THE LORD PRIVY SEAL AND SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (THE MARQUESS OF CREWE)My Lords, I have to inform the House that the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has sent to the Lord Chancellor a letter with reference to the communication received by him from my noble and learned friend on the 30th ultimo. The Secretary of State says that he has received from His Majesty's Minister at the Court of Belgium a Despatch reporting that on the 7th instant he had the honour of being received in audience by His Majesty the King of the Belgians, when, in obedience to the King's command, he presented to His Majesty a copy of the Address adopted by the House of Lords on the 27th ultimo. The King was graciously pleased to reply in these terms:
"His Majesty the King of the Belgians desires His Majesty's Minister to convey his heartfelt thanks to the Prime Minister and to the Marquess of Crewe, and through them to the Members of both Houses of Parliament. His Majesty deeply appreciates the language employed in the Addresses, and sees in them a further and striking proof of the sympathy and support of the whole British nation, to which he attaches the utmost value."