HC Deb 26 April 1861 vol 162 c1183
SIR JAMES FERGUSSON

said, he had given notice of a Motion upon the present state of the Syrian question, but in consequence of the unfortunate absence from illness of the noble Lord the Foreign Secretary he should defer it until a future evening. He had been induced to give that notice from a strong sense of the importance of the matter, and, considering also that the greatest anxiety was felt by the European inhabitants of Syria as to the state of the country after the departure of the French troops, that no circumstances should occur which might imperil the integrity of Turkey, or necessitate any further foreign interference in the internal government of that country. He, therefore, begged to ask the noble Lord whether the recommendations of the International Commissioners upon the affairs of the Lebanon had been finally arranged, and the proceedings of the Commissioners closed; also, whether, in the opinion of the Government, there existed a prospect of a stronger government being established in Syria?