Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 2.djvu/215

PRECEDING THE INVASION. 185 one-half than the army sent out by the Frencli ; chap XII but if Marshal St Arnaud should be at the head, L not only of his fifty thousand French, but of the whole force of Turkey, it would obviously become very hard, nay, even unfitting, for the Englisli General to maintain an equality in council with one who, in this case, would command altogether nearly two hundred thousand men. Marshal St Arnaud pressed his demand with the Ministers of the Porte at Constantinople, and he seems to have imagined that he had obtained their assent to his demand. If, indeed, they did really give a seem- ing assent to the proposed encroachment, they could hardly have meant it to take effect. They perhaps put their trust then where they had put their trust before. They knew that Lord Strat- ford was at Therapia, and they might well believe that he would make the elaborate world go back into chaos before he would suffer the armies of the Caliph to pass, like the contingent of some mere petty Christian State, under the orders of a French Commander. On the 11th of May, Marshal St Arnaud called upon Lord Eaglan, and stated, in the course of conversation, that the Turkish Government haf' determined to place Omar Pasha's army under hia (the Marshal's) command ; and that he was then going to Keshid Pasha in order to have the mat - ter finally settled. Lord Eaglan merely said he believed the British Ambassador was not aware of the arrangement. On the 13th, INfarshal St Arnaud sent to propose that Lord Raglau would