CHAPEL OF SAINT HELENA, JERUSALEM.
For a moment there was a panic in high places at Constantinople. The Grand Vizier was indignant and terrified, and, fearing the worst, trembling lest a mortal blow should be struck before help could arrive, if help were deferred, he asked Colonel Rose to request Admiral Dundas to bring up the British squadron to Vourla Bay. Colonel Rose did not hesitate. He knew how forward were the warlike preparations of the Czar, and he immediately complied with the wish of the Grand Vizier. But this bold step was premature. The Czar had not made up his mind to strike a sudden blow, and Count Nesselrode told Sir Hamilton Seymour that the tendency was rather to slacken than to push on military preparations—a statement destitute of truth. Fuad Effendi, of course, refused to hold office any longer, and the Sultan, for the first time, accepted the resignation of a public servant, replacing him by Rifaat Pasha. When Admiral Dundas received the request of Colonel Rose, he declined to act upon it, and his Government approved of the conduct of the admiral, and disapproved of the bold haste of Rose. But the French Government, hearing of what had occurred, without consulting the British Ministers, ordered their fleet at once to set out on a "cruise in Greek waters." The fleet sailed, and Lord Clarendon instantly expressed the regret of his Government that France had taken so strong a measure. Her Majesty's Government, he said, had received from the Czar his most solemn assurance that he would uphold the Turkish Empire, and not change his policy without notice of his intention; and, as no such notice had been received, the British Government were "bound to believe, until they had proofs to the contrary, that the mission of Prince Menschikoff was not of a character menacing to the independence and integrity of Turkey."
In the meantime, Prince Menschikoff conducted himself so mysteriously and so quietly at Constantinople, and Sir Hamilton Seymour received such positive assurances at St. Petersburg, that no one except the French chargé d'affaires, and perhaps the French Government, suspected the bad faith of Russia. It seems to have been the common talk in Pera and Galata that the Russian Minister was intent on obtaining from the Turks a secret treaty. But Prince Menschikoff went about the business in so strange a manner, that Rifaat Pasha, with whom he talked, did not appear to comprehend at what the Prince was driving. It was at this juncture that Lord Stratford de Redcliffe arrived.
The first step of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe was to discover the actual position of affairs and to learn how far the demands of Prince Menschikoff were moderate or threatening. On the day after he landed, Lord Stratford de Redcliffe saw the Grand Vizier and Rifaat Effendi; but while he learnt that there was some prospect of settling the tiresome question of the Holy Places, he could gain no distinct statement respecting the ulterior views of the Czar. Nevertheless they admitted the existence of ulterior demands, and they were pressing in their requests for advice. Lord Stratford de Redcliffe gave it willingly. He recommended them to keep the question of the Holy Places separate from the ulterior proposals, and he set before them a variety of considerations carrying comfort with them in case the ulterior demands took an inadmissible form. Next he saw the Sultan and offered his good offices, and, alluding to the secret Russian demands, said he was convinced the Sultan, in making reasonable concessions, "would be careful to admit no innovation dangerous to his independence." This from Lord Stratford de Redcliffe's lips meant more than the mere words convey. As a last resource he brought the Russian and Turkish Ministers face to face, and in a short time sent them away, and with them the settlement of the dispute, so that nothing remained but to embody the compromise in a firman. In little more than a fortnight after his arrival the points raised by Aupick in 1850 were put to rest, but out of them had grown a huger quarrel, which could only be appeased by an appeal to arms.
It was during the closing days of the combat about the Holy Places that Lord Stratford de Redcliffe became aware of the arrival of despatches expressing the dissatisfaction of the Czar at the slow progress made by his envoy. Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, on the 22nd of April, learnt that, four or five days before, "fresh and pressing instructions" had reached Menschikoff from St. Petersburg. In fact, Rifaat Pasha placed in the hands of the English Minister a document called a note verbale, which Prince Menschikoff had put in. In this note the Prince demanded a categorical answer on certain points, some of which were settled by the agreement come to in regard to the Holy Places, together with an entirely fresh demand, that the Porte should accept a treaty from Russia guaranteeing the Greco-Russian religion from all molestation. The British Government, it should be remarked, persisted in believing that Prince Menschikoff had no authority to make these ulterior demands which so disturbed Europe. The French Government were not deceived. But they affected to regard the demand of Russia for a protectorate as one concerning all the other Powers, and they declared themselves ready to consult and act with them, but not to act alone. The conduct of the British Government is the more remarkable, for Lord Stratford de Redcliffe pointed out, in a despatch which reached Lord Clarendon on the 6th of May, that the omission of Count Nesselrode, in his remarks to Sir Hamilton Seymour, to make any mention of the ulterior demands corresponded with the endeavours of Prince Menschikoff to isolate the Porte. The Austrian Minister at the Porte had no doubts respecting the intentions of Russia, and told the British Minister that he could only advise the Porte to give its unqualified assent to the Czar's demands. This drew from Lord Stratford de Redcliffe the severe remark that he was "not prepared to take part in placing the last remains of Turkish independence at the feet of any Foreign Power."
In the meantime events had been marching rapidly at Constantinople. Urged on by the impatient orders of his master, Prince Menschikoff, on the 5th of May, sent by a common messenger a note to the Porte, having all the character, though it did not bear the name, of an ultimatum. It embodied the obnoxious demand for a protectorate in a most offensive form, and it gave the Porte only five days of grace. Lord Stratford de Redcliffe advised the Porte to reject the ultimatum, and his advice was obeyed. On the 22nd of May the Prince and his whole suite embarked on board a man-of-war and steered for Odessa.
CHAPTER II.
THE REIGN OF VICTORIA (continued).