§ MR. HENNESSYsaid, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether the murderer of Dr. MacCarthy at Pisa has been brought to justice; and, if so, with what result; and whether Her Majesty's Government will lay upon the table of the House the Correspondence and Papers on the subject?
§ MR. LAYARDsaid, that the murderer of Dr. MacCarthy was brought to trial on the 10th of March and sentenced to ten years' confinement, and to pay an indemnity to the family of the deceased. Upon the subject of the trial our Consul wrote, after giving some details—
I have to add that the case was most carefully got up. The examinations were conducted with great regularity, and it was evident that the proceedings were watched with interest by members of the Bench and the Bar who were not conducting the case. The other business of the Court was made to give way, and, as regards the expedition with which the case was carried through, it ought to be remembered that two months only elapsed from the commission of the offence to the punishment of the offender. No authorities could have acted with greater consideration, firmness, and efficiency than had the Italian authorities.The Consul went on to state, that although some people might take exception to the punishment as too lenient, it was according to the Tuscan code, by which the punishment of death was abolished; and as the imprisonment was accompanied by solitude and silence, although the murderer was a very hale man, there was scarcely a chance of his surviving his punishment.