The Sun.
London, England, 1860-07-13 00:00:00

complain 15 fly Jrefore, that the hon. baronet should take this
occasion ,or A going into Committee of Supply, to ask what
are the vi' dWB of the Government with regard to the pre-
sent st de of Italy. At the same time I must say that,
as the hon. baronet went on from one topic to another,
wa nrich at a loss to draw from his observations
wha‘ ; was the policy he would recommend. (Hear, hear.) I

. . .
ow A I was puzzled to know whether he wished that the
Y ..ing of Naples should be enabled to assert his authority in

Micily, and that the influence of her Majesty's Government
•oshould be used for that purpose, or whether he desired that

.the people of Naples and Sicily should be free to choose for
themselves that kind of government which they preferred.

In looking at this subject, one must consider what has hap-
pened since 1815, and more particularly the events of last

year. In 1815 Austria had allotted to her Lombardy and
Venetia, but her influence was not confined to those terri-
torities. From 1815 to 1859 she extended her influence
over every part of the peninsula ; and when the political

influence which a great country such as Austria possesses
was not sufficient she sent her:armies to put down the in-
stitutions which the people had chosen for themselves, and
to restore absolute dominion. The present Prime Minister
of Austria has been obliged to confess that that system has
failed. Well-intentioned, as he maintains it was, towards
the people of Italy and the general balance of power in
Europe, he cannot deny that the result has been such as to
make the Italians averse from Austrian rule and to compel
Austria to renounce that policy for the future. (Hear.)
From 1848 to 1859 France and Austria occupied by their
arms parts of the Roman States. In 1859 it happened, as
it was very likely to happen in some year or other without
any one being able to fix the precise epoch, the King of
Sirdinia excited the people of Italy to resist foreign domina-
tion. He assured them that he felt for their agony and that
he sympathized with their griefs ; and at that time he ob-
tained the assistance of France to enable him to oppose Aus-
tria. This country, under the guidance of the Ministry of
-Lord Derby, refrained from taking any part in that war, and
that neutrality wasapplauded and supported by all classes in
the country. Assuming that position, therefore, it was not
for us to expect any of the rewards or spoils which might
be the results of the contest. It appears now that at the
very commencement of the war France had stipulated, not
in a formal treaty, but in an agreement so binding that
Sardinia could not afterwards free herself from it, that if a
considerable part of Italy were transferred to the King of
Sardinia, Savoy and Nice should be annexed to France for
the security of her frontier. Her Majesty's Government
were asked in the beginning of July last year what was their
opinion of that annexation. We believed it would have a
mischievous effect; but we did not say then, we have never
said, that we should oppose that annexation by force of arms.
We informed the French Government that, in our opinion, a
grave mistake in policy would be committed if these pro-
vinces were annexed to France. We pointed out that the
distrust which would thereby be created in Eurbpe, on the
Rhine, and elsewhere, rendered the annexation in every way
objectionable. That was the course we pursued and the
opinion we maintained. It is an opinion we have never con-
cealed from the Emperor of the French, or from any of the
other Powers of Europe. But we never proposed to carry
that protest to the extremity of war in the event of the an-
nexation being carried out. In considering the conduct of
Sardinia and of the Italians, it must be borne in mind that
the people of Italy have, not merely since 1815, but for hun-
dreds of years, been suffering from the effects of their own
dissensions. They have been subdued by foreign Powers,
they have been kept in subjection to tyrants they despised,
they have been misgoverned to the utmost, their national
genius has been silenced ; and all these misfortunes have
sprung from the same cause. It has been a reproach to them
in the eyes of foreign nations, and one which they have felt
deeply, that to their own disunion, dissensions, and jea-
lousies they owed the miseries they suffered. Such being the
case, what was more natural than that the men who wished
that their country should be independent, and that she
should play her part once more in the great theatre of the
world, should apply the antidote where they found the poi-
son at work, and attempt by union to remedy the disease
from which their country languished ? (Hear.) In Tuscany
there was no violent tyranny to complain of. The Govern-
ment was mild, and had it been only a question of driving
away one Sovereign and putting another in his place, the
people would not have been disposed for revolution ; but the
feeling in Tuscany, as well as elsewhere, was thit, unless
they could have union and range themselves ander the
banner of a single Sovereign, there would be no chance of
security vicl independence for them as a nation. (Hear.) The
King of Sardinia is a brave and gallant man, a soldier who
has distinguished himself in the field, but it is not so much
his personal merit as his being the sovereign who has
evinced a desire to assert the independence of Italy which
has rallied the Italians round him and induced them to
unite themselves under his sceptre. (Hear.) What, then,
was France to do in such a case? The Emperor of the
French had signed a treaty by which the Dukes of Tus-
cany and Modena had their rights reserved to them ; but he
had declared at the same time that he would neither use
force himself nor permit others to use it to coeree the will
of the people of Italy. The Italians were encouraged by
that declaration, and proclaimed that their wish was to be
