Meanwhile, the civil war in Spain continued and the prospects of the constitutional cause were gloomy. During the summer of 1835, however, the Carlists sustained a loss the magnitude of which was hardly appreciated at the time. Whilst superintending the operations against Bilbao Zumalacárregui sustained a wound and died a few days later. The original injury was of a trifling character and his death has generally been ascribed to the unskilful treatment of the doctors. But Colonel Wylde, as he was returning from his interview with the Pretender on the subject of the Decree of Durango, received some curious details about the last hours of the famous Carlist chief from an English surgeon who had dressed his wound. According to this person, a dose of laudanum, not a Christino bullet, was the cause of death. Furthermore, Wylde’s informant asserted that the doctors had under various pretexts refused to allow the body to be opened. This story, taken in connection with the detestation with which Zumalacárregui was regarded by the Apostolical section of his party, led Wylde to suspect that he might have been the victim of foul play.[378] Be that as it may, his death had an effect upon the cause of absolutism and bigotry which may be compared with that of Dundee at Killikrankie.
The Christinos, however, appeared incapable of taking advantage of the loss which their opponents had sustained. Even Mendizabal was unable to infuse the required energy into the counsels of the Queen’s generals. “Everything,” wrote Wylde on February 12, 1836, “seems to stagnate for want of money.” The British legion had suffered cruelly during the winter. Sickness had thinned its ranks, the pay of officers and men was in arrears, and the whole force was in a state of acute discontent.[379] Under these circumstances the British government decided to intervene more effectually. Hitherto, Lord John Hay’s squadron off the north coast of Spain had only been allowed to transport troops and stores, and to give indirect assistance to the Christinos. But the admiral was now ordered to take an active part in the operations of the Queen’s armies. At the same time, Lord Palmerston’s objections to the entry of a French army into Spain disappeared completely. He asked that the French cordon of observation should be advanced across the frontier and that the valley of Bastan should be occupied. The measure which he proposed “would not entail extensive military operations, but would enable General Cordoba to enclose the Carlists in a small space and to deprive them of all supplies.”[380] The British government, doubtless, hoped that M. Thiers, who had always professed to be in favour of armed intervention, would, now that he was President of the Council, be able to induce Louis Philippe to consent to it. But that illusion, if it was ever entertained, was soon dispelled. The course proposed by Palmerston was incompatible with that policy of conciliating the absolute Courts, upon which M. Thiers had embarked. He was, consequently, compelled to explain to Lord Granville that he had altogether changed his mind about the expediency of intervention, owing to the wide development of the Carlist insurrection, and to the revolutionary character which the government at Madrid had recently assumed. Louis Philippe expressed himself in more emphatic language. Never, he told the British ambassador, would he allow the French flag to be carried beyond the frontier.[381]
The unsatisfactory progress of the war necessarily had a damaging effect upon the position of Mendizabal’s Cabinet. Dissensions broke out among his followers, and Christina, who had only accepted him with reluctance, most unwisely decided to dismiss him. She had been prompted to take this disastrous step, Palmerston suspected, by her French advisers.[382] The dissolution of the Cortes, which the change of ministry entailed, was followed by a most suspicious inaction on the part of the Queen’s generals. The Carlists, on the other hand, displayed unwonted activity. Insurgent bands penetrated to within twenty miles of La Granja, where the Queen Regent was in residence. Ramon Cabrera, “the Tiger of the Maestrargo,” who, as a reprisal for the murder of his mother, refused to recognize the Eliot Convention, desolated Aragon, whilst de Lacy Evans, on July 11, 1836, suffered a reverse at Fuentarabia, on which occasion all the British prisoners were shot, in accordance with the Pretender’s decree.[383] Meanwhile, the Progressistas were carrying all before them at the elections, and their victories were followed by grave revolutionary outbreaks. But neither civil disorder nor military disasters could rouse M. Isturiz, the new President of the Council, or his colleagues to action. In the words of Mr. Villiers, “they appeared to consider that calmness in adversity constituted the whole duty of the responsible advisers of the crown.”[384]
The condition of affairs rapidly assumed a most alarming appearance. The Constitution of 1812, was proclaimed in many of the chief towns. At Madrid, Quesada, the Captain-General, disarmed the national guards, and declared the city in a state of siege, whilst at La Granja, the Queen Regent announced her firm intention of resisting the demands of the revolutionists. But, on the evening of August 12, her guards mutinied, and, led by their sergeants, invaded the palace. On two nights in succession, the unfortunate Christina was compelled to receive deputations of non-commissioned officers, many of whom were under the influence of liquor. Circumstanced as she was, with no loyal troops at her disposal, she had no alternative but to yield. After promising to accept the Constitution of 1812, to raise the state of siege, and to re-establish the national guards, she was allowed to depart for the capital. But when the news of these events reached Madrid, the people rose, murdered Quesada, and carried his head in triumph through the streets. Order was, however, gradually restored by Calatrava, the Progressista minister, whom the revolted sergeants had imposed upon Christina.[385]
Some weeks before these events took place M. Thiers had had to abandon all hope of bringing his matrimonial negotiations to a successful conclusion. It was in vain that he had refused to join with England in protesting against the Austrian occupation of the free town of Cracow. It was to no purpose that he had forced the Federal government to expel all political refugees from Switzerland. The Duc d’Orléans’[386] proposal for the hand of an Austrian Archduchess was declined. In order to hide his discomfiture and to punish Metternich, M. Thiers resolved to take up the Spanish affair vigorously. Direct intervention, however, he looked upon as out of the question. Not only would the King oppose it, but it would be very unpopular with the country. Nevertheless, by a process to which he gave the name of “armed co-operation” he proposed to attain the desired result. He prepared, accordingly, largely to reinforce the French legion in Spain, which he intended should be commanded by some well-known general. Louis Philippe reluctantly assented to these initial proceedings, but, when the news arrived of the military revolt at La Granja, he promptly placed his veto upon all measures of that kind. Never, he declared, would he allow assistance to be supplied to the Jacobins in power at Madrid.[387] Thiers and his fellow-ministers, in consequence, resigned.
