesirable that England should annex 
 territory in that part of the world." l 
 
 The Suez Canal was opened in 1869, and 
 Lord Palmerston's prophecy was fulfilled. 
 In 1875 the English Government purchased 
 the Khedive's shares (^4,000,000) in the 
 Suez Canal, and this was followed by the 
 bombardment of Alexandria by the British 
 fleet in 1885. The chief aim of the English 
 occupation of Egypt was " to possess the inns 
 on the north road." 2 
 
 1 The explanation of Lord Palmerston's opposition 
 to M. de Lessep's scheme, which was given confidentally 
 by him to one of his subordinates in the Foreign Office. 
 
 2 "We do not want Egypt, or wish it for ourselves 
 any more than any rational man, with an estate in the 
 north of England and a residence in the south, would 
 have wished to possess the inns on the north road. All 
 he could want would have been that the inns should be 
 well kept, always accessible, and furnishing him, when he 
 came, with mutton chops and post horses. We want to 
 trade with Egypt, and to travel through Egypt " (Lord 
 Palmerston's Letter to Lord Cowley, November 25, 1859). 
 
THE EA STERN Q UES TION. 2 1 7 
 
 It will be impossible to avoid the conflict 
 of English and French interests as long as 
 there is only one route through the Suez 
 Canal to India, and an Anglo-French alliance 
 on the subject seems to be far distant, par- 
 ticularly as England has three-fourths of the 
 traffic through the canal. 
 
 It is also a matter of great importance that 
 England should keep Egypt orderly and 
 peaceful. Lord Salisbury, in an excellent 
 speech on Lord Mayor's Day, 1889, said : 
 
 "We (English) have undertaken to sustain 
 Egypt until she is competent to sustain 
 herself against every enemy, foreign or 
 domestic. We cannot see that that time 
 has yet arrived. It may arrive quicker or 
 lat.er. Other Powers may help us by con- 
 curring in measures which will improve the 
 position and increase the prosperity of 
 Egypt, or they may defer that day by taking 
 an opposite course. But whether the day 
 comes sooner or later, our policy remains 
 unaltered, and we will pursue our task to the 
 end." 
 
 We can easily get at the pith of Lord 
 
218 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 Salisbury's speech. If France again became 
 a co-partner of England in establishing peace 
 and order in Egypt, then England would be 
 quite willing to restore the dual control 
 with regard to Egypt, and Lord Salisbury in 
 1878 had declared that England did not 
 desire to annex Egypt. 
 
 The dual control of France and England 
 with regard to Egypt might possibly settle 
 affairs there temporarily, or neutralize that 
 country on the same lines as Belgium ; but 
 still this is not a sufficient guarantee against 
 an Anglo-French dispute on the Egyptian 
 question. 
 
 The French Government of the present 
 day is not noted for stability, always chang- 
 ing, never agreeing, and ready for foreign 
 quarrels, and although now they are support- 
 ing the English Government in Egypt, it is 
 not safe to depend upon them, for the feeling 
 of rivalry is sure to arise, and great caution 
 has to be exercised in order to prevent 
 complications arising. No matter what 
 happens, England must have free communi- 
 cation with India, and as long as there is 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 219 
 
 only one road, ruptures will be inevitable, 
 and there can be no firm alliance as in the 
 case of the Crimean War. 
 
 It seems to me to be a favourable time to 
 suggest to Turkey the construction of a rail- 
 way from Constantinople or some other port 
 on the Mediterranean to Bussorah on the 
 Persian Gulf : why should not England 
 undertake the construction herself? This 
 route would certainly possess four great 
 advantages : 
 
 (1) It would be a shorter route to India. 
 
 (2) It would be a valuable means of quick 
 transportation of either Turkish or English 
 troops for the defence oi Asia Minor. 
 
 (3) It would avoid a clashing of English 
 and French interests in Egypt to a certain 
 extent, and a dual control would thereby be 
 strengthened, and would produce two more 
 results, viz : 
 
 (a) A firmer alliance between England 
 and France. 
 
 (b) England would be able to reduce her 
 troops in Egypt, and devote them to the 
 defence of Asia Minor, and by this means be 
 
220 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 more able to withstand Russian attacks in 
 that quarter and in Persia. 
 
 (4) Lastly, Turkey would be strengthened 
 financially owing to the prosperity of her 
 commerce, and productions in Asia Minor, 
 which is the usual effect of such a communi- 
 cation. 
 
 By this means England can fulfil her 
 public duty to Turkey, which she had under- 
 taken to do by the Anglo-Turkish Conven- 
 tion, and can maintain her national honour 
 pledged when Lord Beaconsfield and Count 
 Andrassy discussed the defence of Turkey 
 from Russian invasion in Asia and Europe. 
 
 It is difficult to see why this railway 
 scheme was not brought forward at the 
 Anglo-Turkish Convention, because it 
 appears to me to be of primary importance 
 for the defence of both Asia Minor and 
 India ; and also how it escaped the mind of 
 so clever a statesman as Lord Beaconsfield. 
 
 It has, however, been informally discussed 
 both at political meetings and by pamphlet 
 only recently : the financial difficulties seemed 
 quite surmountable, but political opinions 
 
THE EA STERN Q UES TION. 2 2 1 
 
 are decidedly at variance on the subject. 
 But it is my opinion that England would be 
 perfectly right in compelling Turkey to carry 
 out this scheme, and if she was not able to 
 execute it, then England could perform it 
 herself, and she would be only fulfilling one 
 of the duties which she has undertaken to 
 perform with the Sultan at the Anglo- 
 Turkish Convention. 
 
 The following articles strangely enough 
 appeared in one of the English daily 
 papers l : 
 
 " The tradition, adhered to even by Lord 
 Beaconsfield, of remaining allied with Turkey 
 at all hazards, is no longer advocated even 
 by Conservative occupants of the Foreign 
 Office. Since the occupation by England of 
 Cyprus, and still more of Egypt, Constanti- 
 nople has lost much of its importance to 
 England. The Russian fleet in the Black 
 Sea would, in the event of war, pass through 
 the Dardanelles, with or without the Sultan's 
 consent, and advance into the Mediterranean. 
 The rule of the Sultan at Constantinople, 
 1 Pall Mall, September 15, 1886. 
 
222 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 therefore, no longer affords a guarantee 
 against a Russian attack of the English 
 possessions in the Mediterranean. Russia 
 already possesses a road to India via Merv, 
 and the possession of Constantinople could 
 afford her no resistance in this direction." 
 
 " England, on the other hand, in the event 
 of Russia's impeding the conveyance of 
 English troops through the Suez Canal, has 
 at her disposal another way to India, one 
 which leads exclusively through British 
 dominions the new Canadian railway. One 
 no longer thinks of defending India at 
 Constantinople, but in Afghanistan and on 
 the Anglo-Afghan frontier. England has as 
 much interest as the other Powers in pre- 
 venting Russia from advancing towards 
 Constantinople, but this is no longer held to 
 be a vital interest that would have to be 
 protected even by force of arms." 
 
 This is certainly a serious mistake in 
 policy if backed up by the English Govern- 
 ment, even more so than that of the Duke of 
 Wellington, 1827-1830. 
 
