LORD LYONS
VOLUME I
[Illustration: _Lord Lyons,
from a photograph taken at Boston, U.S. in 1860._]
LORD LYONS
A RECORD OF BRITISH DIPLOMACY
BY
LORD NEWTON
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOLUME I
WITH PORTRAITS
LONDON
EDWARD ARNOLD
1913
_All rights reserved_
PREFACE
It was the practice of the late Lord Lyons to preserve carefully the
whole of his correspondence, whether official, semi-official, or
private, and upon his death this accumulation of papers passed into the
possession of his nephew, the present Duke of Norfolk.
I have been able to draw to some extent upon my own diary and
recollections of the five years (1881-1886) during which I served as a
member of Lord Lyons's staff at the Paris Embassy, but that period
represents only a very small portion of his official career, and it is
from the above mentioned papers that this work has been almost entirely
compiled. All the material was placed unreservedly at my disposal, and I
desire to make full acknowledgment of this mark of confidence. I desire
also to express my gratitude to the numerous persons who have readily
given their consent to the publication of important letters in which
they possess a proprietary interest: notably to Emily Lady Ampthill,
Lord Clarendon, Lord Derby, Lady Granville, Lady Ermyntrude Malet, Lord
Rosebery, the Hon. Rollo Russell, Lord Salisbury, and Lord Sanderson.
I am indebted to Mr. J. F. Marshall and Mr. Alan Parsons for their
assistance in sifting the enormous mass of documents found at Norfolk
House, and to the Hon. Arnold Keppel for a service rendered at a
subsequent period. Finally, I have to thank Mrs. Wilfrid Ward for an
interesting contribution entitled "Lord Lyons in private life,"
containing personal details only available to a near relative.
NEWTON.
_October, 1913._
CONTENTS OF VOL. I
CHAPTER I
PAGE
EARLY LIFE
Early Life--Enters Diplomatic Service, 1839--Appointed unpaid
attaché at Athens--Unfavourable prospects--Paid attaché at
Rome, 1853--Condition of the Papal States--Life at Rome--Appointed
Secretary of Legation at Florence--Question of the
'Tavola di Stato'--Sent to Naples to deal with the case of the
_Cagliari_--Success of his mission and appointment as Minister
at Florence--Succeeds to peerage on death of his father--Appointed
Minister at Washington, 1858 1
CHAPTER II
WASHINGTON
1859-1860
Arrival at Washington--Effect produced in America by the Franco-Austrian
War--Feeling in America with regard to England--San
Juan and Mexico--Rising passions between Northern and
Southern States--Disclaimer of matrimonial intentions--Accompanies
Prince of Wales on Canadian tour--Delight of President
Buchanan at receiving a letter from Queen Victoria--Prince
of Wales's visit to the United States 12
CHAPTER III
OUTBREAK OF CIVIL WAR--THE 'TRENT' CASE
1860-1861
Crisis caused by election of President Lincoln--Mr. Seward as
Secretary of State: his threatening language--Capture of Fort
Sumter--Desirability of England and France acting in conjunction--Danger
of an attack upon Canada--Growth of ill-feeling
towards England--Effect of battle of Bull's Run--Mr. Seward
on the essential difference between American policy and that
of Foreign Nations--Seizure of a Foreign Office bag--British
Consuls and the Confederate Government--The Trent incident:
seizure of Messrs. Mason and Slidell--Lord Lyons's decision to
maintain complete reserve--H.M. Government urged to provide
for defence of Canada--Attitude of American public--Instructions
of Her Majesty's Government--Mr. Seward's reception of
the despatch--Liberation of Messrs. Mason and Slidell--Lord
Lyons's consideration acknowledged by Mr. Seward--Advantage
of occasional silence 29
CHAPTER IV
COURSE OF THE CIVIL WAR
1862-1865
Course of the Civil War--Mr. Seward's altered policy towards
England--Visit of the French Minister, M. Mercier, to the Confederate
Headquarters--Lord Lyons declines to accompany him--Rumoured intention
of France and England to mediate--Breakdown in health owing to
overwork--Failure of French attempt at intervention--Dissatisfaction in
Northern States--Indiscretion of a British Consul--Arbitrary
proceedings of American cruisers--Lord Russell and the
_Alabama_--Grievances of foreigners resident in the United
States--Liability of British subjects to military service--Method of
recruiting the Northern armies--Hardships of 'Volunteers'--The Bounty
System--Surprising proposal by Mr. Seward--Reciprocity negotiations:
