LORD BURGHLEYsaid, he wished to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what is the exact amount that Spain has agreed to repay to this country; and whether she has consented to do so spontaneously, or at the request of the present or the late Government?
§ LORD JOHN RUSSELLsaid, that the exact amount of the debt was £496,385. The application for payment of the debt was made in a despatch addressed by the Earl of Malmesbury, dated November 17, 1858. The negotiations had been continued from that time, and the present Government found them still going on when they came into office. He must say the Government of Spain had throughout behaved with the greatest fairness and candour with regard to that debt, when it 1036 was properly ascertained, according to their view, of what the sum really was. Mr. Buchanan had also pursued the negotiation with the greatest prudence and judgment, and at the end of the last year the Government came to an agreement on the subject, the result of which was the payment of the sum in question.