§ MR. HUMEsaid, he had requested the noble Lord the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, to be in his place, as he intended to ask him a question with respect to the proceedings of the French against Rome. It was alleged publicly, in the French President's message, that this country agreed in all the proceedings the French had been carrying on against Rome, and as, in his (Mr. Hume's) view of those proceedings, they had been of a most objectionable nature—considering that the Government of this country depended on the will of the people as well as the Government of France and the Government of Rome, it was with regret he saw we were involved in the speech of the President in such a matter at all. He wished to ask, therefore, in what way we were connected with those proceedings, and how far our connexion extended?
§ LORD J. RUSSELLAs far as I am concerned, I have had no notice whatever of the hon. Member's question, and I did 1369 not at all know he intended to ask any question on this subject. But I certainly did not read the message of the French President in the way in which the hon. Member seems to understand it. I understand the message of the President to say generally that England and France had been on the best terms during the transactions which had taken place during the last two years. But as to the particular expedition to Rome, we are in no way involved in it. The French Government—so far as I can recollect, not having had notice of the question—asked our opinion with respect to joining the conference at Gaeta, and we gave it as our opinion that we saw no objection to France sending a Minister to that conference. As to the expedition to Civita Vecchia, it is in accordance, we suppose, with the view the French Government took of its own interests, and we are not in any way connected with it.
§ MR. HUMEBut Rome is mentioned specially in the message as one of the objects of policy in which we approved of the policy of France.
At a subsequent period of the proceedings,
§ MR. HUMEsaid, that seeing the noble Secretary for Foreign Affairs now in his place, he begged to know whether he had rightly understood him to say, on a former occasion, that the French Minister had communicated to him the intention of the French Government previous to the expedition to Civita Vecchia; and, if so, whether that communication included the march of the French to Rome? He would also be glad to know if the noble Lord approved or disapproved of what happened subsequently to the expedition to Civita Vecchia?
§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTONsaid, that the communication to which he referred on the occasion he alluded to, did not relate to anything further than the intention which the French Government had conceived in the end of November or beginning of December last of sending an expedition to Civita Vecchia; but there was no mention of what ulterior proceedings that expedition might undertake; and, speaking from recollection, he did not remember any particular communication respecting the sailing of that expedition lately.
§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTONThe answer we gave was this—that it was not 1370 for us to judge for the French Government, but that in our opinion the difficulties which had arisen between the Pope and his subjects might be arranged by diplomatic intervention, and that in our opinion that diplomatic intervention ought to have for its object an understanding between the Pope and his subjects, by which the Pope, returning to Rome, would secure to the Roman people those constitutional institutions which were granted last year, and especially a practical and real separation between the temporal and spiritual authorities of Rome.
§ MR. HUMEfurther inquired whether any intimation had been made to the noble Lord of the intention of the French Government to go to Rome, or to attempt to take possession of Rome?
§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTONNo such thing.
§ MR. J. O'CONNELLasked whether the views of the British Government, as explained by the noble Lord, were quite consistent with the principles professed by them, of not intermeddling in the affairs of foreign countries; and whether the noble Lord was aware of any want of sincerity on the part of his Holiness the Pope with regard to the giving of those institutions?
§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTONsaid, that Her Majesty's Government had received an intimation from various quarters that their concurrence in the proceedings about to be adopted at Civita Vecchia would be well received.
§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTONFrom Austria, Naples, France, and the Nuncio at Paris. The Government declined taking any part whatever in them, seeing that, considering the geographical position of England, and the particular nature of the British constitution, they did not think we had the same motives either in these respects or in a religious point of view for joining in them. But they did make known to the Nuncio, by a written despatch through the Marquess of Normanby in Paris, precisely the sentiments he had just expressed as those which were entertained by Her Majesty's Government on the matter.
§ Subject dropped.