MR. O'CONNOR POWERSir, as you have pointed out to me within the last few minutes that the terms of my Question are irregular, because they contain an insinuation of want of candour against the First Lord of the Treasury, I shall put it in the following form:—Whether the Governor of Western Australia availed himself of the first opportunity of informing Her Majesty's Government of the escape of the six Fenian prisoners, and at what date did the Government first receive intelligence of the escape?
§ MR. DISRAELIThe occasion on which I spoke of those prisoners in Western Australia was on the 22nd of May. The first intimation that Her Majesty's Government received of the escape of those prisoners from Western Australia was on the 5th of June.