IT IS NOT DESIRABLE TO REQUIRE
MORE THAN AN ENGAGEMENT IN GENERAL TERMS, FOR THE
SPECIFIC MEASURES TO BE TAKEN COULD ONLY BE DEFINED
AFTER A MORE CAREFUL INQUIRY AND DELIBERATION THAN
COULD BE SECURED AT THE PRESENT JUNCTURE."
The italics are my own, for the weak point of the Convention is
exhibited by this sentence.
No "general terms" should ever be mentioned in a communication with
Orientals, and no convention should have been concluded with the Porte,
unless every detail had been previously considered and specially agreed
upon between the contracting parties. When this Convention was made
public, I concluded that the British government contemplated the
official employment of a certain number of their own officers to carry
out the spirit of the agreement, without which the Convention would be a
farce; at the same time I was convinced that the suspicions of the
Turkish government and the stubborn pride of the race would resist any
such direct interference upon the part of England. Under these
conditions Asia Minor would remain exactly where it was. A grand scheme
which would have had immense political results, had the Turks accepted
our interference in the honourable spirit of our intentions, has been
frustrated by their want of confidence, and the Convention remains,
containing an agreement of stupendous importance, by which England is
committed to a military undertaking of the first magnitude, while Turkey
risks nothing except her "PROMISES OF REFORM in the administration of
her Asiatic provinces.
Pages:
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545