§ MR. T. DUNCOMBEsaid, that he had lately asked whether there would be any objection to lay upon the table the Report of the Commissioners who had been appointed to inquire into the system of military administration in France; and he wished to know if the Government could now state whether that Report would be produced?
§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTONstated, that Her Majesty's Government had applied to 402 the French Government for permission to make inquiries into the detailed arrangements of the military departments in France, and their application had been received with the courtesy which might have been expected from a Government with whom our relations were of so friendly a character. He must say, however, that the inquiries which were made related to matters of so confidential a nature—to the internal arrangements and organisation of the French army—that Her Majesty's Government would not think themselves justified in laying the result of those inquiries before Parliament, without ascertaining whether the Government of France had any objection to such a course.