Under Molé, to whom the King confided the portfolio of Foreign Affairs and the formation of a new Cabinet, France for all practical purposes withdrew from the Quadruple Treaty. The depôts formed by Thiers were broken up and three battalions, which he had raised for the service of Queen Isabella, were sent to Algiers. It would be highly dangerous, Molé informed the British ambassador, to expose French soldiers to the influence of the revolutionary societies in Spain.[388] In vain Lord Palmerston protested that in no way could the spirit of anarchy be combated so effectually as by the expulsion of Don Carlos from the Peninsula.[389] That argument and his contention that the stability of the Orleans monarchy depended upon the triumph of the constitutional cause in Spain were alike unheeded.[390] In order to show their displeasure at the manner in which the French government was thus evading its engagements, Lord Melbourne and his colleagues decided to omit the customary reference to France from the King’s Speech at the opening of Parliament in 1837. But the “no mention” incident, although it caused Louis Philippe the keenest annoyance and created a great sensation in Paris,[391] had no effect upon Molé’s resolution to refuse assistance of any kind to the government at Madrid. The only safe policy for France, the King informed Granville a few months later, was to look upon Spain as infected with the plague and to have as little communication with her as possible.[392]
Although Calatrava, whom the sergeants at La Granja had raised to the head of the Queen Regent’s government, was invariably spoken of by Louis Philippe and Comte Molé as a dangerous revolutionist, he was far from deserving that appellation. Not only was he successful in infusing a certain vigour into the conduct of the war, but he contrived, in addition, to frame a constitution which, in spite of its imperfections, effected a happy compromise between the Jacobinical code of 1812 and the ultra-monarchical Estatuto Real. The year 1836 closed with a brilliant success for the arms of the Queen Regent. Powerfully assisted by the bluejackets and marines of Lord John Hay’s squadron, the Christinos stormed the formidable lines of Luchana and relieved the city of Bilbao. Henceforward the name of Baldomero Espartero, the victorious general, was to figure very prominently in Spanish politics. Nevertheless, during the campaign of the ensuing year, complete success appeared to be within the grasp of the Pretender. Eluding Espartero, who was preparing to attack him in the Basque provinces, Don Carlos, who had been liberally supplied with money by the Tsar and the Kings of the Netherlands[393] and of Sardinia, marched southwards on Madrid. But, when the capital lay at their mercy, his generals were ordered to retrace their footsteps, recross the Ebro and re-enter the northern provinces.
Various reasons have been given for the sudden retreat of the Carlists from before Madrid.[394] The most probable explanation appears to be that Don Carlos had secretly arranged with Christina that, upon the arrival of his army in the vicinity of the capital, the gates were to be thrown open, and that the marriage of his son with Isabella was to be announced and peace proclaimed.[395] It would seem, however, that at the last moment Christina decided that this scheme was impracticable and the Pretender, finding, in consequence, that no movement in his favour was likely to break out in Madrid, gave the order to retreat. The remainder of the year 1837 was spent by the Carlist leaders in fierce quarrels and bitter recriminations. But the condition of the Queen’s armies was still more pitiable. Officers and men were unpaid and wholly without confidence in their generals. Horrible excesses were committed by the mutinous regiments. Generals Escalera and Sarsfield were murdered by their men, and, although Espartero upon his arrival from Madrid, succeeded in restoring some semblance of discipline, he dared not undertake offensive operations with troops so completely demoralized.
The Pretender’s advance upon Madrid proved fatal to the Calatrava Cabinet. That government, which had been created by the action of the sergeants at La Granja, was destroyed by a pronunciamento on the part of the officers of a brigade which had been hurried south, when Don Carlos was threatening the capital.[396] The downfall of the Progressista Cabinet was, doubtless, one of the reasons which led the Queen Regent to break her compact with the Pretender. A transition ministry was formed, whilst Christina cautiously prepared to recall the Moderados. Throughout the country party differences were submerged in the general desire for peace, and the opinion was rapidly gaining ground that, without French assistance, the Pretender could never be expelled. This idea was sedulously encouraged by the Court party, and, as was suspected, by agents of the French government. These conditions at the elections, at the close of the year 1837, produced an overwhelming majority for the Moderados. It was soon evident, however, that the electors had been completely deluded in imagining that the triumph of the Conservative party would be followed by French intervention. The political effacement of the Progressistas had not altered the determination of Louis Philippe and Comte Molé to withhold all assistance from the government of the Queen Regent.[397]
Villiers, the British minister at Madrid, was now convinced that in the dissensions of the Carlists lay the only hope of preserving the crown for Isabella. The animosity was extreme between the Provinciales, whose chief object in supporting the Pretender was to ensure the maintenance of their highly prized Fueros, and the Castillanos, as that section of the party was called which followed the lead of the fanatical Bishop of Léon.[398] In order to widen this breach Villiers instructed Lieutenant Turner, a British officer attached to the division of the Queen’s army at Pampeluna, to open up a secret communication with the discontented Navarrese chiefs. Turner experienced little difficulty in executing his mission, and was soon able to report that the men of Biscay and Navarre would be prepared to discuss terms of peace upon the basis of the recognition of their local rights and privileges. But all the leaders with whom he had conferred had stipulated that any compromise which, might be arrived at, must have the guarantee of Great Britain.[399]
The news of these proceedings was most agreeable to Lord Palmerston, who forthwith drew up precise instructions for the future conduct of the negotiations. Whilst suggesting that on the subject of the Fueros the Queen Regent’s government would be well advised to make concessions, he laid it down distinctly that Great Britain could not guarantee the conditions of peace.[400] A copy of this despatch was sent to Lord Granville in Paris, who was directed to invite the French government to act with England in the affair. In Palmerston’s opinion it was most important to draw France “into an open and avowed mediation for the purpose of reuniting the northern provinces to the rest of the Spanish dominions.”[401] He was convinced that Louis Philippe cherished secret hopes that the civil war might lead to the secession of Biscay and Navarre and their incorporation into France. There can be little doubt that he was entirely mistaken in imagining that either the King of the French or his ministers entertained any views of this kind. It is possible, however, that the separatist movement, which unquestionably existed in Catalonia, may have been encouraged by French agents, with the object of preventing the conclusion of a commercial treaty with England. The threat of the manufacturers of Barcelona that the Catalans would proclaim their independence, should the duty upon English cotton goods be lowered, was one of the chief reasons which deterred the Cabinet of Madrid from accepting Palmerston’s commercial proposals.[402]
