The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-17 00:00:00

THE AFFAIRS OF ITALY.

'War having broken out in Italy in spite of at
the exertions of the English Government and the
other-neutral 'Powers of Europe, the late Secretary of
Stile for Foreign affairs, in the course of last month,
did what lay in his power to mitigate the evils
necessarily attendant on war. The following
despatch relates to the neutrality of the Swiss
Cantons

" No. 526.

" TIEE EARL OF MALMESBITRY TO EARL COWLEY.

" Foreign-office, May 4, 1859.
" My Lord,—Although it is fair to suppose that
the belligerent Powers would not, under any cir-
cumstances, violate the neutrality of the territory
of the Swiss Confederation, yet it would doubtless
relieve the public mind in Switzerland, on whose
confines hostilities will be_ carried on, if it were

publicly announced by each of them that the
nentralty of the Swiss Cantons would be strictly
observed during the war, and that orders to that
effect had been sent to the Generals in command.

" I have accordingly to instruct your Excellency,
and I' have sent similar instructions to her Majesty's
representatives at Vienna and at Turin, to 'call the
attention of the French Government to , this ;matter,
and to suggest the propriety of such .a .declaration
being made, and such orders given,• on. the part of
the French Government. • • •

" I am, &c., " MALMESBURY."
The Earl of Malmesbury made the following
suggestion to the Government of Austria :

• • "No. 529.
" THE EARL OF MALMESBURY TO LORD A.
• • .
LOFTUS. •
" Foreign-office, May 4, 1859.
" Sir,--Although the exertions of her Majesty's
Government may have proved unavailing to pre-
vent war, they think that the Austrian Government
will not ake it ill of them if they endeavour in
some respects to mitigate its calamities,
" I have, therefore, to instruct your lordship to
suggest to Count Buol, for the consideration of the
Imperial Government, whether a mutual under-
standing, similar to that come to by the British and
French Governments at the commencement of the
war with Russia, might not be entered into between
France and Austria, for assigning to the merchant
vessels of each. Power a specific time to load in and
clear out from the ports of the other ; for admitting
into the• ports of either of the respective countries
the merchant .vessels of. the other which have sailed

from foreign ports previously to the commence

ment of war r and for permitting the subjects of
either to reside unmolested in the dominions of the

other, so. long as they maintain a demeanour and
conduct consistent with their peculiar position in
the eottitry Of'an enemy.
As'your Lordship may not have at hand the
British Orders.in. Connell .the first twctpoints to
Which I have- adirerted. 'arid Wli cli were adopted in
terms by the Freiidli Gt:);c'-eritmelit; I enclose copies
thereof for your infdriaatiei,:;2l.am,
Y. „ , -• • • MALMESI3

•
''..T'"••e:
hefelloWingenlphtitiOtekPefitibh of tli6- OSAM
40oVernment'te'iaiit4n. an. observant neutra-
lity occurs ,des Latch IdiTressed from theiE,oreign-
office on the same, clay Ottz ~MEty) to our.represeni,
taitiyg, at .the. Court of Berlin
:" As, far as England is-concerned there are no,' im-
mediate interests which necessitate any direct ac-
tion on her , part; and her Majesty's Goiernment
feel ,into be theiu duty to maintain a strict
lity .between the belligerenti. This is also the feel=
ing of the people of England, and it is obvious that
any other course at present would tend to complica-
tions which can scarcely yet be foreseen:
" Her Majesty's Government, therefore, deprecate
any actwhich would unnecessarily extend the theatre
of war, and they will be prepared to take advan-
tage. Of any favourable opportunity that may be
af401:441 to them .of .being the medium of restoring
peace."

This declaration is once more repeated in a "cir
cular" to our Ministers abroad, issued from Down.

ing-street on the 4th of May. After giving a
resume or the negotiations to preserve peace, the
Earl of Malmesbury thus concludes :
" Her Majesty's Government have only to lament
the little success which has attended all their efforts,
jointly with other Powers or singly, to avert the
interruption of the general peace. In the present
position of the contending parties it would obvi-
ously be to no purpose to attempt to restrain them
from engaging in a deadly struggle. Her Majesty's
Government will, however, watch the progress of
the war with the most anxious attention, and will
be ready to avail themselves of any opportunity
that may arise for the exercise of their good offices
in the cause of peace. It is their earnest desire
and firm intention to observe the most scrupulous
neutrality between the contending parties."
The following concluding despatches of the blue-
book (written after the "Rubicon" had been crossed)
contain the declaration of the Government of the
Tuileries on the commencement of the war, and
give a lucid exposition of the general views and
sentiments entertained by the Government; the
latter will more than repay perusal:—
" No. 534.
" COUNT WALEWSKI TO M. DE BANNEVILLE.

