Sixty Years a Queen Part 30

[Sidenote: The Russo-Turkish War.]

Meanwhile, the Eastern Question had burst out again. Insurrections in the Turkish provinces of Bulgaria, Servia, and Montenegro had been suppressed by the Porte with that ferocity so characteristic of Turkish misrule; Russia had begun moving troops towards the Danube, and a large section of the English public avowed sympathy with her, or with any other Power that would put an end to the sickening brutalities in Bulgaria. Mr. Gladstone threw Homer and theology to the winds, and the country rang with his denunciations of "the unspeakable Turk." Those who accuse Disraeli of undue solicitude for popularity should study the course he steered in the storm that was raging round him. But before it came to its height, he had spoken his last words in the House of Commons. On August 11, 1876, Mr. Evelyn Ashley charged the Government with negligence and the British Amba.s.sador at Constantinople with mischievous and dilatory tactics, in their dealings with the Porte and their toleration of ma.s.sacres. Disraeli replied in one of the most effective speeches he ever delivered, concluding with the words: "What our duty is at this critical moment is to maintain the Empire of England. Nor will we ever agree to any step, though it may obtain for a moment comparative quiet and a false prosperity, that hazards the existence of that Empire." Next morning the Prime Minister's place on the Treasury Bench was filled by Sir Stafford Northcote; a well-kept secret was revealed; Mr. Disraeli, on whose health the stress of forty years of active Parliamentary life had told with serious effect, had accepted a peerage, and gone to the House of Lords as Earl of Beaconsfield. Not, however, to escape responsibility. Throughout that autumn and winter the Government was vehemently denounced in the country for their toleration of Turkish misdeeds, but Lord Beaconsfield remained firm in his resolution to refrain from embarra.s.sing the Porte or countenancing the designs of Russia. Before Parliament met, cooler counsels had begun to prevail, and when the Czar declared war against the Sultan, on April 24, the Bulgarian atrocities faded out of sight, and British sympathy flowed out towards the weaker combatant. The gallantry of Osman Pasha's troops, his double victory over the Russians at Plevna in July, and the heroic defence of the s.h.i.+pka Pa.s.s, brought our old Crimean allies into high favour; but it was when the tide of victory had turned, when the Turkish armies had been crushed under the resistless preponderance of the Northern Power, when Russia was at the gates of Constantinople, and the Porte forced to accept an armistice, sent a Circular Note to the Great Powers, and a special appeal to Great Britain, praying for help in her extremity, that the policy of Beaconsfield was brought to the test.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Val. C. Prinsep, R.A._} {_From the Royal Collection.

Reproduced from Photographs by Mr. Hollyer, by permission of the Artist._

THE IMPERIAL DURBAR AT DELHI, January 1, 1877: PROCLAMATION OF HER MAJESTY AS EMPRESS OF INDIA.

The Viceroy (Lord Lytton) is seated on the dais, with Lady and the Hon.

Miss Lytton behind him, and surrounded by his Secretaries and Aides-de-Camp. Major Burns, Chief Herald, stands on the steps, and a group of heralds occupies the centre. In the circle, amongst the native Princes, sit Sir R. H. Davies (Lieut-Governor of the Punjab, immediately to the left of the Chief Herald, and Sir R. Temple, Lieut-Governor of Bengal), and the Duke of Buckingham (Governor of Madras) to his right.

The two native Princesses are the Begum of Bhopal and the Rana of Dholepore; of the latter only the head is seen, on the extreme right.]

[Sidenote: Secession of Lord Carnarvon and Lord Derby.]

