The Sun.
London, England, 1850-06-25 00:00:00

of axle amtzaement; they did not wi.:h to life their
holid.y• They fnt themselves, I Euppoec, somewhat
in the situation of English is:)ys, v 61,,, would become
pleased if they were prevented- froul• burning Goy
PAvltes. But, according to the peculiar di-glee
of civiliz woo in Oa tao countries, the Engliei
blys would only vent their spleen by s.
Up- a shout, wlier,,as th,-ze people, in tha broad
of day the Christians of Athens are 2.. t
charts)—tuese Greeks, heeded hy certain young uc.)-
blower, one of whom secs tho E,ldettAun of the Minister
of War, attack the house of an Engnshaubject, fzienten
and beat his family. destroy his whole propertv, throw
everything they can out of the windows, and: is the
effervescerice of their spite and malice, pour out oil Upll
all the rich furniture that. recuainetl.—(Hear.) Now the
letters of M. Pacifico detailing these outrages are all
published in the volume before me. I have read the m,
and I must say that these letters, if written by M. Pa-
cifico, prove him to be a man of education, and I should
say of honourable feelings. Ido not know him—l only
interpret him to be, from these letters which he has
written, a man of education.—(Hear, hear.) But I care
not what he is.—(hear, hear.) If he were poor and
degraded as the poorest Jew that walks and buys and
sells old clothes in London, he was born a British sub-
ject, and he had a right to demand protection from the
English power.—(Cheers.) He was assailed in that which
was his home, as dear to him as that of the richest end
the noblest man is the land, his family dreadfully
alarmed, his children frightened almost to a state of
madness, his married daughter made seriously ill, she
having but a short time before lain in. After hearing
all these facts, am I then to be told, "Oh, they ire
Jews?" Why, Sir, I think that such an expression is
w disgrace to this country.—(Cheers.) M. Pacifico asked
the Greek Government for reparation of the injury, and
no answer was returned. He is attacked a second time,
and then with piteous wailing he implores the pbwer of
England to protect him. And who is this M. Pacifico?
He is a man who has been trained up after the manner
taught him by his father, and he is as much and as
honestly a Jew as we are Christians.—(Hear, bear.) I
ask you, is there not something in the position of this
man that dignifies the appeal which he made upon us?
—(Hear, hear.) If the powerful M. Rothschild were so
assailed, do you not think that Europe would have arisen
in his defence? Do you not think that the indebted
depots of Europe would exclaim, " Good God! M.
Rothschild to be so treated ? "----(Laughter.) You
would then, indeed, have had well-rounded periods
and fine grammatical phrases written by the Am-
bassadors of all the great powers of Europe.
But because this man happens to Ix a poor Jew, who
has no money to lend, then, forsootb, he is to be treated
with insult, and all his demands for simple justice to be
turned aside. "Oh," but it is said, ••1 he has asked too
much." Now, the objection to his claim, you must re-
member, is not made as to its amount, but as to its prin
ciple.—(Hear, hear.) And do not let us run off with
objections as to its amount either. We have had bad
jokes, in French words, uttered in respect to one portion
of his claim. It has been called le Tit conjugal. Now,
for the life of me, I cannot understan cl where the excel-
lence of this joke lies. In my opinion, the joke is as
pointless in its form as it is vulgar in its sentiment.—
(Hear, hear.) But, in respect to the charges made in
M. Pacifico's demand, I deny that there is any exagge-
ration in them. I took the pains of .inquiring at an up-
holsterer's in London upon the subject, and 1 asked him
—not as to the value of the property destroyed, because
it was impossible he could tell—cut I asked him whether
there was anything in the prices charged that appeared
to him to be extravagant or extraor C wary; and if any
person were to say, turning round to .a number of Noble
Lords, Have any of you anything eel valuable as the
furniture here described?" did ho think that it would be
answered in the negative? The trader can to whom I ad-
dressed myself immediately counted u'r m his fingers seve-
ral Noble Lords who had purchased property at his own
shop far more expensive; and he added, "If you
should like to go with me to see a cer lain drawing-room
you will see furniture of the descriptio n set down in this
accouut quadruple that demanded. 'The House should
also recollect that this furniture that was thus destroyed
was not for M. Pacifico's own use. The fact is, teat
this gentleman had bought the props rty for sale, and he
expected to sell it to that very Minister who afterwards
denied him redress. He bought the property; it was
destroyed by Greek assailants. I care not what the ex-
aggeration in the demands might be. The principal ob-
jection urged against his claim was, that he ought to go
