§ MR. MICHAEL DAVITT (Mayo, S.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs under what sentence, English or Egyptian, is Arabi Pasha still condemned to exile from his country; and whether, in view of the peaceful condition of Egypt at the present time, Her Majesty's Government can see their way to abridge the term of his banishment, and permit him to return to his home and his friends?
Mr. CURZONArabi Pasha was tried by an Egyptian court-martial on December 3rd, 1882, on a charge of rebellion against the Khedive. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to death, but the Khedive, by a decree of the same date, commuted this sentence to perpetual exile on condition that he should proceed to any locality that might be indicated to him, and that he should there remain unless authorised to remove. The question of allowing him to return to Egypt was raised in March, 1893, when Mr. Gladstone, in reply to a question, stated that inquiry had been made in 1891 into the health of the exiles, with the result that, on that ground there was no reason for Arabi's removal; whilst on any other grounds Her Majesty's Government did not feel themselves justified in overriding the decision of the Egyptian Government. Nothing has since occurred to warrant a reversal of that decision.
§ SIR WILFRID LAWSON (Cumberland, Cockermouth)May I ask, is it intended to keep him there perpetually?
§ [No answer was given.]