The Sun. — London, England, 1850-06-18 00:00:00

the DISRAELI th oug ht th e ohservation aaplied by 'a Right H on . G e ntl em an to his predecessor in the d n s ilb r ata might with Neel justice e retorted upon him- P i l. Whet v-as the line of argument pursued by the Hon. Gentleman? First of al! he proposed to prove that the Castle of Dublin hal undergone a great Pelution, and that it was no longer the [eat of au thority and omnipotent influence, and that all those co rrupt means of which they had heard so much had e Paed, b ecause it h a d b e c o me pure, a nd that was the 7!sen why he called upon them to abolish the office of L'urd-Lientenant.—(Cheers.) The Right Hon. Gentle man paintei the country as in a state which required 4 administration of no ordinary character, and then proposed to destroy the local Government, which he 'bitted had become a pure administration.—(Hear, li ea rt) He felt tae difficulty of the question before the tk ° se. In the only division which had taken place on ;"e subj ec t h e h a d recor d e d hi s vo te with the Go -I:n3r-tient, thinking it but an act of Parliamentary cour ,,sY to pe rm it a Mi n i s t e r to intro fuce a measure of this nature; but opal that occasion he had ventured to ex pressthe objections which presented themselves to his 41 lr ld• Since then he had had au opportunity of perusing the 4 11 , and had an opportunity of listening to the speeches 10. 110 n. Members on both sides, and had heard nothing da ys could snake the general impression which some ago he had ventured to express. He had, more -0t", reason to feel confidence in thatopinion, from the to ascieuiness that throughout this discussion no strong Party feeling had interposed.—(Hear, hear.) He had a s tron g ; impression that the measure brought under their : l isideratiou was an unwise measure, awl one which o Uld not work; aud, before long, the country, and that h °ll ie would recogeise the consequence of such qualities. "" t a Wished, with :fie permi.sion of the House, to state his ,lason s for arriving at this conclusion. What was the o_ ll eiple of the Bill? The Right Hon. the Secretary of ~`ate had endeavoured to impress on the House that the o r "aeiple on which they had to decide was, the abolition 4, maintenance of the Lord -Lieutenancy in Ireland. "ere he entirely differed from him. The principle Of the Bill was expressed in its title. The object ti the Bill was to provide fur the abolition of the office &. "'tord-Li eu t enant , an d the appointment of a fourth 'eretary of State was as much a principle of the Bill as the aboli t i on o f the Lord-Lieutenancy. He made this „ ' u3 ervation in passing, because it bad been referred to as 4 ' kere question of detail fur the consideration of the Co mmittee. But he would argue the case for a moment t i Poa the ground chosen, though unfairly, by the Secre itY S tae. Te ojct o the 81, the, wa to lelish of an t office h whic b h e had existed il for centur n ies, s and w l 'ich even in its present f etre, modified by modern ex . f l ' ir ielace and adapted to modern practice, had flourished o i tnearly fifty years. But if they were going to abolish l l an office, what were they going to substitute?— Ule at) Some might prove that it had been made the me ans of corruption; others, that it was totally inade -994t0 to the difficulties with which it had to cope, but man wee justified in voting for its abolition unless t, ' - i 7 ll a prepared to find a substitute.—(Hear.) Nothing i ld authorise a rash and precipitate vote, the effect of hbah would be to destroy an ancient form of adminis k t i t ion unless a substitute were provided. This was b the fi rs t t ime th a t a new S,cretary of State had t, ° , 11 proposed for institution by a Ministry, and assented 1 , 0 °.Y the House. A third Secretary of State was pro. !ed as Minister of England for tee administration of E„' colonies in 1768, he believed. The plantations of ;gland were so prosperous, and her colonial interests e t re developing themselves in so striking and satisfac 'fat ). a manner, that a third Secretary of State was ah .. ),latelylearn required. What was the consequence? Ten afterwards they lost their colonies.—(clear, hear.) eThe new Secretary in 1768 was established particularly ased the fortunes of our American plantations , and l r , Years afterwards the plantations of America no yier belonged to his Majesty.—(Hear, hear.) There loet so f ar as p rece d en t was c o ncerned, the proposition e etablish a third some suspicion on the establishment of a ytirth. R emem b er w h a t were the words of Mr. Pitt when O d er the union. He said his object was to place 4 er one public will the direction of the whole force O c ao empire. Was the proposition to establish a fou r th th Nary calculated to realise the plan of Mr. Pitt. On contrary, it would call into being a gre It ministe ml officer, second to none but the first minister, who, dadof his position, would think himself entitled to d upon the rights of his office, and insist on his own i t elt o• Possibly the policy he would recommend might Wise, but still it would be his policy, and not that of t h Cabinet, —(Hear, hear.) The Government had been (inl a nd whether the fourth Secretary was to be resident in or not? No one had answered that question.— 1 t 1 , 4 r, hear.) If he was to be resident he was a go anclr.—(llear, hear.) All the consequences of the bath system which they pronounced injurious, but I ti l l ch he was no t p re par e d to a d m it, must again occur. N .° Were not resident they must depend upon the sub loates of the Government.—(Hear, hear.) Nor could 11 1 toe that under any circumstances they could free k:toselves from local influence and local manage -111;11t, The only difference between the present and ancient system was, that under the latter they would 0 the local management of en individual of exalted al: 1 ,t_ton and high character, while under the former they t have the local management of obscure and possibly it ir iguing persons.—(Hear, hear,) But it was said that i ti hs an anomalous office. It was possible; but were tt:toalies so rare in our ancient Constitution that the t t)Yth t4 "nt one was discovered it must be destroyed? Did t mg in this country exist by force of pure reason, thie,re not even anomalies sometimes sources of strength Il tit ' r e Q, no wise statesman would idly destroy ?—(Hear, (4 .) The office of lord mayor was an anomaly.— ! hear.) If you were to describe to a foreigner Ir a ' t in a metropolis with 2,000,000 of inhabitants, he Ir7 o the chief magistrate of probably not more than 00 inhabitants, what would be his astonishment? was the contrast between his real position and general reputation. And yet he was treated with f i j d e remonial almost roya', and held an office which contributed to the liberty of the country and the kit,i l ltenene e of its high spirit.—(Hear, hear.) In the iN ° r3 7 of England he was a very considerable personage, tbi °lit) to whom the people of England were consider 'lli! indebted. The Right Baronet the Member for ik'werth, like the other distinguished orator, on whose t c , il ch h e had made a slight comment, appeared to him @ %t ik ve delivered a most unswerable speech against the tOre of th e G overnme ne—(Hear, hear.) The Right k t , ll ' Gentleman closed his aldress by stating that, )e: r theless, he should support the measure of the Go tk-12aent as an experiment. Ho had no great taste for thr ti t imental legislation.—(Cheers.) He had seen many ta m ga introduced as experiments which had not sue tived• Nut to touch upon things that might create ill tktri`t he might instance the income-tax as an experi tkiiit that had not succeeded, but which could not be (i t j got rid of.—(Hear, hear.) While the Right Hon. itt i t teenan consented to the abrogation of the office, he \ ll :hat he would only consent to it upon certain terms n aely, that the citizens of Dublin should have an t:t.able and liberal consideration. Before the House to a vote on the measure, he thought they ought to :I,l 4 B enee explanation on that point.—(Hear, hear.) ‘k; Li ble and liberal compensation comprehended 01 ( 7,7E4 deal, and he thought the citizens of Dublin 'l4,"'cl press for some definition. He knew an unhappy With which ho was connected who had been pro -44,14 correcnr,atier, eqwitable compensation, by the fe es L+ - ne—p, nremizio never forgetters lay them, sad licrf,rni , d by hind.--(Load cheers.) If the Hon. Daldin had no better ailenrance cf compen t:lo he would advise him to hint no means of 0p %."4 it, and hope for nothing hereafter. He (Mr. !ial . N l ,eli) had been puzzling his brains to know what tax tit ) , Ode Lord meant to impose, and had pictured to ft er "'lf the Nob'e Lord proposing a loan to be turned li t° werda into a gift.—(Hear). A hint had been ti tti l tn out to transfer the administration of criminal the e ° to the Lord Chancellor. He did not think that illlgerogative of mercy was one that lawyers should be Iti kt Z Upon to exercise. Ile for one deprecated such a ,`4s ae• He disclaimed anything like party feeling on Nvl'esent occasion, but he contended that the case by the Government for the abolition of the Lord- Wtianey was a weak one—that the measure was in :tei i i t t owise and unstatesmanlike, and unnecessarily of %'o to the people of Ireland, and he should therefore 1, • A It I‘ , R. INGLIS said the brilliant eloquence of the L 411 1:, 11 , on• Gentleman could not induce him to overlook . .ob,c . rvati . , and which were cheered loudly Ministerial side of the House. The Right Hon. % i-P l an evidently designed and hinted at the restore h„' ha might so call it, of the Church of Rom e in the ?tt, 4 413 of Ireland.—(ldenr.) To that, or to any mea oe to it, he should be at all times prepared to k, c) l:t Pure and determined opposition.—(Loud cheers.) 'IN t bid not understand how it was that neither of the Patties who had during the last ten years held t 'td e l a that country had proposed a measure similar i hlt th Present. It was evident that both were agreed time for such a change was not come, and as no k a tion had been given up to a very recent period of Nkt -I tch intention, he must infer that the circumstances t „ tt T h ed induced this change in the government akleteland had occurred but very recently. It red act b e pretended that any Lord-Lieutenant . I,l l ,„ ll 'elected the duties of his high Koffice, and ktc,,Pnwer was to be transferred to a Secretary of lite d `" e Y gained nothing. If that secretary resided in tl if e l he would be a worse . kind of Lord• Lieutenant, he resided in England, he could not di s charge its lit 4 , l l 'ith anything like the same efficiency. For these Op he sh ou ld vo t e aga inst the Bill. REYNOLDS would commence by thanking the II 1 the - . 