Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 1.djvu/417

 BETWEEN THE CZAR AND THE SULTAN. 375 'Trance, and Prussia. I reminded him of the chap. ' intelligence which had been received from St '_ ' Petersburg, purporting that the Emperor of ' Russia had signified his readiness to accept the ' same Note. I urged the importance of his ' engaging the Porte to come to a decision with ' the least possible delay. I repeatedly urged ' the importance of an immediate decision, and ' the danger of declining or only accepting with ' amendments, what the four friendly Powers so ' earnestly recommended, and what the Cabinet ' of St Petersburg had accepted in its actual ' state.' * These were dutiful words. But it is not to be believed that, even if he strove to do so, Lord Stratford could hide his real thoughts from the Turkish Ministers. There was that in his very presence which disclosed his volition; for if the thin disciplined lips moved in obedience to con- stituted authorities, men who knew how to read the meaning of his brow, and the light which kindled beneath, would gather that the Am- bassador's thought concerning the Home Gov- ernments of the five great Powers of Europe was little else than an angry ' quos ego ! ' The sagacious Turks would look more to these great signs than to the tenor of formal advice sent out from London, and if they saw that Lord Stratford was in his heart against the opinion of Europe, they would easily resolve to follow his known de- sire, and to disobey his mere words. The result
 * ' Eastern Papers,' part ii. p. C9.