Gross No. 542. the three Protecting Powers, while avowing their adherence to the engagements britannien, of 1827, 1830, and 1832, might suggest to the Greek Provisional Government 1862. the names of Princes qualified to wear the Crown of Greece. 28. Nov. a copy of this despatch to Prince Gortchakoff. To Lord Napier, St. Petersburgh. You may give Russell. No. 543. No. 543. 29. Nov. 1862. GROSSBRITANNIEN. Min. des Ausw. an den königl. Gesandten in Athen. Unterredung mit dem griechischen Geschäftsträger, betreffend die Gründe gegen die Annahme der griechischen Königskrone durch den Prinzen Alfred. Foreign Office, November 29, 1862. b (Extract.) I had a long conversation yesterday with M. Tricoupi, the britannien, Chargé d'Affaires of Greece. I told him that the prevailing desire in Greece to elect Prince Alfred as the Sovereign of that country induced me to speak seriously to him on that subject. That I had told him some days ago that, however gratifying it must be to every Englishman to see such a tribute paid to the family of his Sovereign and the British nation, it was not to be expected that Prince Alfred would accept the Crown of Greece if offered to him. I would state to M. Tricoupi the views of Her Majesty's Government as regarded the interests of Greece, and also those of England and of Europe. ¶ With gard to Greece, it appeared to Her Majesty's Government that her first interest was to elect a Prince to rule over her who should be generally accepted. That he ought not to be a Prince under twenty years of age, but rather a Prince of mature years, and of some experience in the world. That the first task of such a Prince would be to reform the abuses which had overgrown the whole internal affairs of the State; to give the freedom promised by the Constitution, and to provide for the security of person and property. Then, as regarded England and Europe, there might be some legal doubt whether the Protocol of 1830, and the Treaty of 1832, were now in force, to exclude the Princes of England, France, and Russia from the throne of Greece; but Her Majesty's Government had no doubt whatever that it was desirable for those three Powers to acknowledge their validity. That the same disinterested spirit which prevailed in all the arrangements made with respect to Greece, from 1826 to 1832, ought to prevail now. It was the only mode of preventing jealousies now, and the danger of conflict hereafter, among the three Powers, injurious to Greece, and fatal to the peace of Europe. That if the spirit of those engagements were adhered to, Prince Alfred and the Duke of Leuchtenberg, and any Prince of the Imperial Family reigning in France, were clearly incapable of accepting and wearing the Crown of Greece. M. Tricoupi said he deeply regretted to hear this. It was understood all over Greece that the election of Prince Alfred meant respect for the Treaties which bound the Greek nation to respect other Powers, and a patient expectation that a time might hereafter arrive when Thessaly and Epirus, on one side, and the Ionian Islands, on the other, might be peacefully Gross 29. Nov. 1862. united to the Greek Kingdom. That thus all might be easy; every one would No. 543. feel secure, and the peace of Europe would not be broken; that if any Prince, britannien, hitherto unknown, however personally unobjectionable, should be chosen, a weak Government would be the consequence; that such a Government would not be able to withstand the assaults of the violent party; a cry for an enlarged Greece would prevail, and aggression, insurrection, and war would follow. He hoped, therefore, Her Majesty's Government would deliberate calmy and carefully on the present situation before they decided to reject the unanimous and spontaneous offer of the Crown to Prince Alfred. We had a good deal of desultory conversation respecting the Ionian Islands and other collateral matters, but I gave him no hope that any Prince of one of the three families reigning in Great Britain, France, or Russia could or would accept the Crown of Greece. ¶ There are other considerations besides those which I thought it proper to communicate to the Chargé d'Affaires of Greece, which influence Her Majesty's resolution on this subject. It is Her Majesty's duty to look to the due succession to the Crown. Prince Alfred stands next to the Prince of Wales in the order of succession, and is heir presumptive to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Amongst the contingencies which are far from being impossible, it might happen that the sons of Prince Alfred, after being brought up as members of the Greek Church, might be called upon to ascend the Throne of England. It is necessary to provide against chances of this kind, and you will therefore not be surprised to learn that it is Her Majesty's fixed determination not to give