§ MR. ADDERLEYsaid, he wished to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether Mr. Rankin, a member of the Canadian Parliament, had made an offer to Her Majesty to raise and equip 1,000 men to join the army in the East, and, if so, what answer had been given him; and whether Her Majesty had offered commissions to colonists who raise regiments at their own expense; and, also, whether it was the intention of Her Majesty's Government to propose that any grateful acknowledgment should be made on the part of Parliament of the sympathy and patriotism evinced by various colonies in voting large sums of money towards the expenses of the present war?
§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTONsaid, he had 1733 not the least recollection of any offer such as that to which the hon. Member had referred; nor had his right hon. Friend near him the Secretary for the Home Department, any recollection of any such communication being made. With regard to the offer of commissions, there had been on one occasion a confidential correspondence with the Governors of Canada and Nova Scotia on that subject, but he was not at the moment prepared to inform the House of the exact position in which the question stood. With regard to the third question about the thanks of Parliament for funds sent to assist in the prosecution of the war, they were unable to make any definite statement on the subject in any vote of thanks they might move, for the whole funds expected had not come in, and a Resolution at the present moment was impracticable. With regard to funds that had come in on previous occasions, the Colonial Secretary had certainly expressed in his letter to the Governors General of the Colonies a high opinion of the liberality and generosity that had been shown, which could not fail to be fully appreciated by the Crown, the Parliament, and the people.