The Sun.
London, England, 1850-06-14 00:00:00

FRANCE.

- - -
Through the latest dispatches received from the
French capital we obtain very nearly the textual
copy of the note addressed to 'Lord Palmerston by the
Russian Government on the question of Naples and
Tuscany
M. de Nesselrode begins by observing that the
Cabinet of St. Petersburgh completely identifies itself
with the principles which have served as the basis of
the, conduct of the Cabinet of Vienna.
' "It is too much interwoven," he says, " with the
maintenance and independence of states of the second
order, and of the internal tranquillity of Italy, not to
identify itself without reserve in the sentiments and
.political views of Austilit. in virtue of the principles
of public law, as understood in the Russian policy.
it can never be admitted that a sovereign, forced, as
the Grand Duke of Tuscany has been by the
obstinacy of his rebellious subjects, to retake pos-
°salon of points occupied by the insurgents, shall be
bound to make compensation to foreign residents who
may have suffered certain losses or injuries occasioned
by the assault of the city where rebellion has been.
When people establish themselves in a foreign coun-
try, no matter where, they are bound to accept the
chances and the casualties to which such country may be
exposed. Leghorn revolted, and it became necessary to
employ force to reduce it to obedience. If certain English
proprietors have shared in the injury suffered by the pro-
prietors, natives of the place, have they a right to de-
mand indemnity which the Tuscan Government refuses
to its own subjects? Sash are the motives that have
induced the Tuscan Government to address itself to the
Emperor and demand _ his arbitration. The Emperor,
notwithstanding the lively interest he feels for Tuscany,
has not considered himself bound to accede to this re-
quest. It is not on account of a sum more or less impor-
tant in amount, but on principle, that the Emperor
cannot admit even the Idea of an indemnity of any
kind claimed as a legitimate right, still less exacted by
force, because by doing so he would appear to give it an
implicit sanction by granting his arbitration to both
parties in the event of England consenting to defer to
it. As Tuscany is disposed to enter into conciliatory
explanations,. it could form no part of the intentions
of the Russian Government to attempt to offer any
impediment to an arrangement a Camiable with the
English Government. But the Emperor has a right to
expect from the justice and moderation of the English
Government itself that it will not employ, for the pur-
pose of arriving at that arrangement, any means but
those of an equally conciliatory charaet9r; and :he Im-
perial Cabinet thinks it its duty, in wha, concerns itself,
and from the present moment, to reserve its own judg-
ment as to all that it regards conformable to the recog-
nised maxims of international law. •
" The Cabinet of London cannot but understand that
the present is a question of the gravest kind for the inde-
pendence of the whole of the continental states. In fact,
if the sights sought to be established by England at this
moment with respect to Naples or to Tuscany be once
admitted as a precedent, the result would be an excep-
tional position fur all British subjects--a position far su-
perior in advantages to that enjoyed by the native inhabi-
tants of other countries; while the Governments that so
received and admitted them on their territories would
be placed in an intolerable situation. In place of being,
as hitherto, a source of benefit for the countries where
they establish themselves, and where they transport
with their establishments those habits of indastry, of
morality, and of order, which so honourably characte-
rize the English people, their presence would become a
perpetual source of annoyance, and in certain cases an
inevitab e scourge. Their presence would become for
the agitators:aud perturbators an enu,nragement to revolt,
because behind the barricades would continually appear
the menacing eventuality of future reclamations on behalf
of English subjects injured in their property in conse-
quence of acts of repression. Every Sovereign who by the
geographical position of his territ >Ty, or frem his relative
weakness, would be thus e xpos. d to measures of coercion
from an English fleet, would be struck powerless in pre-
sence of rebellion ; he would never dare to adopt mea-
sures of coercion against insurgents, and if he adopted
them he would be obliged to examine the details of every
operation, to estimate the necessity or the inutility of
such or such a strategic measure which may expose
English subjects to injury, and to recognise the English
Government as supreme judge between the Sovereign
and his subjects in matters relating to civil war and in-
ternal government.

" The Emperor cannot subscribe to such a theory,
however disposed he may be, and may have always been,
to receive with. benevolence persons belonging to the
British nation, for whose character his Majesty'. esteem
is well known. If reclamations such as those now made
on Naples and on Tuscany be supported by .force, he
will feel himself obliged, by necessity, to indicate and
explain in the most precise and formal manner, the con-
ditions on which, in future, he will consent to grant to
British subjects in his territories the right of residence
and of property.
" The Russian Government hopes that the English
Cabinet will receive its observations in the same spirit of
impartiality that has dictated them, and that it will act
according to the same spirit in the conduct to be adopted
towards the Courts of Naples and of Tuscany. The
cause of these Courts is that of all weak states, where
existence is only guaranteed by the maintenance of the
principles just invoked. At the present moment, more
than ever, respect for those principles by the great
powers, can alone preserve Europe from the gravest
disasters."
A copy of the above was, at the Emperor's request,
left with Lord Palmerston.