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    The Week In Pabliament British Subjects ...

    to attend . ( Hear , hear . ) One thing must be admitted , and that is , that Messrs . Wingate and Smith have undoubtedly been most cruelly and tyrannically treated . ( Hear , hear . ) What was their case r They had resided for ten years i n the Austrian dominions with the full knowledge arid permission of the Austrian Government , and in personal communication with the hi g hest authorities , pursuing their calling in open day without reserve , building a school and teaching , if I mistake not , under the same roof in which one . of the high . authorities resided ( hear , hear)—in short , carrying on their labours without the slightest question or concealment whatever , and with the full permission and consent of tho Austrian Government . ( Hear , hear . ) All of a sudden they are ordered to quit

    the country , at the shortest notice and m the most inclement season of the year , when in those parts of Europe travelling is a matter of great difficulty even for men , and for women and children almost tantamount—if not to death—at all events to the infliction of severe suffering . ( Hear , hear . ) They received this order without any cause assigned to them why it had been given , though the justitification afterwards made is , that they had been violating an Austrian law . Now , it might have been expected that it would have been set forth in the communication made to these persons , whose conduct in other respects was irreproachable , against whom , no political charge was alleged , and who were thus summarily and rashly found fault with it mig ht have been expected that if they were unconsciously , as it must he assumed they were , violating any

    Aastrian law , that violation would have been made known to them . ( Hear , hear . ) It might have been expected from the courtesy of the Austrian Government that they would have been told , " You are doing that which the law does not permit you to do , —you must abstain from it in future , and if you do not abstain we will exercise the power we possess of sending you out of the country . " ( Hear , hear . ) If that communication had been made to them , no just complaint could have been urged . If they had been told that they were doing certain things that were against the law , and that if they persisted in doing them they would be expelled ; if , nevertheless , they had continued to violate the law , then , in such a case , neither Her Majesty's Government , nor that House , nor the country , could have found fault with the Austrian Government .

    ( Hear , hear . ) But what was the violation of the law ? In no part of these papers do I find any statement of the law that is alleged to have been violated . ( Hear , hear . ) It has been said that it does not become the British Government to enter into controversy with the Austrian Government as to questions of Austrian law . That may or it may not be a correct view . It is a point upon which I shall not now enter ; but this I may say , that if British subjects are told in a foreign country that they are violating a law of the land , they are entitled to a plain and disstinct statement on the one hand as to what the law is , and on the other what are the acts by which that law has been infringed . ( Hear , hear . )

    " But that had not been done . The missionaries went harmlessly to Vienna , and asked for permission to travel by easy stages . Now , our minister at Vienna ought not to have been contented with simply forwarding this request , he ought to have asked , what law have these men infringed ? " That is the part which he ought to have taken , and it is the duty of every British Minister abroad , when there is brought before him a primd facie case of injury sustained by a British subject from tho hands of a foreign Government . ( Hear . ) The case of these missionaries , as stated on the part of the lato Government in a despatch by Lord Granville , on the 17 th of February , is not ono which you can read with anything like , feelings of satisfaction or pride .

    ( Hear , hear . ) I do not blame my noble friend ; for , when his predecessor was removed from office , ono of the reasons alleged in this House for that removal was , that ho had too much confidence in his own opinions , and was not sufficientl y under the direction and control of tho then First Minister of the Crown . ( Hear , hear . ) It was , therefore very natural that Lord Granville , succeeding in these circumstances to tbe Foreign-office , and being now to a certain degree to the business of the department , should have yielded his own judgment very much to that of others , and , therefore , the despatch to which he put his name is probabl y to be regarded as the despatch of the Cabinet rather than his own . ( Hear , hear . ) But a despatch on such a subject—with a primd facie case , of injury committed on one of her Majesty ' s subjects—more misadvised—more

    abject m its tone and substance , it never fell to my lot . to lead . ( Hear , hear . ) Had it beeu a remonstrance from the humble inhabitants of a Turkish village against some arbitrar y tyrant , —from men living in constant fear of the bastinado , or against some powerful bashaw having strong iriends at Constantinople , it could not have been coached in language very different from that which characterized Jus despatch . ' ( Hear , hour . ) Tbe right honourable gentleman the Chancellor of tho Exchequer has read the despatch , and it is no answer to it to stale what has arisen onto ! Ihe subsequent correspondence . If is founded on the belief _entertained b y the Government , at that time , _Wlio had representations made to them by the persons concerned . It said , in olfeef , ' Hero are individuals who have lived for eleven years under the Austrian

