The Sun.
London, England, 1850-06-20 00:00:00

FURTHER CORRESPONDENCE

ON THE GREEK AFFAIR.

No. 1.

THE MARQUIS OF NORMANDY TO VISCOUNT PAL3IERSTON.
Paris, June 13; 1850.
My Lord,—l this morning communicated to General
de Lehitte your Lordship's dispatch of yesterday's date,
and read to him the inclosure from Mr. Wyse. I pointed
out to him the importance of the facts here detailed upon
those results cf which the French Government had com-
plained, and which we had ourselves regretted. Mr.
Wyse objects that Baron Gros concealed from him the
intelligence which he had received by the Vauban, in-
forming him that a convention respecting the Greek
question had been agreed to in Paris and London.
In order to bring this mattee, in which there had
been so much confusion on all sides, distinctly to a
point, I directed the General's attention specially to
the fact that the complaint of Mr. Wyse against
Baron Gros was founded on the statement ho had
himself made in his letter to M. Drouyn de Lhuys of
the 14th of May, afterwards read to the Assembly, to
the effect that this had been done at a moment when a
convention negotiated directly and definitively agreed
upon in London was on the point of arriving at Athens,
where already the essential bases of it were known. I
said that Mr. Wyse had read this with extreme surprise,
as certainly, if ail this had been known at Athens, it had
never, up to the arrival of the Solon, been in any respect
communicated to him; and inasmuch as it was iu his
(Mr. Wyse's) estimation a serious imputation that, in
the possession of such knowledge, ho had refused, as bad
been supposed, to await the short necessary time for its
confirmation, on the other band it must be considered a
grave charge against M. Gros that he had concealed
such a fact from the person with whom he was in
official relation, and with whom he also assumei to be
in confidential communication; and if this was really so,
upon him and him alone should fall all the responsibi- .
lay of the consequences which had followed.
The general said that it was impossible to read Baron
Gros's report of what had occurred without seeing that
he could not have been ac:uatcd by any such feeling.
What could be his motive? It was as much his desire
as it was his duty to bring these matters to a termina-
tion by the good offices of France. Could anybody sup-
pose there was concealment behind that letter which he
' wrote upon the receipt of the Vauban? Did he not
ask Mr. Wyse to come and reid his dispatches? This
had teen declined, and the mischief had arisen from his
never having been met in the same spirit by Mr. Wyse.
I observed tnat the offer to come .and look at his dis-
patches was of value according as, in alluding to their
contents, he had accurately stated what they were; but
how could any one suppose, in reading this letter, that
he had any knowledge of a proposed convention nego-
tiated in Londoi, when such a most important fact was
never alluded to from one end of the letter to the other.

I began to think that the beat mode of clearing up this
matter with General do Lohitte was to go over with him
all the dispatches which had been carried out by the
Vauban, which could bear upon this part of the subject.
This the General readily agreed to do, and having
finished their perusal, I told the General candidly, that
I could see nothing in them to justify the expression
used in his dispr.wh to LI. Drouyn de Lhuys, that the
essential bates of a convention negotiated in London
were at that time known at Athens. I entreated his
serious attention to the bearing this point must have
upon all future discussions. It wai evident now, that
the blame imputed to Mr. Wyse for having acted in the
face of such knowlidge could not be sustained; either
that knowledge had been concealed from him at Athens,
or it had not been in the power of Baron Gros to cern..
municato it; and if so, I was su:e he would, with the
candour which I had always experienced on his part, be
ready to admit that ho had put some very incautious
expressions into a very grave document. _

...Cite General said that it was easy to explain what be
had meant, that the alterations in the original project of
Mr. Wyse and M. Gros bad formed the bases of the con-
vention of London, and this had been in the progress of
cegotiation. I begged the General to remark that if he
would read c sretully this letter of Baron Gros, be
would find that he had not succeeded in convoying any
such idea to the mind of Baron Gros, or if (as it now ap-
peared certain) there had been no wilful concealment on
the Baron's part, had he derived the same impression
from the dispatches by the Vauban, which had been con-
veyed to M. D:ouyn de ',Lugs in the dispatch of the 14th
May, which I now remembered with increased regret had
been read from the tribune of the Assembly, an unusual
proceeding, which demanded peculiar care in the ac-
curacy of the expressions used. In that dispatch it was
stated that the convention, "of which the essential
bases were already 'known," was then on the point of
arriving at Athens.. But what se) s Baron Gros on this
head? What does he propose to Mr. Wyse? That be
should submit M. Gros's proFosititious to the British
Cabinet, and await his instructions, and he adds, that
he will send off the Vauban with one and the other
project. how is this reconcileable with the assertion
that the convention of London was known to be on the
point of arriving ? Ii Baron Gros was sincere, the
General then must adroit that that assertion was in-
accurate. I was sure I might trust to the General's
known good faith to allow that he had been in error
here.

The General said that he would examine carefully
into the question; that even if he had not expressed
himself very correctly in this respect, the complaint
which the French Government had against that of En-
gl tnd remained still in full force, and was pointed out in
this very loiter of M. Gros, where ho alludes, as I had
quoted, to the reference home, and the suspension in the
interval of coercive measures; that four times at differ-
ent intervals your Lordship had promised M. Drouyn
de Lhnys that such instructions should be sent out to
Mr. Wyse; that, from the Ist of March they hat been
acting on the faith that these promises had been exe-
cuted, and it was to the omission in that respect that
these results were to be attributed.

