| Content Description | Has had further discussions with Mr Curtin, the United States minister, on the subject of abolishing the restrictions on Russian navigation of the Black Sea; the minister has, in the past, been assured that the United States has no interest in the matter; he claimed to be a "warm apostle of peace" and that there is a belief that peace may be compromised by the Eastern Question; Mr Curtin wished that the Eastern Question could be deprived of its dangerous elements, and believed that freedom of all shipping in the Black Sea, Sea of Marmara, the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus would assist in this; Mr Curtin thought Aali Pasha would consent to this if his country received an indemnity, and the presence of other squadrons in the Black Sea would allay fears on his part that Russia was establishing a fleet there.
He pointed out to Mr Curtin that the question was so large and involved so many interests that no statesman would ever consent to discuss it, and that Turkey would never consent to the passage of foreign fleets in the Black Sea; Mr Curtin argued that there was no objection to foreign fleets passing Copenhagen or Gibraltar; he commented that he might as well ask the Emperor to allow a foreign army to march through Nevsky Prospect, as to ask the Sultan to allow foreign fleets into the Bosphorus; believes this conversation is further evidence that the British Government may be called upon to discuss this question with the Russian Government. |