§ MR. SANDFORDsaid, he rose to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether the great European Powers have agreed to a Congress for the purpose of taking into consideration the questions of Venetia and Schleswig-Holstein; and whether it is true that in certain contingencies France wishes to commit England to an armed mediation?
§ MR. LAYARDsaid, in reply, that the only answer he could give his hon. Friend was that negotiations were at that moment going on between the Governments of France, Russia, and this country for the purpose of holding a Congress at Paris. Considering, however, the present state of those negotiations, it would be improper to give any further answer to the question.