to the courts—he had no right to came to this country
f a redress. Now, what was the fact ? The very day
upon which the outrage took place a complaint was
made to the Greek Government. In Greece they have
a public prosecutor. It was, therefore., their business to
investigate the whole matter; and though the occurrence
took place in the broad day, upon an Easter Sunday,
and that those who were concerned in it were well
known to the the authorities byname,. they declared that
'hey could not find out the criminal. Now what is that
but a denial of justice ? And was not; this man, there-
fore, fully justified in appealing, thou gh even he was a
Jew, to his natural protectors, the Government
of England ?—(Bear, hear.) I hope, Sir, that the
Government of England will be supported in rendering
that protection which every English subject is entitled
to demand. But lam told that there is a rule of inter-
:national law which forbids such an ap peal, inasmuch as
:no one can expect to be placed in a bet ter situation than
the subjects of the country in which ho happens to be
residing. Sir, I deny this assertion. altogether if it is
stopped here, but it was guarded by this strong condi-
tion, " under e, constitutional Govern nent." Now what
is a constitutional Government? Russia would call its
Government a most constitutional Government ; and
what would be the consequences if ar.t Englishman went
to Russia? The Emperor of Russia's rule of law is that
which pleases him. He may take one of his subjects,
and without giving any account or ex planation of his ac-
tione,he might put him in a sledge, tie him neck and heels,
and send him at once to Siberia. Now, I appeal to Hoe.
Members on both sides of the House, if an Englishman
were treated thus, would you permit it?--(Hear, hear.)
Well, if you would not, where ie :your rule of law 'S
It is good for nothing. The truth Ls, the law is really,
in the proper sense of the word, not law. Each
particular case must be governed by its circum-
atances and exigencies, and by the discretion of the
. particular authorities of the country in which it
arises. This is the rule of law that ise adopted by Ares-
vice as well as England. I know of MO American citizen
'who would consider himself to be unprotected, even is
Russia, though he were taken as I have described by the
neck and heels and sent to Siberia. What, then, is the
rale of law? Why, according to that which has been
road the other day in total ignorance of the subject, the
rule is suppose i to be this—that the persons situated
like M. Pacifico must, of necessity, go through the courts
in pursuit of justice. Now, I say that that is not at all
.necessary. If you have reason to believe that what you
deem justice cannot be obtained by following the rules
of what is called international law, you have a perfect
right to make an appeal to the Government of that
country of which you are a suhjec t. And in the cases
which I have read to the House there are many instances,
both as regard France and the United States, in which
such appeals have been made directly contrary to the
determination of the courts of the country. Therefore,
I say that the rule laid down in snot her place upon this
subject is not the rule of international law. As re-
gards, then, M. Pacifico's claim, justice bas been
altogether denied him by the Greek c:lovernment. Now
what is the next argument urged in respect to this
matter ? They say, " Why, this is but one isolated
case." Are not all the cases referred to isolated
ones? Was there not an accumulation of them one over
the other, including that of the poor Jew at Athens, and
the canny Scot. Then as to the ease of the Fautome; a
young gentleman twelve years of age, son of a general
officer, was on board this English vessel. He went on
shore accompanied by the coxswain, when they were im-
mediately set upon by a gang of Greeks, who were
armed, and who wounded severely the coxswain, whilo
the young gentleman escaped. " Oh!" but it has been
said, " this allegation is false, from the well-known gal-
lantry of British seamen." Now what had occurred?
Why, upon an investigation being demanded, they said
that this young gentleman was rte officer belonging to
ithe Spitfire and not to the Fantom a, thereby denying the
honourable word of an honourable young man, and de-
vying altogether their right to give any explanation or
make any apology in the matter. They further said
that these were two English vesselin that had entered
the Grecian harbour with the jute et to create an incur-
eestion, and to overturn the Government, and that
several persons had been put on board these vessels
that were running away from one ,of the neighbouring
islands. They said that the E aglish party had in-
vented falsehoods for the purdose of hiding the
truth. Why, if an English gentlen ran, representing the
English nation, did not, under suck circumstances, in-
sist upon an immediate apology, lee would be wholly
unworthy to represent this country again.—(Hear, hear.)
