THE WAR OF GREEK INDEPENDENCE 1821 TO 1833 BY W.ALISON PHILLIPS 1897

240 THE WAR OF GREEK INDEPENDENCE
ever, the effect of the Conferences was more important.
The spell which the genius and personal charm
of Metternich seemed to have thrown over the mind of
the Emperor Alexander was broken, and the relations
between the courts of St. Petersburg and Vienna were
atrairied almost to snapping. As France and Prussia
both inclined to favour the Austrian policy, Russia
now found herself compelled to court the sympathies
of England. For the present, indeed, the sharp divergence
of the ultimate aims of the two Powers forbade
any actual A alliance. certain distance, however,
either might proceed without clashing with the
views of the other; and Canning was not ill-content
when, in a note dated August 18, 1825, Alexander
announced to the great Powers his intention of taking
matters into his own hands. 1 A journey which, at
this time, the Czar made to the south of Russia was
generally looked upon as connected with warlike preparations
directed against Turkey.
The unexpected death of Alexander, however,
which occurred at Taganrog on the 1st of December,
threw everything again into uncertainty. The new
Czar might reverse the policy of his predecessor;
it
and
was not even known who the new Czar was to be.
Constantine, the eldest son of the late Emperor, and
i
Mendelssohn, i. 390.