Parliament was summoned hastily on January 17, 1878, and Northcote gave notice that a Vote of Credit for 6,000,000 would be moved for immediately, for the Cabinet had decided to defend the Sultan's capital against the Czar. The British fleet was ordered, on January 15, to enter the Dardanelles, a step which caused the instant resignation by Lord Carnarvon of his seat in the Cabinet, followed a couple of months later, by that of a far more important Minister--the Foreign Secretary. To send wars.h.i.+ps into the Dardanelles would have been an empty menace unless it had been supported by corresponding preparation of land forces, but calling out the Army Reserve, the occupation of Cyprus by a British force, and the dispatch of 7,000 Indian troops to the Mediterranean, proved too much for the nerves of Lord Derby; he resigned his office, and two years later severed his connection with the Conservative party and accepted office in Mr. Gladstone's Second Administration.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Sir J. Tenniel._

[_From "Punch."_

THE PAS-DE-DEUX,

From the Scene de Triumph in the Grand Anglo Turkish Ballet d'Action, executed by the Earl of Beaconsfield and the Marquis of Salisbury.]

The resolute att.i.tude of the Queen's Government found an echo in the country, and the chorus of a popular music hall ditty supplied a nickname, the exact equivalent of the French term _chauviniste_.

Everybody at this day understands what is meant by the "Jingo party" or the "Jingo policy," though perhaps the origin of the phrase may come to be forgotten. It is found in the lines shouted by enthusiastic audiences in the early months of 1878:

"We don't want to fight, but, by Jingo! if we do, We've got the s.h.i.+ps, we've got the men, we've got the money too."

[Sidenote: The Berlin Congress and Treaty.]

It was the policy of England in a nutsh.e.l.l, and it had its effect abroad. The Russians had suffered heavily in the war: they were in no spirit to renew it with a powerful, wealthy, and fresh enemy. They agreed not to occupy Gallipoli, provided the English fleet withdrew from the Sea of Marmora. Both nations were disposed to accept Prince Bismarck's proffered mediation, and it was agreed to submit the Treaty of San Stefano to a Congress of the Powers at Berlin. This famous Congress, at which Great Britain was represented by her Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary--Lord Beaconsfield and Lord Salisbury--effected a re-arrangement of the Danubian provinces, a rectification of the frontier of Greece, the cession to Russia of Batoum and Kars, with that part of Bessarabia which had been taken from her by the Treaty of Paris, and the occupation by Great Britain of the island of Cyprus, coupled with an obligation to defend Turkey in the possession of her Asiatic dominions. If it was not a settlement containing the elements of durability, nor conveying much direct advantage to Great Britain, at least it prohibited that which Great Britain was determined not to allow--the handing over to Russia of the key of the Mediterranean, the highway to India--and Beaconsfield was ent.i.tled to claim, as he did on his return before a rapturous crowd in Downing Street, that Her Majesty's Plenipotentiaries had succeeded in securing "Peace with Honour."

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Sir J. E. Millais, Bart., P.R.A._} {_By permission of the Garrick Club._

SIR HENRY IRVING.

Henry Irving was born at Keinton, near Glas...o...b..ry, in 1838. He made his first appearance on the stage at Sunderland in 1856. His connection with the Lyceum dates from 1866, and his management of that theatre from December 1878. He was knighted in 1895.]

[Sidenote: Ma.s.sacre at Cabul.]

But terrible news arrived before the close of the year. History--the disastrous history of 1841--repeated itself with extraordinary exactness. Sir Louis Cavagnari had been sent as envoy to Cabul early in 1878 to watch and, if possible, counteract the effect of the persistent advance of Russia towards the frontier of British India. He was lodged with a small escort, in comfortable, but defenceless, quarters in the Bala Hissar or citadel of Cabul. The Amir Yakoob soon began to show impatience at the presence of the British in his capital. He was in difficulties also with his own troops, who were clamorous for arrears of pay. On September 3 a riotous mob collected in front of the British Emba.s.sy; blows were struck and shots fired, and soon Cavagnari and his household were closely besieged. He had with him a secretary, a surgeon, and Lieutenant Hamilton, commanding the escort of twenty-six troopers and fifty men of the corps of Guides. These made a brave defence, but at last the buildings were set on fire, and the envoy and every soul with him perished in the flames. The Amir represented to the Viceroy that this was the result of a mutiny against his own authority, and this seems to have been the case; he was powerless to prevent what perhaps he did not greatly deplore. Not the less necessary was it to exact punishment for the ma.s.sacre. General Stewart, who had just evacuated Candahar under provisions of the recent treaty, re-occupied it; General Baker advanced by the Shutar Gardan and seized Kus.h.i.+. On October 6 General Roberts (now Lord Roberts), acting in concert with General Baker, defeated a large force of Ghilzais, with artillery, on the heights of Chardeh, and then fought his way to Cabul, which he entered on the 12th.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _W. Parrott._} {_From a Lithograph._

WATERLOO BRIDGE AND THE NORTHERN BANK OF THE THAMES IN 1840.

