by the
noble baron as having been effected by their recommendation are
completely swallowed up by the project of a free press. My lords, I
cannot help thinking that it is wholly unnecessary and greatly
unbecoming of the government to form such an establishment, of such a
description, in such a place as Malta; and the more particularly, as the
object for which it is made, must be both of a dangerous tendency to
this country, and fraught with evil to others. The free press which they
propose, is to be conducted, not by foreign Italians, but by Maltese,
subjects of her majesty, enjoying the same privileges as we do. Now,
what does this mean? It means that the licence to do wrong is unlimited.
If it were conducted by foreign Italians, you could have a check upon
them if they acted in such a manner as would tend to compromise us with
our neighbours--you could send them out of the island--you could prevent
their doing injury in that manner by various ways. But here you have no
such check--you have no check at all--your free press in that respect is
uncontrollable. If the free press chooses to preach up insurrection in
Italy from its den in Malta, you have no power of preventing it. Were
the conductors foreign Italians you could lay your hand on them at once,
and dispose of them as aliens; but you cannot do that with the Maltese
subjects, enjoying the same right and possessing the same freedom as
ourselves. I did hope, that we should have been cured by this time of
our experiments on exciting insurrection in the other countries of
Europe--in the dominions of neighbouring princes--in the territories of
our allies. I did think that we had received a sufficient lesson in
these matters to last us a long time, even for ever, in the results
which have taken place through such interference in Portugal, Spain,
Italy--ay, and in Canada too--and that they had put an end to our
dangerous mania for exciting insurrection in foreign countries. Such, my
lords, I assert is the object of a free press in Malta--to excite
insurrection in the dominions of our neighbour and ally, the King of the
Two Sicilies, and in the dominions of the King of Sardinia--and I
confess that I am ashamed of the government, considering the results
that have taken place, from the doctrines promulgated by it, that they
have not done everything in their power to suppress instead of
encouraging and supporting it; and that they had not sent out their
commissions with full