§ MR. WYLDwished to ask the noble Lord the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, whether the Government of this country had appointed a British Consul at San Francisco, or in any other part of California?
§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTONThis is a question which is not now put to me for the first time. I have had it put to me privately by a number of persons, some of whom were no doubt interested in their own prosperity. There is no intention, however, on the part of Her Majesty's Government to appoint a Consul to California; and I think that the hon. Gentleman and the House will see that such an appointment would be impossible at the 1328 present moment, considering that at this moment there is no form of government established in California, with whom a consul could communicate. Under present circumstances, I fear a consul, like others, would have nothing to do but to pick up the gold, and communicate with the goldfinders.