It appears to deserve full consideration whether, while maintaining the principle of keeping the Straits closed, some additional security might not be afforded to the Porte by allowing the Sultan to invite the fleets of his ailies, when an exceptional emergency might seem to make their presence desirable.

As the Treaty now stands, provided Turkey was not actually at war, the appearance of a foreign flect in the Bosphorus would constitute an undoubted violation of it, and the Porte can have no protection against a coup de main beyond what is to be found in her

Own resources.

If the Porte, however, were now to declare that, in consequence of the altered state of things produced by the proceedings of Russia, the Sultan, while resolved to maintain the rule for the exclusion of foreign ships of war from the Straits, held himself free "in case of emergency" to invite the fleets of his allies to enter them, and the different Parties to the Treaty were to recognize the right of the Porte under existing circumstances to make the change, a new and very important support would be afforded to Turkey, by securing her capital against a surprise.

I threw the suggestion out in the course of conversation with Aali Pasha yesterday, telling him that I was entirely unaware whether it might meet your Lordship's approval, but that it seemed at least to deserve to be taken into consideration, and that I should be glad to know what he thought about it.

His first impression seemed to be that it was not advisable to do anything to weaken the rule by which the Straits are kept closed; and if the modification were to have that effect, I agree with him in thinking that it had better not be attempted.

An objection of some weight might, perhaps, be raised to following the pernicious example that has just been set, of modifying an International Treaty by the mere declaration of one of the Powers; but the assent of the others should be secured beforehand.

I shall be glad to be informed of the opinion which Her Majesty's Government may form upon the subject; but, in the meantime, your Lordship may be satisfied that I shall not go further with the Porte than examine what may be said for and against this, or any other suggestion that is brought forward, as a means of in some degree counteracting the step that has been taken by Russia.

I have, &c.

(Extract.)

Foreign Office, December 1, 1870.

THE Turkish Ambassador communicated to me this morning a telegraphic despatch from Aali Pasha dated the 24th instant, of which the substance was as follows:

It began by expressing the surprise which the Russian Circular had caused to the Porte, and while declining to discuss the arguments employed in it, which, moreover, were in a great measure refuted by the Protocols of the Conferences held in 1858,-it proceeds to dwell on what it terms the practical question involved in it.

However deeply the Porte felt the abrogation of one of the guarantees on which its safety depended, it would, nevertheless, consider the state of affairs with calmness which would preclude the adoption of any precipitate resolutions. Russia had declared that she no longer considered herself bound by the Articles of the Treaty of Paris relating to the neutrality of the Black Sea; she did not invite the assent of the other Parties, but merely signified to them her decision.

Musurus Pasha spoke of the allusion which Prince Gortchakoff had made to the friendly intervention of Russia in calming the discontent of the Greek subjects of the Porte. His Excellency said that any intervention was contrary to the IXth Article of the Treaty of 1856, which enregisters the Firman of the Porte, and at the same time forbids any interference on the part of the other co-signataries in the internal affairs of Turkey, either collectively or separately.

He stated that since the issue of the Firman referred to, the Greeks had been placed in a much better position than they were by the Firman, they were on an equal footing with the Mussulman subjects of the Sultan; and that any such intervention in their affairs had this manifest disadvantage, that the Greeks attributed any measure favourable to their interests, not to the benevolent wishes of their own Sovereign, but to the pressure of some foreign Power, to the great detriment of the authority of the Sultan.

M. l'Ambassadeur,

No. 68.

Earl Granville to Count Bernstorff.

Foreign Office, December 1, 1870. I HAVE received and laid before the Queen my Sovereign your Excellency's note of the 27th ultimo, stating that you are charged to submit to Her Majesty's Government the proposal that they should declare themselves ready to name Plenipotentiaries to meet in Conference at London with the Representatives of the Powers parties to the Treaty of Paris of 30th March, 1856, in order to take into consideration the questions connected with the overtures made by the Cabinet of St. Petersburgh, in its Circular of the October last.

