§ MR. W. H. JAMESasked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether there is any truth in the report that the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Ripon had been charged with an official mission in connection with his recent visit to Berlin?
§ SIR CHARLES W. DILKEThere is no foundation whatever for the statement which my hon. Friend alludes to. The statement has appeared in various newspapers in this country for several days past; and yesterday it received, perhaps, more serious character by being mentioned in The Agence Russe. I may not only say that there is no foundation for the statement; but perhaps the House will bear with me while I relate a little incident. It so happened that my right hon. Friend met Lord Granville at a club the night before he started for Berlin, and my right hon. Friend having informed him of his intended journey. Lord Granville replied—"They will say that you have gone upon a mission." My right hon. Friend then very courteously offered to defer his journey, when Lord Granville replied that he could not, of course, put an end to a pleasant journey for the purpose of preventing idle rumours.