it could not be supposed that the insur gents would accept any terms of pacification from the Porte in the face of the declaration, that if the insurrection continued after the armistice the Powers would intervene further. Regarded in this light, the proposal of an armistice seems to Her Majesty's Government to be illusory."

On May 20 Lord Odo Russell reports Prince Bismarck's conviction that Her Majesty's Government will not encourage the Turkish Government to oppose the combined efforts of the Powers for a speedy pacification. Then, on May 21, Rasched Pasha gives the views of the Turkish Government on the Berlin proposals. On May 23 Mr. Adams reports that the Duc Decazes expressed extreme anxiety that Her Majesty's Government might find it possible to reconsider their decision, and that by acceding to an armistice, however short, some common ground might be found which would lead to a general concert of the six Powers. Lord Derby then expressed his regret at not being able to act in concert with France. The deposition of the Sultan on May 30 put a new complexion on affairs. Lord Derby instructs Sir H. Elliot to be watchful as to proposals for bringing fleets to Constantinople, and to inform the Government at once if such a proposal be mooted. Sir H. Elliot recommended the Porte to receive the Berlin proposals in a conciliatory spirit, and further not to employ Bashi-Bazouks. This the Porte declined, but consented not to use Circassians as irregulars. On June 16 Lord Derby telegraphed to Consul-General White to act in concert with the Austrian Consul in recommending a more peaceful policy to Prince Milan. On June 7 Lord Derby informs Sir A. Buchanan that the Powers have agreed to postpone action on the Berlin proposals, and again counsels moderation at Belgrade. On June 10 Lord Derby learned that the Emperor of Russia had warned the Prince of Servia that if, contrary to advice, he involved himself in a war with Turkey, not only had he no national assistance to expect from Russia, but that moral support and sympathy would equally be withheld. On June 14 Prince Gortschakoff gives the views of the Russian Government in Turkish affairs. The Emperor of Russia desired to maintain the political status quo by a genuine improvement in the lot of the Christian populations, and this appeared to the Russian Government to be an indispensable condition of the existence of the Ottoman Empire. On June 27 Sir Henry Elliot reports having suggested to the

Turkish Ambassador that a slight rectification of frontier might be promised to the Prince of Montenegro if he exerted his influence to put an end to the insurrection. Lord Derby wrote to Count Schouvaloff on June 29, in answer to the Russian proposals. Lord Derby said :—

"It might not be too late for the Powers, and especially for the Russian Government, to make a further effort to induce Prince Milan to abandon his policy of aggression. It was desirable that the Servian Government should be informed that if they attempted to secure territorial aggrandisement under the pretext of Slavonic sympathisers they must not expect to be protected from the consequences of such failure and defeat."

No. 5.

DESPATCH FROM LORD DERBY TO THE BRITISH AMBASSADOR AT THE PORTE. THE EARL OF DERBY TO SIR H. ELLIOT.

Foreign Office, Sept. 21, 1876.

SIR, Her Majesty's Government received on the 14th inst. your despatch No. 964 of the 5th inst., enclosing copy of Mr. Baring's Report of his inquiries into the outrages recently committed on the Christian population of Bulgaria.

Her Majesty's Government were prepared by the preliminary Reports from Mr. Baring forwarded by your Excellency to hear that the crimes perpetrated by the Turkish Bashi-Bazouks and the Circassians had been of the gravest character, and they regret to find from the present complete Report that these apprehensions are confirmed to the fullest

extent.

Although some of the stories which have been published have proved to be unfounded, there can be no doubt that the conduct of the Vali of Adrianople, in ordering the general arming of the Mussulmans, led to the assemblage of bands of murderers and robbers, who, under the pretext of suppressing insurrection, were guilty of crimes which Mr. Baring justly describes as the most heinous that have stained the history of the present century.

Moreover, it is conclusively shown that not only was the most culpable apathy displayed by the great majority of the Provincial authorities in allowing or conniving at such excesses, but that little or nothing effectual has been done in the way of reparation. While 1,956 Bulgarians were arrested for complicity in an insurrectionary movement which

was at no time of a dangerous character, only a score or so of the murderers of unarmed men, women, and children have been punished.

It would indeed appear that the authority of the Porte has been set at defiance and the Turkish Government at Constantinople kept in ignorance of the truth. Under no other circumstances can Her Majesty's Government suppose it possible that the Porte could have been led to promote and decorate officials whose acts have been at once a disgrace and an injury to the Turkish Empire.

The massacre at Batak is reported to have taken place on the 9th of May last, but on the 21st of July it still appears to have been unknown to or overlooked by the Porte, nor were the circumstances brought to light until discovered by Mr. Baring. By his statement it appears that 80 women and girls were taken to Mussulman villages, of which he gives the names, and that they remain still there; that the bodies of the murdered victims were still, at the time of his visit, lying unburied; and that nothing had been done to discover or punish the perpetrators of these crimes.

