Mr. Worth had been arrested. His Excellency, however, stated that I might assure his relatives that they need be under no apprehensions for his safety.

On learning that he was to be brought before a Court-martial, and fearing the summary proceedings of such tribunals, I addressed Baron Thile, requesting his Excellency to provide that no sentence should be carried into effect against Mr. Worth without previous communication with him.

I have further, at the request of Mr. Littlewood, applied to Baron Thile requesting him to procure permission from the Ministry of War, addressed to the Commandant at Cologne, for Mr. Littlewood to communicate with Mr. Worth. Having already exchanged several telegrams with Mr. Littlewood, who is at Cologne, I have this day received the following telegram from him: "that Mr. Worth was at Cologne without any representative from our Government. Mr. Pepys is at present trying to see the Commandant."

This communication from Mr. Littlewood refers to a matter beyond my competency, but I think it right to bring it under your Lordship's cognizance in case that it may be considered advisable for me to send a Secretary of Her Majesty's Embassy to Cologne to watch the case of Mr. Worth, there being no English Consul in that town. Until the answer of Count Bismarck is received Baron Thile is ignorant of the charges laid against Mr. Worth, but he assures me that, unless any charges against him are fully proved, the military tribunal before whom he will appear will immediately release him.

My Lord,

No. 48.

Mr. Littlewood to Earl Granville.- -(Received November 29.)

110, Cannon Street, London, November 29, 1870. I REGRET to inform your Lordship that the Prussian authorities at Cologne refused me permission to see Mr. Frederick Gonner Worth, an Englishman, a prisoner in their hands at Cologne.

It is proposed that a deputation should wait upon your Lordship in reference to this, and other matters in connection with the case. The deputation consists of the following members of the House of Commons, who would be glad if your Lordship will kindly receive them to-morrow at half-past 4 o'clock, P.M.

(Signed)

I have, &c.

HENRY BUCKNALL LITTLEWOOD.

R. W. Crawfurd, London; W. Lawrence, London; H. W. Peek, Surrey; E. T. Gourley, Sunderland.

No. 49.

Mr. Otway to Mr. Littlewood.

Foreign Office, November 29, 1870. MR. OTWAY presents his compliments to Mr. Littlewood, and, with reference to his letter of this day's date, begs to inform him, by direction of Earl Granville, that his Lordship will be happy to receive the deputation to which he alludes at the Foreign Office to-morrow (Wednesday) at half-past 4 o'clock.

No. 50.

Earl Granville to Lord A. Loftus.

My Lord,

Foreign Office, December 1, 1870. IN reply to your Excellency's despatch of the 26th ultimo, I have already instructed you by telegraph to send Mr. Petre, if he can be spared, to Cologne, to watch the proceedings in the case of Mr. Worth. I have also requested you to apply to Baron Thile for permission for Mr. Worth to have legal assistance.

Mr. Littlewood has returned to England, having, as he states, been refused permission to see Mr. Worth by the authorities at Cologne.

I am, &c.

My Lord,

No. 51.

Mr. Littlewood to Earl Granville.—(Received December 2.)

110, Cannon Street, London, December 2, 1870.

I BEG to thank you sincerely for the kind reception given to the deputation on Wednesday last, also for the interest taken in this painful case, and now beg to hand your Lordship an exact copy of a letter received from Mr. Frederick Gonner Worth, an English subject, in the prison at Cologne; the original has been read by Mr. R. W. Crawfurd, M.P., also by Mr. H. W. Peek, M.P.

Your Lordship will doubtless perceive the reason why Mr. Worth left Paris, together with his sole object.

I may here remark that the only statement that has appeared at all implicating this unfortunate Englishman is to be found in a letter written by a German surgeon at Epernay, under date of the 2nd of November, which I forwarded to Mr. Odo Russell for perusal, so the correctness of which I am unable to vouch, but it certainly was not written by Mr. Worth.

Trusting soon to receive authority to see Mr. Worth, I have, &c.

(Signed)

HENRY BUCKNALL LITTLEWOOD.

My dear Littlewood,

Inclosure in No. 51.

Mr. Worth to Mr. Littlewood.

Cologne Prison, November 29, 1870. IN the several letters that I had written to my mother informing her of my balloon adventure, I requested her to send you all the details. These details I presume that you have by this time received, and you will therefore know how it is that I happen to be a prisoner in the hands of the Germans. It is a droll affair altogether; is it not? Had I known before I engaged my place in a balloon that the foreigners would have to leave Paris, I should, of course, have left with Mr. Wodehouse, of the British Embassy, who left some few days after I did. I made several inquiries, but I was informed "that if foreigners were in a besieged city so much the worse for them." They could not get out; and as my family reasons, as you know, were sufficiently pressing to induce me to get away, I tried the balloon trip.

My dear fellow, I shall never, I am sure, be able to thank you sufficiently for all the trouble you have taken, and the annoyance and the anxiety I, without doubt, have caused you, must have been something terrible. Think of your coming to Cologne to see after me, and bringing me clothing, &c. My dear boy, I must leave all my thanks till the moment when I can express them personally. I have not enough paper. You can't imagine how sorry I was not to be allowed to see you here.

