Upon Monday, the Duke of Argyll, who has been ill
an& absent, made a remarkable speech in the Lords. The facts he- stated are now historical, but they are of importance to a fair comprehension of the conduct of the Foreign Office. The genera} impression in this country is that Count Schouvalon " Declara- tion " was suddenly added to the Protocol, that the astute RUBSiaD sprang a mine upon the British Foreign Office. This, however, was not the case. The Duke of Argyll showed that the Declara- tion was shown to Lord Derby, as containing the conditions on which the Russians would disarm, that he submitted it to the Cabinet, and that he signed the Protocol subject to the Declara- tion, with which, therefore, it was virtually one document. Lord Derby denied the accuracy of the Duke's view, saying that the solitary signature to the Declaration showed that a single Govern- ment was responsible for it, but Lord Granville strongly re- affirmed his colleague's account of the transaction. The Blue- books "bore it out every word." The meaning of all this is that Lord Derby assented beforehand to the Declaration whieb he afterwards represented as injurious to Turkey.
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