§ SIR GEORGE BOWYERsaid, he would beg to a9k Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether any demand has been made within the last four mouths by the French Government on the British Government relative to the re-payment by the latter Government to the former of an alleged surplus of the monies provided by France, and paid to the English Government, in pursuance of the Convention of Paris (1815–18), to indemnify British subjects for their losses by confiscation during the Revolutionary Government; or whether any communications on the above subject have been passed between the Governments of the two countries; and, if so, whether there is any objection to lay such communications upon the table of the House?
THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERsaid, he did not know of any case of application on the subject to the British Government by the French Government for a considerable time back. He thought that the last occasion on which an application was made was in 1856. Various representations with respect to these monies had been made by individuals, but not by either of the two Governments, sometimes to the effect that a sum of £1,000,000, or more, was due from England to the French Government, and other times to the effect that £2,000,000 or £3,000,000 were due to the English Government by the French Government; but upon the whole the Government did not attach much weight to these representations, and he thought that the transactions under the Convention had closed long ago, according to the intentions of the contracting parties. Therefore, to his knowledge, no communications answering the description given by the hon. Baronet had taken place within the time referred to, or for a long time before.