119.] Finally, in looking at the events of 1875-76 in their broad outlines, we may note the verdict of a veteran diplomatist, whose conduct before the Crimean War proved him to be as friendly to the interests of Turkey as he was hostile to those of Russia, but who now saw that the situation differed utterly from that which was brought about by the aggressive action of Czar Nicholas I.in 1854.

In a series of letters to the _Times_ he pointed out the supreme need of joint action by all the Powers who signed the Treaty of Paris; that that treaty by no means prohibited their intervention in the affairs of Turkey; that wise and timely intervention would be to the advantage of that State; that the Turks had always yielded to coercion if it were of overwhelming strength, but only on those terms; and that therefore the severance of England from the European Concert was greatly to be deplored[127].

In private this former champion of Turkey went even farther, and declared on Sept.

10, 1876, that the crisis in the East would not have become acute had Great Britain acted conjointly with the Powers[128].

There is every reason to believe that posterity will endorse this judgment of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe.
[Footnote 127: Letters of Dec.