Correspondence Relating to Executions in Turkey for Apostacy from Islamism Part 12

_Earl of Westmorland to the Earl of Aberdeen_.--(_Received April_ 12.)

My Lord, _Berlin, April_ 7, 1844.

I received a private letter From Sir Stratford Canning, dated Constantinople, March 23, announcing the termination of his negotiation with the Turkish Government as to its future conduct in the cases of Christians who have renounced the Mahomedan religion, and bearing witness to the cordial manner in which M. de Le Coq, the Prussian Minister, under Baron Bulow's instruction, had a.s.sisted his exertions.

I thought it my duty to communicate this feeling to Baron Bulow, who has expressed himself obliged by the expressions of Sir Stratford Canning, and most happy to have contributed to so good a work as the attainment of a written pledge from the Turkish Government that it will take effectual means to prevent henceforward the execution of the Christian who is an apostate.

I have, &c.,

(Signed) WESTMORLAND.

No. 38.

_Lord Cowley to the Earl of Aberdeen_.--(_Received April_ 17.)

My Lord, _Paris, April_ 15, 1844.

At the desire of Her Majesty's Amba.s.sador at Constantinople I have the honour to forward to your Lords.h.i.+p copies of a despatch and of its inclosures which his Excellency has addressed to me in consequence of the acquiescence of the Porte in the representations of Great Britain and France on the subject of the execution of apostates from Islamism.

M. Guizot read to me yesterday Baron de Bourqueney's report announcing the successful termination of these negotiations, and expressing his entire satisfaction at the a.s.surances afforded him by the Sultan, at the audience to which His Majesty has been graciously pleased to invite him, of his determination to adhere strictly to the engagements he had entered into with the two Powers.

I have, &c.,

(Signed) COWLEY.

Inclosure 1 in No. 38.

_Sir Stratford Canning to Lord Cowley_.

My Lord, _Constantinople, March_ 27, 1844.

As the question relating to the execution of apostates from Islamism is now successfully terminated, it will be satisfactory for your Lords.h.i.+p to learn that the entire approbation expressed by M. Guizot of the instructions addressed to me on the 16th of January by the Earl of Aberdeen, procured me the active support of Baron de Bourqueney throughout the late negotiations with the Porte, and that by acting separately, according to M. Guizot's suggestion, I was enabled to give the fullest effect to my instructions, marked and decisive as they were, without losing any part of the advantage derived from the French Minister's concurrence.

Together we rejected the unsatisfactory answer at first and more than once proposed by the Porte; together we accepted what appeared to offer a sufficient guarantee for the accomplishment of our common object.

The terms in which the final declaration of the Porte was conveyed to us on the 21st instant, are recorded in the accompanying paper translated exactly from the Turkish original.

I thought it advisable to acknowledge this communication, and as I was ent.i.tled to expect some additional a.s.surances from the Sultan at the public audience which I had demanded of His Majesty according to my instructions, I avoided embarra.s.sing the French Minister by proposing to him to take part in a step which related exclusively to my position. A copy of this acknowledgment is inclosed herewith; and in order to give your Lords.h.i.+p a complete view of the transaction in its full extent, I add the very terms, as translated to me, in which the Sultan was pleased to confirm and to enlarge the engagement of his Government.

I may venture to add that His Majesty's a.s.surances were given in the most gracious form, accompanied with an expression of thanks for the liberal manner in which the millions of Mahomedan subjects in India are treated by the British authorities, and followed by a message, after I had left his presence, to the effect that the sentiments which he had declared to me were not only those of the Monarch but of the individual.

In short, my Lord, I am sanguine enough to hope that Her Majesty's Government have laid the foundation of a more real improvement in the temper and policy of this State than was to have been previously expected; and it is a subject of just congratulation that the counsels of two great nations have united successfully for the attainment of so beneficent an object.

The invitation to Baron de Bourqueney to wait upon the Sultan the day after my audience, and to receive, for the information of his Court, a repet.i.tion of the a.s.surances addressed to me, affords another proof of His Majesty's sincerity.

I have, &c.,

(Signed) STRATFORD CANNING.

P.S.--I request that a copy of this despatch and its inclosures may be forwarded immediately to Her Majesty's Government.

S. C.

Inclosure 2 in No. 38.

_Official Declaration of the Sublime Porte, relinquis.h.i.+ng the practice of Executions for Apostacy from Islamism_.

[See Inclosure l in No. 36.]

Inclosure 3 in No. 38.

_Acknowledgment of the Sublime Porte's Official Declaration respecting Executions for Apostacy_.

[See Inclosure 2 in No. 36.]

Inclosure 4 in No. 38.

_Declaration of His Highness the Sultan to Sir Stratford Canning at his Audience on the 23rd of March_, 1844.

"Henceforward neither shall Christianity be insulted in my dominions, nor shall Christians be in any way persecuted for their religion."

No. 39.

_The Earl of Aberdeen to Sir Stratford Canning_.

(Extract.) _Foreign Office, April_ 19, 1844.

I received on the 10th of this month your Excellency's despatch of the 23rd of March conveying the gratifying intelligence that the Porte had given way on the question of the execution of apostates from Islamism. The concession made by the Porte in this respect, entirely consistent as it is with the wishes and intentions of Her Majesty's Government, as expressed in my several instructions of the 16th of January, 19th of March, and 6th of April, has given them the greatest satisfaction; and I have been happy to receive the Queen's commands to signify to your Excellency Her Majesty's gracious approbation of the manner in which you have executed your instructions, and brought to a successful close a question of which the importance cannot be too highly rated.