From those responsibilities we do not shrink.  We think that, with prudence and discretion, we shall bring about a state of affairs as advantageous for Europe as for ourselves; and in that conviction we cannot bring ourselves to believe that the act which we have recommended is one that leads to trouble and to warfare.  No, my Lords.  I am sure there will be no jealousy between England and France upon this subject.

In taking Cyprus the movement is not Mediterranean; it is Indian.  We have taken a step there which we think necessary for the maintenance of our Empire and for its preservation in peace.  If that be our first consideration, our next is the development of the country.  And upon that subject I am told that it was expected to-night that I should in detail lay before the House the minute system by which all those results, which years may bring about, are instantly to be acquired.  I, my Lords, am prepared to do nothing of the kind.  We must act with considerable caution.  We are acting with a Power, let me remind the House, which is an independent Power—­the Sultan—­and we can decide nothing but with his consent and sanction.  We have been in communication with that prince—­who, I may be allowed to remind the House, has other things to think about, even than Asia Minor; for no man was ever tried, from his accession to the throne till this moment, so severely as the Sultan has been; but he has invariably during his reign expressed his desire to act with England and to act with Europe, and especially in the better administration and management of his affairs.  The time will come—­and I hope it is not distant—­when my noble friend the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs may be able to communicate to the House details of these matters, which will be most interesting.  But we must protest against being forced into statements on matters of importance which are necessarily still immature.  And we must remember that, formally speaking, even the Treaty of Berlin has not been ratified, and there are many things which cannot even be commenced until the ratification of that treaty has occurred.

My Lords, I have now laid before you the general outline of the policy that we have pursued, both in the Congress of Berlin and at Constantinople.  They are intimately connected with each other, and they must be considered together.  I only hope that the House will not misunderstand—­and I think the country will not misunderstand—­our motives in occupying Cyprus, and in encouraging those intimate relations between ourselves and the Government and the population of Turkey.  They are not movements of war; they are operations of peace and civilization.  We have no reason to fear war.  Her Majesty has fleets and armies which are second to none.  England must have seen with pride the Mediterranean covered with her ships; she must have seen with pride the discipline and devotion which have been shown to her and her Government by all her troops, drawn from every part