Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 1.djvu/104

 62 ORIGIN OF THE WAR OF 1853 chap, the realisation of this scheme of ambition was ' dim. The sovereignty of European Turkey could scarcely be added to the possessions of the Czar without tending to dislocate the system of hia empire ; for plainly it would be difficult to sway the vast Northern territories of All the Russias by orders sent from the Bosphorus, and yet, by force of its mere place in the world, Constanti- nople seemed destined to be the capital of a great State. Therefore, in the event of its falling into the hands of the Romanoffs, it may be thought more likely that the imperial city would draw dominion to itself, and so become the metropolis of some new assemblage of territories, than that it would sink into the condition of a provincial seaport. The statesmen of St Petersburg have always understood the deep import of the change which the throne of Constantine would bring with it ; and it may be imagined that considerations founded on this aspect of the enticing conquest have mingled with those suggested by the physi- cal difficulties of invasion, the obstinate valour of the Turks, and the hostility of the great Powers of Europe. Still, the prize was so unspeakably alluring to an aristocracy fired with national ambition, and to a people glowing with piety, that apparently it was necessary for the Czar to seem as though he were always doing something for furthering a scheme of conquest thus endeared to the nation. He was liable to be deemed a fail- ing champion of the faith when he was not labour- ing to restore the insulted Cross to the Church of