 If Constantinople were once occupied by 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 223 
 
 Russia, it is certain that Turkey would be a 
 thing of the past, the Russian fleet on the 
 Black Sea would at once sail into the 
 Mediterranean and attack the English 
 supremacy there. The Russian occupation 
 would enable them to withdraw quite 200,000 
 troops from the Black Sea coasts which 
 could be used for an attack on the Balkans, 
 Armenia, or Central Asia ; Cyprus would be 
 lost to England, and Asia Minor to Turkey ; 
 Russia would have a largely increased power 
 in the Mediterranean, and the Persian Gulf 
 would be no longer open to English ships. 
 
 If the Franco- Russian alliance of to-day 
 remained firm, and war was to be declared, 
 then England would only have two long 
 routes to India: (a) round the Cape of Good 
 Hope, (<5) the new Canadian railway. Lord 
 Charles Beresford said, " With the Cape 
 well fortified and held by a military force, 
 England might laugh at the world." But 
 the Cape would be unsafe, owing to France 
 having now firm hold of the Indian Ocean 
 " Malta," viz., Madagascar. 
 
 Notwithstanding that the new Canadian 
 
224 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 route passes exclusively through British 
 dominions, yet it cannot be called a direct 
 route, for it is certainly a seven days longer 
 journey than the Gibraltar route to Cal- 
 cutta. Russia, on the other hand, could 
 send an immense number of troops in seven 
 or ten days from Moscow to the Afghan 
 frontiers, and in about another extra day 
 from St. Petersburg, or the Caucasian 
 Peninsula. 
 
 This would be all in favour of Russia 
 gaining the first military move a matter of 
 extreme importance in the present advanced 
 stage of military tactics. 
 
 This question may also be viewed from 
 two other points : 
 
 First, Cobden l and Bright were once 
 under the idea that if Russia occupied 
 Constantinople, she would change into a 
 
 1 " If Russia obtained Constantinople, she must cease 
 to be barbarous before she could become formidable ; 
 and if she made a great navy, it must be by doing as the 
 Venetians, the Dutch, the English, and the Americans did, 
 by the accumulation of wealth, the exercise of industry, 
 the superior skill and intelligence of her artizans " 
 (Cobden's Manchester Speech). 
 
 i 
 

 THE EASTERN QUESTION. 225 
 
 peaceful and civilized nation, and that Eng- 
 land would be materially benefited com- 
 mercially. This was merely an imaginary 
 dream, for there is no doubt in my mind 
 that a Russian occupation of the Turkish 
 capital is a preliminary to shutting out Eng- 
 lish trade from the Black Sea by heavy 
 protective duties. Second, England has 
 engaged herself, together with the other 
 European Powers, to respect the integrity 
 and independence of the Ottoman Empire 
 by the Treaties of Paris, London, and Berlin, 
 and still more emphatically by the Anglo- 
 Turkish Convention. If, therefore, she 
 followed the policy of leaving Constantinople 
 to its fate, and simply defended her interests 
 on the Afghan frontiers, she would at once 
 be branded with disgrace, and stigmatized as 
 a breaker of the 1856, 1871, and 1878 
 Treaties, and a backslider from the Anglo- 
 Turkish Convention. 
 
 At the present time, however, an indirect 
 change of policy may be observed. Early 
 in March, 1889, the First Lord of ths 
 Admiralty (Lord George Hamilton) intro- 
 
 15 
 
226 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 duced and passed the Naval Defences Bill, 
 authorizing an expenditure of ^"21,500,000 
 on the Navy by constructing eight first 
 and two second-class battle-ships, nine first- 
 class and thirty-three smaller cruisers, and 
 eighteen torpedo gun-boats. This surely 
 implies that England is determined to pre- 
 vent Russian encroachments both at Con- 
 stantinople and in the Mediterranean. 
 
 Reviewing the above, the following things 
 seem plainly revealed, viz., that Russia has 
 in the majority of cases assumed an offensive 
 policy while England has maintained a de- 
 fensive one with regard to Eastern Europe. 
 
 Pitt started a splendid scheme of resist- 
 ance against Russia ; Canning worked upon 
 it, and developed the European Concert 
 scheme with regard to Turkey; Palmerston 
 improved, expanded, and eventually com- 
 pleted a perfectly harmonious unison; while 
 Beaconsfield composed and worked varia- 
 tions upon the original strain of the Concert. 
 Surely the example of such noble and great 
 statesmen is worthy of veneration both in 
 the present and the future. 
 
IX. 
 
 CENTRAL ASIA. 
 
 Rise of British power in India Rivalry of France Aims 
 of Napoleon Russian influence in Central Asia Its 
 great extension after the Crimean War And after 
 the Berlin Congress Possible points of attack on 
 India Constantinople the real aim of Russia's Asiatic 
 policy Recent Russian annexations and railways in 
 Central Asia Reaction of Asiatic movements on the 
 Balkan question Dangerous condition of Austria- 
 Possible futttre Russian advances in Asia England's 
 true policy the constrtiction of a speedy route to India 
 by railway from the Mediterranean to the Persian 
 Gulf Alliance of England, France, Turkey, Austria, 
 and Italy would effectively th^djart Russian schemes. 
 
 I DO not mean to detain my readers for 
 any length of time upon this tedious subject 
 which has been so often discussed. I shall 
 sketch the policy of England and Russia in 
 the region in question. However, it must 
 not be forgotten that the subject is important, 
 as it leads up to the great Pacific Question 
 which will occupy European attention for 
 many years to come. 
 
228 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 The foundation of the British Empire in 
 India dates from the Battle of Plassey, June 
 2 3> T 757 an d Clive's Second Governorship 
 of the East India Company established the 
 India administration on a firm basis. 
 
 Warren Hastings improved and properly 
 organized the foundation laid by Clive, and 
 Lord Cornwallis consolidated Bengal and 
 the other chief states, and rendered them 
 fairly secure. 
 
 Lord Wellesley was the first who felt fully 
 convinced that England should be the per- 
 manent predominant Power in India, and he 
 carried out this policy by extensive sub- 
 sidiary alliances with native princes by which 
 the states were placed under British pro- 
 tection. 
 
 It is said that this policy was suggested 
 by " the great events that were taking place 
 in Europe, where French ideas and French 
 arms under the genius of Bonaparte were 
 reducing kingdoms and states to provinces 
 of an Empire.'' * 
 
 Lord Minto first opened relations with the 
 1 Carlo's " British India," p. 59. 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 229 
 
 Punjaub, Afghanistan, and Persia. He was 
 succeeded by Lord Moira, who saw that the 
 British frontiers in India could never be 
 secured till the natural barrier of the Hima- 
 layas and the sea were reached ; while Lord 
 Dalhousie proved a faithful follower and im- 
 prover of this policy, and at last made India 
 a completely organized state. 
 
 England's Opponents in British India. 
 
 The Portuguese ascendency in India was 
 of short duration. It was followed by a 
 keen rivalry between the English and 
 French, the former eventually obtaining the 
 precedence. This was owing to the naval 
 superiority of the English in Indian seas, 
 under the wise guidance of Chatham, sup- 
 ported by the skilful military and civil ad- 
 ministration of Clive and Hastings. 
 
 In 1/97-1798 Napoleon threatened to in- 
 vade India from the north; first he threatened 
 an attack from the Deccan, then in the 
 latter part of the year he concluded an 
 alliance with several Asiatic princes pre- 
 
230 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 paratory to another attack from the same 
 quarter. 
 