There are certain formalities to be gone through, but I hope in the course of a few days to be free. I certainly see no reason why I should not be. Although a prisoner, I am tolerably comfortable and in excellent health; so please don't be anxious about me in that respect. My poor father is, I trust, well bodily. I am sure you see that he is comfortable, and has all that is necessary. My affairs will, I hope, hold over until my return. I am sure you will make them do so.

I don't write too many letters, as they have to be read by the officials here, and I don't want to give them too much trouble. Thank Dean for his note, and give him my kindest regards, as well as to any others who inquire. I can be written to here, but the letters must be addressed to the care of the Governor of Cologne. It will be necessary to mention on the envelopes that I am a balloon prisoner and an English subject. kindest regards to your wife, and, hoping soon to see you, believe me, &c. (Signed) F. G. WORTH.

Give my

No. 52.

My Lord,

Lord A. Loftus to Earl Granville.-(Received December 5.)

Berlin, December 3, 1870.

ON the receipt of your Lordship's telegram I instructed Mr. Harriss-Gastrell to go to Cologne, as Mr. Petre was prevented doing so by his family being laid up with the scarlet fever.

I obtained from Baron Thile a letter of introduction for Mr. Harriss-Gastrell to the Commandant, and I have instructed Mr. Harriss-Gastrell, if possible, to see Mr. Worth, and to render him any assistance he may require.

I am ignorant of the charges laid against Mr. Worth, but I imagine they rest more on suspicion than on any real fact. Baron Thile assures me that there need not be the smallest apprehension for his safety.

I shall forward to your Lordship Mr. Harriss-Gastrell's Report on Mr. Worth's case as soon as it reaches me.

I have, &c.

Mr. Odo Russell to Earl Granville.-(Received December 5.)

My Lord, Versailles, November 19, 1870. WITH reference to your Lordship's despatch of the 12th instant, I have the honour to report that I find Mr. Worth has already been sent to Cologne, and that Colonel Walker, who left nothing undone to save and assist him while he was at Versailles, is now in communication with Her Majesty's Ambassador at Berlin to try and obtain the unfortunate gentleman's release from prison.

I shall not fail to speak in his behalf to the proper authorities if anything further can be done for him here.

I have, &c.

Sir,

Foreign Office, December 5, 1870. I AM directed by Earl Granville to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 2nd instant, inclosing copy of one from Mr. Worth, in which he gives his reasons for leaving Paris by balloon.

I am, &c.

My Lord,

Mr. Littlewood to Earl Granville.-(Received December 8.)

110, Cannon Street, London, December 7, 1870. I CONFIRM my letter of the 2nd instant, and thank your Lordship for your acknowledgment thereof.

My object has been throughout this case to prove that Mr. Frederick Gonner Worth is entirely innocent of any political mission. This would plainly appear by the letter Mr. Worth wrote to me (a copy of which I forwarded your Lordship on the 2nd instant), under date of the 29th ultimo. I now send your Lordship another letter, written to Mrs. Worth, which has been inserted in the daily papers, and from which you will find that no doubt possibly can exist as to his reason for leaving Paris. The letter, I believe, is from Colonel Walker, although printed "Beauchamps Walker Colveill." May I now beg that your Lordship will inform me when Mr. Worth is to be tried; also, whether Mr. Worth's mother may be allowed to see him, as I need hardly mention that she is very anxious about him.

I regret to say that, up to the present, I have not received any authority to have an interview with him.

I am, &c.

(Signed)

HENRY BUCKNALL LITTLEWOOD.

Inclosure in No. 55.

THE IMPRISONED ENGLISHMAN.-Mrs. W. Worth presents her compliments to the editor, and will feel much obliged by his publishing the inclosed in Wednesday's paper, as her son is still in captivity. Having done nothing wrong, his detention causes her great anxiety and grief.

11, Sandfield Place, Lewisham, December 7, 1870.

"My dear Madame,

Versailles, November 28, 1870. "I fear, from the tone of your letter just received, that you have not received a letter written by your son, previously to his leaving Versailles, and which was to have been forwarded to you, as promised to me, by the Prussian military authorities. I hope that before this time he will have been placed in communication with you, as I understood from Mr. Odo Russell that a relation was about to leave England to meet him at Cologne. I communicated as rapidly as was permitted to me, both to London and Berlin, all particulars of his removal, which I first understood was to Minden, but afterwards learnt that he had gone to Cologne, and I only did not write to you because I felt sure that my news would be passed on from the Foreign Office. I heard of his having passed Epernay on his journey. I am glad you have mentioned in your postscript the statement contained in the letter of the correspondent of the Times'' newspaper of the 18th, and repeated in a much more offensive manner on the authority of this person (which is quoted by the writer), in another paper of the same date, the Manchester Guardian.' The statement is totally devoid of truth, as stated by me, in answer to a question from Her Majesty's Government. Further than this, I applied non-officially as soon as I became aware of your son's captivity, and was told that no interference in a matter of this nature would be endured. This being the case, I did not subject the English Government to a refusal, which would have been as embarrassing as it was certain. I have been so long in Prussia that I have acquired a certain standing here, and at any rate know pretty well when I can or cannot push a difficult point; and I can only assure you that in this instance I felt compelled to confine my efforts to procuring your son comforts in prison, and the means of writing to his friends. The letters have, in all probability, never been forwarded, but for this I am in no way answerable. I was not allowed to take charge of them, and I can do nothing secretly. Your son was visited by me every day, with the exception of one, when I asked my assistant, Captain Hozier, to take him some newspapers, as I was too busy to be able to get to the prison in visiting hours. This is the visit of which the newspapers have made so much capital for Captain Hozier, who never visited your son but in my company, or at my desire. Your son was furnished by me with as many newspapers as I could spare to him, and had my permission to order what food he pleased and a fair quantity of wine and cigars, as I did not consider it fair or right to confine him to prison diet.

