On Monday night, Mr. Gladstone asked leave to make a
personal explanation as to his statement in 1870, in answer to a question from Sir John Hay, that if it should be proposed to cede territory in Gambia to the French, he had no idea that
it w3uld be proper to proceed with such a cession except with the direct sanction of Parliament. Mr. Gladstone declares that his answer to Sir John Hay in 1870 had reference to two distinct points,—one of them being the cession of English territory to France, and the other the making of an agreement with France, which would have been binding on all her Majesty's subjects, in regard to the navigation of African rivers which were not within her Majesty's territory at all. It was to this last element in the question, and to that alone, Mr. Gladstone stated, that he referred when declaring his belief that the assent of Parliament by Bill would be necessary. But Lord Gra,nville's distinct declaration to the same effect referred to the cession of Gambia and to that alone, and was made in the name of her Majesty's Government.
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