The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-23 00:00:00

If. KOSSUTH ON THE WAR IN ITALY.

The following is a more extended report of this
celebrated orator's speech than appeared in our
impression of Saturday :
M. Kossuth, who was received most enthusiastically,
spoke as follows : My Lord Mayor, Ladies, and Gentlemen
—The cloud, called the " Italian Question," has at last be-
gun to discharge the electric fluid with which it was over-
charged for more than forty years. It is a momentous event
What
likely to become epochal in the history of Europe.
is the position which England ought to take in this critical
emergency ? Your lordship, whose opinions canes with
them a threefold authority, that of an independent English
patriot, that of a tried and consistent friend of liberty, and
that of the exalted representative of this great commercial
metropolis of the world—your lordship has answered the
question. The position which England ought to take, and
from which she ought not to depart, is that of honest neu-
trality and strict non-intervention. (Cheers.) I feel greatly
honoured in being permitted to take part in the prOceedings
of this evening, though I know that in my individual capa-
city my humble opinions can prend to no weight with
this distinguished assembly. Butthough by the stormy
waves of national adversity I was cast a homeless exile on
the shores of this country—the happy home of the free and
the sanctuary of the oppressed—still, the municipality of
this great metropolis deigned to receive me as the represen-
tative of the down-trodden Hungarian nationality—up-
wards of one hundred cities, boroughs, and corporations
followed in the wake, and the liberal instincts of the people
of England and Scotland vouchsafed to make me the deposi-
tory of the tokens of their sympathy for my native land.
Thus, my Lord Mayor, it fell to my lot prominently to
stand identified in public opinion.with the cause of the
pressed nationalities, nationalities, and of European liberty. Such being
the peculiarity of my individual position, I for one, cannot
help deriving corroborate persuasion from the coincidence
that the conclusion at which your lordship has arrived
from an English point of view is exactly the same at which
• I have arrived from a European point of view. (Cheere.)
As an exile, as a Hungarian, as a member of an oppressed
nationality, as a man identified in all his aspirations with the
• cause of its emancipation, I repeat, as an ardent prayer, what
your lordship advanced as the well-matured vote of an
England •:
English patriot—that . should deliberately adhere
to the policy of honest neutrality and strict non-interven-
tion. (Hear, hear.) If, in consequence of this concurrence
of opinions, 'I were to be asked whether I anticipate that
the war which is just commencing may eventually result to
the advantage of the cause with which every aspiration of
my heart is identified, I should unhesitatingly declare that
I do anticipate such an eventual result, provided England
does not divert into a wrong channel the natural course of
events by interfering with the war. (Cheers.) This antici•
pation does not flow, my Lord Mayor, from the excitement
which recent events must naturally have operated on my
feelings. Adversity is a great teacher, my lord, and the icy
finger of time is a mighty disenchanter. I have much suf-
fered in the last ten years of my tempest-tossed life, but in
compensation I have learned something—l have learned not
to clutch with eager impatience the fleeting forelock of illu-
sory hopes. I have learnt with calm reflection to trace the
• law of concatenation between cause and effect which pre-
sides over the logic of history. Taking my stand on this
law, I rest my anticipations on the incontrovertible axiom
that the difficulties of the oppressor may become a chance of
deliverance for the oppressed. I see Francis Joseph of Aus-
tria—the murderer of my nation—:(loud cheers)—the blood-
stained usurper of my country—engaged in a great war. I
reflect on the relative position of the contending parties and
on the strategical necessities which must develop themselves
in the course of the war, and I come to the conclusion that
at no distant time emancipation will be within the reach of
some ef those nationalities the oppression of whom by the
• house of -Austria is the great European nuisance, without
the removal of which, patchwork arrangements may be de-
vised calculated to disguise for a little while longer the dry
' rot of the political structure of Europe, but both; a
permanent peace and a settled condition of the Euro •
pean community are utterly Impossible. Your lordship
has appropriately !alluded to the royal proclamation by
which her Majesty's Government has entered into a public
pledge to abstain from taking any part, directly or indi-
rectly, in the war which has just commenced on the Conti-
nent, and to maintain a strict and impartial neutrality.
