§ SIR JERVOISE JERVOISEsaid, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, What progress towards a settlement of the question has been made since the objection was taken by the English, Russian, Turkish, and Persian representatives at the Cholera Conference, Constantinople, to the proposal of the French representative for the stoppage of all sea communication between Arabia and Egypt, and for the presence of several vessels of War in the Red Sea in case of another epidemic?
§ MR. LAYARDreplied, that a Conference proposed by the representatives of nearly all the European nations had assembled at Constantinople to take into consideration the spread of the cholera from the East. The conference had come to certain Resolutions, and when they were 117 reduced to a convention, Her Majesty's Government would consider them, and see how far they could adopt the recommendation of the conference, and what steps could be taken to carry them out. Her Majesty's Government were of opinion that great evils would arise from the prohibition of the departure of the pilgrims from Jeddo. So long as it was known that the cholera prevailed in Arabia, Her Majesty's Government had no objection to the Turkish regulations for enforcing quarantine in the Red Sea, but they strongly deprecated the application to the pilgrims of any measures of exceptional severity. From the information which he had received he was led to believe that since the Commissioners had been sent to Arabia a considerable improvement had taken place at Mecca, and that a number of the causes which had led to the propagation of cholera had been removed.