Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 1.djvu/160

 IIS Oltki IX OF THE WAR OF 18." CHAP. VIII. Rivalry between Nicholas and Sir Stratford Canning. Sir Stratford Canning. ural desire to prepare for herself a firm standing- ground in the midst of her neighbour's territory ; whilst Austria and England, being interested in averting the dismemberment of the Sultan's do- minions, gave their counsel with a real view to make the Sultan do what they deemed to be for his own good. For ascendancy on this the favourite arena of diplomacy two men had long contended. They were altogether unequal in station, and yet were not ill matched. The first of the combatants was the Emperor Nicholas ; the other was Sir Strat- ford Canning. This kinsman of Mr Canning the Minister had been bred from early life to the ca- reer of diplomacy, and whilst he was so young that he could still perhaps think in smooth Eton Alcaics more easily than in the diction of 'High 'Contracting Parties,' it was given him to nego- tiate a treaty which helped to bring ruin upon the enemy of his country.* How to negotiate with a perfected skill never degenerating into craft, how to form such a scheme of policy that his country might be brought to adopt it without swerving, and how to pursue this always, promoting it steadily abroad, and gradually forcing the Home Government to go all lengths in its support, this he knew ; and he was, moreover, so gifted by nature, that whether men studied his despatches, or whether they withdraw from the South the forces commanded by Tchitcha- goff, this treaty did much to convert the discomfiture of Napo- leon's 'Grand Army' into absolute ruin.
 * The Treaty of Bucharest in 1812. By enabling the Czar to