§ MR. MONTAGUE GUESTasked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether Her Majesty' Government did not recognize the Firman of 1871, in which the relations between the Porte and Tunis as "an integral part of the Ottoman Empire" were fully set forth; and, if he will lay upon the Table the Despatch congratulating the Bey of Tunis on the conclusion of the Convention between Khriedine Pasha and the Porte?
§ SIR CHARLES W. DILKESir, the Firman of 1871 was virtually recognized by Her Majesty's Government, who considered Tunis to be under the suzerainty of the Porte. The French Government, as my hon. Friend is aware, and as I have already stated in this House, have since 1838 held a contrary view. No despatch of the nature referred to by my hon. Friend exists.