It is unnecessary for me to refer in detail to the several passages in Mr. Baring's Report which show how effectually fana ticism and rapine have done their work on the population of this unhappy Province.

Even now no serious effort has been made to redress the injuries of the people and to provide effectually for their future safety. The cattle that have been car ried off and the goods that have been plundered have not been restored; the houses and churches are left in ruins; the people are starving; industry and agriculture are suspended; and those Christian villages which have hitherto escaped feel no security that their turn may not come.

Acts of violence, as the Mudir at Avrat-Alan acknowledged, still continue, and the Porte is powerless or supine.

I have already informed your Excellency of the just indignation which the statements published of these atrocities have aroused in the people of Great Britain; nor can I doubt that a similar feeling prevails throughout Europe.

The Porte cannot afford to contend with the public opinion of other countries, nor can it suppose that the Government of Great Britain or any of the Signatory Powers of the Treaty of Paris can show indifference to the sufferings of the Bulgarian peasantry under this outbreak of vindictive cruelty. No political considerations would justify the toleration of such acts; and one of the foremost con

ditions for the settlement of the questions now pending must be that ample reparation shall be afforded to the sufferers and their future security guaranteed.

In order that the views of Her Majesty's Government may be impressed in the most effective manner upon the Sovereign who has recently been called to the Ottoman throne, Her Majesty's Government desire that Your Excellency will demand a personal audience of the Sultan, and communicate to His Majesty in substance the result of Mr. Baring's inquiries, mentioning by name Shefket Pasha, Hafiz Pasha, Toussoun Bey, Achmet Aga, and the other officials whose conduct he has denounced.

Your Excellency will, in the name of the Queen and Her Majesty's Govern ment, call for reparation and justice, and urge that the rebuilding of the houses and churches should be begun at once, and necessary assistance given for the restoration of the woollen and other industries, as well as provision made for the relief of those who have been reduced to poverty; and, above all, you will point out that it is a matter of absolute necessity that the 80 women should be found and restored to their families.

Your Excellency will likewise urge that striking examples should be made on the spot of those who have connived at or taken part in the atrocities. The persons who have been decorated or promoted under a false impression of their conduct should be tried and degraded, where this has not been done already, and every effort made to restore public confidence. With this view, it would seem advisable, as a provisional measure, and without prejudice to such future arrangements as may be made in concert with the Powers, that the disturbed districts should be at once placed under an able and energetic Commissioner, specially appointed for the purpose, who, if not himself a Christian, should have Christian counsellors in whom trust could be reposed by the Christian population.

Your Excellency should also speak in the strongest terms of the neglect of the local authorities, and of the inadequacy of the inquiry made by Edib Effendi, upon whose Report, officially communicated to the Powers, it now seems that no reliance can be placed.

In order that your Excellency's representations may be well understood, you will furnish the Grand Vizier, at the conclusion of the audience, with a memo randum of the observations which, by the Queen's commands, you have been thus instructed to address to His Majesty the Sultan -I am, &c., DERBY.

No. 6. DESPATCH FROM LORD DERBY TO LORD AUGUSTUS LOFTUS, HER MAJESTY'S AMBASSADOR AT ST. PETERSBURG.

Foreign Office, Oct. 30, 1876. MY LORD, The time has arrived when it may be useful that I should place on consecutive record the various efforts which Her Majesty's Government have made for the preservation of peace in Eastern Europe, so that the position taken up by them during the recent negotiations may be accurately defined.

Her Majesty's Government, having reason to believe that the good offices of the Powers would be acceptable to Servia and Montenegro, informed Mr. White, Her Majesty's Agent and Consul General at Belgrade, on the 14th of August, that though they would not propose mediation unless it were asked for, he might suggest to Prince Milan that an application from him to the Powers for their good offices would be favourably received by England.

On the 24th of August a telegraphic despatch was received from Mr. White, reporting that Prince Milan, in the presence of his Foreign Minister, had asked the Representatives of the six Powers to transmit to their Governments his application for re-establishing peace between the Porte and Servia, and for a prompt cessation of hostilities with that view, His Highness added that it would be desirable to include Montenegro in the pacification.

Her Majesty's Government expressed their satisfaction at receiving this announcement, and lost no time in communicating it to the other Powers. They also instructed Sir H. Elliot to point out to the Porte the extreme importance of not losing this opportunity of restoring peace; since, if hostilities continued, the interference of some of the Powers seemed probable, and the consequences might be fatal to the Turkish Empire.

Some delay arose before the Prince of Montenegro's formal adhesion to the Servian request for good offices were received, and the assent of the Powers could be procured. This having been done in order to obviate any question as to the mode of proceeding (the Austrian Government having objected to a collective Note), Her Majesty's Government took the initiative on the 1st of September by instructing Sir H. Elliot to propose at once to the Turkish Government an armistice of not less than amonth's duration, with a view to the immediate discussion of terms of peace, the armistice to include all combatants.

