On the contrary it appears to me that without doubt this question is essentially connected with the highest political considerations. I am consequently fain to believe that the Ministers of His Highness will not overlook their obligation to estimate the bearing of it by the principles of reason and the rules of prudence which no State can with impunity disregard. To shrink from the responsibility which necessarily attaches to their position, what else would that be than to deprive their Sovereign of the surest pledge of their diligence in discharging the conditions thereof consistently with the object of their appointment, the emergencies of the state of affairs, and the inspirations of the sagacity which Providence has bestowed upon them?
I accordingly request you, Sir, to go again to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and formally to intimate to his Excellency my just expectation that the Council will not delay to cause to be delivered to me through him a categorical answer, and, as I hope, a satisfactory answer to the demand of a Government sincerely friendly to the Porte. You will leave with him a copy of this instruction, and you will concert as to the time of its delivery with the Interpreter of the French Embassy, who is furnished by his Minister with a similar instruction.
I have, &c.,
(Signed) STRATFORD CANNING.
Inclosure 2 in No. 30.
Answer of Rifaat Pasha to M. Pisani, February 22, 1844.
Aucune nouvelle démarche n'était nécessaire pour nous faire sentir l'importance de cette question, importance dont nous sommes profondément pénétrés. Nous la traitons avec tout le sérieux et tous les soins que sa gravité exige. Oui, ce que vos chefs respectifs disent est vrai; cette question a son côté politique aussi bien que son côté religieux. Il faut en effet que nous nous séparions de la nation, ou bien des Puissances Chrétiennes; ce sont là deux grands maux également à éviter. Le Sultan a ordonné que cette question soit discutée dans un Conseil d'Oulémas qui s'ouvrira Samedi prochain chez le Sheik-ul-Islam, auquel seront appelés le Cazi-Asker et d'autres notabilités parmi les hommes de loi; après quoi, le Conseil des Ministres s'en occupera de nouveau. Ne croyez-pas au reste que nous nous soyons bornés à appeler leur attention purement et simplement sur la question sous le rapport religieux; nous leur avons remis aussi les protocoles des conférences, les dépêches des deux Gouvernemens, et même des extraits des journaux qui ont agité cette question, et nous leur communiquerons également les instructions que vous venez de me remettre, et qui, bien que superflues pour la Porte, peuvent encore ajouter à l'impression produite par les autres pièces qui sont entre leurs mains. Comme nous ne devons pas douter des bonnes intentions des Puissances, nous espérons que MM. les Représentans d'Angleterre et de France, dans leur haute sagesse et avec l'esprit d'équité qui les anime, ne se refuseront pas à prendre en considération les graves difficultés qui existent, et qu'ils se prêteront à amener une solution qui nous sauverait des deux maux que je vous ai signalés. C'est là le but que nous devons nous efforcer d'atteindre.
C'était pour vous informer de la marche de cette affaire que je vous ai prié ce matin de passer chez moi.
(Translation.)
No fresh step was requisite to make us sensible of the importance of this question, with which we are deeply impressed. We are dealing with it with all the seriousness and all the care which its gravity requires. Yes, what your respective chiefs say is true; this question has its political as also its religious side. It is requisite, in fact, that we should separate ourselves from the nation, or otherwise from the Christian Powers; those are two great evils to be equally avoided. The Sultan has commanded that this question shall be discussed in the Council of Oulemas which will be opened next Saturday at the Sheik-ul-Islam's, to which the Cazi-Asker and the other principal persons among the men of the law will be summoned; after which, the Council of Ministers will again apply themselves to it. Do not suppose, however, that we have confined ourselves to directing their attention purely and simply to the question as it regards religion; we have likewise submitted to them the protocols of the conferences, the despatches of the two Governments, and even the extracts of the newspapers which have discussed this question, and we shall likewise communicate to them the instructions which you have just delivered to me, and which, although superfluous as far as the Porte is concerned, may still add to the impression produced by the other documents in their hands. As we must not doubt the good intentions of the Powers, we trust that the Representatives of England and France, in their profound wisdom, and with the spirit of equity by which they are animated, will not refuse to take into consideration the serious difficulties which exist, and that they will lend themselves to bring about a solution which would preserve us from the two evils which I have pointed out to you. That is the object which we must strive to attain.