The Sun.
London, England, 1856-07-15 00:00:00

THE AFFAIRS OF ITALY.

Lord J. RUSSLLI,—Sir,Irise too bring forward the
motion, of which I have given notice, for an "address for
copies or extracts of any recent communications which
have taken place between her Majesty's Government anti
the Governments of Austria, Rome, and the kingdom of
the Two Sicilies, relating to the affairs of Italy." I sub-
mit this motion without any wish to blame any part of the
conduct of her Majesty's Government, or to press the mo-
tion should my noble friend at the head of the Govern-
ment think there would be any inconvenience at the pre-
sent moment in granting the papers to which it refers.
But, the house will recollect that no discussion has taken
place with respect to the affairs of Italy since we were in-
vited to agree to an address to her Majesty on the subject
of the treaty of peace which had been concluded at Paris ;
and the house will also recollect that, at the same time.
protocols were on the table from which it appeared that
the condition of Italy was one of the many important
questions which engaged the attention of the plenipoten-
tiaries assembled in the Peace Conferences. Now, sir, the
immediate purpose of my motion is to ask what has taken
place in consequence of the intimations then given, and if
—as I am given to understand, and as public rumour as-
serts—no satisfactory answers have been received to the
communications made by the Government of her Majesty,
and by that of the Emperor of the French, what are the in-
tentions of our Ministers with regard to their future policy?
For, sir, I think I can show that, unless they be prepared to
pursue the course upon which they then entered, and unless
it be their intention to take some steps of seriousimport with
respect to the affairs of Italy, it would be better for the
people of that country, and better for the character of this
house and the dignity of her Majesty, that Ministers should
at once declare that they meant no more than to male
friendly representations, and that, those friendly represen-
tations having remained without effect, it was not their in-
tention to proceed to any further consideration of the sub-
ject. (Hear.) Such a declaration would be better than the
only other course which I could conceive—the repetition of
ineffectual remonstrances, the record df useless notes, the
continual denial of that which is asked by the Powers, to
whom the representations of our Government have been
addressed. (Hear.) Sir, I beg leave, in the first place to
call the attention of the housis to the nature of, the state-
ments which were made at Paris. There may be those
who would say that, the war with Russia having been
happily concluded—all the Powers who were represented
at Paris having agreed upon the terms of the pacification
—it would have been better not to raise any new ques-
tion, but to be satisfied with the work which had bee

done. That, sir, is not my complaint, nor do I com-
plain at all upon this subject ; but such was not the course
which her Majesty's Government and her Majesty's
ally, the Emperor of the French, thought it their
duty to pursue. Count Walewski, who presided at the
conferences, deemed it necessary to bring under the con-
sideration of the plenipotentiaries, on the Sth of April,
other questions deeply interesting to Europe, some of them
relating to the general laws which govern the relations of
nations, others affecting the different States of Europe. He
wished, as he said, to dispel " the clouds which are still
seen looming on the political horizon before they become
menacing." lam sorry to say, with regard to those clouds
which hang over Italy, that, so far from having been dis-
pelled, they have become darker and darker—(hear)—and
that unless some happy event takes place we will soon see
them bursting into a storm. (Hear, hear.) Having made
this preface, Count Walewski stated that the occupation
of Rome by France and of the Roman States by Austria
was an abnormal condition of things ; that it was one to
which he wished to see an end put by France; and that he
was sure the plenipotentiaries of Austria would participate
in the same desire. He spoke likewise of the affairs of
Naples, and regretted the misgovernment of that fair por-
tion of Italy. Count Walewski was followed by Lord
Clarendon, in whose declarations we must take a still deeper
interest, as he was the representative of her Majesty in the
conferences. He stated that it was most desirable that
troops should be removed from Rome and the Roman
States.
" For the well-being of the Pontifical States," he added,
"as also for the interest of the sovereign authority of the
Pope, it would therefore, in his opinion, be advantageous to

recommend the secularisation of the Government and the

organisation of an administrative system in harmony with the
spirit of the age, and having for its object the happiness of
the people."
He statad further—

" That for the last eight years Bologna has beea in a state
of siege, and that the rural districts are harassed by brigands.
It may be hoped, he thinks, that by establishing in this part
of the Roman States an adminiftrative and judicial system, at
once secular and distinct, and that by organising there a na-
tional armed force, security and confidence would rapidly be
restored."

