§ MR. BOURKEasked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether lie will lay upon the Table the documents showing that, in 1872 (that is, when the right hon. Gentleman was at the head of the Government), a claim was made to a larger monopoly by M. de Lesseps than that lately claimed by him?
MR. GLADSTONE,in reply, said, that the Paper to which he referred in the debate of the previous evening would be laid upon the Table. He wished, at the same time, to say that the claim of M. de Lesseps in 1872 did not arise out of any transaction between him and the British Government; nor was it a claim of which the Government had any official cognizance. It came to their knowledge as a matter of information merely, as regarded communications that were taking place in Egypt, and between M. de Lesseps and the Khedive.
§ MR. BOURKECan the right hon. Gentleman state how it came to the knowledge of the Government?