Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 1.djvu/139

BETWEEN THE CZAR AND THE SULTAN. 97 secrecy was broken, and the effect which the dis- chap. closure wrought upon the opinion of Europe, and VI ' upon the feelings of the people in England. The Czar was baffled by the failure of his some- what shallow plan for playing the tempter with the English Government ; and an event which occurred at the same time still further conduced to the abandonment of his half- formed designs against the Sultan. When Nicholas came to the singular resolution of declaring war against the Sultan in the event of his rejecting Austria's demand respecting Mon- tenegro, he imagined, perhaps, that his counsels were kept strictly secret ; but it seems probable that a knowledge or suspicion of the truth may have reached the Turkish Government, and helped to govern its decision. What we know is, that Result of . . Count the demand made by Austria was carried by Leiningeu'a . . . mission. Count Leinmgen to Constantinople, and that, having been put forward in terms offensively peremptory, it was suddenly acceded to by the sagacious advisers of the Sultan. This last contingency seems to have been unfore- its efient i ,i T-i ,,. , , . . ... upon the seen by the Emperor .Nicholas. At first, the tidings rians of . ,, , . . . the Czar. kindled in his mind strong leelmgs of joy, for he looked upon the deliverance of Montenegro as a triumph of his Church over the Moslem. Jhit he soon perceived that this sudden attainment of the object to be sought would disconcert his plans. He found himself all at once deprived of the basis on which his scheme of action had rested ; and except in respect of the question of the key and vol. j. c