Lord Lyons's objections to a Canadian representative--Difficulty of
obtaining redress for aggrieved British subjects--Lord Lyons directed
to proceed to Canada and to report on its defence--Return to
Washington--Breakdown in health--The work at the Washington
Legation--Proceeds to England--Retires temporarily from Diplomatic
service owing to ill-health 79
CHAPTER V
CONSTANTINOPLE
1865-1867
Offer and Acceptance of Constantinople Embassy--Sir Henry
Bulwer--Comparative calm at Constantinople--Arrogance of
French Ambassador, M. de Moustier--Lord Stratford de Redcliffe
on Turkey--Sultan Abdul Aziz and his passion for ironclads--The
Principalities: Prince Charles of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
chosen as Hereditary Prince--Difficulties relating to his
Investiture--Crete: The Fortress of Belgrade--Lord Stanley on
Greece--Russian policy towards Turkey--Pro-Russian proclivities
of Napoleon III.--Projected visit of the Sultan to France and
England--Mr. Hammond's apprehensions with regard to the
Sultan--The Dragoman system at Constantinople--Appointed
Ambassador at Paris 144
CHAPTER VI
THE SECOND EMPIRE
1867-1869
Arrival at Paris--The Empress on the Roman Question--The Emperor's
desire for a Conference--Mr. Odo Russell on erroneous French impressions
with regard to the Papacy--Prince Napoleon on the probability of war
with Germany--Credulity of the Emperor of Russia--Visit of Prince
Napoleon to Germany: his impressions--Difficulties of Napoleon
III.--General uneasiness in France and depression of Emperor--Suggested
offer of throne of Spain to Duke of Edinburgh--Lord Clarendon's
conversations with the King of Prussia and Moltke--Lord Clarendon and
Napoleon III.--Lord Clarendon at the Foreign Office--Views of the Crown
Prince of Prussia--Emperor's love of Conferences--The Luxemburg Railway
affair--Apprehensions in England and Belgium of French designs--Views
of Queen Victoria and Gladstone--Confidential instructions to Lord
Lyons--Desire of Empress to visit India--Lord Lyons requested to vote
on party question in House of Lords--Formation of Constitutional
Administration under Emile Ollivier--Distrust of the Emperor 177
CHAPTER VII
SECRET PROPOSALS FOR DISARMAMENT
1870
Attempt by Lord Clarendon, at request of Count Daru, to induce
the Prussian Government to partially disarm--Emile Ollivier
on disarmament--Memorandum by Lord Clarendon communicated
to Bismarck--Objections raised by Bismarck--Count
Daru on Bismarck's arguments--Intended reduction of the
French army--Second attempt by Lord Clarendon--Bismarck's
final answer 246
CHAPTER VIII
THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR
1870
Internal situation in France--Further military reduction sanctioned--The
Plébiscite: general uneasiness--Official satisfaction at result
of Plébiscite--Sycophantic diplomatists--Gramont appointed
Foreign Minister--Official views respecting the value of British
colonies--Accurate prophecy by Lord Clarendon--Death of Lord
Clarendon: Lord Granville Foreign Secretary--The Hohenzollern
Candidature--Explosion of Chauvinism--Lord Lyons's explanation
of the manner in which the war was forced upon the Emperor
Napoleon--Conduct of the Empress during the early stages of the
war--Fall of the Empire: Thiers and Jules Favre--Thiers's
mission--Malet's mission to Bismarck--Consent of Bismarck to receive
a representation of the Provisional Government 280
CHAPTER IX
THE GOVERNMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENCE
1870-1871
Departure from Paris to join Provisional Government at Tours--Chaudordy
on cession of territory--Attempt of Gustave Flourens to overthrow the
Government at Paris--Thiers's interviews with Bismarck--Bismarck and
_Les militaires_--Gladstone on cession of territory--Denunciation
by Russia of Black Sea clauses in Treaty of Paris--Question of
Bismarck's connivance--French and German grievances against
England--Lord Lyons joins Provisional Government at Bordeaux--Difficulty
in securing a French Representation at Black Sea Conference--Revival of
French hopes at close of 1870--Bombardment of Paris--Thiers willing to
cede territory: his superiority to Jules Favre--Armistice--General
election--Thiers's conduct of the Peace Negotiations--Peace conditions
accepted--Outbreak of the Commune: Lord Lyons and other diplomatists go
to Versailles--Malet and Paschal Grousset--Murder of the Archbishop of
Paris and the hostages--Suppression of the Commune--Return to Paris.
