LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
RUSSIA AND THE HERZEGOVINIAN INSURRECTION.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPEOTATOB.]
SIR,—In the speech of Lord Derby, replying to the Duke of Argyle (Feb. 20), there occurs the following passage :—" The noble Duke ridiculed the idea of our looking for Russian influ- ences or Russian agencies for the cause of these disturbances, when the cause was to be found in the maladministration of the country. 1 say nothing as to the Russian Government, it is not my duty or my wish ; but if I say that local residents officially connected with the Russian Government were amongst the most active agents in stirring up these disturbances, and assisted the insurgents in various ways, I only say that which is perfectly
well known, what can be abundantly proved from the Blue-book, and what the Russian Government would admit. The Russian
Consulate at Ragusa was described as being the head-quarters of the insurgent chiefs, and when one of the most noted of these was killed in the course of the campaign, the Russian Consul- General attended the funeral, with every possible mark of respect and sympathy."
Now there is no man, official or non-official, not in the secrets of the insurrection, as member of one of the Committees or in the capacity of director of the movement (if there were any such, of which I am ignorant), who knows more of the relations between the Russian officials at Ragusa than I do. I have known M. Jonine since 1867, and saw him at any and every hour during the day all the summer and winter of 1875-6, and what I could not learn is in no sense of the word "well known," much less "perfectly well known ;" and I most solemnly declare that the whole statement quoted above from Lord Derby's speech is founded on statements utterly devoid of truth, viz., the information sent to Constanti- nople by the Ottoman Consul-General at Ragusa.
I cannot—no man can—say that no relations existed between the Russian Consulate-General and the insurgents, but what I can say and affirm is, that neither was it the head-quarters of the insurgent chiefs, nor were they ever publicly " known " to have been at the Consulate. M. Jonine is by far too capable a con- spirator, when he must conspire, to expose himself to comment in this ridiculous way, and even when at the period of the Berlin .Note and Salonica Conference, the relations of the Russian Consulate with the insurgent chiefs were more intimate, there was no direct intercourse allowed. Nor were any of the responsible chiefs under the influence of the Russian Government allowed to come to Ragusa ; the only ones who came in freely were those who belonged to the Dalma- tian party, and these were most violently opposed to Russia and hostile to M. Jonine. I am absolutely certain that Peko was in Ragusa but once in the course of the war, and then not at the Russian Consulate. I know, too, that Jonine had forbidden them to come to the Consulate, in order not to be compromised. The common report of Ragusa was that the chiefs did not go there at all.
Nor is it well known, in any sense of the term, that "local residents officially connected with the Russian Government were among the most active agents in stirring up these disturbances," &e. The only such residents were the Consul and his secretary, and it was not till January, 1876, that with all my opportunities for observation, I was able to detect any imnaixture of the Russian officials in the insurrection, and this was pacific.
I have so fully stated all these facts in a book on the Herzego- vinian insurrection, as well as in newspaper correspondence, that I can neither modify nor diminish anything I have said to dis- prove the alleged importance of Russian influence in causing the insurrection ; and since even that book was written I have had new confirmation of my confident belief that Russia would have gladly postponed the movement for a year or two, if it had been possible.
But there is a definite statement in reference to this alleged incitement, in the accusation as to the participation in the funeral ceremonies of Bacevics, the insurgent chief killed near Ragusa, and whose funeral ceremonies were the occasion of the most im- posing demonstration ever seen in Ragusa. I have given the facts at p. 111 of my book, but as few of your readers will have seen it, I may say that the whole statement is an absolute fabrica- tion. I heard it at the time from the Ottoman Consul-General, and then declared it a falsehood. I was in the tiny mortuary chapel during the funeral ceremonies, and walked with the pro- cession through the main road, in which are situated the Consulates, and assert in the most unqualified way that no Russian official was present at any part of the ceremonies, and that as the procession passed the Russian Consulate with the mass of the people who were not in the procession I saw M. Jonine on his balcony. There was not in any shape or form a manifestation of respect or sym- pathy in anything he did. The same authority which gave the fact also complained to the Ottoman Government that the flag of the British Consulate at Ragusa was at half-mast for the funeral, and a complaint was made to Mr. Taylor by Sir Henry Elliot on the case ; but as it happened, I looked at the flag of the Consulate as we passed it, and am able to declare that it was close up to the mast-head, the day being Sunday, which is recognised in this way in all the Eastern countries.
It is not surprising that the English Government was ill- informed as to the affairs of Herzegovina. Mr. Taylor, though an old man with failing powers, was not a friend of the Turks, having passed many years in the Ottoman Empire, and not liking their ways. I went into the Consulate one day, and Taylor said to me in great perplexity that he did not know what to do. They wrote to him from the Foreign Office that they did not want to be bothered with despatches about the Herzegovina. Of course Sir Henry Elliot was dependent on the Ottoman Consul (whose veracities were few and far between) for knowing what happened.
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