[114] Mr. Carlyle presumably got his information from the highest German authorities.
[115] Carlyle’s Life in London, by T. A. Froude, Vol. III., p. 441.
[116] Consols fell three-eighths.
[117] Mr. George Jacob Holyoake was the first to characterise these patriots as “Jingoes,” deriving the epithet from their own anthem. See his letter in the Daily News, March 13, 1878.
[118] These were (1), Bulgarian autonomy north of the Balkans; (2), guarantees of good government for the other Turkish provinces; (3), cession of Batoum, and retrocession of Bessarabia to Russia.
[119] Nobody gave a more vivid picture of the divided state of the nation at this time than Mr. Trevelyan, who had been one of the most active of those who forced Mr. Gladstone to withdraw his Resolutions. Speaking at Galashiels on the 10th of December he said, the desire to fight “is almost universal amongst idlers, and gossips, fashionable aspirants, and the habitual frequenters of the London burlesques and music-halls. The determination to keep at peace is almost universal among the great mass of the population which produces the wealth of this country, and which makes us respected and powerful among nations. My experience is that the division is not, as is generally described, one of class, but of personal habits and character. If you meet a man who does an honest stroke of work on every week-day, whether he be manufacturer, or artisan, or tradesman, or barrister, it is ten to one that he wishes his country to leave this quarrel to be fought out by those whom it concerns. If you meet a man who amuses himself for fifteen hours out of the twenty-four, and sleeps the rest, it is ninety-nine to one but he thinks we should send an ultimatum to Russia as soon as she crosses the Balkans, and that he regards Lord Beaconsfield as a second Chatham, who is robbed of his opportunities by his more timid colleagues.” It ought to be said that the Liberals had also their “idlers” and sentimental crochet-mongers, who were eager to join Russia in fighting the “anti-human” Turk, and who had the advantage of Mr. Gladstone’s personal leadership. Of course the partisans of Lord Beaconsfield vied with the partisans of Mr. Gladstone in pouring forth contempt on the English people, for their sordid determination to tie the restless and mischief-making hands of these two enterprising politicians.
[120] One finds in the advertising columns of the Era, strangely enough, a side-light on the Eastern policy of the Court at this period. A Mr. Charles Williams, who advertised himself as singing “the greatest war song on record” at four music-halls, added to his advertisement the following letter:—“Lieutenant-General Sir T. M. Biddulph has received the Queen’s commands to thank Mr. Charles Williams for the appropriate verses contained in his letter of the 18th inst., and her Majesty fully appreciates his motives.” One of the verses ran thus:—
“Bruin thinks we’ve been asleep; but a watch we’ve had to keep,
Knowing well the value of his word;
Look with many a skilful lie how they’ve blinded every eye,
Till the Lion’s grand impatience now is heard;
For every British heart would burn to take a part
To fling the Russian lies back in their face;
And to teach them, as of old, that Briton’s hearts are bold,
And would die to save our country from disgrace.”
—Vide Era, February 20, 1878. The song was sung at the Metropolitan Music Hall, in connection with a ballet called “Cross and Crescent War.” When the Royal letter was pointed out to Count Schouvaloff, that easy-tempered diplomatist merely shrugged his shoulders. It may be mentioned incidentally that a study of the popular songs cf the period reflects faithfully the shifting moods of the London mob during the Eastern Controversy.
[121] Turkey III. (1878), No. 1.