Mr. Grove Pricewished to ask the Noble Lord a question respecting a vessel which had been taken into Gibraltar on the 15th July last. This ship had 153 Spanish subjects on board, and had been seized by those persons, who mastered the crew and carried it into Gibraltar. The name of this brig was the Lancero, fitted out at Barcelona, nominally for conveying 153 persons to the Havannah. These men were merely suspected of Carlism, and had been seized in different towns in Catalonia, Arragon, Valentia, and Murcia. He said, that the ship was nominally consigned to the Havannah, for he had received information which left little doubt on his mind that those 153 unhappy persons were to be disposed of in a different manner. When those persons became conscious of what was likely to be their fate, they rose on the crew and mastered it, and carried the vessel into Gibraltar. He understood that the restoration of this ship and the persons on board of it, had been demanded by the Spanish Government. He wished to know whether this vessel had really been demanded by the Spanish authorities, and whether the persons who had so taken refuge in Gibraltar were to be given up by the British Government to the 218 tender mercies of the person who now adminstered the affairs of Spain. These unhappy men had taken refuge in a place which had formerly been an asylum to many members of the present Spanish Goment, who were now so anxious to persecute those who differed from them. The other question he wished to ask was, whether any information had been received from the British Consul at Tangiers, as to some dead bodies that had been washed on shore, near that fort, which were linked together with iron chains, two and two. These persons were Europeans. This occurred shortly before the vessel he had alluded to had been carried into Gibraltar. Was this the way persons were to be treated who did not choose to be governed by liberals guilty of such conduct? He would not trouble the House further, but wished to hear from the noble Lord whether it was intended to give up these 153 Spaniards, who had not been convicted of any crime, to the tender mercies of the Christinos?
§ Viscount Palmerstonin reply to the first question, said, that his Majesty's Government had received a communication from the authorities of Gibraltar on the subject. He (Lord Palmerston) had likewise received, that morning, a letter from the British Minister at the Court of Madrid, detailing the facts of the case. The vessel that was taken into Gibraltar had on board 153 persons, destined to be conveyed to the Havannah, and a crew of fifteen or sixteen sailors, which certainly was too small, considering what was the object of the voyage. These persons were not taken up on mere surmise, as was supposed by the hon. Gentleman, but had been tried and convicted by due process of law. The proper authorities in Madrid had informed the British Minister that those men had been fairly tried and convicted of the most serious offences against the Government, and had been sentenced to transportation to the colonies. It appeared that the Spanish authorities did not apportion a sufficient number of guards to the number of persons who were to be conveyed to the Havannah; they, therefore, rose on the crew, and four or five of the latter were wounded. They then carried the ship into Gibraltar, and were landed there. The Spanish Consul claimed them as subjects of the Queen of Spain, who had been tried and convicted of certain offences; this claim, however, was refused. He then demanded that they should be detained on the charge of seizing 219 by violence, a vessel belonging to the Queen of Spain. The English authorities at Gibraltar feared that these persons might be liable to some charge of piracy for seizing the ship; they had, therefore, sent home to this country for instructions. His noble Friend, the Secretary for the colonies, had consulted the legal advisers of the Crown on the subject, and they had declared that these men could not be put on their trial on a charge of piracy, and instructions had been sent out to release them. With regard to the question as to whether these men were to be given up to the Spanish Government, he would only say that he did not believe that any man, either in or out of the House, could entertain the slightest doubt that such would not be the case. It had never been the practice of the British Government to give up to other Governments persons who had taken refuge in the English territories from prosecutions for political offences. To borrow an expression of the hon. Member, when Ferdinand was the person who administered the affairs of Spain, this country constantly persisted in refusing to give up the Spanish Liberals to the Government of that country, and it was also the intention of his Majesty's Ministers to refuse to give up to the Queen of Spain, as he (Lord Palmerston) persisted in calling her, notwithstanding the objections of the hon. Member—those persons who were now in the garrison of Gibraltar. With regard to the other matter, it was also true that his noble Friend, the Secretary for the Colonies, had received a statement from the Consul at Tangiers, in which he observed that it was reported in that place that some bodies of Europeans had been washed on the sea-shore some miles from Tangiers, and it was his intention to send a person to make inquiry as to the real facts of the case. He would not condescend to answer the insinuations which the hon. Gentleman had thrown out, which had not the slightest shadow of anything like fact to support them. He could not help feeling that the privileges of the House were abused, and the character of Parliament lowered, by pursuing such a course.