 The Marquis Wellesley was at once sent 
 out and landed in Madras, April 26, 1798. 
 Affairs seemed critical. Napoleon was pre- 
 paring for a great invasion of Egypt prior 
 to a descent on India. Tippoo Sultan, in 
 India, was raising troops, disciplined under 
 French management, and strengthened by 
 French help, commanded by Raymond. 
 Rao Sindia (the Mahratta ruler), the Pesha- 
 war (Governor of Poonah), the Ameer of 
 Afghanistan, and Holkar were all hostile 
 to English interests in India, and threatened 
 to plunge everything into war with the 
 assistance of the French. 
 
 Wellesley plainly saw that a defensive 
 policy was the best. Accordingly he made 
 an alliance with some of the Mahratta powers 
 to frustrate a French invasion from the 
 north. He also strongly urged the English 
 Home Government to take possession of 
 the Cape of Good Hope, and the Isles of 
 France and Bourbon, in order to cut off 
 the sea route to India from France. This 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 231 
 
 advice was followed by the English Govern- 
 ment, who retained Malta, Mauritius, the Cape 
 of Good Hope, and the Ionian Islands by the 
 provisions of the Congress of Vienna, 1815. 
 
 He then began to crush Tippoo Sultan and 
 his allies, and by the brilliant victories of 
 Assaye and Argaum brought them to his feet. 
 Having conquered these Native states he 
 now began to take measures to consolidate 
 them. He allowed the princes to retain 
 their titles, but subjected them to the English 
 Power, which secured them from foreign 
 aggression, and also let them have full liberty 
 with regard to internal administration. 
 
 On his recall in 1805 a policy of non- 
 interference was carried on by his successor, 
 Lord Cornvvallis. 
 
 During the Napoleonic European War, 
 Lord Minto was Governor-General. Under 
 his able administration the French Isles of 
 Bourbon and Mauritius and the Dutch East 
 Indian Islands were captured. He also sent 
 political missions into Persia, Sindia, and 
 Poonah to crush down the French influence 
 and intrigue there. 
 
232 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 Napoleon fell in 1815, and the most for- 
 midable opponent to British Indian interests 
 disappeared. 
 
 Yet the Marquis of Hastings and his suc- 
 cessors still carried out the same policy of 
 annexation as had been in existence during 
 the alarms of Napoleon, and the Indian 
 frontiers have ever since been keenly watched 
 and guarded from foreign attack. The second 
 Mahratta War (1817-1819) and the first 
 Burmese War (1824-1826) are instances of 
 British watchfulness over the frontiers. 
 
 As was to be expected, Russia appeared 
 on the scene in the place of France, and 
 the drama of the Anglo- Russian struggle in 
 Afghanistan was enacted in 1837. 
 
 For some time previously Russia had been 
 gradually advancing into Central Asia. This 
 movement started with Peter the Great, 
 while Alexander I. arranged with Napoleon 
 by the Treaty of Tilsit (1807) to annex what- 
 ever he pleased in Central Asia. Hence the 
 Russian boast of Nicholas that " Russia has 
 no boundary in Central Asia." For some 
 time, however, Turkish affairs occupied the 
 
THE EXPANSION OF RUSSIA IN ASIA. 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTIOX. 235 
 
 Russian minds, and Asia was left untouched, 
 while for twenty or thirty years after the fall 
 of Napoleon, all the great countries were 
 endeavouring to restore the balance of power 
 in Europe. Then in 1830 Russia began to 
 show her hand, and seized Jaxartes, and in 
 1837 the siege of Herat by the Persians (no 
 doubt incited by the Russians), which is 
 sometimes called the north-western gate of 
 India, and the failure of negotiations with 
 Dost Mohammed, who was backed by Russian 
 influence, urged the English to take strong 
 measures in order to protect India from 
 Russian invasion, especially through the 
 two Afghan Passes, the Bolon and Khy- 
 ber. 
 
 The first English move was the sending 
 of an expedition to Cabul, and its occupation 
 in 1839. Its intention was to place a ruler 
 over Afghanistan who should be under Eng- 
 lish influence. This was considered defensive 
 policy. 
 
 In 1847 Lord Palmerston wrote to Lord 
 John Russell the following : 
 
 " The roads through Persia are good, and 
 
236 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC, 
 
 the Caspian gives additional facilities. From 
 Astrabad through Afghanistan are very 
 practicable military roads. A Russian force 
 in occupation of Afghanistan might convert 
 Afghanistan into the advanced post of Russia." 
 
 The annexation of Sind (1843), Punjaub 
 (1849), Oudh (1856), and the second Bur- 
 mese War (1852), are all policies on the same 
 lines. 
 
 Just at this period Russia was warmly 
 engaged with Turkish affairs, and in 1853- 
 1856 was employed in the Crimean War 
 against England, France, and Turkey. She 
 was beaten, and by the Treaty of Paris was 
 driven back from the Danube, and forbidden 
 to put a Russian fleet of any description in 
 the Black Sea, and the fortifications of Sebas- 
 topol were dismantled. Thus a Russian 
 advance on the Balkans and Armenia seemed 
 then almost hopeless. Therefore she turned 
 her attention to Central Asia, and vigorously 
 carried out her plans for several years. 
 
 In 1864 the Russian forces captured 
 Tchenken, in Turkestan, and she had ad- 
 vanced as far as the river Syr Daria. In 
 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 237 
 
 1865 she declared war with Bokhara, and 
 captured Taskend, which was followed by the 
 surrenderor Khojind (1866). 
 
 In 1867 the province of Syr Adria was 
 annexed, and in the same year Nicholas in- 
 stalled a Russian Government in Turkestan. 
 In 1868 Samarcand was subjugated, and the 
 Ameer of Bokhara was practically made a 
 vassal of the Czar. In 1869 Krasnovodok, 
 on the east coast of the Caspian, next fell a 
 prey to Russian greed, and a fort was built 
 there, and at present forms one of the Russian 
 military outposts. 
 
 During and after the Franco-German War 
 she was busily engaged in Central Asia, and 
 still increased and extended her boundaries, 
 until at length the Oxus was reached, and 
 the Clarendon boundary in 1872 for a time 
 stopped her roving footsteps. In 1873, how- 
 ever, the whole territory of the Khan of 
 Khiva was drawn in, and the river Atrak 
 was now the boundary with Persia. Zeraf- 
 shan next fell before her, and now the Tian 
 Shan mountains and the eastern part of 
 Semipolatinsk formed the eastern boundary 
 
 I 
 
238 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 with China. Lastly, 1876 saw the annexa- 
 tion of Ferghana. 
 
 Let us now direct our attention to the 
 English frontiers and territory, which she 
 was trying to consolidate more firmly. 
 
 The Indian Mutiny of 1857 had led to the 
 transferring of the Government of India from 
 the East India Company to the Crown, and 
 the reins of government from a Governor- 
 General to a Viceroy (1858). The tour of 
 the Prince of Wales through India, 1875- 
 1876, had done a good deal of good in creat- 
 ing a friendly feeling with the natives, and 
 he had met with a brilliant reception. This 
 was the preliminary to Queen Victoria being 
 proclaimed Empress of India in 1877. 
 
 The Russo-Turkish War (1878), the San 
 Stefano Treaty, and the Congress of Berlin, 
 produced a new phase in the Afghan ques- 
 tion. The opposition of Austria to Russia 
 at the Balkans, the defence of England in 
 Asia Minor, both by the provisions of the 
 Berlin Treaty, and the Anglo-Turkish Con- 
 vention had frustrated the schemes of 
 Russia in Europe; she therefore turned her 
 
THE EA STERN Q UES TION, 2 39 
 
 undivided energies to her advance in Central 
 Asia, with the object of dividing the atten- 
 tion and forces of the English between Asia 
 Minor and the Afghan frontiers. 
 
