THE AMBASSADOR TO TURKEY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IX, Issue 570, 21 April 1858, Page 4

THE AMBASSADOR TO TURKEY.

(From ihe'-Times, Dec. 29.)

___'JChp~Hfiparf.»«*'W';nn3 "Constantinople ef Lord -Stratford de Redcliffe, -en leave-of absence, may •possibly be followed by hts total relinqukhment 'of diplomatic office So distinguished a niaa ; and so extraordinary a career well deserve the special aotice of the public. For many a year Lord Stratford has beent before Europe, and of late it may be said that, with the exception of Lord Palmerston, no man has represented in so .high a degree to continental nations the larger statesmanship of England. That his countrymen are not better acquainted with his services, while they know by heart the history of each politician at home, shows how much, in i-apite of a vast empire and a world-wide .influence, the attention of Englishmen is-:c»mi-en-iirated on domestic affairs., and how "little they T>usy themselves witu those international relations which are the chief -subject of interest to their neighbours. Lord Stratford has, we believe, completed his .'fiftieth year of diplomatic life. Turkey wa* the scene of his earliest exentions,.and in Turkey he will have brought *to a close his remarkable career. The political veterans of the present day earvy -us back to times with -which this generation can hardly believe itself -connected. The quick succession of eyeii+a during the present century brings out in stronger contrast the-longevity and immobility of-the statesmen who still govern us, and keep the promising men of fifty in merely subordinate situations. Mr. Stratford Canning, went out t<» Constantinople a veryyqvtng mart, shortly after Admiral Back worth retreated from the Dardanelles, in the year'lßo7. When this expedition set out Exigkud and Russia were united against France, and the object of the British Ministry was that the Porte 'might be forced to give better tevms of peace to our allies, then engaged in fchf campaign of Eylau and Friedland. But England was soon to be isolated, and the power af Napoleon was to rise to its point of culmination. Before many months were past not only were Prussia anu Austria confirmed in their dependence, but the Kussian E nparor, re.idy t<» extract advantage even from defeat, ha 5 joined Napoleon in a scheme fur dividing the suzerainty «f Europe. England was left without an ally in Europe, except the unhappy King of Sweden, fiom whose hands 'the sceptre was about to fall. iN"(it only was Fronc'i influence supreme over the v ist empire of Turkey, but even in Per-sia the progress of the enemy's asceH'laiicy disturbed our Eastern statesmen. If; was at sucii n conjuncluiI'* that the future diplomatic chief first set foot in the Ewt. Early .in .1809 we find him Secretary of E'nbissy, for in those days promotion came quickly, especially to the cousin of a Cabinet Minister. Wlieu the in-

ordinate ambition of Napoleon impelled him to an invasion of Russia, England again made peace with the Northern Power, and forced the unhappy Porte to follow her .example. Russia, whether she joined France against England or Engl-md against France, always managed to gain some substantial advantage, and in ISI2, with tlve sword of Napoleon at her very throat, she won Bessarabia from the Sultan by the assistance of England. The exertions of Mr. Stratford Canning contributed not a little to \ this result. .But we must not judge of past j events by our present light. The safety of Europe depended on the deliverance of Russia from a war on her southern frontier, and the statesmen of that daj' were willing to submit to any sacrifice which would array the whole Muscovite army against the Military Dictator of Europe. It is singular that after so many years and so many changes Lord Stratford de RedcliiFe should have remained at Constantinople to check the power of Russia on the Danube, and should have forced her to a restitution in part of the very territory which he had formerly prevailed on the Porte to cede. Some time after the Treaty of Bucharest the young Secretary.left the East, and commenced that career of diplomatic wandering which is an institution of the service. In 1314 we find

him Minister in Switzerland, in IS2O Minister at Washington, and in 1524 he is sent on a special mission to St. Petersburg. At last, in 1825, he was called to the high post in which he has gained such renown and conferred so many services on his country. In this year, the year on which Nicholas ascended the throne

of Russia, he was appointed Ambassador at Constantinople. The Greek Revolution, the massacre of the Janissaries, the war with Russia, all came under his observation, and from

this period we may date that settled resolution to oppose the designs of the Czar which has been the leading principle of his later life. It is probable that had he remained to direct the counsels of the Sultan the Treaty of Adrianople would have never been signed : but in Sir Robert Gordon the feeble Porte had a feeble adviser, and Turkey was subjected to a yoke which was only broken a quarter of a century later through the wantonness with which the Czar pressed it on the neck of the Soveieign who had accepted it. With Sir Stratford Canning's Parliamentary career we. have nothing to do.; he was a Conservative during the Whig supremacy., and never had an opportunity of showing his capacity for official life at home. But a new period in the history of the Turkish empire had opened. The res-lute and honourable policy which England has followed during the last twenty years had been inaugurated. The ambition of Mehemet Ali liad been checked, the insincere and unscrupulous policy of L uis Philippe had been reprobated. To support the authority of the Sultan over every province of his Empire in .Europe, Asia, and Africa, to bring his States within the European '■^system, to retrieve the finances, purify the ad"iJ^istration, and humanise the relations of the of dtUiser^lwHeT^i"^l ft)?H 1< sFeigh aggression or internal decay, was the iask wTnciTthe statesmen of this country had set before themselves.

