§ SIR JOHN PAKINGTONSir, I will now ask the First Lord of the Treasury the questions of which I have given notice:—Whether it is true that Lord Stratford de Redcliffe telegraphed to Her Majesty's Government that he had obtained a firman from the Sultan for the passage of troops through Egypt to India, and, if so, what was the date of that com- 466 munication? Perhaps the noble Lord will allow me to ask another question, of which I have not given him notice. It is, Whether it is within his knowledge that, by the joint influence of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe and M. Thouvenel, the French Ambassador, a firman was actually obtained from the Porte for the passage of French troops to Pondicherry through Egypt? I will also ask, What was the date of the friendly offer made to Her Majesty's Government by the Emperor of the French to permit British troops to pass through France on their way to India?
§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTONSir, I will first answer the second question of the right hon. Baronet, with respect to the application said to have been made by the British and French Ambassadors for the passage of French troops to Pondicherry. We have no knowledge of any such application, and I do not believe that French troops did go across Egypt. With regard to the first question, Lord Stratford de Redcliffe on the 30th of June informed Her Majesty's Government by telegraph that he would apply to the Turkish Government to allow troops to pass through Egypt on their way to India if the British Government thought it advisable that that course should be pursued. On the 2nd of July he was informed that it was not the intention of Her Majesty's Government at that time to send any troops to India through Egypt; and perhaps I may be allowed to state shortly the reasons. To send a large body of troops, as was then intended to be sent, through Egypt, would have required complicated arrangements, and taken up infinitely more time than would have been saved. If for instance, we sent 5,000 men to Alexandria for the purpose of going through Egypt, there would be great difficulty in transporting so large a number of troops across the Desert. When they arrived at Suez, unless there were ample shipping to take them down the Red Sea, there would be a great delay at a place where there would be no possible means of putting them under proper cover. They would also be exposed to very severe heat in the passage down the Red Sea, which might render them unfit for service when they arrived in India. Moreover, as they would have required a very large amount of shipping to be ready at Suez, it would have been quite unpardonable in the 467 Government to have sent them there until they knew that there were sufficient transports for their accommodation at Suez. It would also have been necessary to send them through Egypt in light marching order; whereas, sending them by sea, we were able to send them with baggage, stores of all kinds, and guns. They would arrive in good health, and when landed, would be perfectly ready for any service that might be required of them. There was another collateral reason, which, upon a balance of equal advantages, would be calculated to turn the scale. In a national point of view it was of importance in putting down the mutiny that we should do it with our own means in every respect, and that it should not be competent for any foreign nation to say, that if it had not been for certain facilities afforded us by friendly Powers, which might have been withheld, we should not have been able to accomplish our purpose. I do not mean to say that if there had been a great difference in point of advantage in favour of one route over the other such a reason ought to prevail, but when the balance was against the overland passage that consideration was entitled to be taken into account. On the 2nd of October, when the season had moderated, when the great bulk of the troops had been sent, and the Government had occasion to send smaller detachments, the passage of which was more easy, Lord Stratford de Redcliffe was desired to ask the formal permission of the Porte and the Pasha of Egypt. He did so; the permission was obtained, and in the first place two companies of infantry were sent across Egypt to reinforce the garrison at Aden. Some artillery and engineers have been sent to Calcutta and Bombay since, and from that time we have been sending detachments of regiments, which are now on their way by that route. The right hon. Gentleman also asks what was the time when the French Government made their offer of a passage for our troops through France. That was on the 5th of October, and at that time the bulk of the troops had gone. Although the offer did great credit to the friendly disposition of the French Government, and we are very grateful to them for it, we thought that the difficulties of a land passage, and of landing and reshipping the troops with their arms and baggage, rendered it better that they should go 468 round at once by Gibraltar than pass through France.