The Sun.
London, England, 1845-02-28 00:00:00

depend the truth or falsehood of a charge which
had been ma de against her Majesty's Govern-
ment of having.participated in one of the most violent
acts that had ever been perpetrated by any Country.—
(Hear, hear.) In putting this question it would be ne-
cessary for him briefly to relate the events which formed
the history of this tragical event. In so doing, he should
only refer to those statements which were before the pub-
lie. The version he should give then would be the version
of the public, as collected from detached accounts which
had gone forth to the public. If, therefore, he should
daring his statement fall into an error of fact, it would be
for the Noble Earl to correct him, in the answer he should
make to the question he was about to put, as well as
to set him right should he make any false conclusions or
deductions. The history of the case appeared to be
this, as far as he could collect it from the information
now before their Lordships. In the year 1843 informa-
tion was received bT this Government that the exiles and
refugees from the States of Italy, who at the time re
sided in the .British possessions in the Mediterranean,
including the lonian Islands, were then plotting or con-
cocting a conspiracy, which had for its of to make a
descent upon the Papal States, and spread the same
spirie.tht ough Italy which had existed in the year 1834
He understood, moreover, that a remonstrance was ad-
dressed by the Government of Austria, complaining of
the British Government allowing the lonian Islands to
be made a shelter for those persons who bad fled from
Italy. This remonstrance was accompanied by- a threat
that if any revOillt iOl3 or commotion took place in the Pepe!
States, the Austrian Government would send forth an
army to overrun those States. This led to the
exercise of a power in this country which he
would not then stop to inquire if it were wise or not. But
the fact was, the Secretary of State for the Home De-
partment issued a warrant for opening the letters in the
Post-office of a certain individual named Signor
Mazzit.i, an Italian, residing in this country,
who was supposed to be corresponding with
• those refugees who were at the time in the British pos-
sessions of the Mediterranean. According to this autho-
rity, the letters and correspondence, of this gentleman
were opened, and from them it was ascertained that a
conspiracy was forming among these refugees, and that
a generaldeseent upon the Papal States was contem-
plated. Austria uas put in possession of this informa-
tion ; but it would appear .from_the_report of the Secret
Committee appointed ' to inquire into. the Opening of
these letters, that the information was communicated in
such a manner as not to compromise the safety of any
individual in the power of tt.at Government. From
subsequent letters it turned out that, by the advice of
Signor Mazzini, this ;plot was abandoned ; and would
thi,t the scene had clOsed here—would that the curtain
had fallen, and no other act been added. But it was not
so ; and to this part of the . subject.. he invited
the partictilar attention of their Lordships. The
same emissaries of the • Neapolitan Government
were instructed —no doubt upon information re-
ceived from Austria with regard to the disposition of
these refugees vi ho had once contemplated a descent
upon the .Papal States, but afterwards abandoned the.
idea to proceed to Corfu, where two sons of General
Bandiera had taken refuge. Under the disguise of be-
ing fellow-conspirators they induced these refugees to
favour a new plot against the Neapolitan Government.
.He must diverge here for a moment to state that neither
.the Papal nor the Austrian consul made any remon-
strance on the subject to Lord Seaton. They took no
notice of this new plot. On the 12th of June, 22. per-
sops; including these emigrants, sailed from -Corfu,
and .then, and not till then, did the Papal Consul and
the' Neapolitan consul apply tor as istance to 'Lord
Seaton: Lent Seaton, however;fleclined to follow,their
suggestion of sending an armed power to capture this
expedition. On the 13th, the succeeding. day, informs
Lion was forwarded to the two Powers, intimating', that
the expedition had sailed. On the 16th the expedition
landed on the coast of Calabria; on the 17th they pro-
ceeded onwards to Otranto, and On the following day
they were met by some armed police, just sufficient to
master the expedition. One of them was shot in the
encounter, and the rest were made prisoners.. On the
25th nine of them were put to death, and amongst them
were the two sons of Admiral Bandieri, and seven
others of the misguided men whom Signor Mezzini
had before prevented from putting their design
into execution. 'Now, if the Government had supplied the
information which led to these sad results, he must say
a more disgracefel proceeding was hardly to he met
with in the annals of this country. Ile . hoped, there-
fore, the Noble Eai I was prepared for the question he
was about to put, in order that this matter might be set
at rest. Now he wished to know'if the.. British Govern-
ment had supplied any foreign Poser with information
calculated to cempremise the rights of individuals, at:d
whether they were aware 'of this information having
been communicated to another Government? And' also,
whether the British Government had any knowledge of
the intended expedition from Corfu ; and if they had,
whether they had taken any, and* what measures, to
prevent it ?

The Earl of ABERDEEN said their Lordships
prohably remember that, for the last two years, great
politic.4l excitement had prevailed in Italy. Insurrec-
tions had made in the Papal States, which had
created great alarm, and led to the Austrian Govern-
ment determining upon sending an armed force into the
States, in the event of any further outbieak. He need
not poiet out to their Lordships what would be the pro-
bable consequences of such an attack. It was not im-
probable that, if it had been attempted, the peace of
Europe could not have been maintained. Their Lord-
ships were aware that this conspiracy and these projects
were planned, not in the lonian Islands, or in the Bri-
tish possessions of the Mediterranean, but in London.