19th

31st

I have the honour to inform your Excellency, in reply, that Her Majesty's Government are prepared to join in such a Conference, upon the understanding that it is assembled without any foregone conclusion as to its results; and that they will be glad to consider, with perfect fairness, in concert with other Powers, any proposals which Russia may have to make to the Conference.

I am, &c.

(Signed)

GRANVILLE.

No. 69.

My Lord,

Earl Granville to Lord Bloomfield.

Foreign Office, December 2, 1870.

I RECEIVED on the 27th instant a telegram from Her Majesty's Ambassador at Constantinople, stating that the Porte would have strong objections to a Conference unless it was understood that its discussions were to be strictly limited to the question of the neutralization of the Black Sea raised by Russia.

The Turkish Ambassador has since communicated to me a telegram from Aali Pasha, stating that the Porte made this a sine qua non condition of its assent to a Conference, and that he had so informed the Prussian Minister, who had been instructed to make to him the proposal that one should meet in London.

I have replied in both cases that, as Her Majesty's Government had made it a condition that the Conference should meet with no foregone conclusion, we could not make any proposal to Russia in an opposite sense, or enter into any positive engagement with the Porte. Her Majesty's Government, however, entirely agreed with Aali Pasha, that it would be expedient to confine the deliberations of the Conference to the neutralization of the Black Sea and the questions arising out of it.

I am, &c.

My Lord,

Foreign Office, December 2, 1870.

I HAVE received your Excellency's telegrams of the 1st and 2nd instant, from which it appears that the Government at Tours are unwilling, without previous reference to Paris, to take upon themselves the responsibility of accepting the Conference proposed by Prussia to consider the questions arising out of the denunciation by Russia of the Convention respecting the neutralization of the Black Sea. Although the moral effect would have been increased if the Government at Tours had felt themselves in a position to give their adhesion at once to the proposed meeting, Her Majesty's Government admit that it is not unreasonable that the Government at Tours should be desirous in the first instance of coming to an understanding with the members of the Government at Paris.

(Signed)

I am, &c.

GRANVILLE.

My Lord,

No. 71.

Lord Lyons to Earl Granville.-(Received December 3.)

Tours, November 28, 1870.

I HAD this morning the honour to receive your Lordship's telegram of yesterday, and, in obedience to the instructions contained in it, I lost no time in expressing to the Comte de Chaudordy the hope of Her Majesty's Government that France would, on certain conditions, take part in a Conference for settling the questions arising out of the issue by Russia of Prince Gortchakoff's Circular of the October, respecting the Treaties of 1856.

31st

Her Majesty's Government were, I said, themselves disposed to enter into a Conference for the consideration of an adequate statement of the grounds on which Russia might put forward a proposal for the revision of the Special Convention annexed to and embodied in the Treaty of Paris of 1856.

Her Majesty's Government held that it must be clearly understood that such Conference could be subject to no previous assumption as to its results, but they would of course feel themselves bound to weigh with fairness and without bias any claims which Russia might advance, and any proposals which she might make.

As to the seat of the Conference it was, I went on to say, plain that under present circumstances it could not meet either at Paris or at Berlin. There were, moreover, obvious objections to its sitting either at Constantinople or at St. Petersburgh; but Her Majesty's Government would agree to Vienna, to Florence, or to London; and if it should be thought better that it should meet in the capital of a State which was not a party to the Treaty, they would assent to the Hague, to Brussels, or to Berne.

In conclusion, I added that it was under the conditions that the Conference should be subject to no previous assumption as to its result, and that it should meet in one or other of the places named, that I was directed to propose to the French Government to take part in it.

M. de Chaudordy thanked me for the communication, and said that he would bring the matter before the Government here without any delay, and that he hoped to be able to give me their answer to-morrow.

On leaving M. de Chaudordy I despatched a telegram to your Lordship, to inform you that I had communicated to him the proposal of Her Majesty's Government.

No. 72.

I have, &c. (Signed) LYONS.

(Extract.)

Lord Lyons to Earl Granville.-(Received December 3.)

