France was clamouring for peace, and Napoleon was determined not to prolong the struggle now that his troops had come out of the siege of Sebastopol with flying colours. Russia, on her part, had wellnigh exhausted her resources. Up to the death of the Emperor Nicholas, she had lost nearly a quarter of a million of men, and six months later, so great was the carnage and so insidious the pestilence, that even that ominous number was doubled. The loss of the Allies in the Crimean war was upwards of eighty-seven thousand men, and more than two-thirds of the slain fell to France. Apart from bloodshed, anguish, and pain, the Crimean war bequeathed to England an increase of 41,000,000_l._ in the National Debt. No wonder that overtures for the cessation of hostilities now met with a welcome which had been denied at the Vienna Conference. After various negotiations, the Peace of Paris was signed on March 30, 1856. Russia was compelled to relinquish her control over the Danube and her protectorate over the Principalities, and was also forbidden to build arsenals on the shores of the Black Sea, which was declared open to all ships of commerce, but closed to all ships of war. Turkey, on the other hand, confirmed, on paper at least, the privileges proclaimed in 1839 to Christians resident in the Ottoman Empire; but massacres at Damascus, in the Lebanon, and later in Bulgaria, and recently in Armenia, have followed in dismal sequence in spite of the Treaty of Paris. The neutrality of the Black Sea came to an end a quarter of a century ago, and the substantial gains--never great even at the outset--of a war which was costly in blood and treasure have grown small by degrees until they have almost reached the vanishing point. FOOTNOTES: [38] _Life of Lord John Russell_, vol. ii. p. 251. CHAPTER XIII LITERATURE AND EDUCATION Lord John's position in 1855--His constituency in the City--Survey of his work in literature--As man of letters--His historical writings--Hero-worship of Fox--Friendship with Moore--Writes the biography of the poet--'Don Carlos'--A book wrongly attributed to him--Publishes his 'Recollections and Suggestions'--An opinion of Kinglake's--Lord John on his own career--Lord John and National Schools--Joseph Lancaster's tentative efforts--The formation of the Council of Education--Prejudice blocks the way--Mr. Forster's tribute.