LORD CAMPBELLasked Her Majesty's Government, Whether they object to present the despatch in which they have refused to concur in the proposals recently agreed upon at Berlin? When on Monday last he asked the noble Earl the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, whether the Government objected to produce this despatch, he did not put the Question because he thought their decision stood in any need of explanation or defence; on the contrary, 1511 had they come to an opposite decision, then he would have thought both explanation and defence might have been required, although they would not have been easy to give. The production of the despatch might lead to three desirable effects. One was, that it might tend greatly to reclaim France and Italy from the unhappy course into which they had been hurried; secondly, it might retard the application of the proposal in which Her Majesty's Government were not able to participate; and, thirdly, it would tend to uphold the advisers of the Porte in listening to the counsels of its friends, and in turning a cautious ear to the proposals of its enemies. He would, however, defer to the judgment of Her Majesty's Government, as they must be conversant with this important document. He was perfectly aware that since giving Notice, on Monday last, of his intention to put this Question, events had taken place which might make it imprudent to do now what might have been previously done consistently with sound policy. It would be premature to speak with any freedom upon what had recently happened on the Bosphorus, since to do so would raise a tumult of ideas even in minds the most insensible; but from information that had reached him he was able to assure their Lordships that among the British residents at Constantinople the event was viewed with joy and exultation, and with an increased sense of security. His own impression was that there was but one Embassy at that place by which that event would be bitterly lamented. The immediate and practical effect must be to secure the power of men who alone were able to regenerate the Empire, and whose power, under the late Sultan, would have had, at any rate, so precarious a tenure that it might at any moment have been overthrown. He trusted that what had occurred would tend to strengthen Her Majesty's Government in the determination to avoid any general Conference to which they might be invited—and which, in the present state of Europe, would be nothing but a snare, and in the determination in no manner to depart from the principles they had laid down, or the position they had occupied. The event might tend to increase their firmness in maintaining their present passive isolation, as it was calculated to add to their conviction that those who first endured would ulti- 1512 mately conquer. Having weighed this event, he had arrived at the conviction that it ought not to be regarded as the effect of any sudden, impassioned, and unpremeditated impulse; but, on the contrary, that it had been long contemplated, and had been matured and deliberately organized, though rapidly accomplished. He trusted that there would be no objection to the production of the despatch referred to.
§ THE EARL OF DERBYMy noble Friend asks whether I now object to present the despatch as to which he put a Question 10 days ago. I have already stated the only objection I feel to making public any Papers on this question. I need not point out that it would be impossible to present a despatch containing certain proposals in which we have refused to concur without, at the same time, presenting the proposals themselves. My only objection to that, and the objection which still remains in force, is that these proposals, although agreed upon by the various Powers, have not been laid before the Government of the Porte, and cannot, therefore, be considered as a public document. The proposals are still in the condition in which they were when the Question was put to me previously—that is to say, though they have been agreed upon as between the proposers, they have not been formally placed before the Porte. I am, therefore, still unable to lay these Papers on the Table. With regard to the grave and important event to which my noble Friend has referred, I agree with him that this would hardly be the time to discuss it in all its bearings. It is an event which has arisen, I believe, from the spontaneous feeling of the people of the Turkish Empire, not influenced by any foreign agency. It is an event the consequences of which may be extremely important, but from which I hope we have no reason to anticipate any but good results. When we meet again a fortnight hence, we shall probably be in a condition to speak with more knowledge and with more confidence upon this matter than we can do now.
§ LORD WAVENEYsaid, events had marched with such rapidity that the Berlin Conference and the Andrassy Note had as much passed out of the domain of diplomacy as the Treaty of 1513 Paris. Still, a very large discretion must be left to Her Majesty's Government as to the publication of any details they might have in their possession. There were, however, some details published which he would refer to, in the hope that the Government might be able to give satisfactory assurances as to that which was known only through the public Press. It appeared remarkable that the public Press had been supplied with information that there had been some undercurrent of apprehension communicated from the centre of distrust, Constantinople, to the Government of Servia; and if the public Press had been rightly informed, three measures of a trenchant and decisive character had been under preparation for some months to be ready in case of emergency. The Press was silent, and a general reserve was maintained on the subject; it was understood, however, that a forced loan was to be raised for Servia; that the period for discharge of private obligations was deferred; and that repressive laws on the Press were prepared; and, again, a colourable nationality had been given to an officer who had served with distinction in Central Asia that he might pass into the employment of the Servian Government. He made no comments, but he recommended the matter to the attention of the Government. The public mind was grievously disquieted, and he hoped some satisfactory explanation would be given on the subject.