This bank is now occupied by the Victoria Embankment and Charing Cross Station.]

All this time Yakoob Khan had been making friendly professions, and remained with the British field force during its operations. But there was reason to suspect his complicity in the ma.s.sacre; he tendered his abdication to General Roberts, and was sent as a State prisoner to India. Then followed painful scenes in Cabul, the a.s.sa.s.sins of Cavagnari's party being hunted out and many of them publicly hanged. The townspeople remained sullen: the Afghan warriors left Cabul and collected at Ghazni, where an aged Mollah was preaching a holy war. By the beginning of December the whole country was under arms, burning to reenact the scenes of 1842. But they had a different man from General Elphinstone to deal with in General Roberts. He continued to receive reinforcements from India, and made such good use of them that, after much hard fighting, the insurgent tribes under Mohamed Jan were completely dispersed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _From a Photograph_} {_By F. Frith & Co., Reigate._

THE ROYAL COURTS OF JUSTICE,

Begun in 1868 and opened in 1882 by Her Majesty, were designed by G. E.

Street, R.A. The cost of the buildings was about 700,000, and of the land upon which they stand 1,453,000. The Clock-tower and the "Griffin"

in the middle of the road mark the site of Temple Bar.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _From an Engraving._}

TEMPLE BAR IN 1837.

This, the western gate of the City of London, was built by Sir Christopher Wren in 1670. Above it, on iron spikes, used to be displayed the heads and limbs of executed traitors. Up to 1851 it was the custom to close the gates when the Sovereign was to enter the City in State, until a herald had knocked upon them with his baton, when the procession, after some parley, was admitted. The Bar was removed in 1878.]

But there were many claimants to the throne of the Amir. Among these was Abdurrahman, who lived in Turkestan, subsidised and protected by Russia.

This prince appeared in Northern Afghanistan in March 1880, and a formidable rising took place in support of his claim. On April 19 General Stewart encountered a force, about 15,000 strong, at Ahmed Kel, and a fierce encounter took place. For some time it seemed as if the furious onslaught of the Afghans must prevail; the British infantry were driven back; it was only by means of his artillery that Stewart saved the day and the enemy was routed in the end.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Lawrence, Dublin._

SACKVILLE STREET, DUBLIN, IN 1897.

In the foreground is the statue, by Foley, of Daniel O'Connell; beyond the bridge is the monument of Sir John Gray, and, seen just behind it, the General Post Office. In the distance is the Nelson Column.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Valentine & Sons, Dundee._

PRINCES STREET, EDINBURGH, IN 1897.

The Scott Monument was erected in 1840-1844 from designs by George Kemp; the statue is by Steele. Between it and the Castle are seen the Royal Inst.i.tution (built in 1836) and the National Gallery (1850-1858).]

[Sidenote: The Zulu War.]

[Sidenote: Disaster of Isandhlana.]

In this position affairs in Afghanistan must be left, in order to trace the momentous course of events at home, which wrought a remarkable change on the character and object of the war. But before reverting to the fortunes of the Beaconsfield Ministry, it is necessary to make mention of another and more lamentable war which took place in another quarter of the globe simultaneously with the Afghan Campaign. The River Tugela formed the boundary between the British Colony of Natal and the territory of the Zulus, the most powerful nationality in South Africa.