 In 1880 the final conquest of the Turco- 
 mans along the northern frontier of Persia 
 and the east coast of the Caspian facilitated 
 her designs, and Askhabad was occupied. 
 The dispute of the Kulja frontier with China 
 was a winning move also in the eastern 
 direction, also a part of Semipolatinsk was 
 added, and fresh boundaries were made in 
 the south-west of Ferghana towards the 
 Chinese Empire, which measure caused Eng- 
 land to adopt a defensive policy by the third 
 Burmese War (1885). 
 
 In 1882 the Russo-Merv Convention was 
 concluded, finally deciding the submission of 
 the latter, while in 1884 " His Imperial 
 Highness (of Russia) had determined to ac- 
 cept the allegiance of the Merv-Turcomans, 
 and to send an officer to administer the 
 government of that region." T The annexa- 
 tion of Merv gave Russia possession of the 
 
 1 Sir E. Thornton's telegram from St. Petersburg. 
 
 
2 4 o JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 river Murghab, giving her an opportunity of 
 having a waterway to Herat if needed. 
 
 This action compelled England to appoint 
 a Commission to define the North-West 
 frontier of Afghanistan (1885). England at 
 this time was worried also with Egyptian 
 affairs. Russia, notwithstanding, advanced 
 and occupied Sarakhs and various other 
 posts on the North-West frontier, all being 
 strategically important. This aroused the 
 English Government, who at once asked for 
 a vote of credit of ^11,000,000, and began 
 to show such a determined front that Russia 
 was compelled to make certain conces- 
 sions. 
 
 However, at the conclusion of the negotia- 
 tions it was found that Russia had pushed 
 herself a considerable distance towards Herat, 
 and had reached Ak Robat, while the railway 
 to Samarcand was nearly finished. Thus 
 Russia certainly scored a winning point, and, 
 if desirous, could attack the Anglo-Indian 
 frontier by three ways : 
 
 (i) By advancing towards Cabul from 
 Bokhara across the Oxus. 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 241 
 
 (2) By marching towards Candahar vi& 
 Herat by the Meshed line. 
 
 (3) By attacking the same place through 
 the Attric Valley and Merv route. 
 
 The unsettled condition of the boundary 
 between the Oxus and the Heri Rud, and 
 particularly the Upper Oxus, will undoubtedly 
 prove a source of discord between Russia 
 and England for many years to come. 
 
 In spite of the strenuous efforts of Russia 
 in advancing, and extending her power and 
 boundaries in Central Asia, yet her great and 
 absorbing thought was not revealed openly 
 to the watchful eyes of European Powers, 
 viz., to have full control of Constantinople, 
 the key to the Black Sea, and by obtaining 
 this to command the Mediterranean and be 
 paramount in Western Europe. 
 
 A favourite manoeuvre in military opera- 
 tions is to try and divert an opponent's eyes 
 from the true point of attack, and by so doing 
 to weaken the opposition at that point. 
 
 As we have casually mentioned before, the 
 elder Pitt " conquered America in Germany," 
 and afterwards when Charles III. of Spain 
 
 16 
 
242 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 concluded a secret Treaty known as the 
 (third) " Family compact " with France, in- 
 tending really to make war upon England, 
 Chatham ".determined to attack without delay 
 the Havannah and Philippine Islands." 
 
 Again, as another illustration of the above 
 statement, we saw that Napoleon's Egyptian 
 expedition and his invasion of Russia were 
 really underhand blows at England. 
 
 But why did he not attack America or 
 Ireland ? Surely if he had sailed directly 
 from Brest, 1798, to either of the above 
 places, instead of going to Egypt as he did, 
 with the combined fleets of France, Spain, 
 and Holland, he would have dealt a much 
 deadlier blow at British power. 
 
 Let us examine the policy of Russia which 
 has caused me to make the above statement. 
 
 Catherine II. had resolved to reach Con- 
 stantinople through the Balkan Peninsula. 
 Pitt withstood this resolution by supporting 
 the Ottoman Empire, together with Austria, 
 as conducive to the interests of both nations. 
 Austria, therefore, became an enemy of 
 Russia. 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 243 
 
 Alexander I., therefore, seeing the united 
 interests of England, France, Austria, and 
 Turkey allied against him, changed his front 
 and determined to reach Constantinople 
 along the Caucasian route. He plainly saw 
 that by this manoeuvre he would compel 
 England and France to defend the Caucasus. 
 
 At the beginning of his career the Czar 
 Nicholas followed the same plans as his 
 predecessor, but carried them out much more 
 firmly ; he increased his field of operations 
 by invading Persia, 1826-1828, and occupied 
 Armenia. 
 
 By this measure, no doubt, he expected to 
 attract either England or France, perhaps 
 both of them, to the Caucasian Question, 
 thereby weakening the power of their alliance 
 in the Balkans. France certainly would feel 
 considerable uneasiness for the Holy Places 
 which had a special charm for her Catholic 
 followers. England would also have felt 
 qualms, seeing that if Russia occupied Persia, 
 and made it an outpost for attacking India 
 through Afghanistan she would have con- 
 siderable trouble in defending her posses- 
 
244 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 sion. However, this scheme did not prove 
 so effective as Nicholas wished, for it did not 
 divide the attention of England and France 
 in the Balkans. 
 
 Russia, therefore, perceiving this, followed 
 the Napoleonic scheme of a direct attack on 
 India with the help of several Asiatic states. 
 In 1830 she first appeared in Central Asia 
 and soon subjugated Persia and induced the 
 Shah to occupy Herat, 1837. Alarmed at 
 this, the whole energy of England was 
 directed towards Afghanistan, and special 
 preparations, which lasted for a quarter of a 
 century, were made to defend an attack from 
 that quarter. The home affairs of England, 
 together with these alarming schemes of 
 Russia with regard to India, determined the 
 Wellington Ministry to advocate non-inter- 
 ference in Balkan affairs. 
 
 Russia also removed French opposition 
 from the Balkans to Syria by stirring up 
 quarrels between the Greek and Latin 
 Churches in Jerusalem. In addition to this, 
 as I have shown, Nicholas separated Eng- 
 land and France by his diplomatic tact. 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 245 
 
 Thus Turkey was left alone with Austria 
 in the Balkans. Nicholas then, feeling con- 
 fident of success, at once threatened Con- 
 stantinople by taking the steps which led to 
 the Crimean War. He, however, over- 
 reached himself, and was beaten, as we have 
 seen, by the allied armies of England, France, 
 and Turkey. 
 
 Immediately after the Crimean War 
 Russia again stretched out her hands on 
 Persia as she had done in 1837. Lord 
 Palmerston, however, closed them by de- 
 claring war with the same country. " We 
 are beginning," wrote Lord Palmerston, "to 
 repel the first openings of trenches against 
 India by Russia, and whatever difficulties 
 Ferokh may make about Afghanistan we 
 may be sure that Russia is his prompt and 
 secret backer." l 
 
 In 1857 the peace of Paris was concluded 
 by which the Shah renounced all claim over 
 Herat and Afghanistan. This was a clever 
 political stroke against a Russian attack on 
 India. 
 
