§ MR. BURT (Morpeth)asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, If any reply has yet been received from the Spanish Government to the claim made several months ago by the Primitive Methodist Missionary Society for compensation on account of the imprisonment of the Rev. William Welford in Fernando Po, and his subsequent expulsion from that island by order of the Governor; whether any assurance has been received from the Government in Madrid that the Primitive Methodists will be allowed the liberty Spanish law permits to pursue their mission work in Fernando Po; and, whether, in case this information has not been received, the Government will instruct Her Majesty's representative at Madrid to press for a settlement of this long pending case?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE (Sir JAMES FERGUSSON) (Manchester, N.E.)The reply of the Spanish Government with regard to this Question was received on the 23rd instant, and will in due course be communicated to the Primitive Methodist Missionary Society. It maintains that the authorities at Fernando Po, in their dealings with Mr. Welford, acted strictly in con formity with Spanish law.