0 13. Gentleman, in his own name and the name I.; 4 ep, eltizens of Dublin, for the intimation he had given l l g h ti t , t l) , l . Some measure of compensation.—(A laugh.) k h "t ttr ; e d, however, that compensation would be nothing p t 'tti sound.—(Hear, hear.) He had been as -,r3ttl b 3' the Noble L , _ , rd (Lord J. Russell) that the ht the -Dublin would lose nothing by the abolition, 1, 4 ay; would have occasional visits from the Queen; N t en no asked if a clause to that effect would be in illtitam.4 int o th e Bill, lie received a nod, which plainly thtli e ' (.l that it would not be done. He heard nothing li t ' i ce li wa Y of argument in favour of the measure but trai t s %t euction of the tubular bridge across the Menai --- (a• laugh.) He did not think the Government k ti ;te : 11 ‘p with regard to this measure, and that they meditating a speedy and honourable retreat, th ' 1 . 14 - 1 , as their ft iend, strongly counsel them to i t ;t o m . . e Isere as .•pet dily as pos . sifele. He did not f kr y -Asibl e that the Secretary of State, who was al of ttrwheltned with business, could conduct the af qtlad, i r ''lend. Because Ireland had been badly go y4te f a '", cY mu s t a boli s h the Lord-Lieutenancy. But k 1 4 was it if she was badly governed? He e tot o 180, wade, pen up old sores, or refer to the misgovern -Itleh), took pl ace i n th e r e ign of Cromwell—(A Pee,:, r)f. Remy the Eighth, orany other of the able dress { . , " 111 monarchs of that country. They ere to Iv.koes -turth Secretary of State—an Englishman, of because he resided in Downing-street and *41 4 i na _g , , f the affirs of Ireland, was better able Mi 4 ~`"cal than a it nobleman resident on the vicut atthiesting with the leading civil and mili- THE SUN, • ingly contradictory, and it appeared doubtful uhether the account of this lonian subject were true or not. The local officers might have been punished by due course of law. The trial took place, the police %sere acquitted, and it was said that no torture had tnkcn place. One would have thought this would have been a staggerer for the Se cretary ~f State far Foreign Affairs, but this did not satisfy him. The Noble Lord had declared the trial unsatisfactory, and demands reparation, whereupon M. Coletti transmits a note, that the lawyers of Greece determine that there is no reason for further inquiries, and the subject dropped. This was not calculated to raise the representative of the Foreign-office in the eyes of the Greek Government. He would now proceed to the claims which had been urged on the Greek Govern ment, and there was only one of these cases in which he thought that reparation ought not only to have been demanded, but to have been promptly enforced—he meant the insult to the boat's crow of any of her Majesty's ships at Patras—but even this outrage was not without its excuse.—(Hear, hear.) At the commencement of the year 1848 the provinces of Greece had been in a state of disturbance of a revolu tionary character, and a very short time before, her Majesty's steamer, the Spitfire, in pursuance of that kind and generous policy which her Majesty's Ministers have always pursued towards the Mediterranean states, called in at Patras and received on board a notorious rebel against the Government of Greece. Whilst the country was in this state of disorder her Majesty's ship Fantome appeared off the coast of Patras ; and on the evening of a dark day, in violation of a well-known order, a boat of ours landed in a remote place in the very neighbour hood of the house from which the former rebel made his escape to our steamer. The attention of the guard was called to the fact. The boat landed two unknown persona. On being invited to stop one of them imme diately fled, and, aided by the darkness of the night, escaped. The other was taken. The guard then pro• needed to the boat, and its crew were made prisoners by three Greek soldiers. The guard found a midshipman on board the boat, not wearing his uniform, or any distinction by which he could be known as a Bri tish officer. The boat's crew and the midshipman were immediately taken before the nomarch. As the one party could speak no Greek, and the other could speak nothing but Greek, there was some difficulty i❑ coming to an understanding of each other ; but as soon as the commandant of the place ascertained that they belonged to a British ship of war, he discharged them from custody, and saw them on board the Fantome himself. Captain Le Hardy on the next morning demanded from the Greek nomarch, as was his duty, a reparation or apology for the insult offered to his boat's crew, and compensation for the loss of his boat's gear, as a boathook (belonging, however, to the Spitfire) had dropped overboard in the struggle. Captain Le Hardy then appeared before the nomarch and proposed that all parties should be called in, and the whole case should be openly examined into, but the nomarch refused to enter upon it, on the ground that he had already put the case into the hands of the Procureur du Roi. The Fantome was obliged to sail the next evening for Malta; and, after she was known to have departed, the nomarch demanded from our con sul leave to examine the boat's crew, contending that it was not a boat of the Fantomo but of the Spitfire, which had landed on the previous evening. But the following day the consul, not satisfied, says the nomarch must have known he ought to have sent his explanation sooner—must have known the Fantome was on the point of sailieg, and he transmits the whole correspondence to the Minister at Athens. Together with correspondence is a letter from Lieutenant Macdonald, of the Spitfire, and Lieutenant Macdonald, of the Spitfire, appears to correspond very well with the name which his vessel bears.—(A laugh.) Here is the moderate, temperate letter of Lieutenant Macdonald, which is duly and offi cially transmitted with a request for reparation, and, as a conciliatory mode of obtaining it, is sent to the Minister at Athens:— " The governor of this town has taken upon himself not only to display a hostile feeling towards the British Government, but also to permit a most unjustifiable out rage to be committed on an officer and boat's crew of her Majesty's sloop Fantome. I consider it my duty, as the senior officer present at Patras, to prevent all commu• nication between her Majesty's ship Spitfire, under my command, and the town of Patras, except for the pur pose of receiving the necessary supplies for the ship, through the medium of a boat belonging to the shore. I have further to request that you will be good enough distinctly to state to the governor, that I have repre sented to my own Government this state of aflairs, the more especially when I bear in mind the abominable falsehoods circulated by his authority, and through a letter to yourself, accusing the officers and men of land ing strangers under cover of the night. It is quite im possible under these circumstances that I can hold any communication for the future with an authority that sets all international law at defiance. I have strictly prohibited any officer or man to land from this ship, and my reasons fur doing so must appear evident, for in the event of a repetition of the circumstances that occurred to the boat of the Fantome the evening before last, a collision must inevitably ensue, which it is my wish to avoid as fir as lies in my power. My positive orders having been issued that in all future communications between this ship's boats and the shore, the Spitfire's boats are to be fully armed and equipped, and fully pre pared to resent any insult that may be offered to them." Was there ever such a mountain made out of a molehill? —(Hear.) This was transmitted as a serious matter of international quarrel by her Majesty's representa tive to the Minister at Athens.—(tlear, hear.) Well, what gays he? Ile says, I am exceedingly sorry to find that there is any misunderstanding, and that it is supposed there is an unfriendly feeling ou the part of the authorities towards her Majesty's subjects; I assure you there is nothing of the kind. I send you at once the papers I have as yet got; you shall have all that I re ceive; I only send you these now that you may see there is a different account from yours."—(Hear, hear.) There the account closes; and mark, where there has been really an insult offered—where the solemn declaration and word of honour of two British officers commanding ships of her Majesty were not accepted and admitted as a declaration of a matter of fact—where that affront (for such I conceive it to be) has been offered to the honour of her Majesty's service, you find upon that question, though the consul is exceedingly active and the Minister is exceedingly active, there is no demand fur reparation or apology on the part of the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and the whole matter has been allowed to sleep from 1848 to 1850.—(Hear, hear.) The next case was one in which some lonian boats' crews were plundered in the port of Sal eine. It appears that a band of armed men took pos session of the Greek Custom-house, bound the Custom house officer, and, availing themselves of the Custom house itself, decoyed lonian boats into the harbour, and plundered them to the amount of 1,200 dollars. Sir E. Lyons of course reported the facts; he wrote to M. Coletti, and this is the letter which he hands in to M. Coletti " The enclosures relate to the plunder of six lonian boats at Saleine, in the river Acheloos; with reference to that subject, I have to instruct you to address a note to M. Coletti, stating that her Majesty's Government expect and demand that the Greek Government will make full compensation to the lonians fur the losses and sofnring,s inflicted open them by tho Greek robbers end pirates Ts'ao veer() pilo7 - ed 1370 n that occasion to take p05...-F,siori of the Co tom-`ogee a,t Salcina; and you will vsy that her Majesty's Lord High Commissioner of the lowan Islands will ho instructed to ascertain the amount to bo claimed on behalf of the masters and crews of the six lonian boats, and to send you an account thereof." It was exceedingly doubtful whether, on the part of the British Government or the lonian Government, there was just ground for demanding indemnity from the Go vernment of Greece.—(Hear, hear.) The Government was bound to afferd protection to foreigners and to its own subj cts alike; but B r iti s h su bj ec t s before now had been pillaged in the Roman States and the Neapolitan States, and he never heard cf any demand against the Government of either of those states because robbers came down and committed plunder.