 1 Lord Palmerston's Letter to Lord Clarendon, Feb. 
 
 
246 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 In 1849 Lord Palmerston wrote : 
 
 " Persia must, I (Lord Palmerston) fear, 
 now be looked on as an advanced post for 
 Russia whenever she chooses to make use of 
 it. She will command it either by over- 
 powering force or by bribing the state by 
 prospect of acquisition in Afghanistan." 
 
 However, ultimately the same policy was 
 again resorted to by the Czar to worry Eng- 
 land in Central Asia. Again the Russians 
 advanced into Central Asia towards the 
 Indian frontier and extended their borders 
 both south and east with great celerity. 
 
 But a fresh complication arose extremely 
 favourable for Russian plots. The Franco- 
 German War (1870) seemed to be an intro- 
 duction to the accomplishment of her wishe- 
 France was miserably defeated, while the 
 hands of Germany were fully tied up with 
 Alsace and Lorraine. Two formidable 
 opponents to Russian arms were therefore 
 placed hors de combat. England and Austria 
 were thus the only powers left for the 
 defence of Constantinople. Austria had 
 previously been weakened by a war with 
 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 247 
 
 Prussia. It therefore seemed that England 
 was the only strong supporter of the Otto- 
 man Empire, and Russia determined to 
 conquer Ticrkey in Central Asia, so she 
 conquered and annexed Central Asia as far 
 as possible until her boundaries reached 
 Afghanistan and the Chinese Empire in 
 1874. Being naturally alarmed at these 
 encroachments, England again was obliged 
 to devote all her energies to the Indian and 
 Afghan frontiers, and engaged in the Afghan 
 War. 
 
 Russia now saw that she was in a better 
 position with regard to Turkey than she had 
 been before the Crimean War, for although 
 Turkey was still assisted by Austria, yet the 
 latter had not fully recovered from the 
 Prusso-Austrian War. Again France was in 
 a convulsed state, while England was 
 harassed with Afghan affairs. A general 
 alliance of the Mediterranean Powers seemed 
 therefore impossible. 
 
 Russia, therefore, boldly declared war in 
 1878, and marched to the gates of Constan- 
 tinople, and eventually concluded the San 
 
248 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 Stefano Treaty. This aroused both England 
 and Austria, and, owing to their warlike 
 attitude, the Berlin Congress was convened, 
 and Russia again found her hands withheld 
 from the Turkish metropolis, although she 
 succeeded in definitely dividing the attention 
 of England and Austria in the Balkans by 
 turning English eyes towards Asia Minor. 
 Her success was still greater in obtaining 
 the outlet of the Danube and the arsenal of 
 Batoum in the Black Sea. 
 
 Glancing, then, at the situation generally, 
 one can perceive that Russia saw that the 
 English opposition in Asia Minor would 
 prove formidable, but she did not think that 
 the Austrian defence of the Balkans would 
 turn out so dangerous to her hopes. Her 
 reasons for thinking this were plain. Eng- 
 land at this crisis was a nation of the first 
 magnitude, both in strength and wealth, and 
 if only she (England) had fortified and 
 occupied Cyprus as she ought to have done, 
 she would have proved a valuable ally to 
 Turkey, and would also have commanded the 
 Sea. Russia saw that the most 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 249 
 
 advantageous policy would be to distract 
 England's attention both from Cyprus and 
 Asia Minor. To accomplish this she for the 
 third time started to conquer Turkey through 
 Central Asia. 
 
 In 1878 she concluded a secret agreement 
 with Persia by which the territory down to 
 Sarakhs from the Russian frontier was ceded 
 to her. Her influence in Khorasan was 
 increasing day by day, and especially so in. 
 Meshed, owing to the skill and tact of 
 M. Vlassoff, the Russian Consul-General in 
 that district. India was again threatened by 
 her, and Herat approached. Her boundaries 
 were extended into the Chinese dominions, 
 and great uneasiness was caused in England 
 concerning the boundary question of the 
 Oxus. 
 
 The most effective and important step, 
 however, taken by Russia for the accomplish- 
 ment of her schemes, was the construction of 
 the Caspian-Samarcand Railway. It was 
 started in 1881 with the primary object of 
 facilitating the war operations of General 
 Skobeloff for the reduction of the Tekkes. 
 
250 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 Lord Hartington called General Annenkoff, 
 the promoter of the railway, " a foolish 
 fellow." However, Samarcand was reached in 
 1885, during the time that an Anglo-Russian 
 war was threatening about the Murghab 
 question. Thus a general military l com- 
 munication of Russia with Asia was estab- 
 lished. She had three ways of sending 
 troops and materials in the direction of the 
 eastern shores of the Caspian : 
 
 (i) From St. Petersburg to Saratoff on 
 
 1 "Russia is divided into fifteen military districts, 
 which comprise also Finland, Siberia, the Caucasus, the 
 Trans-Caspian region, and Turkestan. The entire Russian 
 effective force, including officers, artillery, engineers, train, 
 &c., consists of 
 
 Regular army 1,766,278 
 
 Cossack troops ... ... ... 145,325 
 
 Irregular troops 6>33i 
 
 Total 1,917,934 
 
 By adding to. these figures, the effective troops not 
 levied in time of peace, say 100,000 men, we reach 
 an effective of 2,000,000 for the war footing. The 
 Russian militia, which may be called out in times of war, 
 amounts to 3,000,000 men" Harper s Magazine, 
 January, 1890), "The Russian Army" by a Russian 
 General. 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 251 
 
 the Volga, via Moscow, by railway, from 
 there to Astrakhan by steamboat on the 
 river, and from the latter place to Krau- 
 saovodsk or Uzan Ada. 
 
 (2) From St. Petersburg to Voladis 
 Caucase per railway, from thence to Tiflis by 
 post road (an eighteen hours' journey), from 
 Tiflis to Baku by railway, and from there to 
 Uzan Ada. 
 
 (3.) From Odessa or the Crimea to Poti 
 on the eastern Black Sea coast by steam, from 
 Poti to Baku, and from there to Uzan Ada. 
 
 The water traffic across the Caspian, from 
 its differents ports is carried on by fifteen 
 ships of the Caucasus and Mercury Company. 
 They are in receipt of a large annual subsidy 
 from the state for the conveyance of mails 
 and troops, and also for the use of their boats 
 for transport in case of war. One of these 
 fifteen steamers sails from Baku to Uzan 
 Ada twice a week. 1 
 
 The Trans-Caucasian Railway starts from 
 the latter place, running east and afterwards 
 north-east to Merv. From there it proceeds 
 \ The Times. 
 
252 ' JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 in the same direction, crossing the Oxus, 
 passing Bokhara, and eventually terminates at 
 Samarcand a distance altogether of about 
 nine hundred miles. 
 
 The work of laying the rails was done by 
 two battalions of Russian soldiers (five 
 hundred each) and also by five thousand 
 native labourers, whose wage was threepence 
 a day. Wages have since been increased to 
 sixpence a day. From the amount expended 
 in labour we can see that the railway 
 expense did not prove inordinately dear, viz., 
 30,000,000 roubles, including also the cost of 
 the Siberian Railway, especially as the Russian 
 estimate at first was 60,000,000 roubles. The 
 average rate of laying the rails was exceed- 
 ingly rapid, viz., four or five miles a day. 
 