Louis Philippe, however, would not hear of allowing the French ambassador to be the organ of any communications with the discontented Carlist chieftains. He had been accused most unfairly, he told Lord Granville, of sympathizing with Don Carlos, and to accede to the British request would expose him to further suspicion.[403] A new French ambassador was at this moment about to proceed to Madrid, who appears to have been admirably adapted for the part which the King desired that his envoy should play at Christina’s Court, whilst the issue of the struggle between constitutionalism and absolutism was so extremely uncertain. “A more inoffensive person,”wrote the British chargé d’affaires about a year later, “than the Duc de Fezensac does not exist. He has no political principles and has never taken the slightest interest in the questions which agitate the country. I have observed that, as a soldier, he would now and then demonstrate some curiosity about the movements of the armies and seem glad when the advantage had been on the side of the Queen’s troops.”[404]
In the meantime Mr. Turner’s secret relations with the Navarrese chiefs had been betrayed. The sudden imprisonment of the disaffected officers and the murder of one of his emissaries compelled him to suspend his proceedings.[405] A counter-insurrection, however, broke out against Don Carlos to the cry of “Peace and the Fueros,” under the leadership of an individual named Muñagorri. From Bayonne, where “the French authorities coldly permitted him to remain,” he endeavoured to foment disaffection in, and to encourage desertion from, the Pretender’s armies.[406] Villiers at one time expected great results from this new development, but, before long, he was forced to realize that Muñagorri, a Basque lawyer, had not the influence required for bringing the enterprise to a successful conclusion.[407]
Never, in the opinion of both Villiers and of Wylde, had the constitutional cause presented so gloomy an appearance as in the closing months of the year 1838. The Queen’s generals had suffered heavy defeats in the open field and Espartero had been compelled to abandon his operations against Morella, Cabrera’s stronghold. Political rather than strategical considerations appear to have dictated the conduct of the campaign. Fearing that Espartero might grow too powerful, the Cabinet was suspected of having deliberately neglected to reinforce him, whilst keeping his rival and enemy, Narvaez, who commanded the army of reserve, liberally supplied with troops.[408] In England no minister would have ventured to propose that any further assistance, either in men or money, should be sent to the Christinos, who had greatly fallen in the public estimation. The commercial classes were indignant that, notwithstanding the help which the Queen’s cause had received, prohibitory duties upon British manufactures should still be maintained. The newspapers were full of the complaints of the soldiers of the legion, who had returned home with their claims upon the Spanish treasury unsatisfied. The policy of encouraging these men to enter Isabella’s services was now universally condemned. The good name of the British army had, it was feared, suffered from their misconduct at the seat of war. The action of the government, in conferring a knighthood of the Bath upon De Lacy Evans, in no way lessened this impression.[409]
But, in the early spring of 1839, the news arrived of strange proceedings in the Pretender’s camp. Maroto, the Carlist commander-in-chief, having discovered the existence of a plot to overthrow him, had caused four general officers to be shot at Estella, on February 18. Don Carlos, who was in secret sympathy with the conspirators, thereupon deprived Maroto of his command and proclaimed him a traitor. That officer, however, knew that he could count upon the devotion of his men, and he, accordingly, boldly marched upon Tolosa, where the wretched Don Carlos was residing, and compelled him both to revoke his decree and to dismiss his Apostolical advisers. But Maroto, although he had on this occasion triumphed so completely, was well aware that at any moment his troops might turn against him, and that his life depended upon a speedy termination of the war. Notwithstanding that Turner’s attempts to incite the Navarrese chieftains to rebellion had failed, and that Muñagorri’s insurrection had practically collapsed, the longing for peace had not diminished among the men of Biscay and Navarre. After the executions at Estella and his coercion of Don Carlos, Maroto had no alternative but to adopt the popular cry of “Paz y Fueros.” Instead of an obscure lawyer, the commander-in-chief of the Pretender’s armies was now at the head of the counter-insurrection against him.[410]
Whilst the Carlist general had thus the strongest possible inducement for coming to terms with the Christinos, other circumstances had arisen which contributed to the undoing of the Pretender. Espartero was now all powerful and in a position to carry on the war, untrammelled by the intrigues of the Court and of the Cabinet.[411] In France Molé had fallen and Soult was once more at the head of the government. The Marshal, in the previous year, had represented Louis Philippe at the coronation of Queen Victoria, and had returned to France delighted with the welcome accorded him in London by all classes of the population.[412] He was, consequently, very well disposed towards England and far more inclined than any of his predecessors to act up to the spirit of the Quadruple Treaty. No sooner was he in power than orders were sent to the French ships, stationed off the north coast of Spain, identical in every respect with those with which the British admiral was furnished. At the same time, the authorities upon the frontier were strictly enjoined both to prevent supplies from reaching the Carlists and to embarrass the movements of the Pretender’s armies by all means in their power.[413]
Maroto’s first definite proposals of peace seem to have been made to Lord John Hay, either on July 27 or 28. It is probable, however, that for some time past he had been in more or less direct communication with Espartero, with whom he had served in South America. The negotiations, once formally begun, continued for the next month. Espartero, however, wisely refused to grant any suspension of hostilities, and, whilst showing himself always ready to listen to reasonable proposals, pushed on his military operations vigorously. The question which proved the most difficult of settlement was that of the Fueros, which the Biscayans and Navarrese stipulated must be maintained in their integrity. The Queen Regent’s government, in accordance with Palmerston’s advice, was only prepared to make such concessions with regard to them, as might be compatible with the representative form of government which Spain had adopted. The recognition of the sovereignty of Isabella, the regency of Christina and the Constitution of 1837 were also insisted upon. Colonel Wylde was present at most of the conferences which took place. He was authorized to explain to any Carlist officers, with whom he might be enabled to converse, that, “although it would not be consistent with the dignity of the Spanish nation that Her Majesty’s government should guarantee any arrangement, they could rely upon the good offices of the British government should, at any time, the government of Madrid depart from its agreements.”[414]
