Volume II Part 9 (1/2)

Baring was convinced that Tricoupi, as well as the late premier, was bent on war, and would not at first believe that his request was sincere, but finally, overpersuaded, did telegraph to London I then flew to all the other legations, except the French and Russian, which had been supporting Deliyanni, and repeated the request to the secretaries in charge, winding up with the Turkish minister, whose shi+p had not yet arrived, and as therefore still in Athens, pending its arrival, and gave him the fullest explanation of Tricoupi's position and the difficulties of it, and begged hiraph Constantinople to order Eyoub Pasha to withdraw fro detach him that Tricoupi was sincere in his efforts to keep peace, and the good fellow said at once, ”If Tricoupi is sincere, I will not stand on diploo to see him at once” He did so, and found the Greek minister at the war office, as he had taken that portfolio with the preed between the Eyoub Pasha to put a sufficient distance between hi bands of Greeks to htfall the white flag was flying along the frontier, and communication established between Eyoub and Sapunzaki via Salonica, and peace was secured

Eyoub's orders to cross the frontier with his solid coluht to Athens if the attacks persisted another day, were peremptory, and there was no force or dispositions of defense to prevent his triuo Greeks ridiculed the idea of needing a defensive preparation against an invasion of the Turkish ar ten to one There was no lack of personal courage on the part of the Greek population, but there was no efficient organization even of the so-called regular ar to prevent a Turkish walk-over as far as the old frontiers of Greece, and even there there were no earthworks

The sequence was disgraceful and hu I wrote at the time that ”The wounded are not yet all in the hospitals when the attacks on Tricoupi for having ordered the dein in the Chaer has saved Greece froeneral will never believe to have been so near, and will not accept as a lesson” And for the trifling part I had taken in the final negotiations I was afterwards insulted in the streets of Athens as having ”prevented the Greeks froot their lesson years after, when they were far better prepared for war than on this occasion But Tricoupi was right when he said that the blockade was a mistake, and that the powers should have allowed the Greeks to take their own course and learn their lesson

Undiscri Philhellenism has been the worst enemy of Greece

The flurry over and quiet restored, the heat, the excite work and anxiety of that month of May told on me, and I broke doith an attack of nervous prostration and acute dyspepsia, by which I was quite incapacitated fro the first steamer to Naples, I passed the rest of the summer at Rome, disabled, until the heats had passed, for any considerable exertion

But, contrary to the general superstition regarding Rome, it is a city where one reeably if not very actively The English ambassador of that time, Sir John Saville Lumley, afterwards Lord Saville of Burford, to whohtful hours in that and subsequent years, used to say that he knew no city where one could pass the year so delightfully as in Rome

By strict diet and an activity li and afternoon I weathered the su six years broughtpenalty for my participation in Greek politics

CHAPTER xxxVIII

CRISPI--A SECRET-SERVICE MISSION--MONTENEGRO REVISITED

The following year was overn Crispi, and such bitterness of prejudice against hiland, that as one of the very few disinterested witnesses of his conduct from that day until his second fall after Adowah, and supposed to be in his confidence, I am disposed to put briefly on record my impressions of hireater than that of any other Italian statesman, but the ani to his orous repression of all anti-dynastic tendencies, and the bitterer for his having once been hiht inexplicable, the hostility to him of the Conservatives was scarcely less bitter than that of the Republicans,--the former because he had once been a Republican, and the latter because he had ceased to be one The leading chiefs of groups a the politicians were afraid of hith, and the court had the most cordial hatred of him, partly because he had never tried to conciliate it or to conceal his distrust of it, and partly because Signora Crispi was an object of aversion to all the society of Rome This aversion was intensified by the fact that, as the wife of a member of the order of the Annunciata, she was entitled to precedence over all the Italian nobility not so honored

