“The prediction was fulfilled to the letter. Meeting Ignatieff some time after, Sir W. White recalled the prophecy and its fulfilment. ‘Oh! yes,’ said the general, carelessly; ‘I arranged that.’ ‘But you had left Constantinople before Midhat’s exile.’ ‘Certainly, but I arranged it just before I left.’ ‘How?’ ‘It was very simple; the weather was stormy in the Black Sea, and I could not leave for some days after the departure of my colleague. I went on board my steamer and anchored exactly opposite the Sultan’s palace. I did not go and bid him farewell, but waited. In a day or two, as I anticipated, there came an _aide-de-camp_ from the Sultan to express his regret and surprise that I, whom he had known better than any of the Ambassadors, should be departing without paying him a farewell visit. I replied that, of course, I should have been delighted to have paid my respects to His Majesty, but that it was no longer necessary. I had paid my farewell visit to Midhat Pasha, as, under the Constitution, it was to him, not the Sultan, that such an act of respect was due. Almost immediately after arriving in Russia I heard of the exile of Midhat. My parting shot had secured his downfall.’”[82] The Conference failed, and Russia declared war against Turkey, for now she had obtained what she had been striving for during the diplomatic transactions, viz., a pretence for a single-handed policy with regard to Turkey, and, secondly, she had obtained sufficient time for making all necessary war preparations. Now, although she had already got back what she had lost in the Crimean War (through the Franco-Prussian War), yet she was determined to obtain what she had intended to take at the Crimean War, viz., Constantinople. A large Russian army crossed the Pruth (April, 1877), and encamped before Constantinople. In Asia Kars was captured. This led to the Treaty of San Stefano. By this treaty the Ottoman Empire in Europe was completely abrogated. It recognized the independence of Servia, Montenegro, and Roumania; Bulgaria was created, and its boundaries now extended to the Black and Ægean Seas, embracing several valuable harbours. Although the latter country still remained tributary to Turkey, yet Russia had the appointment of a Christian prince in her hands. It has now to have a separate administration, to be supervised by Russian commissioners, and was also to be garrisoned by Russian troops. In Bosnia, Crete, Thessaly, and Epirus a certain amount of reform was to be introduced by the Porte under the supervision of Russia. It was also enacted that the part of Bessarabia taken from Russia in 1856 should be ceded back to her, to which Lord Palmerston attached great value, “because,” he said, “it is not of local, but of European interest.” Kars, Batoum, and other adjoining districts in Asia were added to Russia, by which cession she undoubtedly held the strongholds of Armenia. Turkey had to pay Russia three hundred million roubles.