Espartero’s skilful conduct of the negotiations, combined with the personal reasons which made it imperative for Maroto to conclude a peace, triumphed at last over all obstacles. On August 29, a convention was signed at Vergara settling the points in dispute and providing for the capitulation of Maroto’s army. Two days later the 21 battalions specified in the treaty marched into the camp of the Christinos and, having been harangued by Espartero, proceeded to fraternize joyfully with the Queen’s troops.[415] Don Carlos, nevertheless, was still able to command the fidelity of a certain number of his regiments. But Espartero, the moment the capitulation of Maroto’s people had been completed, pressed these remnants of the insurgent army with the utmost vigour. Their resistance was soon overcome, and, on September 15, 1839, Don Carlos with a few thousand followers was driven across the frontier. On reaching French territory they were at once disarmed, the Pretender and the members of his family being conveyed to Bourges, where they were detained under strict supervision. It was not without difficulty that Louis Philippe’s ministers had obtained his consent to that measure of precaution.
Although Don Carlos had abandoned the struggle, Cabrera in the Maestrargo, and the no less bloodthirsty Count of España in Catalonia, still carried on the war with ruthless barbarity. In November, however, España, having incurred the displeasure of the Carlist junta, was removed from his command. His body shortly afterwards was taken out of the river Segre “tied neck and heels.”[416] Without doubt he had been murdered by the escort which was supposed to convey him to a place of confinement. But it was not till the month of July, 1840, that Espartero succeeded in driving Cabrera and his lieutenant, Balmaceda, into France and in breaking up the last of the Carlist bands.
Spain, however, was not destined to enjoy the blessings of internal peace and tranquillity. Christina had never really accepted the principles of constitutional government, and most of the leading Moderados shared her dislike to democratic institutions. With the object, accordingly, of rendering nugatory certain of the Liberal provisions of the constitution the party, during the session of 1840, introduced a bill abolishing the election of municipal officers, and establishing a system under which they were, in the future, to be appointed by the central government. The Spaniards, however, have always been tenacious of their municipal rights and privileges, and the proposed law was, in consequence, greatly disliked by the people. The Queen Regent and her Moderado advisers would have cared little for popular opposition, provided always that they could have obtained the support of one man. “Espartero,” in the words of Mr. Southern, the British chargé d’affaires, “now formed one of the bodies of the State.”[417] The general who had succeeded in terminating the civil war was, for the time being, the idol of the nation.
Espartero, however, was deaf to the blandishments of the Moderados, and publicly declared that he regarded the municipal bill as unconstitutional.[418] Christina, nevertheless, was confident that he would never resist her personal appeal. She had always recognized the importance of winning his gratitude. For his services he had been created Count of Luchana, Duke de la Victoria, and a Spanish grandee of the first class. After his capture of Cabrera’s stronghold, in 1840, she had conferred upon him the additional title of Duke of Morella. When the municipal law was under discussion in the Chamber, she suddenly announced her intention of proceeding to Caldes, near Barcelona, with Isabella, who was alleged to have been ordered sea bathing. But the significance of her journey to the coast lay in the fact that it would enable her to meet, and to confer with, Espartero, who was directing the final operations in Cabrera’s country.[419] Her interview with the all-powerful general took place, in due course, at Lerida, but it disappointed her expectations. Espartero advised her strongly to refuse her assent to the bill, although it had been passed by both Chambers. It was notorious that the Moderado majority had been obtained by means of corruption and intimidation at the elections of the previous year, and that it in no way represented the will of the nation. Christina wavered. At one time she decided to follow the counsels of Espartero, at another she resolved to adhere firmly to her Moderado policy. Meanwhile, the country was growing dangerously excited, and Barcelona was the scene of serious rioting. Christina, in consequence, decided to move the Court to Valencia, where O’Donnell, on whom she could depend, commanded the troops. Upon her arrival, she boldly announced that she purposed to commission Modesto Cortazar, a former minister of Joseph Bonaparte, to form an ultra-Moderado Cabinet. At the news, the country rose, juntas sprang into existence in the principal towns, and a provisional government was established at Madrid.[420]
Villiers was no longer at Madrid. On succeeding to the earldom of Clarendon, he had returned home, where a seat in the Cabinet had been found for him. When he learnt of the critical state of affairs in Spain, Palmerston at once directed Mr. Aston, Clarendon’s successor, to seek out Christina, wherever she might be, and to attempt to convince her of the imprudence of the course upon which she had embarked.[421] But before he could reach Valencia, she had abandoned the struggle, and had sullenly surrendered the direction of affairs to Espartero. She fully intended, she informed Aston at his first audience, to resign the regency, and no words of his could turn her from her resolution.[422] It was not alone the desire to avoid the disagreeable necessity of having to accept a Progressista government which had prompted her to arrive at this decision. Gonzalez Bravo and the Radicals possessed the proof of her marriage to Nuñoz, the guardsman, by whom she had already had several children. In order to retain the regency, and especially the emoluments appertaining to it, she had allowed it to be generally believed that she was the mistress of the handsome and low-born soldier. But now that her secret had been betrayed, her marriage might be adduced at any moment as a reason for declaring her incompetent to hold the post of Regent.[423] Only by a voluntary abdication could she escape from this further humiliation. Accordingly, on October 12, 1840, she signed the act whereby she resigned the regency, and left it to the Cortes to appoint her successor. A few days later she parted from her daughters, and set out for France. On May 18 of the following year, Espartero was duly elected Regent, whilst Argüelles, a veteran Progressista, was nominated guardian of Queen Isabella.
