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IN THE WAK AGAINST RUSSIA. 131 little fault is to be found. It is true that, in the chap. early stage of the dispute about the Sanctuaries, ^^' the violence of the French and the Russian Gov- ^^'"^ ^'';'» rurkey Iia<l ernments tormented the Porte into contradictory j" causing engagements, and that the anger kindled by these clashing promises was one of the provocatives of the war ; but from the day of the delivery of the Bethlehem key and the replacement of the star, the Turkish Government ^'as almost always mod- erate and politic — and after the second week of March 1853 it was firm ; for the panic struck by Prince Mentschikoff in the early days of his mission was allayed by the pi'udent boldness of Colonel Pose, and the Czar with all his hoverin<r forces was never able to create a second alarm. It has been seen that, by their tenacity of all those sovereign rights which were of real worth — by the wisdom with which they yielded wherever they could yield with honour and safety— by their invincible courtesy and deference towards their mighty assailant— and at last and above all, by their warlike ardour and their prowess in the field — the Turks had become an example to Chris- tendom, and had won the heart of England. And although it has been acknowledged that some of the more gentle of these Turkish virtues were contrived and enforced by the English Ambas- sador, still no one can fairly refuse to the Ottoman people the merit of appreciating and enduring this painful discipline. Besides, there was a period when it might be supposed that the immediate views of the Turkish