New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-12-08
SIR ROBERT MORIRR'
THE LATE ENGLISH AMBASSADOR AT ~
PETERsBURG-HIs DIPLOMATIC LIFE
AND PERSONAL TRAITS
London, November =

1t cannot be said Of Sir Robert Morier that n.
Is the last Of school because he belonged "A
no school. He was too original and Of a mature
too energetic and self-willed ever to train IN
companyo He was, nevertheless a diplomatic
who must be assigned to a period that is past.
perhaps to a transitional period He stretched
out q hand to the old, and another to the new
He had the suavity of an earlier time, and the
external graces Of the Metternich and TaIIey.
rand types. But from the beginning Of his
diplomatic career he perceived that diplomacy
had to calculate forces, and that the real forces
of the time were no longer-if they ever were
to be sought studied only in courts and legis-
lative chambers and in society.
lie sought the acquaintance OF other classeA
and even Of the masses He knew, or he made
it his business to learn, what currents stirred
the popular pulse, and what people were think.
ing and saying in the streets. in the beer
houses, in the ~workshors. | believe his dis.
patches. and siill more those private letters
which diplomatsts abroad address to the For.
eign Secretary at home, were sometimes thought
rather startling He handled delicate topics
with unwonted freedom and in highly uncon-
ventional manner But Mor.er was an able
man and he presently made himself felt In
diplomacy. lie spent twenty years and more Of
many and German politics as few Englishmen
knew them-perhaps none other He knew the
people and the life Of the people, and every in
and out of the byvays and crooked places Of
German public life He mastered the most com.
plicated diplomacy of his time. and his hand
was not altogether stayed from direct inter-
ference in the domestic affairs of more than one
German Power He might have been the hero
or victim Of more than Sackvie incident
had matters been pressed.
Sir Robert Morier rose. nevertheless became
Minister and finally Ambassador, and was re-
garded at home and abroad one of the few
strong men in the service. Through his hands
passed many important negotiations. He was
sometimes thought impatient and headstrong:
never weak or ill-infOrmed. His English bluff.
ness OF manner and energy Of speech often
astonished the Continental and especially the
Latin. Ministers and other dignitares with
whom he came in contact, or, as pretty fire.
quently happened, in collision. Finally, ne went
to ST. Petersburg as Ambassador. and there he
was the right man in the right place
1t is no bad test Of a dip.omatist that he
should at the same time be appreciated both by
the Foreign Office in London and by the Sow
ereign to whom he il accredited. Such was
Sir Robert Moriers fortune. England felt that
her interests were safe in his hands. even at
critical moments and critical moments In the
relations between England and Russia are
rather frequent. They have been frequent
during Sir Robert Morier's nine years tenure Of
this great post He showed himself very firm
and very capable. He won nevertheless the
confidence and good will of the Car and Of
his Foreign Minister, NJ. de Giers. the latter
somewhat suspicious person not prone to be-
md fhnf "
meant what he said and that his word and his
statements could be relied on.
Some years later, in 1891, when his health
made Petersburg a dangerous residence for
him, Rome fell vacant. 1t is a lesser post than
Petersburg less difficult, at any rate. but the
climate suited him and he asked to be trans
ferred Lord Salisbury consented, but the Car
asked Sir Robert to remain in ST. Petersburg
intmating that his presence a promise OF
continued amity between Russia and England
He stayed, well knowing that IL might cost
him his life. 1t did. His health, long delicate.
failed and then broke He sought warmer
climate but too late. and he goes to his grave
one more martyr to a deep and chivalrous sense
Of duty. England has never lacked men Of
that high stamp.
The quarrel between Sir Robert Morier and
Prince Bismarck made no little noise in Europe
some years ago. Prince Bismarck seems to
have taken offence at some meddling OF Morier's
in German politics. The Iron Chancellor has
never been a man to forget or forgive. He
bded his time, waited till he had in his hands,
as he thought, proof that Sir Robert Morier
had, while Minister at a minor German Court In
1870 transmitted military information in a round
about way to the French. l gave the facts at
the time, and will not repeat them. Sir Robert
Morier's answer was conclusive. He aftirma-
lively disproved the charge. Prince Bismarck
was wrong the evidence on which he relied
crumbled in his hands. The man whom he
tried to crush emerged triumphant from the
confict-a rare instance in the history Of the
Princes adversaries.
His victory made him popular In Russia and
popular in France. Prince Bismarck was still
in power and not loved in either of those
countries. 1t ought to have made him better
known and liked in England Also for In de-
Tending himself he was unfolding the honor Of
England, to whose popularity on the Continent
there are limits. But it is always difficult to
get the English to interest themselves in diplo-
macy or in what passes abroad. Sir Roberts
chiefs and colleagues did him justice; SO. to
some extent, did the press. To the mass OF
the people, outside society, he was still only
what most English Ambassadors are: only the
shadow Of a name. When he travelled In
France he was recognized, and Frenchmen were
heard to say THAT is the English Ambassador
who bowled over Bismarck" No such incident
occurred in England None such would have
been possible.
II is. indeed hard to think OF any Englishman
who. of recent years. has served his country
with distinction in diplomacy, and who mas
reaped any adequate reward in the love or re-
spect of the great majority of his countrymen
Perhaps. Lord Stratford de Redcliffe's Is the
last great name-great that is. in the minds
of the masses II was his fortune to imperson-
ate a popular passon-the passion OF hatred
TO Russia before, and during, and since. the
Crimean War. There have been great, or, AZ
least. very able English Ambassadors since MS
dav: Lord Lyons, Lord Ampthill, Sir Wiliiam
white and many another They were very