Christina’s abdication passed almost unnoticed outside Spain. The quarrel between the Sultan and the Pasha had broken out afresh, and England and France were upon the verge of war.
CHAPTER VII
SULTAN AND PASHA
It will be remembered that, in the autumn of 1833, both France and Great Britain ineffectually protested against the treaty of Unkiar-Skelessi. But so long as Russia and Austria were closely united, neither Palmerston nor Broglie were prepared to enforce their demands by actual measures of hostility. Both, however, were resolved vigilantly to watch the course of events at Constantinople, and to interpose should the Russian fleet return to the Bosphorus. Being thus anxious to avoid a collision with Russia, it became their policy to prevent a fresh outbreak of hostilities between the Sultan and Mehemet Ali, in order that the Tsar should be furnished with no excuse for intervention. It was soon apparent, however, that the preservation of peace between Mahmud and his powerful vassal would prove a difficult matter. Already, in the summer of 1834, only a little more than a year after the conclusion of the Convention of Kiutayeh, there was once more grave danger of an armed conflict between the Sultan and the Pasha of Egypt.
In 1832, the Syrians had welcomed Ibrahim as their deliverer from Turkish misrule. But no sooner had they become the subjects of the Pasha, than their disenchantment began. The introduction of the conscription into Syria was fiercely resented. In the spring of 1834, the whole country was in a state of rebellion, and it required sixteen months of arduous operations, attended with much bloodshed, before Ibrahim could disarm the tribes, and restore the authority of his father over the revolted districts.[424] But in the eyes of the Sultan, the insurrection was an opportunity for attacking Ibrahim under favourable conditions, and for wiping out the humiliations of the former campaign. Accordingly, he prepared to renew the struggle, and it was only in deference to the protests of the Powers that he refrained from carrying out his intention.[425] At the same time the consuls at Alexandria insisted that Mehemet Ali must strictly comply with the conditions of the Convention of Kiutayeh, and afford Mahmud no pretext for beginning hostilities. Nevertheless, on September 4, 1834, the Pasha officially informed the agents of the Powers that he was resolved to proclaim his complete independence.[426] He soon, however, perceived the necessity of postponing the execution of this design, in face of the unanimous declaration of the different Cabinets that he must abandon “a project which the policy of Europe could not allow him to realize.”[427]
But, although the five Powers thus combined to check the ambitious schemes of Mehemet Ali, the suspicion with which the policy of Russia towards Turkey was regarded by France and England was in no way diminished. So strained were the relations of Great Britain and Russia, at the beginning of 1834, that Nicholas, notwithstanding his inveterate dislike of Louis Philippe, allowed Nesselrode to make certain discreet advances towards France. These half-hearted overtures, however, led to no results. Although Broglie indulged in less provocative language than the British minister, and deprecated the idea of another naval demonstration in Levantine waters, he was in complete agreement with Palmerston in the eastern question.[428] A personal dispute served to increase the tension which existed between the Imperial Cabinet and the English government. Notwithstanding Prince Lieven’s intimation that the Tsar would greatly dislike the appointment,[429] Palmerston had allowed Sir Stratford Canning to be gazetted as ambassador to the Russian Court. Nesselrode, thereupon, informed Mr. Bligh, the British chargé d’affaires, that Sir Stratford would not be received. His “suspicious, overbearing and irritable disposition” appears to have been the reason assigned for the objections which were made to his appointment. Palmerston, however, absolutely refused to send any one else in his place. “The whole thing,” he believed or affected to believe, “was a mere remnant of the Apostolical and Holy Alliance abomination of the name of Canning.”[430] But Nesselrode was equally unyielding and no British ambassador was, in consequence, accredited to the Russian Court. Matters continued upon this footing until Nicholas, in the spring of 1834, decided to recall Prince Lieven from London and merely to appoint a chargé d’affaires to replace him. The departure of the Lievens created a great sensation, and was by many people regarded as a prelude to a complete rupture between Russia and Great Britain. The ambassador was a commonplace person, but his wife[431] was a conspicuous figure in the fashionable and political world. Besides being well acquainted with most of the prominent diplomatists in Europe, she had, during her long stay in England, enjoyed the confidence of Grey, Aberdeen and other statesmen. It may be imagined how bitterly she deplored the necessity of exchanging a life, replete with political interest in London, for an existence at the Court of St. Petersburg, bereft of all the excitement in which she delighted. It was to her influence, she considered, that Palmerston owed his appointment as Foreign Secretary, and she never forgave him for his share in the events which led up to her husband’s recall.[432]
Whilst the Duke of Wellington was at the Foreign Office, during Sir Robert Peel’s “Hundred Days,”Anglo-Russian relations perceptibly improved. The Duke’s views upon the question of the Dardanelles differed from those which Broglie and Palmerston had hitherto entertained. In his opinion England and France should endeavour to effect the closure of the straits to the warships of all nations. The evil arising from the passage of Russian ships from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean would not, he maintained, be diminished by the opening of the Dardanelles to the fleets of the Powers. Accordingly, he cancelled Palmerston’s secret instructions of March 10, 1834,[433] authorizing Ponsonby, should the Porte ask for assistance against Russia, to call upon the Mediterranean squadron to enter the Dardanelles. Moreover, apart from this particular question, it was not fitting, in the eyes of the Duke, that “the King’s ambassador should have the power of placing the country in a state of war with another Power.”[434] Wellington also proposed to restore the diplomatic relations of the two countries to their normal condition by the despatch of an ambassador to St. Petersburg. But his selection of Lord Londonderry for this post was disapproved of by the House of Commons. Londonderry was an ultra-Tory who was supposed to have used unsympathetic language about the Polish insurrection, and, had he not voluntarily declined the mission, the government would certainly have suffered a defeat upon the question of his appointment.[435]