    Govcrnjiie nt ,, who had committed no offence , who bad violated no aw , who have done nothing to justify any oppressive conduct on the part , of the Government Unit expelled them under circumstances of great hardship , amounting to confiscation ; ' mid on this recital of facts , what doorftho Government of that day slate P If states that they did not , question the right of the Austrian Government fo say What , degree of toleration they wore pleased to give to various religious opinions . Why , Sir , this was not , a case ol _iteration at all , it was a ease of expulsion . ( Hear , hear . ) uoy then say that sometimes ill _usulto has been inflicted

    on 1 rotestunt subjects of Austria , and on the subjects ol other countries ; ntul because Austrian subjects havo been _UnjuHtl y treated , and subjects of other countries unjustly treated , therefore the Government refrain from asking any

    The Week In Pabliament British Subjects ...

    redress for British subjects who hare been exposed to grievous and serious injury , and they leave it to the good feeling of the Austrian Government to decide whether any compensation shall be given them for the injuries they heve sustained ! ( Hear !)" He absolved the present Government from blame , because they had taken up the case where it had been left by Lord Granville ; and certainly they had acted with more vigour than their predecessors . " It is impossible not to see that this act of great oppression towards these refugees was . not founded upon a . ny law of Austria . I believe it was not founded on religious grounds , but that it was founded only on political

    considerations . ( Hear , hear . ) That is my impression from reading these papers . If any law of Austria had been violated , that law would have been naturally set forth ( Hear , hear . ) As to religious toleration , anybody would suppose from reading these papers that the Austrian was a very intolerant Government , and permitted only one religion in the Austrian States . _Jfo such thing . It appears from these papers that there are 3 , 000 , 000 of Protestants in the very country in which those expelled missionaries were performing their functions . ( Hear , hear . ) If I am not very much mistaken , the rule was , and I imagine still is , in the Austrian dominions , that if a majority of the parishioners in a parish were Catholic ,

    the Catholic priest received public compensation for his ministrations , but that if the majority were Protestants , then compensation went to the Protestant minister . And , so far from the Austrian government being intolerant and persecuting in religious matters , they have been held up in discussions in this House as an example of toleration , even in a country which , for political reasons , has clung very much to the policy of the Court of Rome . ( Hear , hear . ) I therefore cannot see anything in these papers on which to charge the Austrian Government with having acted in the spirit of religious intolerance . But the fact is , that the Austrian Government was at that time very much irritated by the course of policy that the Government of this country had pursued on several European questions in which Austria was concerned , and also with

    the manifestation of public feeling m this country with regard to the Hungarian refugees ; and one , I am afraid , must look upon this sudden expulsion of British subjects as flowing from resentment against England , against the English Government , and against the English people , for the political part they had taken in the affairs of Hungary . ( Hear , hear . ) That did not make it a more worthy act on the part of the Austrian Government , or less a matter on which the British Government were bound to require redress for those who had received inj ury . " ( Hear , hear . ) He wound up by expressing a hope that now Count Buol had acceded to office at Vienna , Austria would treat England with more courtesy ; and by reading Austria a lecture upon her refusing his terms for the settlement of Northern Italy in 1848 .

    Mr . Plowden concurred with each of the preceding speakers . Mr . Hume thought Lord Granville ' s despatch was not " abject , " and that we ought " to leave the case to the Austrian Government's sense of justice !" Lord Dudley Stuart remarked that ever since Lord Palmerston had retired from tho Foreign Office they had had a succession of complaints , in consequence of the ill-treatment of British subjects abroad . After this the motion was withdrawn .

    THE MATHER CASE . Mr . Disraeli stated , at the morning sitting on Tuesday , that since the House met he had received from Sir II . Bulwer an announcement that the causes of misunderstanding between this country and Tuscany had been entirely removed . ( Hear , hear . ) The Government of Tuscany had done all that the Government of tbis country could wish . They had made a full acknowledgment of regret at everything that bad occurred with respect to Mr . Mather , and they had made an unequivocal acknowledgment of the responsibility of Tuscany us an independent State to provide for

    the safety and security of nil Englishmen travelling m that country . ( Hear . ) It must be very satisfactory to this country that the very best feeling now existed between the two Governments , and that instead of this acknowledgment on the part of Tuscany having been brought about under circumstances that might create a lingering ill-will on the part of the Government , the very best sentiment now existed between the ( fraud Duke of Tuscany and the Government of this country . For tbis result the House wen ; indebted to the eminent ability of , he must say , one of tho most . successful diplomatists of the age . ( Hear . )

    Till ! WIN l > I NO-OP . The House of Commons adjourned from Friday until Tuesday , in order to give the Lords time to come up with them . Accordingly , the House of Lords met on Saturday , and continued their sittings on Monday , disposing of the business with great celerity , and that creditable abstinence from talk which distinguishes their lordships . Hy half-past eight on Monday evening , they had managed to _jiuss the Militia and other Money I fills through commit tee ; they bud considered and agreed to the Commons' amendments on the Patent Law Hill ; they hud passed tho New Zealand Government Hill , the lOneumberod Fstnt . es ( continuance ) Hill , and the several Law _Bilfs ; and the Metropolis Huritds Bill , aud many others , worn passed through committee . There waH little debate , and what there

