Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 1.djvu/113

 BETWEEN THE CZAR AND THE SULTAX. i 1 and all this he blended in a somewhat curious CHAP, manner with words which might be read as im- _ — 1 porting that his views had obtained the sanction of the English Government. It would seem that our Government agreed, as they naturally would, to that part of the Czar's memorandum which was applicable to the existing state of things, and which, in fact, echoed the known opinion of Eng- land ; and they also assented to the obvious pro- position that the event of a breaking-up of the Ottoman Empire would make it important for the great Powers to come to an understanding amongst themselves ; but it must be certain that the Duke of Wellington, Sir liobert Peel, and Lord Aber- deen refrained, as it is the custom of our states- men to do, from all hypothetical engagements. ' Piussia and England,' said this memorandum, ' are mutually penetrated with the conviction that ' it is for their common interest that the Ottoman ' Porte should maintain itself in the state of inde- ' pendence and of territorial possession which at ' present constitutes that Empire. Being agreed ' on this principle, Russia and England have an ' equal interest in uniting their efforts in order to ' keep up the existence of the Ottoman Empire, ' and to avert all the dangers which can place in ' jeopardy its safety. With this object, the essen- ' tial point is to suffer the Porte to live in repose, ' without needlessly disturbing it by diplomatic ' bickerings, and without interfering, without ab- ' solute necessity, in its internal affairs.' Then, after showing that the tendency of the Turkish