her consent to the acceptance by His Royal Highness Prine Alfred, or any other of Her Majesty's sons, of the Crown of Greece. &c. To Mr. Scarlett, Athens. No. 544. Russell. GROSSBRITANNIEN. Gesandter in St. Petersburg an den königl. Min. d. Ausw. griechische Königswahl. Gross 22. Nov. 1862. St. Petersburgh, November 22, (received November 29) 1862. (Extract.) I informed Prince Gortchakoff yesterday that Her Majesty's No. 544. Government considered that no constraint ought to be exerted towards the Greek britannien, nation in regard to the religion of their future Sovereign. If the Greeks chose to elect a Roman Catholic or Protestant Sovereign, and to stipulate that his heir should be educated in the Greek faith, Her Majesty's Government had nothing to say against it. The Greeks were free to modify the 40th Article of their Constitution, as they could alter any other Article. The engagements which Her Majesty's Government had contracted in 1852 with the other guaranteeing Powers had merely reference to the presumed succession to King Otho in the ordinary way. They could not be held to apply to a new Sovereign of another family elected to the throne in an exceptional manner. ¶ In replying to this communication Prince Gortchakoff remarked that he thought your Lord Gross No. 544. ship was refining too much on the sense of the Treaty. It had, particularly, britannien, reference to the Succession in the House of Bavaria, but it was substantially 22. Nov. 1862. based on the sense which the Protecting Powers entertained, that the tie of a common religion should exist between the Sovereign of Greece and his people. He thought there was something inconsistent in the course adopted by Her Majesty's Government. They opened the door on one side too much, and closed it too much on the other. They took off a restriction respecting religion, which was essential to the welfare of Greece; and they confined the Greeks in too narrow limits with regard to the selection of their King. His Excellency admitted, however, but not very distinctly, that the religious question was one which chiefly regarded the determination of the Greeks themselves. ¶ I said that the questions of election and religion were widely different. The exclusion of a Prince belonging to one of the three reigning families concerned us all equally, for we were equally interested in avoiding the jealousies and dissensions which would be engendered by the opposite course; but France and England could not object to the choice of a Protestant or a Catholic Prince they had no interest or obligation to do so. It remained for the Greeks to decide for themselves. We would not offer any opposition to their decision on the subject. etc. To Earl Russell, London. Napier. No. 545. No. 545. Gross 22. Nov. 1862. GROSSBRITANNIEN. Gesandter in St. Petersburg an den königl. Min. d. Unterredung mit dem Fürsten Gortchakoff, betreffend die angeblichen Agitationen zu Gunsten des Prinzen Alfred. My Lord, St. Petersburgh, November 22, (received November 29) 1862. Prince Gortchakoff remarked to me yesterday, in the britannien, course of our conversation, that impressions reached him to the effect that the election of His Royal Highness Prince Alfred to the Throne of Greece was agitated and impelled in a variety of ways. He did not, of course, believe that Her Majesty's Government countenanced anything of the sort; but the English Consular authorities were, perhaps, not idle in the matter, and influences of the same kind proceeded from the Ionian Islands. His Excellency contrasted these supposed proceedings with the reserve of the Russian Agents in the same quarters. I said to the Prince that he must not lightly give credit to rumours which reached him from those quarters. The Greeks were a highly excitable, active, intriguing, loquacious people, not always exactly veracious; no doubt persons were running to and fro from one Mission to another at Athens, and from one Consulate to another all over the Levant, disseminating all kinds of tales slenderly supported in truth. Hit Excellency would have a proper measure of the value of such reports by looking into the Russian official newspaper of last Thursday. He would there see among the telegrams that Her Majesty's Government had ,,again taken up the candidature" of Prince Alfred. At the Gross 22. Nov. 1862. very moment that telegram was printed here, I was proposing to his Excellency, No. 545. on the part of Her Majesty's Government, to make a common and anticipated britannien, declaration at Athens to the effect that Prince Alfred, with the other Princes of the three reigning Houses, would not be permitted to ascend the Throne of Greece. We must not attach too much importance to such chimerical assertions. I have, &c. Napier. To Earl Russell, London. No. 546. GROSSBRITANNIEN. Gesandter in St. Petersburg