§ SIR JERVOISE JERVOISEsaid, he wished to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, referring to the fact stated in a Return (Treasury Trove, No. 297, of Session 1864) of portions of the Royal Revenue having in two cases been disposed of according to directions of the Lords of the Treasury, Whether it is not right that so unprecedented a step as the free transfer of the Crown's Revenue to private individuals should not be guarded by the usual constitutional forms?
§ MR. F. PEELsaid, in reply, that the course which had been taken in these two cases was not unprecedented, nor any other than the usual course. The treasure was sent to the British Museum, and having been reported by the authorities there to be of no intrinsic value, was returned by the Treasury to the finders. There was no objection to this course on constitutional grounds, as it was authorized by the Civil List Act, In answer to the observation that was frequently made that the Treasury did not act with sufficient liberality to the finders of treasure, he might remark that the Crown's rights would be of very little value unless that course were pursued.