 There are now one hundred and four 
 locomotives and one thousand two hundred 
 wagons, fifteen new locomotives have lately 
 been ordered, six new passenger wagons, and 
 eighty cistern cars. A commission has 
 recently reported in favour of a further grant 
 to General Annenkoff of 8,000,000 roubles. 1 
 1 The Times. 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 253 
 
 This line has opened a wide field for 
 trade with Central Asia. The traffic in 
 1888 alone was about ,3,000,000, and 
 General Annenkoff announced that the net 
 profit of the railway in 1888 amounted to 
 about ,80,000, that 2,000,000 pods of cotton 
 had been conveyed by it during the same 
 year, and that in 1889 a total of 4,000,000 
 pods was anticipated. 1 
 
 Viewing from a political and strategical 
 point of view this railway has been an 
 even more important factor. The northern 
 frontier of Persia by its means has been 
 placed completely at the mercy of Russia, 
 and by it she was enabled to consolidate her 
 new Asiatic territories which she had annexed 
 and conquered, Russian troops were able to 
 be transported- to the Afghan frontier at a 
 very short notice from all parts of Russia. 
 
 Without doubt the construction of the 
 Trans-Caspian Railway and its threatening 
 results have proved of immense value 
 for the success of Russia. By its means 
 England was induced to turn her attention 
 1 The Times. 
 
254 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 from Asia Minor to Indian affairs. This 
 resulted in embroiling England with the 
 second Afghan War, compelled her to appoint 
 a boundary commission, and plunged her into 
 the third Burmese War. All these catas- 
 trophes compelled her to neglect her Anglo- 
 Turkish Convention promises a result aimed 
 at by her Russian friends (?) 
 
 Even in Persia English influence is at a 
 discount, and proportionately Russian in- 
 fluence is rising. The appointment of Sir 
 H. D. Wolff, a clever diplomatist, to the 
 Teheran Court, and the brilliant reception 
 accorded to the Shah during his recent visit 
 by the English, were too late to do any good. 
 It may do good, and it may not. 
 
 Let us now see what effect upon Austria 
 the Russo-Asiatic policy had. 
 
 Firstly, Austria had been left alone to cope 
 with Russia in the Balkans, and she was 
 practicably left to defend the Ottoman 
 Empire. France and Germany were practic- 
 ably disarmed, and were unable materially to 
 assist Turkey against Russia. England, as 
 we have seen before, was occupied elsewhere, 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION, 255 
 
 and had practically deserted Asia Minor, 
 although this might be altered if only she 
 would station troops at Cyprus or somewhere 
 near at hand. Austria did not wish for a 
 naval alliance only, which she considered 
 practically useless in event of war, but she 
 wanted a complete alliance. An alliance 
 between the two Powers failed at the Berlin 
 Congress, and also in October, 1886. 
 
 Thus Russia obtained her desires in 
 dividing the two Powers in Europe and Asia, 
 and prevented a general alliance by threaten- 
 ing Central Asia. 
 
 Certainly Austria had performed her 
 Balkan duty well, although she was clearly 
 overweighted, and the result was internal 
 exhaustion, financial difficulties, social dis- 
 content, the result of pecuniary troubles. 1 
 
 1 " A disastrous bankruptcy was the result of the wars 
 which marked the beginning of the century, and the 
 crash of 1873 caused most serious loss both to state and 
 individuals. The stock exchange of Vienna is one of 
 those where speculation is not rife. The Budget of 1888 
 for Austria gave ^41,335,000 as the amount of revenue, 
 and ^"48,030,000 as that of expenditure, and the public 
 debt as ^"83,091,060. For Hungary, the revenue' was 
 in 1887 ^28,937,630, and the expenditure ^29,547,853. 
 
256 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 Of all the great European cities, the 
 socialists are at the present moment strongest 
 in Vienna. An able political writer of the 
 present day has said: ''The Dualism of the 
 Monarchy (Austria- Hungary) is very nearly 
 dead, and if Austria is to exist at all she 
 must rapidly become tripartite, and ultimately 
 resolve herself into a somewhat loose con- 
 federation." 1 
 
 These domestic difficulties have caused her 
 to gradually lose her influence in the Balkans, 
 and the abdication of King Milan of Servia 
 has proved a still more serious blow to her 
 power in that quarter. 
 
 It seems to me impolitic for Russia to go 
 to war with the five million Magyars. It 
 would be better to influence Austria so as to 
 increase her internal discords and foster them 
 by skilful diplomacy if she wished to attain 
 her objects. For instance, to demonstrate 
 against the accession of Prince Ferdinand to 
 
 The public debt for the whole of the Empire is twenty- 
 seven millions of florins" Leger's " History of Austro- 
 Hungary" (translated by Mrs. B. Hill), p. 633. 
 
 '"The Present Condition of European Politics," 
 p. 203. 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 257 
 
 the Bulgarian throne, to oppose the Bulgarian 
 loans, and give pecuniary help herself to 
 immigrants from Montenegro to Servia. 
 
 The consequence would be that Austria 
 could not possibly remain peaceful when 
 inhabited by bitter anti-Russian Magyars. 
 She would have to make war preparations 
 and spend money, and would thus increase 
 her financial difficulties, and the result would 
 be the breaking down of the Dual Monarchy, 
 " the personal union of fifty-six states," a 
 mixture of races, religions, and tongues. 
 
 A strong and compact confederation can 
 only be obtained by sound financial dealings. 
 Austria once broken down by internal dis- 
 cord, then Constantinople and the Balkans 
 would be Russian possessions. 
 
 If Russia is desirous of accomplishing her 
 ends, her great aim must be to prevent any 
 of the great Powers from making an alliance 
 with Austria. Owing to the Franco-Russian 
 alliance, Russia is quite powerful enough to 
 hinder any effective alliance with Germany. 
 
 With regard to an alliance with England, 
 there is one strong barrier which, if kept up, 
 
 17 
 
258 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 will always prevent such a coalition, viz., the 
 Trans-Caspian Railway. 
 
 The following ideas would still further 
 separate the two Powers : 
 
 (1) The extension of the railway from 
 Samarcand to Kokan, because from Kokan 
 Russia can threaten to push on her border 
 to Eastern Turkestan, and move southward 
 to Tibet, and from there will be able to 
 threaten the territory of Cashmere, which 
 are the boundaries at present unsettled. 
 
 (2) An extension of railway from Samar- 
 cand to Tashkend, which is contemplated, 
 and when completed will connect Siberia 
 from a military point of view. It can be 
 also taken north-west, along the north- 
 eastern shore of the Aral Sea, and may be 
 connected with the parent line at Orenburg, 
 and connected with Russia and Central Asia 
 for military purposes. 
 
 (3) To construct a line from Mertvi, or 
 Dead Bay, on the Caspian, to the western 
 shore of the Sea of Aral. This would prove 
 another quick mode of transit, particularly 
 from St. Petersburg and Moscow to Kilif, 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 259 
 
 on the Oxus, and also to Samarcand. At 
 present steamers ply on the Amu Daria 
 from the Aral Sea southwards as far as 
 Kilif on the northern boundary of Afghanis- 
 tan. 
 
 These steamers are 20 feet broad, 150 
 feet long, and are of 5oo-horse power, travel- 
 ling 1 6 miles an hour, and are capable of 
 conveying 300 soldiers arid 20 officers. 
 
 (4) To throw off a branch line from 
 Bokhara to Kilif, and from there to Balkh. 
 
 (5) Two branch lines (a) from Merv to 
 Herat, via Penjdeh ; (b) from Merv to 
 Sarakhs, via Chacha, and still further to 
 Kuhsan, in the direction of Herat. 
 
