Prussian army, attached to them a superior officer to accompany them to Cologne, and to remain with them in that city. In taking leave of this officer, the Duke of Orleans said to him that he was unprepared to offer him any adequate return for his politeness, but begged his acceptance of a pencil as a token of remembrance. A short time after the departure of the Princes, when the officer showed the pencil to his brother officers, they discovered that it opened at the end, and they found there a diamond of the value of a hundred louis. The Prussians were charmed with this conduct. It was impossible to offer a present to an officer in a more delicate manner. CONVENTION BETWEEN HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY, HIS MOST CHRISTIAN MAJESTY, THE EMPEROR OF ALL THE RUSSIAS, AND THE KING OF BAVARIA; RELATIVE TO THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GREECE. SIGNED AT LONDON, 7TH MAY, 1832. The Courts of Great Britain, France, and Russia, exercising the power conveyed to them by the Greek nation, to make choice of a Sovereign for Greece, raised to the rank of an independent State, and being desirous of giving to that country a fresh proof of their friendly disposition, by the election of a Prince descended from a Royal House, the friendship and alliance of which cannot fail to be of essential service to Greece, and which has already acquired claims to her esteem and gratitude, have resolved to offer the crown of the new Greek State to the Prince Frederick Otho of Bavaria, second son of His Majesty the King of Bavaria. His Majesty the King of Bavaria, on his part, acting in the character of guardian of the said Prince Otho during his minority, participating in the views of the three Courts, and duly appreciating the motives which have induced them to fix their choice upon a Prince of his house, has determined to accept the crown of Greece for his second son the Prince Frederick Otho of Bavaria. In consequence of such acceptance, and for the purpose of agreeing upon the arrangements which it has rendered necessary, their Majesties the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the King of the French, and the Emperor of all the Russias, on the one part, and His Majesty the King of Bavaria, on the other, have named as their Plenipotentiaries, viz.— His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Right Honourable Henry John Viscount Palmerston, Baron Temple, a Peer of Ireland, a Member of His Britannic Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, a Member of Parliament, and his Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs : His Majesty the King of the French, the Sieur Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord, Prince-Duke de Talleyrand, Peer of France, His said Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Britannic Majesty, Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece, Grand Cross of the Order of St. Stephen of Hungary, of the Order of St. Andrew, of the Order of the Black Eagle, &c. &c. His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, the Sieur Christopher Prince of Lieven, General of Infantry in His Armies, His Aide-de-Camp General, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to His Britannic Majesty, Knight of the Orders of Russia, Grand Cross of the Black Eagle and of the Red Eagle of Prussia, of the Royal Order of the Guelphs, Commander Grand Cross of the Sword of Sweden, and Commander of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem;- And the Sieur Adam, Count Matuszewic, Privy Councillor of His said Majesty, Knight of the Order of St. Anne of the 1st Class, Grand Cross of the Order of St. Wladimir of the 2nd, Grand Cross of the Order of the Red Eagle of Prussia of the 1st, commander of the Order of Leopold of Austria, and of several other Foreign Orders : : Aud His Majesty the King of Bavaria, the Sieur Augustus Baron de Cetto, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to his Britannic Majesty : Who, after having exchanged their Full-Powers, found to be in good and due form, have agreed upon and signed the following Articles : Art. 1. The Courts of Great Britain, France, and Russia, duly authorized for this purpose by the Greek nation, offer the hereditary sovereignty of Greece to the Prince Frederick Otho of Bavaria, second son of His Majesty the King of Bavaria. II. His Majesty the King of Bavaria, acting in the name of his said son, a minor, accepts, on his behalf, the hereditary sovereignty of Greece, on the conditions hereinafter settled. III. The Prince Otho of Bavaria shall bear the title of King of Greece. IV. Greece, under the sovereignty of the Prince Otho of Bavaria, and under the guarantee of the three Courts, shall form a monarchical and independent State, according to the terms of the Protocol, signed between the said Courts, on the 3rd of February, 1830,* and accepted both by Greece and by the Ottoman Porte. V. The limits of the Greek State shall be such as shall be definitively settled by the negociations which the Courts of Great Britain, France, and Russia, have recently opened with the Ottoman Porte, in execution of the Protocol of the 26th of September, 1831.† VI. The three Courts having beforehand determined to convert the Protocol of the 3rd of February, 1830, into a Definitive Treaty, as soon as the negociations relative to the limits of Greece shall have terminated, and to communicate such Treaty to all the States with which they have relations, it is hereby agreed that they shall fulfil this engagement, and that His Majesty the King of Greece shall become a Contracting Party to the Treaty in question. VII. The three Courts shall, from the present moment, use their influence to procure the recognition of the Prince Otho of Bavaria as King of Greece, by all the Sovereigns and States with whom they have relations. VIII. The Royal Crown and dignity shall be hereditary in Greece; and shall pass to the direct and lawful descendants and heirs of the Prince Otho of Bavaria in the order of primogeniture. In the event of the decease of the Prince Otho of Bavaria, without direct and lawful issue, the Crown of Greece shall pass to his younger brother, and to his direct and lawful descendants and heirs, in the order of primogeniture. In the event of the * See Protocol of Conferences in London, No. 23. decease of the last-mentioned Prince also, without direct and lawful issue, the Crown of Greece shall pass to his younger brother, and to his direct and lawful descendants and heirs, in the order of primogeniture. In no case shall the Crown of Greece and the Crown of Bavaria be united upon the same head. IX. The majority of the Prince Otho of Bavaria, as King of Greece, is fixed at the period when he shall have completed his 20th year: that is to say, on the 1st of June, 1835. X. During the minority of the Prince Otho of Bavaria, King of Greece, his rights of sovereignty shall be exercised, in their full extent, by a Regency, composed of three Councillors, who shall be appointed by His Majesty the King of Bavaria. XI. The Prince Otho of Bavaria shall retain the full possession of his appanages in Bavaria. His Majesty the King of Bavaria moreover engages to assist, as far as may be in his power, the Prince Otho in his position in Greece, until a revenue shall have been set apart for the Crown in that State. XII. In execution of the stipulations of the Protocol of the 20th of February, 1830,* His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias engages to guarantee, and their Majesties the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the King of the French, engage to recommend, the former to his Parliament, the latter to his Chambers, to enable their Majesties to guarantee, on the following conditions, a loan to be contracted by the Prince Otho of Bavaria, as King of Greece. 1o. The principal of the loan to be contracted under the guarantee of the three Powers shall not exceed a total amount of 60,000,000 of francs. 2o. The said loan shall be raised by instalments of 20,000,000 of francs each. 3o. For the present, the 1st instalment only shall be raised, and the three Courts shall each become responsible for the payment of one-third of the annual amount of the interest and sinking fund of the said instalment. * See Protocol of Conference in London, No. 26. |