§ MR. WARNERsaid, he would beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether there is any foundation for a statement which has appeared in the newspaper La France, to the effect that England is so far committed upon the question of Poland that in the event of war arising out of it between France and Russia she could not remain neutral; whether there is any ground, so far as this country is concerned, for a suggestion which has been repeatedly put forward in French newspapers, and particularly in the Constitutionnel, that the negotiations relating to Poland might terminate in war; and whether Her Majesty's Government have laid down as a principle in those negotiations that this country will in no case intervene with armed force in the quarrel between the Emperor of Russia and his Polish subjects?
§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTONSir, I am glad to answer the Question of my hon. Friend by stating that Her Majesty's Government have in this matter pursued that which is the standing policy of England—namely, not to contract prospective engagements with regard to events which cannot be precisely foreseen. We have entered into no engagements with any foreign Power on the subject to which my hon. Friend has alluded. We are therefore perfectly free to act in regard to any event which may occur in the manner which appears to be most expedient and consistent with the interests of this country.