negotiations respecting the Protocol :— the guardianship of those interests

on behalf of which it had versation which he had with General Ignatieff. The General de- anticipation should not be verified, Russia would be constrained clued that Russia could not accept the proposal of giving Turkey to regulate her action solely on the basis of her interests, a a year's grace to carry out her fictitious reforms. "'Russia,' result which she had the liveliest wish to avoid. As to the ques- said the General, 'could not remain so long under arms, and if tion of disarmament, which the Cabinet of London had proposed,

enough to be seen thirty miles away. As far as I can make out, I she disarmed, she would appear to have abandoned the Christians of the Ottoman Empire to Turkish fanaticism. It was necessary, however, that an issue should be arrived at, since the present in- action of Europe, if protracted much longer, would compel Russia to have recourse to war, in spite of her preference for peace. For this reason she had started the project of a Protocol, to which General Ignatieff sought the adhesion of the Powers, and which would have for its object to stimulate the Sublime Porte (di spingere la Sublime Porta) to do that which the Cabinets were agreed at Constantinople in recognising as necessary for the pacification of the East.'"

There is not a hint here, observe, about "a golden bridge," or any other bridge, for a Russian retreat from the declaration of the Moscow speech. On the contrary, Russia declares such a retreat impossible, except on the sole condition of Turkey's acceptance of the ProtocoL The object of the Protocol is expressly declared to be the coercion of Turkey.

The despatch of Signor Melegari proceeds :—" On the 8th of

this month, Count de Launay telegraphed to me that Prince Bismarck was favourable to the idea presented by General Ignatieff." And he adds :—" After some conversation with the two Russian diplomatists (Count Schouvaloff and General Igna- tieff), the Due Decazes informed me, through the Marquis de Noailles, that, with some reservation of a formal nature, he judged the project of the Protocol acceptable."

In a despatch from Signor Melegari, dated March 17, to the Italian Ambassador in London, we have an intimation of the first hitch in the negotiations :—" I thank your Excellency," says the Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs, "for having telegraphed to me the full text of the Protocol, as it was agreed upon on the 16th inst. in London, between Lord Derby and Count Schouva- loff. I am equally obliged to you for having sent me the exact words with which the principal Secretary of State of the Queen has accompanied the confidential communication of the said document." In another despatch of the same date, Signor Melegari gives an account of a conversation which he had just had with the British Ambassador at Rome :—" Sir A. Paget has informed me that the text of the Protocol, which the six Guaranteeing Powers will be called upon to sign, was yesterday agreed upon between the Ambassador of Russia in London and Lord Derby. England, in agreeing to subscribe this international act, has made two con- ditions,—the first, that the Protocol should be accepted equally by all the Powers guaranteeing the Ottoman Empire ; the second, that Russia should undertake to demobilise the troops concen- trated on the frontiers of Turkey." Signor Melegari goes on to say that Sir A. Paget sounded him as to the reception which the Italian Government would give to the Protocol in this new shape. "I limited myself," says the wary Italian, in replying to the interrogation of Sir A. Paget, to general terms, assuring him of the satisfaction which I experienced in receiving the news that the accord existing between Russia and England, equally desirous of maintaining peace, was about to receive the solemn form of a Protocol." In fact, the Italian Government took alarm at the reservation of Lord Derby. It made strong objection to reservations on the part of any two of the Powers. "I think," says Signor Melegari, in a despatch dated March 22, "that an undertaking:on the part of Russia, contracted only with England, could not be judged conformable to the Treaty of 1856, inas- much as that Treaty aims at prohibiting any kind of exclusive protectorate in favour of Turkey."

