IT is reasonable to believe -- and the fact, we hold, is creditable to M. de Giers as an individual Statesman -- that the news of the attack on the Afghan position filled the Russian Minister with concern and apprehension. There was far more meaning in the term he first applied to it then he was at a later stage willing to allow. It was, indeed, in the mind as well as on the lips of the Foreign Minister, an unfortunate occurrence. Trusting more to his own instinct then to the estimate he might have formed from experience of the way in which Mr. Gladstone's Cabinet: were likely to look at things, he assumed that the act of war would ruin the negotiations which he flattered himself were then in a fair way to end favourably. Even so late as April 15 ha admitted to our Ambassador that the explanations sent from the Russian camp were insufficient. Corresponding to his depressed and doubtful tone at St. Petersburg was, of course, the converse attitude of our Government. Lord Granville put, in very plain terms, a request for light as to the "apparently complete disobedience" with which the orders issued by the Czar bad been treated by General Komaroff. Relations such as these between the two Cabinets were, of course, too unnatural to last. In the first flush of painful surprise, the Russian Ambassador made certain overtures to our Secretary of State which, in themselves, were not inadequate. The question as to the responsibility for the miscarriage at Pul-i-Khisti of the benevolent intentions of the two Governments was to be postponed pending complete inquiry. In the meanwhile, the Russian troops were to withdraw absolutely from the debated tract. The Commissioners were to begin their operations as soon as possible, and -- the point on which the English Government had from the outset laid stress -- they were to take in hand first of all the portion between the two rivers, in other-words, the disputed portion. The instructions to be given to the Commissioners were to be identical; but these which had already been given by our Foreign Office to Sir Peter Lumsden were to be the basis. All this was well so far; but it was weighted with a condition which Lord Granville at once found inadmissible. We were, in brief, to recognise the Russian line as the proper limit of the Ameers authority, in case the representatives of the two Governments could not come to an agreement on the spot. This passed in London on April 13. But the day before M. de Giers had already airily remarked, in reference to our demand for further explanations in regard to the Penjdeh affair, that General Komaroff's Despatch had given all the explanations necessary. From this position the Ministers of the Czar were not prevailed upon to swerve. There are gaps of singular significance in the published papers, but we are treated to a full view of the successive steps in the descent of the British Cabinet, though we are not allowed to see what the impulse was that forced them to make the jump. At the finish one can see that the Despatches which come and go are simply parts of a set series which had been thought out and fully-arranged beforehand. No doubt M. de Staal was able to acquaint his amiable friend Lord Granville that if only Great Britain would promise to reply in such and such terms, Russia would be good-natured enough to go some slight distance towards humouring her whims. We find, at any rate, that on April 17, apprehension lest anarchy should follow the withdrawal of the Russian forces from their positions prevents M. de Giers from entertaining any proposal of evacuation pending the settlement of the difficulty. Less then a weak had sufficed, apparently, to create this concern for the preservation of peace in the Desert among people who, till the other day, did not know the name of Law or Sovereignty. Advancing in their ideas, or in their faculty of expressing them, the Cabinet of the Czar announced on April 21 that they could not sacrifice their dignity by entering into any discussion or inquiry about what had been done. Three days later, the suggestion of arbitration was made on our side. But it found no favour. On the 28th the Emperor declared that he was the sole judge whether General Komaroff had obeyed his orders. The Commander had satisfied his superiors, and that was enough. Nothing more need be said. Lord Granville, however, had something to say; something so mild in itself, and so delicately put, that it would have been impossible for an Autocrat to say him Nay. And, in fact, the Czar did not say Nay; though for all practical purposes he might just as well have done so. The Emperor -- the formal intimation stated -- had put aside the discussion of the military question. As to "the misunderstanding between the Cabinets'' about the meaning of the Agreement, he "would not refuse" to submit it for the opinion of the friendly Monarch, and -- to give as much air of seriousness as was possible to the whimsical formality -- he "reserved to himself the power, if occasion should arise, of coming to an understanding with the British Government as to the choice of the Sovereign." If this were agreed to, he would further consent to resume negotiations for the definition of the frontier, leaving only details to be settled on the spot. In short, the Emperor would not absolutely pooh-pooh the sham arbitration idea, and would settle the Boundary dispute precisely in the way in which he had always insisted it must be settled. Even this, however, was not sufficient to mark fully the chastened spirit of the English Cabinet. " At no time," they declared, with a noble contempt for their previous declarations, " at no time had they desired to see gallant officers put on their trial.'' That is the end of the Penjdeh incident. The 'Military Party had coerced M. de Giers, and M. DE GIERS in turn had coerced Lord Granville. -- June 2.
Standard, , June 2, 1885
Central Asia 1885
Central Asia 1885
Table of Contents
Miracles of healing - Christian Miracles or Healing
History of Russia: Christian Versus Barbarian
History of Japan: Early Christian Martyrs
The Jesus of History
The Assyrian Origin of Devil Worshippers
The Christ Of Dogma
The early history of Constantinople
