§ MR. BOURKEasked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Have the Government received any communications from Foreign Governments upon the subject of the arrangements between Her Majesty's Government and M. de Lesseps?
§ LORD EDMOND FITZMAURICESir, the only communication received from a foreign Government since the conclusion of the arrangement referred to by my right hon. Friend has been in a note addressed to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs by the Turkish Ambassador, in which his Excellency states that he has been instructed to inform Her Majesty's Government that any modification or extension of the privileges granted to M. de Lesseps must receive the sanction of the Sultan before it can be earned out.
§ MR. BOURKEasked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, with respect to the Paper Egypt, No. 12, 1883, can the "instructions" alluded to in the first paragraph of that paper be laid before Parliament?
§ LORD EDMOND FITZMAURICENo, Sir; the preliminary instructions alluded to cannot be presented, because they were mainly verbal. The instructions on which the negotiation was based are set out in the Report of the Suez Canal Director already laid on the Table.