§ MR. RITCHIEasked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether he will lay upon the Table of the House a Copy of the Letter of the Austrian Ambassador to him, his reply to which has been furnished to the Members of the House?
MR. GLADSTONEI have given readily whatever information was in my power by the publication of my own letter, but I am not master of the letters of the Austrian Ambassador; and I have not received from the Austrian Ambassador any intimation of his desire that those letters should be made public. As far as I know his view, he does not consider them of such a nature as to require or warrant that step. I believe that in my letter I recited textually and accurately the parts that are material.
§ MR. RITCHIEMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman if ho has made any application to the Austrian Ambassador as to whether ho has any objection to his letter being published along with the answer?
MR. GLADSTONENo, Sir; I have made no such application. I believe, however, the matter has been before the Austrian Ambassador; and, if ho in any way had wished for the publication of his letter, he would have had no difficulty in making his will known to me. I should certainly not feel justified in exercising any pressure in the matter.