§ MR. O'REILLYsaid, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, By whose authority the following statement was inserted in the public papers of the 28th December, 1865:—
The Earl of Clarendon makes public the following information, which he has received from Her Majesty's Consul at Rome, dated November 28th: 'Various bands of brigands have now descended from the Neapolitan territory into the Papal States in such numbers, that the small amount of Papal troops (in the absence of the French) is evidently unable to contend successfully with them;'whether he is aware that the statement, telegraphed from Paris on the 4th January,It is officially announced that nearly all the brigands on the Roman territories have surrendered to the Papal authoritiesis correct; and whether he will have any objection to lay upon the table of the House a Copy of all Correspondence during the year 1865, from Her Majesty's Diplomatic or Consular Agents, relative to brigandage in all parts of Italy?
§ MR. LAYARDsaid, in reply, that the notice to which the hon. Member referred had been inserted in the newspapers on the authority of Lord Clarendon. It was an extract from a despatch received from Her Majesty's Consul at Rome. The hon. Member was doubtless aware that more than one British subject had fallen into the hands of brigands, and Lord Clarendon thought it desirable on receiving that official communication to make it public, as a warning to those British subjects who might be going abroad. If Lord Clarendon had not done so, he would have been open to just reproach. He was not 842 aware that the telegram to which his hon. Friend had referred was correct. On the contrary, he believed that more than one British subject had been despoiled by brigands on Roman territory. In reply to the last Question of his hon. Friend, he thought there would be on objection to publishing the correspondence.