Lord Lyons (Vol. 1&2). Thomas Wodehouse Legh Newton
the action of the British Government.
'We have been too busy at home to have much leisure for Eastern affairs,' wrote Lord Stanley. 'The success of the Conference in keeping the peace was not, I think, expected by the general public and has given proportionate satisfaction, more perhaps here than elsewhere, and more in France than in Russia. The Emperor dreaded the idea of war and would have accepted almost any terms. The Prussians, being prepared and knowing that the French were not so, professed great indifference as to the result of the negotiations. Many still say that the inevitable quarrel is only postponed. It may be so, but I am inclined to think that in such matters to gain time is to gain everything. Irritation subsides, new questions arise to divert attention, and the opinion of the country has time to declare itself. I am told that at Paris the feeling of gratitude to England is general and strong.'
In May, in spite of Crete, it was arranged that Sultan Abdul Aziz should pay a visit to France, and both the French and Turks, unlike Lord Russell, whose opinion on the value of such visits has been already quoted, thought that it would be productive of great results. The Turks were especially delighted, because they thought the invitation a proof that France would not persist in the alliance with Russia which had been so perilous to the Ottoman Empire. It was hoped that if France could be brought back to her old attitude of co-operation with England in deprecating foreign aggression, things might be kept quiet, and that the internal situation might improve. The recent pro-Russian proclivities of Napoleon III. had drawn upon him some very sharp remonstrances from Her Majesty's Government, and a despatch from Lord Cowley shows that the Emperor had to put up with some remarkably plain speaking. He was told by the British Ambassador that if he would devote a little more attention to Eastern affairs he would probably refrain from constant intervention in the internal affairs of Turkey, unless indeed he wished to see that Empire collapse; and when he attempted feebly to explain that Russia deserved some satisfaction for her pride wounded by the result of the Crimean War, and that the best method of restraining her aggressive proceedings was to act in conjunction with her, he was informed that the best way of meeting insidious Russian policy was by honest and open opposition. It must doubtless have been extremely irritating to the British Government to see this disposition to fritter away the effects of the policy which led to the Crimean War, and the probability is that the Emperor had no definite idea as to what he wanted and was merely drifting along, in his usual manner, without realizing the possible results.
'I fancy,' said Lord Lyons, 'that great efforts will be made to please and astonish the Sultan in France and to impress him with the power of the country. He is not stupid or bigoted, but he has had very little education. He is more amiable than he looks. He speaks only Turkish. His hobby is the Navy and the way for us to impress him would be to show him as many ships, and particularly ironclads, as we can—that is to say if we can show as many or more than the French. He is Oriental enough to expect hospitality, as he practises it here, and I suppose he would be much hurt by any etiquette which he thought a slight. Politically, I think a visit from him to England would be a good thing if we received him personally as well as the French did. As he has taken up the idea of going to England, he would of course be very much mortified at not being cordially received, and advantage would be taken of anything of the kind by the enemies of Turkey here to weaken his and our position. I suggested to Fuad Pasha to let the question of his visit to England be still, until I could communicate with you about it, but I understand he has telegraphed to Musurus to speak to you. I suppose the Sultan, of whom they all seem as much afraid as if he still cut off heads, ordered him to do so and he dared not object. I believe the Sultan will not leave Constantinople till he has made quite sure of not finding the Emperor of Russia at Paris. Fuad says he will take a very small suite, but I suppose it will be a larger suite than a European Sovereign would have. I believe he will take a sort of noble guard he has, who wear very picturesque costumes of different parts of the Empire: there used to be fifty of them, but I hardly suppose all will go.'
It very soon became evident that the Sultan was quite determined to go to England, and it was clearly desirable that he should be received with no less distinction and ceremony than in France. In a courtly manner he conveyed to the Ambassador that he would be deeply mortified if he were not given the opportunity of paying his respects personally to Queen Victoria, and his ministers laid great stress upon the desirability of His Majesty being received by the Lord Mayor, the importance of that magnate standing apparently as high in the estimation of the Oriental as of the Frenchman. The mingled pleasure, alarm, and agitation evoked by the Sultan's intended visit are well illustrated by the following letter to Lord Lyons from a man who seemed marked out to add to the gaiety of nations, Mr. Hammond.
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Foreign Office, May 30, 1867.
We should like to know as soon as possible at what time we may calculate on seeing the Sultan and what members of his family or of his Government he brings with him, and the rank and description of his suite and their numbers. It is to be hoped they will not be too numerous, and that as he is to be lodged in the Palace, the usual habits of Orientalism will for the time be laid aside and the services of his Harem be dispensed with during his visit. It would shock the people in this country to hear of the Sultan being attended by persons not proper to be mentioned in civilized society, and no small inconvenience might result if he was known to have slaves in his suite, for it would be impossible to answer for the enthusiasts of Exeter Hall with so fair an opportunity before them for displaying their zeal and doing mischief.
Aali Pasha has, I think, been in England, and you might have means of bringing these little matters before him in such a delicate way as not to shock the Sultan's ideas of propriety or mastery. The French probably would not be so particular in these respects, but they have not Writs of Habeas Corpus dangling before their eyes, nor unrestricted liberty of speech and print to provide against.
Whatever information you can give us of the Sultan's habits of living and of the sort of accommodation he will require will be very acceptable to the Lord Chamberlain's office, and any hints as to what it would most interest him to see would be valuable.
In London, you know, we have no manufactories, but there are the Arsenal at Woolwich; the large private shipbuilding yards in the Thames, if he did not care to go to Portsmouth for a day; the Museum, Bank, Post Office and some few things of that sort which are probably peculiar in their extent to this country. It might also interest him, if he is a reformer, to see our prisons, from which he might take useful hints. Does he keep reasonable hours, and would he be shocked at balls, or restrain himself from throwing a handkerchief at any beauty that might cross his path?
Sultan Abdul Aziz's visit to England passed off without administering any of those shocks to public feeling which Mr. Hammond contemplated with so much alarm. There are no means of ascertaining what precise effects were produced upon the Sultan's mind, but it is to be presumed that the object lesson afforded by an English prison was wasted upon him, for anything more unlike an English prison than a Turkish gaol it would be difficult to imagine. The ill-fated Abdul Aziz was accompanied on this journey by his young nephew, destined to become famous subsequently as Abdul Hamid II., but he, too, has kept his impressions to himself, and the only topic upon which he has been known to expatiate, is the excellence of English servants, who 'always treated him in a fatherly manner.'
In the meanwhile Lord Lyons's stay at Constantinople was drawing to a close, for at the end of April, Lord Stanley had offered him the Embassy at Paris. The offer was made in highly flattering terms, the Foreign Secretary expressing his regret at withdrawing the Ambassador from an important post, the duties of which he so thoroughly understood, but adding that Paris was the first place in the diplomatic service, and that the Eastern Question seemed likely to be superseded by even more serious difficulties nearer home. It is probable that the honour was all the more appreciated because it was unsolicited and unexpected, as shown by the following letter from him to Lord Cowley.
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Constantinople, May 8, 1867.
When I first heard that you were likely to give up Paris, I felt, as I think I said in my letter to you, alarmed at the prospect of the Embassy's falling into other hands. I should have been indeed alarmed had I then known into what hands it was likely to fall. I received on the 3rd a letter from Lord