The Earl of Derby to Arthur Loftus, May 1, 1877

The Earl of Derby to Lord A. Loftus.

My Lord: I forwarded to your excellency in my dispatch of the 24th ultimo a copy of Prince Gortchakoff’s circular-dispatch of the 7-19th ultimo, announcing that the Emperor of Russia had given orders to his armies to cross the frontiers of Turkey. Her Majesty’s Government have received this communication with deep regret. They cannot accept the statements and conclusions with which Prince Gortchakoff has accompanied it as justifying the resolution thus taken. The protocol, to which her Majesty’s Government, at the instance of that of Russia, recently became parties, required from the Sultan no fresh guarantees for the reform of his administration. With a view of enabling Russia the better to abstain from isolated action, it affirmed the interest taken in common by the powers in the condition of the Christian populations of Turkey, It went on to declare that the powers would watch carefully the manner in which the promises of the Ottoman Government were carried into effect, and that, should their hopes once more be disappointed, they reserved to themselves the right to consider in common the means which they might deem best fitted to secure the Well-being of the Christian populations and the interest of the general peace. To these declarations of the intentions of the powers the consent; of the Porte was not asked or required. The Porte, no doubt, has thought fit, unfortunately in the opinion of Her Majesty’s Government, to protest against the expressions in question as implying an encroachment on the Sultan’s sovereignty and independence. But while so doing, and while declaring that they cannot consider the protocol as having any binding character on Turkey, the Turkish Government have again affirmed their intention of carrying into execution the reforms already promised. Her Majesty’s Government cannot, therefore, admit, as is contended by Prince Gortchakoff, that the answer of the Porte removed all hope of deference on its part to the wishes and advice of Europe, and all security for the application of the suggested reforms. Nor are they of opinion that the terms of the note necessarily precluded the possibility of the conclusion of peace with Montenegro, or of the arrangement of mutual disarmament.

Her Majesty’s Government still believe that, with patience and moderation on both sides, these objects might hot improbably have been attained. Prince Gortchakoff, however, asserts that all opening is now closed for attempts at conciliation; that the Emperor has resolved to undertake the task of obtaining by coercion that which the unanimous efforts of all the powers have failed to obtain from the Porte by persuasion, and he expresses His Imperial Majesty’s conviction that this step is in accordance with the sentiments and’ the interests of Europe. It. cannot be expected that Her Majesty’s Government should agree in this view. They have not concealed their feeling that the presence of large Russian forces on the frontiers of Turkey, menacing its safety, rendering disarmament impossible, and exciting a feeling of apprehension and fanaticism among the Mussulman population, constituted a material obstacle to internal pacification and reform. They cannot believe that the entrance of those armies on Turkish soil will alleviate-the difficulty or improve the condition of the Christian population throughout the Sultan’s dominions. But the course on which the Russian Government has entered involves a graver and more serious consideration. It is in contravention of the stipulations of the treaty of Paris of 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 Ottoman Empire. In the conference of London of 1871, at the close of which the above stipulation, with others, was again confirmed, the Russian 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 engagements 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 maintained, and has, at the same time, departed from the rule to which he himself had solemnly recorded his consent. It is impossible to foresee the consequences of such an act. Her Majesty’s Government would willingly have refrained from making any observations in regard to it; but as Prince Gortchakoff seems to assume, in a declaration addressed to all the governments of Europe, that Russia is acting in the interest of Great Britain and that of the other powers, they feel bound to state, in a manner equally formal and public, that the decision of the Russian Government is not one which can have their concurrence or approval.

I am, &c.,