I t-11 this House and the Government, that if we once
relax the rules by which our people- are guarded in their
rights and privileges there would be no safety for Eng-
lish commerce.—(Hear, hear.) Bett lam told that me-
diation was offered, and now I suppose I shall be met by
favourite phrases borrowed from the Peace Society; but
if anybody hopes to preserve peace by making all the
world believe that nothing shall induce us to go to war,
these are facts which, I think, will induce them to
alter such opinion. I shall never f. get the lesson read
me by the Hon. Member for the West Riding of York-
shire (Mr. Cobden) on a very particular occasion—
namely, at a peace meeting, when he allowed his feel-
ings to get so much the better of him that he begged
pardon of the people be was addressing, and said to them,
" though I wish you to become members of the Peace
Society, I wish to say a few words in favour of the war
in Hungary."—(Laughter.) I well understood the ge-
neral impressions of the Hon. Mem her. He became a
war advocate, in spite of the Peace Society, and if he
had been a Hungarian he would asseredly have been
found amongst the baud of rebels.—(ft snewed laughter.)
We are told what the mediation was that was offered.
Now, I have already quoted an instancy in which France
was offered our mediation in 1831, and declined it. Anil
we very properly sent directly to make our demands
through our Minister and to get redress. Being urge I
on at last by the necessity of the case we adopt strong
measures. The Minister who bad done so was acting
under instructions, and he had no power to accept of any
mediation ; but the Noble Lord at the heal of foreign
affairs havingthe power in his hands did adopt the me-
diation that was offered. He accepted of what Was 1111.
derstood in diplomatic affairs to be the good offices of
the French Minister. Now what did that mean ? And
what did Baron Gros understand by them when he
first accepted the office of mediator ? It was perfectly
evident that he understood he was to endeavour to make
sthe Greek Government yield to our demands. The
justice or injustice as regards the principle of the claim
was not the question. Of that we alone should be the
judges. And here occurred the circumstance that is
made the foundation of all those charges against
the Noble Lord. There were many things we
complained of at this time. The loan was one
thin, and the question in reference to the islands
of Sapienza and Cervi was another. One of those

Ckirl:ll was wholly our own, referring as it did to
English honour and English rights. 111na ,ot.kner uas
euee euteed by three separate itetiens, Thee° feces were,
therefore, tweet distinctly unde;stecal by iron Gros, and
if any person could be partioularle m•-ked and coo efal
in; his instructions rest unity; ti.ern it was the NetOts
Lord. His instructions e ere C' pl4> t e end defined to the
Minister, send he said, " Mind, you low drip for tine
prerent all consideration of the two islends 8116 the
loan." It was clear from the strstemeute of M. Drell r n
de I'lluys, that these two matters were taken out r f the
instructions given by the Noble Lord. Baron Oro:,
theuga understanding perfectly before going out what
his instructions were, did change the character e,f them
S.j121:10 Lime atter he had gone out. The explanation given
by him on first meeting Mr. Wyse wholly demenstreerd
the fact that he knew full well what ha was t do. Wxiile
staying in Greece be changed from day to day his office,
and at last pretended to he a mediator iu respect to the
whole of our claims. But here comes the question with
regard to Franca. While the negotiations were going
on between Mr. Wyse and Baron Gros, M. Drouyn do
l'Huys says to the Noble Lord, " Dou't you think we
can settle it among ourselves?" The Noble Lord imme-
diately acquiesced. An arrangement was then entered
auto. which did not arrive at Greece before an arrangc-
men: had been made by Mr. Wyse. Baron Gros gave
up his mediation, saying, " I will withdraw from
it professionally—l can do no more—therefore I with-
straw."
Mr. Wyse acted under instructions, and had
only one course to take. Now comes the point which
gave offence. After Baron Gros had withdrawn from
the mediation, he received a letter from M. Drouyn de
l'Huys, dated the 19th of April. The Noble Lord wrote
to Mr. Wyse on the same date, informing him of the
plan, but this letter did not get to Mr. Wyse as soon es
the report had reached Baron Gros of what had taken
plead between the Noble Lord and M. Drouyn de l'Huys.
Baron Gros. writes to Mr. Wyse, informing him that he
had heard of this arrangement, and, on the 221 April,
Baron Gros writes a letter to Mr. Wyse, of which the
following is an extract :
" A dispatch, dated the 6th of this month, received by the
last courier, contains word for word what follows. It ap-
pears from the language held by Lord Palmerston to M.
