§ COLONEL SYKESsaid, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in reference to his statement in answer to a Question touching the outrage upon missionaries, English and French, in the city of Ngan-king, in China, Whether the Government approve of the same measure of justice not being meted out by the Viceroy of Nankin to the English as to the French missionaries, the former being expelled from Ngan-king and their mission house pulled down, and the latter allowed a site within the city walls upon which to build a church and mission house; and, whether instructions have been or will be sent to Consuls abroad (particularly in China), to report direct to the Foreign Office the occurrence of outrages upon British subjects, that the Foreign Office may not be officially ignorant of events known to the public?
MR. OTWAY, in reply, said, when he made the statement on Monday night, to which his hon. and gallant Friend now referred, he stated that no official information had been received relative to the treatment of French missionaries, and nothing had been received from China since then. Therefore he was not in a position to give an opinion on the question as to the treatment which these missionaries were said to have received. He could not accept the statement of his hon. and gallant Friend as authentic. In due time all the Papers would be laid on the table. With regard to the instructions to Consuls, they were instructed to report to the Minister at Pekin, under whose direction they were placed; but they were, at the same time, instructed to send duplicate reports to the Foreign Office.
§ COLONEL SYKESsaid, his information I had been obtained from despatches published in the North China Daily News.
MR. OTWAYWith all respect to the hon. and gallant Gentleman, he could not accept as authoritative the statement which he had taken from a Chinese newspaper. If the hon. and gallant Gentleman desired to call the attention of the House to this subject, he could do so, and then the Government would be prepared to state their views.