COLONEL SYKESsaid, he rose to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether Pirn and his son Yo-ho, and their Tartar and Mongol friends from Pekin, who have accompanied Mr. Hart, the Imperial Inspector of Customs, and are now in England, are accredited to the British Government in any official capacity, or are merely recommended to its courtesies as travellers from China?
§ MR. LAYARDsaid, in reply, that these Chinese gentlemen, with their Tartar and Mongol friends, as the hon. and gallant Member called them, had not been officially accredited to us, but they had come to England introduced by our Minister in China, to whom they had been very strongly recommended by the Chinese Government, in order to see the country and its institutions. He need hardly say that Her Majesty's Government would do all in their power to render their visit useful and agreeable. He bad every reason to hope that this preliminary visit would lead to a more formal Mission, and would tend greatly to improve the relations between the two countries.