[33] Moltke, p. 443.
[34] Finlay, vii. 59.
[35] The above conversations are reported in Parliamentary Papers, 1854, Eastern Question, House of Commons, 84.
[36] Life of Lord Stratford, ii. p. 442.
[37] Life of Lord Stratford, ii. p. 436.
[38] The above is from notes of conversations with Lord Stratford made at the time.
[39] Life of Lord Stratford, ii. p. 449.
[40] Lord Morley’s Life of Gladstone, ii. p. 555.
[41] It may be well to add, what has not been mentioned by his able biographer, doubtless because Lord Stratford’s daughters were alive when the book was published in 1888, that the Great Elchi gave testimony of his belief in the permanence of the Turkish Empire by investing the greater part of his personal property and savings in Turkish Bonds. In 1874, when the Porte became bankrupt and repudiated payment of interest on the debt, some friend at Constantinople wrote to Lord Stratford giving timely information of what was coming and advising him to sell his bonds while there was yet time. Lord Stratford, however, thought it was inconsistent with his sense of honour to act on this advice. His means were greatly reduced by the bankruptcy of the Porte. After his death and the cessation of his pension, his daughters would have been in very reduced circumstances if it had not been for the generosity of a personal friend of their father, the late Lady Ossington, who made up to these ladies, for their lives, the amount of the pension from the State which had lapsed by the death of Lord Stratford.
[42] The Bulgarian Horrors and the Question in the East, 1876.