Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 1.djvu/186

 ii 0KIG1N OF THE WAll OF 1853 chap, much heated by the strenuous discussions of small !__ matters that 'the difficulty of settling the ques- ' tion of the Holy Places threatened to increase. ' The French and Russian Ambassadors insisted ' on their respective pretensions, while the Porte ' inclined but hesitated to assume the responsi- ' bility of deciding between them.' * Then, at last, the hour was ripe for the intervention of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe. ' I thought,' said he, ' it was time for me to adopt a more prominent ' part in reconciling the adverse parties.' He was more than equal to the task. Being by nature so grave and stately as to be able to re- frain from a smile without effort and even without design, he prevented the vain and presumptuous Russian from seeing the minuteness and inanity of the things which he was gaining by his violent attempt at diplomacy. For the Greek Patriarch to be authorised to watch the mending of a dilapi- dated roof — for the Greek votaries to have the first hour of the day at a tomb — and, finally, for the doorkeeper of a church to be always a Greek, though without any right of keeping out his opponents, — these things might be trifles, but awarded to All the Russias through the stately mediation of the English Ambassador, they seemed to gain in size and majesty ; and for the moment, perhaps, the sensations of the Prince were nearly the same as though he were receiving the surrender of a province or the engagements of a great alliance. On the other hand, Lord Strat-
 * ' Eastern Papers, ' part i. p. 157.