The Sun.
London, England, 1862-07-08 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT

HOUSE OF LORDS—YESTERDAY.
POLITICAL PRISONERS AT NAPLES.
The Marquis of N ORMANBY called the attention of
their lordships to the treatment of political prisoners at
present in confinement in Naples, and moved for any in-
formation in the possession of her Majesty's Government
on the subject. He stated that at this moment there were
no less than 16,000 persons in the prisons at
Naples for political offences, who were suffering
every kind of misery and wretchedness. Such a
stee of things spoke for itself, and it was impossible to re-
concile it with the new system of government, based upon
popular feeling of respecting the rights of the people. Re
wished also to point out another fact, that although the
transfer of the government was said to have been
effected by a national vote, there were only
28,000 electors out of a population of eight millions.
He justified his motion on the ground that during the reign
of the late King of Naples many returns of a similar nature
had been granted by the Government. It might also be
urged that this was a question which related only to the
internal affairs of Italy, but for the last three years her
Majesty's Government had constantly been in-
terfering with the minutest details of the internal
administration of Italy and had closely identified itself and
expressed its approval of the proceedings of the Italian
Government.

Earl RUSSELL believed that the former Government
oe
and
dNapleshe
e dw
alwaysasas detestable
heartily
ei e
e
d Governmentat is overatshever existed,
Whet-
ever the noble marquis might say to the conrtorwar.ylh
,Vthearte-
could be no doubt that Italy was making great progress •
and within a day or two he had heard that Russia and
Prussia were disposed to recognise the new Italian king-
dom.ad
As regarded the particular question to which his noble
friend alluded, his knowledge was of the most meagre cha-
racter. He had not appointed any commission or agents to
make inquiries, but Mr. Consul-General Bonham had in-
formed him that he had sent Mr. Douglas, a person in
whom he had confidence, to institute an investigation, in
consequence of Mr. Bishop's complaints of the treatment he
had received in prison; but it seemed that the only cause
of complaint which Mr. Bishop had was his not being
brought to trial. Her Majesty's Government agreed that
this was a valid ground of complaint, and Sir J. Hudson
had been instructed to make a representation to the Govern-
ment at Turin to that effect. He had since learnt that the
list of the jury was to be completed on that very day, and
that the trial would be immediately proceeded with. Of
course he could not answer for the acts of Neapolitan gaolers
for he knew well the sort of persons who had been employed
by the late Government of Naples, and it would be prepos-
terous to suppose that these men would all at once become
proper administrators of justice. He had no objection to
produce the papers required by his noble friend.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH considered that their
lordships were not entitled to interfere in a matter which
affected ether than British subjects, It was desirable not to
regard Italy as in a state of pupilage, but if she were it was
not for us to be her censors or tutors. Of this, however, he
was convinced,that there would be no feeling of independence
and no good government in Italy, unless she was left alto-
gether to the management of her own affairs.
Lord BROUGHAM generally concurred in the observe.-
tions of his noble friend who had just spoken, and inquired
if it were true that Russia had acknowledged the kingdom
of Italy.
Earl RUSSELL replied that Russia had declared her
intention to do so upon receiving an assurance from the
Italian Government that Italy should continue to be pacific
towards her neighbours, and that she should not attempt
any act of aggression upon the territories of Austria or the
German Confederacy.
Lori BROUGHAM rejoiced to hear it, and hoped that
nothing would happen to place any obstacle in the way of
the acknowledgment of the new Italian kingdom by the
powers of Europe.
The Earl of HARROWBY expressed an opinion that
since the recent political changes the condition of the whole
of Italy had greatly improved. The brigandage of which
so much had been said was confined to five out of fifteen
provinces. The insurgents did not number more than a
thousand, and the Piedmontese force was amply sufficient
to put them down. He understood, moreover, that the bri-
gands wore not led by Neapolitan, but by Spanish officers.
The Marquis of NORMANBY having replied, the mo-
tion for papers was agreed to, and the subject dropped.
The Game Laws (No. 2) Bill and the Crown Private
Estates Bill passed through committee.
The Courts of the Church of Scotland Bill was read a
third time and passed.
Their lordships adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.-YESTERDAY.
THE THAMES EMBANKMENT BILL.

The house then went into committee on this bill.
Lord J. MANNERS moved the omission of clause 34,
which enacted that no buildings should be erected on the
ground abutting on the embankment without the consent of
the Chief Commissioner of Works to the plan thereof.
Mr. COWPER supported the clause ; and after some
discussion the committee divided, and the amendment was
negatived by 162 to 145.

