Lords Sitting of 23 May 1828

GREEK PRISONERS OF WAR.
The Earl of Darnleywished to call the attention of the House to a subject, in which the best interest of his Majesty and the honour of the country were concerned, He alluded to what was understood to have taken place since the battle of Navarino, with respect to the inhabitants of the Morea. If he were not misinformed, not fewer than four thousand inhabitants of that country, the flower of the population, had been transported to Egypt, for purposes too detestable to detail. The conviction on his mind was, that if the glorious battle of Navarino, from which the most useful results might have been expected, had been received in this country as it ought to have been, such an event would not have taken place. He feared that the fact of that atrocity
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having taken place could not be doubted, and he wished to know from the noble duke, whether measures had been taken to prevent its recurrence and to restore the unfortunate captives to their country.
The Duke of Wellingtonwas sorry to say, that certainly a great number—how many he could not say—of the inhabitants of the Morea had been carried to Egypt. That was certainly the fact—a fact, the existence of which was very much lamented by his majesty's government; who had done every thing in their power, by orders which had been sent out, to prevent the recurrence of such a misfortune; and he could now say that measures had been taken which would have that effect. He could also assure the noble lord, that directions had been given to the Egyptian troops, and endeavours had been made, as far as possible, to obtain their liberation.