LORD HOUGHTONsaid, the debate of last evening had placed the question of the responsibility which had been incurred by this country by the treaty relative to the Duchy of Luxemburg in an eminently unsatisfactory position, on account of the contradictious in the statements of the noble Earl at the head of the Government, and of the noble Lord the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; and therefore he should take the liberty, on Tuesday next, of asking the First Lord of the Treasury what sense and what construction Her Majesty's Government placed upon the words "collective guarantee" in the second article of the treaty.
§ THE EARL OF DERBYI am somewhat surprised at the notice of the noble Lord. I stated last evening the interpretation 239 which we put upon the treaty, and I have nothing further to add. Of course, if the noble Lord wishes to make a Motion on the subject, he is quite at liberty to do so.
LORD HOUGHTONsaid, the spirit of the language used by the noble Earl at the head of the Government and that used by the noble Lord the Secretary for Foreign Affairs was so contradictory that he should bring the subject again under the attention of their Lordships.