322
LIST OF PLATES IN VOL. I
FACING PAGE
LORD LYONS _Frontispiece_
_From a photograph taken at Boston, U.S., in 1860_
WILLIAM HENRY SEWARD 32
PRINCE NAPOLEON 194
LORD LYONS
A RECORD OF BRITISH DIPLOMACY
CHAPTER I
EARLY LIFE
Born in 1817, Richard Bickerton Pemell Lyons, second Baron and first
Viscount and Earl Lyons, eldest son of the distinguished Admiral Sir
Edmund (subsequently first Baron Lyons), was apparently destined like
his younger brother for a naval career, since at the age of ten he was
already serving as an honorary midshipman. A sailor's life, however,
must have been singularly uncongenial to a person of pronounced
sedentary tastes whom nature had obviously designed for a bureaucrat; in
after years he never alluded to his naval experiences, and it was
probably with no slight satisfaction that the navy was exchanged for
Winchester. From Winchester he proceeded to Christ Church, Oxford, where
he took his degree in 1838, being apparently at that period a quiet,
well-behaved, hard-working youth, living carefully upon a modest
allowance, and greatly attached to his parents and family.
In the following year he entered the diplomatic service as unpaid
attaché at Athens, where his father occupied the position of Minister.
In 1844 he became a paid attaché at Athens, and passed thirteen
uneventful years at that post.
At this stage of his career, prospects looked far from promising; he
had started later than usual, being twenty-two at the period of his
entry into the service; younger men were senior to him; he had had no
opportunity of distinguishing himself at Athens, and as he laments in a
letter to the Foreign Secretary, Lord Malmesbury, written in April,
1852, he felt 'mortified and humiliated that a man six years younger
than himself had been passed over him as Secretary to the Legation in
which he had served for thirteen years.' Promotion indeed seemed so
remote that, having reached the age of thirty-five, he seriously
contemplated abandoning diplomacy altogether.
As a matter of fact, there was no cause for uneasiness. In 1852 he was
transferred as paid attaché to Dresden, and early in the following year
received the gratifying intimation that Lord John Russell, who had been
struck with his capacity, had appointed him paid attaché at Rome. 'What
I mean for him,' wrote Lord John Russell, 'is to succeed Mr. Petre, and
to conduct the Roman Mission, with £500 a year. If there were any post
of Secretary of Legation vacant I should gladly offer it to him, as I
have a very good opinion of him.' The importance of the post at Rome
consisted in the fact that, whereas technically dependent on the Tuscan
Mission at Florence, it was virtually semi-independent, and might
easily form an excellent stepping-stone to higher and more important
appointments if activity and discretion were displayed.
In June, 1853, Lyons started for his new post carrying despatches, and
as an illustration of the conditions of travel upon the continent at
that period, it is worth noticing that the expenses of his journey to
Rome amounted to no less a sum than £102 3_s_. 3_d_., inclusive of the
purchase and sale of a carriage, although no man was ever less prodigal
of public money. Nor is there any record of any official objection to
this somewhat alarming outlay.