    The Week In Pabliament British Subjects ...

    was presented no features of interest to the general reader . On Wednesday the Lords did some more necessary business , and a fterwards , a discussion arose as to the amount of credit due to the Government for the passing of the various important acts of the session . Lord Lyndhurst and Lord Derby claimed great praise for having done these feats ; and Lord Brougham , Lord Beaumont , and Lord Grey disputed the point with them . Lord Derby , however , incidentally admitted that the measures had passed « during tbe interregnum of parties . " In the House of Commons , on the same day , the doings were of a similarl y light and unimportant eharacfer _.

    THE _DISSOLUTION . We need not describe at length what has been so often described before—the passage of the Queen from Buckingham Palace to Westminster , there to prorogue Parliament . The weather was fine , there was the usual curious crowd , the usual number of soldiers , firing of guns , and loyal cheering . The Queen was punctual , starting about a quarter before two , and returning about half-past . Both Houses met on Thursday , about twelve o ' clock ; but little business was transacted in either . The Lords passed the Suitors in Chancery Bill , and in the Commons several questions were asked and answered . The most interesting was Mr . Walpole ' s reply to Mr . Anstey , who asked three questions . Mr . Walpoxe

    said" In answer to the three questions put to me by my hon . and learned friend , I have to state , first , that I have received no further information on the subject of the unfortunate disturbances that have occurred at Stockport than that which the daily organs . of communication have _convened to the public . In answer to his second question , I think I had better read a paragraph from a letter which I have received from the Mayor of Stockport on the subject . ( Hear , hear . ) He says in this letter , ' So far as it is at present ascertained the disturbance appears to have arisen out of a quarrel between the English and Irish , in which I fear religious animosity has been brought into play , but the whole matter was so sudden and unexpected , and the

    attention of myself and brother magistrates has been so entirely required to the necessary measures for preserving the public peace , that the facts have not yet been accuratel y ascertained . ' Under these circumstances , I am sure the House will agree with me in the propriety of not expressing any opinion at present one way or the other as to the origin of the riot . ( Hear , hear . ) With regard to my hon . and learned friend ' s third question , whether her Majesty ' s Government intend to take measures for effectually preventing religious processions calculated to occasion disturbances of the public peace , I can only state , that both in England and in Ireland the Government havo taken every possible precaution to discourage processions

    of a character that would in any way lead to disturbances arising out of religious differences . ( Hear , hear . ) We havo done so in Ireland this year , in reference to thoso processions which usually take place there , by _communis eating with the Lord Lieutenant and the magistrates , and calling upon them to prevent and check processions that may lead to those disturbances to the utmost of their power ; wo have likewise done so in England ; and I can assure the House that her _Majesty ' s Government are desirous , above all things , it should be generally known that any of this ostentatious parade , which may lead to religious disputes , would be discouraged and discountenanced by them , and we do hope that the country will support us in that determination . ( Hear , hear . )"

    The House of Lords was , as usual , well filled with spectators of the pageant of the prorogation . The judges wort ; present , ladies adorned tin ; galleries , and about fifty peers were assembled . About a quarter past 2 o ' clock , a flourish of trumpets , with the simultaneous booming of the park artillery , announced the arrival of the Queen at her Palace of Westminster , and shortly after , her Majesty entered the House , supported by Prince Albert on her left , and accompanied by the great officers of state . Amid the rustle of a . thousand dresses , the House rose to receive

    her Majesty , and presented aspcctaeleol surpassing splendour . The Queen immediately motioned the assembly to be reseated , and Sir Augustus Clifford , the Usher of the Black Hod , was desired to summon the " ihithful " Commons . The Karl of Derby bore the crown on a cushion , the Marquis of Winchester stood on the right of her Majesty holding the cup of maintenance , and the Duke of Wellington , who carried the sword of state , took up his position immediately on the left of the Queen . The venerable duke seemed with difliculfy to

    hold the ponderous weapon , but paid marked attention to the Queen ' s speech , and frequently nodded his assent to different passages _whieh'it contained , The I ) ueheH 8 of Atholl _, as Mistress of the Kobes , and a Lady in Waiting , stood behind tho Queen . They were dressed in black , and Prince Albert , who wort ) a Field-Marshal ' s uniform , also had an arm belt of crape , Uie court having beeu suddenly thrown into mourning , in consequence oi the announcement yesterday , by electric telegraph , ol the death at Vienna of Count Mensdorff Pouilly , maternal uncle of her Majesty , and paternal uncle ol Prince Albert .

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• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), July 3, 1852, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_03071852/page/3/