The Sun.
London, England, 1845-08-09 00:00:00

AFFAIRS OF SYRIA.

Lord PALMERSTON then rose, and said he had
given notice of making only some observations on the
affairs of Syria, because he had hoped that some motion
might have been before the House to which his remarks
might have been appended. As, however, no such op-
portunity had occurred, it would be necessary for him
to make a specific resolution, so as to enable the
Right Honourable Baronet opposite, in accordance
with the rules of the House, to reply to his observations;
he therefore moved that an humble address be presented
to the Crown, praying for copies or extracts of the cor-
respondence relative to the affairs of Syria, subsequent
(as we understood the Noble Lord to say) to the de-
parture of the allied forces from that country in 1841.
It was not his intention to occupy the time of the House
at any considerable length, but before Parliament se-
pa ated he wished to direct the attention of the Govern-
ment and the country to the state of Greece, social and
political, at the present moment. In dealing with this
subject he should consider, first, the unsatisfied
claims of the Emir Beschir ; and secondly, to the un-
fortunate disturbances which now harassed the kingdom
of Syria. When in 1840 and 1841 the allies restored
Syria to the authority of the Sultan, one of the Emirs
enlisted in the interests of another power, and for that
was subjected to stipulations in the compliance with which
some delay accidentally occurred. Because he did not
comply with certain conditions he was deposed by
British officers, acting under the authority given by the
Sultan, and the late Emir Bechir was appointed in his
place, who then held a high and public station in his
country. That Emir continued to exercise the mi-
tl ority belonging to his appointment for about twelve
months. At the end of 1841, or the beginning
of 1842, in consequence of the civil war
that broke out between the Maronites and the
Druses, the Emir ' was besieged in his residence.
He was called down by the Governor, and was found to
be incompetent, by age and infirmities, to conduct the
affairs of the Government, and he was consequently de
posed. In his passage from the town in which be then
was, in obedience to the order of the authorities, he was I
pillaged by the Druses of all his property, and his house
was burned. The Turkish Government of the period
gave him a guard of honour, but he received no salary
from the Sultan. He claimed, then, a salary at a certain
rate for the period he exercised the authority. He re-
ceived no compensation for the losses he sustained by
the plunder to which he was exposed in his journey, nor
any compensation for certain lands of which he was de-
prived by the disturbance to which he had alluded.
Now, his claims had been admitted to a certain extent by
the Turkish Government, and orders had been granted
for the payment of the amount to which he might be en-
titled, yet, although they dated some time back, up to
the last accounts he had not been able to obtain any
payment whatever. He (Lord Palmerston) conceived
that the Turkish Government ought to satisfy the
amount, or at least some part of it. It was by officers of
the British Government, acting under the authority of the
Sultan, that he was induced to accept the appointment
which brought upon him all the di-asters he had enu-
merated. He rendered very important services to the
common cause by taking it at the time it was offered to
him. He (the Emir) had suffered greatly in conse-
quence of his remaining a private individual, otherwise
he might have reclaimed all of which he had been
master. The first set of papers laid on the table, in
connexion with this case, were copies and extracts of
correspondence between the Emir, the British Ambas-
sador, and the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, relating to
the firman in the Emir's favour. That firman promised
compensation for his losses, and the British Government
was a party to the promise. But the last instructions
given to the Ambassador at Constantinople were by no
means commensurate with the influence which the
British representation at Constantinople ought to exer-
cise. The instructions were contained in a dispatch from
1845. and reply
ing -
-munication from the Ambassador, dated the
2
gomnoffice, dated 20th January,
preceding July. This dispatch (which the
Nt oetbhFtlfoa rf
Lordeic read at length) simply directed the Ambas-
sador, Sir Stratford Canning, to " make representations,"
&c., to the Porte. Now, he (Lord Palmerston) thought
that, considering the extent to which the honour and
good faith of Great Britain were concerned, such an in-
struction was insufficient, and that Sir Stratford Canning
should have been directed to insist that the Porte should
carry out its own firman. He thought that the Govern-
ment ought to have sufficient energy to see the contracts
carried out, to which it was a party. He trusted that in
future the instructions to Sir Stratford Canning would
permanent and definite, the next important branch
of the subject to which ho would advert was the
condition of Syria. This was a complicated and exten-
sive subject. England, Austria, and Prussia were parties
to the operations that had taken place in that country.
On the other hand, it involved a departure from the
ordinary rules which ought to govern nations in their
relations to other parties. But nothing was more at
variance with national obligations than for one Power
to interfere with another in relation to the manner in
fcertain
ec t ourselves
f
which it should treat its own subjects; and it was only
tthe circumstances
o thefou
r stateth
Powersat
of
we
ahffatadoi ras n
induce
ynd obliga-
tionu ce in
Syria.
1840, the people of Syria to take arms against the
usurping authority of Mehemet Ali, and to declare for
their legitimate sovereign ; and the allied Powers first
furnished the Syrians with arms, and then induced them
to employ those arms in the service of the Sultan. The
It
t wasbecause
to address othe object
Sultan promised, not through the medium of Turkish
officers, but through British officers specially authorised
and empowered he promised the Syrians that, if they
returned to their lawful allegiance—if they assisted
to expel the arms of 11rfehenict Ali—they should
be relieved from the oppressions under which they had
been suffering, and their future privileges and religious
liberties should be secured to them. That had not been
done, and on that ground he considered that Govern-
ment ought to take further
inhabited steps in the matter. The
position of Syria was very singular—it was not a pro-
vince, it was not by one race alone--it was
not inhabited by a people professing one religion only,
for in the central part of Syria, commonly called the high-
lands of Lebanon, the population consisted of two races,
professing dissimilar religions. In the first place, there
were the Maronites, a sort of Christians ; and, again, on
the other hand, there were the Druses, a sort of Ma-
hometane, not exactly belonging to the Mussulman faith,
because they had a faith peculiar to themselves. But
those two races were not separated by geographical
distinctions, because it was not in one part of Lebanon
alone that the Maronites existed, and there Was not a sin-
gle district that did not western the Druses.—(Hear.)
These two races were interspersed, but portions of the
Maronites were feudal lords, and the Druses vassals, and
vice versa. This created considerable difficulty, because
if there was one governor of the whole of the provinces,
supposing him to be a native chief, he would be a Druse
or a Maronite, and would therefore exercise a rule over
one part of the population which was animated by feel-
ings of hatrid and jealousy towards the other. The
Emir he referred to was old, infirm, and deficient in
energy and talent ; under him it was impossible to pre-
serve peace. If the population. were geographically
separated, contact would be less frequent, and civil war
less seldom ; but intermixed as they were in the same
towns, it required a vigorous hand, a clear head,
and a sound judgment to repress the social
disorders arising out of the condition referred to.
When the late Emir was removed there was no one
found capable of governing the country except Emir
Elnan, and even he was not considered fit to occupy
such a position ; for he could hot allay the discon-
tents that existed. The interference of Turkey and the
five great Powers then became necessary. After much
communication and consideration, a plan was proposed
in 1842 ishich, he thought was well calculated, if carried
out, to remove dissatisfaction, and to restore that peace
and tranquillity which was so much to be desired. That
was, that there should be two Governors— one a Druse
Governor, for the Druses, and the other a Maronite Go-
vernor, for the Maronites, both to be under the Turkish
Government. This, however, did not remove the diffi-
culties which from time to time arose in those villages,
which were jointly inhabited by the Drum and the ma.