In 1853 the Pontifical Government, exercising its sway over some
3,000,000 inhabitants of the Roman States, was in possession of no
inconsiderable portion of the Italian peninsula, and presented the
remarkable spectacle of a country jointly occupied by two foreign armies
whose task it was to protect the Pope against his own subjects. With
this object, 10,000 Austrians were stationed in the Ancona district, and
10,000 French troops in Rome, the latter paying their own expenses, but
the former constituting a heavy charge upon the Holy Father with his
embarrassed revenue and increasing deficit. The foreign policy of the
Government was in the hands of Cardinal Antonelli, and not long after
his arrival Lyons was able to write that in spite of 'his peculiar
position' (unaccredited to the Government in Rome), and that in some
quarters England is regarded as the natural enemy of the Papacy, I have
found that notwithstanding a very strong opinion to the contrary, at
Rome, as at most other places, one succeeds best by transacting one's
business in the most plain and straightforward manner, and through the
most direct channels. By acting on this principle and by being very
quiet and unobtrusive, I think I have in part allayed the suspicions
which are felt towards us always more or less at Rome, and I am
certainly on a better footing with Cardinal Antonelli than I had
at all expected to be.
The business between His Majesty's Government and that of Rome was not
of an overpowering nature, and was chiefly concerned with the proposed
establishment of regular diplomatic relations; with the alleged
intention of the Papal Government to create a Hierarchy in Scotland, and
with the inconvenient zeal of ardent Protestants in the Papal dominions.
As regards the establishment of diplomatic relations it seems highly
doubtful whether the Papal Government really desired to see a new
Protestant Mission at Rome: Cardinal Antonelli disclaimed any intention
of creating Roman Catholic Bishops in Scotland, but the religious
activity of British subjects in the Pope's dominions was a constant
source of petty troubles. It must be admitted, however, that it was
singularly easy to fall out with the Papal Government. The importation
of Bibles was forbidden, the distribution of tracts was punished with
imprisonment; one man of English extraction was incarcerated for a
lengthy period because, according to his own statements, he had not
communicated with sufficient regularity; and there were over 600
political prisoners in gaol at Rome at the same time.
As for the official relations between England and the Papal Government
they were friendly enough, and when the Crimean war broke out, feeling
at the Vatican was strongly anti-Russian, for it was believed that
whereas the Roman Catholic Church had nothing to fear from Protestants
and Mussulmans, the Greek schism was a real and threatening danger.
The following letter addressed to his brother, Captain Lyons, gives a
not uninteresting description of the life led in Rome by an unmarried
diplomatist without much private means, and incidentally shows the deep
affection which he entertained for his family.
* * * * *
Rome, January 3rd, 1855.
You may imagine what a relief to me it was, after reading your
letter of the 18th, to see Admiral Dundas' arrival at Constantinople
announced in the Malta paper. Your letter of the 3rd is almost,
indeed I think quite, the most interesting I ever read. The only
drawback to the delight all these letters are to me, is that you
were still lying up. That I hope is over, and that you will be very
prudent about it. We have now a weekly post from Constantinople and
Malta, which is a great comfort. Mention all the details you can in
your letters about the siege and operations by sea and land. The
Malta papers bring nothing that can be depended upon. Besides the
intense interest, it is a great advantage to me diplomatically to
have good intelligence to communicate here, and is a great help to
getting information, which is useful to me, on Roman matters.
Details about Sir E. and yourself are always the most precious
things you can write, and they cannot be too numerous or too minute.
My _ménage_ consists of two men. I am obliged to have two, in order
not to have to open the door myself, if I send one out. I have a
good-sized sitting room, much better furnished than most Roman
Lodgings, a second sitting room, which serves as Anteroom, and
Breakfast Room, good Bedroom and a Dressing Room. I have very little
sun, which I think an advantage, though in general it is thought the
greatest of disadvantages--I breakfast at home, and dine with some
of the other Diplomatists at a little quiet Table d'Hôte, where
there is a very good dinner. In winter I dine out three or four
times a week, and always spend the evening in society. I never do
anything at all in the way of hospitality. With the immense number
of English here, it would be impossible for me to get on, unless I
made this rule. In summer I had some men occasionally to play at
Whist, all of course Foreigners. I have taken my present lodging to
the end of June. My hope is to go to England for two or three months
about that time. I pay between 14 and £15 sterling a month for my
apartment. It is in a capital situation--and a second floor. It is
an admirable country for long rides, but very bad for short ones.
