rue, and possibly I might
undeceive Brunnow a little."

In this country, as soon as the news of the circular was made known, the
public excitement was intense. Consols instantly dropped heavily. Apart
from the form of the Russian claim, the public still alert upon the
eastern question, felt that the question was once more alive. As Mr.
Gladstone had said to Lord Granville (Oct. 4, 1870), "Everybody at a time
like this looks out for booty; it will be hard to convince central Europe
that Turkey is not a fair prize." From France Lord Lyons wrote to Mr.
Gladstone (Nov. 14) that the Russian declaration was looked upon with
complacency, because it might lead to a congress, and at all events it
might, by causing a stir among the neutrals, give a check to Prussia as
well as to Russia.

Lord Granville wrote to Mr. Gladstone, who was at Hawarden (Nov. 21):--

I am very sorry to hear that you are not well. Of course, you must
run no risk, but as soon as you can you will, I hope, come up and
have a cabinet. Childers has been here. He tells me there is a
perfect howl about ministers not meeting. He is more quiet in his
talk than I hear some of our colleagues are. But he says if there
is to be war, every day lost is most injurious. I have told him
that it is impossible to say that we may not be driven into it by
Russia, or by other foreign powers, or by our own people; that we
must take care of our dignity; but if there ever was a cabinet
which is bound not to drift into an unnecessary war, it is ours.

Mr. Gladstone replied next day:--

I will frankly own that I am much disgusted with a good deal of
the language that I have read in the newspapers within the last
few days about immediate war with Russia. I try to put a check on
myself to prevent the reaction it engenders. Your observation on
drifting into war is most just: though I always thought
Clarendon's epithet in this one case inapplicable as well as
unadvisable. I know, however, nothing more like drifting into war
than would be a resort to any military measures whatever, except
with reference either to some actual fact or some well defined
contingency....

II

The courses open to the British Government in the face of the circular
were these. They might silently or with a protest acquiesce. Or they might
declare an offensive war (much deprecated by Turkey herself) against a
nati