Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 1.djvu/383

 BETWEEN THE CZAR AND THE SULTAN. 341 Fleurv, if Maupas, St Arnaud, and Magnan were to chap. continue quartered upon France instead of being. thrown into prison and brought to trial, it was indispensable that Europe should be disturbed. Without delay the needful steps were taken. It must have been within ;i week or two after the completion of the arrangements consequent on the night of the 2d of December, that the despatches went from Paris which caused M. do Lavalette to wring from the Porte the Note of the Oth of February,* and forced the Sultan into en- Raisiugup gagements unfair and offensive to Eussia. The ofthTs^'iun French President steadily continued this plan of l^uvIeL driving the Porte into a quarrel with the Czar, Russia: until at length he succeeded in bringing about the event f which was followed by the advance of the Russian armies ; but the moment the Czar was wrought up into a state of anger which suf- ficed to make him a disturber of Europe, Prince Louis, now Emperor of the French, sagaciously perceived that it might be possible for him to take violent means of appeasing the very troubles which he himself had just raised ; and to do this by suddenly declaring for a conservative policy in Turkey, and offering to put himself in concert with one of the great settled States of Europe. England, he knew, had always clung to a con- and then servative policy in the East. France, he also combative knew, of late years, had generally done the re- England. t The delivery of the key and the star to the Latin monks at Bethlehem in December 1852. See Count Nesselrode's de- spatch of the 11th of January 1853, o.nfr, pp. 51, 55.
 * 1852. See ante.