The pavement of the Town is so slippery that it is dangerous to ride
over it--most of the gates are at a very great distance, and after
you pass them, you have a mile or two of stone wall, before you get
out into the open country--which is beautiful and excellent for
riding. The result is that I never do ride. Being almost the only
Englishman here who has anything to do, beyond sight seeing and
amusement, my hours do not suit my Countrymen. My great friend is a
Count Gozze, Austrian Secretary of Legation. He is an old Dresden
friend of mine. Rome is a very rainy place, which obliges me often
to hire a carriage to go out in the evening. The hired carriages are
good, but dear, about nine shillings for an evening. Lord Walpole is
here--no one else I think that you know. I have scribbled all this
because you ask me, and because little details about the writer (if
one really cares for him) are generally the most interesting parts
of letters, written where there are no great events going on. You
would think me oldwomanish if I mentioned half my anxieties about
you and my Father.
A few months later, the brother, Captain Lyons, an exceptionally
promising and gallant naval officer, died of wounds received before
Sebastopol.
In 1856 promotion came in the shape of the secretaryship of Legation at
Florence, but he continued to be employed in Rome, and stood
twenty-second on a list of twenty-four secretaries of Legation. His
prospects of further advance did not appear reassuring, and in March
1857, he writes to his father (now a peer), 'My chance at present seems
to rest almost entirely on Lord Clarendon's disposition to give
practical effect to the good opinion he expresses of me. I should trust
with more confidence to that, if he had not promoted six secretaries of
Legation before me during my residence here, and afterwards offered me
as promotion the post of Secretary of Legation at Florence. Had it not
been for your visit to England at the critical moment, I should now have
been no more than simple Secretary of Legation, doing nothing at
Florence.'
In the autumn of 1857, Lord Normanby, Minister at Florence, having gone
on leave, Lyons was sent to take his place, and, instead of having
nothing to do, found himself at once involved in one of those trivial
questions which so deeply exercised the diplomacy of a former
generation, but which are now of rare occurrence.
Earlier in the year the Pope had paid a visit to Tuscany, and during his
stay at Florence a banquet was held in his honour, to which the members
of the diplomatic corps were invited. Much to their indignation they
were not accommodated at the Tavola di Stato or Sovereign Table, where
His Holiness was seated, and Lord Normanby, the British Minister, a
K.G., Ex-Viceroy, and social magnate, considered that an apology was
due from the Tuscan Government. Unfortunately for Lord Normanby, his
colleagues, having previously agreed to support him, backed out of their
undertaking, and the task of extracting an apology fell upon Lyons, for
Lord Normanby had departed uttering dark threats that he would not
return unless the apology was forthcoming. The Foreign Office took up
the matter seriously, and for no less than three months an animated
controversy was carried on, in the course of which 'The Tuscan
authorities showed themselves so thoroughly wrongheaded that every time
the subject was mentioned they said or did something which made it more
difficult for them to go back,' and Lord Clarendon administered to them
'a severe rebuke.' Finally, whether owing to the severe rebuke or not,
some sort of expression of regret was obtained; the injured Lord Normanby
returned to his post, and Lyons resumed his duties at Rome. Whence he
writes on March 6, 1858:--
The question of Reforms in the Papal Administration, which was so
much agitated during the Pope's journey and immediately afterwards,
appears to be entirely forgotten. The repressive measures which have
been adopted in France since the attempt on the Emperor[1] would
seem to render it difficult for H.M. to urge other sovereigns to
Liberal reforms. The mode in which the intelligence of the attempt
was received at Rome was shocking. One can hardly say that any class
expressed horror: the lower people openly declared their regret that
the crime had not been successful, and the middle classes took
little pains to conceal that they shared this feeling. In fact the
policy which is supposed to be adopted by France of coquetting with
the Liberal Party, without doing anything serious in their favour,
has alienated the sympathies of this part of Italy.
Reforms of a simple character were evidently urgently needed in the
Papal Administration, for just about this time a Canadian bishop and
other British tourists were openly plundered on the main road between
Rome and Civita Vecchia.
The turning point in Lyons's fortunes may be said to have arrived when
early in March he received orders from Lord Malmesbury to proceed to
Naples to inquire into the case of the _Cagliari_.
