§ LORD ELCHOsaid, that, when appealed to on Tuesday by his noble Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to withdraw the Motion which stood in his name, in giving way he reserved to himself the right of saying a few words in explanation of the motives which induced him to place his notice on the paper. He was now anxious, as shortly as he could, to make that explanation, because his motives had been much misunderstood. The House need not he alarmed; he had not brought the blue-book with him, and did not intend to enter into any argument to persuade hon. Members to adopt the opinions embodied in his Resolution. It had been stated that he had turned a Derbyite, and that it was from factious motives and hostility to the present Administration that he had given notice of his Motion. He entirely disclaimed everything of that kind. He entertained for the present Government no feelings of hostility. Far from it, he was prepared to do by them as he had done towards preceding Governments—namely, to give them his humble support where he thought they were light, and to oppose them where he thought they were wrong. It was not, therefore, from a feeling of hostility to the present Ministry, but simply from a desire to do what he believed to be an act of simple justice towards the late Government, that as an independent Member he had put his notice on the paper. It could not be denied that an impression had gone abroad that the policy of the late Government had been a policy not of strict neutrality, but one favourable to Austria and antagonistic to France and Sardinia. That was stated in the public prints and by their opponents in that assembly, and there could be no doubt that this had had a material effect upon the adverse division which took place in that House, and produced the fall of the late Government. Indeed, he had heard it said that had the blue-book been published previous to that division it would have made a difference in it of something like twenty votes. He did not wish to enter into any discussion on that point, but when the blue-book came out the impression it unquestionably produced was that the late Government had 1305 been greatly maligned in regard to the policy they had pursued, because it was then shown that on the Italian question they had all along adopted a strict and impartial neutrality. It, therefore, appeared to him, as an independent Member, having supposed that the late Government had acted in a certain way, and finding that they had really not done so, that it was but right that Parliament should have an opportunity of expressing an opinion; and the opinion which he had himself formed he embodied in his Resolution. That, then, was the sole object of the first part of that Resolution, and he was at loss to see how it could be viewed as a hostile act to the present Administration. In private life, when one had wronged a man by unwittingly saying that he had done a thing which subsequent events convinced one that he had not done, the first impulse of an English gentleman, even if that man was his enemy, was to do him justice, admit that he had injured him, and express one's regret. All, therefore, that he had intended asking the House of Commons was, to do that which each individual Member would have felt himself, as an individual bound to do, and if, in its aggregate capacity, it believed it had wronged the late Government, he had wished to put it to the House whether it should not take the opportunity he had afforded to it of doing them justice. Such then was the motive which mainly induced him to put his notice on the paper. He did not deny, however, that in framing the latter part of his Motion he was under the impression that the present Government were not prepared to follow a policy of strict neutrality. His belief was that the feeling of the country was, as long as our honour and our interests were not affected, in favour of maintaining between the contending parties in Italy a strict and impartial neutrality. But he doubted from the antecedents of his noble Friend at the head of the Government, and from the antecedents of his noble Friend the Foreign Secretary, whether their neutrality would be really strict and impartial. He was afraid that their neutrality, as was said of that of Russia, would be a neutralité inquietante towards Austria, and that their attitude towards Austria would in fact resemble the attitude towards France which was erroneously ascribed to their predecessors. He believed that if he had brought on his Motion he could have proved from the speeches and antecedents of those noble 1306 Lords that he was not wrong in that impression; and, therefore, he was anxious that there should be an affirmation on the part of the House of Commons that the conduct of our Government ought to be strictly and rigidly neutral. Five minutes after he gave that notice, his noble Friend at the head of the Government, however, said that he intended to walk in the paths chalked out for him by his predecessors. He (Lord Elcho) for himself, was perfectly willing to accept that declaration, to believe that it was made without any arrière pensée, and that it was the bonâ fide purpose of the new Ministry to carry into effect the strictly neutral policy followed by those whom they had succeeded. Nevertheless, he should have been disposed to ask the House to adopt the latter part of his Resolution, because in the nicely-balanced position of parties there, with much doubt still prevailing whether hon. Gentleman who sat behind him (the party below the gangway on the Ministerial side) really meant to give a cordial support to the present Ministry, he thought it desirable to strengthen the hands of the Government by the expression, if possible, of a unanimous opinion in favour of neutrality. He had hoped that this question would have been taken up by some more influential independent Member, and he had asked the hon. and learned Member for Sheffield (Mr. Roebuck) and the hon. Member for Surrey (Mr. Drummond) whether it was their intention to bring it forward. Both of those hon. Gentlemen said, that although they thought such a step should be taken, they did not mean to take it themselves, and the hon. Member for Surrey strongly urged him to do so. On these grounds, then, and on these grounds only, he had ventured to place his Motion on the paper. He would now state the reasons which had led him to withdraw his Motion. It was not in consequence of the state of affairs existing at the time when his