The Express.
London, England, 1856-05-23 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS:—TauIumAY. MAT 22.

The LORD
Elko o'clock.

—. .
took lus seat on the woolsack at

The Duke of NORPOLE took the oaths and hie out.
MARITIME LAW.
The Earl of HARD WICHE presented s petition from
Neweatie, riving the house to snail the illeggaal at which
had bees done by the plenipotentiaries at Paris on this
enhjecu and that they might be punished for Shea oon-
duet. (A laugh
THE AFFAIRS OF ITALY.

Lord LYNDHURST said he should postpone the motion
of which ►e bad given notice for Tuesday nest with respect
to the affairs of Italy, ais he saderatcort that the realms
wrieb had inclined hiss to pogpoos it before sti.l subsisted.
As his object was to do good to the eases of Italy, ►nd not is
nay way to ',jure it, be felt it his duty to withdraw the
imam. Re was intirmed by the noble earl opkosits that
the eases which had led to the po,tposement of his former
solo* still subsisted, and hie private information sone-
eyonded with that. Ilia object was to do good to the cause
of holy, in which they all telt the deepest interest; he
there( ,re tell It his duty to withdraw his so ice
The Earl of CLARENDON said he could not but el•

pale his @sauteed.% at the dettneinatios at which his
*obis and I d friend had arrived. The house needed so
amuses from t►e noble and leaned brd that he meant to
do good to the cause which they all had at heart. Certainly,
the reams which had iodated bias (Lord Claes:ma) to
rarest the poetposemeot of the notion existed sow in ae
fall, and perhaps greater, fora than they did thee. Still,
as hir noble end learned friend had gives a a cad notice, it
was not his iatsat•on to ask for another postposasent. He

beireTreitheiinTne;ntir;iioir;:aii..--eroo4; trims by the
goveraweat as the Asir, of lialy was likely to have the
desired eff. et ; and he thought that my discomfits of the
sa.tter might load to irritating, sod would be likely to im-
pair the caress or that negotiation.
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE esprewed a hope that
the Goble earl, as mod se he could do so e2asiatently with his
duty, would I.t the hese* hens the rave of tr e moo.
OXFORD UNIVERSITY BILL.
This bill war read • *egged time.
BANKERS' COMPOSITIONS BILL.
This bill sac r• ed 'hied time sag Dewed.
INTERNATIONAL MARITIME LAW.

Lord COLCHESTER moved the followleg resolutions,
of which he bad given Bolles:—That the most eminent
joists of ell ages have accepted at • principle of interne.
Wheal law, that the right of capturing an enemy'r g' ode on
heard of neutral tinsels is inherent la all belligerent
powers ; that the maintenance of this right is of eseential
importance, and its abandonment of serious injury to •
power whose main reliance is os her naval superiority.
That Great Brittle consequently, although oectesioosliy
waiving the ex*reies of the right by specific treatise, has
invariably refused to recognise the abandonment of a prin•
sepia which sueesseive gcurements have COLCUIrrOI In COG-
dairies identtfied with her national greathess. That this
house deeply regrets that a principle so long and so strenu-
ously maintained should, in the recent conferences at
Pans, have been suddenly abandoned, without the previous
sanction or kni wades of parliament, by plenip v
Untie:in assembled for this purpose of diocesan:l
the terms on which peace with Russia might be
coselnded, and the affairs of the emit satisfactorily adjusted.
The noble lard addreneci the house at onsiderable length,
but wt. very imperfect, heard.
Tte Earl of CLARENDON cited nenterous treaties,
which showed that the cute's* of "free ships free
goods," had been acep'ed in almost every conven-
tion, either political or commercial, that had bt•• cos-
endid between England and France, Portugal, or
Spain for more than 160 year". The judicial opinion
of many writers, and the public opinion of nearly all
countries, were opposed to the right of seizing an enemy's
goads when conveyed in neutral bottoms. It was
rather the exercise of this right that its surrender,
which could be looked ethos as exceptional. and while the
clean bad involved Great Britain in many eeriest dispute',
its abandonment had become almost a matter of necessity,
in c ineequaince of the alliances which this country had now
contracted with France and other nations, who viewed the
principle with stepwise and dislike. Connie& g that the
right could not be maintained as • gantlets of law, the
collo earl proceeded to twatrovert its ezpedieney se a mat
tor of policy.
The Earl of CARNARVON savrorted the !Isolation.
The Bail of HARROW BY defended the government.
Tits E irl of HARDWICKB inveighed sgaiest the den
lietioa of duty of which he believed the ministry to have
been guilty, in surrendering so important a right without
comaltiag parliament, or as he suspected even obtaining the
formal suet on of the crown.
_ _ _