Drouyn de l'Huys that, if the British Envoy should refuse
to accept a compromise which you might judge reasonable,
and to which the Greek Government had acceded, the affair
must be referred to London, and that until a definitive deci-
sion all things should remain in suspense.'
" If Mr. Wyse does not think he can subscribe to the last
amicable arrangement above proposed, and which the Hel-
lenic Government is disposed to conclude, the undersigned
demands of his Excellency the Minister Plenipotentiary of
her Britannic Majesty urgently, and in the name of the im-
portant interest which may be compromised, to consent to
maintain the status quo, and to refer on the subject to his
Court."
Now, Mr. Wyse writes to Baron Gros a letter, dated
April 24. 1850. nine o'clock:—
" I have just received an express which gives me impor-
tant news. Lord Palmeston requires some changes in my
first draft of convention, which is very incomplete, I con-
fess, but which has been in a singular degree improved as
regards English views. But this is better than all. He has
said to M. Drouyn de l'Huys, If the arrangement pro-
posed by M. Gros does not meet the concurrence of Mr.
Wyse, tee negotiation would remain open. Mr. Wyse would
submit the preposals of the negotiator to the British Cabi-
net, and would wait for instructions. Measures of coercion
would be resumed without fresh orders, only in case M.
Gros should declare that he renounces the part of mediator.'
—(April 12 )
" What can be more precise?
"Well, then, I have not renounced the part of mediator; I
have submitted to you a project which I believe to be just
and satisfactory. In God's name submit it to the judgment
of Lord Palmerston.
" This is what 'propose.
" I will withdraw my note ; I will return to you yours ;
all that has happened shall be but as a disagreeable dream."
irlr. Wyse, by this paper, seemed to renounce the idea
of mediation, and had given orders that the embargo
should be reinstated. It was reinstated, and an agree-
ment made with Mr. Wyse and the Greek Government.
In the meanwhile comes the statement of the Noble
Lord. And as the sensibilities of the French people
appear to be much aroused in respect to this matter .1 beg
leave to say a few words. Of the two plans of arrange-
ment that had been taken into consideration, I believe
that of the Noble Lord's to be the most favourable to
the Greek Government. I believe that the only
difference between them is this, that the Noble Lord
had asked for a larger sum down at once than
Mr. Wyse, who did take a portion of it by way of se-
curity. It was ordered that the parties who complained
should be paid something for redress. The Noble Lord
said it was not worth while to disturb what has been
already done, and thereupon up starts the insulted
French nation. But is it the French nation? Was
there not a curious coincidence apparent here? Was
there not a patty anxious to get up an emeute in Paris?
Did they not try to cause a diversion by talking of war
with England, that they might prevent the occurrence
of that which they so much dreaded? Were they not
going to make a change upon their own constitution?
Did they not mean to effect that by getting up an ap-
parent quarrel with England? But the body of con-
spirators, as I will call them, who hold in their own
hands now the power of the French people, and ignorant
of the means of conducting a constitutional government,
are endeavouring by the force of the bayonet to put
down all who say a word in opposition to them—these
are toe party that are endeavouring to get up a
quarrel with England. Freedom' does not exist in
France. Newspaper after newspaper is put down there;
and in order to gratify their own wishes they will at-
tempt anything. And this is the morality of the ex-
citable people who talk of the honour of France. I be-
lieve that the honour of France is like the honour of
England—beyond the reach of such petty artifices.—
(Hear, bear.) If we look around this European world
of ours, where is the people save England who could
safely go to war? Could France go to war? Could
Austria go to war? Where would Italy be in such a
case? Could Russia go to war? The fact is we are
forbearing because we are so powerful.—(Hear, hear.)
There can be no doubt that it is weak people thatl are
the most sensitive,—so it is with nations. The most
powerful can afford to receive an insult without being
insolent, and meet petulance without quarrelling.