Palmerston, upon his return to the Foreign Office in the spring of 1835, was struck by the soundness of the Duke’s opinion upon the subject of the Dardanelles.[436] Ponsonby was, in consequence, given no further authority over the movements of the Mediterranean squadron. No man at this time was more absolutely persuaded of the Machiavellian character of Russian policy than Lord Ponsonby. Neither words nor deeds could shake his opinion upon that point. Although the Russian envoy at Constantinople had co-operated with his colleagues in preventing a renewal of the struggle between the Sultan and the Pasha, the British ambassador was none the less convinced that Nicholas was secretly scheming to create a pretext for intervention. Again, when M. de Boutenieff assisted him in obtaining redress for the ill-treatment of a British subject at the hands of the Turkish police, he explained his conduct by suggesting that “the Russian minister was perhaps taken by surprise, and that those honourable feelings, which are natural to him, operated upon him.”[437] Nor would he allow that the Cabinet of St. Petersburg was actuated either by disinterested or generous motives when, in 1836, it consented to remit some of the indemnity due from Turkey and to evacuate Silistria. That fortress, he declared, was of no value to Russia, and, by relinquishing it, she “would obtain the advantage of making the world believe in her moderation.”[438] Being thus convinced that the Tsar and his advisers entertained the most sinister designs against the integrity of the Ottoman Empire, he concluded that a secret understanding must exist between Russia and Mehemet Ali, the powerful and disaffected vassal of the Sultan.
The effect of Lord Ponsonby’s alarmist despatches was to some extent counteracted by the more statesmanlike reports of Lord Durham, his nephew by marriage. The Duke of Wellington’s intention to send an ambassador of St. Petersburg had enabled the Whigs, upon their return to power, to despatch Lord Durham in that capacity to the Russian capital. Durham, during the two years he was in Russia, travelled through the southern provinces and made an exhaustive study of the resources of the country. The result of his observations and enquiries convinced him that Russia’s power for offensive war had been greatly exaggerated. Furthermore, he was persuaded that the Tsar Nicholas and almost all intelligent Russians were sincerely desirous of establishing a good understanding with England, and had altogether abandoned the idea of acquiring Constantinople. In short, he saw no reason why “a rival and an enemy should not be converted into a friend and an ally.”[439]
Meanwhile, Palmerston and Broglie had been quietly endeavouring to induce Austria to join with France and Great Britain in guaranteeing the integrity of Turkey. But Metternich, having contracted the secret agreement with Russia[440] for the maintenance of the Ottoman Empire, was not disposed to incur the Tsar’s displeasure by entering into a second compact. Broglie, finding that his advances met with no response, suggested that France and England should separately conclude a treaty for the object which both their governments had at heart and invite Austria to adhere to it. Palmerston[441] acquiesced in this plan, but was unable to obtain the assent of his colleagues to its execution. Before any further discussion of the subject could take place Broglie fell, and the Presidency of the Council and the direction of Foreign Affairs passed into the hands of M. Thiers. The new minister professed to be as anxious as his predecessor to preserve the integrity of the Ottoman Empire, but it was apparent, at once, that his first political object, to which all other questions of European diplomacy would for the present be subordinated, was the negotiation of a marriage between the Duc d’Orléans and an Austrian Archduchess.[442]
With the downfall of the Duc de Broglie the harmony, which had hitherto characterized French and British relations, began to diminish. Both Whigs and Tories had scrupulously abstained from raising the delicate question of the French occupation of Algiers.[443] Broglie and the Doctrinaires were opposed to the permanent retention of the colony, and a considerable section of the Chamber looked upon it as a useless and expensive encumbrance. M. Thiers, however, thought otherwise. He was in favour of “nationalizing the Arabs”—an expression which Mr. Aston[444] interpreted to mean that he was contemplating their extermination. No sooner was he in office than he began to prepare an expedition against the Bey of Constantine, with whom the French authorities had a long-standing dispute. At the same time, whilst protesting that he had no thought of extending French domination over either Tunis or Tripoli, he refused to recognize the sovereignty of the Sultan over those regencies. To support this policy he sent Admiral Hugon to Tunis to oppose, by force if necessary, the entry of the Ottoman squadron into the bay. “I really believe,”privately wrote the British chargé d’affaires to Lord Palmerston, “that in order to gain popularity he wishes for a war with Turkey, provided he could make it appear that it was undertaken to protect French interests.”[445]
Whilst M. Thiers thus set himself to consolidate the French rule over Algeria a secret negotiation was initiated, at Constantinople and at Cairo, for the purpose of establishing, under the guarantee of the French government, the relations of the Sultan and the Pasha of Egypt upon a more secure foundation. Campbell appears to have received the first intelligence of what was taking place from his Austrian colleague. The news caused him to pay a visit to M. Ferdinand de Lesseps,[446] who, in the absence of M. Mimaut, was acting as French consul-general. Lesseps was in a great state of indignation, and in his wrath was inclined to be communicative. M. Thiers, he confided to Campbell, before he left Paris, had told him that an important negotiation was in progress, but that he would not discuss it with him as, upon his arrival at Alexandria, he could learn all about it from a perusal of the documents at the consulate. Mimaut, however, had carefully removed every paper relating to the affair, and he was, in consequence, in complete ignorance of all that had passed. He had endeavoured, he added ingenuously, to make Boghos Bey believe that he was acquainted with the transaction, but the astute secretary of the Pasha had discovered the true state of the case and had promptly changed the conversation.[447]