The _Cagliari_ was a mail steamer plying between Genoa, Sardinia and
Tunis, and on June 25, a number of Mazzinians who had taken passage in
her seized the master and the crew, altered the course of the vessel,
landed at the Island of Ponza in Neapolitan territory, where they
liberated three hundred political prisoners, and subsequently proceeded
to Sapri, in the neighbourhood of Salerno. Here they again disembarked,
expecting the inhabitants to rise in their favour, but encountered a
superior force of Neapolitan troops who killed or captured the whole
party, whilst the _Cagliari_ was seized by Neapolitan warships as
she was making her way ostensibly to Naples. Some weeks later it was
ascertained that amongst the prisoners in Naples were two English
engineers, Watt and Park by name, and it was stated that these two men
were entirely ignorant of the conspiracy, and had been forced by the
conspirators to work the engines under threats of being summarily
shot if they refused. Under the circumstances, as was only natural,
application was made by the British Government that they should at least
have a fair trial, and that the acting Vice-Consul at Naples should be
permitted to visit them in gaol.
Diplomatic relations between England and the Neapolitan Government
having been suspended for some years, Lord Clarendon wrote himself
direct to Signor Carafa, the Neapolitan Foreign Minister, in November,
urging the necessity of dealing with the case in an equitable spirit,
but with incredible perverseness and stupidity the Neapolitan Government
continued to refuse upon one pretext or another either to release the
men or to bring them to trial, or even to permit the Vice-Consul to
visit them. In March, 1858, Watt and Park were still in gaol, and had
been subjected to such abominable treatment that the health of both
was completely broken down, and Watt had become partially insane. Under
these circumstances, a change of government having in the meanwhile
occurred in England, Lord Malmesbury directed Lyons to proceed at once
to Naples and inquire into the case. Although the whole question had
been considerably complicated, partly owing to a note of Sir James
Hudson to the Sardinian Government having been unaccountably altered by
a member of his staff, and partly owing to a rooted belief on the part
of high Neapolitan legal authorities that engineers were responsible for
a ship's course, the Lyons Mission soon bore fruit, and the two
unfortunate Englishmen were both set free, nominally on bail, before the
end of the month, it having become evident to every one that they were
absolutely innocent. But the Neapolitan Government was by no means out
of its difficulties. It was pointed out that as two innocent men had
been imprisoned for nine months, and treated with great barbarity during
the greater part of the time, they were entitled to an indemnity which
was fixed at £3000. Worse was to follow, for, egged on by the Sardinian
Government, the British Government put forward a demand that the
_Cagliari_ should be surrendered on the ground that its capture had
been illegally effected. Both these demands were refused, and finally,
in May, 1858, a special messenger was sent to Naples instructing Lyons
to leave unless within ten days the Neapolitan Government consented to
accept mediation, and stating that England would make common cause with
Sardinia under certain circumstances.
The message could not have been an agreeable one to deliver, and what
the Neapolitan Government disliked more than anything else was the
appearance of yielding to Sardinia. 'Ah! s'il n'y avait que l'Angleterre!'
had always been the expression used by Signor Carafa; but his Government
had placed itself hopelessly in the wrong, and Lyons was able to report
that the indemnity would be paid, and that the _Cagliari_ had been
placed 'at his disposal.' It was an additional satisfaction to him to
add that: 'Far from threatening, I did not even go so far as my
instructions warranted, for I did not say that His Majesty's Government
proposed that the mediator should retire at the end of three months, nor
did I tell Signor Carafa that I was myself ordered to go back to Rome if
the mediation should be refused at the expiration of ten days.'
In spite of the unpleasant nature of this affair, Lyons contrived to
remain on the very best of terms with the Neapolitan Ministers with whom
he had to deal, and Lord Malmesbury was so favourably impressed with his
tact and skill that he at once appointed him Minister at Florence. His
professional future was now assured; but far greater honours were in
store for him, for in November, 1858, came the offer of the Washington
Legation, an offer which, with characteristic modesty, he accepted with
considerable misgivings as to his competence. Nor could it be said that
success had arrived with unusual rapidity, for he was already forty-one.
In the same month he succeeded to the peerage on the death of his
father. His mother had died some years previously; his brother had
perished in the Crimea, and the only remaining near relatives were his
two sisters, one of whom was married to the Duke of Norfolk, and the
other to a Bavarian gentleman, Baron von Würtzburg.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Napoleon III.