Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 1.djvu/192

 150 ORIGIN OF THE WAJl OF 1853 ' You must bring your mission to a close forth- ' with. "Be peremptory both with the French and ' the Turks. If the French Ambassador is ob- ' stinate enough upon the question of the Holy ' Places to give you a tenable ground on which ' you can stand out, then hasten at once to a ' rupture upon that business without further dis- ' cussion about our ulterior demands. But if the « French Ambassador throws no sufficing diffi- ' culties in the way of the settlement of the ques- ' tion of the Holy Places, then press your demand 1 for the protectorate of the Greek Church. Press ' it peremptorily. In carrying out these instruc- ' tions, you have full discretion so far as concerns ' all forms and details, but in regard to time the ' Emperor grants you no latitude. You must force ' your mission to a close. By the time you receive • this despatch Stratford Canning will be at Con- ' stantinople. He has ever thwarted His Majesty ' the Emperor. The inscrutable will of Providence « lias bestowed upon him great gifts of mind ' which he has used for no other purpose than to « baffle and humiliate the Emperor, and keep down ' the Orthodox Church. In negotiation, or in ' overcome you nnd crush you, but his instructions ' do not authorise him to be more than a mere ' peaceful negotiator. You, on the contrary, are ' supported by force. He can only persuade ; you ' can threaten. Strike terror. Make the Divan 4 feel the weight of our preparations in Bessarabia ' and at Sebastopol. Pannenberg's horsemen are
 * contest for influence over the Turks, he would