The Sun.
London, England, 1862-03-18 00:00:00

' old state of things in Italy. (Hear.) His noble friend said
that, notwithstanding the withdrawal of this proclamation,
four women had been put to death for having too much
bread in their possession. He had inquired into the truth of
statement, and the only answer he got from her Majesty's
Minister at Turin was that he could not find that any mem-
ber of the Italian Government had heard anything about it.
The noble lord said that he (Earl Russell) had denied that
there was a civil war raging in the south of Italy. He cer-
tainly did deny it. He admitted that there were bands
of 20, 30, cr 40 declaring their wish for the restoration cf
the old dynasty; but these men acted as brigands, they
did not assemble as an army, they held no great town, and
they possessed no great fortress. They merely dis-
turbed and destroyed. (Hear, hear.) They did all they
could to prevent regular government from being carried on,
but they did it by the same means that the brigands of old
times had employed to create disturbances in the country.
([Tear, hear.) Every one knew that the Government of
Naples had been so bad—though it was an object of his
noble friend's worship—(laughter)—had been so bad in for-
mer times that brigandage was at all times prevalent ; the
administration of justice so defective that men escaped by
bribes from just punishment; and all the country so demo-
ralised that it was difficult for any new Government to re-
store order in less than a generation. 'With respect to the
present state of the southern province, he would refer to the
following communicat on from Mr. Bonham, dated Naples,
March 17, 1862: "My Lord,—l have the honour to inform
your lordship that the vice-consul at Brindisi reports the
reappearance of brigands in that neighbourhood. Bands of
marauders are also spoken of as having made their appear-
ance in other districts. I asked General La Marmora yes-
terday what truth there was in these reports. His excel-
lency stated that bands had appeared in some places, but in
small numbers. He added, Brigandage in this country is
an affair of old date, and it is useless to flatter ourselves
that it can be suppressed all at once. Until we improve our
internal communication by the constructing of railroads and
of common roads, and
have
en efficient and properly
organised force of carbineers in the country, we cannot hope
wholly to eradicate it ; but these brigands are mere marau-
ders,and not in any way formidable or important as to num-
bers.' His excellency also stated that there had been as yet
no disembarkation of adventurers from abroad." That was
the statement of Gen. La Marmora, a man whom everyone
must respect, and who was known to many officers in her
Majesty's serviee, for he commanded the Piedmontese con-
tingent in the Crimean war. He (Earl Russell) believed
that his statement was perfectly correct, and he believed
also that General La Marmara was a man incapable of autho-
rising unnecessary cruelty. (Hear, hear.) But their lord-
ships knew that of the army that entered Naples under
Garibaldi many joined the service of the King of Italy who
were not brought up to regular military employment ; they
shared the passions prevailing in Southern Italy, and their
lordships knew from what occurred in 1799 and 1810 how
violent those passions were on both sides. The noble lord
said that cruelties had been committed, and he was afraid
there was too much truth in the re-enactment of the old
story of cruelty on the one side as well as the other. They
knew that when Murat, who had been acknowledged King
of Naples by every power in Europe, landed on the coast of
Naples, not 24 hours elapsed before he was shot for being in
arms against the Government; and was it to be wondered at
that these brigands, who were in arms against the existing
Government, had been treated with as much severity asMurat
suffered. But with respect to these things, and with respect
to the treatment of the press, the Government of Great
Britain was not the Government which was to answer for
the irregular putting down of brigandage, or for the man-
ner in which general liberty was dispensed. (Hear.) It
was obvious to all men that with regard to all those liber-
ties which we respected, with regard to religious liberty for
instance, the former government of Italy neveralluwed any
professions of opinion, or any form of public worship which
was not in conformity with the State religion. The noble
lord knew perfectly well that while the noble lord and he
were together in Tuscany, the Italians were not allowed to
meet for public worship in religions other than that of the
State ; and that was the mildest form of government in
Italy. He (Earl Russell) had been told by Italians ofeduca-
tion and information that, although they were not molested
fur not going to mass, they were not allowed to meet for
the purpose of worship according to their own forms.
They all knew that whether at Tuscany, Florence, or else-
where, persons were now allowed to entertain their own re-
ligious convictions, and to meet with persons of the same
convictions for the purpose of public worship. (Hear.) They
all knew, with regard to the pres', that there was great
liberty, and they knew also that there was Parliamentary
representation and a constitutional Government. All
these things in the gross were the broad lines of distinc-
tion between the former government of Italy and the
present ; and here it was that he and his noble friend
differed. His noble friend regretted all that had passed in
the last three years, and sighed for the days when no reli-
gious liberty existed, when the press was oppressed, when
there was no constitutional government, and no represents-
ion of the people. (Cries of " No, no," from the Conserve..
