The Sun.
London, England, 1858-04-09 00:00:00

DIPLOMATIC MI SMANAGEMENT.
( From the i'ctily News.)
The " Correspondonce nespecting the Cagliari"
raises two main questions NI 'hick it is desirable to
keep distinct. One of these questions relates to the
legality of the seizure ; to title steps taken by the
late Government, under tht advice of their law
officers, in reference to the ma Ater ; and to the pre-
sent state of international rights thence arising.
Upon this part of the case, through it is far from
being exhausted, we shall at pre sent only remark in
passing that the opinions of the law officers, as pub-
lished in this Correspondence, contrast most unfa-
vourably in point of legal learning:, sound logic, and
completeness of research, not only with the elaborate
arguments of the Sardinian jurists, but with the
very able papers of Dr. Phillimore and Dr. Twiss.
Other opportunities will present themselves of re-
curring to this branch of the subject; what we now
wish to do is to ascertain what light this " Corres-
pondence" throws on the scarcely less important
question, whether our late Secretary for Foreign
Affairs did or did not do all that might fairly be
•expected from a British Minister in alleviating the
imprisonment of these two British subjects, in press-
ing for their release, or in insistingon their right, so
long long and so insultingly refused by the Neapoli
authorities, of having free intercouree with the
British Consul. The importance of this question is
obvious. Lord Clarendon has pretty notoriously
secured the allegiance of the most influential organs
of the ex-Ministry. It is confidently calculated in
certain quarters that a return of Lord Palmerston
to power as Prime Minister must necessarily involve
the restoration to Lord Clarendon of the seals of the
Foreign-office. Our readers are already in possession
of our sentiments on.the matter of Lord Palmerston's
•
precipitate resumption of Ministerial supremacy.
We should regard such an event as a misfortune.
A restoration so rapid and so unconditional would
necessarily increase that sense of indispensability,
and that arrogance of power, which are scarcely com-
patible with the satisfactory working of our consti-
tutional system. A Minister thus brought back to
the helm of affairs, because he alone is thought
competent and ready to grasp it, would be virtually
none other than a Dictator ; and Dictators, how-
ever unavoidable in great crises of state emergency,
are, under any other circumstances, decidedly ob-
jectionable. This- .combined with the humiliating
recollection that Lord Palmerston on a recent oc-
casion degraded the great power with which he was
entrusted into an instrument of base compliances
and intolerable concessions, is the true ground of
the feeling which would regard his premature recall
to the highest office in the State as anything but a
matter of congratulation. But if it would be on
this ground undesirable to have Lord Palmerston
back again, the restoration of Lord Clarendon
would be ten-fold more objectionable.
Lord Clarendon, with all the more dangerous
Ministerial faults of his late chief, has few of his
redeeming qualities. The country has not for-
gotten—the country is not likely to forget—the ex-
hibition made by Lord Clarendon in the House of
Lords, as the defender of the Walewski manifesto.
The country has felt deeply humiliated by the
facts, that under Lord Clareudon's administration
two British subjects were allowed to languish, from
July to February, in Neapolitan dungeons ; that
no effective attempts were made to hasten their
trial, or to mitigate their imprisonment ; and that
it was literally not till the month of November had
almost passed away, that the British Foreign Secre-
tary had been able to extort from the insolent
stubbornness of M. Carafa a permission for these
untried and lawlessly detained men to have an in-
terview with the British Consul.
The "Correspondence" shows how these things
were possible ; the " Correspondence" will enable
the nation to form sn accurate judgment how far
Lord Clarendon is fit to be again entrusted with
the charge of the Foreign Ministry of Great Bri-
tain. It will not be necessary to drag our readers
through any length of wearisome detail ; a few of
the more salient points will suffice. The general
spiritlessness and want of dignity betrayed in the
whole course of the transaction, can of course only
be adequately learnt by a continuous perusal ; but
an example here and there will be enough, and
more than enough, to show how fax Lord Claren-
don has fallen beneath the dignity of his position,
and the exigency of the occasion.
