n Stockmar, with dry cynicism, has not
failed to record the lavish gifts of 'endless snuff-boxes and large
presents' which made his departure memorable to the Court officials. Out
of this visit grew, though the world knew nothing of it then, the Secret
Memorandum, drawn up by Peel, Wellington, and Aberdeen, and signed by
them as well as by the Emperor himself. This document, though it
actually committed England to nothing more serious than the recognition
in black and white of the desperate straits of the Porte, and the fact
that England and Russia were alike concerned in maintaining the _status
quo_ in Turkey, dwelt significantly on the fact that, in the event of a
crisis in Turkey, Russia and England were to come to an understanding
with each other as to what concerted action they should take. The
agreement already existing between Russia and Austria was significantly
emphasised in the document, and stress was laid on the fact that if
England joined the compact, France would have no alternative but to
accept the decision.

[Sidenote: A FRIEND AT COURT]

There can be no question that Nicholas attached an exaggerated
importance to this memorandum. It expressed his opinion rather than the
determination of the Peel Administration; but a half-barbaric despot not
unnaturally imagined that when the responsible advisers of the Crown
entered into a secret agreement with him, no matter how vague its terms
might appear when subjected to critical analysis, England and himself
were practically of one mind. When the Coalition Government was formed,
two of the three statesmen, whom the Emperor Nicholas regarded as his
friends at Court, were dead, but the third, in the person of Lord
Aberdeen, had succeeded, by an unexpected turn of the wheel, to the
chief place in the new Ministry. Long before the Imperial visit to
London the Emperor had honoured Lord Aberdeen with his friendship, and,
now that the Foreign Minister of 1844 was the Prime Minister of 1853,
the opportune moment for energetic action seemed to have arrived.
Nicholas, accordingly, now hinted that if the 'sick man' died England
should seize Egypt and Crete, and that the European provinces of Turkey
should be formed into independent states under Russian protection. He
met, however, with no response, for the English Cabinet by this time saw
that the impending collapse of Turkey, on which Nicholas laid such
emphatic stress, was by no means a foregone conclusion. Napoleon a