—(Clear, hear.) He was very much inclined to agree with the very tempe rate answer of M. Coletti. He says— " The duty of the King's Government was to put down crime, and it has not neglected to do so. I think it su perfluous, M. le Chevalier, to bring before your notice again the difficulties which are always opposed to effec• tually maintaining authority in the province of Acar nania; but no one is ignorant of the attempts which have been made. Soldiers have fallen in encounters with the banditti; several of the latter have recently been killed. The pursuit is still continued, and, with the assistance of the Lord High Commissioner, I hope that the individual marked out as the principal author of the outrage committed at Salcina, the lonian Tryphon, who has escaped from the prisons of Santa Maarn, will at last fall into the hands of justice. No thing will lie neglected in order to obtain this result, which I have much pleasure in hoping will be consi dered by the Government of her Britannic Majesty as the fu!filinent of the only obligation which the Govern ment of his Hellenic Majesty can be held responsible fur in this affair." What is the answer of Lord Palmerston? " I have received your dispatch of the 9th ult., enclos ing a copy of M. Coletti's letter to you of the 30th of March, declining to compensate the master of the six lonian boats which were plundered at the Custom-house at Salcina in October last; and I have to instruct you to state to M. Coletti that there is taothing in his letter ' which alters the view which her Majesty's Government have taken of this case; and you will say, that as the Greek Government have been either unwilling or unable to put down the gangs of robbers which have for some time been allowed to infest Acarnania with impunity, and even to choose a Greek Custom-house as the spot for plundering and otherwise ill-using lonian subjects, her Majesty's Government must require the Government of Greece to make good the loss incurred by those lonian subjects, and they hope and trust that M. Coletti will see the justice of acceding to this demand without any further delay." If a similar case had occurred in England, and if such a demand had been couched in such terms, he wished to know whether the ambassador who had dared to present it would not have received his passports in less than 48 hours?—(Cheers.) He had been told that within the last few weeks au application had been made by the Austrian Government in a case that occurred on the coast of Ireland. A request was made for compensa tion, and was transmitted to her Majesty's Government. He should like to know whether the demand was made as a rig,ht.—(Hear, hear.) Her Majesty's Government, finding it a very convenient time for acceding to that request—(Hear, hear)—finding it might be brought for ward as a precedent—(Hear, hear)—thought that 5001. would be well expended in compensating the Austrian crew for their losses and sufferings; but he should like to know whether it was granted as of right or of favour. Here was another case, some lonians at Patras, keepers of a coffee-house, on a festival, put up a great variety of flags—British, lonian, Greek, and others—as ornaments over their shop. Where was same little disturbance in tars functionaries of Ireland. He was anxious to see the bonds of union drawn more closely between the two couotrics, but if he wishe fto ..s. the union severed and rendert.d nugatory, he should vote for the present measure. Colo-a/4 THONIPSON (who was met by cries of " Divide") said, he was sure many English M-tubers like himself were anxious to avoid passing under the sweeping description of being men who followed the beck of Government, and could offer no reason for their votes. A century ago Scotland was in such a situation as to form a parallel to the case of Ireland. There was not a single reason urged on the question now before the House that might not with equal force be urged in the circumstances which effecttd Scotland 100 years since. John o'Groat's house was then less within our reach thau the remotest part of Ireland was at present. Amongst the reasons which influenced English Members to vote fur the proposition of the Government was this —that they believed the office of the Lord-Lieutenant was the centre from which issued half the evils that atil:c.ed Ireland. But on various grounds, which must be obvious to every Member of that House, it was of the utmost importance that the best possible understanding should be maintained between the people of England and Ireland. Was there not danger that at some time—not perhaps so distant as people might suppose—America would in Ireland repeat the proceedings which had recently taken place in Cuba? —(Divide, divide.) He had i❑ his possession a docu ment usually put into the hands of all Americans who visited England—it was a book that, like Peter Pindar's razors, was made to sell; it was one which too many of the Americans liked to read. The writer, speaking of the royal flag floating over the ancient keep of Windsor, said that he looked forward to the time whe❑ it might be replaced by the modest stars and stripes of Ameriea. —(Divide, divide.) Yes, he would say that America was stealing onward, and that England ought not to be indifferent to the necessity of strengthening her position by a wise and liberal policy. Peace between England and Ireland was a❑ object of the utmost importance, and he felt the strongest persuasion that by adopting the present measure they would take the most effectual mode to unite two countries which never ought to have been divided. Providence had removed the barrier of sepa ration, and he trusted that Parliament would lose no time in taking advantage of so favourable an event.— (Divide, divide.) Mr. P. BUTLER, who spoke amidst general marks of impatience, was understood to oppose the motion. He suggested that, as. in olden times, the relatives of the Sovereign filled the high office of Lord-Lieutenant, when the young Princes camp of age they ought to be sent over to represent their Sovereign in Ireland.—(Hear and laughter.) He had always supported the Govern ment, but he could not give a silent vote on that occasion, but he should go into that gallery—(Laughter)—in opposition to the Bill for the abolition of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He hoped to see many con scieatious and sympathising English Members on the same side with him, because he thought that proposition would alienate the affections of the Irish people from England, and inflict a deep blow, and, mayhap, a fatal and sensible injury o❑ the British empire. —(Hear, hear, and loud cries of Divide.") Strangers were then ordered to withdraw, and the galleries were cleared for a division. The numbers were— For the second reading .. ... 295 Against it ••• ••• ••• 70 Majority in favour of the —225 The Bill was then read a second time. Mr. MOORE gave notice that, on the motion that the Speaker leave the chair for the House to go into Commit tee on the Bill, he should move that the Bill be referred to a Select Committee. _ _ The Metropolitan Interments Bill, as amended, was considered and ordered to be printed. On the motion that the Factories Bill be read a third time, Lord J. MANNERS thought that the House ought not to be called upon to assent to the third reading of this Bill at half-past twelve o'clock at night. There were some amendments which required a little time for con sidpration. Sir G. GREY consented to postpone the third reading until to-day (Tuesday). Mr. F. MACKENZIE brought in a Bill, embodying the resolutions agrt ed to by the House upon the motion of Lord Naas, relative to home-made spirits in bond. The Bill was read a first time, and ordered to be read a second time on the 4th of July. The other orders of the day were then disposed of, and the House adjourned at a Quarter to One o'clock. HOUSE OF LORDS, June 17. Their Lordships met at Five o'clock. Those portions of the House appropriated to strangers were crowded to excess. JUDGES OF ASSIZE BILL. On the motion of Lord CAMPBELL this Bill was read a second time. _ _ Several petitions were presented on the subject of Post office Sunday labour. ACCOMMODATION OF THE HOUSE. Lord BROUGHAM complained of the conduct of cer tain persons who refused to ebey the orders of the House. It was clear that no Peer or Commoner bad any right in the Peeresses gallery—(Loud laughter)—and there was now a gentleman there who had no right there, and he moved that the standing orders be enforced by the ( fficers of that House.—(Loud laughter, particu• larly in the galleries.) He did not move this discourteously, because he had given ample notice to the gentleman that if he did not leave that gallery he would have him turned out.—(Loud and long continued laughter and great con fusion.) Atter the lapse of a few minutes the gentleman alluded to lac the gallery, accompanied by a party of AFFAIRS OF GREECE. Lord STANLEY rose to move to resolve, that while this House fully recognizes the right and duty of the Government to secure to her Majesty's, subjects re siding in foreign states the full protection of the laws of those states, it regrets to find, by the correspondence recently laid upon the table by her Majesty's command, that various claims against the Greek Government, doubtful in point of justice or exaggerated in amount, have besn enforced by coercive measures directed against the commerce and people of Greece, and calcu lated to endanger the continuance of our friendly rela tions with other powers. He knew not whether the anticipations of the Noble Marquis, as to the settlement of our differences with France on the subject of Greece, were realised or not. He sincerely hoped they were, but at all events no considerations with regard to that subject would induce him to postpone his motion; indeed, he doubted whether the last postponement had not rather tended to continue than to heal those differences. But, highly as he valued the continuation of a good understanding with France, ho felt that question had little to do with this subject, for when first he had heard of these transactions he had given notice of a motion on the subject, which he had postponed on the representation or the Noble Marquis, that the intervention of France would settle the differences, while it appeared that inter vention had aggravated them. He would not go through all the papers, and inflict upon their Lordship s the reeri nese he had suffered from their peruse!. Ile had risen from that perusal with a feeling of shame for his country, and not with the feeling of the Swedish Chancellor, of how little wisdom was necessary to conduct the affairs of the world, but at the prodigality of folly, which had been exhibited through these negotiations.