CHAP. I.
Either by their real dread, or by their crafty simulation of it, the Turkish statesmen succeeded They succeed in alarming the French Ambassador. in infecting M. de la Cour with sincere alarm. He easily brought to the conclusion that 'the state of the Turkish Government was getting worse and worse ; and that matters had got to such a state as to cause dread of a catastrophe, of which the inhabitants, Rayahs or Europeans, would be the first victims, and which would even threaten the Sultan's throne.'*r1 He called upon the English Ambassador to consult as to what was best to be done ; and both he and the Austrian Internuncio expressed their readiness to join with him in adopting the needful measures.
Composure of Lord Stratford. Lord Stratford does not seem to have suspected that the use which the Turkish Ministers were making of their divinity students was in the nature of a stratagem; but, assuming and believing their alarm to be genuine, he was still proof against the infection, and retained his calm. Indeed, he seems to have understood that a cry for war on the part of the religious authorities was a healthy sign for the Empire. He expressed to his colleagues his readiness to act in concert with them; but he said he was reluctant to take any step which was not clearly warranted by the necessities of the case, and that he desired to guard against mistake and exaggeration by gaining a more precise knowledge of the grounds for alarm. He deprecated any joint interference with the Turkish Government, and was still less inclined
- r1 'Eastern Papers,' port ii. p. 115.
