Year: 1876

A short time ago Mr.. Gladstone distin-
guished himself by an article on Lord Ma
caulay in the Quarterly Rerie,o, which is ad-
mitted to be one of the finest of recent lit
erary criticisms, and now he has made
greater sensation in the political world by
his pamphlet entitled, Bulgarian Horrors
and Questions of the East" There is one
fact connected with it which is to be noted
namely that man out of Office, not even the
leader of his party in Parliament should
have the power, by single argument, to set
all of England in blaze of excitement,
probably to change her ancient policy in the
affairs of Turkey in Europe and possibly to
cause the downfall of the Disraeli govern
ment, which was founded upon his own
overthrow. This Is the power Of thought,
courage and the rare gift of saying the right
word at the right moment.


The argument of Mr.. Gladstone is nothing
less than demand that Great Britain shall
reverse her historical policy in regard to
Turkey; and that alone is enough to excite
the whole country. To weaken Turkey by
taking from her the exclusive control she
claims over her European provinces, and to
deprive her Of any administration Of three
of them, is contrary to all the accepted ideas
of English diplomacy in the East. 1t Is
a heresy in politics. But Mr.. Gladstone,
in demanding this change, is likely to have
the support of the vast majority of the
English nation. He has appealed to its
conscience. The new light In which he
places the Eastern question will startle his
countrymen and make them abhor the
thought of being considered accomplices
of Turks who massacre Christians. They
will demand, with him, that Turkey shall be
excluded from administration in Bosnia,
Herzegovina and Bulgaria, and the changes
made in the attitude of England will proba-
bly, alter the condition Of eight millions of
the vassals of the Porte. An English army
could not do the Christians in Bulgaria the
service which this pamphlet has done, and,
great as its effect will be in the East, its
political influence may be even more pow
erful at home. By dexterous move
ment, and yet without acting as a mere
party leader, he has made the Disraeli
Cabinet appear responsible for the
compromised honor of the British name.
The tory government is thus placed on the
defensive at once it cannot deny the cruel
ties which the Turks have committed, nor
can it successfully explain it's own silence
on the subject of the massacres. When the
press first called the attention of the world
to the Bulgarian horrors Mr. Disraeli
sneered at the idea that a government
should depend upon newspapers for its
news. "He would wait for more trust
worthy information" he said Well, he has
waited, and the result is that the Tory
Ministry must admit the facts. It must
admit that it has adhered until now to the
policy which Mr.. Gladstone says must be
abolished What magnificent strategy Mr..
Disraeli would have displayed had he an
ticipated Mr.. Gladstone But it is now too
late The conscience Of the English will turn
to Mr. Gladstone as its tutor and from the
tory Ministry as one unable to vindicate the
honor of the kingdom. Thus, in every way,
the pamphlet is likely to have important re-
suits. What it says Of Mr.. Schuyler the
United States Consul General at Constan-
tinople, and Of tho course Of the American
government will be read here with much
qualification and interest.