Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 1.djvu/388

34G ORIGIN OF THE WAR OF 1853 CHAP general tenor and object of their naval arrange- . ments should have received the antecedent ap- proval of the two other Powers with whom they were in cordial agreement. The English Govern- ment, however, not only consented to engage in naval movements which affected — nay, actually governed — the question of peace or Avar, but fell into the error of concerting these movements with France alone, and doing this not because of any difference which had arisen between the four Powers, but simply because France and England were provided with ships ; so that in truth the Western Powers, merely because they were pos- sessed of the implement which enabled them to put a pressure upon the Czar, resolved to act as though they were the only judges of the question whether the pressure should be applied or not; and this at a time when, as Lord Clarendon de- clared in Parliament, the four Powers were ' all ' acting cordially together.' Of course, this wanton segregation tended to supersede or dissolve the concord which bound the four Powers, and, as a sure consequence, to endanger yet more than ever the cause of peace. Some strange blindness pre- vented Lord Aberdeen from seeing the path he trod, or rather prevented him from seeing it with a clearness conducive to action. But what the French Emperor wanted was even more than this, and what he wanted was done. It is true that neither admiration nor moral disapproval of the conduct of princes ought to have any exceeding sway over our relations with foreign States ; and