said, that it had been mentioned in the public prints that the Governor of Malta had thought fit to prevent certain persons landing in that island, those persons being refugees from Rome. Whatever political opinions might be entertained by different parties respecting their cause, their bravery had undoubtedly excited the admiration of the civilised world. He therefore asked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether it was true that those persons had not even been allowed to land in Malta, and whether the English authorities were going to imitate that want of hospitality of which there had been such flagrant instances in a neighbouring nation?

said, that the refugees to whom reference had been made consisted of persons who had left both Sicily and Italy, and were not confined to parties who had quitted Rome. They arrived, however, in such crowds at Malta, that it was absolutely necessary for the Governor, acting on his own responsibility for the preservation of the peace and tranquillity of the island, to limit the numbers frequenting it. This was not done with any inconsiderateness; on the contrary, whenever sickness was given as a reason for landing, the parties were at once allowed to disembark, and they received every care and attention from the Governor himself. Nevertheless, considering the crowds of all characters who flocked to the island, the Governor had stated, and he (Mr. Hawes) thought him justified in so doing, that if he were to be responsible for the tranquillity of the place, he must limit the numbers coming there; and, unless the Governor had intimated to the proper authorities not to allow these parties to land to such a great extent, he would probably have been obliged to take other steps which might have appeared more severe.

thought that even the re- port of such a transaction was disgraceful to the country, and he wished to know what number of persons arrived at Malta at any one time?

said, he had received no notice of this last question, but he believed he was right in saying that several hundreds arrived there within a short period, and more were on their way.

wished to put a question to the noble Lord the Secretary for Foreign Affairs on a subject with respect to which he trusted the noble Lord would not be reluctant to satisfy the anxious feelings of a great part of this nation. He had seen, within the last three or four days, in the public newspapers, what purported to be a proclamation proceeding from the Austrian General, Haynau, and addressed to the populations of Pesth and Buda. This proclamation denounced the punishment of instant death upon the spot to any persons, of either sex, who might be presumed to have taken part in what this general called political offences, such as had never before been made punishable with death by any chief holding a commission under a civilised government. Instant death upon the spot was proclaimed; and the soldiers, who were to be the executioners of the sentence, were also to be the judges of the guilt, for such offence as wearing what might be deemed a revolutionary dress, spreading what might be deemed false reports, and, above all, committing what the general termed insult towards the soldiers. He wished to know whether this proclamation, which he would not trust his own feelings to characterise otherwise than by styling it a most astonishing proclamation, and to which the Foreign Minister's noble nature would doubtless prompt him to affix a much stronger term, was or was not genuine?

thought it was unnecessary for him to say that Her Majesty's Government, in common with everybody else, must have read the proclamation as it appeared in the newspapers with the deepest pain. He need not say more on that point. In reply to the question put to him, he had to state, that the Government had no official communication of the proclamation in question, and therefore he had no official knowledge as to whether it was genuine or not.

would ask, on this last opportunity, should the circumstance turn out to be as reported in the newspapers, and should the Government be made officially cognisant of it, whether the Government would be then prepared, as in the case of the Eliot Convention between the contending parties in Spain, to interpose its good offices, and its authority, if necessary, to stop the perpetration of such horrors, which were never before committed or contemplated in war among civilised communities

said, that Her Majesty's Government must reserve to themselves a proper and legitimate discretion to act in accordance with what they might think fit as circumstances arose.