With respect to the Neapolitan Government he spoke in
severer terms :

" He is of opinion that it must doubtless be admitted in
principle that no government has the right to interfere in the
internal affairs of other states, but he considers there are
cases in which the exception to this rule becomes equally a
right and a duty. The Neapolitan Government seems to him
to have conferred this right, and to have imposed this duty
upon Europe; and, as the Governments represented in the
Congress are all equally desirous to support the monarchical
principle and to repel revolution, it is a duty to lift up the
v,,ice against a system which keeps up revolutionary ferment
among the masses, instead of seeking to moderate it."

He added—and these are supposed to be the very words cf
Lord Clarendon—

"We do not wish, he says, that peace should be disturbed,
and there is no peace without justice; we ought, then, to
make known to the King of Naples the wish of the Congress
for the amelioration of his system of government—a wish
which cannot remain without effect and require of him an
amnesty in favour of the persons who have been condemned
or who are imprisoned without trial for political offences,"

Count Buol, on the part of Austria, said something with
regard to maritime law, and he expressed a very earnest
wish to curb the !jeer° 3 of the press in every country wh re
the press is free; but with regard to Italy, and the occupa-
tion of certain of the Italian States by Austrian troops, he
declined to say a word, declaring that he had no instruc-
tions to express any opinion upon the point. Count Cavour
afterwards expressed very strongly the wish of his Govern-
ment that the Austrian troops should be removed from the
Legations, and ho stated especially that the occupation of
Parma and the city of Placentia by Austrian troops was
menacing to the independence of Sardinia. He matte also
a distinction between the occupation by Austria of those
countries and the occupation by France of Rome, stating
that a separate and small corps occupying Rome at a
distance from its own country was an object of much
less apprehension and fear, and causen much less
anxiety to the King of Sardinia, than the very large army
which was maintained by Austria for the purpose of occu-
pying a great portion of Italy and of overawing the whole
territory. That there is that distinction between the occu-
pation by Austria and the occupation by France I think
cannot be denied. There are, however, other differences
which may likewise be remarked on. The occupation of
Rome by a small body of French soldiers may be repre-
sented as similar to au occupation which the British. Go-
vernment has frequently sanctioned—namely, an occupa-
tion solely for the protection of the person of the Sovereign.
It must likewise be admitted that there was some truth in
what was stated in a former debate by the hon. member
for Dundalk—that Rowe was a place where adventurers
from all parts of Italy would be apt to resort, and that the
Government of the Pope might be endangered, therefore,
not by the spontaneous efforts of the peopl of Rome, but
by the intrigues and conspiracies of strangers who might
resort in any numbers to that country. But, Sir, whatever
those distinctions may be, it is, I think, a matter of very
great importance to consider whether this occupation by
foreign troops of a part of Italy is to continue. In the first
place, I imagine that there is no instance resembling it in
the recent history of Europe. The occupation of a State by
foreign troops for the purpose of restoring order is a very
modem practice, and in every case it has been stated to be
temporary—it has been represented as being instituted for
the purpose of re-establishing the usual relations between
the Sovereign and his subjects, and when that object has
been accomplished the foreign troops have been withdrawn.
I can recollect no instance :fan occupation which has been
prolonged for the length of time that the occupation of
Roale and of the Legations has been continued. After the
war of 1815—a war which raised all Europe to arms—when
a million of troops were put in motion in order to depose
Napoleon from the throne of France, and when 150,000,( 001.
was spent by this country alone, it was considered suffi-
cient, in the first place, that an occupation of five
years should be stipulated for, and that term was after-
wards reduced to three years. The occupation of Spain by
France, when the Due ti'Angouleme marched out, was, I
think, continued for barely three years. That occupation,
however, provoked comment in this house. The very year
after it took place, in 1824, I myself called the attention of
the house to the subject, and Mr. Canning declared that he
was convinced that no permanent occupation was intended.
In the following year, at the end (Atha session, Mr. Can-
ning's attention was called to the subjeat by Lord Brougham.
and Mr. Canning again declared that the occupation would
not be long prolonged. But in this case we have au occu-
pation , which began in the year 1849, which has con-
tinued to the present moment ; and yet we do not hear on
any part that the troops could be withdrawn without
as much danger and discontent now, as it is said, as ex-
isted at the very commencement of that occupation.
(Hear.) I am not going to argue to-night—because my
question will chiefly be confined to the point of foreign
occupation—whether the Government of Rome be a good
Government or a bad one; but this I say, that if it be a
good one there can be no need of foreign troops. (Hear,
hear.) If, on the contrary, it be a bad Government, and
that bad Governuient have been continued for seven years
without amendment, then, I ask, what prospect is there
that in seven or fourteen years hence that Government
will be improved? (Hear, hear.) Sir, it is necessary in
treating this subject to look at the declarations which were
made by the two Powers who sent their troops to Rome
and to the Legations in the year 1849. The House will
then see how different were the declarations made at that
time from those which are now made, and how little they
justify the present occupation. Beginning with the
French, I take, first, part of a despatch to M. De la Cour
who watethen the French Minister at Vienna, and I find
that M. Drouyn de Lhuys, writing on the 17th of April,
1849, says :