. This certainly is a right move in the right direction. Con-
dign credit is owing to her Majesty's Government for the
constitutional spirit which they displayed in showing due
regard for the demands of public opinion, manifested with
more than ordinary emphasis, both from the hustings during
the elections, and by numerous meetings held since. So far
so good. But I make bold to say that if it he desired that
the proclaimed neutrality should assume the character of a
settled rule, not subject to eventual modifications, it is, even
more than before, necessary that the expression of public
opinion should not relax ; nay, that it should be made even
more explicit than hitherto, in order that no room may be
left for any doubt as to the sense in which the people of
these realms desire the proclaimed principle ef neutrality to
be understood, and as to the consistency with which it
ought to be acted upon. Neutrality is a general expression,
yet it implies a special meaning the bearing of which can-
not be fully fathomed unless we have it clearly understood
with which of the contending parties her Majesty's Govern-
ment would side if they were not to remain neutral. (Hear,
hear.) Now, my lord, Ido not remember to have heard of
one single official or semi-official declaration which has left
the impression on my mind that if her Majesty's Govern-
ment were not to remain neutral they would side with Sar-
dinia and France against Austria. But I have heard of many
declarations forcibly leading to the inference, that the
alternative was either neutrality or else support of Aus-
tria. (Loud cries of " No, no.") It was always
universally admitted that in the *beginning England
was to remain neutral ; but it was- added, that she
should watch what turn events would take, and should
arm in the meantime, so as to be prepared to do—what? To
repel any aggression on her territories, colonies, and depen-
dencies ? course, that should be done, that would be done,
and gloriously,-too. " Come, the three corners of the world
• in arms"—you know the rest of the proud, bold strain. But
this has nothing to do with neutrality or non-neutrality ;
this is a question of attack and defence, and the plainest
common sense reflection will suggest that England will not
be attacked in this war, if she does not run into it hereon'.
(Cheers.) No, it was said that England should artr4 in
order to be prepared to protect her interests. Again, I
should say so far so good ; only that 6' interest" is a very
vague word ; it mat, mean nothing, or it nifty mean any-
thing to suit the fancy of the coming moment. (Hear.)
But we have been vouchsafed a foretaste of what it might
mean. We have been told that if a French fleet should
enter the Adriatic, it might be the interest of England to
oppose it; we have been told, and on high authority too,
that if Trieste were to be atteeked, it might be the intefest
of England to defend it ; nay, the inspired ministerial den-
didate for the West Riding of Yorkshire even told the elec-
tors that it might be the interest of -England to protect
Venice. From what ? Of course, from the great misfor-
tune of getting emancipated from the detested yoke of
Austria. (Cheers.) Thus, turn it as we may, the alterna-
tive is this—either England remains neutral, or else she
will be brought to support Austria. If in this war Eng-
land were to depart from the principle of strict and impar-
tial neutrality, you would be in danger of seeing the colours
of England nailed to the mast of Austria—you would have
the fair name of Britannia coupled to that Babylon
of abomination whose power rests on a tissue of conduct
which, as Professor Newman remarks, in his work on the
Crimes of the House of Austria, even in the ancient hea-
then times caused the holders of power thus gained to be
regarded as self-outlawed, hateful to gods, and descry-
' ing of no defence from men. This feature of the case,
that departure from the principle of neutrality means
support• of Austria, should never for a moment be lost sight
of. It will convince every true-hearted Englishman that,
though the proclamation of neutrality is deserving of unre-
served approbation, there is much left to be watched, to be
cleared up, and to be controlled by public opinion. The im-
portant question is—What is the world to understand by the
assurance that the English Government are firmly purposed
and determined to abstain from taking any part in this
war ? Is this declaration made under the tacit proviso that
England will remain neutral provided the war remains re-
stricted to Italy, or is it meant to intimate that England will
adhere to the principle of impartial neutrality and strict non-
intervention, although, in the natural course of events, the
area of the conflict may happen to be extended to other parts
of the Austrian dominions, and the eventual issue of the
complications happen to be correspondingly enlarged.? I
Wish this assembly to come to a proper conclusion on this
subject, I shall, therefore, with your leave, my lord, enter
on a brief inquiry as to certain preconceived ideas—l might
vfell_call them prejudices—which, if
.they are not empha-
tically repudiated by public opinion, will be likely to drift
England into the war, in spite of the prospects held out
by the proclamation of neutrality. These prejudices turn,
in the first place, around a radically erroneous interpreta-
tion of what is called the Italian question ' • secondly,
around the undue regards which we hear professed on the
part of England for the treaties of 131.5; thirdly, around
what diplomatists call the localisation O
f the
and
lastly, around that greatest of all imaginable misconcep-
tions,
that the integrity of the Austrian empire is essential
to the maintenance of the
balance of power. May it please
your lordship to allow me to make some remarks on each of
these points. First, as to the real merit of the Italian ques-
tion. .There are commotions which owe their origin to
maladministration and misgovernment. These may he put
to rest by seasonable concessions, improvements, reforms,
But, my lord, ill-governed as Italy is, with the exception
of Piedmont, the Italian question is not of this character.
