SIR GEORGE BUCHANAN'S REMINISCENCES.*
SIR GEORGE BUCHANAN'S reminiscences, quite without design, happen to be a strong defence of the traditional school of
diplomacy. It would be impossible to imagine a career con- ducted with a greater sense of responsibility, with more sincerity or with more tolerance and consideration for others.
It is, perhaps, a trite thing to say that Sir George always behaved in a gentlemanlike way, but that is the simple truth and, after all, the qualities which arc implied by the phrase
are invaluable in diplomacy. We do not say that Sir George dealt with any of his problems in a great or striking way, or
that he expounds them in his book with commanding intel-
lectual ability ; but his instincts were unfailingly right ; he never did an unworthy thing ; and when the issue was humanity or the legitimate interests of his country he regarded
his convenience or his dignity as being of no account whatever. This is a good deal to say of any man, but justice requires that it should be said of Sir George Buchanan.
By far the most important part of Sir George's work was done during the years he spent in Russia, but though his- torically the Russian chapters arc the more important we find the anecdotes of his earlier and less laborious days the more entertaining. Austria and Hungary were a paradise for a young diplomat in the '70's of last century. Society was as light-hearted and as accomplished as it was rigid in its forms. Sir George tells us that but for the kindness of friends he could not have lived the pace, for no poor man could afford all the little social observances that were regarded as necessary. He agrees with all other writers of memoirs about the impres- siveness of the Empress Elizabeth, with her beauty, her sylph- like figure and her fine seat on a horse. The present writer recalls a water-colour drawing of the Empress which was done when she was hunting in Cheshire. The picture shows her being rioted by " Bay " Middleton and conveys the sense that everybody who saw her had of her arrow-like straightness and the ethereal lightness of her touch and movement. But possibly she thought too much about horses. Sir George Buchanan's stepmother evidently thought so, for on one occasion, after listening to the Empress holding forth on the subject of horses for a long time, she let out the shattering remark, " Est-ce que wire Majestd ne pease qu'aux chevaux ? "
The stories of diplomatic work in Bulgaria from 1904-1908 are delightful examples of the nuances, the tortuousness and the perplexing but significant subtlety of such work. Sir George certainly had a task that tried all his quitlities. Prince Ferdinand, the reigning Sovereign, wanted nothing so much
• My Mission to Russia. By the Right ROD. Sir George Buchanan. S vols. London : Cassell and Co. 121 108.1 as encouragement by Great Britain, though like the Prince described by Disraeli in Endymion he had by his own act
forfeited his right to what he most desired. King Edward was determined that Prince Ferdinand should not be pardoned or helped till he repented, though within that forbidding
limitation he wanted Sir George Buchanan to be as friendly as possible to the Bulgarian Court. " You may tell the Prince," King Edward said, " that I have not forgotten the fact that he is my cousin, but that so long as he pursues his present double-faced policy he cannot eount on my support." Accord- ing as Prince Ferdinand thought that he was making progress towards the realization of his desires, or the reverse, he called Sir George into his favour or cast him out of it. On one occasion when Sir George thought it opportune to say some- thing that would please the Prince—it was at the moment when the Prince had just peevishly remarked that Lord Salisbury had always treated him as though he were the assassin of Stambuloff—he said that Lord Salisbury, when speaking of Prince Ferdinand, had exclaimed, " voila un hornme " Sir George did not say that Lord Salisbury had immediately added, " But I should not like to be his Prime Minister ! " We might quote much more from these pages, for they are a faithful and amusing representation of life at a small and difficult Court. Prince Ferdinand sometimes, when displeased, cut Sir George dead. Another time, when Sir George was looking on at a procession in which it had been diplomatically undesirable for him to take part, the Prince as he passed in his carriage winked at him. This might have been interpreted as a sign of confidence or friendliness. But no ! It turned out afterwards that Sir George had not arranged his features in a - manner• that was thought suitable for the reception of the royal wink, and once more trouble ensued.
We pass to the Russian part of the book. With the excep- tion of M. Paleologue, no foreign observer knew so much as Sir George Buchanan of the ins and outs of the events that led to the Russian revolution and nobody's word on the subject can be more safely trusted. In the Emperor Sir George found a man of unquestionable good will with admirable intentions of loyalty. But unhappily the Emperor was weak. Over and over again he would agree or seem to agree with Sir George's advice, but shortly afterwards when the reactionary pressure of the Court, and particularly of the well-meaning, devout, and charming but misguided Empress, had been brought to- bear, he would do something quite different. He delayed and delayed until it was too late. Things reached such a pitch that at last Sir George knew that a revolution in some form was inevitable, and the only question was whether it would come from above or below. Throughout this time the tenacity with which Sir George stuck to his point of begging the Emperor to summon the Duma and show that he trusted the people was worthy of all praise. Sir George used to go out of his way, even when he had to disregard the very formal etiquette of the Court, to make opportunities for himself to speak to the Emperor. Reading of these reiterated and various attempts, we felt something of that vicarious embar- rassment which many people may have felt when they read of Abraham's importunity in pleading for the doomed cities of the plain. " Surely," one feels, " when Abraham had reached such and such a point, he had done all that a man decently could do—he could not worry the Almighty again ! " But Abraham did, and Abraham was right, and Sir George Buchanan was right too. The tragedy is that it was all un- availing in doomed Russia. A man who consults every source of human information in ransacking the possibilities of a working settlement between an autocrat and his people lays himself open to misunderstanding. All we need remark on this subject is that the cruel and utterly unjust things which have been said by some foreign critics are -particu- larly cruel just because they make use of the fact. that Sir George conversed with this or that enemy of the Emperor—a fact, of course, which Sir George not only would not dream of denying but sets forth fully in his book.
The final scene after the revolution, when Mr. Arthur Henderson was sent on a special diplomatic mission to Russia, is to the credit. of both Sir George Buchanan and Mr. Henderson. The Government, with the ambiguity which seems to have been habitual and. incurable at that time, told Sir George that there was " no question of his recall," and 'yet Mr. Henderson
went to Russia armed with full powers to dismiss Sir George if he wished to do so. Mr. Henderson found that Sir George Buchanan was the better man for the job, said so, and returned home. But it may be hoped that Sir George was finally con- soled ; the Government's last eulogy of hiS work was one of which any man might be proud.
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