Gross satisfied your Lordship would be highly gratified by the tenor of his letter to No. 532. Baron Brunnow, and that Her Majesty's Government would be happy to find britannien, themselves in harmony with the Government of Russia. &c. To Earl Russell, London. Napier. 31. October 1862. No. 533. GROSSBRITANNIEN. - Botschafter in St. Petersburg an d. königl. Min. d. Ausw. Weiteres über die Ansichten der russischen Regierung in Betreff der griechischen Thronfolge. St. Petersburgh, November 4, (received November 10) 1862. Gross 4. Nov. 1862. (Extract.) I have communicated to Prince Gortchakoff the substance No. 533. of your Lordship's telegram of the 1st instant relative to the affairs of Greece, britannien, His Excellency had received one to the same effect from Baron Brunnow. He expressed the pleasure with which he found himself acting in harmony with Her Majesty's Government, and said that he believed the French Government would be found very much of the same way of thinking. ¶ His Excellency availed himself of this occasion to lay considerable stress on the right of the Greek people to determine their own destinies, and on the injustice of which the Protecting Powers would be guilty in exerting any constraint in this matter. Napier. To Earl Russell, London. No. 534. GROSSBRITANNIEN. - Min. d. Ausw. an d. königl. Botschafter in St. Petersburg. Die Verträge unter den Grossmächten in Betreff der griechischen Thronfolge betr. Foreign Office, November 15, 1862. Grossbritannien, 15. Nov. 1862. My Lord, I have received and laid before the Queen your despatch No. 534. of the 4th instant. With regard to the succession to the Greek Throne, Her Majesty's Government are disposed to agree with Prince Gortchakoff in respecting the right of the Greek people to determine their own destinies, and in deprecating the injustice of which the Protecting Powers would be guilty in exerting any constraint upon the Greeks in this matter. Yet, this respect has its limits, and these limits are to be found in the original views of the three Protecting Powers when they first undertook to interfere between Turkey and Greece, and the engagements into which they have since entered in regard to Greece. In the first Protocol, signed at St. Petersburgh in April 1826, by the Duke of Wellington, and Count Nesselrode, and Prince Lieven, it was stipulated, in Article V, that the two Powers, Great Britain and Russia, would not seek to exercise,,any exclusive influence" in Greece. The VIth Article of the Treaty of London, of July 1827, repeats this engagements, and binds No. 534. France as well as Great Britain and Russia. In the same spirit, the Protocol britannien, of February 1830 binds the three Powers to the following effect:,,The Govern Gross 15. Nov. 1862. No. 535. 17. Nov. ment of Greece shall be monarchical and hereditary by order of primogeniture. It shall be confided to a Prince who cannot be chosen from among those belonging to families reigning in the States who signed the Treaty of July 1827," &c. ¶In this manner the three Powers barred out that ,,exclusive influence" which the Duke of Wellington and Count Nesselrode renounced in the Protocol of 1826. ¶ Prince Gortchakoff has been the first, on the present occasion, to appeal to that engagement, and to state most truly that it could not be departed from without the consent of the three Powers who were parties to it. ¶ But as it was wisely intended to prevent those jealousies and dissensions which could not fail to arise from an exclusive influence exercised through a member of one of the three families, so, likewise, it could not now be departed from without the utmost danger of giving rise to those jealousies and dissensions. Her ས Majesty, therefore, could not recognize any Prince belonging to the Imperial families of France or Russia, or the Royal family of Great Britain. So far, I trust there may be a concurrence of views among the three Powers. But the Russian Government, it appears, lay great stress on the provision of the Greek Constitution and subsequent engagements which provide that the successor of King Otho should be a member of the Greek Church. Now this, it appears to Her Majesty's Government, is a question upon which no constraint should be used towards the Greek nation. The three Powers have not in this respect, as in the former, a common object. Great Britain and France could not object to see a Protestant or a Roman Catholic Prince chosen by the Greek Parliament. Her Majesty's Government will, in this matter, respect the decisions of the Greek nation. If they are content to have a Protestant or a Roman Catholic Prince, and to stipulate that his sons should be brought up as members of the National Church, it would be unreasonable for Her Majesty's Government to object to such a decision. Nor am I aware that there is anything in our engagements which refers to this matter, otherwise than in respect to the Bavarian Prince who it was expected would succeed King Otho. To Lord Napier, St. Petersburgh. No. 535. I am, &c. Russell. GROSSBRITANNIEN. Min. d. Ausw. a. d. königl. Gesandten in Athen. Foreign Office, November 17, 1862. - In (Extract.) I have received your telegram of the 10th instant, reportbritannien, ing that the Provisional Government of Greece considered the renunciation by 1862. the Powers parties to the Treaty of 1827 in regard to the Sovereign of Greece being chosen from among their families, to have no longer a binding effect after the fall of the Bavarian dynasty, which is considered to be complete; and that a strong feeling prevails throughout the