The clause was then agreed to.
The remaining clauses having also been agreed to, Mr.
AYRTON proposed the addition of a clause providing that
in case the societies of the Inner and Middle Temple should
not admit the public freely to the use of their gardens the
land to be given them under the bill should become vested
in the Board of Works for the purposes of public recreation.
Mr. M. SMITH opposed the clause, and explained the
nature of the arrangements made by the benchers for the
admission of the public at seasonable hours to their gardens.
On a division the clause was rejected by 139 to 18, and
the bill passed through committee.
FORTIFICATIONS BILL.

On the order for going into committee on the Fortifica-
tions (Provision for Expenses) Bill,
Mr. LINDSAY moved as an amendment, "That it is
expedient to postpone the consideration of further expendi-
ture upon the proposed fortifications authorised by this bill
until there have been laid before the house copies or extracts
of reports from our naval attache at Paris, showing the
state of the French navy from time to time, at intervals not
exceeding three months, during the years 1860 and 1861."
Lord C. PAGET opposed the amendment, and argued
that the iron-cased navy of France was making such great
advances as to render the measures which her Majesty's
Government were adopting absolutely necessary. Those
measures were, in fact, regulated by information in the
truth of which the utmost confidence might be reposed:
Mr. COBDEN protested against the vague geueralities
in which the Government indulged upon this subjet, and
declared that during the 12 years of the Imperial regtme the
French navy bore a far less proportion t 9 that of England
than in the time of Louis Philippe; and that we had spent
upon the navy double what France had upon here in that
period. Alluding to the frequent recurrence of
invasion
panics, the hon. member chargedLordPhalemhearsd madeton wit
in
levity and indiscretion in the statements
that house, and observed that hhe heladhtshurednoabnlde vgirsocunoudnitetoss
a great extent responsible for t ose

alarms.
Sir J. PAS on
said he had never heard a speech
from Lord Palmerston upon the subject of the relative
strength of the navies of France and England which, wa
not only free from vagueness and exaggeration, b t that
was not perfectly accurate. The remarks of Mr. Cobdenu
bad nothing more to do with the questionattiossiune t
than if
he had drawn a comparison between the navies of England
e t i indeed,utinstitute
a
and Spain at the time of the Armada*
than Nothing,
could he more fallacious and deceptive
comparison between the navies of England and France,
entered
iela
to founded solely upon a statement of the money expended
every element elsemgielnetnwpheirch iod the at of wages and the price of
wholly different in the two countries.ship-buAiltditnhigs beingmoment so
France was ahead of England in iron-plated ships, and it
behoved her Majesty's Government not to discontinue or
relax in their efforts to place our military and naval defences
on a proper footing,
lord
I)with
u him
ALMERSTON, replying to Mr. Cobden's
charges,
said that he received them the tmost. pos-
sible quietness, and that differing as he did from
views,
he was proud to be the object of the hon. member's
censure. hiser's
The idea by which he (Lord Palmerston) wa
actuated seemed never to have entered into the fertile brain
lof the hon. member. That idea was that England ought to
be defended; that our navy could not exist 'without dock-
yards, and that those dockyards ought to be placed in a po-
It, ition to be secured against any sudden attack. The fact
wal,:, the hon. member was in a state of blindness and delu-
sion which made him utterly unfit to be listened to by the
country as an adviser on matters of this sort. He w
as no
doubt a good authority upon questions of 1"
naval and
mercial natl-tre, but in speaking upon
military subjes the honourable member went be and
y
e
erepidatn, and wo a most dangerous counsellor. The noble
lord further remarked that he adhered to the statements
which he had made on previous occasions, with regard to
the relative strength of this country and France. Granted
that there was no likelihood at the present moment of a
war between the two countries, yet that was the very
reason why we should employ the i
atinterval of peac d
e an
amity in putting ourselves in a situon to be prepared for
any contingency that might happen.
then
Lindsay was withdrawn,
The amendment of Mr.
and the bill passed through committee.
e Bill and the Turnpike
The Turnpike Acts Coutinuane d
Trusts Arrangements 1301 were rea a second time.
The order for the Markets and Fairs (Ireland) Bill—a
bill
use—was discharged and the with-
' Government pleas wi

d The rewa lag business was also disposed of, and the
rawn.
tui.
house adjourned.
_—
About £160,000 in gold was sent into the Bank
to-day, making a total of £572,000 since last Wed:
nesday. The influx will probably continue on a
large scale through the week.
The Advices just received from Melbourne an-
nounce the shipment for England during the
month of £315,000 in gold, making
the aggregate
on the Way) £525,500. The amount of the pre-
i sent remittances is below the average.