THE CAGLIARI PAPERS.

The official correspondence on the case of the Cagliari has been published this week. It consists of 157 documents, in 137 pages of an uncovered folio volume. It begins with a letter of Sir James Hudson to the Earl of Clarendon, dated Turin, July 2, 1857, and received at the Foreign Office four days after. The despatch merely mentions that the steamer had been seized " by some Mazzinians," and refers for further information about the designs of these men to a number of the Opinions' newspaper en- closed in the letter. • Acting Consul Barber sends the same report from Naples, and Consul Craig from Cagliari ; reports which reach the Foreign Office on the 10th and 11th of July respectively, and are followed by a second letter of Sir J. Hudson, describing the interviews of M. Mazzini with Colonel Pisacane, and telling how the latter disagreed with his chief, and resolved to "carry on his own operations inde- pendently." To all these communications, however, the Earl of Clarendon makes no reply. Count Bernstorff pays him a visit on the 17th of July, communicating a circular despatch of Signor Carafe to the Nea- politan Legations abroad, complaining of "the attitude of the Pied- montese Government which was aware of, and nevertheless tolerated, if it did not permit" the expedition. • Lord Clarendon sends a copy of this communication to Sir J. Hudson, under the date July 21. The first man who says a word for the English engineers is Mr. Wil- liam Watt of Newcastle ; who in a short letter dated July 21, draws the attention of Lord Clarendon to the case of his brother Henry, and is as- sured in return by Mr. E. Hammond that "Lord Clarendon will instruct the Acting British Consul at Naples to afford to Henry Watt all the protection in his power." Mr. Park senior likewise sends a letter front Genoa, August 4, imploring protection for his son, Charles Park, and is answered in the same way. Both letters are forwarded to Mr. Acting Consul Barbar, with a mild injunction to " protect" ; adding that the men in question are "simply engineers," and "probably ignorant" of Italian conspirations and conspirators. Mr. Barber answers the de- spatches by saying that even before their receipt, on the 7th of July, he had applied for permission to see the men' but had been refused by the Director of Police ; and that on a second application of July 31, stating the express commands of the Earl of Clarendon, he had had no better result. Signor Carafa continually repeats " l'impossibilith in cui trovasi il Real Govern° di aderire alla domande," &c., but assures the Consul that the trial "will be terminated as quickly as possible." This is coin- municated to the Earl by Mr. Barber, who asks at the same time whether he will be required to be present during the trial, broadly hinting that "a certain expense of proceeding and staying there will necessarily be incurred." To which Foreign Office of August 25, answers, "watch the proceedings."

The scene now shifts to Turin, whence Count Cavour addresses a cir- cular despatch to the Sardinian representatives abroad, speaking in digni- fied terms of the demands on the Neapolitan Government, and the in- sidious answers of Commander Carafe who, not content with denying his claims, "throws out suddenly and incidentally the most malicious insinuations with regard to the Government of the King." This earnest note of the Sardinian Minister had some effect at Naples, for a week after, August 25, Sir J. Hudson sends word to Lord Clarendon that "M. de Cavour informed me this morning" that the Neapolitan Go- vernment had liberated the passengers of the Cagliari ; adding, two days after, that the same Government had also " consented " to with- draw the offensive note of Signor Carafe. On September 8 Lord Clarendon sends a despatch to Mr. Acting-Consul instructing him "to express the hope of her Majesty's Government that Watt and Park may be treated in the same manner as the passengers of the Cagliari have been." Mr. Barbar has to make the unwelcome reply, that the Neapo- litan Government will not yield. The British Consul is not even al- lowed to see or to communicate with the British subjects, and when he inquires about the coming trial, the invariable answer is "in questi giorni."

Acting Consul Barber further reports, on the 8th of October, that the two British engineers have been conveyed, during the night of the 2d of October, "handcuffed," from Naples to Salerno, and that the "Engineer Park, as soon as his hands were freed, attempted to commit suicide by cutting his throat " ; and this note is followed by a plaintive appeal of old Mr. Park of Genoa, who again implores and "solemnly begs your Lordship to cause some immediate steps to be taken" in favour of Park by urging the Neapolitan Government "to grant his parent the due privilege of consoling him under Isis afflictions." But all Lord Clarendon can do, is to instruct Mr. Barber to "engage the best lawyer to be had in Naples for the defence of these men." Signor Carafe still refuses as the Consul reports under October 27, to allow an interview with the English engineers, although an "eminent lawyer" to whom the Consul referred, stated his opinion that the Neapolitan law did not justify this refusal. However, Watt and Park have been permitted to see their rein fives, "which permission," as Mr. Barbar mildly remarks, "appears curious, seeing that these men have no relatives at Naples."

