§ THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURYwished to put a Question to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of which he had given him private Notice. Could the noble Marquess inform him whether there was any hope of the establishment of a Convention with the Ottoman Porte for the suppression of the Slave Trade in the Red Sea and elsewhere?
§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURY, in reply, said, that for some time negotiations had been going on, and he had no reason to despair of coming to an agreement on the subject with the Porte. In fact, the only objection he had heard on the part of the Porte was rather one as to the means than as to the end. The Turkish Government appeared to prefer an exchange of notes to a Convention; but he believed there was no difference between them as to the substantive nature of what was proposed.