I acknowledge that it is totally impossible for
me to go over every step that hashbeen brought
under our consideration. I will only add one
word as to the form of our decision. I hope
that the House will not shrink from a fair
discussion upon this important question. I hope that
my Hon. Friend opposite will not attempt to evade the
difficulty by pressing his amendment on the House. If
the policy of the Government, after being condemned
by the House of Lords, does not receive a clear, distinct,
and unambiguous approval of the House of Commons. it
is impossible that they can remain any longer in the
seats which they now occupy.—(llear, hear.) It must
be no half opinion. It must be nothing that can admit
of the excuse of one Hon. Member being siek or another
dead. The vote in their favour must be clear, strong,
and decided—such as shall enable the Government to
maintain the dignity of the country in the face of the
whole world, even if the world be opposed to them. The
Hon. and Learned Gentleman concluded by moving the
resolution of which he had given notice. (We regret
exceedingly that the low tone in which the Hon. and
Learned Gentleman spoke, particularly towards the
conclusion of his sentences, rendered it very difficult for
the reporters to catch the actual words he used.)
The question having teen put,
Mr. HUME rose to withdraw the amendment of which
he had given notice. He could not exactly agree in all
that was said by the Hon. and Learned Gentleman who
moved the resolution. He expected that the Hon. and
Learned Gentleman would have been able to vindicate
the whole of the foreign policy of the Noble Lord, com-
mencing with the year 1830. But after mentioning the
proceedings in Belgium, he jumped over a considerable
period to eulogise the foreign policy of the Noble Lord.
No man heard with greater pleasure than he did the
let's Earl Grey's memorable speech in which he
stated that non-interference should be the ground
of his policy. He certainly would not now stand in
the way of the appeal made to him, lest it might
be supposed that he had improper views on
the question, and meant to injure the Govern-
ment. He was most anxious that they should retain
their position, as ho thought that the welfare and pros-
perity of the country required their services. It was
upon that ground he interposed. He was sorry he did
so; for he found he did not understand those with whom
he sat.—(Lsughter.) He expressed his regret that
anything should pass in this House that should create
anxiety and uneasiness in respect to the relations be-
tween this country and France. He believed that the
connexion was essential'for the peace of Europe, and he
would be sorry that anything should occur to estrange
the affection that should exist between the two countries,
and upon which the interests of the world mainly de-
pended. He was sorry he had undertaken this most tie-
satisfactory duty, and he would most willingly withdraw
his amendment.—(Laughter.) He was never ashamed
to admit when he felt that ho bad not acted exactly
right. He certainly would not press his motion.
Sir F. THESIGER said that it was impossible, notwith-
standing the great extent of the motion which had been
made by his Hon. and Learned Friend the Member for Shef-
field ( Mr. Roebuck), not to look at the circumstances under
which that motion had been brought forward. On Monday
last a resolution was adopted elsewhere in these terms :
"That while this House fully recognise the right and duty of
the Government to secure to her Majesty's subjects residing
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 pod of jusercivetice,
or exaggerated in amount, have been enfoe by co
measures, directed against the commerce and people of
Greece, and calculated to endanger the continuance
of our friendly relations with other powers." That
' resolution was said to have been carried by a
majority far beyond the gloomiest anticipations of the Go-
) vernment, and necessarily created some difficulty in their
minds as to the course which it would be proper for them to
pursue. For two 'days a silence, deep and mysterious,
had been preserved, when at length his Hon. and Learned
Friend the Member for Sheffield (Mr. Roebuck) asked a
question, and elicited from the Noble Lord the remarkable
declaration which he made on Thursday last, when, after ad-
verting to the terms of the resolution, he stated it was not
the intention of Government to depart from their policy or
resign the reins of government, in consequence of the reso-
lutions of the other House. The Noble Lord (Lord J. Rus-
sell) cited certain authorities as precedents for the course
pursued. In the first place he told them that 140 years ago
there had been a resolution and address of the other House
against the propriety of assenting to any treaty which
would leave Spain in the possession of any branch of the
house of Bourbon, and yet, notwithstanding, a treaty had
been concluded iu direct opposition to that vote. He then
adverted to a resolution of the House of Lords,
moved by the Duke of Wellington in the time of Earl Grey,
who declared that if it was carried he should consider it a
vote of censure upon the Government. It was carried by a
majority of ten, and he nevertheless did not resign, and
continued to pursue the same course of policy. In stating these
authorities, the Noble Lord was certainly not very ingenuous,
as he had only mentioned that portion of the precedent
which answered his purpose, and had forgotten to mention
the other portion of the precedent which he had not followed.
He had not stated that upon the last occasion he had men-
tioned four days after the resolution was carried in the House

THE SUN,