The Earl of ALBEMARLE approved of the &mtge.
The Duke of ARGYLL justified the resignat'on of a
right wh ch had beoome almost obsolete, sod whops exercise,
in his opinion, could never be made pract.cally useful in
bringing war to a aneonefal issue.
The Earl of DERBY Paid that the noble duke who
had just eat down usually addeseactd the house with
considerable confidence, hut he bad certainly not
been successful in grappling with the arguments by
which the motion had been supputed. His (Lord
Derby task was an **ay one atter what had been
uid by it e previous speakers; and he found there was
little left in the way of argument to oppose. The quettlon
was a most important one. and would lead to offers lit le
anticipated at reboot. The enures punned was not only
humiliating and derogatory, hat absolutely dangerous to
this country. (Hear, bear.) He objected not only to what
had been done, but to the manner in which it bad been
dose. They bad been told by thePoreign Secretary that it was
within the prerogative of the crown to 'reinitiate any treaty
without the previous sanction of parliament. This no
' one denied ; and the op anent§ of the governmeot had
given the strongest prod of their readiness to admit this
principle, by woolly abstaining from any word or aetion
that could impede the government is negotiating thie
treaty. But what wee the instrument under dieesissios
The noble earl (Clarendon) said it was not a treaty ; for it
did not require confirmation by the sovereigns. But it was
mach more than a treaty ; for if it did not make interna-
tional law, it absolutely declared what should be the law
in future. He was told on high legal autiority that such
ea act was within the royal preronative; but If so, be said
it was a gems and Boniest abut, of the prerogative. (Hear,
hear) The plenipotentiaries went to Puss for one pur-
pose; and they bad grossly abased the comfidonet reposed
is them by parliament and the country, when they west
beyond that object for whieb their negotiation, were to take
place. (Hear.) He contended that it was an unclothes
proceeding ; the Declaration, as it was called, bad taken the
country by surprise. (Hear.) He was 'testified to hear from
the Boole duke who had last spoken that, because Sir Wm.
Molesworth bad expressed certain opinions, the country was
to understand that they had bees ad, pled by the govern.
meat. When the late war waa en Wed on,t his country properly
waived this principle on which it had acted Is reference to
the goods and ships of neutrals, owing to our ally acting
upon a different principle; and the greatest inconvenience
must have resulted had an opposite course been pursued.
This was stated at .he amismencemeet of the war, sad be

I Weed no objectio; to it at the time, thinking that it wee
justified by the circumathoces. The noble earl said the con-
ference could sot aspirate without dismission sad settling
great principles. Tbey might have diamond them, bat
they had certainly n 4 mailed any, not even that which
involved the proposal for an interference for regulation the
&igloo press, t • which he was of rry to see attaehed the
signature of the plenipotentiary of this emntry. (Hear,
hear) Reference had been male to the congresses
of Westphalia and Vienna, es precedents for entertaining
questions which were not specially referred to the plenipo-
testi ' . In the rase of the slave trade, condemned by
the Coagreas of VIII3IIS, the plenieotentthriee knew they
were acting in stheert with the ',shags of their conn.riss;
bet could that be laid in the present case ? Dad tha noble
earl believe that this doclaragon, if ansouoced beforehand

in this country, would t aye met the approbation of any
large number of the pet pie of this country i (Hear, hear.)
He did not believe that bill countrymen wen so 'redact to
the love of pelf that they were ready toescrillos rights which
had been handed down to them by their mentors. (Hear,
hoar) Had it been Announced to the coteetry that they
were about to conclude • war on conditions, one of which
was the at andooment of our naval superiority, the nation
would have given an indignant negative to the proposal.
(Cremes) The noble earl, the Lord Privy Beal, said that
tecugh they bad waived the power ef the Crown, they bad
not abandoned the principle se • portion of the 14w of in-
tone, and that gave has (Lord Derby) some little encou-
ragement for hoping that thy would atisi.44l this declara-
tion the m 'went another war broke out and sh .wed them
the real ezignetes of the ease. The noble esti (Lord Cla-
rendon) and the noble duke had spoken with the greatest
contempt of the old j triste. They bad stigmatised them us
authoriles belooging to borbarous agar, end as jasti-
fling the slaughter of prism:len, and the minder of women
end children.
The Duke of AROYLL—I made no referenes to them.
The B.rl of DERBY—WeiI, really. lam not always
talking about the noble duke. (Great laughter) TM
noble earl bad spoken with contempt of all the jurists
from Orating to Vattel ; but the fact nevertheless remained
that they had one and all recognised as a portion of the
international law the right for whin he was oontendieg,
namely, that esenty's goods on beard • ontral ship ware
legally capturable by the inherent rights of • belligerent
power. Borne of them distended that the neutral vowel
esnyieg enemy's sends was itself forfeit ; others took •
milder view, and said that they ought to pay the neutral
master his freight for tin enemy's goods they motored ;
but the right to take the enemy's goads had never been
questioned until the point wee raised by Prussia in 1763.
(Rear, bear.) The noble earl argued that they were not
instilled in adopting any measure of entrese rigour for the
purpose of bestaatog a pees. Bet the goalies wee. who.