—(Hear.) The conduct of the Government had been unjust, improper, and calculate] rashly and unnecessarily to dis turb that harmony which ought to prevail among all the powers of Europe. He asked them to determine whether any of the claims made upon the weak power of Greece were exaggerated, and in some cases without foundation, and conveyed in such a manner as to occasion their refusal; and, although he would not apologise for the prevarica tion of Greece, yet that prevarication found some excuse in the imperious tone in which those claims were urged. The language in which claims should be urged should be more careful and courteous when urging them on a weak than on a strong power. He called upon them fully to recognize the duty of the Govern ment to secure for her Majesty's subjects residing in fo reign states the full protection of the laws in that state; but he maintained that it was the duty of every foreigner residing in any fcreign state to obey the municipal laws of that country. If those laws were corruptly adminis tered he had the right to appeal to his country's re presentative to see that justice was done to him as to a citizen of the country; but no foreigner had a right to repudiate the jurisdiction of ordinary tribunals, and to ask for the diplomatic intervention of his own Minister. There might be cases in despotic countries, or in countries where the laws were corruptly administered, in which the subject had the right to demand the protection of his Minister, not against the law but against those who corrupted the law. It was necessary to consider the peculiar circumstances of Greece. It was a kingdom of only 14 years standing, was a constitutional kingdom of much less standing. It was also under the joint protection of England, France, ano Russia, who had guaranteed its independ ence, and it was under pecuniary obligations to all of them, which unfortunately' gave them the right, the fatal right of intervening in its internal affairs, an intervention most fatal to the interests of Greece, when a great part of the population was in a state of anarchy, and unfortunately the representatives of the other powers had each been engaged in caballing to secure the preponderance there of English, the French, and the other of Russian influence, rather than in securing the stability of the Greek Government. Since the time of Coletti french influence had predo minated, and Sir Edward Lyons was led to con sider the Greek Ministers as French agents, whom it was his duty to circumvent, rather than as Ministers of the Greek King, and the consequence was, that the Government was not inclined to regard with favour claims urged by Sir Edward Lyons, and the result was a most irritated arid irritable state of relations with Greece. That tone of irritation was not confined to Sir E. Lyons, but was sanctioned and adopted by the Noble Lord the Secretary for Foreign Affairs ; and ho would take, us a proof cif that, certain portions of the correspondence. Of all the persons whose claims had been enforced, Mr. Finlay appeared to be the only one of perfectly respectable . character. There was among the claimants one Stenio Stommachi, who was arrested on a charge of burglary; he complained to the consul that he had been tortured, and the consul had forwarded tho petition to Sir Edward Lyons, stating that he had ordered the matter to be inquired into, but that he had appealed to the monarch in behalf of this victim of official brutality. Sir E. Lyons remits this petition to the Foreign Secre tary, who instructed him to demand upon this petition, unsupported by evidence, that the police who had been guilty of the outrage should be dismissed, and that pe cuniary compensation should be made to Stommachi. This was before e inquiry was made,and the evidence was.exceed• LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JUNE 18, 1850. the neighbourhood. In consequence the police interfered with these lonians, and commenced taking down the flags. The lonians resisted, and they were therefore marched to the police-office, for violating the orders of the police. On arriving at the police-othce it was found that it was a mere violation of police law, and they were dismissed. The Noble Mar quis had talked about this as a case of torture, and of the employment of thumbscrew: , . The two lonians were walked through the streets, handcuffed together, the wrist of one bound to the wrist of the other, the thumb of one to the thumb of the other—(Hear, hear)—and when they arrived at the office they were released. — (Hear, hear.) Then comes this long complaint about the insult to the British flag. It was said the British flag had been torn down; but that turns out not to have bean the case. The Consul wrote to the Ambassador, and he to the Minister, and talked of the insult to the British flag, and torture of British subjects!—(Hear.) Just let your Lordships notice the class of persons who are concerned. This is mentioned as a great grievance and proof of the despotic tyranny and oppression ezer• cised by the police against the lonian subjects of her Ma- jest y:-- " I have to observe t' you, that o❑ Sunday last seve ral lonians presented themselves to me, complaining of the Gendarmerie soldiers, who, while going the rounds at night, give them continual offence, as they (the lonians) are obliged, on account of the heat and fleas, to sleep in the streets, and the Gendarmes parade with their arms and compel them to sleep in their houses, otherwise they are taken up to prison, besides other menaces " —(Laughter). lore is a serious case of oppressionl— (Hear). British subjects, forsooth, are exposed to the grossest oppression because they are not permitted to sleep like pigs in front of their doors. —(Laughter). Two of these highly respectable persons, accord►ng to their own statement, are found in the market place, and they are marched by soldiers off to to the authorities, who flog them and turn them out, It is suggested, " Would it not be as well to examine them; they may have the marks upon their persons." But these lonians have dis appeared; they are not to be found.—(Hear, hear). They are not to appear to give evidence as to the fact of the flogging, or the reason of it.—(llear, hear). But the Consul, without waiting for the explanation of the Greek authorities, considers that Lord Palmerston should be written to.—(Hear, hear). What says Lord Palmerston ? "Her Majesty's Government have had under their consideration your dispatch of the 18th ult., containing an account of two cases in which lonian subjects have been maltreated by the:authorities at Patras and Pyrgos, and I have to inform you that the conduct of the Greek authorities towards these individuals, as set forth in your dispatch, appears to her Majesty's Government to have been cruel and oppressive. I have therefore to in• struct you to demand from the Greek Government, for each of the lonians who have been maltreated;the sum of 201., as some compensation for the unmerited ill-treat ment which they have undergone." —(Laughter.) It is difficult to argue these as questions upon which the peace of Europe is to turn.—(Cheers.) Were these cases upon which we were to go to war, and for which a fleet is to go to threaten a friendly Sove reign, end demand a certain compensation, just or un• just?—(Hear, hear.) But these are not all. There is the case of a highly respectable gentleman, a canny Scot —(A laugh)—one Mr. Finlay, a gentleman who likes to make a good bargain, and knows when he has made it—(A laugh)—a gentleman strongly imbued with the wisdom of the sentiment of " buying in the cheapest and selling in the dearest market."—(Laughter.) This gentleman at the time of the revolution thought it would be no bad speculation to buy the pro perty of some Turkish gentlemen who might find their position not very agreeable in Athens. His speculations were not very extensive, for, though we read of thousands of pies, a pit is some thing less than a square yard, and the whole subject in dispute in his case is the price of about two-thirds of an acre, for which he gave either 300 drachmas, or 600 drachmas; that is, either 101. or 201. The land was taken by the Government to be enclosed in the royal garden, and no doubt he was enitied to compensation. His was the case of a great number of other persons, and an ordinance was passed fixing the value of the property at half a drachma per pit—about 4)0. per square yard. Some parties were dissatisfied with this, and demanded more; and some obtained more —some, a drachma; and, at a drachms, this gentleman would have been entitled to about 100 i. for land for which he had given either 101. or 201.—(Hear, hear.) The demand made by Mr. Finlay for laud which cost him 300 or 600 drachmas, I forget which, was 45,000 drachmas, or about 1,500/. for a piece of ground which cost him IW. or 20/. That was the state of things when these proceedings took place at Athens and the British fleet appeared to demand reparation. In a letter addressed by Mr. Wyse to Lord Palmerston, dated August 20, 1849, and pub lished in the papers presented to Parliament in Feb ruary last, Mr. Wyse says—" I am still without any answer from the Greek Government to my note of the 24 of July, respecting the unsatisfied claims of Messrs. Pacifico and Finlay, and others of her Majesty's subjects." Not only at the period when these dispatches were laid upon the table, but at the period when the demand was made upon the Greek Government for reparation to British subjects, this question of Mr. Finlay was abso lutely and entirely and conclusively settled by a re ference, according to Mr. Finlay's own desire, to two referees, one of whom had been named by himself, the other having been named by the Greek Government, who were jointly to select an umpire, and by whose decision it was agreed that the claims of Mr. Finlay were to be settled ? What would their Lord ships say further when he told them that at Mr. Fin lay's express desire the case was withdrawn from the mediation and interference of Mr. Wyse and Baron Gros, and that the arbiters came to an agreement with out the necessity of calling in an umpire, and awarded 30,000 drachmas to Mr. Finlay as compensation for his claim? What would their Lordships say, also, when he told them that when these papers were laid upon the table in February the Foreign-office was in posse3sion of that information, and withheld or suppressed it?