Admiral Stopford captured Beyrout, and Sir Charles Napier bombarded Acre. The fall of the fortress of Acre—which was thought to be impregnable—before the English fleet, terminated the war, and Mehemet Ali became only an hereditary ruler over Egypt under the over-lord of the Porte. The breach between England and France having become serious, Russia having obtained her desires stationed her fleet at Sebastopol, where it remained quiescent during the English bombardment of Acre. Thus, although Lord Palmerston succeeded in crushing the French Minister’s scheme, yet he fell into the snare laid for him by Russia, viz., of bringing about a diplomatic disagreement between England and France. But Russia did not gain by the transaction, for she in her turn lost her single-handed power over Turkey, which was given into the hands of the Five Powers. Lord Palmerston offered the following condition to the Turkish Government. “England having, in conjunction with other Christian Powers, succeeded in restoring Syria to the Sultan, she is entitled to expect that the Sultan, in return for such assistance, should secure his Christian subjects from oppression.”[56] At last the Syrian affairs were settled, but still England was always dreading a French attack both on Egypt and Syria. In 1844 the Emperor Nicholas paid his famous visit to England. What was his object in coming to England at such a period? The only idea that I can put forward is, that he wanted to see to what extent the Anglo-French disagreement[57] with regard to Syrian affairs had reached; also to widen them as much as possible in order to make it impossible to form an Anglo-French alliance against him, and thus leave him a free hand in the settlement of the Eastern Question when the fall of Turkey should take place. Nicholas was at once informed, after his arrival, by the British Prime Minister, “that no foreign influence in Egypt would be allowed by the British Government, who desired to keep the way open to India.” He at once perceived that the English were fearful of the French historic Napoleonic plans; and he at once used this fear to his advantage. He first proposed a partition of Turkey, knowing that the English Government would not dare to agree to it, because it would hurt the national feeling of England. Soon after the Anti-Napoleonic Revolution was over the Holy Alliance was concluded between several European Courts, and the moral feelings in the western states of Europe were to defend the weak against the strong, and to resist unjust aggression. These feelings were clearly shown during the Russian oppression of Poland (1837), and in the Independence of Greece (1821–1829). In England these feelings had manifested themselves, and any English Government which should venture to shock them would have been certainly upset. Therefore, a proposed partition of Turkey by Russia was received by the English Government with decided disfavour.