Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 1.djvu/398

 356 ORIGIN OF THE WAR OF 1853 CHAPTER XVI. chap. The difference between a servant and a Minister . of State lies in this : — that the servant obeys the K^sseirode orc ^ ers given him. without troubling himself con- cerning the question whether his master is right or wrong ; whilst a Minister of State declines to be the instrument for giving effect to measures which he deems to be hurtful to his country. The Chancellor of the Russian Empire was sagacious and politic ; and his experience in the business of the State, and in the councils of Europe, went back to the great days when Nesselrode and Hardenberg, and Metternich and Wellington, set their seals to the same charter. That the Czar was wrong in these transactions against Turkey no man in Europe knew better than Count Nes- selrode ; and at first he had the courage to speak to his master so frankly that Nicholas, when he had heard a remark which tended to wisdom and moderation, would cry out, 'That is what the ' Chancellor is perpetually telling me ! ' But unhappily for the Czar and for his empire, the Minister did not enjoy so commanding a station