Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 2.djvu/43

 IN THE WAR AGAINST IIUSSIA. 13 at sea was still possilile; and it was imdcr tlic CHAP, spur of the anger thus kindled that orders for ' active operations were given to the fleet at Scbas- topol* The vengeance he meditated he could only wreak upon the body of the Turks, for the great offenders of the West were beyond the bounds of his power. It was long believed in England that the dis- Enorofthe . 1 1 •! J • 1 notion that aster oi Smope was a surprise stealthily contrived tiie disaster T^ -..-r- 1 1 1 • • • ofSinope by the Emperor Nicholas, and it is certain that wasasur- . . prise achiev- the event fell upon the maritime rowers as a edbystcaitit sudden shock ; but it is not true that conceal- ment was used by llussia. On the contrary, it seems that the attack was preceded by a long- continued ostentation of naval force. In the middle of the month of November, and at a time when the Allied Squadrons were anchored in the Bosphorus, the Sebastopol fleet came out, and was osteniatiou* •'■ ' ^ publicity of ranofed in a kind of cordon stretching from north the Russian ^ n operations to south across the centre of the Black Sea. So •" tiic Biacij Sea. early as the 20th of November the Eussian cruiseis captured the Medora, a Turkish steamer - tion of the Western Powers was known to the Czar a little before the 14th of October, and about the midille of the follow- ing month the Black sea fleet was at sea. If allowance be made for distance and preparation, it will be seen that the sequence of one event upon the other is close enough to warrant the statement contained in the text. In the absence, however, of any knowledge to the contrary, it is fair to suppose that the Czar remembered his promise, and did not sanction any actual attack upon the enemy unless his eonnnanders should be pre- viously apprised that the Turks had conmicnced active warfare. t ' Eastern Papers,' part ii. p. 315.
 * This conclusion is drawn from dates. The hostile resolu-