an den königl. Min. d. Ausw. Gross 22. Nov. 1862. St. Petersburgh, November 22, (received November 29) 1862. (Extract.) I am in possession of your Lordship's telegraphic instruc- No. 546. tions to avoid all further discussion with Prince Gortchakoff for the present, britannien, with reference to the election or succession to the Throne of Greece. It will be my duty to conform myself to your Lordship's orders. I do not, however, conceive that they prohibit me from a verification of what has already passed between the Vice-Chancellor and myself. The conversation which occurred on the morning of the 19th instant was of such a hurried description that there was room for misapprehension. I have, consequently, considered it to be my duty to lay before his Excellency my reports to your Lordship on the subject, in order that he might make any rectifications which he deemed necessary. ¶For this purpose I waited on the Prince yesterday forenoon, and I read him the draft of my despatch of the 19th instant. ¶The Vice-Chancellor admitted the general fidelity of my report, but he offered some corrections and explanations which it is now my duty to submit to your Lordship's attention. ¶ In reference to the overtures proposed by the Vice-Chancellor to the Court of Bavaria, his Excellency observed that these overtures were intended to be made collectively. He proposed them to the other guaranteeing Powers. They would not be made by Russia alone. I had not understood this to be the meaning of the Prince. He did not state it distinctly. I lost no time in correcting my misapprehension, by forwarding a telegraphic despatch to your Lordship in the sense desired. Where I state that in case the Bavarian Government should produce a Prince qualified for the succession in all respects, and especially in regard to religion, the Imperial Cabinet would offer that Prince to the Greek nation, Prince Gortchakoff hesitated at the word,,offer," and substituted the still feebler terms of,,would not refuse to indicate" the Prince to the Greeks. In the passage having reference to the sentiments of the Russian Gouvernment in respect to the rights of the Duke of Leuchtenberg under the Treaty, I report that the Vice-Chancellor had disclaimed any,,designs whatever" on behalf of the Duke, or any ,,secret policy." The Vice-Chancellor seemed to object, but slightly, to the expression,,designs whatever;" he, however, added that my statement was scarcely sufficiently strong; he had in our conver Gross 22. Nov. No. 546. sation reiterated twice that Russia had no mental reservation, no cupidity britannien, (,,arrière-pensée ou convoitise") in regard to the Greek succession. He begged 1862. I would state these words exactly and emphatically. The Vice-Chancellor said that he regretted that I had referred to his despatch to Baron Brunnow in reply to your Lordship's instruction of the 6th instant to Mr. Scarlett. He thought my description of that despatch, of which he did not dispute the essential accuracy, might convey an impression that it was more opposed to the views of Her Majesty's Government than it really was. He allowed, however, that this was of very little moment, as your Lordship would hear the despatch first, and my appreciation of it afterwards. etc. To Earl Russell, London. Napier. No. 547. RUSSLAND. Botschafter in London an den königl. Grossbritannischen Min. d. Ausw. Russland wünscht nicht die Erhebung des Herzogs von Leuchtenberg auf den griechischen Thron. Chesham House, le 2 décembre, 1862. No. 547. Russland, 1862. M. le Comte, Les directions de ma Cour confirment en entier les 2. Dec. explications que j'ai eu l'honneur d'offrir à votre Excellence confidentiellement. ¶ Elles m'autorisent à vous donner la certitude que l'éventualité de voir Monseigneur le Duc de Leuchtenberg appelé au Trône Hellénique ne s'accorde point avec les intentions de ma Cour. Je suis chargé, en même temps, de vous réitérer l'assurance que le Cabinet Impérial est prêt à délibérer, de concert avec le Gouvernement de Sa Majesté Britannique et avec le Cabinet des Tuileries, sur une candidature qui remplirait les conditions désirables pour obtenir l'adhésion unanime des trois Puissances dont les efforts réunis ont contribué, en commun, à fonder l'existence du Royaume Hellénique et à garantir son indépendance. J'ai, &c. Brunnow. Au Earl Russell &c. No. 548. RUSSLAND. Botschafter in London an den königl. Grossbritannischen No. 548. Russland, 1862. Le Soussigné, Ambassadeur Extraordinaire et Plénipotentiaire de Sa 4. Dec. Majesté l'Empereur de toutes les Russies, a eu l'honneur d'annoncer à son Excellence M. le Comte Russell, Principal Secrétaire d'État de Sa Majesté Britannique ayant le Département des Affaires Étrangères, que la Cour Impériale de Russie maintient dans toute sa force et valeur l'engagement en vertu duquel les |