Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 1.djvu/148

 Hose. 10G ORIGIN OF THE WAR 01' 1S53 chap. • the independence of the Sovereign.'* In short VIL the Divan was so taken by surprise, and so over- whelmed by alarm, as to be in danger of going to ruin by the path of concession for the sake of averting a sudden blow. But there remained one hope — the English fleet was at Malta; and the Aonei Grand A ; izier went to Colonel Hose, who was then in charge of our affairs at the Porte, and entreated that he would request our Admiral at Malta to come up to Vourla, in order to give the Turkish Government the support of an approaching fleet. Colonel Eose, being a firm, able man, with strength to bear a sudden load of responsibility, was not afraid to go beyond the range of common duty. lie consented to do as he was asked; and although he was disavowed by the Government at home, and although his appeal to the English Admiral was rejected, it is not the less certain that his mere consent to call up the fleet allayed the panic which was endangering at that moment the very life of the Ottoman Empire. Happily there was not a complete perfect communication by tele- graph between Loudon and Constantinople ; and long before the disavowal reached the Bosphorus the Turkish statesmen had recovered their usual culm. On the other hand, the Russian Govern- ment was much soothed by the intelligence that the English Cabinet had declined to approve Colonel Rose's request to the Admiral ; and it might be said with truth that both the Act of the Queen's Representative and the disavowal of it by
 * 'Eastern Tapers,' part i. p. 88.