—(Hear, hear.) In the monta of February the Government re presented that the last information they bad on the sub ject of Mr. Finlay was that no answer bad been made by the Greek Government respecting the claims of Messrs. Pacifico and Finlay, while they were at the time in possession of the letter of Mr. Finlay to Mr. Wyse (as we understood), dated Oct. 16, and which was re ceived at the Foreign-office at the end of October? 7. (The Noble Lord read a copy of a letter addressed by Mr. Fin lay to Mr. Wyse, stating that he had informed the Greek Government that he had appointed a gentleman, an ad vocate, to act as his arbitrator in conjunction with a gen tleman who was to act as arbitrator for the Greek Go vernment, and that by the decision of these persons he (Mr. Finlay) was willing to abide.) The effect of the last paragraph of the correspondence upon Mr. Finlay's claim is that subsequently to the 20th of August no communication had taken place with the Greek Govern ment relative to that claim, although co mmunications had taken place two months later. This was tamper ing with the question and was a breach of faith towards their Lordships and the country. In 1817 the master of an English vessel called the Berwick Packet was com pelled by stress of weather and the damage the ship had sustained to put into the port of Villa Nova de Portimao. In order to defray the cost , of repairs. the vessel was still, end the sale produced oboe!: 6001. more than Was suffieient to cover the expenditure. The master, not being ditposed to bring that amount in hard dollars with him to thiscountry, thought himself exceedingly for tunate in being paid by a bill upon the Navy Board. The bill, which he obtained from an accommodating gentle man of the Hebrew persuasion, was brought to this coun try, when the unfortunate captain, upon presenting it, was immediately arrested as a forger, the acceptace turning out to be a forgery. The law officers of the Crown were, however, of opinion that under the circumstances legal proceedings could not be taken here. The captain returned to Portugal, and after a very considerable lapse of time, he was fortunate enough to meet in Lisbon with the individual from whom he received the forged bill. The captain brought this person before a Portuguese court of law, and the consequence was that, in order to escape further judicial proceedings, he repaid the captain the whole : meant of the bill, end thereby escaped pu nishment. Now, it was a singular coincidence that this forger happened to he identical in point of name, of na tionality, and of religion, with Mr. David Pacifico, who has subsequently preferred a claim upon the Greek Go vernment.—(Hear, hear, and a laugh.) Th en, w h a t a re the circumstances under which Mr. Pacifico made his j claim upon the Greek Government ? It seems that the ' Athenian mob take great delight on Easter Sunday in burning a representation of Judas Iscariot; but on Easter Sunday, 1847, in consequence of the presence in Athens of the Baron C. M. do Rothschild, the Government, out of compliment to that individual, took measures to prevent the assembling of the people. It is clear, then, that the loss M. Pacifico sustained is trace able to the presence of Baron Rothschild at Athens.— (A laugh.) If the Baron had not been at Athens, the figure of Judas would have been burn t , and, possibly, M, Pacifico's house would not ha ve b e e n plundered. An opinion arose, however, that M. Pacifico had o b ta i ne d the discontinuance of this annual celebration, and a mob assembled, and most indefensibly made an attack upon M. Pacifico's house, and destroyed what furniture there was in it, and, indeed, according to his statement, every. thing else. The rapidity with which the mob effected this destruction appears to have been wonderful—(A laugh)—but no doubt they did great injury to the house, and caused considerable alarm to M. Pacifico and his the papers family. It do e s n o t appear that there was any great aotivity manifested by the Greet 'police , either in put ting a stop to th e riot itself or in endeavouring to iden tifythat thethe rioter s. po l ice werelt seemed, deterre d indee d , from k fr i n o from such steps in consequence of persons who had high connexiona in the state being concerned in these outrages; and that circumstance gave to M. Pacifico a fair and reasonable claim to compensation for those injuries which he sustained in property or person, and which the Greek Government were unable or unwilling to pre vent. But M. Pacifico's bill of costs is really one which passes credibility. M. Pacifico, who had been born of Portuguese parents, had been consul for Portugal, and preferred certain claims against the Government of that country; and he complains, in one of the papers, that the Portuguese Government not having acceded to his reasonable demands, he was left its poverty and indi gence; he was unable to redeem a small amount of plate which he had lodged with the Bank of Athens, the whole value of that plate being only about 30/. That plate, it seems, was deposited for the purpose of obtaining from the bank an advance of a sum of money at a low rate of interest, which M. Pacifico was in the habit of lending at an usurious rate of interest to the indigent population of Athens, and so making a profit upon borrowed capi tal. Now, with this view of M. Pacifico's circumstances, your Lordships would bo prepared duly to estimate the demand he makes for compensation to the amount of more than 31,000/. His demand for the destruction of his furniture and property amounts to about 4,5201., and his claims on Portugal to 26,6181. It appears that the mob not only destroyed all his wines, china, and glass, but they carried off numerous copper stewpans—(Laughter)-- and various other utensils.—(Renewed laughter.) It appears, however, that they left a precise inventory of every item of furniture in the house, and of the value of every such article, every saucepan and pudding-mould— (A laugh) —and an account, too, of all M. Pacifico's clothes, his coats, linen, stockings, jack-towels, and sheets. —(Laughter.) But they left him also one sheet to his bed, which he was enabled to produce for the purpose of proving the excessive fineness of three other sheets which had been taken away.—(Much laughter.) He states that he had in his drawing-room-- " 1 large couch in solid mahogany, British work, with double bottom, ono of which in Indian cane for summer, 701.; 1 bottom for the winter for the above, a cushion in tapestry embroidered in real gold (Royal work), 25/.; 2 pillows and cushion also, for the back of the whole length of the couch, i❑ silk and wool covering, em broidered in real gold, as the bottom of the above couch, 751.;" total for one couch, 1701 —(" Hear, hear," and laughter.) Then the bedrooms were furnished on a scale of equal magnificence. Their furniture is very minutely de scribed. M. Pacifico had A double bed in solid mahogany, with four pillar' richly carved, 21 yards long by 21- yards wide, with the back and the end carved, the crown in carved ma hogany and carved frame, and a set of brass castors, worth 1501.," and then ho explains, with the greatest minuteness, that every utensil in the bedrooms was composed of the finest porcelain.—(Great laughter.) In addition to these items, there was the demand of M. Pacifico upon the Por tuguese Government to the amount of 21,0001., or, with interest, of 26,0001.; but, unfortunately, all the papers and vouchers for this claim have been destroyed. The claim is for services alleged to have been ren dered t) the Portuguese Government, and the precious document on which the British, or rather the Greek Go vernment, are called upon to pay this sum, is a protest, signed by M. Pacifico, admitting that the Portuguese Government absolutely and entirely repudiated every one of his claims. The Portuguese Government de clared they did not owe M. Pacifico a shilling, and re fused to pay his demand; but because the mon who destroyed his house luckily dropped this protest iai the street. he puts forward a claim for 21,000/,, with 5,0001. interest, at 10 or 12 per cent. The British Minister at Athens, however, declared under his hand and seal that he believed that claim to be just and moderate. —(Hear, hear.) When the claim was first made Lord Palmerston directed Sir E. Lyons to state that the Government would, as soon as possible, fix the amount they intended to demand as compensation for the sufferings sustained by M. Pacifico. In a previous dispatch Lord Palmerston directed Sir E. Lyons to sup port M. Pacifico's claim if he considered it just and moderate. Sir E. Lyons said, in reply, that he believed the claim to be just and moderate, and that he had sent it in ; and it was not till the February afterwards that Lord Palmerston began to intimate a suspicion that there might be some little exaggeration in the case of the Portuguese claims, and called upon Sir E. Lyons to send him word what was the particular nature of those claims, and how they were supported. Sir E. Lyons re plied that M. Pacifico could give no further information than he had already given—the list of his losses and claims; but Sir E. Lyons again made a demand on the part of England upon the Greek Government for the payment of D.Z. Pacifico's claims, without the slightest intimation that any deduction would be allowed. It was matter of regret that the Greek Government were not informed what amount we did intend to claim, for when the demand was made at Athens, in January, 1850, it was required that all claims that had been sent in to the Greek Government, just or unjust, should be paid in full, with interest, within the period of twenty-four hours. Now, surely, that was the time to have said, " We do not intend to press the Portuguese claims, but we ask as compensation such reasonable sums as the Greek Government can have no difficulty in giving." But it was not till February, 1850, after the French intervention had been accepted, that Lord Pal merston intimated to Mr. Wyse that some proposition might possibly be made to diminish the gross amount of M. Pacifico's claim, and that, in such a case, Mr. Wyse was nut to consider himself precluded from entertaining such a proposal. It was, then, in support of the exagge rated pretensions of M. Pacifico—fir with regard to the other claims there was little or no difficulty—that a British fleet was rent to demand compliance with an unreasonable request in 24 hours, and on failure of compliance with that request, to capture the vessels and injure the commerce of a friendly power. M. Londos, the Greek Minister, only came into office late in December, 1849, and on the 17th of January. when he had not been three weeks in office, the demand which had thus been enforced was made, without his having any opportunities of institut ing inquiries to ascertain its justice. He would call their attention to what he considered the dignified,he might almost say, the grand reply given by M. Londos to this most extraordinary intimation that, without any attempt at a reference to other powers, without any attempt at any mediation whatsoever, the claims of the various parties upon the Greek Government must be satisfied within 24 hours, or hostile measures would be had re course to by the British Minister. A more becoming protest from a feeble against the encroachments of a mighty power he never read in his life.