The problem imperatively claiming its adequate solntion in
the Italian question is not such or another form of Govern-
ment, such or another abuse or grievance, demanding such
or another improvement, concession, redress. No ; the
Italian question is a question of nationality. And because
it is a question of nationality, the first and foremost point
in its practical solution is, the total and definitive expulsion
of Austria from itary---(cheers)—her expulsion in such a
manner that she should not be able to go back. (Ileneived
cheers.) Many political questions may admit of a compro
miss ; but this is one of those which cannot admit of com-
promise. Either Austria must be definitively ejected from
Italy or else, do what the powers of Europe
may, the
Italian question will recur again and again. No atiministra-
tiv-e reforms, no re-adjustment of provincial frontiers, could
conjure it, and no terroristu could stifle it. Nothing short
of the utter extermination of the Italians could secure the
rule of Austria in Italy: -and a nation of twenty-six mil -
lions baffles even extermination. la ell wrote Lord Napier
to Viscount Palmerston, in 1848. "The Italians may be
crushed, but will not be extirpated. The enthusiasm of
hope will kindle, and the broken thread will be knit again
and again." It is front this nature of the Italian question
that already, in 1844, when the Papal dominions were even
worse governed than they are now—and to say this is tb say
vary much indeed--(laughter)-:-the moderate liberal parts,
—I say the moderate party—deelared to the Papal Corn-
. missaries that howsoever dreadful, howsoever insupportable
were the particular sufferings of the Roman people, their
questions with the Government had for them but a scenll-
dary interest—the principal was Italy—that what revolted
their feelings more than anything else was, that the. Papal
Government had made itself the slave of Austria in
' Italy, and that whenever an opportunitl for fighting the
A.-ustrians should offer itself, the Romans would join in the
• fif•ht with the energies of a wearied and indignant people,
because the life of all Italy was elevated to the sentiment of

nationality . It is likewis;jowinYie this nature of theltalisn
question, that when Venice and Lombardy had . t, en in
• 1!,18 the whole of Italy united in a crtuade against Austria.
The same nature of the Italian question explains the fact
that when, in 1848, from fear lent the French might enter
Austria offered to the Provisional Government of
Ntilan the unconditional independence of Lombardy, with
fs.culty to dispose of themselves a they might please, the
Milanese rejected the offer with the declaration that they
would never separate themselves front their Venetian bre-
thren, and that they would fight not for Lombardy, but for
]ltaly. It is equally front this nature of the Italian ainestinn
ghat we see, at this very moment, the people of Piedmont,
I ;hough happy and contented with their own condition; cheer-
::'illy accept all the sacrifices and sufferings of war, waged in
the most barbarous manner by the enemy--(hear)—that
King Victor Emmanuel having inscribed on his banner the
ne d pendence of Italy, sees a great number of republicans
`rallying aroufld him, just as the monarchists would have
rallied round the banner of Italy if the republicans had un
f arled it with a reasonable prospect of success. It is from
tits same cause that Tuscany threw itself into the arms of the

King of Piedmont ; that volunteers from . all parts of Italy
flock to the banner of the King; that the most extraordinary
measures of rigour have to be resorted to in Naples
to prevent the people from joining them ; and,
last, not least, to the same cause is it due that we see
the French received with joy and enthusiasm in Italy.
(Cheers.) Now it does strike me that in all the transactions
preceding the declaration of war by Austria there was this
shortcoming in the policy of England, that the Italian ques-
tion was not viewed as a question of nationality, but was
viewed as one that might and should be solved on the basis
of Austria retaining her Italian possessions, if she would
only consent not to interfere with the rest of Italy. I shall
not now enter on the task of showing that it is the strangest
of all strange misconceptions to believe that Austria may
be left in the possession of Venice and Lombardy, and that
she could be bound by any treaties, by any arrang,ements,
not to exert the preponderating influence of her position on
central and southern Italy in the direction of that principle
of unmitigated despotism in which the house of Austria
lives and moves and has its being. To show this I should
have to refer to diplomatic documents which plight not to
have escaped the attention of contemporary statesmen, but
which would carry me to a greater length than I can afford
on the present occasion. Therefore I will only remark, that
unless it be explicitly understood throughout Europe that
the maintenance of Austria in her ill-gotten Italian posses-
sions does not enter into the intents and purposes of Eng-
land, no proclamations of neutrality will preserve your
country from, sooner or later, being drifted into the war in
consequence of entangling alliances, for which it is manifest
that mighty influences are at work. (Hear.) It is a strange
sight to see what is going on in Germany. That the Ger-
man nation, which hardly ever was united in any single
purpose, should appear ready to sink for once all dissensions
in the determination to resist a supposed dash of the French
at the Rhine—this, my lord, justly commands the approba-
tion of every sensible man. There is, however, much of a
false alarm at the bottom of that agitation, as it is perfectly
absurd to suppose that the French Government, having
already one war on hand, could meditate an attack on the
Rhine—an attack directed, not against Austria, but against
Prussia and the confederated minor states—an attack which
would be sure to put a mighty European coalition in battle
order against France. The fact is, that there are influences
at work to turn thp, patriotic feelings of the German nation
to the profit of the house of Austria, for maintaining their
foot planted oil the neck of other nationalities, which have
as much right to assert, or to re-assert, an independent na-
tional existence as Germany has to maintain hers. (Cheers.)
