§ Mr. Finchwished to ask the noble Lord, whether any inquiry had been made by the Government relative to certain proceedings of a body called the Children's Friend Society, and which had of late occupied much of the attention of the public?
§ Lord J. Russellsaid, his attention had been called to the subject by the statements which had been made public, and also by certain documents which had been forwarded to him. On receiving those documents, he had directed that all the papers should be forwarded to his noble Friend the Secretary for the Colonial Department, and an investigation of the proceedings of the Children's Friend Society 1068 had in consequence taken place. He was not prepared to answer all the statements which had been made, but he must say, that the result of the inquiry, so far as it had gone, was favourable to the society; and he did not believe, that there was any want of fairness in its proceedings. He believed, on the contrary, that the intentions of the society were praiseworthy, and that it had done a great deal of good.