On the 14th September, the Turkish Memorandum in answer to the proposals of mediation was received. It stated the conditions of peace expected by the Porte from Servia, as follows:

"1. La personne investie de la dignité de Prince de Serbie devra venir dans la capitale pour rendre hommage à Sa Ma jesté.

"2 Les quatre forteresses dont la garde seulement avait été confiée par le Firman de 1283 au Prince de Serbie, et dont la possession ab antiquo était demeurée au Gouvernement Impérial, seront réoccupées par l'armée Impériale comme par le passé; et sur ce point on se conformera strictement aux dispositions du Protocole du 8 Septembre 1862.

"3. Les milices seront abolies. Le nombre des forces nécessaires pour maintenir l'ordre dans l'intérieur de la Principauté ne dépassera pas 10,000 hommes, avec deux batteries d'artillerie.

"4. Ainsi qu'il est stipulé dans le Firman de 1249, la Serbie sera tenue de renvoyer dans leurs foyers les habitants des provinces limitrophes qui y émigreraient, et, excepté les forteresses qui existent en Serbie ab antiquo, toutes fortifications postérieurement établies devront être complétement démolies.

"5. Si la Serbie ne se trouve pas à même d'acquitter l'indemnité dont le montant sera déterminé, le tribut actuel de la Principauté sera augmenté de l'intérêt de la somme représentative de l'indemnité.

"6. Le Gouvernement Ottoman aura le droit de faire construire et exploiter par ses agents, ou par nne Compagnie Ottomane, son choix, la ligne qui devra relier Belgrade au chemin de fer aboutissant à Nisch."

The Memorandum added, however, that the Imperial Government submitted these conditions entirely to the judgment and equitable consideration of the mediating Powers. With regard to Montenegro, the Porte held to the status quo. As soon as the Powers had expressed their judgment on the conditions, the Porte would give orders to suspend hostilities within twenty-four hours, and resume friendly relations with the two Principalities.

A message was at the same time delivered to the Dragomans of the Embassies to the effect that without waiting for the opinions of the Powers, the order

for the cessation of hostilities would be sent that night or the next morning. The demand of the Powers being thus practically complied with, it was hoped that they would induce the two princes to give corresponding orders.

Her Majesty's Government expressed satisfaction on the receipt of this intelligence, and instructions were sent to Mr. White to press the Servian Government, if necessary, to give similar orders. It was stated, however, that in so doing Her Majesty's Government must not be understood as acquiescing in the terms of peace proposed by the Porte, some of which they considered to be quite inadmissible.

On September 17, Sir A. Buchanan reported that the Porte had notified in writing a suspension of hostilities until the 25th.

On the 18th Sir H. Elliot was instructed to inform the Porte that Her Majesty's Government accepted the suspension of hostilities as equivalent to an armistice, in the confidence that it would be further extended in case of necessity, and that they had reason to believe from the language held by the Russian Ambassador that his Government would take the same view.

In the meanwhile Her Majesty's Government, finding that the Porte objected to an armistice, but were prepared to negotiate terms of peace, had been in communication with the other Powers respecting the provisions which might properly form the basis of pacification, and which I had, in the first instance, communicated to the Russian Ambassador. They were—

The status quo, speaking roughly, both as regards Servia and Montenegro.

Administrative reforms in the nature of local autonomy for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Guarantees of a similar kind against mal-administration in Bulgaria. The exact details of these might be discussed later.

And it was added that any modification of the Treaty of Paris unfavourable to Servia, the resumption of the right of Turkey to garrison Servian fortresses, or the deposition of Prince Milan, would be regarded as inadmissible.

The Austrian Government having objected, in the first instance, to the idea of autonomy as applied to the insurgent provinces, it was explained that by the phrase "local or administrative autonomy," as applied to Bosnia and Herzegovina, nothing more was intended by Her Majesty's Government than a system of local institutions which should give

the population some control over their own local affairs, and guarantees against the exercise of arbitrary authority. There was no question of the creation of a tributary State.

Upon receiving this explanation the Austrian Government declared themselves prepared to give, in principle, their complete consent to the proposals, expressing at the same time their desire that it should be formally recorded that the reforms already required from and accepted by the Porte in the Andrassy Note should form the basis of the "local autonomy."

The other Powers, while they were unanimous in rejecting the proposals of the Porte, also declared themselves willing to join in recommending the basis proposed by Her Majesty's Government.