tive benches) If all that had happened in the last three
tyears were to be done away with, and the kingdom of the Two
Sieilies, which existed four or five years ago, the Grand
Duchy of Tuscany, and the Duchy of Modena were to be
restored—if those happy times were to come, did his noble
friend indulge in the delusion that the restored governments
would act upon the principle that the present King of Italy
had proclaimed, that they would venture to call Parliament
together, that they would allow people to speak as much
against the Government as the Italians now did, or that they
would allow such freedom of expression by the newspapers
as the _Armenia was able now to adopt ? If the noble lord
believed this would be the case he was very much deceived
abed. It was very well known that the late King, who
was a shrewd man in a worldly sense, always said, in answer
to the remonstrances of the English and French represents.
tives as to the system of government carried on in Naples,
" Your notions of government are quite incompatible with
my rule in Naples. I know how to govern my own country,
let them leave me alone and I will maintain my thron•
against all who assail it ; but I know that if I adopt your
notions I shall not be able to maintain my throne." To the
day of his death he maintained his authority unimpaired,
and no doubt if restored to the throne of Naples, the sort
would, with filial piety, imitate the example of his father.
The question was as between whether Italy should have
such a government as that which now existed, or such an
one as existed five years ago. He was ready to admit there
had been great disorders and great severities practised, and
that the party in power had in certain cases behaved
with great unfairness to those who were under them,
but the great question was one of liberty on the one
hand, and of tyranny and bigotry on the other.
That was the distinction between the two Governments, and
whatever his noble friend might say, and whatever autho-
rities he might bring forward, he (Earl Russell) should re-
tain his conviction, and should put up an opposition prayer
to that of the noble lord, and hope that the old form of go-
vernment might never be restored. (Cheers.) With regard
to the papers for which his noble friend asked, the Govern-
ment had no despatches from Sir J. Hudson with regard to
Government prosecutions, nor had Sir J. Hudson or Mr.
Bonham made any allusion to the statements of the noble
earl. They had from time to time transmitted newspapers
c•mtaining the debates in the Italian Parliament, and he
(Earl Russell) had read some of the speeches, in which
members declared, and no doubt with great truth, that
during the first months of the new kingdom affairs had
been very much mismanaged at Naples, and that many
errors had been committed. Those members exercised the
right of criticism ; they criticised, as men should do in a free
Parliament, the conduct of the Government, and if many
of their strictures were just he trusted that they would pro-
duce amendment. (Hear.) With regard to General La
Marmora, he trusted that he might be able, with 60,000 men
under his command, to reduce Naples to order. (Cheers.)
The Earl of MALMESBURY observed that those who
were upon the Conservative side of the house stood in what
he must call a very unfair position, because ever since the
Italian struggle began, no pains had been spared by the
party which supported the cause of the King of Italy in
falsely accusing them of being the enemies of b ahan liberty.
( H ear. ) tIo to
took
had
continuedbe enin vaintrouble,th a
acting
nh himself se
withl f for
t.hf
so four
greatest
or fiv e
monthsanxiety under the Government and under. the instructions
deplored as much as any of their lord-
shipsutet
psiodleicyoffrtohme hthoauts e.
which Truaet,
lasintde,
estfahteistnhOebyleotefhrrieteenoivdp,yotrsoeieffect a reorganisation of Italy, whose
upon .
they adopted a
ob-
tained, but evendalffteth. is 11th hour, and after the great and.
important events which had taken place had been accom-
plished, ho claimed some credit for the policy the Govern-
ment of the noble earl then adopted. (Hear.) If they had
been successful, they believed that the present state of
Naples would not have been what it now was. If they had
annadt leath
es t
nwooruthldernhavperobveinenceaslivoef
ug beenrhe
osss sl
oue
fpc
Ect e
tusnsr fo tuphl
ee, a
nilrogor,
powers,oa 0v Oe s m,
te t sahi ne
hdw h the approbation of a con-
Ivtear
nl Italy would,
wi he
he
of
ue felt
ainvge oobftaa idnredop coofnhaltoiotudt.iocrinael
agro.;
But they failed; and Austria, whom they wished to sup-
port in her lawful occupation of those territories which she
held by treaty, must alone blame herself for the failure of
their policy. Nothing could be more false than to charge
him, as he had often been charged by almost the whole
press of this country, with unfair Austrian partialities ;
for he defied any one who took the trouble to read
the book he laid upon their lordships' table two
years ago, to find one single word in any one of the
despatches contained therein that showed unfair par-
tiality upon the one side or the other. He had reaped
the fruits of his impartiality, for he had been blamed both
by Italy and Austria, as the noble earl opposite had been
blamed for his impartiality in the conduct of American
affairs both by the North and the South. (Hear, hear.)
He did not, however, find fault with what had been said
out of doors, for he was accustomed to see misrepresenta-
tions for party purposes ; but he
eod theirand
deeply regretted to see that feeling introduced
lordships' house, because in that house
there were men who
knew exactly what had vas
.rathderneselpirnest
passed—who knew perfectly well
what the policy Conservative Government had
the_
been, and who could not, if they spoke their own con-
victions, state with anything like truth that that Go-
vernment had been opposed to constitutional liberty in
Italy. He was sorry to hear the noble earl state that hie
noble friend behind him (the Earl of Derby) bo ad made
an indignant speech against the Piedmontese Gov eminent,
when he asked the question as to the authentic* ty of the