No man could have been berter chosen to carry out the .work than Sir Straliorcl Canning. He returned to Constantinople a* Ambassador in 1851, a»d I»as remained at the post, with short intervals of absence, ever since. How much he has achieved by the unwearied actirity and perseverance of those sixteen years we can hardly as yet appreciate. It is sufficient to say that if the safety of Eastern Europe has been secured—if the power and prestige of Russia have been broken,—rif success has attended the designs of those who at the hour ef Turkey's deepest degradation dreamt of reconstituting her pmver and regenerating her policy., the result is chiefly owing to the veteran Ambassador who 's now on his way home. In 1819 Sir Stratford Canning's influence was exerted to save the Hungarian refugees from the grasp of the Cxar —not, perhaps, so much from sympathy for the men or their cause, but because he de-

sired to resist at every turn the arrogated influence of St. Petersburg over the Porte. At last came the events of 1553, Nicholas was broug'it to close quarters with his redoubtable antagonist. Lord' Stratford, it is said, felt towards the E:np".Tor not only a patriotic but a personal dislike. Nicholas had objected to receive him as Minister at St. Petersburg, and the diplomatist hud never forgiven the slight. IT a thirst ft>r retaliation existed on the part of Lord Stratford it. was certainly fully satisfied in the end At every move the Krnperor laid himself open to the "thrusts of hi* watchful and indomitable adversary. Prince Jlenschikoff'was first 'despatched to Constantinople, and landed amid the acclamation* of the rabble and the compliments of their prinsts. But the vain .•md ostentatious Russian was no match for Lord 'Stratford, and smin bw.-a.ine thoroughly afraid of him. The British Ambassador was so polite and concili-ttorv. so desirous not to interfere, but to leave everything to the Turks themselves, except so far as hi.-, assistance might be useful in settling so unpleasanta dispute, that it wiir! not until Menschikoff hud thoroughly committed _ himself that he f'mn-1 he had bWi opposed ail. along- to an unseen player who had directed every move of the solemn functionaries whom he had thought to dazzle and terrify. When he had made this discovery he wisely took his departure. The next, act of Lord Sirattord was the rojectiou, or rather correction, of the Vienna Note We do not think that in attributing -to the British Ambassador's influence the resolution of the Porte in this matter we are guilty of any presumption. Undoubtedly Lord Stratford could not openly counsel the rejection of a document which his own Government had helped to frame, but a look or a tone

would be quite sufficient for the Sultan's advisers, and we cannot doubt what Lord Stratford's looks and tones were when he saw such a production as emanated from the wisdom of the Viennese Conference. That the decision was abold one must be admitted ; that it has been attended with the bost results is equally certain. No one in England knew, no one could kuow, how necessary it was to strike a blow at once for the independence of the Ottoman State. Lord Stratford probably compared the Turkey of 1853 with the Turkey lie had formerly known. He had seen the Empire pass through convulsions which might have destroyed a more civilised State, he had seen the authority of the Sultan restored over vast provinces by the policy of England, aided by something like a general renewal of Mussulman loyalty throughput the East. If the pressure of Russian protection and the distraction of Russian interference could be brought to an end, Turkey might be saved. The Ambassador formed his resolution, and imposed it on the Porte; the War with Russia followed, with all the great results,-which will extend perhaps to a remote posterity. The activity of the Ambassador in those later questions of Bolgrad and the Principalities is but consistent with all liis past career. To break not only the material power of Russia, but the spell which she had cast over the East and over nations which look down on the East has been the task of Lord Stratford ; who shall say he has not succeeded ? How much he has done for this country may be measui-ed by the malevolent admiration with which lie is regarded abroad. Unless he had been successful, and successful for England, his would be a more popular name among the publicists of the continent. The veteran statesman is now to return home for a time, perhaps for ever. All his fierce feuds, his personal discourtesies, his favouritisms, and his strange dislikes will soon be forgotten. His faults of temper will linger only in the remembrance of a narrow circle. On the other hand, his exertions for his own country, for Turkey, and for the world, will probably rise in estimation with every succeeding year. He has certainly achieved a work in which a less stern and resolute character would have failed. His very defects seem to have been necessary to success in his peculiar mission. If he had been a goodnatured, easy diplomatist of the usual type, he could never have held his position among the demoralized cliques of Constantinople, During the most momentous period of modern Turkish history he has been the controlling spirit of the Porte; incorruptible in the midst of universal corruption; unterrified while all around him were shrinking; of preternatural activity, with sloth and apathy on every side; carrying on a ceaseless warfare against every kind of evil, positive or negative, which came within the circuit of his view. He has roused a lethargic Sultan into action, taught self-seeking Pashas honesty, terrified distant Governors into justice, foiled the sedition o^ Greeks, restrained the cupidity of Armenian's, protected missionaries, checked Mussulman.persecution, and extended day is mainly his work. of Pashas who shrink in decency from t.tie enormous corruption of their fathers have received from him the education which has made them what they are. If the "sick man" is ever destined to be whole again, the world will re-

cognize in Loi'd Stratford de Redcliffe the physician who has worked the cure.