§ MR. MILNER GIBSONSir, I gave notice of a question yesterday to the noble Lord at the head of the Government with respect to the state of our diplomatic relations with America. The noble Lord, some five or six weeks ago, informed the House that the post of British Minister in the United States of America had become vacant, and he also furnished the House with papers explanatory of the circumstances that had caused Mr. Crampton to take his departure from the United States. He informed us, further, that amicable relations between England and the United States were not disturbed, and that the diplomatic intercourse between those two Governments would be continued. I therefore take leave to ask the noble Lord whether Her Majesty's advisers contemplate the early appointment of a Minister from England to the United States?
§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTONSir, it is by no means an unusual circumstance that a mission should for a time, and from a variety of causes, remain vacant—that sometimes happens. With regard to the particular mission to which the question of the right hon. Gentleman relates, I beg to state that Her Majesty's Government have as yet taken no decision on the subject.