The Sun.
London, England, 1849-05-19 00:00:00

ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE.

Lord JOHN RUSSELL moved that the House at its
rising do adjourn till Monday next.
WHITSUNTIDE HOLIDAYS.
_ _ _

Mr. HORSMAN asked the Noble Lord when the
House would adjourn fur the Whitsuntide holidays?
Lord J. RUSSELL said on Friday next he would
move that the House at its rising adjourn till the Thurs-
day following.
SICILIAN AFFAIRS.
Mr. BANKES rose to esk the Noble Lord at the head
of the Government a question, in the absence of the
Noble Lord the Secretary for Foreign Affairs. That
last named Noble Lord having stated on a pre.
vious occasion that Great Britain did recognise the in-
dependence of the Sicilian Government, independently
of the Two Sicilies, he now asked whether Great Bri-
tain still recognised the independence of the Sicilian
Government instead of the Governmentof the Two
Sicilies?
had stated on the occa-
Secretary for Foreign Affairs
d Member had re-
ferred, if he (Lord John Russell) recollected rightly,
negotiation+ going
Lord JOHN RUSSELL said his Noble Friend the
that there was at that time a
had
on with the Government of Sicily. lie only
to say that an independent Government of Sicily no
longer existed.—(Laughter.)
Mr. BANKES would ask the Noble Lord, secondly,
whether he was aware what was the result of the per-
mission given to transport ordnance from her Majesty's
stores for the avowed use of the Sicilian insurgents,
and other encouragement given to those parties who
formed the provisional insurgent Government in Sicily.
A British officer, who had formerly held a command in
Sicily when Lord William Bentinck was there, was
afterwards engaged in the British service in tho Penin-
sular war ; and understandieg that guns had
been thus furnished, and stores from the
ordnance of her Majesty, ho accepted a
command under that Sicilian Government. And
he accepted a mission to this country to raise
troops for the use of the Sicillians. Those arms and
troops were, he understood, partly embarked in a
steamer named the Bombay, then lying in the Thames,
and the others in a ship then lying at Liver-
pool. The steamer engaged to leave the
Thames was detained by order of the Cus-
toms. A question rose upon the matter, and the
whole thing was referred to the Treasury. The Board
of Treasury, after deeply considering the subject, and
after much conversation with the Noble Lord, and
most likely with the Minister of the Crown of
the King of the Two Sicilies—he might, how-
ever, be mistaken, but he understood that it was
agreed that the detention of that vessel should be con-
tinued. The Treasury declined to interfere, and the
result was that that vessel left for Palermo. The other
left Liverpool also, and just at the time that the Secre-
tary at War of the Sicilians desired. It sailed first to
Marseilles; when it reached that port, the French
Minister taking a different view of the law with
respect to the detention of ships, did detain and had de-
tainedwhether
which that vessel in the port of Marseilles. He had to
askwhi
which
thehe Noble
consideredL urd
onewasof authority; aware of these; dhe was bound to say he had received from a source
as under the
complete =
the Government was not authorised to detain a vessel
with
haLdotardvolu):leL:tl.lEieltHSTouosNe
going avowedly to disturb a foreign power.
guise
ed
dft a i le ask-
ingdetailed
a series of questions, the lion. and Learned Member
information as if he had been "our own correspondent"
--Mulaughter. Ile could not give t
e hohour.
)
able and Learned :Member the whole details with
respect to what the French Government had done. Ac-
cording to the last accounts from Palermo there was no
Government there. The people had possession of arms,
and were engaged in protecting themselves against the
Neapolitans. He could state, in reply to the Hon. and
Learned Gentleman, that having taken some pains to
discover what had become of the formidable guns
sent to Syracuse, he ; had ascertained I that they
were now in the possession of the King of the Two
Sicilies.—(Laughter.) He had beard that Colonel Aubery
was sent to this country for the purpose of raising men,
but he had good reason to believe that no men were raised.
With regard to the vessels, it was true that one
steamer did leave Liverpool. With respect to the
Bombay, which lay in the Thames, the facts were
these:—An application was made by the Neapolitan
Minister for the detention of that vessel, as it was
loaded with men, guns, and ammunition; and as
its leaving this country would be in contravention of the
Foreign Enlistment Act. The question was referred to
the Treasury, the Foreign-office having nothing
to do with the law that prevailed in this
country on the subject. The whole transac-
tion was carried on with the Treasury and the
proper law officers of the Crown, and in consequence of
the legal advice they received, that there was no just
ground for detaining the vessel, it was released.
Mr. ANSTEY then repeated his questions as to
whether the Noble (Lord Palmerston) would
have any objection to lay on the table a
dispatch from Lord Heytesbury, the tinder-Secretary
of State for Foreign Affairs, with respect to
a widow who had married the subject of a
foreign country; and also a letter to a Mr. Paget, from
Lord Ponsonby, with respect to the refusal of claims
made by his wife, she being a Hungarian.
Lord PALMERSTON had no objection to lay the
letters on the table of the House. The subject
had been fully considered and had been brought
before the Consul, and it had been decided that
there was no right on the part of the British Consul
to take any cognizance of the property of the individual
in the case alluded to. Instructions had been sent to
communicate that fact to the widow, and that
the British Government had no right to in-
terfere in the matter, as her claim must
fall under the cognizance of the courts of the
country cf which her husband was knative. With re-
gard to the second case, that of Mr. Paget, he would
look and see if there was any such letter
in his office, and if there was, he should have no objec-
tion to produce it. But that case was very different to
the one previously referred to by the Honourable and
Learned Member. The latter was the case of an Austrian
subject, and the question arose in the Austrian courts.
Mr. ANSTEY wished to know whether the law
officers of the Crown had been advised with on this
subject.
Lord PALMERSTON said that the doctrine in-
volved had been plainly laid down end settled, and it
was therefore unnecessary to consult the law officers
upon it.

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE.
Mr. WYLD wishrci to ask the Noble Lord whether
the British Government had sent any protest against the
occupation of Hunga:y by the Russian troops?—(Hear.)
Lord PALMERSTON said that her Mojesty's Go-
vernment had made no protest on the subject.