Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 1.djvu/96

 54 ORIGIN OF THE WAR OF 1353 chap. For the Czar and for the devout people of All ItL the Eussias it was hard to bear this blow. ' To indignation t the indignation,' Count Nesselrode writes, ' of of Ku.ssia. o ' ' the whole people following the Greek ritual, the ' key of the Church of Bethlehem has been made ' over to the Latins, so as publicly to demon- ' strate their religious supremacy in the East. ' The mischief then is done, M. le Baron, and ' there is no longer any question of preventing ' it. It is now necessary to remedy it. The im- ' munities of the Orthodox religion which have < been injured, the promise which the Sultan had • solemnly given to the Emperor, and which has ' been violated, call for an act of reparation. It ' is to obtain this that we must labour. If we ' took for our example the imperious and violent ' proceedings which have brought France to this ' result — if, like her, we were indifferent to the ' dignity of the. Porte, to the consequences which ' an heroic remedy may have on a constitution ' already so shattered as that of the Ottoman ' Empire — our course would be already marked ' out for us, and we should not have long to re- ' fleet upon it. Menace and a resort to force
 * would be our immediate means. The cannon

• has been called the last argument of kings, the ' French Government has made it its first, It is ' the argument with which, at the outset, it de- ' clared its intention to commence its proceedings ' at Tripoli as well as at Constantinople. Not- 4 withstanding our legitimate causes of complaint, ' and at the risk of waiting some time longer fur