European powers approved the attitude of England, which was one of strict neutrality. The duty of the government, he said, was to maintain the empire of England at a critical moment, and they would never agree to any step, though it might obtain for a moment comparative quiet and a false prosperity, which hazarded the existence of that empire. Before parliament was prorogued it was announced that the prime minister had been honoured with a peerage, and would sit in the Upper House. During the recess the public feeling on behalf of the wretched people of the insurgent provinces became intensified by the report received from Mr. Baring, our representative. Mr. Gladstone had already come forward as the leader and exponent of the popular sentiment, and now he issued a pamphlet entitled Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East, in which he advocated a concert of the European powers to extinguish the Ottoman executive power in Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Bulgaria. One passage in this pamphlet was afterwards urged against him, as though he had advocated the expulsion of the whole Turkish population from Europe. "The bag-and-baggage policy," as some wit had named it, became a long-standing jeering accusation. What he wrote was :- "Let us insist that our government, which has been working in one direction, shall work in the other, and shall apply all its vigour to concur with the other states of Europe in obtaining the extinction of the Turkish executive power in Bulgaria. Let the Turks now carry away their abuses in the only possible manner, namely, by carrying off themselves. Their Zaptiehs and their Mudirs, their Bimbashis and their Yuzbachis, their Kaimakams and their Pashas, one and all, bag and baggage, shall, I hope, clear out from the province they have desolated and profaned." There was soon a plain issue before the nation-those who thought with Mr. Gladstone would have renounced Turkey rather than have prolonged for an instant the crimes which were being perpetrated by her emissaries, or have seemed to countenance them by refraining from joining in their practical con demnation. Those who thought with Lord Beaconsfield would have ignored the necessity for interfering with what the Turkish government chose to do, if that interference might affect the power or influence of England in the East, and open the door for Russia at Constantinople. The latter prevailed. The invincible distrust of Russian intrigue, the recollections of Russian barbarism, turned the scale, but not till a later date. There were fierce debates in parliament, great public meetings in London and the provinces, in which Mr. Gladstone took a leading part with amazing fervour and energy. For a time he seemed to carry the people with him, for they were moved by sentiments of pity and of indignation, and called on the government to put pressure upon Turkey; but the sentiment gave place to the old distrust of Russian influence, and began to burn low. The indignation, if it did not die out, smouldered before the blaze of that promise of imperial supremacy which might be threatened by any treaty that gave Russia a new footing in the East. Russia declared war with Turkey on the 24th of April, 1877, and while one army crossed the Danube and marched towards the Balkans another invaded Asia Minor. At first they met with few repulses. From Sistova to Tirnova, the ancient capital of Bulgaria, the Grand-duke Nicholas made an almost triumphal procession amidst the acclamations of the people; but at the Shipka Pass, and at Plevna, 20 miles south of the Danube, where Omar Pacha had made a stand and thrown up fortifications, the Turks numbered 50,000 to 70,000, and the Russians were defeated with immense loss. They afterwards took the Shipka Pass, and after a tremendous conflict the emperor sent General Todleben, the defender of Sebastopol, to the scene of action, and Plevna surrendered. Then the Russians swept all before them. In the early part of 1878 they might have entered Constantinople. It was reported that they had done so, and parliament then sitting was in a ferment. The fleet was ordered to the Dardanelles. Public feeling was so aroused that the anti-Russian party was predominant. Sir Stafford Northcote announced that he ORIGIN OF THE TERM "JINGOES." 