ces will be gratified to possess so good a portrait of his face and form. In regard to its accuracy and truthfulness, we may be permited to say, that it has been carefully engraved for the Eclectic by Mr. Perine, from a portrait which his Lordship kindly gave us, at our request at his house in London, last summer, 1864. The kindness of his manner was only equalled by the affluence of his instructive conversation of historic interest, on the past and present current events on both sides of the Atlantic.

We beg to record also a brief outline biographical sketch of his lordship, for the interest of the reader. Viscount Stratford Canning is the fourth son of Stratford Canning, Esq., merchant of London, and first cousin to the late Right Honorable George Canning and of the first Lord Garvagh, and is descended from a younger branch of the ancient family of Canning of Foxcote, in the county of Warwick. He was born in London, January 6th, 1788, and received his early education on the foundation at Eton, where he rose to the captaincy of the school. He was admitted a scholar of King's College, Cambridge, in 1806, but quitted the university in the following year, without having taken a degree, on being appointed a précis writer in the Foreign Office under his cousin; and in the same year he accompanied Mr. Merry as secretary on his embassy to Denmark and Sweden. In 1808 he was despatched as secretary to Sir Robert Adair's special mission to the Dardanelles, for the purpose of negotiating terms of peace between England and the Porte, which had been forcibly interrupted in 1807; an object which was eventually accomplished by the treaty signed January 5, 1809. These negotiations were secretly opposed by both France and Russia; but the Sultan Mohammed remained firm to the interests of Britain. In the following April Mr. Canning was made secretary of legation at the Porte, and on the recall of Sir Robert Adair in 1810 was accredited minister plenipotentiary at that court. This important post he retained till 1812, when he returned to England and took the degree of M. A. by royal letters at King's College, Cambridge. In 1814 he was appointed envoy to Switzerland, and assisted in the formation of

the Treaty of Alliance between the nineteen cantons, which eventually became the basis of their federal compact. In 1820 having been sworn a member of his majesty's Privy Council, he was accredited as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the United States, and remained at Washington for three years; during which time he had an opportunity of obtaining correct knowledge of the details of the various questions which had been left for future adjustment between the two governments by the treaty of Ghent. At the end of 1824, Mr. Stratford Canning was sent to St. Petersburg on a special mission, having reference to the Greek troubles, and another also to the Emperor of Austria. After accomplishing the duties of these missions he proceeded to Constantinople, having been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to that court on the 10th of October, 1825. Here he lost no occasion of negotiating with the sultan in favor of the Greek nation, whose heroic exertions and horrible sufferings had engaged alike the admiration and sympathy of men of all nations and of all parties; but his appeals were unfortunately without avail. The obdurate sultan could pardon, but would not treat with men whom he looked upon as his slaves. Under these circumstances, the three powers-England, France, and Russia-determined upon concerting more effectually for terminating a condition of things which had become a scandal to all Europe. In 1827 Mr. Canning returned to England for a time, and in the July of that year was signed the treaty of London, by which the three powers agreed to tender to the Sublime Porte their mediating offices towards putting an end to the internal war and establishing the relations which ought to exist between Turkey and the people of Greece, and in event of such mediation being rejected, to interfere by force in the matter. The reply of the Porte was a refusal, and was immediately followed by active measures of coercion. The battle of Navarino, on the policy of which so much discussion and debate has taken place, was fought in September 1827, and the allied powers resolved to take the Greek nation under their protection, and consulted on the

768

LORD STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE.

ment, or scientific body, or public, to second his aspirations for the discovery of ancient Nineveh, Lord Stratford authorised and enabled him, at his own risk and expense, to proceed upon his researches. In 1847, those interesting relics, the Budrum marbles-being, as supposed, the remains of the mausoleum erected at Halicarnassus, by Artemisia, queen of Caria, to her husband, Mausolus -were obtained by Lord Stratford, by firman from the Porte, and presented by him to the British Museum.

We only add what of thanks and gratitude are due to his Lordship from the friends of Missions and especially the friends of Missionaries of the American Board at Constantinople, for his very efficient protection and kindness to them extended through many years, which, perhaps no one else could have so effectually performed.

The services rendered by Lord Stratford de Redcliffe to the cause of religious liberty in Turkey, have linked his name imperishably with the names of the Configreat benefactors of mankind. ning himself within the sphere of his just influence, in view of the relations subsisting between the English and Turkish governments, he was ever ready to make that influence felt in behalf of the persecuted of whatever religious faith, when the rights of conscience were assailed in their persons. In 1843, by a decided and firm course of action, in which he was happily sustained by his own government, and aided by the representatives of other Christian powers, he was enabled to gain a pledge, in the Sultan's autograph, for the non-application of the law making apostasy from Mohammedanism, a capital crime, to Moslems who had once been Christians, and returned to the profession of Christianity. This was a step of immense difficulty and the greatest importance, as setting aside, in a large class of cases, an express injunction of the Koran, which is the statute-book of Mohammedan civil and ecclesiastical law, and implying as a consequence the abrogation of religious intolerance.

