Nessel

rode uses

language

which

shows the

soundness of Lord

Stratford's

to the

CHAP. against the alterations proposed at Constantinople, XVII. in language which avowed that the meaning and intent of Russia coincided with that very interpretation which had been fastened upon the Note by the sagacity of the Turks; and the Governments of the four Powers being then obliged to acknowledge that objection they were wrong, and that Lord Stratford and the Turks were right, the question which brought about the final rupture between Russia and the Porte was virtually the same as that which had caused the The Pro- departure of Prince Mentschikoff from Constantinople. What Russia still required, and what the Porte still refused to grant, was the Protectorate of the Greek Church in Turkey.

Note.

tectorate

of the Greek

Church in Turkey was still

the thing

in question.

declares

war.

At length, with the advice of a Great Council attended by a hundred and seventy-two of the foreThe Porte most men of the Empire, the Porte determined upon war. A declaration was issued, which made the further continuance of peace dependent upon the evacuation of the Principalities; and the Russian General there commanding was summoned to withdraw his troops from the invaded provinces within fifteen days. He did not comply with the demand ; and on the 23d of October 1853 the Sultan was placed in a state of war with the Emperor of Russia. But meanwhile the preachers of the Orthodox the belli- Church and the preachers of Islam had not been In Russia, the piety and the spirit of the been fore- people had been forestalled by the consuming evil of a vast standing army, and crushed down by police and by drill. The Government had already taken

Warlike

spirit of

gerents.

In Russia idle.

this had

stalled.

XVII.

ardour of

in the

Empire.

so much by sheer compulsion, that the people, how- CHAP. ever brave and pious, had little more that it was willing to offer up in sacrifice. It was not thus in the Ottoman Empire. Through the vast and scattered dominions of the Sultan, the holy war had Warlike not been preached in vain. There, religion and the people love of country and warlike ardour were blent into Ottoman one ennobling sentiment, which was strong enough, as was soon shown, to make men arise of their own free will and endure long toil and cruel hardships. that they might attain to some battle-field or siege, and there face death with joy. And under the counsels and ascendancy of Lord Stratford this ardour was so well guided that it was kept from breaking out in vain tumult or outrage, and was brought to bear in all its might upon the defence of the State. A spirit of self-devotion,' wrote the Ambassador, unaccompanied with fanatical demon'strations, and showing itself among the highest 'functionaries of the State, bids fair to give an extraordinary impulse to any military enterprise which may be undertaken against Russia by the Turkish 'Government. The corps of Ulema are preparing to ' advance a considerable sum in support of the war. The Grand Vizier, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and other leading members of the Administration, have resigned a large proportion of their horses for the service of the artillery. Reinforcements continue ' to be directed towards the Danube and the Georgian frontier. If hostilities commence, they will be pro

6

secuted in a manner to leave, on one side or on the

CHAP. other, deep and durable traces of a truly national

XVII.

Modera

tion of the

Turkish Government.

struggle.'*

But if the Turkish Empire was still the Caliphate, and if religion still gave the watchword which brought many races of men to crowd to the same standard, yet the Porte, chastened by the adversity of the latter century, and disciplined by the English Ambassador, had become so wise and politic that it governed the beating heart of the nation, and suffered no fanatic words to go out into Christendom. The duty of the Moslem, now called to arms for his Faith, was preached with a fervour sufficing for all military purposes; but the Proclamation which announced that the Sultan was at war abstained from all fierce theology. Reiterating the poignant truths which placed the Porte in the right and the Czar in the wrong, it kept to that tone of moderation which had hitherto marked all the State But this very moderation seemed always to kindle fresh rage in the mind of the Emperor Nicholas, and to fetch out his religious zeal. The reason perhaps was, that in all wisdom and all moderation evinced by the Divan he persisted in seeing the evil hand of The Czar's Lord Stratford. In his Proclamation he ascended to ecstatic heights: By the grace of God, We,

Its effect Papers of the Turkish Government.

on the mind of

the Czar.

Proclama

tion.

Nicholas I., Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias, make known: By our Manifesto of the '14th of June, we acquainted our well-beloved and 'faithful subjects with the motives which have com*Eastern Papers,' part ii. p. 167.

6

'pelled us to demand of the Ottoman Porte inviolable CHA P. guarantees in favour of the sacred rights of the

6

6

6

• Orthodox Church. . . . Russia is challenged to the fight; nothing, therefore, further remains for her but, ' in confident reliance upon God, to have recourse to arms, in order to compel the Ottoman Government to respect treaties, and obtain from it reparation for 'the offences by which it has responded to our most 'moderate demands, and to our legitimate solicitude for the defence of the Orthodox faith in the East, 'which is equally professed by the Russian people. We are firmly convinced that our faithful subjects 'will join the fervent prayers which we address to the Most High, that His hand may be pleased to bless our arms in the holy and just cause which has ever found ardent defenders in our pious ancestors. "In Thee, O Lord, have I trusted; let me not be "confounded for ever!"'*

6

* Eastern Papers,' part ii. p. 228.

XVII.

XVIII.

The Czar announces

he shall be

content to

hold his

' material

CHAPTER XVIII.

CHAP. The Emperor Nicholas still sought to prolong the ambiguity of his relations with Turkey. On the 31st of October, Count Nesselrode issued a Circular that unless to the representatives of Russia at foreign Courts, in further which he declared that, notwithstanding the declaraprovoked, he will be tion of war, and as long as his master's dignity and his interests would permit, Russia would abstain from guaran, taking the offensive, and content herself with holding her position in the Principalities until she succeeded in obtaining the satisfaction which she required. This second endeavour to contrive a novel kind of standing-ground between real peace and avowed war was destined, as will be seen, to cause fresh discord between Russia and the Western Powers.

'tee,' and refrain

from taking the offensive.

The negotiations

are con

tinued, and are ripening towards a

The negotiations for a settlement were scarcely interrupted, either by the formal declaration of war, or by the hostilities which were commenced on the banks of the Danube; and the Conference of the ment, four Powers represented at Vienna had just agreed ruined to the terms of a collective Note, which seemed to

settle

when they

by the

Western

Powers.

afford a basis for peace, when the English Government gave way to the strenuous urgency of the