§ MR. LABOUCHEREasked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether Baker Pacha, lately a General in the service of the Sultan, has been appointed Commander in Chief of the armed force of the Khedive, at the suggestion, or with the assent of, the British officials now in Egypt; and, whether the scheme, published in the English newspapers, and purporting to emanate from the aforesaid Pacha, by which it is proposed to bring into existence an army of mercenaries, recruited from various parts of the Globe, and officered by Englishmen, meets with the approval of Her Majesty's Government?
§ SIR CHARLES W. DILKESir, Sir Edward Malet informed Her Majesty's Government that the Khedive wished to appoint General Baker to command his Army. Sir Edward Malet was told by telegraph that if the appointment was the personal wish of the Khedive, Her Majesty's Government would make no objection. The Khedive replied that—
Not only was it his personal wish that General Baker should come, but also his prayer; that he and his Ministers were entirely of one mind on the subject, and that he earnestly begged that the General would come as soon as possible.Her Majesty's Government were not consulted by the Egyptian Government on the steps taken to recruit an army.
§ MR. O'KELLYgave Notice that tomorrow he should ask, whether the Sultan was consulted before the appointment of Baker Pasha; and, whether the Government were aware that Baker Pasha had left Constantinople without the permission of the Sultan, and was now in the position of a deserter from the Sultan's Army?