§ MR. RYLANDSasked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether General Claremont, to whom Lord Lyons transferred the protection of British subjects in Paris after the departure of Mr. Wodehouse, was subsequently authorized by Lord Lyons to leave Paris several weeks before the conclusion of the siege; and, if Her Majesty's Government approve of the withdrawal of General Claremont under the circumstances which then existed?
§ VISCOUNT ENFIELDI think, Sir, the best answer to the Question of the hon. Gentleman will be to read a passage from the instructions sent by Lord Granville to Lord Lyons, under which General Claremont thought himself at liberty to act. They are to be found in No. 2 of the Correspondence respecting the Franco-German War, page 5, No. 7. At the conclusion of a despatch from Lord Granville to Lord Lyons dated the 18th of October, 1870, are the words—
I added that, as regards Colonel Claremont, he should follow the course adopted by the military attachés of other countries who may have remained in Paris.General Claremont left Paris on the 11th of December, at the same time as Prince de Wittgenstein, the Russian military attaché.