Soon after Campbell’s interview with Lesseps, on December 11, 1836, Sarim Effendi, who was described by Mehemet Ali as a confidential agent of the Sultan, arrived at Alexandria. Ostensibly his mission was concerned with questions of arrears of tribute. In reality, however, he appears to have been empowered to propose some repartition of territory. The statements upon the subject which Campbell succeeded in extracting from Mehemet Ali were conflicting. At one time he told the British consul that the Sultan was willing to invest him with the hereditary government of Egypt and the Pashalic of Acre, whilst, on another occasion, he asserted that the hereditary tenure of all the territories which he actually occupied had been offered to him, on condition that he would undertake to reduce his army.[448] In Paris Lord Granville was unable to obtain any information about this affair. In answer to his enquiries he was told that Roussin had, “with the object of saving the dignity of the Sultan, held out to the Pasha the prospect of obtaining for his son the reversion of his Syrian possessions, in return for the abandonment of the other territories which he occupied.” But he was assured that the admiral had acted without instructions from his government, which had, on the contrary, “discountenanced his proceedings.”[449]
If Mahmud really empowered Sarim Effendi to make substantial concessions to the Pasha, such conduct on his part is altogether inconsistent with the sentiments of implacable hostility which he had constantly entertained towards his powerful vassal. In the spring of 1836 he had shown a strong disposition to renew the struggle, and had sent a secret agent to London to solicit help. His appeal was rejected, but Palmerston intimated that the British government was constrained to urge him to keep the peace from fear that his military resources would be unequal to the contest, rather than from any desire to see the status quo in Syria maintained.[450] Finding that no assistance would be forthcoming from England, Mahmud may have listened to the advice of the French government to make further concessions to Mehemet Ali, in order to put an end to the armed peace which was draining his depleted treasury. But the conditions, whatever they may have been, which were proposed to the Pasha were not accepted. Nevertheless, the negotiation, although it led to no direct results, had an important influence upon the march of events. It disclosed to Mehemet Ali that France and England were pursuing different objects in the East, and gave him grounds for hoping that he need no longer fear a combination of the two naval Powers against him.
But, although the Sultan may have been disappointed and annoyed at the refusal of Great Britain to assist him actively, he could derive comfort from the knowledge that the power of Mehemet Ali was regarded with misgivings in England. Ponsonby’s influence at the Porte grew in proportion as it became more and more evident that his government disapproved of the Egyptian occupation of Syria, and was prepared to uphold the sovereignty of Turkey over Tunis and to resist French encroachments. On the other hand, the Russian ambassador, who declared unceasingly that under no circumstances must the status quo, as established by the Convention of Kiutayeh, be disturbed, found his authority diminish. Early in 1836, shortly before the arrival in England of the Sultan’s secret agent, Palmerston had despatched General Chrzanowski, an able and experienced Polish officer, to Asia Minor. He had served in the Turkish campaign of 1828-1829, and was, Palmerston considered,[451] “just the sort of man to be of the greatest use to Reshid Pasha.”[452] But as the Russians, by whom he was looked upon as a deserter, would greatly resent his employment, he was instructed to avoid Constantinople, and to proceed direct to Smyrna. He would never appear to have been given a command or to have been employed officially by the Sultan, who probably scarcely ventured to defy his powerful neighbour so openly. He was allowed, however, to travel about Asia Minor, and to study the strategical situation. He was thus enabled to furnish Palmerston with excellent military advice, in return for the salary which Lord Ponsonby was instructed to pay him, from the moment of his arrival in the East.[453] Several Prussian officers, among them a certain Major von Moltke, destined to become very famous, were at this time serving with the Turkish army, to the re-organization of which, in preparation for the coming struggle, Palmerston unceasingly urged the Sultan to devote his whole attention.
Whilst instructing Ponsonby to impress upon the Turkish ministers the necessity of increasing the efficiency of the army, Palmerston was intent on creating embarrassments for Mehemet Ali. The economic system, which he had established in Egypt, and which he was imposing upon Syria, presented an excellent field for hostile criticism. By often very equivocal methods the Pasha had gradually expropriated the former freeholders, and had converted them into his own tenants. He would then buy at a fixed rate their produce, and thus, before long, the sale of almost all articles of prime necessity became a monopoly of the State. At first his system appeared to work well, but, when he began to pile up his armaments, he met the increased expenditure which they entailed by reducing the price, which he had hitherto paid to the unfortunate occupiers of the soil. In order to compensate themselves these people were necessarily compelled to raise the price of all articles which the government did not take from them. In 1838 Colonel Campbell computed that, as the result of the Pasha’s administration, articles of ordinary consumption in Egypt were from six to ten times dearer than they had been under the rule of the Mamelukes. Moreover, Mehemet Ali, ever since the year 1816, had been busily endeavouring to convert Egypt into a manufacturing country. With this object he had imported at great expense skilled workmen and machinery from France and England. The native labour required was obtained in the same manner as the army was recruited. Men, women and children were impressed and compelled to work in the factories. But by their unskilfulness they injured the machinery, nor did the articles which they turned out pay the cost of manufacture. The result of this experiment was that some 30,000 peasants, who might with advantage have been engaged in agriculture, were forced to labour unprofitably in the factories of the government. The Pasha, however, was too ignorant of the most elementary principles of political economy to understand the folly of these proceedings, in which he was encouraged to persevere by the foreign merchants, who sold him machinery or who bought his cotton and his indigo upon very advantageous terms.[454]
