§ Mr. GOURLEYasked the First Lord of the Treasury, What steps he intends to adopt for the purpose of procuring the immediate release of the Captain and second Officer of the steamer "Talisman," seeing that, in the Despatches of the British Consul, Mr. March, dated the 28th day of October and the 10th day of November 1875, he informed Earl Derby that the President of Peru 623 had promised to liberate the crew if the Supreme Court of Appeal condemned the ship; and, what measures he intends to adopt for the purpose of obtaining compensation from the Peruvian Government for the enforced impressment of the crew?
§ MR. DISRAELII have referred to the correspondence, and especially to the two despatches mentioned by the hon. Gentleman, and I am bound to say that I do not think they in any way justify the statement put forward in the Question of the hon. Gentleman. His statement is that Mr. March "informed Lord Derby that the President of Peru had promised to liberate the crew, if the Supreme Court of Appeal condemned the ship. "Now, I find on referring to the Papers that Mr. March states that the President promises to release the crew when the Court of Appeal pronounces sentence—a very different statement, as the House will see, from the statement of the hon. Member. The Court of Appeal did pronounce sentence that the ship was good prize; that the captain and mate were to be tried, and that the rest of the crew were to be released. The crew have been released; the trial of the captain and mate is now proceeding, and we are expecting daily, I may say hourly, to hear the result of the trial. With regard to the question of compensation, the whole matter will be put before the Law Officers of the Crown when we receive from our Minister in Peru the statement of the crew and further information.