 (6) By entering the Persian dominion 
 from the present northern boundary to 
 occupy Meshed, proceeding thence to Kuhsan 
 to meet the line from Sarakhs. 
 
 In consequence of the approaching depar- 
 ture for Persia of M. de Buelzoff, the newly- 
 appointed minister at Teheran, most of the 
 Russian newspapers warmly advocated the 
 immediate construction of a line from the 
 northern part of Persia. 
 
26o JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 (7) An extension of railway from Meshed 
 through Khorasan and Serstan southwards 
 as far as Nasirabad, and eventually to get a 
 port on the Persian Gulf or Indian Ocean. 
 
 Once let Russia get the long-wished-for 
 outlet in the southern seas, and then she 
 will be still more able to strike another 
 blow against English influence. There is 
 not the least doubt that Persian affairs will 
 occupy the attention of England for some 
 years to come. 
 
 All these extensions will, if carried out, 
 mean a Russian invasion all along the 
 Hindostan frontier, and thus would further 
 indirectly her European aspiration. 
 
 On the other hand, looking from an Eng- 
 lish point of view, we can suggest a scheme 
 of frustration by means of sound and politic 
 administration. 
 
 For instance, at present large railways 
 start from Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, 
 traversing Delhi and Lahore, terminating 
 at Peshawar ; from Lahore the line runs to 
 Kurrachee, on the Arabian Sea, and a 
 branch line goes north-west from Sakkar 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 261 
 
 to Pishin, via Quetta. Thus we see the 
 English defence of her Indian frontier is 
 fairly well looked after, although a "for- 
 ward" policy of railway construction in 
 India may, and no doubt will, be advan- 
 tageous to English defence and commerce. 
 
 England is certainly heavily handicapped 
 owing to the want of a short and safe com- 
 munication with India. The Suez Canal is 
 not safe enough, both the Canadian Railway 
 and the Cape of Good Hope routes are long, 
 therefore it is a matter of great moment 
 that she should have a safe and quick route 
 by which she might despatch troops and 
 materials with celerity. 
 
 The following route, if carried out, would 
 prove of the very greatest advantage to 
 England. First, the occupation of the 
 Karrack Island in the Persian Gulf, which 
 is in every respect suitable for a military 
 station, having good water and being healthy. 
 It is with truth often termed the key of the 
 Persian Gulf. 
 
 Secondly, a railway should be constructed 
 from Scandarum, on the Mediterranean, to 
 
262 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 Bussorah, on the Persian Gulf, through the 
 Euphrates Valley a saving of from seven 
 hundred to one thousand miles, and of 
 nearly four days. 
 
 If an Afghan war arose, troops could be 
 landed at Kurrachee instead of Bombay, 
 and time would be gained and the monsoon 
 also avoided. Troops could be forwarded 
 at very short notice from Malta to Pishin 
 and Peshawar, with almost equal speed to 
 that with which Russia can collect troops in 
 Central Asia. 
 
 If once opened, the trade of Central Asia, 
 India, and China would find its way by this 
 route, and open out Persian and Indian 
 relations with Europe as much as the Suez 
 Canal * did after its opening ; Persia would 
 
 1 "A few years ago a swift voyage from England to 
 Calcutta, via the Cape of Good Hope, was from a 
 hundred and ten to a hundred and twenty days. Now 
 steamers by way of the Canal make the same voyage in 
 about thirty days. Here, then, is a diminution of 75 per 
 cent, on the enormous stocks of goods continually re.- 
 quired to be held unused, involving continued risk of 
 depreciation, loss of interest, cost of insurance, to meet 
 the requirements of mere transit " (S. A. Wells' " Prac- 
 tical Economics," p. 236). 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 263 
 
 be considerably strengthened. It would 
 also, together with the military occupation 
 of Karrack and Cyprus (if done properly), 
 give a guarantee to both India and Persia 
 against Russian attacks. 
 
 The distance from Scandarum to Bussorah 
 is only seven hundred miles, and would be 
 safe against attacks, being protected by the 
 double rivers, the Euphrates and Tigris, for 
 most of its course. Its cost would be 
 estimated at .9,000,000, which might easily 
 be raised in the London market. Also if 
 the Mudinia Aksu line be extended to Scan- 
 darum, via Kiniah or the Scutari- 1 smid line 
 to Aleppo, through Angora, Kaisariyeh, and 
 Abbiston, other beneficial effects may be 
 produced. In the latter case it amounts, 
 and is practically similar, to an extension 
 of the Eastern Railway to the Persian 
 Gulf, which starts from Paris, and passes 
 Vienna, Belgrade, Sophia, Adrianople, ter- 
 minating at Constantinople. So a direct 
 land route could be obtained from Bussorah 
 to Calais or Rotterdam if a bridge was 
 constructed over the Bosphorus. 
 
264 JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC. 
 
 As I have already shown in chapter VIII., 
 the construction of the Euphrates Railway 
 would avoid a Franco-English conflict of 
 interests in Egypt to a certain extent, and 
 a dual control would be established ; thus a 
 strong and effective alliance would ensue, 
 caused by mutual interests, and England 
 would be able thereby to withdraw her 
 troops from Egypt, and devote them to the 
 defence of Asia Minor. Thus a firm alliance 
 between England and Turkey would follow, 
 and would prevent a Mahommedhan rebellion 
 in India against England, the Sultan being 
 looked upon as the Mahommedhan Pope. 
 
 England will also be able to call Indian 
 troops to her assistance in Asia Minor. It 
 will follow that as a larger number of troops 
 and a better communication is obtained in 
 Asia Minor, Austria would be quite willing 
 to ally herself with England, instead of 
 refusing, as she had done twice before, the 
 English power at sea being only of little 
 use. England and Austria therefore can 
 not only jointly support Turkey, but also 
 England can " come to the assistance of 
 
THE EASTERN QUESTION. 265 
 
 Austria in Europe, and Austria make common 
 cause with England in the event of Turkey 
 being attacked in Asia Minor." 
 
 Having a French, Austrian, and Turkish 
 alliance, England can send her home troops 
 both to India and Asia Minor by the Eastern 
 Railway in a very short space of time, and 
 can strengthen both countries and also help 
 in the Balkans if required, and a firm and 
 lasting alliance would be made. 
 
 Why cannot Italy join this alliance ? It 
 is a matter of necessity and advantage, both 
 geographically and strategically, to do so, 
 and if an alliance in Southern Europe could 
 thus be made, the safety of the Balkans, 
 Asia Minor, Persia, and Afghanistan might 
 be assured, even if Germany joined Russia, 
 and the lofty hopes of Russia would be 
 dashed to the ground. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 18 
 
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12 
 
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 Illustrated cover, 2s. 6d. ; cloth, 33. 6d. 
 
 English aS She is Taught. Genuine Answers to 
 O o Examination Questions 
 
 in our Public Schools. With a Commentary by MARK 
 TWAIN. Demy i6mo., cloth, 2s. ; parchment, is. 
 MARK TWAIN says : " A darling literary curiosity. . . . This little book ought 
 to set forty millions of people to thinking." 
 
 Proverbs, Maxims and Phrases of all Ages. 
 
 Classified subjectively, and arranged alphabetically. By 
 ROBERT CHRISTY. 2 vols., half cloth, gilt tops, 2 is. 
 
21 
 
 Q0ooft0 for 
 
 D 
 
 addy Jake, the Runaway ; 
 
 after Dark. By "UNCLE REMUS" (Joel Chandler 
 Harris). Many Illustrations. Medium 410., cloth, gilt 
 edges, 6s. (Uniform with " The Brownies.") 
 
