322 PRINCE ALEXANDER GORTCHAKOFF. chap. Prussia (afterwards Emperor of the great united !_ Germany) was strongly opposed to the adopted policy, and tersely expressed his opinion of its banefulness by saying that, if Prussia were to join the Allies, there would be peace in a fort- night ; but the fainter heart and the weaker mind of the king remained in the state we have seen. Under conditions thus adverse, Lord John did not choose to present his credentials at the Prussi- an Court; and bidding farewell to the prospect of a general League, soon went from Berlin to Vienna.* His task was thenceforth only twofold, that is, to negotiate for England in the approaching Con- ference, and meanwhile, if he could, to bring Austria into the war. Prince On Prince Alexander Gortchakoff as extant in Gortcha- the Conferences of 1855 one can hardly cast even a glance without more or less using the light which he many years afterwards threw on his own much exhibited character ; and since it therefore seems necessary to make the allusion, one perhaps ought to add that despite what he had counselled and done, the man always re- mained in high favour with his sovereign and his country, thus acquiring some right to protest that, except for being the foremost in a public declara- tion of ill faith, he was not more dishonoured than the Czar, nor more dishonest than Russia. Committed in 1870, his offence does not fall within the range of this narrative.
- Lord John Russell to Lord Clarendon, March 1, 1855.
koff.