But believe me, gentlemen, in spite of the prevailing excite-
ment, the noble instincts of the German nation could never
be deluded into the disgraceful part of being made the
valet de beereau (hangman's assistant) of the House of
Austria, for enslaving other nationalities, unless it was sup-
posed that England's government sympathised with Aus-
tria, that England's government thought her entitled to
retain her Italian possessions, and was favourable to the
idea that the integrity of her dominions should be main-
tained. (Hear, hear.) Unfortunately, it has been pro-
claimed in Parliament, by the official organ of England's
foreign policy, that Austria has strong claims on your sym-
pathy because she is kindred in race to Anglo-Saxon Eng-
land. (Laughter.) 'Well, I am bound to remark, in all
humility, that this pitiful appeal to your commiseration
happens to be a very unfortunate display of proficiency in
ethnographic studies. The unnatural compound of hetero-
geneous elements, formed by a long series of usurpations,
which goes by the name of Austria, is so far from being
kindred in race to England, is so far from being German,
that, though at the last census of 1851 the government of
Austria employed both artifice and terrorism to establish
for their dominions the character of German nationality;
they found it impossible to raise the number of their Ger
man subjects higher than to about seven millions out of a
population of 37 millions. (Hear, hear.) In fact, Austria
is the only Power in Europe which has no national charac-
ter ; it is of no country, of no race—it is just a dynasty and
nothing more • it is simply the House of Hapsburg—no, not
even that ; everything in that accursed house is usurpation,
down to their very name ; they are not Hapsburgs, they are
Lorrain-Vaudemonts, rebellious crown officers of France, as
Napoleon I. used to style them—not they, but the Lords Den-
. bigh of the house of Fielding are the only Hapsburgs on earth.
However, since such declarations of sympathy, coupled with
recognitions of the pretended rights of Austria, went forth in
an official manner from the English Government, it is not
to be wondered at that the impression prevails throughout
Germany, and throughout the Austrian dominions, that in
spite of the declaration of neutrality England will come
round by and bye, and in one way or another will find some
pretext for either directly supporting Austria or assisting
Germany in supporting; her. (Hear, hear.) This impres-
sion exerts such a detrimental influence on the spirit of the
oppressed nationalities as I am sure every liberal-minded
Englishman will lament. On the other hand, it pushes
Germany into a false direction, which if not checked in time
will, sooner or later, first entangle England into untoward
combinations, and then drift her, under some eventual
pretext, into the war. I think it, therefore, urgent that,
while approving of the policy of impartial neutrality and
strict non-intervention, the public opinion of the English
t nation should emphatically repudiate the idea of lending,
under any circumstances, her support to. Austria against the
nationalities op reseed by her. (Loud cheers.) I now come
to the pretended inviolability of the treaties of 1815. It is
the more important to have the mist of prejudices cleared
away in this regard, as it can admit of no doubt that should
it so happen (which God forefend !) that Ehgland were to
depart from the principle of neutrality it would be done in
favour of Austria, it would be done on the ground and
under the pretext of the inviolability of the treaties of 1815.
It is woeful to remember, my lord, that the sovereigns who,
on pretence of asserting the liberties of Europe, enticed the
nations to shed their blood in streams for nearly a full
quarter of a century, and to waste away the prosperity of
generations for the preservation of dynasties, at last re-
quited the deluded natfuis, at the Congress of Vienna,
by selling and bartering te‘tem like cattle, and by treating
Europe like an allodialfarnie (Bear, hear.) Thus it isl
that Lombardy, thus it is that Venice, the Fairy City,
robbed of its glorious independence of thirteen hundred years'
standing, were tossed over like a cr!cket-ball into the grasp
of the House of Austria. (Hear, hear) These last forty-
four years of Italian life, with their groans, with their
ever-growing hatred and discontent, whit their ever-recur-
ring commotions, conspiracies, revolts, revolutions, with
their scaffolds soaked'
in the blood of pan-efts, with their
horrors of Spielberg and Mantua, and with the chafing
anger with which the words, " Out with the Austrians,"
tremble on the lip of every Italian—these forty-four years
are recorded in history as a standing protest against those
impious treaties. The robbed protested loudly enough
against the compact of the robbers. (Cheers.) Yet, for-
sooth, we arc still told that the treaties of 1815 are invio-
lable ! Why, I have heard it reported that England rang
with a merry peal when the stern inward judge, conscience,
led the hand of Castlereagh to suicide ; and shall we, in ,
18.59, be offered the sight of England plunging into the in-
calculable calamities of a great war for no better purpose
than to uphold the accursed work of the Castlereaghs, and
front no better motive than to keep the accursed House of
Austria safe ? (Cheers.) Inviolable treaties, indeed 1 Why,
my lord, the forty-four years that have since passed have
cribbled those treaties like a sieve. The Bourbons, whom
they restored to the throne of France, have vanished, and
the Bonapartes, whom they proscribed, arc restored.