—(Hear, hear.) The reply proved unavailing, on its receipt the mediation of Faance and Russia being altogether dispensed with. The vessels of the Greek State were, in the first place, seized by our ships, and when these were found insufficient to meet the demand, an embargo was laid upon private vessels, and private commerce and private interests were stopped, in the expectation that, by the power of distress upon their commerce, the de termination of the Greek Government and of the Greek people would be broken, and that thus violence would exact the full demand.—(bear, hear.) The Greek people nobly sustained the protest which their Nfinister had delivered in their name ; the sense of oppression rallied round the King of Greece not only the sympathies of Europe, but the ear nest zeal of his own people. lie would now read an ex tract from one of Mr. I.Vyse's dispatches, detailing the effect of the screw he is applying to Greek commerce and to the Greek people, to force them to yield com pliance: the naiveté is absolutely amusing. " The embargo, too, and seizures, are beginning slowly to produce their effect. The irritation at first naturally directed towards us and our prozeedinge, now that the question is better sifted, is turned towards those who have compelled us to such a course. A deputation from Spezzia was to have been received yesterday. Others will follow from Hydra, and probably Patras. Public opinion at Athens—where the truth is now known, and provisions are rising in price, will second their ap plications." _ _ _ The combined operation described of moral and physical causes upon public opinion, and upon a rise in provi sions, was quito edifying, and quite in character with the whole affeir.—(Hear, hear, and laughter.) He was bound to say, strongly as ho disapproved of the course of our Government in the matter, that he did not find that Sir W. Parker, or any of the officers engaged in ex ecuting those orders, overstepped in the slightest degree the letter of their instructions; on the contrary, they fulfilled their very painful task with filminess, of course, but at the same time with temper and moderation — (Hear, hear)—aud he was only doing bare justice to that distinguished officer and to the officers acting under him, when he expressed the belief that they %meld, one end sU, rather have been engaged in deadly conflict with the fiercest enemy this csuntry ever encountered, than have seen the honour of the British flag thus prostituted by attacking a weak, unoffending people. The Noble Lord then proceeded to allude to the effect which these proceedings had produced as regards our relations with other powers. The Russian Government had addressed to our Minister a protest as bitter, as im perious, and as offensive as the provocation had been. The Russian Minister did not deny that England had claims upon Greece, but he contended that, before the ulttina ratio was resorted to by England as against Greece, some intimation at least was due by England to powers equally with herself concerned in maintaining the independence of the weaker power; but not a word about the matter had been vouchsafed either to the Court of St. Petersburgh or to the Court of Paris. It was true that shortly after this first dispatch from the Russian Court another dispatch was communicated to Lord Pal merston, couched in terms of moderation, for which he gave gn at credit to the Emperor; but that was a dis patch based upon the circumstance that the mediation, the friendly offices of France, had been accepted. In reply to that dispatch, a reply singularly illustrating the difference of tone used by Lord Palmerston towards powerful and towards powerless states, the Noble Vis count sought to withdraw from his original position on the ground of some subsequent information. But to that reply of the Noble Viscount there had been a re joinder. Did that rejoinder establish perfect amity be tween us and Russia? Does it satisfy the Noble Mar (pis that there is not jealousy, alienation, almost hos tility in the mind of Russia towards us, hostility that may not break out now, but which may seriously and very alarmingly operate upon the condition of this coun try hereafter?—(Hear, hear.) Have no causes of alarm arisen to us out of these circumstances with relation to France?—(Hear, hoar.) What has been the course pursued by our Government towards the Govern ment of France, in return for the most friendly course they pursued towards us? Without a word of complaint of the manner in which their rights in rela tion to Greece had been set aside by ou r Forei g n Arinister, the Government of France generously and frankly tendered their good offices; those good were accepted, but upon conditions a nd within mits which, from the outset, promised very ill for their ulti mateo.ffices success. On the 3d of February t! private offer of mediation was made by the French Minister at our Court; on the sth Lord Palmerston wrote to Mr. Wyse that f h , e x t p t e h c e te otTer ov o e f rn t m he en g t, good office., of which'be should forthwith i n struct him, and instructions, and neod mediationtoreceive o f a the for Fren ch m eanwhile to be prepared to act u p on those and to suspend coerci ve measures. The formal offer was formal offer Government, received by Lord Palmerston on the 7th of February, yet on the Bth Lord Palmerston wrote to Mr. Wyse, no notice of any such offer having been made. The good offices of France, however, were accepted. A mis understanding occurred, and the French Minister found it necessary to intimate that he should suspend his functions ; but still this intimation in no degree justified Mr. Wyse in describing the mediation as at an end, for it had been expressly stipu lated that, in the event of any such misunderstanding, the status quo shou ld remain until reference had been made to the respective Governments. In the meantime it was felt by France and England that differences might arise, and probably interfere to prevent any set tlement being arrived at, and therefore a convention was proposed by M. Drouyn de Lhuys, which, with very little alteration, was acceded to by Lord Palmers ton ; and the day alter the suspension of the negotia tion on the part of Baron Gros, Baron Gros received from General de Lahi tte, under date of the 12th, from Paris, an intimation that such a conven tion had been entered into. He then writes in haste to Mr. Wyse, saying that an agreement had been en tered into that, in case of differences, they were to write home for further instructions ; and he says— " Here's an escape from our difficulties. I retract my note of yesterday. I entreat you to receive this. I hare this positive informaiun. Come to me and I will show you my instructions, and for God's sake take no ccp.a•cive measures until you shall receive corresponding instructions to mine." Mr. Wyso*s ensrver was—. , have no such instructions from my Government, and therefore I cannot be guided by your instructions; and cannot for one hour suspend coercive measures." He wanted to know why those instructions were not lent? That they were not is a matter of notoriety. These in structions were agreed to on the 9th, and Lord Palmer stun says—" The existing arrangement of the packets for communication with Greece afforded me no oppor tunity, that I was aware of, of writing to Mr. Wyse be tween the 9th and the 17th of April." Now, having come to the most delicate of all questions of interna tional interference on which the whole thing turned — having come to an arrangement with the French Go vernment on the 9 th of April, Lord Palmerston did not think it worth his while to intimate by ex• traordinary means to the Minister at Athens, that any arrangement had been come to, but was perfectly content to wait for the ordinary packet on the 17th. Why could he not send till the 17th? General de La hiVe received the intimation on the 9th, at Paris, and he found no difficulty, on the 12th, in making a com• munication to Baron Gros; yet her Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, not knowing that a packet was about to sail, was not aware that there were any means of communicating with Mr. Wyse before the 17th.—(Hear, hear.) But he goes on to say that even if he had been aware, on the 15th M. Drouyn de Drays came to him with a different arrangement, and, in conse quence of that, a convention was entered into. Yes, but up to the 15th there was no prospect of a convention being enter° into, and by that time the mischief had been done; force had been had recourse to again; and, not by means of an amicable arrangement, not through the mediation of a friendly power, but solely because M. Gros could not reconcile it to his soul and con science to demand 180,000 drachmas for M. Pacifico's claim on Portugal, the mediation was suspended, and force was had recourse to, which need not have been the ease if Lord Palmerston had only taken the trouble to send a special messenger to Mr. Wyse. But a con vention is established in London, and what are the terms? That if any other arrangement should hare been come to in the meantime by the three Ministers of France, Greece, and Great Britain, be it more advan tageous or less advantageeus, the convention of London was to be set aside, and that agreement adopted. No such convention bad taken place, but another settlement had been made, says Lord Palmerston, not by all the three Ministers engaged in the negotiation, but by direct communication between the Greek and British Minis ters, and it was the result of the renewal of hostilities by the British squadron. Now, what would have been more natural than to have said at once, " An un derstanding has been come to at Athens; to a certain extent it has been acted upon, bat to the extent that it has not been acted upon I accept your convention of London. I prefer the good offices of France rather than the intervention of our naval force. I prefer to owe the settlement of this great question to the good offices of the French Government." Lord Palmerston goes on stating, though there is little difference between them, that he is still not prepared to adhere frankly to the convention of London. In refusing to: accept the convention at the last moment, her Majesty's Government were trifling with the:powers which proposed it. There was only one more point to which he should call the attention of their Lordships. It was one of considerable importance. namely, the ques tion of territorial difference between this country and Greece. Intrinsically the amount and value of the ter ritory in question was incalculably insignificant—but internationally it raises points upon which Russia and France, as parties guaranteeing the integrity of the Greek territory, have a right to interfere, and in respect to which England has no right to an independent action. And England, being one of the three protecting powers, cannot inter pose between her own protected states of the lonian Islands and the state of Greece, and decide as between the two, to whom that territory belongs, setting aside the claims of France and Russia to express their opinions and pronounce their judgment with regard to what may form part of the territory of Greece. Upon that ques tion neither France nor Russia will allow your inter ference single-handed; and now—now when you have had the indignant remonstrances of Russia—when she has told you that she will not tolerate that infraction upon her rights—l suppose you aro about to recede from the position which you took up.