ussian armaments should appear to have become excessive is of no kind
of value to the belligerents, who do not wish to establish a case for
which to make war hereafter, but to obtain a security upon which they
can conclude peace now.' Lord John Russell, in a confidential interview
with Count Buol, declared that he was prepared to recommend the English
Cabinet to accept the Austrian proposals. It seemed to him that, if
Russia was willing to accept the compromise and to abandon the attitude
which had led to the war, the presence of the Allies in the Crimea was
scarcely justifiable. M. Drouyn de Lhuys took the same view, and both
plenipotentiaries hastened back to urge acquiescence in proposals which
seemed to promise the termination of a war in which, with little result,
blood and treasure had already been lavishly expended.

Lord Palmerston and Lord Clarendon, backed by popular sentiment, refused
to see in Russia's stubborn demand about her fleet in the Black Sea
other than a perpetual menace to Turkey. They argued that England had
made too heavy a sacrifice to patch up in this fashion an inglorious and
doubtful peace. The attitude of Napoleon III. did more than anything
else to confirm this decision. The war in the Crimea had never been as
popular in France as it was in England. The throne which Napoleon had
seized could only be kept by military success, and there is no doubt
whatever that personal ambition, and the prestige of a campaign, with
England for a companion-in-arms, determined the despatch of French
troops to the Crimea. On his return, Lord John at once saw the
difficulty in which his colleagues were landed. The internal tranquility
of France was imperilled if the siege of Sebastopol was abandoned. 'The
Emperor of the French,' he wrote, 'had been to us the most faithful ally
who had ever wielded the sceptre or ruled the destinies of France. Was
it possible for the English Government to leave the Emperor to fight
unaided the battle of Europe, or to force him to join us in a peace
which would have sunk his reputation with his army and his people?' He
added, that this consideration seemed to him so weighty that he ceased
to urge on Lord Palmerston the acceptance of the Austrian terms, and
Lord Clarendon therefore sent a reply in which Count Buol's proposals
were rejected by the Cabinet. Lord Palmerston laid great stress on Lord
John's presence in his ministry, and Mr. Walpole has shown that the
latter only consen