(Hear, hear.) Tsvo changes—the transformation of Swit-
zerland from a confederation of states into a confederated
state, and the independence of Belgium, have been accom-
plished in spite of those treaties, to the profit of liberty ;
but for the rest, the distinctive feature of the cribbling
process through which those treaties have passed is this,
that every poor plant of freedom which they had spared
has been uprooted by the unsparing hand of despotism.
From the Republic of Cracow, poor remnant of Poland,
swallowed by Austria, down to the freedom of the
press, guaranteed to Germany, but reduced to such
a condition that in the native land of Guttenberg,
not one poor square yard of soil is left to set a free press
upon, everything that was not of evil in those inviolable
treaties has been trampled down to the profit of despotism,
of concordats, of Jesuits, and of benighting darkness. All
these violations of the inviolable treaties were accomplished
without England once shaking her mighty trident to forbid
it; and shall it be recorded in history that when the object
is to drive Austria from Italy, when the natural logic of
this- undertaking might present my own native land with
a chance' of that deliverance to which England bade God
speed with a mighty outcry of sympathy, rolling like a thun-
der from John o'Groat's to the Land's End—that deliver-
ance for which prayers have ascended and are ascending
still to the Father of mankind from millions of British
hearts—shall it be recorded in history that at such a time,
under such circumstances, England plunged into the hor-
rors and calamities of war—nay, that she took upon herself
to make this war long and universal, for the mere purpose
of upholding the inviolability of these rotten treaties, those
highwaymen compacts, in favour of despotic, priest-ridden,
bankrupt Austria, good for nothing on earth except to spread
darkness and to perpetuate servitude ? (Cheers.) There
you have that Austria in Piedmont carrying on war in a
manner that recalls to memory the horrors of the bygone
ages of barbarism—(loud cheers)—allowing her rigorously-
disciplined soldiers to act the part of robbers lot loose upon
an unoffending population, to offer violence to helpless
women, to outrage daughters in presence of their parents,
and revel in such other savage crimes as the blood of civi-
lised men curdles at hearing related, and the tongue falters
in relating. (Hear, hear.) Such she was always • these hor-
rors but faintly reflect what Hungary had to suffer from her
in our late war. (Hear.) And shall it be said that
_Eng-
land, the home of gentlemen, sent her brave sons to shed
their blood, to stain their honour, in fighting side by side •
with such a " Soldatesca," for the maintenance of those
highwayman-compacts of 1815 to the profit of that Austria?
No, let the people of England raise loud their mighty voice
—let them thunder forth the forbidding words, " No, this
shallnot be," let them give to the government of the na-
tion the pillar of the nation's clearly expressed will to lean
1-,agaain n
against t theaf
.aPell, remindo them that they are the ministers of England
1.
influence Austria, andaf foreign
fortify
insidioustheir nationalw his positionperi
n g
There is danger, I tell you, men of En land there •danger
before your doors. Do not g
blindly confide iis
n appearances.
The wooden and iron bulwarksale of England went forth to
the Mediterranean with se
silent papers should have had something to
What if those
Orion, moored athwarl the port
141. g to do with the ship
and
so as to impede
the disembarkation of French troops, refusing it u
indigna-
tion move
an inch out of the way ? It is ruurecl
petty ship.
of the Genoese was loud, that England'sennatvhal officers
annoymanNace:
to
recurrencero w them a
ft to their isti,aleittuepioina.ohyreetba,suret
were obliged to stay all night ashore, as even
oNl'-ariations, and, as
chance, may be design, butat all events calculated to annoy
the French and Italians, and to provoke some untoward
shouldgondolier hear reofufsethde
collision,
t; upon the e
talked
dnodf o
inf
stirringwhich y
you have been appropriately.warned by the Times, you may
go to bed one evening believing yourself at peace,- and may
wake on the morrow finding yourself at war ? And all this
for:the glorious purpose of vindicating the inviolability of
the precious treaties of 1815. (Cheers.) Let the people's
voice keep England out of war till Parliament meets. Par-
liament will keep her safe when it shall have mot. (Cheers.)