" The Government of the Republic has resolved to send
to Civita Vecchia a body of troops, commanded by General
Ondinot. Our intention in deciding on this measure has been
neither to impose on the Roman people a system of adminis-
tration which their free will would have rejected, nor to con-
strain the Pope to adopt, when he shall be recalled to the ex.
ercise of his power, this or that system of Government. We
thought—we more than ever think—that by the force of
events —by the effect of the natural disposition of men's minds
—the system of administration which the revolution of last
November has established at Rome is destined soon to fall,
and that the Roman people will place themselves again under
the authority of the Sovereign Pontiff, provided they are se-
cured against the dangers of a reaction ; but we, neverthe-
less, think, and in this respect, especially, our language has
never varied, that that authority will not take deep root, and
can only strengthen itself against fresh storms by the help of
institutions which may prevent the return of abuses, the
reform of which Pius IN ;had with such generous zeal begun."
Then. thedeclaration to the Pope, dated April 18th, says:—
" The Pope must hasten to publish a manifesto, which, by
guaranteeing to tho people liberal institutions, in conformity
with their wishes, as well as with the necessities of the times,
shall cause the overthrow of all resistance. . . What we
desire is that the Pope, on returning to Rome, shall find him-
self in a position which, once satisfactory for himself and for
his people, shall secure Italy and Europe from new commo-
tions, and shall not prejudice either the balance of power or
the independence of the Italian States."
In transmitting those documents to the Court of St.
James's, the French Minister says, under date the 19th of
April :
" We doubt not that the British Government will duly
appreciate a determination, the object of which is at once
to maintain, as far as shall depend on us, the balance of
power, to guarantee the independence of the Italian States,
to secure to the Roman people a liberal and regular system
of• administration, and to preserve them from the dangers of
a blind reaction, 9,4 well as from the frenzy of anarchy."
On the 29th of April Prince Schwarzenberg writes to
Count Colloredo in the following terms :
" The Government of the Emperor has sent orders to Mar-
shal Count Radetzky to send troops as well into Tuscany as
into the Legations. In deciding upon this measure we have
only complied with the demand which has been addressed to
us to this effect on the part of the Grand Duke of Tuscany,
as well as on the part of the Holy Father, the latter having
at the same time applied for the armed intervention of France,
Spain, and Naples. The object of our intervention is no other
than the re-establishment of legitimate Governments and
social order. Whenever this object shall have been attained
-and thanks to the co-operation of the sound portion of the
population we hope it will soon be so—our troops will retire."
That, be it observed, was seven years ago. Now, it is im-
possible, I think to allow that the re-establishment of social
order and the restoration of the Sovereign to his power can
have occupied the whole of these seven years, unless there
wore something so vicious in the system of administration
—something so much requiring the reforms which Lord
Clarendon has pointed out—that the Sovereigns thought
it necessary to maintain the troops in the foreign territory
which they occupied. And here there is one observation
which I cannot help making, because I think it tends to
show that even that occupation for a time was hardly ne-
cessary. Among the other States which were led by the
great convulsions of 1818 to dispute the authority of their
Sovereign and to proclaim a different form of government
was Tuscany
lastedTusny only two ;butinTuseay n the new form of govern-
ment mouths—during February and March
In April the people of Florence, mindful of a long course
of mild government, and recollecting the wise maxims and
beneficent rule of Leopold, the grandfather of the pre-
sent Grand Duke of Tuscany, rose against their republi-
can rulers, and restored the monarchical government
of the Grand Duke. Every great town in Tuscany, except
Leghorn, acted upon that principle ; men of the most
liberal charac4.-,er—the men most trusted in Florence—were
placed at the head of affairs, and the Grand Duke came

back. If he had governed according to the constitution to
which he himself had agreed, there seems to be no reason
to believe that there would have been any outbreak. Un-
fortunately, however, no sooner had the commissaries of
the Grand Duke taken possession of the helm of affairs: at
Florence than an Austrian general announced that his
corps was ordered into Tuscany. That corps remaitned
there until the beginning of last year, and since it mare bed
out there has been no disturbance. I cannot but beli ~eve
that if the rulers of Italy, not giving in at all to de.
aso-
cratic ideas, nor going beyond the most moderate consC
itu-
tional government, had governed their States with eqi City
and j ustice, all pretence for this foreign occupation would