§ MR. CAVENDISH BENTINCKsaid, he rose to call attention to the proposed cession of the Ionian Islands to Greece. He felt it to be his duty, in the absence of any more experienced Member accepting the task, to inquire of the Government what course they were about to follow, and the reasons for the extraordinary change in their opinions upon the subject. The first announcement of the intended cession was made before the meeting of Parliament, by the publication of a despatch of the Foreign Secretary, dated November 30. There was then a difference of opinion respecting the object of that despatch. Some persons thought that it was one of those wild and reckless effusions, full of sentiments of liberty and freedom, which singularly distinguished the official career of the noble Lord. Others regarded the proposed cession as a clever device to bind the Ionian Islands more closely to this country—a device which might well be described in a word of one syllable, which fortunately had not found its way into the vocabulary of that House. But it was certain that at that time there was no desire on the part of the British public that the cession should be effected, nor any belief on their part that it would be effected. When Parliament met, however, it appeared that the Government were in real earnest. The proposition of the Government, as marked out by the speech from the Throne, by the Greek despatches, and also by the declaration of the Minister, might be summed up in these words:—That the new Greek assembly were to maintain a constitutional monarchy—to refrain from any aggression upon neighbouring states—to choose a Sovereign under whose sway the Greek nation might enjoy internal prosperity and peace; and then if the Ionian Legislature expressed a wish for annexation to Greece, the British Government would take steps for consulting the great Powers upon the subject. If these were the conditions which Her Majesty's Government proposed, it was clear that if Greece remained in a state of anarchy and disorder, and if a Sovereign was not found who would be likely to carry into effect the line of policy which was traced out by Her Majesty's Government, then the latter would not be prepared to try the very dangerous experiment of ceding a possession to which 1398 previous Governments of all shades of opinion had clung with singular tenacity. Time passed on. Two Sovereigns of great experience were applied to to fill the vacant Throne. They both refused, and at length, by a telegram which came from Athens, and was received here at the end of March, it was announced that the Greek Government had unanimously elected Prince William of Denmark for their future King. During April and May various questions were put to the Government, but no satisfactory replies were obtained. First of all, they said they could not answer, then they would not answer, and finally they did not answer. During the month of May the disorders and anarchy of Greece increased, and an opinion was confidently entertained in that House that Her Majesty's Government were about to postpone sine die the question of the cession. It was therefore with very great surprise that on the 11th or 12th of June he read the papers relating to Greece (No. 2), and containing the protocols of various conferences held at the Foreign Office during May and the beginning of June, and especially a protocol of a conference held on the 5th of June, by which the Foreign Minister changed entirely the basis and principle of the cession, and abrogated those conditions which had been insisted on as precedent to the first negotiations. The Danish Minister announced that Prince Christian, acting as guardian of Prince William, accepted the hereditary Sovereignty of Greece, but only upon the express condition of the Ionian Islands being effectively united to the Hellenic Kingdom. There was, then, no condition of good Government nor of abstinence from aggression upon the neighbouring States. But, beyond that, it was agreed, that if the union of the Ionian Islands to Greece should obtain the sanction of the great Powers, Her Majesty's Government would recommend to the Government of the united States of the Ionian Islands to appropriate £10,000 a year for the new King, and further that Her Majesty's Government would give up in favour of Prince William the sum of £4,000 a year now received from Greece in part payment of debts due. Such a change of policy was, in effect, trifling with the House and the country at large, and he therefore was justified in asking now what really were the intentions of the Government, and for what reasons they had abandoned the conditions they had previously laid down, 1399 or, if not abandoned, what guarantee had they that such previous conditions would be discharged. The Prince might be elected and crowned, and yet within a few weeks, or even days, the Government might be upset, and a republic proclaimed. What guarantee had they that the new King would govern, to use an expression of the Foreign Secretary, by an enlightened code, or according to liberal principles? The Prince had not yet completed his eighteenth year, and it was a singular coincidence that he was within a few months of the age Prince Otho had attained when he was elected to the throne in 1833; and there was no guarantee, that however excellent his intentions, he might not be misled by bad advisers into a course similar to that of his unhappy predecessor. There was no guarantee against aggression upon other States except that of the good faith of the Greek people, and those of our countrymen who had lent money to that nation would not attach much value to such a guarantee. Greece was plunged into the depths of democracy—disorder and anarchy were prevalent—within the last two days a despatch had been published, in which the President of the Council of Ministers, who would of course be disposed to make the best of the actual state of things, admitted that the army was in a state of mutiny, and had imbrued its hands in what was called a fratricidal strife, and that the National Bank had to be guarded by soldiers belonging to the three protecting Powers. The throne of Greece had been hawked about and offered to the highest bidder. No bidder had appeared, and the King of Denmark had only accepted the throne for his nominee, upon the conditions precedent that the Ionian Islands, which were in a state of prosperity, were annexed to Greece, and that the great Powers would forego a sum of money to form a civil list for the new King. Supposing, then, the islands ceded, and Prince William crowned, if another revolution occurred in Greece, we should have parted with those islands without any possibility of recalling our decision. Besides, by abandoning our protectorate without conditions, we committed an indefensible breach of trust. The islands were given to us to preserve the balance of power in Europe, and we have no right to abandon them without the full assent of all the Powers interested. France and Russia would, no doubt, consent to the cession of the islands, and with good reason, 1400 for our possession of them was a barrier against Russian aggression, and would prevent any attempt on the part of France to gain power in the East. But Austria and Turkey were of a different opinion, and while Austria was disinclined, Turkey positively objected to the cession. The noble Lord had said that Turkey had no right to be admitted into the Conference. Legally speaking, the noble Lord might be right; but having regard to the present position of Turkey, and to the fact adverted to by Lord Stratford de Redcliffe in another place, that by ceding the Ionian Islands we were opening the flank of the Turkish European possessions, would the noble Lord say that Turkey had no moral or equitable right to be heard? On the whole, he thought that neither reason nor the force of circumstances warranted the Government in their determination to surrender these islands. Moreover, it was said that a strong disinclination existed on the part of the Ionians themselves to the transaction. He learnt from the noble Lord that there was a treaty in preparation, but whether it was to be signed before the vote of the Ionian Legislature was taken upon the subject he did not understand. He trusted that the Government would come to no hasty conclusion on the question, but it would be allowed to stand over till Parliament re-assembled, when statesmen of all shades of politics would have full information before them, and sufficient opportunity of making known their sentiments upon the subject.