§ LORD SKELMERSDALEMy Lords, in the absence of my noble Friend Lord De L'Isle, I have been asked to make a statement on his behalf. On the 20th of July last, Lord De L'Isle underwent a serious surgical operation, and he has since been confined to his room. Yesterday, for the first time, his attention was called to a paragraph in a weekly newspaper stating that a judgment had been applied for against him in the Brompton County Court for a sum of £2 8s., in respect of coals supplied to him by a certain firm, but that he did not appear, and, as on a previous occasion, pleaded the privileges of a Peer. This morning a well-known daily paper published an article on the subject. I have the authority of Lord De L'Isle for stating that there is not a word of truth from beginning to end in the whole statement—that it is a gross libel; that Lord De L'Isle has never been a defendant in such an action; that he never had any dealings with the firm in question; that he has never been sued in the Brompton County Court; and that he has authorized his solicitors to take proceedings against the author of the libel.