317 would ask for a supplementary estimate of six | might enable him to show some brilliant dismillions for naval and military purposes. Again a sudden report came that the Russians were close to Constantinople, and the excitement in London became tremendous. The fleet was ordered to go through the Dardanelles to Constantinople, and in spite of the Russian protest that if it passed the Straits there would be good reason for the occupation of the neighbourhood by the troops, our ships remained there. There was to be no disembarkation of the British and no advance by the Russians. Daily, almost hourly, Mr. Gladstone was endeavouring to force upon the government a recognition of the claims of the people of the disturbed provinces, and his efforts were supported by hundreds of meetings in different parts of the country. He admitted that in what he might call his old age he had became an agitator, but the agitation, he averred, was in a good and holy cause, in the hope that by the withdrawal of moral and material support from Turkey, and the combined representations of our government with those of the other powers, the Porte would be compelled to cease from cruelty and oppression, and freedom with practical self-government might be secured for the people. The resolutions which he introduced into the House of Commons, and supported with moving elequence and earnestness, did not, however, meet with acceptance. In the Liberal ranks there was division on the subject, and an impression seemed to be deepening, that complete neutrality, abstention from any pledges, and a watchful attitude with regard to Russia was the safest policy. There was a general notion that Lord Beaconsfield knew more of the situation than he chose to make public; that he was waiting quietly for the right moment to checkmate the Emperor of Russia, and control Turkey by two or three rapid and successful moves. There was some reason for so thinking. His career had been illustrative of these very qualities of patient self-possession, combined with readiness of action, and resource and unbounded audacity, which, now that he held the dogs of war in leash, and was the head if not the dictator of the government, play of statecraft, and, as the phrase went, give to England her proper place in the world. These opinions had undoubtedly gained ground, and so loud and boisterous were some of the extremer advocates of an anti-Russian policy, that it seemed as though we should soon be obliged to make some manifestation which would be equal to a proclamation of hostilities. The bumptious, overbearing demonstrations of the war party perhaps increased when it was discovered that Russia kept faith, and refrained from marching on Constantinople, and it may have required all the astuteness of Lord Beaconsfield himself to "uphold the character and prestige of England" without actually making common cause with the "Jingoes." The term "Jingoes" will itself, when explained, indicate the persons who were just then making themselves most conspicuousespecially in London-and the temper which they too frequently displayed. The most noisy and violent of the partisans of the government were of course those who, regarding war from a distance, and without any experience of it, were ready to boast and to threaten. For these some jinglers of rhyme had written one or two so-called "patriotic" songs, by which the proprietors of music halls expected to attract large audiences, to assist in yelling the choruses, and to consume liquor. The most successful of these productions had a refrain which seemed exactly to suit the taste and intelligence of the audiences: "We don't want to fight, but by Jingo, if we do, We've got the ships; we've got the men; we've got the money too." This chorus was heard everywhere, and the Liberals, who had been a good deal hustled and insulted, even at their own meetings, and who for the most part felt that they were being publicly yelled down, gave to their demonstrative opponents the name of "Jingoes," a term which is quite likely to be perpetuated. when its origin is forgotten. For a time the "Jingoes" seemed to be having all their own way, and became not only boisterous, but riotously aggressive. In several instances, and notably on one occasion in London, they boasted of having taken forcible | agreed to submit the terms of the treaty to a possession of rooms that had been hired by the Liberals for the purpose of holding meetings. One evening a company of these highspirited and gallant gentlemen, flushed with pride and wine, seeing Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone in a West End street, became so grossly insulting, and made such threatening demonstrations, that it became necessary for the lady to seek shelter in the hall of a house, at the door of which a servant was standing. The vote of credit asked for by the government had been granted by a large majority. Prince Gortschakoff had declared that, far from marching onward, the Russian troops had been ordered everywhere to cease from further hostilities; the British Mediterranean fleet had been sent to Constantinople. On the 3rd of March, 1878, a treaty of peace between Russia and Turkey was signed at St. Stefano, by which Russia, while securing the freedom of the Christian populations from Turkish rule, would not only have claimed a large war indemnity, but would have expanded Bulgaria into a state, of which she would practically have had control. This treaty was at once denounced by Lord Derby as an attempted readjustment of the