§ THE EARL OF CLARENDONMy noble Friend behind me (the Earl of Albemarle) having a notice on the paper which has reference to Persia, I venture to appeal to him to have the goodness to put off his Motion for a short time, as at the present moment negotiations are pending in Paris upon the dispute with Persia, and any discussion at the present moment might have a tendency to prejudice those negotiations. Only this very morning I received a communication which leads me to hope that those negotiations will be brought to a successful issue. I hope, therefore, my noble Friend will not consider me asking too much in begging of him to defer his Motion.
§ THE EARL OF ALBEMARLEsaid, after the appeal which had been made to him by the noble Friend he should have no hesitation in withdrawing for the present the Motion which it had been his intention to bring forward. It would certainly have been his wish, in moving for the Returns in question, to have avoided as much as possible any observations on the present hostilities with Persia. His noble Friend said that in a few clays the time would, perhaps, have arrived when such a Motion might be brought forward without the probability of harm, and that being so he (the Earl of Albemarle) hoped then to have an opportunity of recurring to the subject. He would only now say that, in 687 his opinion, the only way of preserving friendship with Persia would be to do away with all diplomatic relations with that country.