us and while their battalions were marching across our squares. Such a union is the first step on the path of a new public law which gives back to the nations the arbitrament of their own destinies. The heroic army of Your Majesty and that of Your generous Ally, who proclaimed that Italy should be free from the Alps to the Adriatic, will shortly complete the magnanimous enterprise. Until then, Sire, accept the homage which the city of Milan tenders you through us, and be assured that there is but one voice speaking from all hearts, but one cry: "Long live the King! Long live the Constitution! Long live Italy!" Milan, June 5, 1859. The Communal Council of Milan Ratifies the Vote of the Municipal Congregation. June 6, 18591 Radunatisi oggi in via d'urgenza il Consiglio comunale di questa città, ed informato delle disposizioni prese dalla Congregazione municipale in conseguenza degli attuali straordinari eventi, il medesimo ha prese per acclamazione le seguenti deliberazioni, di cui la prima e la seconda fra le grida unanimi da parte dei numerosi p. 264. 1 Le Assemblee, vol. 1, The Communal Council of the city summoned to-day in haste and informed of the resolution taken by the Municipality in consequence of the extraordinary events which have transpired, has adopted by acclamation the following resolutions, of which the first and the second were given with the unanimous acclama ITALIAN PLEBISCITES OF 1860-1870 TUSCANY AND EMILIA, 1860 Dispatch of Lord John Russell to Earl Cowley, British Ambassador at Paris, Containing the British Proposal of the "Four Points" 1 MY LORD: Foreign Office, January 15, 1860. It appears from the present aspect of affairs, that either the Congress will not meet at all, or that, if it should meet, it must be divided by irreconciliable differences of opinion. Between the doctrine that it will be the duty of a Congress to restore the authority of the Pope in Romagna, and the doctrine that no force ought to be used to impose a Government or Constitution on the people of Central Italy, there can be no agreement. Her Majesty's Government, hopeless of arriving at any general consent by means of the Congress, have taken into their serious deliberation the possibility of devising some means by which the external and internal independence of Italy might, according to the preamble of the Treaty of Zurich, be placed upon solid and durable bases. It is clear that the occupation of Rome and Bologna by the troops of France and Austria during a period of unprecedented length in the history of foreign occupations, has added a danger instead of creating a security. At Bologna, no sooner were the Austrian troops withdrawn, than the people of all classes, the highest as well as the lowest, abjured the temporal authority of the Holy See. At Rome the wise councils which have from time to time been given by the occupying Power have been rejected or neglected, and the basis of a beneficent administration, calculated to secure the affections of the people, has yet to be laid. After the melancholy experience of ten years, ending in a sanguinary war between the two Powers which jointly occupied the Roman States, is it not time to resort to other means of pacification more consonant to the general law of Europe, less provocative of discontent, and less calculated to sow the seeds of war? Her Majesty's Government are greatly encouraged in such an attempt by the communications they have received both from Paris and Vienna. 1 British Parliamentary Papers, Affairs of Italy [2636], p. 4. In accepting the invitation of France to attend a Congress you were instructed to say, that "Her Majesty's Government, in adverting to the correspondence which has passed between the Governments of Great Britain and France since the signature of the Preliminaries of Villafranca, find that the Emperor of the French has repeatedly declared himself opposed to the employment of force for the purpose of restoring the Grand Duke of Tuscany and the Duke of Modena. "Her Majesty's Government rely implicitly upon these declarations, and they consider that an interference by external force to restore the authority of the Pope in Romagna would be no less opposed to the views and intentions of the Emperor of the French, than forcible intervention in the Duchies." When your Lordship read this despatch to Count Walewski, and placed a copy of it in his Excellency's hands, no exception was taken to this statement. On the contrary, you report that when you placed a copy of the despatch in Count Walewski's hands, his Excellency, in thanking you for the communication, expressed the pleasure which the assent of Her Majesty's Government gave him. The accuracy of the representation of the intentions of the Emperor of the French, given in my despatch, is thus amply confirmed. Upon this foundation, Her Majesty's Government rest their hope that propositions to the following effect might be accepted by the Emperor of the French : 1. That France and Austria should agree not to interfere for the future by force in the internal affairs of Italy, unless called upon to do so by the unanimous assent of the Five Great Powers of Europe. 2. That in pursuance of this agreement the Emperor of the French should concert with His Holiness the Pope as to the evacuation of Rome by the troops of France. The time and manner of that evacuation to be so arranged as to afford the Papal Government sufficient opportunity to garrison Rome with the troops of His Holiness, and to take every precaution against disorder and outrage. We trust that by previous arrangement and due preparation, the security of His Holiness might be fully provided for. Arrangements to be made for the evacuation of Northern Italy by the troops of France at a convenient period. 3. The internal government of Venetia not to be in any way matter of negotiation between the European Powers. 4. Great Britain and France to invite the King of Sardinia to agree not to send troops into Central Italy until its several States and Provinces shall, by a new vote of their Assemblies, after a new election, have solemnly declared their wishes as to their future destiny. Should that decision be in favour of annexation to Sardinia, Great Britain and France will no longer require that Sardinian troops should not enter those States and Provinces. You will read this despatch to M. Baroche, and give him a copy of it. I am, &c. (Signed) J. RUSSELL. Dispatch of Lord John Russell to Sir James Hudson, British Minister at SIR: Turin 1 Foreign Office, February 6, 1860. You will observe that the French Government, in agreeing to the fourth proposal of Her Majesty's Government, make a reserve as to the mode in which the vote of the people of Central Italy is to be taken. So far as Her Majesty's Government are concerned, our views would be satisfied if the actual law or practice of Tuscany, Modena, Parma, and Romagna were observed. We have never adopted universal suffrage for ourselves, and if that suffrage is proposed by France, we should leave the different States and Provinces to decide for themselves, both as to who should be the electors, and as to the mode of election. We have chiefly in view an election, not carried by intimidation, nor partaking of the excitement of the first outburst of the national feeling for independence. I am, &c. (Signed) J. RUSSELL. Proposition made by Thouvenel to Talleyrand for Transmission to the Sardinian Government 2 Paris, le 24 février, 1860. M. LE BARON, En calculant toutes choses, M. le Baron, avec la ferme intention de rechercher entre toutes les solutions Paris, February 24, 1860. M. LE BARON, Taking everything into consideration, M. le Baron, with the firm intention of selecting among all solu 1 British Parliamentary Papers, Affairs of Italy [2636], p. 36. 2 Ibid. [2638], pp. 10–12. |