treaty of Paris, without the consent of the other contracting powers, while Lord Beaconsfield represented that it would virtually give Russia control over the whole of south-eastern Europe. It was demanded that the terms of a treaty should be considered in a conference at Berlin, and the demand was accompanied by demonstrations, in which Lord Derby could not concur, since he regarded them as approaching to a declaration of war. The reserve forces were called out, and it was afterwards known that orders had been sent to the Indian government to send 7000 native troops to Malta, and that we had prepared to occupy the island of Cyprus, and land an armed force on the coast of Syria. Lord Derby feeling that he could not remain in the ministry sent in his resignation, and the Marquis of Salisbury was appointed to the direction of foreign affairs, Mr. Gathorne Hardy (Lord Cranbrook) taking the India office. After much contention Russia congress, which was to assemble at Berlin on the 13th of June. Somewhat to the surprise of the public the prime minister announced the intention of himself accompanying Lord Salisbury to attend it. The result of the conference was that a treaty was signed intrusting Austria to occupy Bosnia and the Herzegovina, an arrangement which Lord Beaconsfield afterwards admitted was made for the purpose of placing another power as a block to a Russian advance on Constantinople. The organization of these provinces was left to Austria. Roumania, Servia, and Montenegro were to be independent, the latter state receiving the seaport of Antivari and some adjoining territory. The Balkans were to be the southern frontier of Bulgaria, which was made tributary to the sultan, but with an independent government under a prince elected by the people, with the assent of the contracting powers and the confirmation of the sultan. South of the Balkans a state was to be created called Eastern Roumelia, which was to be under the direct authority of the sultan, who, however, was not to send thither any of those irregular troops whose atrocities had aroused so much indignation. Roumania was to restore to Russia a part of Bessarabia which had been detached by the treaty of 1856, and in exchange was to receive from Russia part of the Dobrudscha, including Silistria and Magnolia. The Porte was bound to come to some arrangement with Greece for the rectification of the frontier; to "apply to Crete the organic law of 1868;" to hand over to Russia Ardahan, Kars, and Batoum; and to pay a war indemnity. The congress having concluded its sittings, with a settlement by which Russia did not do very badly after all, Lord Beaconsfield returned to London, where he was received with enthusiastic acclamation, and after a kind of ceremonial procession from the railway-station addressed the multitude from a window of the Foreign Office. He said: "Lord Salisbury and myself have brought you back peace, but a peace, I hope, with honour, which may satisfy our sovereign, and tend to the welfare of the country." For some time afterwards DIFFICULTIES IN AFGHANISTAN. 319 peace with honour" was a motto or watch- | ready to resent his reception of advances that word. Lord John Russell had used the phrase were friendly. In 1878, when the result of the five-and-twenty years before, when in a speech protests made against Russia's advance upon at Greenock he had said: "If peace cannot be the Turkish provinces was uncertain, a Rusmaintained with honour it is no longer peace." sian envoy was sent to Cabul with the appaThe Berlin treaty was accomplished, and rent object of concluding some kind of alliance Lord Beaconsfield's presence at the confer- with the Ameer. This, of course, would, if ence may have had considerable effect. Not not frustrated, have been a serious injury to the effect which the Jingoes attributed to it, that imperial policy which had found some however; for, so far as England was concerned, expression by an addition to the royal title instead of the terms of the treaty having been which was to be used only in relation to India. proposed and settled by acute and authorita- If Russia sent an envoy England must have tive discussion, it was afterwards discovered a mission. The changes which had been that there had been a “diplomatic correspond-made in the office of viceroy of India in 1876 ence" and secret engagements with Russia and Turkey, which in effect had already settled most of the clauses of the proposed treaty, and had been agreed on and signed at the Foreign Office before the meeting of the congress. had led to the resignation of Lord Northbrook, and Lord Lytton (better known to readers of verse by his nom de plume of Owen Meredith), the son of the brilliant novelist, succeeded him, for what reason or what special capacity nobody seems to have discovered at that time. He was prepared to carry out the We have not yet done with the Eastern policy of the government, and, without