The Sun.
London, England, 1858-04-23 00:00:00

irtirTs I.sbition

SUN OFFICE, Seven o'Clock.

THE CAGLIARI.

OPINIONS OF THE LAW OFFICERS
- OF THE CROWN.

No. 1.

b' .
Law Officers of the Crown
pril to thl2 eearl of Malmesbury.
(ived A
Doctors' Commons, April 12, 1858.
My Lord,—We are honoured with your Lordship's com-
mands, signified in Mr. Hammond's letter of the 25th
March ultimo, stating that he was directed to request that
we would report to your Lordship our opinion whether,
under the circumstances of the case, as set forth in the
correspondence respecting the capture of the " Cagliari,"
now submitted to us, her Majesty's Government would be
justified in making any, and what, demand upon the Nea-
politan Government in respect to the conduct of that
Government towards the British subjects, Park and Watt.
In obedience to your Lordship's commands, we have the
honour to report
That we are of opinion that, under the circumstances of
the cam, her Majesty's Government would be justified ionr
Park
making a demand upon the Neapolitan Government f
compensation to be awarded to the British engineers,
end Watt, in respect of the conduct of that Government
towards those persons.
It appears to us that Park and Watt acted throughout
within the strict lino of their duty, and took no part
whatsoever in any illegal or criminal
There is not, as far as we areaadreergn or act.
to be found, even
at this late period, throughout these voluminous papers, a
Particle of evidence of misconduct or impropriety apinst
either of them.
In order to justify the Neapolitan Government for its
continued imprisonment of these men, and for putting
them on their trial for their lives, there should have been,
at least, prima facie evidence of their participation in soma
of the offences committed by some of those on board the
C The Neapolitan Government has, in' effect, admitted
that mere presence on board was not of itself a sufficient
ground for the institution of criminal proceedings ; inas-
much as it set at lib.rty seven of the passengers on the
28th August, 1857, and eleven of the crew on the 23th
October, 1857.
The Neapolitan Government must, therefore, seek its
justification for its conduct towards Park and Watt in
the sots charged against them in the " Atto di Iccusa."
These, apparently, are the following : --
1. That they were without regular passports ("ricapiti").
To this it may be sufficient to observe that it appears not
to be unusual for engineers of Sardinian steam-vessels
leaving Genoa to be without passports ; their names weTe
on the ship's muster-roll, and they were in the regular
employment of the owners of the Cagliari ; but, at all
events, the Neapolitan Government cannot infer any seri-
ous guilt from the mere want of passports.
2. The note found upon Park, alleged to have been written
by Miss White at Genoa. This note,ion the face of it, pur-
ports to be addressed not to an accomplice, but rather to
a person who was to be forced to act under constraint ; it

iv neither signed nor addressed ; it was only presented to
Park when the vessel was forcibly seized by some of the
133 sengers ; an I the circumstance that Park preserved
and transcribe I it into his log-book, as his justification, is
a proof, not of his guilt, but of his innocence in relation
to it. .

3. That Watt (as chief engineer) ought to have directed
the vessel's course to Tunis, and not to Ponza. This charge,
roceeding, as it does, from total ignorance of the con-
struction and navigation of steam vessels, is not worthy of
serious refutation.
4. Of participation in various specified acts at Ponza
and at Sapri. Of these it is sufficient to observe that, even
if they were of such a nature as to render Park and Watt
amenable to a Neapolitan tribunal in respect of their com-
mission (which we can by no means admit), we are unable
to discover that any evidence has ever been forthcoming
to prove that Park and Watt committed any of them;
indeed, as to the meat of them, their innocence must have
been obvious, it being admitted in the " Atto di Accnse"
that they remained on board throughout, whereas these
acts are charged to have been committed on shore.
For these reasons we are of opinion that there is no
ground whatever which justifies the Neapolitan Govern-
ment in having subjected Park and Watt to this prosecu-
tion, or in having inflicted upon them, as malefactors of
the worst class, a long and inhuman imprisonment.
The Neapolitan Government, upon the capture of the
Cagliari and the arrest of all those who had ever been on
board her with their papers, was in possession of the fullest
information as to the guilt or innocence of each inlividual;
and we are of opinion that thereupon Park and Watt
became entitled, as a right, to immediate liberation.—We
have, etc.,

(Signed) J. D. HARDING.
FITZROY KELLY.
H. M. CAIRNS.

No. 2.