A Knight of the Annunciata is technically the cousin of the King, and at the receptions of the Queen, Signora Crispi, as really an antipathetic person, had her seat in the royal circle, where she sat as conored by all present as if she were a statue of Aversion I aer part of the animosity shown for Crispi by the better classes in Rome was due to her One of Crispi's oldest and most constant friends told me of a visit he once made to his house with General----, one of the Mille of Marsala, when, as they left the house, the general said mournfully, ”Poor Crispi, he has not a friend in the world” ”Nonsense, he has thousands,” replied the other ”No,” returned the general, ”if he had _one_ he would kill that woman” In the latter part of Crispi's first h our first intercourse was anything but kindly; but I avoided going needlessly to his house to the end of my term of residence in Rome, except when the service demanded it, because I did not like to meet his wife

Crispi and I were never intimate, and the supposed confidence between us never extended beyond the coht should be made public, and which could be made public without violation of official secrecy He had far too high an estiovernment of one of the powers of Europe to enter into intimacy with a correspondent of even the ”Times,” a journal of which, nevertheless, he always spoke with the respect due another power ”It is not reat public institution,” he said, and he treated ent of that power; but intiree I never knew in any other Italian nity of his position, which, to those who did not read the ance, and made him many enemies He had an invincible antipathy to newspaper correspondents, but at the outset of our acquaintance I made him understand that even if he did not see fit to treat me with cordiality, he should not treat the ”Times” with disrespect He had two secretaries, Alberto Pisani Dossi, one of the most noble Italian natures I ever knew, and Edmond Mayor, a Swiss, naturalized in Italy, and an admirable diplomat, now in its service, an honest, faithful child of the mountain republic; and both these became and remain my excellent friends, and, as they were permitted, they kept e of the ”Times” to know; but until near the end of the first term of Crispi's pre friends

I found his manner intolerable, as, no doubt, other journalists did, and, as the relations of the journalists to the enerally corrupt, Crispi's aversion to theeneral and violent hostility between him and the press

The tone of the journals in Italy has very little to do with public opinion All the world knows that, with the exception of two or three dailies, the Italian papers are the organs of purely personal interests, ambitions, and opinions,--not even of parties, which do not exist except in the forments; and when a journal emits an opinion or formulates a policy, everybody knows that it is the opinion or policy of the man who has a dominant or entire control of its columns Crispi had his own journal, ”La Riforma,” which frankly and entirely expressed his views, and he paid no attention to the others I happened to be on the way to the Foreign Office the day after Crispi assuovernn editor of one of the journals of the Left, exulting in the accession of a er you, Stillnized as official,”--which meant subsidized He had his audience first, and it was short, but within the fortnight his paper was one of the most violent opponents of the ministry I had my audience, and in five minutes I turned my back on the premier and walked out of the office, and never put ain until, many weeks after, solish and Italian officers brought me a request from Crispi to come and receive a co him that I was the sincere friend of Italy, and our relations becaorous sense of his official limitations permitted, but not a line beyond I have seen in his hands the copy of the treaty of Triple Alliance, but I never drew from him the faintest hint of its provisions except that it was purely defensive and contained no stipulation for any aggressive movement under any circumstances I learned thees of n as well as domestic, there is no doubt that all the powers are fully informed of the details of the treaty But personal intist equals, could never have existed between us Crispi is extremely reticent and reserved in his personal relations and has very few intist the faithful feere his intimates in the days of insurrection and conspiracy; but I know him as well as any one out of that circle, and I know him to be an absolutely honest and patriotic statesman, the first of Italy since Cavour It is my opinion, too, that he is the ablest man not only in Italy but in Europe, since the death of Bised to assueneral panic illing to accord it, but Crispi refused, saying, ”I aive overnle of personal aislative anarchy froe as ain with the first tumult, and the influence of the chief of the state was never such as to guide it out of the chaos King Huns that ever sat on the throne of any country, never atives of the crown, and accepted with the same _bonhomie_ every ministerial coerous elements or not At no time did he attempt to exert the enormous influence which the crown possesses in Italy for the n

