people; and what
more powerful one could he have found than a religious one, that is, one
in which those of the Greek Church were shown to be the martyrs, for
Russia belongs to that persuasion.

"There was one at hand. The Holy Land, which of course is under the
Sultan's sway, is the home of large numbers of priests and others
belonging to the Latin and the Greek Churches, and the Czar promptly
demanded that the latter should have more religious privileges than the
former, while France, whose interests are with the Latin Church,
demanded the very opposite. What was the unhappy Sultan to do? Himself
a Mahometan, he could not be expected to favour either of the two
infidel sects practising their religion at Jerusalem.

"It was an exceedingly difficult problem, and it is not to be wondered
at that he failed to please both parties. The Latins were moderately
content, while the Greek Church was roused into a fit of the warmest
indignation, and with it the Czar, who at once despatched two army corps
over the Turkish frontier and occupied the country between it and the
Danube, in the opinion of all right-thinking people an act of monstrous
injustice."

"I should think so indeed!" Phil blurted out. "How could the poor
Sultan be expected to satisfy both parties? It was a regular trap."

"Undoubtedly, undoubtedly, my friend! It was an example of
high-handedness never before surpassed," remarked Mr Shelton gravely.
"But still war might have been averted, for the Sultan now agreed to the
Czar's demands, and in the eyes of Europe Russia could not but withdraw.

"Such a course, however, was far from her intentions. With this point
gained, she now demanded a protectorate over all subjects of the Greek
Church, a suggestion which, if complied with, would have at once led
14,000,000 people resident in Turkey to own the Czar as their ruler, and
thus leave the unfortunate Sultan with merely a sprinkling of subjects.

"Turkey might have declared war promptly, but now the Western powers,
much to the Czar's chagrin and anger, intervened. Look at Austria. If
Turkey were occupied by Russia, the emperor's territory would be
partially enclosed, and a feeling of insecurity would naturally arise.
Therefore he is opposed to the scheme. France has perhaps no very
definite reason for opposition, save the upholding of the rights of the
Latin Church. But we must remember that she has ever been a belligerent
power, and that success in