Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 1.djvu/173

 BETWEEN THE CZAB AND THE SULTAN. 131 cause the question of the Holy Places to be kept chap. clear of all the other subjects of discussion which ' Prince Mentschikoff might be intending to raise, SVtSe"' tor it was plain that the vacillation of the Porte &Xd£* ! " in regard to the sanctuaries (though it had sprung " mna9 - from a desire to avoid giving offence to either of two great Powers) had given Piussia fair grounds of complaint on that subject ; but the Czar had nothing else to complain of, and it was clear, there- fore, that if the one grievance which really existed could be settled, every hostile step which Paissia might afterwards take would place her more and more in the wrong. 'Endeavour,' said Lord Strat- ford, in charging the Turkish Ministers, ' to keep ' the affair of the Holy Places separate from the ' ulterior proposals (whatever they may be) of ' Eussia. The course which you appear to have ' taken under the former head was probably the ' best, and I am glad to find that there is a fair ' prospect of its success. AVhenever Prince Ments- ' chikoff comes forward with further propositions, ' you are at perfect liberty to decline entering into ' negotiation without a full statement of their ' nature, extent, and reasons. Should they be ' found on examination to carry with them that ' degree of influence over the Christian subjects of ' the Porte in favour of a foreign Power which ' might eventually prove dangerous or seriously ' inconvenient to the exercise of the Sultan's ' legitimate authority, His Majesty's Ministers ' cannot be doing wrong in declining them.' •
 * ' Eastern Papers, ' part i. p. 125.