HC Deb 26 February 1885 vol 294 cc1419-20
SIR H. DRUMMOND WOLFF

gave Notice that to-morrow he would ask the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether on the 23rd of April 1884, Mr. Wilfrid Blunt addressed to him a letter, in which there occurred the following passage:— Since then I have most opportunely received information which leads me to feel certain that, if properly approached, not only could there be obtained terms from the besiegers of Khartoum, which should include General Gordon's safe return from Khartoum, with such of his companions as might choose to accompany him, but that a general pacification of the Upper Nile might at the same time, and by the same means, be effected; whether, this letter having been submitted to the Cabinet, an answer was returned to Mr. Blunt on the 30th of April, in the following terms:— Mr. Gladstone desires me to thank you for your offer to act as mediator in the Soudan, of which, however, Her Majesty's Government are not able to make use, inasmuch as it must already be known throughout that region that they, in common with the Government of Egypt, have no other desire than to promote the evacuation of the country, and the restoration of its liberties; whether, on Christmas Eve, 1884, Mr. Blunt, together with the President of the International Peace and Arbitration Association, and an Egyptian gentleman in full possession of the Mahdi's views, called on him, but were refused admit- tance; and, further, if he can state the reasons for which Her Majesty's Government, knowing Mr. Blunt's intimate experience of the Arab tribes, peremptorily dismissed his proposals, without first examining the proofs and details of the allegations he had made that it was possible, by peaceable means, to deliver General Gordon and his companions from the hands of the Mahdi and his adherents?

MR. GLADSTONE

As my noble Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Earl Granville) is engaged in an important discussion in "another place," I would rather not call upon him to-morrow to go through all these details.

SIR H. DRUMMOND WOLFF

It is desirable that the House should have a distinct answer before the division.

MR. GLADSTONE

I will give as full an answer as I can from my own knowledge; but it may not be a complete answer.