MR. STANSFIELDsaid, he rose to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether it is true or not that, towards the end of the month of December last, a public Association, to be entitled "La Nazione Armata," having for its object the voluntary arming and organization of large numbers of the population of the kingdom of Sardinia, was proposed by two Members of the Chambers, Signori Brofferio and Sineo, and the Presidency, with the consent of the King, accepted by Garibaldi; and whether, about the same time, a Royal decree appointing General Garibaldi Inspector-in-Chief of the National Guard of the Kingdom had been determined upon, and was on the point of being signed by the King; and, further, whether, under these circumstances, Sir James Hudson, Her Majesty's Ambassador at Turin, under instructions from the Government at home, and in conjunction with the French Ambassador, or otherwise, on the 2nd day of January, or on any other occasion, protested to the King against such measures, which His Majesty was supposed, of his own free will, to be about to adopt, stating, in the name of Her Majesty's Government, that the good offices of Great Britain, in the present crisis of Italian affairs, would be withdrawn if such proposed measures were persisted in?
§ LORD JOHN RUSSELLSir, I confess I am unable to answer the former part of the question of my hon. Friend as to what was done in Piedmont with regard to the association called "La Nazione Armata." I was however informed by Sir James Hudson in a private letter that there was a plan for having an armed association in Sardinia, of which General Garibaldi was 329 to be the head, and that Signor Brofferio, one of the Chamber of Deputies, and two or three other deputies, wore favourable to the plan, and went to General Garibaldi to invite him to accept the presidency. Sir James Hudson informed me that he had considered the matter, and had come to the conclusion that to have an armed association, not under the control of the Sovereign, was quite inconsistent with his notions of a monarchy. Sir James Hudson received no instructions from Her Majesty's Government on the subject, nor has the question come for discussion before Her Majesty's Government, but I believe that Sir James Hudson's opinion reached the ears of the King. General Garibaldi was then asked to resign the Presidency of this Association, which he did in the most prompt and generous manner. General Garibaldi afterwards wrote to Sir James Hudson to know whether he had given any opinion to the King of Sardinia that this Association ought to be dissolved. Sir James Hudson answered promptly and frankly that, in his opinion, in a monarchy all the armed forces ought to be under the command of the King. All the forces of the Kingdom had previously been under the command of the Sovereign as Commander-in-Chief. It was an entirely private proceeding on the part of Sir James Hudson with regard to these questions, and one upon which he received no instructions from Her Majesty's Government, nor do I think that the French Minister had anything to do with the matter. As to Sir James Hudson having stated that the good offices of Great Britain would be withdrawn if the proposed measures were persisted in, I believe Sir James Hudson never made any such statement. Although it was not necessary to take any public notice of the matter, I wrote a private letter to Sir James Hudson approving what he had done.
§ MR. DARBY GRIFFITHsaid, he wished to know whether he was to understand that this was an entirely unauthorized proceeding on the part of Sir James Hudson.
§ LORD JOHN RUSSELL—Her Majesty's Government had never heard of the matter until they were informed of it by Sir James Hudson.