In two of the earliest despatches from our Foreign-
office relating to the affair, those of the 24th of
July and the 14th of August (Nos. 9 and 11), that
very excellent and resolute officer, Mr. Barisal. (our
Acting Consul at Naples), is directed to afford Watt
and Park protection, with a view to securing their
proper treatment. In both these communications—
in the first, explicitly; in the second, by reference to
a letter from Park's father which it enclosed—the
ground is taken that both men were simply engineers
on board the Cagliari, that they were ignorant of
the objects for which the vessel was used, and had
taken no part in the proceedings that had led to
her seizure. Tbis is important. From this it ap-
pears that Lord Clarendon from the first formed no
other view of the case than that which all subse-
quent inquiry tended to corroborate and confirm—
that these two prisoners were innocent and unoffend-
ing men. Let us see what he did for them. By a
despatch from Mr. Barbar, received on the 19th of
August (No. 13), Lord Clarendon was informed of
the refusal by M. Carafa of the Consul's two de-
mands—that the men's clothes should be sent
to them from the ship, and that they might
be allowed an interview. In answer he is
simply told (No. 15, August 25) to go to Salerno
and watch the proceedings at the trial ; the
same ground b ing again taken up, " that there
is no reason to doubt that they (Watt and
Park) were merely engaged to act as engineers, and
that they bad no knowledge of the intention of
certain individuals who were on board that vessel."
And yet no notice is taken of the insolent refusal
to allow these prisoners—supposed to be, as they
were, without offenc —to have an interview with
their Consul, or of the barbarous refusal to allow
a change of clothing. The day after this (on the
26th of August) inquiries are, properly enough,
sent to Mr. Yates Brown, the late Consul at Genoa,
to ascertain whether Watt and Park had been some
time in the service of the Steamboat Company, or
had only been engaged on the trip (No. 16). The
answer is (No. 20) that both men had been for more
than two years in the company's service, and had
borne the very highest character.
Meanwhile, an important episode in the narrative
had occurred in Sardinia. TLat Government, on
the 31st July, had demanded that the clothes and
effects of the Sardinian crew should be given up to
them. The reply was a refusal from M. Carafe,
of the sth August, couched in terms so insolent
that the Sardinian Government, with prompt spirit,
returned it to its author. This treatment was
attended with the natural results. The offensive
communication was withdrawn and apologised for,
the clothes were restored, and all the passengers
on board the Cagliari at the time of her capture
were given up to the Sardinian Government. Sir
James Hudson communicated these facts to the
British Foreign-office in a despatch (No. 18), re-
ceived on the 25th of August. About the same
time information reached them, as the fact was,
that Watt's health was seriously, if not dangerously,
impaired by his imprisonment.
Acting under these combined influences, Lord
Clarendon goes so far as to direct Mr. Hammond,
in his despatch of the Bth of September, t o instruct
Mr. Barbar "to obtain permission to see him
(Watt) immediately, and also to express the
hope (I) of her Majesty's Government that Watt
and Park may be treated in the same manner as
the passengers of the Cagliari have been, and be set
at liberty, as it is manfeat that the engineers on
board could have had no knowledge of the parties
who took possession of the vessel when at sea." Is
that language befitting an English Minister 1 Lord
Clarendon knows that the vessel was seized by
insurgents ; he knows that Watt and Park were
her regular engineers—men of the highest cha-
racter ; he feels confident that they could have
. had no guilty knowledge of the designs of those
who seized the vessel, and, therefore, he instructs
a British Consul to sue with bated breath for per-
mission to see one of these unrighteously impri-
soned men, whose health is giving way under his
confinement. The request was, of course, refused:
in a despatch received the 29th of September,
Mr. Barbar relates the refusal ; and as to the pro-
bable commencement of the trials, states that he
can obtain nothing more from M. Carafe than the
indefinite assurance that they will take place before
very long (in questi giorni). This intelligence his
the effect of bringing Lord Clarendon in person
anion the field of controversy. The position was no
doubt such as imperatively to call for superior inter-
vention ; but in what shape and with what lan-
guage 4 When a god descends upon the scene, the
a 4 he can do is to speak in godlike accents; he is
not there to whisper
.in the bated breath of humble
Weis, or to complain
say
ethOirill treble of senility.
We do not hesit ate toi
vernment he representedyand''tti considering
the G o-
cause be was advot
eating, it is imposgible to concleei
calanything more
miserable and paltry than Lordve
of
reindou's de-
spatch of Oct. Bth (No. 24). Instead
the instant liberation of these men, his loersoistaini insisting on
in-
forms Mr. Barbar that " as these persons ares stp
to have been actually employed on board the Ca aegd.
Earl, while that vessel was engaged in landing
a revolutionary party on the Neapolitan coasts, her
Majesty's Government do not claim to withdraw
them from. the fair operation of the Neapolitan
law." instead of insisting on an immediate perr
Mission for an interview with their Consul, his lord-
ship makes the right to demand an interview de-
pendent on the contingency of their being " any
positive and publicly known regulation which pre-
cludes prisoners confined before trial on such a