The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-29 00:00:00

EVENING, MARCH 29, 1859,

and that he thought it very unlikely that any arrangement
would be accepted which did not include in it some portion
of the Venetian territory, and he stated that he did not think
the King of Sardinia could for his own honour accept an
arrangement which would leave him in possession of greater
dominions, and leave the Venetians to be restored again to
the dominion of Austria. Baron Hummelaur said he would
go to Vienna to make a suggestion to his government, and
he went away. But before anything could be done on these
propositions things in Italy took a different turn, and Ans"
tria having reconquered Lombardy by force of arms deter.
mined by force of arms to retain it.
Mr. WHITESIDE said the statement of the noble lord
did not in the least affect the truth of the statement that h a
had made. It was a very important subject, and the house
could well conceive that it was not well that the destinies o
a kingdom should be allowed to rest on vague converts'
tions. The facts were these :—Lord Ponsonby apprised the
noble lord by advices communicated from Vienna that the
royal house of Austria were willing to give up Lombardlt
provided a fair settlement was made as to the national debt,
and the noble lord was afterwards apprised that Baron
Hummelaur would come to England to make these pre"
posals. The noble lord had corrected his memory. As to
the first proposal, there was an elaborate state paper that
Lombardy should have a separate administration and na-
tional army and government that would be acceptable to
the people. Parma was to go with it, and the whole was
to be governed by an Austrian viceroy. He believed it to be
perfectly true that the noble lord objected to that arrange-
ment ; and what was important was that Baron Huraine"
laur wrote down that objection, with a formal statement
that the result of his interview with the noble lord had
made such an impression upon him that he thought it right',
to state the principles, the basis, on which a new arrange-
ment might be made, and he said, "I enclose you in thie
letter the statement of these principles;" and the first pea'
sage in that letter was the -settlement made that Lombardy
should be entirely free—free to choose its own govern-
ment—if England would undertake to settle the affairs
of Italy on that principle; that as to Venice the same
terms would not be granted, but that Venice should have $
separate administration and army. The noble lord took
from the 24th of May to the 2nd of June to consider the
offer. On the 3rd of June the baron came to London to
receive his answer. He wrote an elaborate reply, and that
reply admitted that Lombardy was to , have a separate ad"
ministration, but that the financial,
question was to be
thrown into the arrangement. That was refused. Austria
then proceeded to assert her right by force of arms, and at
the end of August following the noble lord wrote a letter
to the Marquis of Normanby that he would then be Will-
iug to consent to the arrangement which was made on the
24th of May. He was answered that it was too late. It
was too late now, and it would be too late in the future.
THE DEBATE ON THE REFORM BILL.
Sir G. C. LEWIS, reverting to this subject, said, as they
had already had five nights of this debate, they might come
to an understanding that it should be finished to-morrownight. [A VOICE—To-morrow week.] (Laughter.)
Major EDWARDS thought it would be a very hard ease
if members were not allowed to say a few words to justify
themselves before their constituents.
Mr. COBBETT had attended diligently throughout this
discussion, and had wished to address the house but had
not had an opportunity of doing so. (Hear, hear.) It had
been his desire to contend that the bill should be read a
second time. His hon. colleague, he believed, differed from
him in that respect, and he thought it was but fair that he
should have an opportunity of stating to the house his Iva'
sons for taking the course he intended to take.
Sir E. PERRY was also one of the small guns that had
been charged during the last two nights, and had not had
an opportunity of going off. He was bound to say that, ag
the debate had gone on, he had found hour by hour that the
points he had intended to dwell upon had been taken up 11
others ; and therefore, with the modesty which ought t•
belong to him, he was willing to let the debate come to a
close without intruding his opinions.
Mr. HUDSON thought the hon. gentleman was not
very eminent for his modesty. (Laughter.) He wished to
ask the house whether this was part of the system which
the noble lord wished to exercise over the house on Friday
nights ? whether he was now beginning to exercise a
tyranny over the house ? He was willing to stop till Christ'
mas—(laughter)—but he intended to have anopportunitY
speaking.
Mr. CONOLLY thought that as the subject was one of
such universal interest the debate ought not to be hurried,,,
a conclusion.

Mr. WESTHEAD said as the city of York, which he,.
represented, contained 1,100 county voters, he could 210
forego his claim to be heard in explanation of his views.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER had enter"
tabled an earnest expectation that the debate would close
on the following day—(cheers)—but he must say that the!
was a subject and an occasion for consulting the general
feeling of the house, and he had no wish to press for the
termination of the debate in opposition to that feeling'
(Cheers.) There seemed to be an equal indisposition on 00
two sides of the house that the debate should close the neat
day, and he would not, therefore, press for its termination,
although he was prepared for it if the house desired that it
should terminate. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. P. O'BRIEN said up to that time not a single Irish
member had spoken. (Great laughter.)
The debate was then adjourned.
The Savings-bank (Ireland) Act Continuance Bill passed
through committee.
The Common Rights, &c. ( War Department) Bill passed
through committee.
The Nottingham Charities Bill was read a third time and
passed.
The Petitions of Rights Bill was read a third time and
passed.
The Affidavits by Commissioners Bill was read a third
time and passed.
The house adjourned at ten minutes to one.