Cyprus, as I Saw it in 1879 | Page 6

possessed a written character peculiarly original, and that it was occupied by a people highly civilised according to the standard of the early world at so primitive an era, that all records have disappeared, and we are left in the darkness of conjecture.
The changes in the importance of certain geographical positions, owing to the decline and fall of empires, which at one time governed the destinies of the Eastern world, have been strikingly exhibited on the shores of the Mediterranean; Tyre, Sidon, Carthage, Cyprus, had lost their significance upon modern charts, even before the New Worlds appeared, when America, Australia, and the Eastern Archipelago were introduced upon the globe. The progress of Western Europe eclipsed the Oriental Powers which hitherto represented the civilisation of mankind, and two points alone remained, which, shorn of their ancient glory, still maintained their original importance as geographical centres, that will renew those struggles for their possession which fill the bloody pages of their history--Egypt and Constantinople.
No country had been more completely excluded from the beaten paths of British travellers than the island of Cyprus, and England was startled by the sudden revelation of a mystery connected with the Treaty of Berlin, that it was to become a strategical point for a British military occupation!
On the 4th June, 1878, a "Convention of Defensive Alliance between Great Britain and Turkey" was signed, which agreed upon the following articles:-
ARTICLE I.
"If Batoum, Ardahan, Kars, or any of them, shall be retained by Russia, or if any attempt shall be made at any future time by Russia to take possession of any further territories of His Imperial Majesty the Sultan in Asia, as fixed by the definitive treaty of peace, England engages to join His Imperial Majesty the Sultan in defending them by force of Arms.
"In return, His Imperial Majesty the Sultan promises to England to introduce necessary reforms, to be agreed upon later between the two Powers, into the government, and for the protection of the Christian and other subjects of the Porte in those territories; and in order to enable England to make necessary provision for executing her engagement, His Imperial Majesty the Sultan further consents to assign the island of Cyprus to be occupied and administered by England.
ARTICLE II.
"The present Convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications thereof shall be exchanged, within the space of one month, or sooner if possible.
"In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms.
"Done at Constantinople, the fourth day of June, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
"A.H. LAYARD.
"SAFVET."
It was eventually agreed between the contracting Powers:-
"That England will pay to the Porte whatever is the present excess of revenue over expenditure in the island; this excess to be calculated and determined by the average of the last five years."
and:--
"That if Russia restores to Turkey Kars and the other conquests made by her in Armenia during the last war, the island of Cyprus will be evacuated by England, and the Convention of the fourth June, 1878, will be at an end."
I knew nothing of Cyprus, but I felt sure that the Turks had the best of the bargain, as they would receive the usual surplus revenue from our hands, and be saved the trouble and onus of the collection; they would also be certain of a fixed annual sum, without any of those risks of droughts, famine, and locusts, to which the island is exposed, and which seriously affect the income.
Although there would only be a wildly remote chance of Russia ever relinquishing her Asiatic prey, the bare mention of the words "will be evacuated by England" was a possible contingency and risk, that would effectually exclude all British capital from investment in the island. I could not discover any possible good that could accrue to England by the terms of the Convention. If Cyprus had been presented as a "bonus" by the Porte to counterbalance the risk we should incur in a defensive alliance for the protection of Asia Minor, I could have seen an addition to our Colonial Empire of a valuable island, that would not only have been of strategical value, but such that in a few years, money and British settlers would have entirely changed its present aspect, and have created for it a new era of prosperity.
If England had purchased Cyprus, I could have understood the plain, straightforward, business-like transaction, which would have at once established confidence, both among the inhabitants, who would have become British subjects; and through the outer world, that would have acknowledged the commencement of a great future.
But, if we were actually bound in defensive alliance with Turkey in case of a war with Russia, why should we occupy Cyprus upon such one-sided and anomalous conditions, that would frustrate all hopes