Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 2.djvu/11

 no/ THE YEAR 1S58 AND THE I'EAR ls7fi. A rilEFACE TO THE PRESENT EDITION. (CONTINDED FROM Vol. 1. ^J. XV.) Of all the impulsions wiiicli brought on the war of 1853, there Avas hardly any one more effective than the fatal voice from this island, which invited the Russian assailant to take heart and cross the border b}^ causing him to imagine that he had nothing to fear from Englaud; and now once more private citizens boldly planting themselves athwart the path of their own Government, have been cheering liussia into the mood for subversive enterprises. But there, the parallel ends, and there, also, a wide contrast begins; for, though credulously listened io at St Petersburg, the Peace Party men of 1853, who made bold to lay England's abdication at the feet of the Czar, had no following to support their pretensions; whereas the denouncers of last autumn have not only proved their strength, but perhaps, one may say, gained their victory —a victory over their country, and in that 4327S9