—(Hear.) But pre vious to that declaration, so far as the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and her Majesty's Government were concerned, in October, 1849, orders were issued to the commanders of her Majesty naval forces to seize upon the islands of Cervi and Sapienza, to expel the G reek inhabitants, and take possession of mese islands in the name and on behalf of the lonian States.—(Hear.) For years that claim had been set up, but without being followed by any activity on the part of this country, and years ago Greece was promised the documents on which was founded your claim, and which documents she has never yet received. But in the month of No vember last, Greece did put in a detailed answer to the claim put forward on the part of the Foreign-office to the possession of Cervi and Sapienza, and vindicated her own claim and rejected that of Great Britain to the pos session of these islands. Bat what is the rejoinder of Lord Palmerston? Does the receipt of this intelligence induce him to pause before he takes further steps to bring the matter to a satisfactory conclusion? Not at all. In January he writes a letter in his usual off-hand fashion, declaring that there is no force whatever in the argument put forward on the part of Greece. And so far as the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs is concerned it does not rest with his discretion that forcible possession was not taken of the islands of Sapienza and Cervi. Or ders to that effect were issued, without consulting or communicating with the French or Russian governmnts; anal it was simply because Sir W. Parker and Mr. Wyse took upon themselves, pending further instructions to that effect. 0) suspend these orders, that those islands had not been foreihly taken possession of.— (Hear, hear.) This is the position, then, in which we have been placed by the Noble Lord—we have put forts positive demands which we have finally waived; we have over looked the claims of France and Ruessis, as well as their right in the matter. Fortunately, your officers disre garded your orders—(Hear, hear)—and now this coun try will, through the action of the Noble Lord upon her foreign relations, by the remonstrances of France and Russia, as well as by a sense of right and justice, recede from that position, which is one that she should never have taken.—(Hear, hear.) He had substantiated that some of the claims put forward by the Noble Lord the Foreign Minister as against Greece were excessive; that others were, to say the least of them, of doubtful justice and equivocal validity ; that those claims had been enforced regardless of the feelings, and also of the rights of our allies; and that they were calculated to endanger—nay, that they had endangered—the good understanding that had hitherto subsisted between us and our most powerful allies.—(Hear, hear). God grant that his anticipations of evil might not be verified! God grant that the proceed ings of the Noble Lord might not have the effect of dis turbing the general pence of the world! But if such be the race, that happy result would not, he was hound to adr!, 1)3 brought atsont by the temper, the judgment, or the moderetion with which that Noble Lord, as the orgen of the British Government, had conducted the negotia tions in that case to a conclusion.—(Cheers). If, indeed, we had been guilty of injustice towards the defenceless, and oppression towards the weak, at the same time that we have endangered our relations with the powerful, and perilled peace with the strong. surely it became the British Legislature to come forward and declare that the Foreign-office of England was not the people of England—and that the fine generous feeling of the nation was not expressed by the proceedings of the Noble Lord at the head of that department.—(Hear, hear.) We separate our acts from his on this occasion.—(Hear, hear.) Our views of good faith and justice were not those of the Government of which he is a member, in this matter. — (1-fear, hear.) He knew the amount of private and per sonal influence that will be broaght to bear upon this question to-night. He knew also the many amiable qualities of the Noble Lord whose policy ho impugned from personal acquaintance. But he was bound, in a case involving such large issues, to speak, not of the man, but of the Minister; and speaking thus he had to express his deep regret and unqualified condemnation of his acts in this instance. This was no case in which pri vate predilection or personal feeling can be honestly in dulged. You sit, said the Noble Lord,in a judicial capecdy. You are to reconcile the feeling of the nation with the dictates of justice; at all events, you are here, that your judgment in the case may go torch, and remove from the gma w must always attach a great country the stigma and mighty power enforcing unjust, untenable, to and ex orbitant demands upon a feeble and defenceless ally.— The Noble Lord, having read his resolution, resumed his seat at twenty minutes past eight o'clock amid great acclamation. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE trusted their Lord ships would not give their assent to the motion of the Noble Lord. He did not dispute the right of the Noble Lord to bring the question under their consideration, or his right to hold her Majesty's Ministers in that House responsible, one and all, as they admitted themselves to be, for those proceedings of which the Noble Lord had pronounced so unfavourable an opinion. lie must, how ever, say that he was sure it would be a source of con solation to his Noble Friend at the head of the Foreign Department, which was more immedi a t e l y concerned in these transactions, that in that other branch of the Legis lature of which that Noble Lord was a most distinguished ornament—(Hear, hear) —in which, beyond, perhaps, any assembly in the world, the mercantile and manufac turing interests of the country and the world were adequately represent e d, and which was long in the ha bit of closely wat c hi ng a ll proceedings which would affect the public expenditure—that in that assembly up to the present moment there had not been one single intima tion—(Hear)—of any intention to bring under its notice any of the proceedings to which the Noble Lord had called attention. Nay, more, when those questions which had been put to the Minister in that assembly came to be tested by fact and truth they vanished into thin air. —(Hear, hear.) That at least must be a source of con solation to the Noble Lord. As for the resolution be fore them, so little did the Noble Lord himself r<-1y upon it that he found it necessary to devote the entire first part of his speech to expiate away the terms of it. A more objectionable resolution, or ono more entirely at variance with the past policy of this country, or more directly contradictory of the policy of all nations, or more calculated to cut away from future Governments, as far as a vote of that House could cut away, th e grounds upon which they might be called on to maintain the honour of the country and the security of British subjects, had never been proposed in that House.— (Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord was sensible of that when he found it necessary so elaborately to qualify it. As for the claims of M. Pacifico and the position of the lonian Islands, their Lordships must at once see how little they had to do with the principle of the case.— (Hear, hear.) The practice of all countries, and more especially commercial countries, had been to procure re dress from other countries by force. The Noble Lord must himself know full well that France and the United States were from time to time in the habit, without consulting anybody, without thinking it necessary to invite the opinions of other powers, to proceed to make good their claims when an injury bad been sustained by threatening force, and obtaining those claims by the use of force when not otherwise settled. In the course of thirty years he found that in tha ease of Francis not less than fourteen, and of the United States not less than sixteen or seventeen such instances had occurred, and in almost all by the application of force on justice being denied. The Noble Lord's language on this sub ject had been somewhat studiously guarded; but did he mean to say that there was no difference' in the re sponsibility of the Greek states as compared with the responsibility of other states similarly circumstanced? The Noble Lord had spoken of a certain guarantee —a guarantee which he seemed to think had created the pe caber position of that country. The guarantee was ter ritorial—(lean hear)—not only was it territorial, but it was admitted by the Russians to be a territorial gua rantee, and a guarantee only. The Noble Lord would find in the papers a most distinct admission upon the part of Count Nesselrode that she was to be considered as an independent state; and how was it possible that she could be considered an independent state unless she was also a responsible state? Give him a state whose inde pendence had been tals - en