The hustings gave a guarantee for this. But if the eople
relax in watchfulness, the evil of an "Accomplishedp fact"
may come between which even Parlituneat may find it dif •
ticult to redress. The third point Which I have to elucidate is
what diplomatists cull the localisation of the war. If this
expression has any meaning at all, Ales wean t to say that rim i
war shill be fOught out on Italian territory. Well, my lord,
I apprehend that those who say ti,.} talk absoluta nonsense ;
they have not consulted the most elementary principles of 1
strategy. If the war hi to have any issue, the A-astriansinust I
not only be ejected front Italy they must be ejected iu such a '
manner that they shall not b able to go back ag4ill• Tac-
tical victories, without a strategical result, never have
finished a war, nor ever will. (Hear, bear.) Now, in die t
le zir of the fortified defensive position of the Austrians, he-
tv.leen the llinciu and the Adige, and at a liti, distance
beyond' the Tagli ennento, is the frontier line which sepa-
rates Lombardy and Venice from the other dominions de
Austria. Well, imagine that the Austrians, attacked in
front in that famous position, despair of holding- their
ground, and retire behind the Tagliantento. Does England
mean to say that France and Piedmont 41111 be forbidden
to follow them ? (Hear.) Does England mean to say that
Austria, being at war, should enjoy all the advantages 0
neutrality in her seas, or. on her own territory ?—that she
has only to retire beyond a certain thie, there stop, and
mock her enemies, because these would be obliged, by the
localisation principle, not to overstep the Italian territory,

(Heart h 'ear.) Why this is absolutely preposterous. (Hear.)
We in on T war of independence ejected three armies in suc-
cession fn lm our territory ; they flew across the frontiers of
neighbour lug Turkey, and we did not follow them from re-
spect for th e neutral rights of our neighbour. But Turkey,
did not disa. sin the ejected Austrians, as by the law of na-
tions she °nett to have done ; and the result was, that they
came back, acid tsttacked us again. (Hear, hear.) How-
ever, in that erase they retreated to a territory which was
not their owsi awl, therefore, was under the rights and
duties of neutrality. But in the present case it is pretended,
upon the 4,rinciple of localisation, that Austria, though bel-
ligerent, should enjoy all the privileges of neutrality in her
own'seas and on her territory. She does not confine her
means of Nsarfare to those resources which she might draw
from Italy; they w euld be scanty resources indeed.. No,
she uses every nook of her dominions, whether connected
with the Germanic confederation or not, for raising armies,
and drawing every implement and supplement of warfare
from everywhere. Yet it is pretended that the powers with
whom she is at war should hold her territory inviolable be-
yond Italy; it is pretended that she may be belligerent, but
should be thought neutral too. (Hear.) Again I say that is
absolute nonsense. (Cheers.) There is yet another conside-
ration. The strategical position of Austria in the 'famous
square between the Mincio and Adige, with its four fortresses
on its four corners, one of them, Verona, not a mere fortress,
but a fortified camp, capable of sheltering 60,000 men—
that position is not 'what it was in the famous campaign of
1796. It was like am embryo then, it is like a giant now.
(Hear, hear.) And diplomacy comes with its idea of locali-
sation, and claims from France and Piedmont that they
should be content with a front attack—content, as it were,
with running their heads against a wall ; and that they
should abstain from taking the power of Austria in flank
or rear, either by sea or bar land, or any other point of her
dominions. Why, the pretension is absolutely monstrous !
(Hear, hear.) Then, what is to be inferred from these con-
siderations, with regard to the policy of England ? It
would be utterly vain to speculate upon what England
would have to do if France NV9re to dash at the Rhine, and
occupy Belgium, or attack Germany, because no man in his
senses can think that the Emperor of the French can be ex-
tremely anxious to get Prussia and Germany to turn upon
him while he has Austria on his hands. If he be attacked
by them, he will of course defend himself, and will not be
without allies I imagine ; but that he should intend to
attack them is an idle dream. Therefore, you ought to
consider the war, such as it is; Piedmont and France on
the one hand, and the House of Austria on the other; and
on this ground I should ask;—Are you willing to guarantee
with your blood and money to belligerent Austria the privi-
leges of neutrality for her non-Italian possessions ? Are
you willing to have your country plunged in war for the
purpose of protecting Austria from such military operations
as, consistently with the law of nations, her antagonists
may think fit to direct against her without Italy ? If you
are not prepared to do this (as I trust you are not), well
'then, do not rest satisfied with vague declarations, but go
straight to the practical point, and let it be clearly under-
stood by the Government, that whether the battle-field be
confined to the Po, or extend to any other portion of the
Austrian dominions, you wish England to maintain a strict
and impartial neutrality, and that you will as little vote one
penny of subsidy, or sacrifice one drop of English blood, for
the safety of Austria in the Adriatic, on the Danube, or on
the Theiss, as you would do it for her safety on the Po.
(Cheers.) I think it both urgent and important, my Lord
Mayor, that public opinion should'be explicit in its mani-
festations, because I cannot forget that some distinguished
members" of her Majesty's Government hinted at the
possibility of England flying to the rescue of Austria, if
she were to be attacked in the. Adriatic. (Hear, hear.)