On the 3d of November the Foreign Secretary applies to the Queen's Advocate to give his opinion as to "whether according to the law of Naples her Majesty's Government are not entitled to insist upon the Consul having access= Watt and Park." Queen's Advocate (Mr. J. D. Harding) replies, on November 6th, that he "cannot venture to say positively, &c.

The day after this the Earl of Clarendon learns from the Consul that eleven of the crew Of the steamer Cagliari have been set at liberty by the Neapolitan Government, and are on their way to Sardinia ; but " I regret to say, the engineers still remain in prison.' And on the 11th of November, Lord Clarendon instructs the Consul "to say to his Excel- lency that her Majesty Government do i■loT claim the release of those men, but that they cannot allow them to be an indefinite time in prison." To give the more weight to this moderate demand, his Lordship, five days after, November 11, despatched to Naples Mr. Charles Stuart Aubrey Abbott expressly to Signor Carafa "to deliver into his own hands " a letter of the same purport. This letter is only replied to by Signor Carafe nearly a month after, on the 7th of December, merely by some unmeaning polite phrases—" Non lascio di esprimere a voetra Eceellenza nazi tutto quanto ho dovuto valutare II nobil pensiero che l'ha indotta a procurarmi la soddisfazione di easer direttamente informato de' suoi desiderii," &c. [" I cannot refrain from expressing to your Excellency indeed how much I have been compelled to appreciate the noble thought that has induced you to procure me the satisfaction of causing me to be directly informed of your wishes," &c.] Lord Clarendon, seeing that he can get nothing from his Neapolitan Excellency, instructs Sir J. Hudson "to ascertain from the crew of the Cagliari steamer who have returned to Genoa, whether the two English engineers acted under compulsion" or not. Sir James did so, and examined eleven of the men; and in his reply to the Earl, of December 12, distinctly stated that the engineers, "with- out doubt, acted under compulsion." The great question now began to be discussed in the correspondence, whether the Neapolitan Government had any right at all to seize the Cagliari on the high sea. Lord Clarendon first gives orders to this re- spect on the 8th of December, to Sir James Hudson, who sends in De- cember 12 a chart marked by Vice-Consul Brown, which clearly shows where the ship was seized. This note and chart is forwarded by Lord Clarendon to the Law-officers of the Crown, who report, December 21, that it seems to have been rather a case of voluntary surrender by the captain and crew than of forcible capture." To this "opinion" the Earl of Clarendon, on December 24, slightly protests, urging that even if the captain and the crew of the Cagliari determined to sail for Naples, this did not necessarily bind the engineers. The Queen's Advocate and Solicitor-General in further reply, January 1, 1858, adhere to their first decision. When, however, on the 19th and on the other ques- tion of the trial of the engineers, Lord Clarendon sends all the papers, together with the indictment, to the same Law-officers, the reply, under date of January 29, from Doctors' Commons, is that "the charges brought forward by the Neapolitan Government against Watt and Park are not supported by any evidence, and are, upon the face of them, des- titute of any probability.' Under date of February 2, Consul Barber reports that the long-ex-

pected trial had at last begun at Salerno ; and four days later he adds that Watt has given "too evident symptoms of insanity." Medical con- sultations wereheld on him and on the 8th of February the Court de- clared Watt to be insane, arid postponed the triaL And before it was fairly resumed, the Earl of Clarendon gave way to Lord Malmesbury. The last despatch of Lord Clarendon is dated February 23, and it in- structs Consul Barber to appeal to the clemency of King Ferdinand for Watt. The first despatch of Lord Malmesbury is dated March 3, is di- rected to Mr. Lyons at Florence, and orders him to proceed forthwith to Naples "to see whether the trial, as far as it las gone, has been con- ducted fairly and impartially." Mr. Lyons started forthwith for Naples, where he arrived on the 10th of March, and in two letters, of the 13th and 10th, states his impression that the proceedings at Salerno "appear to be conducted with great propriety and decorum." Two days after- wards, March 16, Mr. Lyons received a note from Signor Carafa, an- nouncing that "his Neapolitan Majesty, desirous to give a proof of de- ference towards the Government of her Britannic Majesty," permitted Watt to return to England ; and a week after this, March 24, he is in- formed that Park likewise is released.