On the ground of the understood meaning of that guarantee, Lord Stratford interposed his good offices for protection to Jews, Roman Catholics, and

other religionists, in instances of out-
rage against such, which were made
known to him. But it was more fre-
quently in behalf of converts to Protes-
tantism from among the Armenians that
his kind offices were sought. To the
American Missionaries, whose discretion,
prudence and forbearance as well as zeal
in their work, he publicly acknowledged,
he gave ready access, although the details
of the many cases of grievous persecution
which they were obliged to present, made
large demands on his fully occupied time;
and he pleaded for the oppressed for con-
science' sake with a dignity, patience, and
perseverance, which the fraud and chica-
nery of the persecutors, and the frequent
ill-will of the Turkish officials, could not
withstand. In the end, his efforts result-
ed in the formal recognition of the right
of such native Protestants to protection,
and enabled Lord Cowley to secure for
them in 1847, during Lord Stratford's
brief absence from Turkey, an official
decree placing them on the same footing
before the law with all other Christian
subjects of the Porte.

But the crowning glory of Lord de Redcliffe's diplomatic career is in the stipulations of the remarkable document called the Hatti Sherif or Hatti Humayoun, obtained chiefly by his instrumentality, and given by the Sultan as a Magna Charta to his people at the close of the war with Russia in the begining of 1856. Its most important article is in the following words:

"As all forms of religion are and shall be freely professed in my dominions, no subject of my empire shall be hindered in the exercise of the religion that he professes, nor shall be in any way annoyed on this account. No one shall be under restraint in respect to changing his religion."

This was, and was understood to be, a direct annulment of the law forbidding apostasy from Mohammedanism, and a pledge of the most entire religious freedom for all classes of the population. A change so fundamental, and so at war with oriental fanatical bigotry, Mohammedan, Christian, and Jewish, can be but imperfectly carried out with the best intentions of the supreme government; but during the life of the late sovereign, this guarantee was carried into effect with a good degree of fidelity, at least in

the capital and its vicinity. Converts Cotillon I. (Maria Theresa) had succeeded from Mohammedanism have been bap- in winning over Cotillon II. (Elizabeth tized, and dwelt in safety, where but a of Russia) and Cotillon III. (Madame de few years ago they would have been be- Pompadour), the great king of Prussia headed. Recently a reactionary policy was driven to the very brink of the has been inaugurated; the attempts to abyss. crush Protestantism not going however beyond temporary imprisonments and exile at the capitol. In the interior and Syria lawless violence and the secret action of unprincipled or bigoted officials have, as there is reason to believe, taken the lives of several Moslem converts to Christianity. This sad change has arisen from the fact that the British government is now represented at Constantinople, by Sir Henry Bulwer instead of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe. The Palmerston Ministry have the grave question to determine whether the grandly beneficent fruits of the latter's diplomacy shall be sacrified or preserved.

This is but a brief and imperfect outline of his Lordship's very useful and brilliant public life, which is still prolonged. He resigned his embassy in May, 1858, and retired on his pension. He was sent on a special mission to take leave of the Sultan, in September, 1858. He was chairman of the jury of works in precious metals and their imitations, and jewelry, in the International Exhibition of 1862, and still continues an active and honored member of the English House of Lords at the present time.

Bentley's Miscellany.

A PETTICOAT INTRIGUE. A PERIOD of the last century bears in history the name of the period of the Adventurers. It comprises the epoch when Elizabeth of Parma, Princess Orsini, Alberoni, Ripperda, and people of a similar stamp, kept the world in suspense, and made far more important changes in the map of Europe than in our age can be effected with far greater resources. The whole of the last century continued to work with adventurous means. Through annoyance at the paltry intrigues which were drawn round his policy like spider-webs, until he cut them with his sword; Frederick the Great christened his enemies Petticoats and numbered them Cotillon I. II. and III. When NEW SERIES-VOL. I., No. 6.

Kaunitz was sent to Paris, in order to gain over the French court for an Austrian alliance. The clever diplomatist ostensibly ignored politics entirely, formed the acquaintance of beaux esprits and artists, and constantly kept himself before the public in one way or the other. He was imperceptibly conveyed by the little waves of gossip to the throne, and then he began his game, which consisted in nothing less than doing homage to the Pompadour in the way she liked best, and amusing the wearied king better than any one else could do it. One fine day, however, it happened that he was as little heeded as if he were living in a Trappist monastery or among the Otaheitans. A delicious mystery, a Russian woman of marvelous beauty, occupied the court and the king more especially. She seemed to have come to the world's capital, in order to live there more solitary than on a steppe of Southern Russia. She occupied a

ruined castle in the neighborhood of Paris, which had been magnificently fitted up for her, but to which no one was admitted. At times a wild team of Russian horses flew through the Champs Elysées, or a tall lady appeared at a masked ball, so disguised that little was visible of her beyond her eyes, which discharged from behind her velvet mask glances like death's arrows. When Richelieu had reported, in a hunt in the forest of Sénart, the little he knew about the Russian, the king was inflamed with curiosity to learn more. From this time the favorite, only accompanied by one servant, rode daily round the mysterious castle, but could discover nothing. A charcoal-burner in the adjoining forest had once been led into the castle, foreign-looking men conveyed him through the forest with bandaged eyes, and it seemed to him as if he went downwards and passed through hollow, damp passages. His bandage was removed in a turretshaped vault. He was asked whether he would remain in the lady's service, but he shuddered at the gloomy, damp spot, and returned to daylight by the

48