But the Emperor Nicholas of Russia had convinced himself that the "sick man" was at the point of death, and that it was essential to the peace of Europe that his heirs should divide the inheritance before his demise. The sentence at the head of this chapter was spoken by the Czar when he revived proposals which he had made to the Duke of Wellington and Lord Aberdeen, then Foreign Secretary, on the occasion of his visit to England in 1844. These proposals had been embodied in a celebrated memorandum drawn up by Count Nesselrode, to the effect that the Turkish Empire should be maintained in its integrity as long as possible, but that as soon as its fall could be averted no longer, England, Austria, and Russia should act on a common understanding and divide the dominion among themselves. Nesselrode's memorandum had been received and placed in the archives of the Foreign Office, and no disclaimer of assent to the propositions therein had ever been made on the part of Her Majesty's Government. Silence is often assumed to indicate consent, so when Nicholas, believing in 1853 that the Porte was indeed on the point of dissolution, renewed his proposal for a partition of the Turkish Empire, it was at least excusable that he should reckon on the co-operation of Great Britain. Lord Aberdeen, who had been Foreign Secretary when the Czar was in England in 1844, was Prime Minister in 1853. Nicholas disclaimed any intention of a Russian occupation of Constantinople; he suggested that Bulgaria and Servia might be constituted independent States under Russian protection, and declared that he would acquiesce in the annexation of Egypt and Candia by Great Britain. All this, and much more, he explained to Sir Hamilton Seymour, assuring him that if Great Britain and Russia came to an understanding on the subject, it mattered nothing to him how the other Powers might view it. [Illustration: _John Leech._} {_From "Punch."_ THE OLD 'UN AND THE YOUNG 'UN. Old Nicholas (Emperor of Russia): "Now then, Austria; just help me to finish the Port(e)." The Emperor of Russia, disappointed in his overtures to England, endeavoured to obtain the assistance of Austria against Turkey.] [Sidenote: The Custody of the Holy Places.] [Sidenote: Prince Menschikoff's Demand.]