Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 1.djvu/129

 BETWEEN THE CZAR AND THE SULTAN. 87 adjudged to be mad, for the whole country at the chap. time felt sure of its peaceful temper. Certainly ' it was a hard task for the sagacity of a foreigner to pierce through these outward, signs, and see that, notwithstanding them all, the old familiar 4 Eastern Question ' might be so used as to make it rekindle the warlike ardour of England. Even for Englishmen, until long after the beginning of 1853, it was difficult to foresee how the country would be willing to act in regard to the defence of Turkey ; and the representatives of foreign Powers accredited to St James's might be excused if they assured their Courts that England was deep in pursuits which would hinder her from all y due assertion of her will as a great European Power./ Thus foreigners came to believe that the Eng- lish nature Mas changed, and that for the future the country would always be tame in Europe; and it chanced that, in the beginning of the year 1853, they were strengthened in their faith by observing the structure of the Ministry then recently formed ; for Lord Palmerston, whose name had become associated with the idea of a resolute and watchful policy, was banished to the Home Office, and the Prime Minister was Lord Aberdeen, the same statesman who had held the seals of the Foreign Office in former years, when Austria was vainly entreating England to join with her in defending the Sultan. The Emperor Nicholas heard the tidings of Lord Aberdeen's elevation to the premiership with a delight which he did not suppress. Yet this very event, as will