The Sun.
London, England, 1856-05-10 00:00:00

GREECE.

Mr. JAMES MACGREGOR said that he wished to
call the attention of the house to the state of Greece.
The noble lord stated a few days ago that the state of
Greece was such that a person was safe in no part of it
for 24 hours, except on the road between Athens and the
PirTus. So far as his private information went, the
statement of the noble lord was assented to by the whole
population of Greece, except in one particular, where he
mentioned that the distance between Athens and the
Piraeus was three miles, it being in reality five miles.
The state of Greece had been brought before the Pleni-
potentiaries at Paris, for he found in the protocol of the
22d of April the following important reference to it :
" Count Walewski says that it is desirable that the pleni-
potentiaries, before they separate, should interchange-their
ideas on different subjects which require to be settled, and
which it might be advantageous to take up in order to pre-
vent fresh complications. Although specially assembled
for settling the Eastern question, the congress, according
to the first plenipotentiary of France, might reproach it-
self for not having taken advantage of the circumstance
which brings together the representatives of the principal
powers of Europe, to clear up certain questions, to lay
down certain principles, to express intentions—in fine, to
make certain declarations, always and solely with the view
of insuring the future tranquillity of the world, by dispel-
ling the clouds which are still looming on the political
horizon before they become menacing.
" It cannot be denied, ho says, that Greece is in an abnor-
mal state. The anarchy to which that country was a prey
has compelled France and England to send troops to the
Pincus at a time when their armies, nevertheless, did not
want occupation. The congress knows in what state Greece
was ; neither is it ignorant that that in which it now is is
far from being satisfactory. Would it not therefore be
advantageous that the powers represented in the congress
should manifest the wish to see the three protecting courts
take into serious consideration the deplorable situation of
the kingdom which they had created, and devise means to
make provision for it?
" Count Walewski does not doubt that the Earl of Cla-
rendon will join with him in declaring that the two Go-
vernments await with impatience the time when they
shall be at liberty to terminate an occupation to which
nevertheless they are unable without the most serious in-
convenience to put an end, so long as real modifications
shall not be introduced into the state of things in Greece."
It should be remembered that the protecting Powers had
created the kingdom of Greece, they had guaranteed
its independence, and they had also guaranteed a
loan of money, on account of which there was now
a large annual charge on the Consolidated Fund.
The monarch whom these powers had placed on the
throne expended on his civil list one•twelftla of the whole
revenue of the kingdom, and the state of the country
was such as to call on the protesting powers to come to
some decision as to the mode in which it was to be go-
verned. He (Mr. J. M‘Gregor) admitted the principle
laid down by Sir R. Peel, that we ought not to interfere
with a friendly power ; but could Greece be called
friendly when England and France had been obliged to
send their troops to the Piraeus, and when she was openly
raising men to act against their ally The country was
in a most disorderly state ; in a short space of time there
had been 18 executions for murder in Athens alone, and
he thought he was entitled to ask the noble lord whether
it was intended to take advantage of present circum-
stances to bring about a more satisfactory state of things
lin Greece ? _ _ _ _ __ .

After the hon. member for Sandwich had resumed his
seat,
Mr. M'MAHON rose, and said he wished to know
from the noble lord whether the recent amnesty would
extend to those gentlemen who had fled to Ameriea with-
out trial, and to the poor men who had been transported
to Bermuda for an attack on the police barrack at Port-
land ?
Mr. GLADSTONE said he wished to call the atten-
tion of the house to the position in which they were
likely to be placed by this licentious use of the privileges
of members. (Hear) Between a question whether a
certain judge of the court of requests had gone away
about his practice and left the jury waiting, and a ques-
tion as to the extent cf an act of amnesty, his hon. friend
the member for sandwich interposed one of the gravest
and most important questions of European politics. His
hon. friend had read a passage from a protocol, and said
it would appear that the conferences bad met to decide
on the government of the world ; but it did not seem to
s.trike the hon. gentleman that he might very justly be
said to seem to consider that the motion for the adjourn-
ment was made to enable him to get up a discussion
on the government of the world. (" Hear, hear,"
and laughter.) The condition and the prosperity
of the kingdom of Greece involved grave questions,
which ought not to be introduced in such a hap-
hazard and rambling way, and he hoped that it was not
the intenLion of his noble friend to give any answer to
the question on this occasion. He (Mr. Gladstone) was
one of those who took a great interest in the fortunes of
the kingdom of Greece, and on a proper opportunity he
could state facts which would considerably modify the
views of his hon. friend. At present he only wished to
recall attention to what common sense and a regard for
order demanded.

Mr. SPOONED thought that the right hon. gentle-
man had dealt rather hardly with his hon. friend, al-
though he quite agreed with him that a practice was
growing up which ought to be checked. (Hear, hear.)
His hon. friend had peculiar sources of information as to
the condition of Greece, and his anxiety was shared by
many connected with that kingdom ; and the only ob-
ject of the question was to ascertain whether the atten-
tion of the noble lord had been directed to its present
state.