eeted Muscovy at the mouth of the Dwina. So
great have been the benefits to trade, the arts, and industry in
general, arising from the friendly relations between England and Russia,
which, in 1853, will have completed the third century of their
continuance, that one might expect to see this period closed, in both
countries, with a jubilee to commemorate so remarkable an example of
uninterrupted amicable intercourse between nations.' The year 1853 came;
but, instead of being a jubilee to the old friends of three centuries'
standing, it brought the beginning of that contest which is known as the
Russian war. That was a proper way, indeed, to notice the happy return
of the three-hundredth anniversary of the establishment of
'uninterrupted amicable intercourse' between the nations, whose soldiers
were soon slaughtering each other with as much energy as if they had
been 'natural enemies' from immemorial time. Interest had no power to
turn aside the storm of war. The English people were angry with Russia
because the iron-willed Czar had carried matters in Europe with a very
high hand, and was, in fact, virtually master of the Old World, and
suspected of being on uncommonly good terms with the masters of the New
World. Nicholas had succeeded to the place of Napoleon in their ill
graces. They liked the Cossackry of the one as little as they had liked
the cannonarchy of the other. It was a case of pure jealousy. Russia was
too powerful to suit the English idea of the fitness of things, and
therefore it was necessary that she should be chastised and humbled.
Fear of Russia there could have been none in the English mind. It has
been thought that England contended for the safety of her Eastern
dominions; but then the Czar offered her Egypt and Candia, possession of
which would not only have much strengthened her Indian empire, but have
been the means of making her more powerful at home. Nothing better could
have been offered for her acceptance, if valuable territories would have
satisfied her feelings; and much praise has been bestowed upon her
because she did not close with the Czar's proposition 'to share and
share alike' the lands of the House of Othman; but that praise is not
quite deserved, the desire not to see Russia aggrandized being a
stronger sentiment with her than was the desire to aggrandize herself.
Had the question been left for British statesmen alone to settle,--had
the British premier been as free to act for England