regard question. While the treaty of Berlin was supposed to shut the front gate to India, the marauder seemed to be plotting to gain an entrance by the back door. We have already noted the early disturbances in connection with the occupation of Cabul.' It now seemed as if that terrible story was about to be repeated. Dost Mahomed had left as his successor the Ameer Shere Ali, whose claims were resisted by the other sons, so that after many vicissitudes of war he did not gain firm possession of the Afghan capital till 1868. He conceived that he had little reason to love the English, who had refused to guarantee him against the advance of Russia, and had recognized his rivals Afzul Khan and Azim Khan as de facto rulers of Cabul during their successful resistance to his claims. In 1869 Lord Mayo, the viceroy-whose assassination by a native in the Andaman Islands was one of the darkest events in 1872-had paid him an official visit and furnished him with six lacs of rupees and some artillery. We had refused to protect him against the hostile advances of Russia; but we were equally 1 Vol. i. p. 288; vol. ii. p. 7. to the protests of Shere Ali, the mission was sent to Cabul. It was stopped on the frontier by an officer of the Ameer, who refused to allow it to pass till he had the authority of his chief. This was regarded as a deliberate refusal, the manner of which demanded a resort to force; and a British force supported the mission and marched to Gandamuk, a place between Jellalabad and Cabul, where they formed a camp. Meantime Shere Ali died; his son Yakoob Khan, with whom he had quarrelled, came to the throne, professed a desire to be on friendly terms with the British, and went into the camp. A treaty was entered into to pay the Ameer £60,000 a year in exchange for the frontier, the "scientific frontier," as Lord Beaconsfield had called it, to be occupied by the British. A British representative was to be resident at Cabul, and the Ameer was to be assisted to defend himself against any foreign enemy. Almost before the ink of the treaty was dry, and while the sound of applause at the dexterity with which we had occupied Cabul and Candahar, and so could keep Russia out of India, was still ringing, news came that Sir Louis Cavagnari, the English envoy, and nearly all the officers of the mission with the the native troops deserted to the enemy, and he was severely defeated at Maiwand, and had to fall back in confusion on Candahar, which was closely invested by Ayub Khan. Reinforcements were delayed for want of transport, the crisis was becoming dangerous, when Sir Frederick Roberts set out with his army of 10,000 men on a forced march from Cabul to Candahar, a distance of about 300 miles, through a difficult and hostile country. The heat was tremendous, and there was some fighting to be done on the way, but in three weeks the journey was accomplished. The men, without hesitation, attacked the enemy, and gained a brilliant victory, which re-established the prestige and the temporary power of the British arms, and enabled us to place the administration, as well as the ameership, in the hands of Abdul Rahman Khan, and to retire from Cabul, leaving "the scientific frontier" to remain an expression without much practical mean native escort, had been murdered by insur- It was to General Sir Frederick Roberts, however, that the great achievement of the campaign was due; and, but for the skill and almost unparalleled boldness of that commander and the unyielding courage of his men, a great disaster might at the last have befallen the British armis. In June, 1880, Ayub (a brother of Yakoob Khan), who had taken up his position at Herat, marched against Candahar with a large force. General Burrows advanced to oppose him, but some of The gallantry and remarkable generalship of Sir Frederick Roberts was perhaps not so completely recognized as some subsequent successes by other generals have been, but he was honoured with the thanks of the queen and the country, and his name and that of his army is still associated with the deed of prowess which alone seemed to give some lustre to a war undertaken without counting the cost and singularly barren in results. Alas! there was, if possible, a still worse and less honourable enterprise before the country in what was known as the Zulu war. It is so recent that a few lines only need be devoted to it. The various states of South Africa differed so considerably that it was not at first easy to unravel their claims, still less their alleged grievances. There were Cape Colony and Natal directly under British control. There was the Transvaal, the territory north of the Vaal river, a Dutch republic, with a population of 40,000 Europeans and 250,000 Kafirs and natives. There was the Orange Free State, formed by Dutch settlers who emigrated from Cape Colony because they disliked British rule, and whose independence had been recog |