" (communicated to the Earl of Malmesbury by the
Duke of Malakhoff, May 5.).
(Translation.) -
, " Paris, April 29, 1859.
' " Sir,—At the moment that I have the honour of
-writing this despatch to you, I can hardly doubt
that the Ticino has been crossed by the Austrian
army.. I have already informed you, by my tele-
graphic message of the 26th of April, the meaning
which the Government of the Emperor would see
itself obliged to ascribe to such a demonstration.
"If the precipitation-of events renders, unfortn.
nately; discussion superfluous, it is my duty to
recalls in few words, a general summary of the
events which show, at the same time, the imperious
10oessity of our conduct, and the perseverance of
our efforts, in order to arrive at a different result.
" The Government of the Emperor assuredly has
not to justify the solicitude with which *the state
of things iii Italy inspired it. The crisis which has
new come in the centre of the peninsula gives but
too much cause for our foresight ; and it has, in
fact, sufficed to us to make known our apprehensions
in order that the great Powers of Europe might
partake in them to the same degree as ourselves.
This simultaneous agreement of the Cabinets, in face
or a danger which they all had for some years
secretly foreseen, proves how ripe the question
seemed to them. We have the proud conviction
that the Congress assembled under the conditions
which the Cabinet of St. Petersburg had proposed
for its convocation, and confining itself to the plan
traced out for its deliberations by the Government
of her Britannic Majesty, would have fully resolved
the difficulties which prudence no longer permitted
to be left unheeded.
Who could now doubt that the rock on which
tie work of conciliation split was the pretension
put forward by the Court of Vienna on the subject
of a disarmament of which it would probably have
been, more just and more true to -say that Court had
to give the example ? •
" Had not Sardinia, in fact, accepted, without any
afterthought, the situation which would result for
her from the terms of the Russian proposition, and
if military preparations had already- been effected
upon her territory, besides that the disproportion of
forces made all aggression on her part inadmissible,_
did not the most obvious reasons impose upon her
the duty of waiting quietly for the decision of the
great PoWers ? No guarantee, in a word, was more
real or more complete for Austria than the imme-
diate. assembly of the Congress; and if the first con-
dition, of which she demanded the fulfilment before
answering the appeal of the allies, a condition consi-
dered inacceptable by all the world, gave rise subse-
auently to combinations which she was the first to re-
ject,,it is permitted to me to state that at the beginning,
as well as at the end, the obstacle to the harmony
which was the wish of the other Courts was only
encomitered at Vienna.
" The situation, sir, acquired, no doubt, through
sio many delays, an importance which became more
and more serious, but the bond (faisceau) of good
intentions which had been formed and maintained
ftself to the end between the Cabinets of Paris,
Perlin, London, and St. Petersburg, opposed, so to
say, its resistance to the perils of this situation.
Notijng was irremediably compromised, when
Austria, not satisfied with refusing its consent to
the last propositions. of England, took the step of
addressing to Turin a summons, at brief notice,
which must perforce have altered our attitude.
" The Government of. the Emperor could only
seela the general position of the affairs of Italy a
great European question, the settlement of which
demanded the co-operation of all its allies. Those
affairs, nevertheless,
were bound up, on one side
only, with interests which concerned it in a more
personal and particular manner. Austria herself, in
promising not to begin hostilities against Piedmont,
keoglused by implication the existence of a limit
which the most lively desire for a peaceful solution
could not allow us to let her go beyond.
" The Government of the Emperer had, besides
announced that if it did not-sustain Sardinia in an
aggressive attempt, it would give
her its support
for defensive measures. This engagement entailed
an obligation from which the Court of Vienna only
could exempt us.
Informed of the menace which 'Weighed
upon
Piedmont at such brief notice, we were obliged in
so'Wiort a space to put ourselves in a position to
and uponthedemaoad of
,Pitigate its consequences;

Ar.l4`,