 When Mother was Little. B y s p YORKE 
 
 teen r nil-page Illustra- 
 tions by HENRY J. FORD. Small square 8vo., cloth, 35. 6d. 
 
 Blltterfl V ^ ts Nature, Development, and Attributes. 
 J By JOHN STUTTARD. Dedicated to Sir 
 John Lubbock, Bart. Illustrated. Fscap. 8vo., limp cloth, is. 
 
 Fables for Little Readers : A 
 
 THUR BROOKFIELD. Twenty-five Illustrations by HENRY 
 J. FORD. Small 410., cloth, 35. 6d. 
 
 ' ' In their present shape, the fables should be very popular among the inmates of 
 the nursery, more particularly as they are illustrated with nearly thirty clever 
 drawings by Henry Ford, which are beautifully printed in monochrome." 
 
 Scottish Leader. 
 
 A Home Story. By FANNIE BELL IRVING. Illus- 
 trated by F. T. MERRILL. Crown 8vo., cloth, 55. 
 
 ' ' The six main characters are drawn carefully, and well differentiated. The book 
 has many a touch of simple pathos, and many a passage of light-hearted high 
 spirits. " Scotsman. 
 
 The Brownies : Their Book. ^ PALM , ER f c x - 
 
 Reprinted from 
 
 St. Nicholas, with many new Poems and Pictures. 
 Third and Cheaper Edition. Medium 4to., cloth, gilt 
 edges, 6s. 
 
22 
 
 New Fairy Tales from Brentano. 
 
 by KATE FREILIGRATH KROEKER, and Pictured by F. 
 CARRUTHERS GOULD. Eight Full-page Coloured Illustra- 
 tions. Square 8vo., illustrated, paper boards, cloth back, 
 55. ; cloth, gilt edges, 6s. 
 " A really charming collection of stories." Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 Fairy Tales from Brentano. 
 
 KROEKER. Illustrated by F. CARRUTHERS GOULD. Popular 
 Edition. Sq. imp. i6mo., 33. 6d. 
 
 " An admirable translator in Madame Kroeker, and an inimitable illustrator in 
 Mr. Carruthers Gould." Truth. 
 
 In the Time nf Roses A Tale of Two Summ e rs - 
 
 ivoses . Told and Illustrated by 
 
 FLORENCE and EDITH SCANNELL, Author and Artist of 
 " Sylvia's Daughters." Thirty-two Full-page and other 
 Illustrations. Sq. imp. i6mo., cloth, 53. 
 
 4< A very charming story." Scotsman. 
 " A delightful story." Punch. 
 
 Prinre Peerless A F air y- F o lk Story-Book. By the 
 
 5 * Hon. MARGARET COLLIER (Madame 
 
 Galletti di Cadilhac), Author of " Our Home by the 
 
 Adriatic." Illustrated by the Hon. JOHN COLLIER. Sq. 
 
 imp. i6mo., cloth, 55. 
 
 " Delightful in style and fancy." Scotsman. 
 
 " A volume of charming stories/' Saturday Review. 
 
 When I was a Child ; r> Left B f in , d - B >: ^ N A 
 
 VILLARI, Author of " On 
 
 Tuscan Hills," &c. Illustrated. Square 8vo., cloth, gilt 
 edges, 33. 6d. 
 "A finer girl's book could not be had.'' Scotsman. 
 
 The Prince of the Hundred Soups : 
 
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 VERNON LEE. Illustrated. Cheaper edition. Square 8vo., 
 cloth, 33. 6d. 
 
 "There is more humour in the volume than in half-a-dozen ordinary panto- 
 mimes.'' Spectator. 
 
23 
 
 Rirrl'c KT^ct- an d other Sermons for Children of all 
 ** CbL > Ages. By the Rev. SAMUEL Cox, D.D., 
 Author of " Expositions," &c. Cheap and Popular Edition. 
 Imp. i6mo., cloth, 35. 6d. 
 
 " These beautiful discourses were addressed to children of all ages, and must 
 have found an echo in the hearts of many youthful listeners." Sf. James's Gazette. 
 
 Spring Blossoms and Summer Fruit ; 
 
 or, Sunday Talks for the Children. By the Rev. JOHN 
 BYLES, of Ealing. Crown 8vo., cloth, zs. 6d. 
 "They are of simple and instructive character." Dundee Advertiser. 
 
 Arminius Vambrv His Life and Adventures - 
 
 V dlliuery * Written by Himself. With 
 Introductory Chapter dedicated to the Boys of England. 
 Portrait and Seventeen Illustrations. Crown 8vo., 55. 
 
 " We welcome it as one of the best books of travel that our boys could have 
 possibly placed in their hands." Schoolmaster. 
 
 ' Own Stories B 7 AscoTT R - HopE Author of 
 i^wn stories. (l Stories of Young Adventurers> 
 
 " Stories out of School Time," &c. Eight Illustrations. 
 Crown 8vo., cloth, 53. 
 
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 from the highway, but has explored far afield in less-beaten tracts, as may be seen in 
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 The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. 
 
 Newly Edited after the Original Editions. Nineteen Illus- 
 trations. Large crown 8vo., cloth extra, 53. 
 
 Twn T i tl-1 e rirmfprlprsl-pQ B y THOMAS NELSON 
 
 j^itue ^onreaerates. PAGE With eight full . 
 
 page illustrations by E. W. KEMBLE and A. C. REDWOOD. 
 Square 8vo., cloth, 6s. 
 "A charming story." American Traveller. 
 
THE CAMEO SERIES. 
 
 Half-bound, paper boards, price 33. 6d. each. Fine Edition, bound in parchment, 
 
 printed on Japan paper, numbered and signed, 30 copies only printed, 
 25 being for sale; terms on application from Booksellers or the Publisher. 
 
 The Lady from the Sea. 
 
 Trans- 
 Author's 
 
 permission, from the Norwegian by ELEANOR MARX AVELING. 
 With a Critical Introduction by EDMUND GOSSE. Portrait 
 of the Author and Autograph. 
 
 A London Plane-Tree, and Other Poems. 
 
 By the late AMY LEVY, Author of " The Romance of a 
 Shop," " Reuben Sachs," &c. Illustrated by J. BERNARD 
 PARTRIDGE. 
 
 Wordsworth's Grave and Other Poems. 
 
 By WILLIAM WATSON, Author of " The Prince's Quest," 
 & Frontispiece. 
 
 Sakuntala; or. The Fatal Ring. 
 
 j 
 
 KALIDASA. Translated by Sir WILLIAM JONES, and Edited, 
 with an Introduction, by T. W. RHYS DAVIDS, Ph.D., LL.D. 
 
 TheVolumes average about 300 pp., small cr. 8vo., limp cloth, price 2s. each. 
 
 Gladys rane. By T> WEMyss REID . Fifth Edition. 
 Mrs. Keith's Crime. By Mrs w K> CL , FFORD . 
 Concerning Oliver Knox. ByaCoLMOR , 
 
 Mw Rsvle's Romance Or, An American Heiress 
 
 MISS myie , s>o lance , in EuropCt By W.FRASE* 
 
 RAE. 
 
 Isaac filler's Money. By Mr , ANDREW DEAN , 
 Chronicles of a Health Resort. By A HRDR 
 
 LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, E.G. 
 
I 
 
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