The Advocate and Solicitor-General to the Earl of Malmes-
bury.—(Received April 15.)
Doctors' Commoes, April 13, 1853.
My Lord,—We are honoured with your Lordship's com-
mands, signified in Mr. Hammon l's letter of the 25th
March ultimo, stating that he was directed to transmit to
us the correspondence respecting the capture, imprison-
ment, and trial, by the Neapolitan Government, of two
British subjects, servieg as engineers on board the Sardi-
nian merchant-steamer " Cagliari," together with a copy
of the indictment preferred against them, and a volume
entitled " Sulla Precis del Cagliari," published by the Ne-
apolitan Government, and a further volume, entitled,
" Difesa del Cagliari," published by the owners of the ves-
sel ; he also stated that the proceedings in the Admiralty
Court at Naples would be sent as soon as printed.
Mr. Hammond was also pleased to request that we
would take these papers into our immediate consideration,
and report to your lordship our opitdon whether the cap-
ture of the Cagliari was legal.
In obedience to your lordship's commands we have taken
these papers into consideration, and have the honour to
report—
That we have carefully perused these voluminous papers,
and have considered them in consultation with the Atter-
ney-General, but that as we are unable to concur entirely
in the conclusion at which we b,lieve he has arrived, we
have thought it best to express to your lordship our opin-
ion in the following Report.
In dealing with this question, we have confined our at-
tention to the capture of the Cagliari exclusively, and in-
dependently both of the legal proceedings against that ves-
sel, which ended in her condemnation as a prize, and of
the treatment of those on board her,
We would, in the first place, invite your lordship's at-
tention to the facts preceding, this capture.
The Cagliari, a Serdiniae merchant steamer, running
between Ge oe and Tunis (touching at Cagliari, in Ser-
dieia), left Genoa, on one of her regular voyages, on the
25th of June, 1857, with, apparently, thirty-three pa?sen-
gere anti a crew cc:mils:log of thirty-two, an l a cargo partly
consisting of tire-arms. Whilst on the high seas on the
same evening about 25 of her passenger s rdelenly produced
concealed arms, took foretbleposseseion of the ship, with-
out any opposition being offered, hi o'ce bulk and plundered
arms on board, deprived the master of his authority, and
placed him, and some of the other passengers any crew,
under restraint, and forced (as is allege,l) one cf the passen-
gers (Daneri, a merchant captain by profession), to navi-
gate the vessel as master. The Cagliari passed what was
supp sed to be a squadron of British ships of war, when
the passengers and crew under restraint were more closely
watched, and kept out of sight. On the 27th of June the
Cagliari arrived at the islan l of Ponze, which appears to
be a fortress aed prison of the Neapolitan Government; the
Sardinian eelour were fly ing, a ad t he pi lot and cep tam of the
port were seized on their c.eniog on board; the boats were
landed, an armed disembarkation took place, an attack was
read° en the island, one Neapolitan officer of the garrison
killed, another wounded, the getri on overpowered, up-
wards of 300 prisoners liberate I and armed, arms,
rammu-
nition, and money were taken fr,ln the fortress, a ,‘,3 al
Neapolitan cn.ter or cruizer lying in the bar bour of Forme
was borrded, plundered, an i sunk, and other crimes_vandexcesses were committed. Some of the crow appear to h
lauded. Lorenzo Acqusrone, whose name is on the ship's
muster-emit as a waiter or steward, and Cesare Cori, a pas-
ten"eer, seem to have been wounded on shore, and brought
back to the steamer.
With this additional armed force, and with the plunder,
the Cagliari proceeded, on the night of the 97th, to the
Policastro. Those passengers who had originally seized
the ship, together with the prisoner* liberated and em-
barked at Ponza, landed in arms at Sapri early in the
morning of the 2ith, and committed various acts of out-
rage and hostility ou where, where they were, aeon after-
wards, all killed, or taken by the Neapolitan troops and
inhabitants.
The crew, acting, probably, under compulsion, appear
to have rowed the boats in which the landing at Ponza
and that at Sapri were effected.
After landing at Sapri, the master (Sitzia) appears, after
the disembarkation, and, on the night of the 28th, to have
resumed his authority; and, with the assent of the crew,
and 11 remaining passengers (amongst whom was Daneri),
• to have got under weigh, and taken a °cameos for Naples,
where (as he stated) it was his intention to make a detailed
relation of what had occurred to the Neapolitan Govern-
ment. _

During these occurrences the Neapolitan Government,
which had early intelligence of the attack on Penn, tool
• measures not only to check the aggression, but to pursue
and capture all those engaged in it. Some steam-frigates
were sent from Naples to Gaeta to embark troops, and
. two cruizers (the Tancredi and Ettore Fi eamoses),
sailing
in company, and in search of the Cagliari (of which vessel's
appearance and course, when last seen, the commanding
' officer had previously received a description), fell in with
her on the morning of the 29th of June, on the high
Gaseas,
apparently about twelve miles west of Capri. g-
. Hari was, when first seen, steering towards them ; and, on
the vessel approaching, the Tancredi fired a shot, which
brought her to; the master (Sitzia) was ordered on boar,i
the Tancredi, with his papers, and the Cagliari was then
. boarded and taken possession of by an armed boat from the
Tancredi, and towed, by the Ettore Fieramosca in com-
pany, first to Salerno, and thence to Naples.
When the Cagliari was brought to, it appears that she
was not taking that which it is alleged would have Veen
her most direct and shortest course to Naples, viz., *trough
the straits between Capri and the mainland (" piccolo
%made Ca Capri"). Three wounded men were on board,
Zeeizr.,._Acquarone and Cori already mentioned, and Amil-
by
_Buonomo, a passenger, wounded at Sapri, as he alleges,
r:treonse.awando landed, on his refesal to land ; bulk was
art of the cargo (arms) missing; arms were
lagozniestonugn.dytollwa ea, on board ; twenty-five passengers were
recently saknown to the captors that she had been
aril the employed
ITI acts of piracy and unauthorised hos-
tility,
all events, not explanationseeca offered by the captain were, at
ore ience. We
must tomn.and and immediate
:emark that some important
ship's papers, amongst also
which were the certificate of
ownership, and the maritime passport, were wanting ; and
although this would not justifypiionthe capture, it would add
to the other grounds of BUR presenting themselves to
the captors. Giuseppe Mercurio, who was on the ship's
muster-roll (a steward or waiter), a
and been wounded, and taken, in arms, on tnse have landed,
he
if so, he must have-been missing at the capture.
e at
Sapri;
• Under these circumstances, and bearing in mind
the
an
whole of the facts, we are of opinion that. the Neapolitan
commanding officer was justified in taking possessioni
of
i
the Cagliari, and in taking her into Naples (where she
war in fact going), in order to secure a full investieati, n
of what really had occu -red on bean!. The only alt neat-
tive, her ice we.iiate liberation on the hieh seas, aeoli,
allowed the real criminals to escape without teet.uu,
anti
even to commit fresiLacts of piracy and uncut rerised hot.
tility with impunity.
That the vessel had'been recently employed in commit.