away—give him a state which had a peculiar connexion with a federal Government, liable only for what they did only through the medium of that federal Government, and then there would be some force in the Noble Lord's argument; but there had nos been in the present case, iu a single trans action, nnything that took horn the country the cha racter of an independent state. She had so considered herself; for she had ence or twice, during the period re ferred to, been on the ere of going to war with Turkey. He contended that this was a case precisely parallel to that of other states, which had been compelled to repair injuries committed. He had already told their Lord ships that other states had adopted precisely the same mode which England had adopted with regard to Greece of vindicating the rights of their subjects. He would not fatigue the House with many references, although he held a memorandum in his hand of some forty or fifty of such cases, some of them peculiarly apposite to this par ticular transaction. In the case of one of the states of South America (and he selected this case because there subjects had been protected in a manner similar to that adopted by England in this instance)—in the case of Venezuela a law was passed preventing creditors from recovering their debts. The parties thereby considered themselves aggrieved. They had entered the country on the faith of having a very different sort of protection extended to them ; they had entered it on the faith of having their business and property rendered secure. They remonstrated, and a naval force inter fered. The Noble Lord seemed to feel great horror at the idea of interference upon the part of a naval force; however, a naval force interfered, and redress was im mediately afforded. Let their Lordships take another case—the case of Peru. In the year 1844 the people resident in Peru were disturbed in their vocation, their amusements, and their pursuits, and the House would most probably recollect the various acts of outrage and injustice which were committed upon them at that time. Now, redress was obtained in that case. But how was it obtrined? By the presence of a naval force tied by a very peremptory demand which had been made that that injury shculd be apologised for and that the per sons who committed it should be punished. He knew not whether the Noble Lord considered the case of Peru a weaker or a stronger case than that of Greece, or whether he considered the application of force was more justifiable in Peru than it had been in Greece. But, very probably, the Noble Lord was not prepared to go the whole length which the French Government had gone in a certain case, to which he would just briefly refer. Was the Noble Lord acquainted with what had passed souse years ago with respect to ren dering protection to French subjects? If not, be ought to have made himself acquainted wtth it, He (the Marquis of Lansdowne) had no hesitation in saying, though he did not take upon himself to disap prove the acts of the French Government in that respect, and though he knew that Naples had finally acquiesced in it, that the case in question was an infinitely stronger interference on behalf of French subjects than England had put forward on behalf of English subjects. If the' Noble Lord was not acquainted with the case, he (the Marquis of Lansdowne) would inform him of it. At Naples there had been an insurrection. There were bar ricades. In the course of an attempt made by the Go vernment—finally a successful attempt, to pull down these barricades, certain houses were broken open. Of course the principal part of them were Neapolitan houses, but some of them were French houses; and, after they had been broken open,,the mob entered and plundered them. The French Government instantly sent to Naples to say—" These are French subjects, they have had their houses broken open and plundered by means of the civil power ; the Government were unable to prevent the outrage, but we hold the Government responsible for the property destroyed." And, upon that ground, but not without a naval force being sent, reparation was made by Naples, and the French subjecte obtained redress, though the Neapolitan subjects whose houses had been broken open and plundered obtained no redress. What, then, became of the Noble Lord's " law of nations?" The French Government said in the Neapolitan case—" there is a general law cf all nations which entitles subjects in their lawful callings to protec tion," and on that protection they insisted.—(hear.) What was going on at that moment? Was the Noble Lord acquainted with what was going on? An outrage was Enid to have been committed upon American ships at Lisbon. The strongest remonstrances had been made by the Government of the United States against that proceeding; and, at this moment, as he (the Marquis Lensduwne) had reason to believe, vessels of war were on their way from America for the purpose of ob taining redress. These, then, were a series of instances in which fiat mode of resolving this question, which the Noble Lord seemed to think constituted a new sort of law, had been adopted—which he had called a wilful law, but which wilful law was the approved law for obtaining redress ; in fact, every power would consider that it was a degradation if it were to ask leave of a second or third power whether it might or might not enforce its claims in different quar ters of the world.—(Hear, hear.) And now be came to the particular case, which he would discuss as shortly as possible, on which the Noble Lord had dwelt at such length, and which formed the subject cf the present mo tion. In the first place he must premise, in consequence of some observations which had been made by the Noble Lord, that, however entertaining all the observations ho had been induced to make for the amusement of the House might be, whilst referring to the minutest details of M. Pacifico's furniture, he (the Marquis of Lans downe) would naturally exclude them from considera tion in a case in which justice and principle were in volved.—(Hear.) He hardly expected that the Noble Lord, whatever he might have read in newspapers re specting the minuteness of the claims, would have con descendsd to rest any portion of his arguments upon those details.—(Hear, hear.) Because, if the Noble Lord referred back to the history of this country, and of the world, he would find that great principles, upon which the honour, happiness, and glory cf nations de ' pent,. al, hod had their origin in the meat contensp!ible claims ,19 respectsd particular indi viduals. Oa ono occaaien, tar instance, in Eng land, a paltry claim was made, which apparently, perhaps, ought not to have agitated the country, aa it did, from one end to the other , but that claim , of very small amount, would, if not enforced, have in volved the scandal of the Constitution for years; and, accordingly, the party politicians of that day recog nised in it one of those great principles in which they conld embark their fortunes and their lives.—(Cheers.) Now, the Noble Lord bad alluded to character, and he had taken great pains to damage the character of the unfortunate M. Pecifico. The character, however, of M. Pacifico' had nothing to do with the case.—(Hear, hear.) Every one would remember the time when this country was agitated by the unlawful proceedings di rected against Mr. Wilkes. He (the Marquis of Lans downe) would not enter on the present occasion into the character of Mr. Wilkes, but it certainly was asserted of him at the time that his character was open to many charges—charges of immorality, scandal, and others of that class. But did that character of Mr. Wilkes prevent the men of that day —Lords Chatham and Campbell—from interfering? No. Thongh he might be a gambler and a chi at, th oug h he might be au infidel or an atheist. God knew whether these charges were true—it never entered into the heads of the men to question to say they would summon a jury to ex amine into his character before they determined to interfere in other respects. And so with regard to M. Pacifico ; whatever his character might be, he was entitled to redress, if he p osse ssed a rightful claim. A most resp ecta bl e resident at Athens, however, knew him, and he not only considered Pecifico to be the sub ject of the most unjust persecution. but he said that '` he was astonished at the assiduity with which charges had been got up against him to prove that his house ahonld have been burned. —(Hear, hear.) He added that it put him in mind of a bad case which vin which, seshichha in the brief d once come onf ie or hearing in Westminster-hall, f • lowing remark. — " When you come to this part of the given to the counsel for the defendant, there was the fol business, the case very bad, but you may abuse the plaintiff's , a ttorney. —(Bear, bear, and a laugh.) Now, o s t s h , bu e p t res t e h n e t n c h a t: e w — tt s s i a" i sm al i tru o e f t r h a e oi N fic o o ble ha L s ord su a ff s e id red in dreadfully bad character." This was not the way to /nest a man's claims; or, rather, were the claims to be dis allowed, because the man who preferred them happen e d to He (the be considered bad in character?—(Hear.) Marquis of Lansdowne) frequently referred with delight and pleasure to a work which held an immortal place in the literature of this country—he meant the work published under the name of " The Judgments of Lord Stowell," which might be studied with profit and advantage by every man of taste and judgment. They would find there great principles laid down and great acts recordei; but, it they went and analysed that work. and, passim; by the beauty of the general principles there enunciated, looked at the characters of the persons concerned, they would find most of those persons to have been slaveholders, slavedealers, adulterers, persona of every description and shade of crime and of moral in capacity, but, nevertheless, all of them entitled to claim justice before the tribunals of ; their country, and to be protected in the assertion of their most important prin ciples. This remark applied to all the Noble Lord's ob servations respecting P a cifico's character, and all the discoveries he had made relative to the minute details of Pacifico's hear.) Now, th ere was one circumstance which distinguished this claim from ell other claims. It was —not the amount of the claim itself, nor the manner in which it was enforced—but, it was the great length of time that had been allowed to elapse before the claim was enforce. Some portion of it bad arisen so far back as the year 1836. -(Hear.) The Noble Lord had made an exception in the case of Mr. Finlay.