§ MR. CHANNINGI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether a copy of the Memorial of the Ecclesiastical Assembly of the Armenians, addressed to the Patriarch, was received by the Foreign Office in March last, and communicated by the Foreign Office to Sir William White, complaining that the privileges of the Armenian clergy and the jurisdiction of the Ecclesiastical Courts, guaranteed in the 47th article of the Constitution, in relation to questions of marriage, legitimacy, and inheritance, have been set aside, and that the printing of the Armenian prayer and hymn books, and the Gospels, and of the historical books authorised by the Minister of Public Instruction has been prohibited, and asking for a remedy for these grievances; whether the Patriarch Achikian received an unfavourable reply to the prayer of the Memorial from Sureya Pacha; and whether Sir William White will be instructed to urge formally on the Porte the restitution and protection of these privileges?
§ SIR J. FERGUSSON(1) Yes, from the Ex-Secretary General of the Armenian Patriarchate; (2) Her Majesty's Government have 110 information as to the reception which the Memorial has met with at the hands of the Porte; (3) Her Majesty's Ambassador, to whom a copy of the Memorial was sent, has not advised that any advantage would be gained by his supporting the demands of the memorialists, and Her Majesty's Government, therefore, do not propose to take any steps in the matter at present.
§ MR. CHANNINGIn consequence of the reply, I beg to give notice that I will draw attention to the subject.