country in favour of the election of His Gross 17. Nov. 1862. Royal Highness Prince Alfred to the vacant throne, in which case the provisions No. 535. of the 40th Article of the Constitution, in regard to the religion of the successorbritannien, to King Otho, would not be allowed to stand in the way of His Royal Highness's assumption of the sovereignty. In reply to your request for instructions as to the course you should pursue in this state of things, I have to desire that you will not interfere in regard to the election of the future Sovereign of Greece without direct instructions from Her Majesty's Government. Their desire is that the Greeks should be left free to choose their own King. With regard to the obligations of the three protecting Powers towards one another, I may have further communications to make to you. &c. To Mr. Scarlett, Athens. Russell. No. 536. GROSSBRITANNIEN. - Min. d. Ausw. an den königl. Botschafter in St. Peters- burg. Foreign Office, November 17, 1862. Gross britannien, 17. Nov. 1862. My Lord, I have informed your Excellency by telegraph that Her No. 536. Majesty's Government consider it of importance that the view which the three Protecting Powers take of the obligations of the Protocols, to which they are parties, touching the election to the Throne of Greece of any Prince selected from among the Princes forming part of the families reigning in the States which signed the Treaty of 1827, should be made known at Athens without delay through their respective Ministers in Greece. I have informed your Excellency that, so far as Great Britain is concerned, and provided the other parties to the Treaty agree to make a similar declaration, Her Majesty's Government are prepared to instruct Her Majesty's Minister at Athens to declare that Great Britain will not consent, any more than the other two Protecting Powers, to the Throne of Greece being accepted by such a Prince. Your Excellency will, probably, before you receive this despatch, have ascertained whether the Court of Russia agree with Her Majesty's Government in this matter, but if you should not have done so, you will press the Russian Minister for an early decision. ¶ I am, &c. Russell. P.S. Such a declaration would of course apply to His Imperial Highness the Duke of Leuchtenberg, Prince Romanoffsky, as well as to His Royal Highness Prince Alfred. To Lord Napier, St. Petersburgh. *) Eine ähnliche Depesche wurde nach Paris gerichtet. No. 537. FRANKREICH. — Min. d. Ausw. an d. königl. grossbritannischen Botschafter No. 537. Frankreich, 1862. Mon cher Ambassadeur, Compiègne, le 20 novembre, 1862. 20. Nov. les ordres de l'Empereur, ma réponse à votre communication du 18, sous la Earl Cowley, Paris. Anlage. - Note Verbale. Son Excellence le Comte Cowley a lu au Ministre des Affaires Etrangè- Protectrices, ne s'accordant pas à maintenir comme valables les engagements Désireuse d'ailleurs de prévenir de fâcheuses complications, Sa Majesté Im- No. 538. GROSSBRITANNIEN. Min. d. Ausw. an den königl. Botschafter in Paris. Foreign Office, November 24, 1862. No. 538. Grossbritannien, 1862. My Lord, It appears from your Excellency's telegram of the 21st instant, that the Emperor of the French would not refuse to acknowledge ulti- 24. Nov. mately any Prince who might be spontaneously chosen for their Sovereign by the Greek nation, notwithstanding a declaration made at Athens by the three Powers that they consider the renunciation as to the selection of any Prince of their respective families for the Throne of Greece, contained in the Protocols and Treaty, as still binding upon them. As, however, the Russian Govern ment have declined to join in such a declaration, Her Majesty's Government consider that there can be no advantage in further insisting upon their original proposal on this subject. Her Majesty's Government observe with satisfaction that the Emperor of the French is ready to consult with England and Russia as to the Prince whom they might unofficially suggest to the Greek nation to be selected for their Sovereign. I am, &c. To Earl Cowley, Paris. Russell. No. 539. GROSSBRITANNien. Botschafter in St. Petersburg an den königl. Min. Griechenland betreffend. No. 539. Grossbritannien, 1862. St. Petersburgh, November 19, (received November 26) 1862. (Extract.) In conformity with your Lordship's telegraphic instructions, I waited on Prince Gortchakoff this morning for the purpose of clearing up the 19. Nov. doubts which repose upon the position of the Duke of Leuchtenberg in regard to the vacant throne of Greece, as well as of imparting to his Excellency your Lordship's overture respecting a declaration to be made at Athens, to the effect that no Prince of the families reigning in the countries signatary of the Treaty of 1827 can be permitted to accept the Hellenic Crown. I began by saying that Her Majesty's Government had experienced great satisfaction in being made acquainted with his Excellency's declaration to the effect that the Government of Russia recognized their obligations under the Treaties respecting Greece, and, especially, the engagement by which Princes of the three Houses chiefly concerned, remained excluded from that throne. In these declarations Her Majesty's Government thoroughly concurred. Nevertheless, at Athens, His Royal Highness Prince Alfred and His Imperial Highness the Duke of Leuchtenberg were much spoken of as Princes likely to be chosen; the meeting of the constituent Assembly was imminent; Her Majesty's Government apprehended that the Greeks might be led into an erroneous course; they might make a choice |