Page:The house of Cecil.djvu/308

 268 THE CECILS

and exchanging views with the foreign ministers in those capitals, he arrived at Constantinople early in December. The object of the Conference, as he afterwards pointed out, was " first of all to restore peace between Turkey and Servia and Montenegro, and then to obtain good government for the Turkish provinces ; but," he added, " undoubtedly we also went into the Conference to stop a great and menacing danger, namely, the prospect of war between Russia and Turkey." The British proposals, which formed the basis of discussion, included the conclusion of peace, and the restora- tion of the status quo in Servia and Montenegro ; the concession of local self-government to Bosnia and Herzegovina ; and a guarantee for the good government of Bulgaria. These proposals the Porte rejected, and the Conference broke up, with the inevitable sequel that Russia declared war.

For the first nine months of the war, England maintained a strict neutrality, keeping, however, a watchful eye upon any action which might affect her interests. But after the fall of Plevna, the Russian advance began to threaten Constanti- nople, and the British Government decided, in January, 1878, to send the fleet through the Dardanelles a course of action for which Lord Salisbury, " worn out by Russian duplicity," was more eager than anyone else. 1 Then came the Treaty of San Stefano, and the consequent proposal for a Congress of the Powers, to which

1 Life of Lord Cranbrook, II. 46'

�� �