I told the General that I thought what hal passed
upon the principal subject of our conversation this
morning would show him that it was better on neither
side to impute supposed omissions or mistakes in the
conduct of complicated efiltirs of this nature to want of
good faith ; that if the question was still approached
in a different spirit, as I had always wished to treat it, I
hoped in consideration of the great interests at stake,
this matter might be brought to a satisfactory conclu-
sion.—l have, &e.,

(Signed)
No. 2.

NORMANDY.

THE MARQUIS OF NORMANDY TO VISCAJNT PALMERSTON.

Paris, June 14, 1850.
My Lord,—l have again seen General de Lehitte, ag
wished to have some conversation with me efter he had
bad an opportunity of considering the contents of Air.
Wyse's dispatch of the 31st of May. lie began by
stating that the phrase quoted by Mr. Wyse, and to
which I bad so specially called his attention yesterday,
was not the part of that dispatch of the 14th of May, en
which the French Government had founded their com-
plaint of the conduct in this affair of her Majesty's Go-
vernment. It was to be found in the earlier portion
of that dispatch, and consisted in the fact that no
instructions to carry out the promises given, and to
prevent the renewal of coercive measures in the event of
a difference of opinion between the negotiators, had
ever been sent to Athens in time to avert the mischief
r. hich had occurred. As to the next paragraph, I nsight
observe that it stated what had been the consequence of
such an omission. With respf ct to the statement made
by him, and by which Mr. Wyse had supposed hinself
aggrieved, that the essential bases of the proposed COn:
veution of London were then known at Athens, he bad
meant that all the essential changes which had been
made in the projects sent home, on which changes was
founded the subsequent convention, were detailed ia M.
Drouyn de 'Ultra's dispatch of the 9 h of April, which
had been sent out by the Vauban, and therefore, if Mr.
Wyse was left in any error as to what was really brought
out by the Vauban, it was his own fault, as he had re'
fused the candid and friendly offer made by M. Gros V)
show him all his L,dispatches. Had he accepted that,
offer, he would have been in full possession of the aettl,s;
state of the case. I told the General that I was al
obliged to repeat what I had said yesterday, that
thought the phrase he had himself used was calculate
to lead Mr. Wyse into the error into which he bad
fallen; that the general impression derived from t"e
phrase must have been, and indeed I knew had been,
that the bases of the convention of London bete/
then and there known, and its proximate arrival
being at the same time spoken of, it was with due
cognizance of these facts that the coercive measures
were resumed. Now, this was directly the reverse of the:
d
truth; not only Mr. Wyse did not, but M. Grog d
not, know of the proximate arrival of any further iet7d.
ligence of a convention agreed to in London, as-1 k
shown yesterday; because, on the contrary, he PrOe;jr,
to send their projects to London. Yet I had heard . d
Wyse attacked is many quarters for not having Wai,l.,es
the two or three days necessary for receiving the aci:a
convention, the essential provisions of which were 1",,e
known. This accusation was founded on the GeoeLreeet
words. I was convinced he did not mean them to boa
any such signification, but this was an additional Prato
of the disadvantage of giving premature publlatYeee
documents of that grave character, when all the sap
i
siona might not have been very well weighed. °sing
The General said I was certainly right in suPP,,, to
he had no such intention. He could not have p° known
e:hrt"%v tse
say anything so obviously inconsistent with dal;
as an
wean-
to everybody. Ile was perfectly ready
to
t state'
ever be had occasion, that ho had never ho
aggravation of their complaint, to impute to "I' haling
that he had refused to wait two or three day t' cons
at the time any knowledge of the existence of
entered into
vention of London. The General then eated gr.
some criticisms of the reasoning which ho staeosetiew,
Wyse t) have founded upon the erroneous supnpo.
hut as this has now no practical bearing, Ih
do
it necessary to trouble your Lordship wit
&c. (Signed) NORMANDY.

LOCAL SELF•GOVERNMENT.—"Yesteraay a meeting
was held at the Kings' Arms Hotel, Bridge street, West:
minster, of the Society for Maintaining and Extending Local
Self-Government in opposition to Centralization; Mr. J:tinea,
of Birmingham, in the chair. The proceedings principally
related to the progress of the Public Health Act, and to
the
resolutions come to at a late meeting in the same place called
for the special purpose of considering the clauses of that At;
Mr. Toultnin Smith, who was one of a committee norninnteu
at that meeting, spoke at considerable length upon the lin'
portance of oppoing the alleged tendency of Government to
centralization, and showed that the society had in a qeat
measup been the means of preventing the totNns of "11431
and olverhampton being included the towns affeete
by the Bill. He concluded by moving a r,tsolution to the
effect that tr, was highly impoitant that seine united 819)3
should be taltaii to oppo-se the course by which, in violation
of the constitutional protection afforded by the standing
order of both Houses ot P.rliament the Public Irealth Ac
was ,now being attempted to be introduced' into many PLices
iii England and WaleA. Other resolutions referring totl'Lle
r.ter:a! erg:l7 iza`ion „f the sec,: :.tud hc
the funds necessary to carry 0,1 ty
oqition to the Publl.o
Health or other Acts were to be obtained, were then unani-
mously carried, and after a vote of thanks to the chairman'
the meeting dispertad.