Such is a brief outline of the course taken by our own Government in the different stages of the affair. In the progress of the correspon- dence, as we have explained in our first page, a mistake was committed in the British Legation at Turin: Lord Clarendon's order to inquire whether the Sardinian Government intended to object to the pro- ceedings of the Neapolitan Government was converted by a tran- scriber to an announcement that the British Government intended to object. When the mistake was brought under the notice of Lord Mal- mesbury by the tenor of the Sardinian correspondence from Turin, he explained that it was an error. In the course of this despatch, dated March 23, Lord Malmesbury: says- " The Marquis d'Azeglio in his note of the 22d instant, goes on to say

that he is formally charged demand the concurrence of her Majesty's Go- vernment, and, if necessary, its cooperation, to bring this serious matter to a good conclusion. The Marquis d'Azeglio further says, that his Govern- ment is convinced that the information subsequently received will have con- firmed the opinions and principles expressed by her Majesty's Minister at Turin, in a letter which he addressed to Count Cavour on the 5thof January last, stating that her Majesty's Government were disposed to object to the proceedings of the Neapolitan Government in the case of the Cagliari, on the ground that the Neapolitan ships of war had no right to pursue and capture the Cagliari beyond the limits of the territorial jurisdiction of the kingdom

of the Two Sicilies.

"The undersigned has the honour to acquaint the Marquis d'Azeglio that his note will be duly considered by her Majesty's Government ; but, pending the answer which it will be the duty of the undersigned eventually to return to it, he thinks it right at once to state to the Marquis d'Azeelio, that her Majesty's Government had no cognizance of the note-addressed by her Ma- jeety's Minister at Turin to the Count Cavour on the 5th of January, no copy of it having been received in this office until it was communicated to the undersigned by the Marquis d'Azeglio, on the 10th instant."

The following is the rejoinder from the Marquis d'Azeglio. The ap- peal towards the conclusion is powerful and just. We find no reply to it in the papers. It leaves the Government in this country in the most painful position morally and politically.

" 28, Park Lane, March 24, 1858.

"The undersigned, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of his Majesty the King of Sardinia, has the honour to acknowledge the re- ceipt of the note which his Excellency the Earl of Malmesbury, her Britan- nic Majesty's principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, did him the honour to address to him yesterday. In accordance with the desire which is therein expressed, he hastens to transmit to him the volume published by the Neapolitan Government, en- titled Saila Preda del Cagliari.' "As he remarked to his Excellency, it was only on the supposition that the volume had already been transmitted from Naples, that it was not in- cluded among the papers sent by the undersigned to the Foreign Office on the 22d instant.

"In the note above mentioned of yesterday's date, his Excellency the Earl of Malniesbury communicates to the undersigned some information re- lative to the note addressed on the 5th of January last, to the President of the Council, by his Excellency her Britannic Majesty's Minister at Turin. According to this information, the essential part of this note is owing to an inadvertency on the part of her Britannic Majesty's Secretary of Legation.

"The undersigned does not consider himself in any way authorized to make the slightest remark upon the importance of a misunderstanding at this sort, of which he received the first intimation from his Excellency in his interview the day before yesterday. This importance can only be equalled by that which an assertion so positive, coming from her Britannic Majesty's representative, must have had in the councils of the Government of the King. The opinions of the English Government have too much weight with the Cabinet of Turin not to have exercised an important influ- ence upon the determinations taken at that time.

"But, on the other hand, the undersigned is persuaded that he faithfully represents the sentiments of his Government in affirming that in a question of this importance facts ought to be taken into consideration rather than documents ; and in expressing once more the hope that, in consequence of the documents which have thrown a new light upon the capture of the Cagliari, and in consequence of the legal arguments which clearly prove in the view of the Cabinet of Turin the right to question the Neapolitan juris- diction either to decide upon the capture or to try the crew, that the inad- vertency or mistake may become a truth, and that the two Cabinets, relying upon the same principles of international law, may act in concert to demand that which is their due. :

"At all events, if abandoned to its own resources, the King's Goveninimit has fully decided to follow up this affair with the prudence and moderation which have characterized its acts hitherto, but also with the energy and firmness which the feeling of right and the national dignity inspire.

"The undersigned, &e.