And I ask what is that Austria to you, that she should be
hugged. to the protecting bosom of Britannia, at the cost
of your blood to be shed in streams, of your money
to be spent by hundreds of millions, at the cost
of bringing incalculable confusion into your commercial re-
lations, inflicting deep wounds, it may be incurable wounds,
on your prosperity, checking your progress, and arresting
the course of your peaceful reforms? (Hear, and cheers.)
What, I ask, what is the house of Austria to you ? (Re-
newed cheers.) Is its existence advantageous to your com-
mercial interests ? Why, just consult the latest returns of
the Board of Trade, and you will see that your commerce
with small but free Belgium is nearly six times as extensive
as your commerce with the big Austrian empire. (Hear,
hear.) Uruguay nearly equals it, the Philippine Islands,
poor Norway, and little Greece, rank each before Austria.
But I know that when the heterogeneous compound of that
European nuisance is once dissolved, your commercial in-
tercourse with Hungary alone must be ten times as exten-
sive as it is with the whole Austrian empire now. Or is it
true,. as some have told you, that Austria is your useful
ally, both faithful and true? (Laughter.) Useful, indeed
I know that Austria was the insatiable pensioner of England;
that she was the bottomless sack into which England poured
millions from the life-sweat of her industrious people. I
know that in the late French warn you gave her the little
snug sum of 17 millions of pounds; but what advantage
you have got from her in return is not yet recorded in his-
tory. (Laughter.) T know that you have saved Austria, but
I do not know that you areindebted for yoursafety, for your
rank among the nations, for your prosperity, or for your
freedom to her. (Cheers.) A dear ally she was to you, for-
sooth; only too dear. But how " useful ?" That I have
Yet to learn. Austria your ally, faithful and true ! Why
gentlemen, remember the Crimean war. Cast your eyes at
the gloomy churchyard field before Sebastopol. It is faithful
Austria, that pale phantom of death, that sent your heroes
to die in vain on that barren field, while she stood idly by
without firing a shot, without raising a finger, in return for
all your consideration for her. (Hear.) But if I can find no
answer to the question, " What is Austria to England ?" I
could tell you a tale of horrors about what Austria is to the
great birthright of mankind—liberty, what she is to freedom
of conscience, what she is to culture and enlightenment,
what she is to everything that good men prize. No, Eng-
land cannot, England will not, load herself with the re-
proach of oppressed millions by stepping between Austria
and retribution, for which she appears to be marked by the
finger of a long-forbearing but just Providence, whose ways
are often mysterious. And why, I ask, why should England
plunge into the calamities of war to keep that Austria safe?
One answer is given to this question which brings me to the
last chapter of my remarks. It is said that the integrity of
the Austrian empire is necessary to the maintenance of the
balance of power. Oh, this word, spectre as it is, that cannot'
stand the light of common sense, this word is a terrible
Moloch, to which right, justice, political morality, freedom,
and the existence of nations, have been immolated as so
many holocausts. (Hear, hear.) Let it not be said that
England persisted in perpetuating the sacrifice. I shall not
now enter on a theoretical elucidation of the fallacies of this
cabalistic, abracadabra of balance of power, which unlike
that of the olden Syrians, creates the diseases which it is in-
tended to cure. I shall restrict myself to one remark of a
practical character.. Artificial states, without either organic
cohesion or harmonising cement, are an incitement to war,
instead of constituting a check upon it. (Hear.) Against
what kind of preponderance is the Austrian empire meant
to constitute a barrier? Evidently either against Russia
or against France. Well, as to Russia. There are in the
Austrian empire 17 millions of people belonging to the
Sclavonic race ; all of them discontented, because not only
oppressed politically, but also deprived of national exist-
ence. Now, imagine Russia desiring to strike an ambi-
tious blow anywhere. 'Will Austria be a barrier to her ?
Was she ever a barrier at any single moment of the past ?
Why, Russia need only to say, as the Czar Alexander
instructed Admiral Tsitsakoff to say if he found Austria
playing fast and loOse, " Ye 17 millions rise against the
oppressor of your nationality—here I am to help you ;"
and they will rise ; and where will Austria be ? This is
the reason why Austria did not dare to draw her sword in,
the late Crimean war. Is that a barrier? Why, it is a
high road inviting ambition to an easy march. (Cheers.)
Now, reverse the picture. Let those 17 millions be delivered
frointhe Austrian yoke, and they would be what Sclavonic
Poland was till quartered with the concurrence of Austria.
