672 GLANCE AT THE GREAT POWERS. 



flames of war in the East are again kindled. Ibrahim is unintimi- 

 dated by the presence of the Russians at Scutari, and the Sultan has 

 recovered that blind confidence that he displayed when he reviewed 

 his army that found a grave at Konish. The Porte, it is now evident, 

 has only been negotiating to gain time, while Pozzo di Borgo in the 

 west, with his usual ability, has cajoled both Lord Palmerston and 

 the Due de Broglie. When there was still time to have seized the 

 initiative, we closed our eyes upon the ambition of Russia. Now, 

 mistress of the Dardanelles, she may interdict our entry whenever 

 she pleases. The Turco-Egyptian question appears further from its 

 solution than ever, thanks to our diplomacy : force will henceforth 

 decide it ; and who can say what nations may be arrayed upon this 

 vast field of battle, when victory cannot regulate the destinies of Asia 

 without having a mighty influence upon those of Europe ? 



The campaign about to open will be the theatre of great events. 

 Ibrahim occupies Anatolia with an army of 60,000 men : the whole 

 population, Christian as well as Mussulman, have declared in his 

 favour. His name alone took Smyrna; and the Egyptian fleet, 

 manned by good sailors, and directed by good European officers, \vill 

 not fear to try their strength with the clumsy ships of the Black Sea. 

 This fleet keeps up his communications with Egypt, where the Vice 

 King has a powerful force in reserve. 



The preparations of Russia, on the other hand, sufficiently indicate 

 how clearly she understands all the importance of the struggle ; 

 L 5,000 men occupy an entrenched camp at Scutari; a new corps 

 d'armee has just been embarked at Odessa ; and the corps, traversing 

 the principalities, would reach Constantinople early in May. Thus 

 she prepares for war with the same vigour as if she were making it 

 on her own account. Paskiewitch, celebrated for his successes against 

 the Persians, has traced the plan of campaign ; and Count Orloff has 

 been selected to carry it into execution, in his double capacity of 

 Generalissimo and Ambassador-extraordinary. The Muscovites are 

 not only at Constantinople, but masters of all the most important 

 points of the empire, of the Balkan and the Dardanelles. The Sultan 

 exists but by their permission ; and the commerce of Europe with 

 the East, is now at the mercy of a Hetman of Cossacks. 



When we recollect the bloody wars formerly waged by the mari- 

 time powers of Europe for the monopoly of pepper or of the New- 

 foundland fisheries, is it not astonishing that two powers like Eng- 

 land and France should not seek to arrest the onward soil of the tide 

 of Russian ambition that threatens to swallow up every power in 

 Europe ? Since 1815 she has extended herself, in the north, beyond 

 the Vistula, and in the east to the mouth of the Danube. The late 

 war with Persia added several provinces to her empire ; her armies 

 and her establishments already envelop the Black Sea ; the Sultan 

 has delivered to her the keys of the Dardanelles ; she has given a 

 king to Greece ; and we may at this rate shortly expect to see her 

 flag waving before Malta and Gibraltar, or to hear a wild Tartar 

 hurrah under the walls of Fort George ! 