annexed to Sardinia. Austria, enfeebled by the war she
had just passed through, and dispirited by the reverses she
had sustained, although she still maintained ,her former
views as to the rights which were derived from legitimate
sovereignty, agreed to make no attack on the revolted
parts of Italy and to confine herself to the defence of her
own dominions. What was the course, then, which her
Majesty's Government took? Seeing that the people of
Italy had suffered from their former disunion, and from the
foreign intervention which had taken place in 1821, in 1648,
and on other occasions, they deemed that the time had now
come when it was right to see whether the Italians could
not form and sustain a government for themselves. Her
Majesty's Government, therefore, laid it down as a princi-
ple by which they would abide, that the Italians should be
allowed to make their own choice of a government, and that
no foreign Power should be interposed to coerce them.
(Hear, hear.) I could not gather the view of the hon.
baronet on this subject, but the view I have stated is a
broad and simple view. We have found hitherto that the
people of Italy who have rallied under the King of Sar-
dinia have shown no disposition to break into tumult.
(Hear, hear.) There has been but one outrage, but one
murder committed during the revolution in Central Italy,
and nothing like anarchy has displayed itself there. On
the contrary, there has everywhere been submission to the
new form of Government. Well, then, I come to that
which formed the theme of the greater part of the speech
of the hon. baronet—the case of Naples and Sicily. And
here I must say I could have wished that the hon. baro-
net had spared the memory of one who is now no more—
Lord Minto. His representations of Lord Minto's conduct
are entirely erroneous. Lord Minto went to Italy at the
desire of my noble friend, who was then Foreign Secretary,
with the view of reconciling the sovereigns of Italy to make
rea.sonable and useful improvements, and of recommending
the chief persons to remain tranquil under their respective
sovereigns, and to look for internal improvement from those
sovereigns.
Sir R. PEEL wished to say that he should always enter
lain. an agreeable souvenir of Lord Minto's kindness to him
personally. What he said was that his political mission
was a failure, and that the Government he represented had
deceived the Sicilian patriots.
Lord J. RUSSELL.—The hon. gentleman having repre-
sented certain facts, and having declared that Lord Minto
was the instrument of deceiving the Sicilian patriots, it is
necessary to state exactly what occurred with respect to
Naples and Sicily. Lord Minto, when he went to Naples
found that the King had given a constitution to his people,
and that a Liberal Ministry were in office. He assisted at
a Council with the King of Naples that sat many hours, and
the result of which was that certain concessions were made
to the people of Sicily, which it was hoped would induce
them to remain under the sceptre of the King of Naples.
Lord Minto was authorised to make these proposals to the
Sicilians; but when he arrived there two circumstances had
occurred which contributed to the failure of his endeavours,
both of which were beyond Lord Minto's control. One was,
that the French revolution had broken out, and that the
French people had proclaimed a republic. The minds of
men were agitated throughout Europe, as we all remem-
ber, by that news. The people of Sicily among others
wore discontented with their former Government, and wish.
ing for a change, they began to think that some republi-
can change would be more advantageous than the institu-
tions they had formerly lived under, or than a return to
the sway of the King of Naples. Another circumstance
had occurred which I may relate, as so many circumstances
of a similar character are known that it can be no addi-
tional reproach upon the late King of Naples to mention
it. Lord lklinte's only chance was in carrying these con-
cessions with him as s British Minister, and recommend-
ing them in that capacity to the Sicilians as a sufficient
guarantee for their liberty. But wnea, ho arrived in Sicily
he found that these conditions had been known smoe days,
and that they had been sent without any recommendation
from the King of Naples. The people of Sicily had delibe-
rated upon those proposals, and had determined to reject
them, and thus his mission failed at the moment of his arri-
val. Now let us see what have been our relations with re-
'Peet to that Spanish branch of the{Houseof Bourbon which
sow sits upon the throne of Naples. In 1806 the 'British
Government refused to make peace with France almost
aolely
ebecause the Emperor of the French demanded Sicily,
%II British Government to its honour refused to sur-
render the territory'of an ally. Thus the house of Bourbon
ow to the Govern:
of, Si ed
cily.
(Rear,
hment of Great Britain the preservation
ear.) A constitution was at that time
established in %cp.
confirm. By
thatTc,onwaVtch Lord W. Bentinck did much to
to
be
separated from
the
kingdom of Naples. If the eldest
son of the King of the
crown
of
Naples.. laic! chose Sicily he was to
abandon the
sweeoliale_ if he chose Naples he
was to give up Sicily and the'
to be insertede
eon was to succeed to
the throne of tbat country. d
1814
King of the Two
Sicilies 'procured an article
the Treaty of
Vienna, in which he was recognised as xj:
the Two
sicaies, whereby the constitution of 1812 was teepieces
and scattered to the winds. In 1815 the
Sicilies made a treaty with Austria, by N.:r:II:tel Two
rtoiaent
not to introduce into his dominions any other goys 'gazed
than that which the Emperor of Austria might think Stet
introduce into Lombardy. By this treaty he not Onlia-
stroyed the constitution of 1812, but he made a compact with
a forelp Power that ho would not restore liberty to Sicily.
vim that country had a constitution, it was over.