Sir H. Elliot was, therefore, instructed on September 21, to state formally to the Porte that the following were the provisions which seemed to Her Majesty's Government proper to form the basis of pacification:

1. The status quo, speaking roughly, both as regards Servia and Montenegro.

2. That the Porte should simultaneously undertake, in a Protocol to be signed at Constantinople with the representatives of the mediating Powers, to grant to Bosnia and Herzegovina a system of local or administrative autonomy, by which is to be understood a system of local institutions which shall give the population some control over their own local affairs, and guarantees against the exercise of arbitrary authority. There is to be no question of the creation of a tributary State.

Guarantees of a similar kind to be also provided against mal-administration in Bulgaria. The exact details of these might be discussed later.

His Excellency was instructed to add that the reforms already agreed to by the Porte in the Note addressed to the representatives of the Powers on February 13 last, would be expected to be included in the administrative arrangements for Bosnia and the Herzegovina, and, so far as they might be applicable, for Bulgaria.

He was further to state that as the continuance of hostilities, while the conditions of peace were in consideration between the Powers and the Porte, would be obviously inexpedient, an early arrangement should be made for the conclusion of a formal armistice.

After conferring with his colleagues, Sir H. Elliot fulfilled the instructions given to him, and communicated on September 25 the conditions of peace pro

posed by Her Majesty's Government, which were supported a few days later by the representatives of the other Powers, including Russia.

On September 24, Sir H. Elliot reported that the Porte had not yet consented to a formal armistice, but was willing to prolong the suspension of hostilities until October 2.

Prince Milan, however, rejected the proposal, professing himself ready to conclude a regular armistice, but not an arrangement like the one hitherto in operation, which he considered ill-defined.

Her Majesty's Government, in reply, expressed their surprise that Servia, after having asked for the mediation of the Powers, should have thought fit, without further consultation, to refuse the prolonged suspension of hostilities offered by Turkey; and this at a time when endeavours were making to obtain for her more favourable terms of peace than the issue of the campaign gave her a right to expect. They thought it proper to add that any attempt on the part of the Servian commanders to renew active operations would throw on Servia the responsibility of the consequences, and forfeit the support of England. Hostilities were, nevertheless, resumed, and in explaining the action of Russia in the matter, Count Schouvaloff told me that though his Government had advised the Servian Government not to renew hostilities, yet that they could not press the matter, as they had from the first required the conclusion of a regular armistice.

It had, in the meantime, become evident that the Turkish Government entertained strong objections, both to the signature of a Protocol promising reforms in the Insurgent provinces, by which, they said, the prestige and authority of the Porte in all parts of the Empire would be impaired, and to the expression of "local autonomy" as applied to those reforms.

On September 26, Count Schouvaloff communicated to me proposals from the Russian Government that, in the event of the terms of peace being refused by the Porte, Bosnia should be occupied by an Austrian and Bulgaria by a Russian force, and the united fleets of the Powers should enter the Bosphorus. The Russian Government stated themselves, however, to be willing to abandon the proposal of occupation if the naval demonstration was considered sufficient by Her Majesty's Government.

General Sumarokoff arrived in Vienna at the same time with a similar proposal.

On October 3 a suggestion was made in conversation with Count Schouvaloff that in case of an unfavourable reply from the Porte to the proposals then before it the Powers should fall back upon their original demand for an armistice.

Count Schouvaloff said that he would telegraph this suggestion at once to Livadia, and on the following day his Excellency called and read to me a telegram from Prince Gortschakoff which he had received, although he was not certain that it was in answer to his message. Prince Gortschakoff's telegram was to the following effect :-

"A regular suspension of hostilities of sufficient length not having been established, and the negotiations for peace having encountered unexpected difficulties at Constantinople, the contest had been renewed in the valley of the Moravia."

The Imperial Government could not be indifferent to the bloodshed thus caused, and the Emperor proposed to the Guaranteeing Powers that it should be arrested by immediately imposing an armistice or truce of six weeks on both parties, so as to give the mediating Governments time to consider the means of definitively arranging the pending questions.

I had no difficulty in submitting this proposal to my colleagues, and informed Count Schouvaloff that Her Majesty's Government had decided to give their support to the proposal of an armistice of not less than a month as the next step to be taken in the event of the rejection by Turkey of the proposed terms for a basis of peace. They had, I said, on the other hand, been unable to concur in the measures of occupation and the entry of the united fleets into the Bosphorus, which had been previously suggested by Prince Gortschakoff.

Sir Henry Elliot was accordingly in structed, on the 5th, in the event of the terms of peace which had been proposed by the Powers being refused, to press upon the Porte as an alternative to grant an armistice of not less than a month, and to state that, on the conclusion of an armistice, it was proposed that a Conference should immediately follow. He was further to intimate that, in case of the refusal of an armistice, he was instructed to leave Constantinople, as it would then be evident that all further exertions on the part of Her Majesty's Government to save the Porte from ruin would have become useless.

Her Majesty's Government, at the same time, informed the Governments of the other Powers of this proposal of