Correspondence Relating to Executions in Turkey for Apostacy from Islamism

These transactions have so little interest now, that it would be a waste of your Lordship's time to enter upon a narration of them. It may suffice for me to state that, after several unacceptable propositions, the Porte's definitive reply was communicated to me and to the French Minister in suitable terms, and also in writing, which had been long refused; that to leave no doubt of what I understand to be the meaning of the Porte, I sent in an acknowledgment, of which a copy is herewith inclosed, together with a translated copy of the Porte's declaration; and that to-day, at my audience of the Sultan, His Highness not only confirmed what the Porte had declared, but added, in frank and explicit language, the assurances which I had previously required as to the general good treatment of the Christians throughout his dominions. He, in fact, gave me his royal word that, henceforward, neither should Christianity be insulted in his dominions, nor should Christians be in any way persecuted for their religion. Important as it was to obtain this assurance from the lips of the Sovereign himself, I should have thought it right to demand an audience for the mere purpose of removing false impressions from His Highness' mind respecting the motives and objects of Her Majesty's Government. In this respect, also, I had every reason to be satisfied. The Sultan expressed the strongest reliance on the friendly intentions of Great Britain; he fully appreciated the motives which had actuated her on the present occasion; he acknowledged more than once the signal and frequent services rendered to his empire by British arms and counsels; he declared that the great concession which he had now confirmed, though entirely consonant with his own feelings, had been made to his sense of obligation towards the British Government; he called upon me to convey his thanks to Her Majesty for the good treatment experienced by the millions of Mussulman subjects living under British sway in India, and his anxious desire that the engagements which he had taken to protect from violent and undue interference the Christians established in his empire, should be appreciated by Her Majesty's Government, and prove a source of increased good-will between the two nations, and an occasion of eliciting fresh proofs of friendly interest on the part of Great Britain towards his dominions.

What passed at this audience is the more important and binding, as it was one of a formal character, applied for on public grounds; and, to give it still greater value, the Sultan, after I had retired from his presence, called back the dragoman of the Porte, and desired him to assure me that what he had said in public proceeded from his real conviction, and was, in fact, the sincere expression of his personal sentiments.

Inclosure 1 in No. 36.

Official Declaration of the Sublime Porte, relinquishing the practice of Executions for Apostacy.

(Translation.)

It is the special and constant intention of His Highness the Sultan that his cordial relations with the High Powers be preserved, and that a perfect reciprocal friendship be maintained, and increased.

The Sublime Porte engages to take effectual measures to prevent henceforward the execution and putting to death of the Christian who is an apostate.

March 21, 1844.

Inclosure 2 in No. 36.

Acknowledgment of the Sublime Porte's Official Declaration respecting Executions for Apostacy. March 22, 1844.

The official declaration communicated by his Excellency the Minister for Foreign Affairs shall be transmitted to the British Government, who will understand with satisfaction that the Sublime Porte, in taking effectual measures to prevent henceforward the execution and putting to death of any Christian, an apostate from Islamism, relinquishes for ever a principle inconsistent with its friendly professions; and the further assurances to be given at the Ambassador's audience of the Sultan, in the sense of the instruction presented in copy to the Porte on the 9th ultimo, will fully satisfy the British Government that Christianity is not to be insulted in His Highness' empire, nor any one professing it to be treated as a criminal, or persecuted on that account.

(Signed) STRATFORD CANN1NG.

No. 37

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 Bülow's instruction, had assisted his exertions.

I thought it my duty to communicate this feeling to Baron Bülow, 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 Ambassador at Constantinople I have the honour to forward to your Lordship 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 assurances 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 Lordship 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 entitled to expect some additional assurances from the Sultan at the public audience which I had demanded of His Majesty according to my instructions, I avoided embarrassing 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 Lordship 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 assurances 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 repetition of the assurances 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, relinquishing 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.