Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 2.djvu/140

 110 CAUSES INVOLVING FRANCE AND ENGLAND CHAP, to be prououuced by Parliament upon a Goverii- __fll_ ment which had led their country to the brink of war should have been made to depend upon this question : — The question Was it practicable for England to obtain the theludi- deliverance of the Principalities by means taken Puiiament in commoH with the rest of the four Powers, and been rested, without rcsorting to the expedient of a separate understanding with the French Emperor ? * It may be that to this question the surviving members of Lord Aberdeen's Administration can establish a negative answer, but in order to do this they will have to make use of knowledge not hitherto disclosed to Parliament. A belief, nay, even a suspicion, that there was danger of a sudden alliance between the French Emperor and the Czar, would gravely alter the conditions upon which Lord Aberdeen's Cabinet was called upon to form its judgment ; but, so far as the outer world knows, no fear of this kind was coercing the Government. Upon the papers as they stand, it seems clear that, by remaining upon the ground occupied by the four Powers, England would have obtained the deliverance of the Principalities without resorting to war. researches of the Prince Consort's biographer may be able to throw upon this stage of the transactions.
 * It will be interesting to know what light the furtlur