§ MR. DALGLISHsaid, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of State for 1244 Foreign Affairs, If the claims of those British subjects brought under the notice of this House by the Correspondence published in Parliamentary Paper No. 551, of Session 1864, against the Portuguese Government, on account of the Royal Union Mercantile Company of Lisbon, have yet been paid; if not, if there is any prospect, of payment before the Portuguese Government obtains any further loans in this Country?
MR. OTWAYsaid, in reply, that the gentleman principally concerned was long a Member of that House; but he had suddenly been struck down by an illness which had disabled him from more actively prosecuting his claim. The Foreign Office had instructed Sir Charles Murray, not officially, to lend all the assistance he could to further the prosecution of the claim. There were funds accessible for the payment of Mr. Lindsay, but not of all the claimants, and he believed Mr. Lindsay was willing to take an equitable proportion, if that could be secured. As to any prospect of payment, before the Portuguese Government obtained a fresh loan in this country, that was a point on which he could not give any information to the hon. Gentleman.