Again, as to France. On the 19th November last I spoke
at Glasgow the following words :—" In any war in which
France will stand on the one side and Austria on the other,
.France has but to advance to the frontiers of any of the
nationalities oppressed by Austria and say, ' Here I am to
help you, rise and throw off the yoke of Austria,' and they
will hail the invitation with enthusiasm." You are just on
the eve of seeing this anticipation realised in Italy. As
the French advance you may see in them new Deucalions
raising up an Armed foe to Austria from every stone. And
you may see the anticipation by-and-by realised in other
quarters too. If Austria held not Italy in her grasp, would
an Italian question be possible ? No, Austria is not a
barrier; her very existence is the sword of Damocles sus-
pended over the settled condition of Europe, it is the cavern
from which the kriNisiCan volcano is fed. (Hear, hear, and
cheers.) Let Austria vanish' into the gulf of eternal perdi-
tion which is yawning for her—(cheers)—and we may yet
hear, perhaps, of local revolutions, but they will remain
mere domestic affairs ; European wars of ambition will be-
come for ever impossible, and you will not see any longer
the lifesweat of Europe drained' by the keeping up of large
standing armies, because the independence of every nation
will find a guarantee in the independence of all. (Cheers.)
The truth is veryplain, my lord. The nations agglomerated
into the artificial compound called Austria certainly contain
considerable elements of power ; but it is a very great mis-
conception to deduce from this fact the inference that the
Austrian empire is a powerful ingredient in what is called
the system of the balance of power. The world has pro-
gressed, my lord. The sentiment of nationality which 50
years ago the dynasties aroused for the protection of their
thrones is strongly developed everywhere. If it be strong
in the German nation it is equally strong in the Italian,
Hungarian, and Sclavonic nationalities—nay, even stronger,
because these are subject to foreign domination. Therefore
the fact is, that the nations which are yoked together under
the strictly military rule of Austria detest that rule. Con-
sequently, in any war waged against Austria, one or another
of them, it may be all of them, will always be found ready
to join any foreign power against Austria. Those nations,
emancipated from the yoke of Austriapwould certainly form
powerful bulwarks of Europe's independence, but coupled
together by force and violence in an unnatural compound
which they detest, they are not a barrier but a vulnerable
point of Europe's peace and security. (Cheers.) I have
thus endeavoured, my Lord. Mayor, to elucidate the four
points which I beg the meeting well to consider, because it
is on the view which the English natimrshall take of these
points, that the policy of England will eventually depend.'
(Hear hear.) There is one point more to which I desire to
advert. It is said that if the Italians, if the other nationali-
ties whom Austria holds in bondage, would act alone, Eng-
land would not feel tempted to intervene, but the French
intervention alters the case. (Hear, hear.) It is said that
the Emperor of the French cannot be actuated by any other
than ambitions views—(hear, hear)—that he means con-
quest ; and this England should not allow ; nor should
Italy, ca' the other oppressed nationalities, lend their hands
for exchanging one task-master for another. (Hear, hear )
These are grave considerations, indeed, and here is my brief,
plain answer to them. It is easy to say that the oppressed
nationalities should act alone. Unity of will and harmony
of design are not everythine. ; action must be combined on a
preconcerted plan, and before that combination• can be
arrived at in countries where speech is stifled, and the press
is gagged, the disciplined army crushes the unorganised
oh;t:d
ea:
riab masses,liberty-loving
ltlioenvdl2,fl the' hangmanodpiTed
the rest. (Hear, hear.) This is the key to the mystery
bnoinildliaognes
maybe
bane
i‘fint:irt which
iut re
113gton...itir
I,,eih:sai:odaiasfurttedo:tioenestcaphefio,dle:
nel instances
oppression
edelolseroldlded soldiers
nrsi
n history
bltit.:lyeth,ase i:tirsin, was achieved
The United States
naoi,findnA:nristeh andr America
a Data fleet of 500 sail
independence. (Isms, hear.) Even
it
was
N'vvi
tehn
these England,that heroic and
,of
despotic
DinutcehstGabrlei
Orange Cant to the rescue of her liberties. (Hear.) We
Hungarians achieved our independence without foreign as-
ssasnce, but it was by foreign intervention that wo were
minds of Governments and of aristocrats that they raise
call the intervention of the
enslaved. What curious change hassudden -
come
on a over
the
in Sicily, at route, 34101d0-
we
in Baden, in Schleswig-Hol,
Fa ill-eunteritin clrytallyga?illriyh,atmtylulyord, for about 40 years
have scarssily beard of anything else than foreign interven-
liberty.
Therehas wh4eseniati:Vterlt:trioninitgaSl)airthlitti
stitoenin,resainst
one poor word of ob-
I do not know that Englao hsieverdrawn her
laNivtbeaNrtuaa:p:ehial_avenesry,d, isinn*oPuroiendntilignaaorinyet:
sword to forbid it. Sometimes a tame-remorAtrance may ,
have been offered ; but in the case of ray own dear native land
gneand's GoYerginellt had not even