On July 2 the Russian army under Prince Gortchakoff crossed the Pruth and occupied the Turkish territory of Moldavia and Wallachia. Of course this was an act of war, but no collision actually took place, and representatives of the four Great Powers--Austria, France, Great Britain, and Prussia--met at Vienna in July and agreed on a Note embodying terms for the peaceful settlement of the dispute. It were natural to expect that a document of such moment should have been framed in language of the utmost precision and incapable of bearing ambiguous interpretation. Nevertheless this short Note contained five passages so vague and ambiguous that they might have been construed into giving away the whole case of Turkey, though this was undoubtedly far from the intention of the authors. Russia, perceiving her advantage, accepted the Note at once; but the Ministers of the Sultan declined to do so, unless the five objectionable passages were modified. Nesselrode stated explicitly the reasons which prevented Russia from agreeing to any modification. These reasons enlightened the British Cabinet for the first time as to the construction put on the Note by Russia, which was directly contrary to that intended by the Four Powers. [Illustration: _R. Simkin._} A. 11th Light Dragoons. B. 12th Lancers. C. 5th Dragoon Guards. D. 1st Lifeguards. E. Private, Rifle Brigade. F. Private, Line. G. Private, Grenadier Guards. H. Officer, Infantry of the Line. J. Officer, 13th Light Dragoons. K. Officer, 2nd Dragoon Guards. L. Gunner, Field Battery, R.A. M. Trooper, 8th Hussars. UNIFORMS OF THE BRITISH ARMY IN 1837.] England, therefore, was compelled to acquiesce in Turkey's refusal to sign the Note, at the same time urging her not to regard the occupation of Moldavia and Wallachia as an act of war. The state of affairs towards the end of September is concisely described in a note written by Prince Albert to Baron Stockmar: "Meyendorff is in the Vienna Cabinet; Louis Napoleon wishes for peace, enjoyment, and cheap corn; the King of Prussia is a reed shaken by the wind; we are paralysed through not knowing what our agent in Constantinople is or is not doing; the Divan has become fanatically warlike and headstrong, and reminds one of Prussia in 1806; the public here is furiously Turkish and anti-Russian." On October 5 the Porte issued a formal declaration of war. On the 14th the combined fleets of England and France, which were lying in Besika Bay, moved into the Dardanelles on the invitation of the Sultan. Mediation was at an end. [Sidenote: Destruction of the Turkish Fleet.]