§ MR. HORSMANI rise to put a question to the right hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer with respect to the imprisonment of Mr. Hodge, an English subject, by the authority of the Sardinian Government. As the circumstances of the case rest to a great degree upon rumour, I shall not venture upon any recital of them, which might afterwards turn out to be incorrect, but shall simply ask the right hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether there is any objection to his stating to the House what those circumstances are, and what is the nature of the correspondence that may have taken place between the Governments of Sardinia and Great Britain.
THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERThere is, Sir, an extradition treaty between France and Sardinia, under which the person of Mr. Hodge, who had been arrested in Sardinia upon some allegation connected with the late attempt upon the life of the Emperor of the French, was demanded to be surrendered to the French Government. But it appeals that under the terms of this treaty it was not competent to Sardinia to comply with that request without previously obtaining the consent of the English Government. Under these circumstances, a demand was made upon Her Majesty's Government that Mr. Hodge should be surrendered by the Sardinian Government to the Government 250 of France. We requested that the papers which had been seized on the person of Mr. Hodge, and which were the foundation of this demand, should be sent to England. Having examined those papers, and it being our opinion that they were not sufficient to warrant the committal of Mr. Hodge by a Magistrate in England, we declined to accede to the demand made upon us. Perhaps I may be allowed to add that a statement has been published, and generally believed, that the state of Mr. Hodge's health was very precarious, and that he was subjected to a very severe imprisonment. We instructed Her Majesty's Minister at Turin to inquire into these circumstances, and to place himself in communication with Mr. Hodge. We found that Mr. Hodge was suffering from a pulmonary complaint, but Sir James Hudson had anticipated our instructions, had taken care that every becoming comfort was at the command of Mr. Hodge, and had demanded from the Sardinian Government that his imprisonment should cease as soon as the due observance of the forms of law would permit.
§ MR. HORSMANMay I ask whether the correspondence on the subject is concluded, and, if so, whether there is any objection to lay it on the table?
THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERThe correspondence was very slight, conducted chiefly by telegraph, and I think it will be as well not to lay it on the table of the House.