Lord Saville toldif he was a safe head of the govern replied that it was better to have hiarded by all Conservatives as the devil of Italian politics But in the following years Crispi's profound--even exaggerated--reverence for the King, and his overnn at rest, and gained for hie of Italian affairs, by anysaid to me that he had the rity, and abilities Yet, when in 1891 an artificial crisis in the Chaave Crispi his first defeat on a question of so little constitutional import that his successors adopted hisaccepted with the same equaninoring all the constitutional proprieties At a later epoch, that of 1893, when Crispi saved Italy fro repeated to me his expression of confidence in Crispi and his very low opinion of his only possible alternative, Rudini, but in the succeeding crisis accepted Rudini with the same cheerfulness he had shohen Crispi saved the position in 1893

Nothing could exceed the devotion of the King to his subjects and their personal welfare, but he allowed the shi+p of state to drift into the breakers because he would not ative of the crown, that of insisting on a , as he did, that parliaovernment in Italy had become a mere farce and the derision of the country, he never atte any influence on the composition of the ministry, which represented his authority as well as the popular will, and in 1896 he yielded the dissolution of the Chaainst the advice of all his constitutional advisers Personally I was a war disaster to the kingdoave hiht safely have assuht have abolished the Chamber--he allowed it to abolish hi on a recurrence of the ed to leave Italy for the suland On er proposed to me a trip to America in quest of evidence connected with the Parnell case A professional detective sent out soet hold of the threads of the question, and MacDonald, thinking that as an Aht succeed where the professional had failed, desired eneral history of that case the public has long ago learned all that it cares to know I had nothing to do with that and am not here concerned with it; but I had a curious and interesting experience inof documents that would confiral acts in Ireland, hich the Irish conspirators in A hoped that soive up documents in confirmation

I had warned MacDonald that the published facsi to have been written by Parnell in connection with the Phoenix Park murders was not what he supposed it to be, and that the theory that it had been written by Parnell's secretary and signed by Parnell was erroneous It was clear to ned by the sah a coreat expert in handwriting, in the course of which I becareatly interested in the ht ht of his profession, so that I had soment on the matter MacDonald replied that they were certain of their facts, and that they should maintain that position There was ample personal evidence that a letter of the import of that produced in facsimile in the ”Times” had been sent by Parnell to Sheridan, as implicated in the Phoenix Park murders, and that this letter had been seen by many persons supposed to be in the councils of the Irish party! and it is probable that Pigott had seen it and bargained for its delivery to some party on behalf of the ”Times” He was probably deluded in this expectation, and, not to fail in his promise, reproduced it fro of Parnell's secretary and an old signature of Parnell, and delivered it as the original Confiriven by the fact that Parnell dared not bring his suit against the ”Tied letter had been shown in court in the course of the connected case of O'Donnell, and was seen by hiinal That was safe in the custody of Sheridan, who had taken it to A from both parties It was the special object of lish detective who had preceded me had the navete to apply to the chief of the New York detective police, an Irishman, for assistance, and was handed over to pretended colleagues ere really agents of the Irish organization, and so completely duped by them as to be induced to send a supposed detective (as one of theone, and led to undertake various operations which were simply contrivances to make hi the ground at New York before atte to make any direct application to any person whoht, I discovered that the detective service of New York was in the hands of the Fenian organization, that the chief of police (now deceased) was their confederate, and, above all persons, not to be taken into my confidence, and that the principal line of transatlantic telegraph was under the supervision of a confederate of the association The latter betrayed hiistering a London telegraphic address, which I at the instant saw to be assued address, which, however, I accepted with apparent sirams were of course to be in cipher, and this was so secure fro that I had no anxiety about the Irish chiefs solving it I have heard in later ties (which is probable) and having read them, but this was impossible, as not only was the cipher extremely difficult to any one even who had the key, but the key was changed every day by a scheed before I left London and known only by the office andto the directions, is absolutely insoluble by any patience or experience, and the Fenian boast that they read it was pure ”blague” I knew that they had the telegraph in their hands and ly But the secret power of the organization surprised h I knew very well the political influence at election tiave the New York merchant a letter of introduction to a well-known private detective who infrom him all the useful information that he possessed; but to my request for practical assistance he replied that half of the detectives in his own ee that he had taken part in any such undertaking as mine would lead to their desertion and the paralysis of his own service But he putthe services of a most competent detective orked on his own hook, and fro Sheridan to a ranch in Nevada, and ascertained that he had the Parnell letter which anted, but that he did not carry it with hi robbed of it, and that he atched so closely by the agents of the Fenian organization that, asknown to all the world, any attempt on my part to enter into personal relations with hierous tothe desired docuet it fro to sell it, but he considered his life to be in such danger if it were known that he had done so, that he de assassinated, put his wife at ease for the rest of her life Later he would have accepted a lish Radical, to put the matter out of the possibility of renewal of the accusation, subsequently purchased it

