all forcible Intervention in the purely internal affairs of Foreign States, whether by England or by other States, is to be strenuously discountenanced, and that England is only to intervene in disputes or conflicts between Foreign States when a sufficiently strong case seems to present itself — in weighing the merits of which case, not only the immediate and remote interests of England herself, but the interests of all other States, and the general establishment of permanent Peace and order, on the basis of free and independent national existence, must be taken into the estimate.
The following language of Lord Derby, in answer to a deputation on July 14th, 1876 (see Times for July 15th), probably expresses, fairly enough, the modern doctrine of Intervention, as held in England by practical statesmen, especially by way of limit to the extreme doctrine of Non-Intervention, in the form in which it is attributed to a certain party in England:
"The doctrine of absolute indifference is not one which this Lord Derby on Intervention. country ever has professed, and I do not think it is one which would be popular with the nation at large. We have a great position in Europe; and with nations, as with individuals, a great position involves great responsibilities. We cannot absolutely decline to accept our responsibilities; for, if every nation that had reached a certain stage of civilization were to accept the principle of Non-intervention in its absolute and extreme form, and say, 'we will never meddle in any international questions unless our own interests are touched,' the effect of that would be to leave the regulation of all international affairs to nations which have not reached that state of civilization. If the voice of England, in questions such as those we are now discussing, were to be silenced altogether, there would be one voice less heard on the side of Peace. No one is more strongly in favor of Non-Intervention, within reasonable limits, than I am; but we must push no doctrine to extremes; and an absolute declaration of Non-Intervention on all
