§ MR. LOCKEsaid, he rose to ask the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether he has seen the account in the newspapers of the civil war in Montevideo, and especially that portion of it relating to the murder of Mr. Smith, a British settler, and whether any official Despatches on the subject have been received by the Foreign Office?
§ MR. LAYARDsaid, in reply, that the Government had received despatches which confirmed, to some extent, the accounts which had been published in the newspapers. It appeared that a military force from Buenos Ayres, under General Flores, had made a descent on Montevidean territory, and in consequence of that wanton attack a civil war had broken out. An Englishman named Smith had been barbarously murdered, but not by troops acting in the service of the Montevidean Government, for it had been ascertained that they were deserters. As soon as the Montevidean Government heard of the occurrence, they expressed their readiness to arrest the offenders as soon as possible. The English merchants assembled and subscribed a considerable amount as a reward for the capture of the murderer, and a further sum had been added by the Montevidean Government. There was every reason to believe that the capture would be effected, and the Montevidean Government had shown every desire to take energetic steps in the matter.