MR. DIGBY SEYMOURsaid, he would beg to ask the noble Lord the Secretary to the Admiralty, Whether there is any foundation for the rumour, referred to in the recently published pamphlet entitled, "The Dockyards and the Private Shipyards of the Kingdom," to the effect that during the war with France the French prisoners of war, dying in London and the neighbourhood, were buried, to the number of several thousand, on St. Mary's Island, Chatham; and that the Admiralty works in progress require the removal of their remains; and that quick lime and other means had been employed to effect a rapid dissolution of the bodies, instead of providing them with decent sepulture elsewhere.
§ LORD CLARENCE PAGETsaid, he had, on seeing the notice of the hon. and learned Gentleman, sent a telegram on the subject to Chatham, addressed to an officer of works, but he had not learnt that anything of the kind had occurred. There was very great doubt if there was any foundation at all for the rumour.