§ MR. LABOUCHERE (Northampton)asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether his attention has been called to an article in The Fortnightly Review, in which it is stated that a Despatch was sent to Vienna by Her Majesty's Government, offering the support of England to Austria, in the event of a war between that Power and Russia; and to a statement in The Pall Mall Gazette that such Despatch was sent to Vienna, but its presentation stopped by telegraph; and, whether either of these statements is correct; and, if so, whether the Despatch in question will be laid before Parliament?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE (Sir JAMES FERGUSSON) (Manchester, N.E.)There is no truth in the statement that such a Despatch was sent; and it necessarily follows that there is no truth in the statement that its presentation was stopped by telegraph. I may add that I have read the article in The Fortnightly Review for January, to which the hon. Member refers; but I do not find the statement 272 professed to be quoted from it by The Pall Mall Gazette.