MR. OTWAYsaid, he would beg to ask the noble Lord the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether instructions have been sent to the British Minister at Frankfort to follow the steps of the Representatives of other States accredited to the German Confederation, who left Frankfort and established themselves in the city of Augsburg? He also wished to ask what are the intentions of the Government with regard to continuing a British Minister at the seat of the Diet?
LORD STANLEYSir, in answer to the first Question of the hon. Gentleman, I have to say that instructions were sent on the 20th June by my predecessor to Sir Alexander Malet. Those instructions were that he was to follow the Diet to any place where it would hold its sittings within the limits of the German Confederation. Those instructions were repeated by me on the 12th July. Sir Alexander Malet followed the Diet to Augsburg on the 16th, When Austria seceded from the Confederation he asked leave to return to Frankfort. In reply to the second Question, as the intentions of Her Majesty's Government with respect to the continuance of the British Minister at the German Confederation, my answer is that in the present state of affairs we must look upon the Germanic Confederation as having practically ceased to exist. The answer, therefore, is obvious.