BETWEEN THE CZAll AND THE SULTAN. 47 into frenzy the priesthood of the Greek Church, chap. j 1 1 and to rouse to indignation the Sovereign of the ^ great military empire of the North, with all those millions of pious and devoted men who, so far as regarded this question, were heart and soul with their Czar. ' The Ambassador of France,' said our Foreign Secretary,* ' was the first to disturb the ' status quo in which the matter rested. Not that ' the disputes of the Latin and Greek Churches ' were not very active, but that without some po- ' litical action on the part of France, those quar- ' rels would never have troubled the relations of ' friendly Powers. If report is to be believed, the ' French Ambassador was the first to speak of ' having recourse to force, and to threaten the in-
- tcrvention of a French fleet to enforce the demands
' of his country. We should deeply regret any ' dispute that might lead to conflict between two ' of the great Powers of Europe ; but when we ' reflect that the quarrel is for exclusive privileges ' in a spot near which the heavenly host proclaimed ' peace on earth and goodwill towards men — when ' we see rival Churches contending for mastery in ' the very place where Christ died for mankind — ' the thought of such a spectacle is melancholy ' indeed. . . . Both parties ought to refrain ' from putting armies and fleets in motion for the ' purpose of making the tomb of Christ a cause of ' quarrel among Christians.'
- Lord John Russell. See his despatch of the 28th of
January 1853. 'Eastern Tapers,' part i. pp. 07, 68. — Not* to i(h Edition.
