III.

CHAP. as political, and dealt with it accordingly; but as to the religious pretension on which it was based, Europe always met that with a smile. Yet it will presently be seen that a claim which tried the gravity of diplomatists might be used as a puissant engine of mischief.

Measures taken by

President.

There was repose in the empire of the Sultan, and the French even the rival Churches of Jerusalem were suffering each other to rest, when the French President, in cold blood, and under no new motive for action, took up the forgotten cause of the Latin Church of Jerusalem, and began to apply it as a wedge for sundering the peace of the world.

The French Ambassador at Constantinople was instructed to demand that the grants to the Latin Church which were contained in the treaty of 1740 should be strictly executed; and since the firmans granted during the last century to the Greek Church were inconsistent with the capitulations of 1740, and had long been in actual operation, the effect of this demand on the part of the French President was to force the Sultan to disturb the existing state of repose, to annul the privileges which (with the acquiescence of France) the Greek Church had long been enjoying, to drive into frenzy the priesthood of the Greek Church, and to rouse to indignation the Sovereign of the great military empire of the North, with all those millions of pious and devoted men who, so far as regarded this question, were heart and soul with their Czar. The Ambas'sador of France,' said our Foreign Secretary, 'was

III.

' the first to disturb the status quo in which the mat- CHAP. 'ter rested. Not that the disputes of the Latin

and Greek Churches were not very active, but that 'without some political action on the part of France 'those quarrels would never have troubled the rela'tions of friendly Powers. If report is to be be

lieved, the French Ambassador was the first to speak of having recourse to force, and to threaten 'the intervention of a French fleet to enforce the ' demands of his country. We should deeply regret any dispute that might lead to conflict between two of the great Powers of Europe; but when we reflect that the quarrel is for exclusive privileges in a spot near which the heavenly host proclaimed peace on earth and goodwill towards men-when we see rival Churches contending for mastery in the very place where Christ died for mankind-the thought of such a spectacle is melancholy indeed. 'Both parties ought to refrain from putting armies ' and fleets in motion for the purpose of making the ' tomb of Christ a cause of quarrel among Christians.'*

6

Still, in a narrow and technical point of view, the claim of France might be upheld, because it was based upon a treaty between France and the Porte which could not be legally abrogated without the consent of the French Government; and the concessions to the Greek Church, though obtained at the instance of Russia, had not been put into the form of treaty engagements, and could always be revoked at the pleasure of the Sultan. Accordingly *Eastern Papers,' part i. p. 67.

III.

By the
Russian
Envoy.

CHAP. M. de Lavalette continued to press for the strict fulfilment of the treaty; and being guided, as it would seem, by violent instructions, and being also zealous and unskilled, he soon carried his urgency to the extremity of using offensive threats, and began to speak of what should be done by the French fleet. The Russian Envoy, better versed in affairs, used wiser but hardly less cogent words, requiring that the firmans should remain in force; and since no ingenuity could reconcile the engagements of the treaty with the grants contained in the firmans, the Porte, though having no interest of its own in the question, was tortured and alarmed by the contending negotiators. It seemed almost impossible to satisfy France without affronting the Emperor Nicholas.

Embar

rassment

of the Porte.

Mutual

concessions.

The actual subject of dispute.

The French, however, did not persist in claiming up to the very letter of the treaty of 1740, and on the other hand there were some of the powers of exclusion granted by the firmans which the Greeks could be persuaded to forego; and thus the subject remaining in dispute was narrowed down until it seemed almost too slender for the apprehension of laymen.

Stated in bare terms, the question was whether, for the purpose of passing through the building into their Grotto, the Latin monks should have the key of the chief door of the Church of Bethlehem, and also one of the keys of each of the two doors of the sacred manger,* and whether they should be at liberty to place in the sanctuary of the Nativity a *Eastern Papers,' part i. p. 84.

silver star adorned with the arms of France. The CHAP. III. Latins also claimed a privilege of worshipping once a-year at the shrine of the blessed Mary in the Church of Gethsemane, and they went on to assert their right to have 'a cupboard and a lamp in the tomb ' of the Virgin;' but in this last pretension they were not well supported by France; and, virtually, it was their claim to have a key of the great door of the Church of Bethlehem, instead of being put off with a key of the lesser door, which long remained insoluble, and had to be decided by the advance of armies t and the threatening movement of fleets.

*

Diplomacy, somewhat startled at the nature of the question committed to its charge, but repressing the coarse emotion of surprise, ventured,' as it is said, 'to inquire whether in this case a key meant an in'strument for opening a door, only not to be employed ' in closing that door against Christians of other sects, ' or whether it was simply a key-an emblem ;' but Diplomacy answered, that the key was really a key— a key for opening a door; and its evil quality was— not that it kept the Greeks out, but that it let the Latins come in.

Increased

violence of

Govern

After the change which was wrought in the institutions of France in the night between the 1st and the French the 2d of December 1851, increased violence seems ment. to have been imparted to the instructions under which M. de Lavalette was acting, and his demand was so urgently pressed, that the Porte at length

*Eastern Papers,' part i. p. 48.

+ See Count Nesselrode's Despatches, ibid. p. 61.

Ibid. p. 79.

III.

CHAP. gave way, and acknowledged the validity of the Latin claims in a formal note; but the paper had not been signed more than a few days, when the Russian Minister, making hot remonstrance, caused the Porte to issue a firman, ratifying all the existing privileges of the Greeks, and virtually revoking the acknowledgment just given to the Latins. Thereupon, as was natural, the French Government became indignant, and to escape its anger the Porte promised to evade the public reading of the firman at Jerusalem; but the Russian Minister not relaxing his zeal, the Turkish Government secretly promised him that the Pasha of Jerusalem should be instructed to try to avoid giving up the keys to the Latin monks.

Afif Bey's
Mission.

Then again, under further pressure by France, the Porte engaged to evade this last evasion, and at length the duty of affecting to carry out the conflicting engagements thus made by the Porte was intrusted to Afif Bey. This calm Mahometan went to Jerusalem, and strove to temporise as well as he could betwixt the angry Churches. His great difficulty was to avert the rage which the Greeks would be likely to feel when they came to know that the firman was not to be read; and the nature of his little stratagem showed that, although he was a benighted Moslem, he had some insight into the great ruling principle of ecclesiastical questions. His plan was

*Note of the 9th February 1852.

The firman of the mi-fevrier 1852.

Col. Rose to Lord Malmesbury. 'Eastern Papers,' part i. p. 46.