Land disputes between the Zulus and the Dutch Boers of the Transvaal Republic had been brewing for many years, and at last hostilities broke out between them. The Boers were badly beaten by a young Zulu chief called Sikukuni, and both sides appealed to the British Government to intervene. Sir Theophilus Shepstone was sent into the Transvaal to adjudicate between them, and sought to solve the problem by annexing the whole territory, not without the consent of the Republican leaders, the disputed land being handed over to the Zulus. This settlement might have proved effective but for the outrageous behaviour of Cetchwayo, King of the Zulus, who suddenly developed a most violent temper, probably arising from a growing taste for British rum. Even then, had matters been left in the hands of Sir Henry Bulwer, the Governor of Natal, matters might have been maintained on a friendly footing. Unfortunately, Sir Bartle Frere, the Queen's High Commissioner in South Africa, saw grounds for apprehension in the immense force maintained by Cetchwayo on the frontier, and began moving troops from Cape Colony into Natal. He endeavoured to exact guarantees from the Zulu king of an extremely onerous nature, fixing January 11, 1879, as the limit for their acceptance. Sir Bartle Frere's action can only be justified by the supposition that war was, sooner or later, inevitable, a belief which neither Sir Henry Bulwer nor the Colonial Office entertained. Cetchwayo allowed the prescribed day to pa.s.s without complying with the High Commissioner's demands. On the very next day British troops under Lord Chelmsford invaded Zululand, the force advancing in three columns, under Colonel Glyn, Colonel Pearson, and Colonel Durnford. Colonel Durnford's column occupied a camp at Isandhlana on January 21; and the following day, being attacked by about 20,000 Zulus, were almost annihilated. The 1st Battalion of the 24th Foot was destroyed, thirty officers and 500 men being slain. Colonel Durnford and Colonel Pulleine were killed, and immense quant.i.ties of stores fell into the hands of the enemy. It was a terrible retribution for having underrated the resources and numbers of the enemy and for imperfectly reconnoitring his position. A similar disaster very nearly befell Colonel Pearson's column. On the day after the tragedy at Isandhlana he was beleaguered at the mission station of Ekowe. For more than two months his little garrison of 1,200 held out against incessant a.s.saults by immense numbers of Zulus, till, in the last days of March, provisions had run dangerously low. On April 1 Lord Chelmsford, having received reinforcements from England, advanced with 4,000 British troops and 2,000 friendly natives, defeated the besiegers, and raised the siege.

The invasion of Zululand had now a.s.sumed the proportions of a great campaign. About 20,000 British and 4,500 Colonial troops were in the field. The Government, dissatisfied with Lord Chelmsford's initial want of success and subsequent hesitation, sent out Sir Garnet Wolseley to supersede him. But before he arrived a decisive victory had been fought on July 4, whereby the power of the Zulus was hopelessly broken. Lord Chelmsford's reputation, endangered at Isandhlana, was redeemed at Ulundi, just as Lord Gough's disaster at Chilianwalla had been repaired at Goojerat before Sir Charles Napier came to supersede him.

The native chiefs now crowded in to make submission. Cetchwayo was a fugitive with a handful of followers, and a force of cavalry scoured the country in pursuit of him, till, on August 28, the war was brought to an end by the capture of the unhappy king by Lord Gifford's party. It had cost Great Britain dearly in lives and money; one of the most tragic incidents in it was the death of Prince Napoleon, eldest son of the late Emperor of the French, who served on Lord Chelmsford's staff as a volunteer. He was slain on June 2, when employed on surveying duty, having ridden into an ambush of Zulus.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Lady Butler._} {_From the Royal Collection. Reproduced by permission of the Artist._

RORKE'S DRIFT.

This post was held by Lieut. Chard, R.E., and Lieut. Bromhead with eighty men of the 24th Regiment. Having heard of the disaster at Isandhlana, they hastily improvised defences of bags and biscuit-tins, and were almost immediately attacked by about 4,000 Zulus. During the night the enemy six times obtained a foothold within the defences, and even burnt the hospital; but they were again and again repulsed at the bayonet's point. In the morning, when the little garrison was relieved, 351 Zulus lay dead around the entrenchments.]