§ MR. URQUHART now wished to put his second question. A short time ago the hon. Member for Buckinghamshire called the attention of the House to the treaty by which England had guaranteed those rights of Denmark, which at the present moment were openly infringed. He wished to know, then, whether the present Government intended to maintain the treaty—whether any mediation on the part of England had been offered, and if that offer had been accepted?
§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTON: No case has arisen to call for our interference with any view to a fulfilment of the guarantee which we gave with regard to Demark. In reply to the hon. Gentleman's question respecting our offer of mediation, I have much pleasure in being able to state that our offer has been accepted. The German Confederation, with the Prussian Government as its organ, on the one hand, and Denmark on the other, have agreed to accept our good offices, and communications are at present going on with a view to render that mediation effectual.
§ MR. BANKES wished to know how it happened that the letters of the noble Lord were printed in the Madrid newspapers be- 606 fore they reached the hands of the Spanish Ministers?
§ LORD PALMERSTON said, that the hon. Member reminded him of the anecdote of Charles II. and the Royal Society, respecting the question about the fish. The hon. Member asked how the publication happened. It never had happened; the papers were not printed before they reached the hands of the Spanish Ministers. He believed they had first appeared in the Presse. He did not know whether they appeared in the Clamor Publico; but in that paper there did appear a short paragraph, in which it was said that the writer understood it was the intention of the British Minister to present a note to the Spanish Government. That certainly appeared some days before the note was presented, but he did not know how that paragraph came to be inserted. He should have no objection to add it to the papers that he intended to lay before the House.