It was, on that account, thought necessary to detain and
open the letters to Signor Mazzini. He need not remind
their Lordships that the warrant was not issued by him,
.or under his direction. Saying this, however, the House
must. not understand that he was in the least prepared to
censure the issuing of that warrant. On the contrary,
he was prepared, as well he believed as every other
Member of her' Majesty's Government, to defend and
sustain the full responsibilities of that act. Those letters
when detained were sent from him to the Home. office,
and, acting u.on his discretion, it appeared to him to be
consistent with his duties to communicate the informa-
tion wlich they contained to a foreign Power. The
course he adopted was this—he determined that no
agent of a foreign Government should see, a single
syllable of these letters ; nor, indeed, did he intend that
any foreign Government should know that any letters
existed. In addition to this, he determined to Is-,ep in
view a necessary regard to the personal safety of
all individuals who might be compromised by
any information on the subject. With this de-
termination and with these precautions he com-
municated, from time to time, such information
as he thought was necessary. for the safety of a foreign
State. Acting on this principle, he felt. entitled to make
a communication to the Neapolitan Minister. But he did
not state that any letters had been submitted to the in-
spection of the Government. Their Lordships would re-
member that complaints were made last year that the
lodgings of a Polish gentleman had been entered, that
his writing-desk had been broken open, and his papers
taken and delivered to the Russian Government. This,
however,' was denied at the time ; and in answer to a
question put to him by a Noble Marcptis, 'he positively
contradicted an assertion that Mr. Mazzini's letters had
been submitted to the inspection of a foreign Govern-
ment. Ile was happy to say that these precautions
had proved successful, and he believed not a syl•
fable of those letters was made known to the Govern-
rnsnts alluded to. He woul-' now approach the immediate
question of the Noble Lord. It had been presumed,
from a passage in the report of the Secret Committee
appointed to inquire into the opening of letters, that in-
formation had been supplied to a foreign Government
which had endangered the personal safety of persons
under its power. But this was incorrect. The fact
stated in the report was the result of an answer made to
him, by 'a question put by the Committee, as to whether
any person in the power of the Austrian Government
,was in danger from the information which had been
given to it? lie replied, certainly not. It did not
follow, therefore, that they had given information to one
Power, knowing that it would be transferred to another,
where it would endanger the safety of individuals. Now,
with respect to the question of the Noble Lord, he
begged to say that he never had any conception of an
attempt being about to be made to recover the Papal
States by the refugees of Corfu. He knew that a certain
number of Italian refugees resided in Corfu, but he had
not the remotest knowiedge of their intentions. He was
aware also that one of the sons of General Bandiera had
been, at Corfu, because the Austrian Minister complained
to him of his being suffered to remain there. He be-
liese el, if he recollected rightly, that when this person
deserted from Venice, the newspapers announced that
he had gone to Corfu. He was quite aware of his being
there ; he knew also that another of the sons of General
Bandiera was at Malta, because a captain of an Austrian
ship had made a demand upon the Government to have
him surrendered as a deserter. Sir P. Stewart, in answer
to that application, said he had no power to surrender him,
and in his (Lord Aberdeen's) opinion, very properly so.
But still this was not sufficient to make him aware
of the practical projects intended by the Bandiera family.
Their Lordships must recollect that the desertion of
these persons from the Austrian navy had created
great alarm, because it was impossible to say
how far this example might extend, and this
probably would account for the precautions taken
by the Papal and Neapolitan Governments.
The whole of the preparation for the expedition and the
putting it into execution occupied only one week. Had
Lord Seaton received any instructions, he would doubtless
have taken measures to prevent the insurrection. In a
letter which had been received at the Foreign-office, Lord
Seatoh says that the younger Bandiera arrived in Corfu
in February, and not finding his brother there, he left
by the Austrian packet for Malta • having proceeded to
that island in search of his brother. In this, however,
he was not successful, and not meeting with his brother
there, he went to Greece, and the brothers did not meet
in Corfu till the month of June. Colonel Rieciotti ar-
rived in Corfu on, the sth June, in the. hope of getting
into Italy by some unknown and unexpected means.
These persons did not arrive in Corfu until the sth of
June, and the expedition took place on the 12th. Itwas
therefore impossible for him (Lord Aberdeen) to have
received any notice of this expedition. The whole of the
time which elapsed between the planning of the expedi-
tion or, at least between the meetings of the parties who
were to carry it into effect, was one week, so that it was
utterly impossible for him (Lord Aberdeen) to have re-
ceived any notice of this expedition before it was carried
into effect. If any notice had been given to him, unques-
tionably instructions would have been sent to
Lord Seaton to prevent it. When, then, it
was asserted that the Government were acquainted with
this expedition, and refused any measure to prevent it,
he could only say that the Government had no informa-
tion whatever of the intended descent on the coast of
Calabria. Th, expedition was planned on the sth, and
was put into effect, on the 12th. Had there been any
such notice, certainly he should have, felt it a duty to
prevent these unfortuttate men from undertaking such a