The British government had always been desirous to put an end to the old system of capitulations,[455] and to negotiate a new commercial treaty with the Porte. But as many influential persons in Turkey were interested in the preservation of existing abuses, the proposals of successive ambassadors had constantly been eluded. At the beginning of 1838, however, Palmerston directed Ponsonby to bring the matter forward again, and to lay great stress upon the prejudicial effect which the abolition of monopolies throughout the Ottoman Empire would not fail to have upon the personal position of Mehemet Ali.[456] This argument attained the desired result. Mahmud quickly resolved that no vested interests should be allowed to interfere with a commercial arrangement, which must either seriously embarrass Mehemet Ali or, should he refuse to adhere to it, bring him into conflict with Great Britain. The Sultan’s consent having been obtained, Ponsonby entrusted to Henry Bulwer the negotiation which was brought to a satisfactory conclusion on August 19, 1838.[457]
In the meantime, it had not escaped the vigilance of the Indian government that the protracted resistance of the Wahabites was weakening, and that Mehemet Ali was upon the point of making himself master of the whole of Arabia. The importance of Aden as an intermediate coaling station between Bombay and Suez had been realized, and it happened, most opportunely, that a quarrel[458] between the ruler of that port and the East India Company enabled the Governor-General to take action at the very moment when the absorption of the Yemen by the Pasha was imminent.[459] The management of the affair was confided to Captain Haines of the Bombay navy, who, early in 1838, was able to inform Ibrahim that the Sultan of Aden had ceded the port to the East India Company “par simple motif d’amitié et de son cosentement.”[460] Nevertheless, the expedition sent from India to take possession of the place encountered, on January 16, 1839, a fierce resistance which was only overcome after a sharp engagement. Palmerston, upon receipt of the news of its cession, at once directed Campbell to warn Mehemet Ali that any movement of his troops against Aden would be treated as an attack upon a British possession. The Pasha, although unable wholly to conceal his chagrin, accepted the situation with a good grace.[461]
Ever since the beginning of the year 1838, great military preparations had been in progress both in Egypt and Syria. The consuls, had in consequence, been instructed to inquire of Mehemet Ali the reason of his armaments. It was whilst they were engaged in warning him that any aggression upon the Sultan would bring down upon him the vengeance of the Powers that the news arrived of the submission of Nejd, the great central district of Arabia, extending from Medina and Mecca to the Persian Gulf.[462] It was impossible to calculate what might result from the enhanced prestige which he had thus acquired in the eyes of the faithful. The immediate effect was seen, a few days later, when he sent for the consuls and announced to each of them separately his unalterable resolution to proclaim his independence. “The interests of his family,” he declared to Campbell, “imperiously called upon him to fix their future state, and it was les larmes aux yeux et le coeur serré that he had taken his present resolution.” Nevertheless, he would wait a reasonable time in the full persuasion that the British government would take such steps as would permit of an amicable and satisfactory settlement.[463]
The Cabinets of the Powers were not greatly disturbed by the Pasha’s threats. Palmerston alone showed any anxiety to arrange the military measures which might be put into force against Mehemet Ali, should he proceed to carry out his declared intentions.[464] But it was soon evident that the Pasha had no desire to bring on a crisis. Although he continued to impress upon the consuls that he was fully as determined as ever to obtain for his children the succession of the countries which he governed, he at the same time announced his intention of proceeding to Upper Egypt to inspect his gold mines. Furthermore, he duly transmitted his yearly tribute to the Sultan. Nevertheless, his military preparations were not relaxed and reinforcements were continuously despatched to Ibrahim in Syria. It was clear that he had no intention of affording the Powers a pretext for taking active measures against him, but hoped, by keeping them and the Porte in a constant state of apprehension, to weary them into conceding him some of his demands.[465] In pursuance of this astute policy he accepted the British commercial treaty with the utmost unconcern. He was confident, he assured Campbell, that he could derive a larger revenue from duties on exports and imports than he had ever obtained under his system of monopolies.[466] M. Molé, on the other hand, testified his surprise and annoyance at the success which had attended Lord Ponsonby’s negotiations. He was greatly afraid, he told Granville, that Mehemet Ali would now be provoked into an immediate declaration of independence. But, upon learning that the Pasha had announced his intention of adhering to the terms of the British treaty, he promptly instructed Roussin to conclude, on behalf of France, a similar arrangement with the Porte.[467]
Whilst the aims and ambitions of Mehemet Ali were once more attracting the attention of the Powers, Anglo-Russian relations again assumed a threatening aspect. Both the British and Indian governments had, for some time past, been disturbed by the ascendency which Russia was acquiring over the Court of Teheran, and by the intrigues of her agents in Afghanistan. Encouraged by Count Simonitch, the Russian envoy, the Shah, who entertained pretensions to the sovereignty of Afghanistan, at the close of the year 1837, marched against Herat. Before the siege had been long in progress both the British and Russian ministers arrived upon the scene—the one to endeavour to bring about a cessation of hostilities, and the other to direct the operations of the Persian army. Whilst Macneil and Simonitch thus strove for supremacy in the camp of Mohammad, Eldred Pottinger, a subaltern of the Indian army, who had reached Herat disguised as a horse-dealer, stimulated by his example the courage of the garrison. At the same time Captain Witkewitch, a secret agent of Count Simonitch, arrived at Cabul, for the purpose of drawing Dost Mohammad into the Russo-Persian alliance and of counteracting the influence of Alexander Burnes, who, like his Russian rival, was in Afghanistan upon a mission which was described as commercial. The idea of a Russian agent established at Cabul, free to intrigue with Ranjit Singh, the Maharajah of Lahore, and supported by the whole weight of Mohammedan Persia, seriously alarmed Lord Auckland, the Governor-General.[468] To combat this danger he conceived the fatal plan of sending an Anglo-Indian army into Afghanistan to overthrow the Barakzai dynasty, and to set up in the place of Dost Mohammad an exiled Sadozai prince, a pensioner of the Indian government.