AFFAIRS OF ITALY. (Hansard, 5 June 1856)

THE MARQUESS OF CLANRICARDE

said, it was not necessary to enter into any lengthened discussion of Italian affairs in putting to the Secretary of State (the Earl of Clarendon) the question of which he had given notice, though at an earlier hour of the evening and in a fuller House he might have been tempted to go at some little length into the events that had produced them. The subject of that question was of very considerable importance, for it was notorious that events of great gravity, which had more than once been adverted to in Parliament, had taken place in the north of Italy. Those events did not merely affect the happiness and tranquillity of the States in which they had occurred, but they also touched the honour and interests of this country, inasmuch as they were connected with the general condition of Europe and with treaty engagements to which Great Britain was a party. The circumstances to which he referred had been distinctly brought under the notice of France and England by the Ministers Plenipotentiary who represented Sardinia at the late Congress at Paris. Two notes had been presented by them to the Governments of France and England, as the Ministers of the country, which from its geographical position and its political associations felt itself deeply concerned in the matter, for the purpose of drawing attention to the State of Italy and of pointing out its bearings upon the other European Powers. With these documents their Lordships and the public in 976 general wore already acquainted; for versions of them, no doubt sufficiently accurate, had already been published; but he thought it was right that an authentic copy of such communications should be furnished to Parliament There might have been reasons for delaying their production, but, considering the time which had elapsed since the communication took place, he did not think there could be any reluctance on the part of Her Majesty's Government to lay upon the table copies of the notes and of the replies which had been given to them. He deemed it most important that Parliament should be acquainted with the tone and attitude of the Government of this country upon a subject of so much gravity, and whether or not a discussion of the question might be desirable in Parliament would depend in a great measure upon the course pursued by Her Majesty's Government and the nature of their replies. He hoped the necessity for any discussion on this subject in Parliament might be avoided, but undoubtedly, unless affairs assumed a more satisfactory aspect, it would be desirable that they should be considered before the close of the Session. He begged to ask if Her Majesty's Government were prepared to lay upon the table the Notes of the 22nd of March and the 16th of April, presented by the Sardinian Plenipotentiaries at Paris to the English and French Plenipotentiaries, together with the answers which may have been given, to those Notes?

§ THE EARL OF CLARENDON

My Lords, I feel that I owe your Lordships some apology for not having sooner laid upon the table the Notes to which the noble Marquess refers. Perhaps, as they had appeared in the newspapers, I did not attach to them so much importance as my noble Friend seems to do. With respect to answers to those Notes, acting with the French Plenipotentiaries, we came to an agreement that, as we had so fully and entirely discussed the whole question vivâ voce, and at repeated interviews, with the Sardinian Plenipotentiaries at Paris, it was not necessary to send any written answer. The first of the Notes was, in fact, a request, on the part of the Sardinian Plenipotentiaries, that the question of Italy should be brought before the Congress; and the best answer we could give was the answer we did give by doing what the Sardinian Plenipotentiaries asked—as 977 your Lordships are aware the affairs of Italy were brought before the Congress. The second Note intimated that a satisfactory conclusion had not been arrived at by the Congress upon the Italian question, and asked for further discussion. It was of course necessary that the Sirdinian Plenipotentiaries should place on record something which would satisfy the Chambers and the people of Sardinia that they had called attention to the subject; and as Count Cavour understood that certain measures would be adopted for carrying out some of the objects he had in view, it did not appear necessary to send a written answer to this Note. However, after I returned home it came to my knowledge that it would be agreeable to the Sardinian Government to have some written record of the opinions of Her Majesty's Government with regard to the foreign occupation of Italy and the desirability of its ceasing. I could not have the least hesitation in complying with that wish, as I could only repeat on paper, and in the name of Her Majesty's Government, what I had said at Paris. I therefore wrote an answer, which I now lay upon your Lordships' table, together with the two Notes. It certainly may be necessary, before Parliament separates, to have a fuller discussion upon Italian affairs; but such a discussion might be injurious at the present moment, for it must be remembered that we are not the principal Powers interested in the question. The armies now occupying the Italian territory do not belong to us. It is only Austria and France who can take measures for withdrawing those troops; and after having so long occupied the territory, and created a state of things which exists under the shelter and protection of foreign troops, those two Powers are bound to take care, before they withdraw their forces, that they can be withdrawn without danger. I believe, I may say without impropriety, that both those Governments are sincerely desirous of withdrawing their armies, and are at this moment actively preparing to adopt that course.