noble Friend the Foreign Secretary asked him whether he intended to proceed, that he was induced to withdraw his Motion, for before that question was put to him on Tuesday last, he had determined in his own mind not to press his Resolution. He was not prepared to admit that the House of Commons should necessarily at all times, when public affairs on the Continent were in an important or momentous position, be debarred from the expression of its opinion; on the contrary, he ventured to think, that in any important crisis of European affairs, 1307 the opinion of perhaps the only free assembly of free men in Europe—for no one knew what had become of the Sardinian constitution—so far from being detrimental, might be highly beneficial, when expressed in a becoming manner. What would happen if the view which he had just stated was not to hold good? Why, the expression of public opinion in England, if it did not find vent in the House of Commons, at periods of great interest, would be left entirely to the public press. Now, he wished to speak with all respect of the English public press. He believed it to be the most independent and, upon the whole, the most honest public press in the world; but they all knew that the daily press wrote for daily circulation, that it was apt to take its colouring from passing events, and they had occasionally seen that what was denounced as wrong in January became right in June, when sanctioned by the magic of success. It was desirable, then, that the House of Commons should upon important occasions express its opinion upon matters of foreign policy; but even before the appeal made to him he had determined not to press his Motion because he was aware that if he had determined to persevere, there were many men in that House who, though unable to deny the truth of the statements which it contained, would have taken advantage of the existing state of things, and of the withdrawal of a somewhat similar Motion in "another place," to vote against it, if he had pressed it to a division. His object would thus have been defeated, that object being to obtain, if possible, an unanimous, but certainly a distinct expression of opinion on the part of the House. He regretted that he had been obliged to withdraw his notice, because he was anxious to do an act of justice to the late Government. He could not, however, but in common with every Member of that House, rejoice at the cause of his having to withdraw his Motion—the cessation of war and the conclusion of peace. Although the announcement of peace was received by the House with acclamation, he could not but think that there were many hon. Members who did not view it with entire satisfaction. He doubted whether those hon. Gentlemen who, regardless of right and of treaties, forgetful of Ireland and of Canada, had been favavourable to the armed intervention of a foreign Potentate in the affairs of a neighbouring country, and to the propaganda of nationalities were profoundly satisfied with 1308 this peace. He doubted whether the peace had been received with much delight by those who dwelt in the neighbourhood of Leicester Square. He doubted whether any song of thanksgiving would issue from the platform of Exeter Hall in favour of a peace, the main feature of which was the exaltation of the Pope, It might be sceptical on his part, but he was also inclined to doubt whether the circumstances, and the terms of this peace had met with cordial approval from the authorites in Downing Street, whose counsels and whose advice had, as far as the House was aware, not been sought. He was inclined to condole sincerely with his noble Friend the Foreign Secretary upon the position he now occupied, for he had been suddenly and unexpectedly deprived of an opportunity which he, no doubt, anxiously desired to redeem his character as a negotiator, and to succeed in establishing in Italy that model constitution which he had doubtless already prepared. But if they were inclined to condole with the Foreign Secretary, he was sure there was no Member of that House, no man who had in him any feeling of compassion, who would not condole still more with the noble Lord at the head of the Government. Of that noble Lord it might be said that the dream of his life had been the expulsion of the Austrians from Italy, and he now had the satisfaction of seeing them more permanently established in the Quadrilateral than ever, with the recognized right, as a part of a great Italian Confederation, of interfering in the affairs of every State in Italy. He did not envy the feelings of his noble Friend when he found that peace had been concluded without the Emperor of the French having asked his counsel or waited for his advice, and the noble Lord had the farther mortification of reflecting that eleven years ago a nod of his head, a stroke of his pen, would have given to Italy, an amount of liberty greater than she now enjoyed after years of agitation, suffering, and misery, and after the immolation of hecatombs of slaughtered soldiers. He could not but think that his two noble Friends in their present position were worthy of the deepest commiseration; for, to use a graphic though somewhat slang expression, they had been most horribly "sold." But peace had been made. A war wantonly commenced had been capriciously concluded, and although there were many things upon which he could wish for further information, although he should 1309 like to know what preparation had been made for the better government of the Roman States and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, although he should like to know what would happen in the event of the subjects of the Pope and the Dukes of Tuscany and Modena, and of the Duchies of Parma, declining to receive back their Sovereigns—although he should like to know whether the Austrian, Sardinian, and French armies, were to force those personages upon their reluctant people; although he should like to know what had become of the Sardinian constitution and its free press—whether it was to be restored, modified, or extended to Lombardy or not—yet they ought in the meantime to rejoice that peace had been made, and that the sickening slaughter which had daily filled the columns of the morning press would not in future meet their eyes as they glanced over the pages of their favourite journal. Let them earnestly pray that this peace might contribute to the permanent tranquillity, happiness, and security of Europe, although he, for one, was inclined to doubt it much.