In a despatch of March 23, Signor Melegari says This morning Sir A. Paget called again upon me, and told me that Lord Derby, in a recent interview with Count Schouvaloff and with General Ignatieff, expressed his opinion that, before discussing the modifications demanded by Russia, it would be desirablethat an understanding should be arrived at on the question of de- mobilisation. The two Russian diplomatists declared that they could hold out no prospect of any such assurance." In a de-

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. spatch from the Italian Ambassador at Vienna, dated March

25, there is an account of an "official visit" which General THE ITALIAN GREEN-BOOK. Ignatieff had just paid to the Italian Ambassador. "With re-

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE ”SPECTATOR."] gard to the Protocol," says the latter, " he said to me that it SIR,—The Italian Green-Book fills up some lacuna) here and there should be regarded as the answer to the Circular of Prince Gort- in our own Blue-books, voluminous as these are. The following chakoff. Provided that Europe accepted the document, and put points may serve as specimens of jets of additional light on the its signature to it, Russia would be assured that Europe assumed

negotiations respecting the Protocol :— the guardianship of those interests on behalf of which it had On March 14, the Italian Ambassador at Berlin reports a con- assembled in Conference at Constantinople. If, however, this General Ignatieff declared to me that he was not authorised to take it into consideration."

At.last, in a despatch from Signor Malegari, dated March 30, we have the English and Russian declarations respectively vis-d- vis. On the following day the Italian Foreign Minister declares that these reservations "would constitute the Protocol an abnor- mal act, the signature of which would affect the contracting parties in a different measure." He instructs.the English Ambassador in London accordingly to put on record the Italian reservation which appears in company with the English and Russian declarations. In an identic despatch to the Italian Ambassadors in Paris, Ber- lin, Vienna, and St. Petersburg, Signor Melegari says, "It was ex- clusively by the invitation. of Lord Derby that the Ambassadors of the Great Powers assembled at the Foreign Office, and there signed the Protocol of March 31. That being so, it seemed to us that it would not be prudent, nor indeed quite correct, to sign purely and simply an act which, in respect to other Powers, might, in consequence of their declarations, change its character eventually, and make it cease even to be of any obligation. Our declaration

• aims at eliminating that which, in our view, is abnormal in the situation, and is intended to guard us beforehand against the necessity of, being obliged some day, in presence of discordant interpretations regarding the value of the Pro- tocol, to pronounce in favour of one side or the other." The Italian Ambassador in London, in a despatch dated April 2, gives an account of the signature of the Protocol. After the Ambaasadors, were assembled at the Foreign Office and the Protocol had been read, "Lord Derby having distibuted to each of the Ambassadors the document containing the reservations made by the English Cabinet respecting the effects of the Protocol itself, the Russian Ambassador delivered the declarations of his Government relative to the conditions which must be fulfilled previous to the demobilisation of the Russian army. I, in my turn, then gave the reservation prescribed by your Excellency."

If, ,then, the Italian Green-Book is to be relied on, the State of facts in regard to the Protocol is as follows :—Russia declared, from. the first, that the object of the Protocol was to coerce Turkey, and that Russia would,.on her own responsibility, coerce Turkey, if the other Powers refused to join her. War, or accept- ance of the recommendations of the Protocol,—this has been Russia's language .throughcot. Secondly,. the Russian and Italian declarations are both the result of Lord Derby's declaration, if the Italian Green-Book is to be trusted. In now declaring war, therefore, Russia has simply done what she declared, during the negotiations about the Protocol, that she would do, under the circumstances which have happened.

What construction did Turkey put upon Lord Derby's declara- tion ?. That is revealed in a, despatch from. the Italian Charge d'Affaires at Constantinople, dated April 5 :—" I know," said &fret Pasha, "that Italy has made a reservation in the sense of Lord Derby's declaration, and we oheer ourselves in seeing that your' [Italian] Government associates itself to that of England in a manifestation of sympathy for us." "We hope," be added, "to see Italy proceeding always hand-in-hand with England." The Italian. Charge.d'Affaires took care to undeceive Safvet Pasha, but the important thing to observe is that Turkey understood Lord Derby's Declaration as, an encouragement to Turkey to reject the Protocol.

Your. space is limited, so I will make no comment on these pregnant-, facts, which; indeed, speak for themselves.—I am,