“‘Sir,’ I then observed, ‘if your Majesty will allow me to speak plainly, I would say that the great difference between us is this—that you continue to dwell upon the fall of Turkey, and the arrangements requisite before and after the fall; and that we, on the contrary, look to Turkey remaining where she is, and to the precautions which are necessary for preventing her condition from becoming worse.’ ‘Ah!’ replied the Emperor, ‘that is what the Chancellor is perpetually telling me; but the catastrophe will occur some day, and will take us all unawares.’” Then follows a passage of very great interest at the present moment, when the course which Austria may adopt is still matter of speculation. Our impression has been, and is, that she will ultimately co-operate with Russia. “Being desirous, if possible, of ascertaining whether there was any understanding between the Cabinets of St Petersburg and Vienna, I added, ‘But your Majesty has forgotten Austria; now all these Eastern questions affect her very nearly; she, of course, would expect to be consulted.’ ‘Oh!’ replied the Emperor, greatly to my surprise, ‘but you must understand that when I speak of Russia I speak of Austria as well: what suits the one suits the other; our interests as regards Turkey are perfectly identical.’ I should have been glad to make another inquiry or two upon this subject, but I did not venture to do so.” Next comes the bribe—for we can call it nothing else—implied in the Emperor’s statement, already quoted, that he saw no reason why, in the event of the dissolution of the Ottoman empire, Great Britain should not obtain possession of Egypt and Candia! And so completely does he seem to have considered that point settled, that a few days afterwards, and without any further intercourse with Britain (for so we are given to understand), a confidential memorandum, dictated by the Czar, and containing the following passage, was placed in the hands of Sir Hamilton Seymour:—