New-York tribune., 1878-07-20
DERBY AND BEA coKSFIELD.


The great Lancashire peer has pricked the
bubble. He has accused. and, such Is the
weight of his word and the force Of
his character. virtually convicted the
Premier of treaehery and hypocrisy in
dealing with the Turks and with
Europe. At moment when England
is ringing with the praises of her diplOmatiSts,
be exposes the holIOwness and dishonesty OF
the methods to which they have resorted. The
Premier had n right 10 expect an easy
triumph in the House of Lords. His
return to Dover had been dramatic
and his pathway in London had been strewed
with flowers. Wherever he appeared great
throng gathered TO shout hOsannas. His
master-stroke and the prestige it had
given him had transformed sober and
sedate nation into n band of courtiers. The
hour drew near when he was To rise in the
House of Lords and explain his foreign policy
that mysterious. enigmatie, LaOdicean state
craft which had baffled for months the keenest
wits in the Kingdom. The mise en- scene was
all that nc could have wished Rank and fash
ion were in the galleries nearly every peer
was in his seat; and on the steps of the
throne was royalty itself He was among
Hatterers, and the country was behind
him, and be knew that even 80 stanch
a Whig as Lord Granville could not say any
thing to break the force of his argument with
the audience there and with the masses out
side. Apparently he had forgotten that Lord
Derby had once shared his secrets, and might
have something to say.
But, as it happened, Lord Derby did have
something 10 say, although he was in no
haste 10 say IT, Lord Beaeons6eld summed
up the case for the Government with the non
chalance of q lawyer who knows that the
points are all In his favor, and the sym
pathies of the jury to be counted upon.
He was bent upon dazzling his audience,
and accordingly his speech was preten-
tious and glittering rather than consistent
and logical. We pointed out some OF the
flaws in commenting upon 1t yesterday but
upon closer examination we find the whole
texture thin and fihsy. At the outset he de-
elared that the Congress had restored to the
Sultan two thirds of his possessions. But whore
are these possessions that have been reclaimedf
Certainly not in Asia, where the Russians have
| been allowed to retain all that they acquired
by the Treaty of San StefanO, save
| Bayazid and the Alashkerd Valley. Nor
are they in Eurcpe where East
ern R0umelia has been regained, but
Bosnia, Herzegovina and Cyprus have been
! surrendered. His Scriptural paraphrase was
evidently meant as commentary upon Bis
marck's mot, "Beati possidentes." "The
Government he said, had been taken
CUP into mountain and shown all
the kingdoms of the earth and told, All these
things shall be yours il you will only wOr-
"' ship partitiOning'p But the Government
that had sternly rebukcd the German Chancel-
lor, OF whatever evil genins had tempted it,
was not above driving a good bargain
! in a corner. At Berlin it had exclaimed,
| "Get thee hence" in fine frenzy of indig
nation, but in London il had made a compact
with Russia, and at COnstantnoDle it had
squeezed Turkey dry. IF Lord BeacOnsfeld
refused to worship partitioning," it was
/ because he had title deed to Cyprus and a
| first mortgage upon Asiatic Turkey already in
| his pocket He draws fine distinctions in this
| speech. For instance: a distribution OF terri
/ tory is not partiton; and the name of
! the province that has been reclaimed is East
| Roumelia, and not South Bulgaria-the change
I of name with the indefeDsble line of de-
| fence in the Balkan being great diplomatic
victories! And 80, with SNOWY and agile
step, the Premier tripped over the ground
! of the Treaty and the AsiatIc Pro-
tectOrate until he reached the command
! ing view that Asia was large enough for both
Russia and England. From FRS. to last be
| spoke like an Old Turk of the Old Turks, ar
! guing that England had been laboring for the
| welfare of the Porte, and had avoided Syria
| on account Of the traditiohary interests of
| France. l.ta .c
| Then it was that Lord Derby found his
| tongue. He declared that he had left the
| Cabinet because he dissented from the deei-
| sion Of the Government TO seize a naval sta
| ton in the Eastern Mediterranean, consisting
| ofCyprus and point on the main land in Syria,
by secret expedition from India without
the consent of the Sultan. In Syria, and with
out the consent of the SultanI What will
| Gambetta and the Old Turks say nowa Light
has been thrown into the secret passages
.