LORD STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFEBefore your Lordships proceed to the regular business of the day I wish to put a question or two to the noble Earl at the head of the Foreign Department, whom I have the advantage of seeing in his place. The few sentences by which I propose to explain the object of my inquiries will occupy a very short time, and I feel confident that my noble Friend will reply not only with his usual conciseness, but with his characteristic courtesy. The matter to which I think it right to call attention is the late atrocious, and, to all appearance, unprovoked massacre of Christians at Jeddah. Judging from what has appeared on this subject in the public journals, the circumstances which accompanied the commission of the crime are better known than those from which it sprang, or those 1656 in which it terminated. There is no small reason to apprehend that the assault was premeditated, and no satisfactory reason for believing that the Turkish authorities were either active in protecting the victims or in punishing their assailants. At all events, whether we look to the relentless fury of the fanatics, or the number and character of those who fell under their blows, the massacre perpetrated in Arabia is no less important than afflicting. I cannot for a moment suppose that any remissness exhibited by the local Pasha, or his lieutenant, is attributable to the Turkish Government. No doubt, the Sultan and his Ministers were deeply and sincerely distressed when the horrible intelligence reached Constantinople, nor do I entertain the least apprehension of their hesitating to promise an immediate and complete satisfaction. But there is no denying that justice in Turkey is apt to move at a slow pace, and that, whether the object be punishment or compensation, the promise given to a foreign representative is but too often unnecessarily delayed and inadequately fulfilled. It may be presumed in the present instance that Her Majesty's Government have taken the necessary steps for obtaining reparation, and that they will be prepared to enforce, in concert, if necessary, with the French Government, that exemplary amount of retribution which may produce a wholesome and lasting effect throughout the Ottoman empire. Considering the great interests which call for a continual progress in friendly communications and mutual good-will between the nations of Christendom and the inhabitants of Turkey, we are bound to follow up the aid given in time of war to the Sultan by that encouragement to the repression of fanaticism in his dominions which our insistance on a full measure of atonement on the present occasion, whether to the public, or to individual sufferers, is calculated to afford. I trust, at the same time, that an idea, which has been whispered about, of taking security against future assaults on our Christian fellow subjects in Turkey by the occupation of Mecca, or the seizure of some precious object of veneration treasured within its walls, has no foundation in reality. It is possible that such an enterprise might succeed in a military point of view; but no degree of success in that respect could make up for the bitterness of hatred which it would engender against us throughout the Mussulman world, and which in its natural consequences could hardly fail of proving fatal 1657 to all our hopes respecting the progress of improvement in Turkey,—to those prospects of cordial reconciliation between the professors of conflicting creeds which the Sultan's wise benevolence and the triumph of his allies in the late war have so eminently promoted. I have to conclude these necessary words of explanation by thanking your Lordships for the indulgence with which you have received them, and addressing, in a distinct form, the questions I have in mind to my noble Friend the Secretary for Foreign Affairs. I wish to know, in the first place, whether Her Majesty's Government have yet received any official advices of the massacre perpetrated at Jeddah, as stated in the public prints; secondly, whether instructions have been issued for demanding full reparation from the Porte by means of the British and French representatives at Constantinople; and, thirdly, whether adequate measures are to be employed for enforcing our just demands in the event of obstructions or delays amounting to a denial of justice?
