and whether a British ministry could look on with
indifference, while her commerce in the Levant was threatened, and
the maritime power of England, not only in the Mediterranean and
Archipelago, but in every other sea, must receive a blow from the
increase of shipping that would accrue to Russia and Austria, were they
to become masters of European Turkey? The interest and honour of this
country, he said, required us to pay vigilant attention to the political
situation of the continental powers, lest the predominance of any one
should destroy that equipoise which was essential to the safety of the
whole. And it was evident, he remarked, that the ruin or depression
of the Turkish empire would materially affect the balance of power in
Europe. All the world knew that the object of Russia had long been to
acquire exclusive authority in the Black Sea; and were the Russians to
gain possession of its ports, a new naval power would arise, dangerous
to all Europe, but especially so to Great Britain, whose safety and
prosperity chiefly depended on the superiority of her fleets. It was
certain, also, he said, that if Great Britain had not assumed a hostile
disposition, the original demands of the court of Petersburgh would
have been insisted on to the last, and Turkey would have been forced to
submit to a dismemberment. As for Oczakow, he acknowledged that it
was not a place of great importance, but as a fortress commanding the
navigation of the Dniester, and a point to be gained by the empress in
her system of ambition, it was worth some risks, and he conceived
that he had done his duty by first attempting to secure this object to
Turkey, and afterwards relinquishing it when it could only be obtained
at the price of war. At the same time Pitt remarked, Oczakow might have
been secured had it not been for the division and opposition in this
kingdom; it was chiefly through Fox and his party that what had been
done well, had not been done better. Party divisions in this country had
encouraged the ambitious designs of Russia; and yet opposition now took
merit to themselves for rendering negociations useless; which, but for
their efforts, would have been attended with complete success. But he
did not envy them their triumph: it was not a triumph over an enemy, but
over the council of their king. Pitt concluded by a sarcastic reflection
on Fox, which must have been keenly felt by him. In the summer of
1791, the czarina finding that the Whi