AFFAIRS OF ITALY—QUESTION. (Hansard, 7 February 1860)

§ LORD JOHN RUSSELL

Sir it will be necessary for me, in order to give satisfaction to the noble Lord, to enter into some account of what has lately taken place. At present I cannot produce the papers because negotiations are still pending which, however, may soon be in such a state that I shall be at liberty to lay them on the table. What has passed is this:—The House is aware from Her Majesty's Speech that Her Majesty was invited to take part in a Conference or Congress respecting the affairs of Italy. At a certain period when it was expected the Congress was to meet, we received intimation from the French Government that it was adjourned sine die, but that we should be informed if there was any intention of its assembling hereafter. It was said that the delay, or rather the entire postponement, of the Congress was owing to the publication of an anonymous pamphlet at Paris. Be that as it may, Her Majesty's Government felt that it was a very serious condition of affairs if, that the Italians, who had hitherto been waiting in expectation that Italian affairs would be solved by the Congress, should have no regular Government and no apparent means of terminating the condition of uncertainty in which they were placed. Her Majesty's Government, therefore, made propositions to the Governments of France and Austria, with a view to the definitive solution of the Italian question. Those proposals were contained in a despatch to Earl Cowley, dated, I think, the 14th of January. The first proposal was that, as the rivalry of France and Austria had led to great evils in Italy and great danger to Europe, those two Powers should agree not to interfere in future by force in the internal affairs of the Italian Peninsula without the consent of the five great Powers. By the second proposition it was proposed that the French troops should, at a convenient time and with all proper precautions, withdraw from Lombardy and Rome. By the third proposition it was proposed that the Governments of Europe should not interfere in the internal Government of Venetia—that no proposition should be made to qualify the internal Government of Venetia by the Emperor of Austria. To these three proposals the Government of France, with certain modifications as to the time and season 612 for withdrawing their troops, gave their ready consent. Upon the fourth proposition they begged time to consider, and time to communicate with the Government of Austria. The fourth proposition was to the effect that the King of Sardinia should be asked not to send any troops into Central Italy until there should be, by a new election and a new vote of the States and Provinces of Central Italy, a clear and unbiassed declaration of their wishes with respect to their future destiny—that if that wish should be in favour of annexation to Sardinia, then the restriction to which it was proposed to ask the King of Sardinia to submit should be removed, and no objection made to his introducing troops into the provinces of Central Italy—meaning, of course, those provinces which have declared they will no longer be governed by their late rulers. The French Government has accordingly communicated with the Government of Austria upon that subject, but no official communication of the decision of Austria has yet been received. This very morning I received a despatch from our Ambassador at Vienna, to the effect, that Count Rechberg promised to take the Emperor of Austria's orders, but that he could not give an official answer without receiving the Emperor's instructions and commands. With respect to ourselves, the Austrian Government, on receiving the communication of the three propositions to which they were asked to consent, made objection that it was not in conformity with their views and opinions as to the rights of sovereignty to make any absolute engagements with regard to non-intervention. With regard to the fourth proposition, although they could not acknowledge the state of things which has arisen in Central Italy from an insurrection, at the same time Count Rechberg declared to Lord Augustus Loftus in Vienna, and Count Apponyi has declared to me in London, that the Austrian Government have no intention whatever to interfere in the affairs of Italy; that they are not going to send any forces beyond their own frontiers; and that they shall confine themselves strictly to the defence of their own possessions, which are declared by treaty to be part of the dominions of the Emperor of Austria. These declarations, combined with the willingness of the French Government to entertain the three first proposals, give great hope that we shall arrive, by these means, at a settlement of Italy which, although not imme- 613 diately acknowledged by all the Powers of Europe, will at the same time be a pacific settlement, and prevent a renewal of war. Immediately after communicating with the Governments of France and Austria, I directed communications of the same proposals to Prussia and Russia for their information and subsequent decision. With regard to Russia, I have not received any answer whatever. The Prussian Government has not made any objection to the proposals, but delays making a definite answer until the opinions of France and Austria have been ascertained. This is exactly the substance of what has hitherto passed. The noble Lord will see that these are rather the beginning of negotiations, and I cannot at present be authorized by Her Majesty to place the papers on the table of the House.