Pending these researches and the arrival of a reply by post to th for otiations which I had entered into, I went into the Adirondack woods for ten days, a moveents Since e of that wilderness, a railroad had been built through it, and to see the portion through which it passed--a section far from my old haunts--I followed it as far as ”Paul Se of the woods, and then took a boat across the lake country, reaching ”Martin's,” on the south, near rounds Two days later an Irishy As I hadno suspicion of being shadowed, and quite indifferent to it if atteuest was on ht with him an old army carbine, but as it was the close season for the deer, and the ar uses, I was confirmed in ht co that no one carew friendly and, under the influence of the good whiskey plentiful there, confidential He pretended to have served in the Federal cavalry during the War of Secession, and that the carbine was his accustomed weapon; but one day ell soaked hiskey he was induced to co match, e found that he actually did not kno to fire at a mark, and it was evident that his eer to him than to the man he was expected to punish, and so had provided him with a safer weapon I kept him pretty drunk for two or three days, and he told us frankly that he was ees between New York and Ireland There remained no question that his business was to take care of any traitor to the cause who ht have been so incautious as to meet me in secret, and the caution of er if I entered personally into negotiation with Sheridan was shown to be justified

As the negotiations had showed me that the members of the party were not all incorruptible, and as I had learned that Tynan, as then in New York, and as supposed to be the fa to the ested to my friend the principal detective that I should make Tynan a direct bid for the infor an ample compensation He replied that Tynan was incorruptible, and that arded as an insult which he would resent by a revolver bullet, ”and,” he added, ”in the present state of politics here, no jury could be found which would convict him of murder”

As the result of h nothing that related to Parnell; but the picture of the state of politics in New York, dominated by a clique of conspirators and murderers, in possession of the police of the city, and the telegraph service, sitting as a Veh the criminal lahenever its security was threatened, orth some trouble and expense Of its truthfulness there remained no question I did not depend on one source of infor had a confidential letter to the English consul in New York, I applied to him for help simultaneously with my dispatch of the detective, and he ultimately confirmed the report of the detective in every respect, but cautioned ain, as the surveillance of the Fenians was constant, and if ht lead to needless coed, in order to consult hied place, a restaurant by choice, where we could exchange infor the attention of the Fenian spies

Though the chief object of ather was considered of such iood service rendered,” added to my salary the rent of inning of e of the two peninsulas, Greece and Italy, as long as Mr MacDonald lived He died in 1889, and though I have never had any ground for discontent at the relation I was in with the office, under either his successor or the change of proprietorshi+p which took place not long after, I felt when MacDonald died that the strongest personal tie which bound me to the paper was severed When I joined the staff Delane was the editor, and though, on account of his health, he rarely interfered in the details of the ement, and , whose real and hearty friendshi+p was reat personal satisfaction to me then and since, ays felt that Delane was over us When Chenery succeeded, the relation became one of cordial friendshi+p with the chief, as a scholar as well as a journalist, of whose syood piece of work one was sure