§ The EARL of MALMESBURYwished to put a question to the noble Marquess the President of the Council on the subject of the arrival in this country of a number of persons who had served in the Republican army in Rome, and who had received passports from the consular agent of this country at Rome, Mr. Freeborn. He did not wish to express any opinion with respect to the affairs which had recently taken place at Rome. But whatever opinion they might have with respect to the policy which induced the French Government, and the justice which regulated their actions when they sent an army to Rome, it was at least unusual for a consular agent to give passports to foreigners, and especially to foreigners who were in the very false position in which many of those persons found themselves. If any excuse could have been given for such conduct, it would have been that of humanity. If the lives of these men had been in danger, he could conceive the propriety of straining a point, and giving them passports in order to facilitate their escape from danger. It appeared, however, that such was not the case, and the French general was only too glad to get rid of those persons. Therefore he could not understand the reasons that had induced Mr. Freeborn to act in this unusual manner. He thought that such a practice must prove injurious to the respectability that always belonged to English passports; and the subjects of Her Majesty travelling with English passports might find some inconvenience from the suspicion that would by this means be thrown over persons having those documents in their hands. Could the noble Marquess tell him if the English Consul at Rome was acting according to orders given by the Secretary of State in England, or was he merely acting on his own responsibility? If it were inconvenient to the noble Marquess to answer the 558 question at that moment, he would repeat it on the following evening.
§ The MARQUESS of LANSDOWNEcould answer the question as well then as on a future day. He certainly had heard that Mr. Freeborn had given such passports, and he agreed with the noble Earl that he ought not to have done so, unless the parties to whom they were given were in danger of their lives. It was impossible for him to say, from his own knowledge, whether each of the individuals to whom passports had been given was in such danger; but he apprehended that must have been the case, and that would, therefore, be the ground on which the passports had been given.
LORD BROUGHAMconsidered that this was a very important matter, if English passports were to be given indiscriminately to foreigners. The parties to whom those passports were exhibited believed that they were given in good faith; and hence the little inconvenience to which Englishmen were subjected in travelling upon the Continent. But if every foreigner could obtain them, it would prove very injurious to English subjects who might not have their passports quite en regle. A knave going to escape from the scenes of his knavery was sure to have his passport more en regle, as the French called it, than the honest subject of these realms.
§ The EARL of HARROWBYreminded their Lordships that an English passport was a safe conduct through foreign countries. If it were to be given to a foreigner in danger, it would cease to be a security to an Englishman, or, indeed, to any individual. If a person who had made himself very notorious was now walking on the strength of a British passport in security through the streets of Rome, it was a matter that deserved to be noticed.
The EARL of MINTOwas prepared to give some explanation, on the part of Mr. Freeborn, with respect to the course he had taken. He concluded a letter to him (the Earl of Minto) in these words—" Excuse this brevity, I am fatigued in body and mind. I have been up all night facilitating the departure of those who, having compromised themselves, might be shot." He added, that the danger to human life alone induced him to act as he had done. He (the Earl of Minto) would not say whether Mr. Freeborn had acted right or wrong; but he wished, in justice to him, to state what were his motives in facilitating 559 The escape of those persons from imminent danger.
§ The EARL of MALMESBURYthought that the Consul proved himself what he had proved himself before, a rather nervous person. He had happened to see on the preceding day one of those men who came over with Mr. Freeborn's passports, and he confessed that General Oudinot was anxious to get rid of those persons. So glad was he to get rid of them, that there were many persons travelling under English passports to whom General Oudinot had given a French safe conduct.