Tours, November 29, 1870. WHEN I expressed to the Comte de Chaudordy yesterday the hope of Her Majesty's Government that France would take part in a Conference on the Russian question, the only information I possessed on the subject was that contained in your Lordship's telegrams.

I concluded from these telegrams that the terms on which Her Majesty's Government were disposed to enter into a Conference, and on which I was directed to ask France to do so also, having originated with Her Majesty's Government, constituted an English proposal, and I represented them in that light to M. de Chaudordy. I let him know that they were the result of Mr. Odo Russell's Mission to Versailles, and that they were accepted by Count Bismarck, but I did not dwell upon these facts.

This morning, however, I received your Lordship's telegram of the 28th instant, in which you speak of Her Majesty's Government having no objection to accept the invitation to a Conference made by Prussia. In order, therefore, to prevent all chances of a misunderstanding on the subject with the French Government, I went to M. de Chaudordy and said that, before asking him for the promised answer of the French Government to the proposal I had made to him the day before, I would tell him in rather more detail what had passed at Versailles so far as I was acquainted with it. It was (I said) true, as he already knew, that Count Bismarck had suggested to Mr. Odo Russell that a Conference should take place at St. Petersburgh. Her Majesty's Government had rejected this suggestion, and had, in reply, sent a proposal in the precise terms which I had recited to M. de Chaudordy the day before. This proposal had been

accepted by Count Bismarck, and Her Majesty's Government had directed me to lay it before the French Government. My communication, therefore, was one specially intended for France. I was not able to say in what manner the proposal had been or would be submitted to other Powers.

After thanking me for this communication, M. de Chaudordy told me that since he had seen me the day before, he had received telegrams from various quarters, which left no doubt upon his mind, that the proposal was essentially a Prussian proposal, and would be, nay, had been, so presented to Europe. He had (he said) already telegraphed to M. Tissot to ask your Lordship for explanations. The information which he had received, however, was too distinct to leave any doubt upon his mind, and he must confess that his own view of the matter was entirely changed. To a proposal emanating from Great Britain or any other neutral Power, France would have been disposed to give a ready assent but it was a very different thing to acquiesce in a measure brought forward by an enemy, and by an enemy who was waging war in France itself with unprecedented rigour. He did not see how France could hold any proper position in a Conference thus held under Prussian auspices. At any rate, he should have been unable to give me the answer of the Government, as two members of it, M. Gambetta and M. Crémieux, had been absent with the army near Orleans, and had only just returned. He would, however, bring the matter before them in the afternoon,

I besought M. de Chaudordy not to allow his own judgment or that of the Government to be warped by the connection of Prussia with the proposal they had to consider. It appeared to me to be clear that it would be for the advantage of France that the Conference should meet and that she should be represented in it: and I should be very sorry that the Government should be guided by an exaggerated sensitiveness on what was really little more than a matter of punctilio.

M. de Chaudordy said that, if the proposal had originated with England or with any neutral, he should have felt sure that the Government would have unhesitatingly accepted it. As it was now, he could not undertake to give any opinion as to what the answer might be.

On leaving M. de Chaudordy, I went first to Prince Metternich, the Austrian Ambassador, and afterwards to the Chevalier Nigra, the Italian Minister. I found them both of opinion that it would be desirable that France should agree, at once, to take part in the Conference, and they promised to speak to M. de Chaudordy in this sense before the meeting of the Government this afternoon.

My Lord,

No. 73.

Sir A. Buchanan to Earl Granville.-(Received December 5.)