"My visits to him were not confined to seeing that he was still alive, as I invariably gave him as long a time as I could could spare from my other duties. Before his departure I took care that he was provided with such clothes as he wished, including a great coat; and I advanced him 100 francs for his expenses on the road, from a fund at my disposal. He wrote me two most grateful letters the evening before his departure, which I much regret not having kept, as I should certainly have asked you to publish them. They were so truthfully worded, that I handed them to the Prussian authorities as an additional proof of my assertion, that, however imprudent in the mode of exit from Paris, and whoever his companions may have been, your son was simply a young Englishman in business, who was anxious to get home to his mother and to his affairs. I regret to be obliged to appear egotistical; but, in justice to myself, I cannot allow you to remain in ignorance of the truth, and you are perfectly at liberty to make any use you please of this letter. I beg you to be assured of my deep and warmest sympathy, and to believe me, &c. "BEAUCHAMPS WALKER COLVEILL." [Sic.]

(Signed)

"To Mrs. Worth."

No. 56.

Sir,

Mr. Otway to Mr. Littlewood.

Foreign Office, December 9, 1870.

I AM directed by Earl Granville to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 7th instant, relative to the case of Mr. Worth.

[175]

D

Lord Granville has received a despatch from Mr. Odo Russell, stating that Colonel Walker, who left nothing undone to assist Mr. Worth while at Versailles, is now in communication with Her Majesty's Ambassador at Berlin to endeavour to obtain his release.

Mr. Russell adds that he will not fail to speak to the proper authorities in Mr. Worth's behalf, if he finds that anything further can be done for him at Versailles.

I am, &c.

(Signed) ARTHUR OTWAY.

No. 57.

My Lord,

Lord A. Loftus to Earl Granville.-(Received December 12.)

Berlin, December 10, 1870.

I HAVE the hononr to inclose to your Lordship herewith copy of a letter which I have received from Mr. Harriss-Gastrell on the detention at Cologne, under military arrest, of Mr. Worth.

Mr. Harriss-Gastrell states that Mr. Worth's trial will probably not come on for three or four weeks.

He has made arrangements for his being properly defended by counsel, but he had not received permission to see or confer with him.

As there is no use in Mr. Harriss-Gastrell's remaining at Cologne, he will return here immediately, but he can repair again to Cologne when the trial comes on if there should be any necessity for him to do so.

I am inclined to think that the military authorities at Cologne have greatly exaggerated the nature of the charges to be brought against Mr. Worth, and the severity of the sentence to which he is liable. To calm the apprehensions of his relatives in England, should similar reports have reached them, I may confidently assure your Lordship that no sentence pronounced against him by the court-martial will be carried into effect without being previously referred to His Majesty the King of Prussia, in whose leniency they may place full confidence.

(Extract.)

Inclosure 1 in No. 57.

Mr. Harriss-Gastrell to Lord A. Loftus.

Cologne, December 7, 1870.

I HAVE the honour to make to your Lordship the following report upon the case of Mr. Worth, into which I have, in conformity with your instructions, made every inquiry which is possible at its present stage.

I was met at the outset by an apparent resolve of the military authorities to hold no communication with me respecting this case, but this attitude was quickly changed into an attitude indicative of a courteous desire to meet my wish for information on various points, so far as such a concession could be carried without encroaching upon necessary official reticence. The Governor of Cologne, General von Falkenberg, to whom I presented my letter from the Secretary of State, Baron Thile, granted me interviews in which both his Excellency and his Adjutant, Captain von Altenbrück, showed me much courtesy.

In prosecuting my inquiries I specially directed my attention to the treatment of Mr. Worth as a prisoner of war under arrest, to the charges against him, and to the facilities of defence which he could receive.

Mr. Worth, who arrived in Cologne on the 25th ultimo, was not at first in as comfortable a position as he has latterly been. His Excellency the Governor informed me that he is now under arrest at the military prison in an officer's room of arrest, and that he is allowed to procure for himself everything which he requires. For this purpose Mr. Pepys, of this city, has been allowed to supply him with money, amounting at present to 157. sterling. He has been allowed freedom of letter-writing, and I am not aware that he has had reason to make any complaint of his treatment, which seems to be considerate, and so far alleviated, in comparison with the usual treatment of prisoners, as is compatible with the alleged nature of the case aganist. him