§ THE EARL OF MALMESBURYMy Lords, I am sure your Lordships will agree with me that those questions could not come with greater propriety than from my noble Friend who has just sat down, who has spent a life of eminent services chiefly in endeavouring to counteract those evil influences of which we now see the bitter fruits. On Sunday—yesterday week—I received, at an early hour, a telegram which your Lordships have doubtless all read respecting the late massacre of Christians at Jeddah. I did not lose an hour in sending back another telegram to Sir Henry Bulwer, giving him instructions to the effect that if the scenes so described had really taken place, he was to allow of no trifling whatever on the part of the Government of the Sultan, but to insist upon immediate redress, and upon such retribution as was necessary for the outrages that had been committed. In the course of the week, Mr. Greene, Her Majesty's Consul at Alexandria, wrote a full account of what had taken place at Jeddah; founded on a statement of the facts from Captain Pullen, commander of the Cyclops, one of Her Majesty's vessels which happened to be lying outside Jeddah at the time. It appears, my Lords, that a dispute had arisen between the Turkish authorities and the captain of the Cyclops, with respect to the real owners of a certain ship, which was an Indian vessel—that is, a ship belonging to some of Her Majesty's Indian sub- 1658 jects. Those Indian subjects, it appears, wished to change the nationality of the vessel, and to assume the Ottoman protection. That was a proceeding wholly contrary to law, because those parties could not claim Ottoman protection and the Ottoman law to the detriment of their allegiance to England, and of what they owed to the English Government. The matter being disputed, it was brought before a legal tribunal; where it was decided that the ship was English, and not Turkish. But, in the course of a few days, notwithstanding this decision, the English flag was lowered, and the Ottoman flag hoisted. Nothing further passed for two days; but at the end of that time, without any suspicion on the part of Captain Pullen of any serious disturbance having taken place, this gentleman perceived some Greeks swimming towards his ship, who, upon his interrogating them, gave him the first account of the massacre then going on. It appeared that the Governor had only a few soldiers at the time under his command; but, as far as Captain Pullen's statement goes, that functionary behaved as well as he possibly could under the circumstances; for four or five of his soldiers were killed in his exertions to afford protection to the outraged party, and he succeeded in saving the lives of the daughter of the French Consul, and of other Christian persons, who found security in his own house. After hearing this account, Captain Pullen sent some boats ashore to rescue those persons, and he succeeded in saving the lives of about twenty-five individuals, who were subsequently brought to Suez in safety. I believe that Captain Pullen conceived that he had not sufficient strength to take further measures, and I am of opinion that he acted with discretion. He, however, took steps before he left the shore to give the murdered Consul Christian burial; and he insisted upon the authorities of the place sending off to the Pasha immediately for Turkish troops. I understand, my Lords, that the Pasha has since proceeded with some troops to Jeddah. So much as to the facts of the case as far as we know them. My noble Friend has asked me what Her Majesty's Government have done in respect to their own action in this matter, and whether we have demanded immediate reparation from the Porte? I am glad to say, my Lords, that it scarcely requires any urgency on the part of Sir Henry Bulwer to induce the Porte to 1659 take up with a great spirit of indignation the cause of the sufferers. Without troubling your Lordships with the parleying that took place for a few days, it is sufficient for me to state that a Pasha has been actually sent to Jeddah with a large force of troops from Egypt to put down any fanatic insurrection, supposing such should arise. In accordance with the strong remonstrances of Her Majesty's Government, he has been armed with power of life and death, to execute capital punishment upon any offenders whom he should deem deserving of the same in Jeddah, without reference to Constantinople, which he would have been otherwise obliged to do by the laws of the country. My impression is, that it will not require any great exertions on our part to use any force, or to assist in any way the Turkish Government in obtaining justice and retribution for this horrible massacre. The Turkish Government are perfectly ready to do their duty. They are proceeding energetically at this moment; and Sir Henry Bulwer is convinced that the Pasha will carry out the orders he has received with the greatest promptitude and energy. In respect to the rumours my noble Friend has heard as to the intention of Her Majesty's Government to send an armed force to Mecca or other cities, they are entirely without foundation. I trust your Lordships are convinced, without any assurance from me, that our object is to secure the integrity of the Turkish empire, and at the same time to encourage and assist the Sultan in proceeding with those reforms which, I may say, have been originated by my noble Friend opposite (Lord Stratford de Redcliffe). Her Majesty's Government have no reason to believe that any extraordinary fanaticism has been shown in any other portion of the Turkish empire at this moment. The unfortunate affair at Jeddah originated principally from the dispute about the ship of which I have spoken. I trust I shall be able, in a few days, to state what steps have been taken in Jeddah by the Pasha to obtain justice.