St. Petersburgh, November 27, 1870. PRINCE GORTCHAKOFF received yesterday a despatch from General Ignatieff, reporting that he had the honour of being granted an audience by the Sultan, at which His Majesty held to him most friendly and pacific language on the subject of the late Russian declaration, relating to the stipulations of the Treaty of 1856, establishing the neutrality of the Black Sea; and the Emperor was so much pleased with General Ignatieff's Report, that he had sent this morning for the Turkish Ambassador, in order that he might express to him in person the gratification which it had afforded him. In doing so, His Majesty desired Rustem Bey to convey his thanks to the Sultan, and to assure His Majesty that he entirely reciprocated his pacific assurances, for though he had taken an exceptional measure with a view to force on the consideration of the Powers who were parties to the Treaty of 1856, the expediency of revising the stipulations in that Act, which are offensive to Russian national feeling and the dignity of the Empire, he had no ambitious or hostile intentions towards Turkey; and so far from having anticipated a war, or made any preparations for such an eventuality, he gave him his word of honour that he had not added a soldier to the army, while, on the contrary, it was his earnest desire to cultivate cordial and peaceful relations with the Sultan.

Prince Gortchakoff held similar language to Rustem Bey, and observed, with reference to the declaration, that the Russian Government has been obliged to break the ice, but had no intention of taking more serious measures ("nous avons été obligé," he said, " de rompre la glace, mais nous n'avions pas l'intention de casser les vitres ").

I have, &c. (Signed)

ANDREW BUCHANAN.

(Extract.)

No. 74.

Sir A. Buchanan to Earl Granville.-(Received December 5.)

St. Petersburgh, November 30, 1870.

AT an interview with Prince Gortchakoff, yesterday, I read to his Excellency that part of your Lordship's despatch of the 12th instant in which you acquaint me with the substance of a conversation which you had with Baron Brunnow respecting the answer of Her Majesty's Government to the despatch of Prince Gortchakoff, communicated to them on the 9th instant, and in which his Excellency stated that the answer was so different from what he expected, he could only maintain the reserve you had expressed on his communicating to you the despatches to which it was a reply.

Prince Gortchakoff then repeated the arguments which he had previously expressed to me in defence of the step taken by the Russian Government, and I again reiterated my deep regret at the unnecessary cause which had been given for feelings of resentment on the part of the people of England towards the Government of Russia. I said that a principal article of my political faith was that not only good relations, but also entire confidence in each other, should exist between the Governments of England and Russia, as so many important interests in Europe, but more particularly in Asia, depend upon the reliance which they can place upon their mutual assurances.

I said that it had been my earnest endeavour, since my arrival in Russia, to promote this mutual confidence, and I now greatly deplored that its foundations had been so seriously impaired by the late Russian declaration. His Excellency answered, that he was as desirous as I could be that a cordial understanding should exist between England and Russia, but that in the present instance he had been forced to the wall by all previous attempts to open the question of the Black Sea having failed, and he had been obliged to adopt the measure of which I complained, in order to bring the question before the consideration of the other Powers. I said I could not admit this necessity.

My Lord,

No. 75.

Sir A. Buchanan to Earl Granville.-(Received December 5.)

St. Petersburgh, November 30, 1870.

AT an interview yesterday with Prince Gortchakoff, I mentioned to his Excellency that your Lordship had informed Count Bismarck that you had no objection to take part in a Conference for considering any proposal that Russia may put forward for the revision of the Special Convention respecting the neutralization of the Black Sea, which is annexed to the Treaty of 1856.

I read at the same time to his Excellency, from a Memorandum of the substance of your telegram of the 27th instant, that Her Majesty's Government had informed Count Bismarck that though they would feel themselves bound to weigh with fairness, and without bias, any claims which Russia might advance, and proposals which she might make, the proposed Conference must be subject to no assumption as to its result.

Mr. Odo Russell to Earl Granville.-(Received December 5.)

(Extract.) Versailles, November 22, 1870. COUNT BISMARCK received me yesterday at 1 o'clock for the purpose of discussing the correspondence inclosed in your Lordship's despatch to me of the 12th instant, and the result of a three hours' conversation was that his Excellency authorized me to assure your Lordship

1. That the Russian Circular of the 19th October had taken him by surprise; 2. That while he had always held that the Treaty of 1856 pressed with undue severity on Russia, he entirely disapproved of the manner adopted and the time selected by the Russian Government to force on a revision of that Treaty;

3. That he regretted that he could neither interfere, nor even answer the Russian Circular officially at present in consequence of the war; but that