Robert Arthur Talbot Gas Coyne-Cecil Salisbury

On April 12, 1868, his father died and his House of Commons career came to an end. During the six years which followed (1868 1874), Lord Salisbury joined actively from below the gangway in the warfare which his late colleagues waged against Mr. Glad stone's legislation. In 1870 he was chosen chancellor of Oxford university in succession to Lord Derby,—an indication of the reputation which his attitude in '67 had won for him among the more serious representatives of the party outside Parliament. It was a distinction which he always peculiarly prized. When, after the defeat of the Liberals in 1874, Disraeli undertook the forma tion of his second ministry, almost his first step was to invite the return of this alienated colleague. Under actual conditions there could be no risk of a repetition of his earlier experience, and after a few days of painful hesitation, he accepted. On Feb.

17 he resumed control of the Government of India where a disastrous famine claimed all his energies. By a curious chance a similar visitation had synchronised with his previous brief tenure of office, and he had left behind him a high reputation for success in dealing with it.

The first two years of this ministry were uneventful—except in connection with an ecclesiastical measure—the Public Worship Act, introduced in 1874 by Archbishop Tait. Lord Salisbury and his chief took opposite sides upon it, and the momentary clashing of their swords in debate excited some quite unfounded anticipa tions of ministerial rupture. But in 1876 a crisis arose in the south-east of Europe, one of whose incidental results was to fix permanently Lord Salisbury's destiny in public life.

The Eastern Question.

Two or three of the European provinces of the Turkish Empire had revolted against its mis government ; there had been a voluminous interchange of notes and protocols among the signatory Powers of the Treaty of Paris ; the already autonomous principality of Serbia had taken up arms in support of its co-religionists, and finally the Russian tsar had mobilised his army and declared that, if the rest of Europe did not act, he would. A conference of the Great Powers had thereupon been called to meet at Constantinople in December, to draw up a scheme of reforms and, by securing the Porte's acceptance of it, avert the threatened war.

The repercussion of these events in England had been peculiarly characterised. The insurrection in Bulgaria had been suppressed by Turkish irregular troops with incidents of great savagery.

Misled by the optimism of the British embassy at Constantinople, the prime minister—now become Lord Beaconsfield—had poured scorn upon the first newspaper reports of these outrages, and in the impassioned agitation which Gladstone initiated on the subject throughout the country, the Tory Government became an object for almost equal denunciation with the Turkish sultan. Salisbury resented the agitation, but was himself admittedly sympathetic with the cause of the insurgent Christians and had privately urged his colleagues to dissociate England once and for all from the incriminated cause of Turkish ineptitude. His views were known or divined and when Beaconsfield invited him to serve as plenipotentiary to the Constantinople Conference, the appointment helped to quiet the prevailing excitement and was received with general acclamation. At first all went smoothly at the Conference; there was no difficulty in obtaining unanimous agreement among the Christian Powers as to the reforms to be recommended. But there success stopped. The Turkish envoys rejected all proposals, and were deaf to every argument. Salis bury would have tried that of force, but his colleagues refused, and on Jan. 20, 1877, the conference broke up and Russia was left to carry out her originally proclaimed purpose.

She declared war on April 24. Throughout the remainder of that year counsels in the British cabinet were divided. The prime minister and Cairns advocated present intervention; Salisbury and Carnarvon opposed a resolute veto to any action which the Turks could construe into acquiescence in their defiance of Eu rope; and Derby, the foreign secretary, supported them with impartial loyalty. Agreement between the warring groups was obtained for a declaration of neutrality, balanced by a warning addressed to Russia that no attempt on Constantinople itself would be tolerated.

The change of issues foreshadowed in this document material ised in the new year and with it a change in cabinet grouping. The Turkish defence, at first resolute and successful, suddenly collapsed and when the Russian troops in rapid advance appeared upon the threshold of the forbidden city Lord Salisbury was fore most in urging that men-of-war should be sent up to the Bos phorus for its protection. On this decision being taken (Jan. 23), Derby and Carnarvon resigned, though the former was subse quently persuaded to withdraw his resignation.