[Proposed Congress. Peace of Europe.] (5) The Earl of Clarendon to Earl Cowley. Views of Great Britain and France as to Position to be taken by Great Britain, France, and Russia in Proposed Conference. Sir, Foreign Office, 11th May, 1866. THE French Ambassador has made me acquainted with the reply of which he had already received by telegraph, and stated to me the substance as I informed you in my despatch of yesterday, to the observations which I had made to him on his communication of the previous day, and of which I gave you an account in my other despatch of yesterday, on the subject of a previous understanding being come to by the Governments of England, France, and Russia as to the measures which they might propose to Austria, Prussia, Italy, and Germany, with a view to prevent an interruption of the general Peace. M. Drouyn de Lhuys says in this despatch that he concurs in the objection I made to the Preliminary Conference between the 3 Powers being designated as a Congress; it is immaterial to France so long as an understanding between the 3 Powers in the interest of Peace is brought about, in what form it is so. M. Drouyn goes on to say, with reference to the exception which I had taken to the expression of "a firm intention" on the part of the 3 Powers to settle the question of Venetia, the Elbe Duchies, and German Reform, that the avowed Pacific and Neutral Policy of the Imperial Government precluded the supposition of any preconceived plan on the part of France to interfere actively in matters which only concerned her to the extent of the bearing that they had on general interests; that whether all the Great Powers met together in Congress at once, or whether England, France, and Russia alone conferred together with a view to devise a solution of pending Questions, the course usually observed in regard to such Meetings should be adhered to; that if an unanimous conclusion was arrived at, there was an end of the matter; that if it were not so, each Power would, with its own opinion, retain full liberty of action. France fully understood the objection of England to bind herself beforehand to maintain by Force of Arms any recommendations that she might make; and, like England, in case the Powers should not come to a common understanding, France purposed to remain free to act as she thought fit. But M. Drouyn de Lhuys is of opinion that it would be well that the question of the eventual employment of force should be left undetermined (réservée "), inasmuch as the decisions of the [Proposed Congress, Peace of Europe.] Powers would be stripped of all force and authority if they were to declare beforehand that the Enforcement by Arms of the decisions at which they might arrive was absolutely renounced by them. I thanked the Prince de la Tour d'Auvergne for the communication, which I said to a great extent removed the objections I had stated to him, and I informed his Excellency of the instructions which had yesterday been sent to your Excellency, authorising you, upon the invitation of M. Drouyn de Lhuys, to meet that Minister and the Russian Ambassador, in order to confer upon the 3 Questions of Venetia, the Elbe Duchies, and German Reform, the settlement of which M. Drouyn de Lhuys had represented as of urgent importance for the Peace of Europe. Earl Cowley. I am, &c., CLARENDON. (6) Sir A. Buchanan to the Earl of Clarendon. Consent of Russia to proposed Appeal to Austria, Italy, and Prussia to resume the status quo. Views as to proposed Congress. (Extract.) St. Petersburgh, 7th May, 1866. ON my calling on Prince Gortchakoff at his request this morning, he inquired whether the French Ambassador had said anything to me relative to a Congress being convoked with a view to prevent the present state of affairs in Germany and Italy ending in War, and on my answering in the affirmative he proceeded to acquaint me with what had passed between Baron de Talleyrand and himself on the subject. His Excellency said that the French Ambassador had acquainted him with a suggestion of Her Majesty's Government, that representations should be addressed simultaneously by Great Britain, France, and Russia, to the Cabinets of Vienna, Berlin, and Florence, with a view to induce them to disarm and to seek by negotiation a peaceful arrangement of their differences, but that as the French Government considered such a measure would be ineffectual (" inefficace") they were anxious in the first place to come to some preliminary understanding with Russia respecting the Elbe Duchies, Federal Reform in Germany, and the position of Venice, which might lead eventually to a Congress being held for the settlement of these questions, [Proposed Congress. Peace of Europe.] Prince Gortchakoff said he had told Baron de Talleyrand when he mentioned the question to him two days ago (and he was about to do so again by the orders of the Emperor), that the present circumstances of Europe were too critical to afford time for discussions upon points in which it would be extremely difficult to induce the different parties interested to agree; but that Russia would be ready to join Great Britain and France, as suggested by Her Majesty's Government, in urging the two German Powers and Italy to replace their Military Establishments on a Peace Footing, and that while he would trust principally to the action of the Emperor Napoleon at Florence to obtain the desired result from the Italian Government, he conceived that the Cabinets of Vienna and Berlin could hardly resist a common energetic appeal to them from the 3 Great Powers. In the meanwhile, however, his Excellency thought it might be expedient to assent to a proposal for a Congress, provided that the objects to be discussed by it were clearly defined, so that none could be brought forward except those which had reference to the difficulties which have given rise to the present complications. He further stated that Baron Brunnow had reported what your Lordship had said to him as to the views with which a British Plenipotentiary would enter such a Congress. These views would also, he said, be those of the Russian Plenipotentiary, but he thought it would be inopportune now to discuss details, as he would prefer that the invitation to the Congress should be made in general terms. The Earl of Clarendon. A. BUCHANAN. (7) Sir A. Buchanan to the Earl of Clarendon. Proposal to Austria to restore Armaments to a Peace Footing. (Extract.) St. Petersburgh, 9th May, 1866. PRINCE GORTCHAKOFF read a despatch to me, which he has forwarded this morning to Vienna, urging on the consideration of the Austrian Government the expediency of immediately coming to an understanding with Italy for a simultaneous restoration of their Armaments to a footing of Peace; and his Excellency said that if the representations of the Russian Minister at Vienna were favourably received by Count Mensdorff, the Russian messenger would proceed immediately to Florence with instructions to Count Kisseleff to express to the Government of Italy the [Proposed Congress. Peace of Europe.] earnest hope of the Emperor that they will be ready to enter at once into an arrangement for disarming, which will remove the danger to which the Peace of Europe is at present exposed. Copies of this despatch were forwarded to-day to Paris and London, and it will be read to your Lordship by Baron Brunnow. A. BUCHANAN. The Earl of Clarendon. (8) Earl Cowley to the Earl of Clarendon. Preliminary Conference between the Plenipotentiaries of Great Britain, France, and Russia. Invitation to be made to Austria, Prussia, Italy, and the Germanic Confederation to join in a Congress on the subject of the Cession of Venetia to Italy, the destiny of the Elbe Duchies, and German Federal Reforms. (Extract.) Paris, 15th May, 1866. M. DE BUDBERG having informed M. Drouyn de Lhuys yesterday that he had been authorised to assent to the Proposal made to his Government by his Excellency on the 8th instant, to meet his Excellency and myself in Conference, with a view of examining whether some steps might not be taken by the 3 Governments we have the honour to represent for the assembling of a Congress in the interests of Peace, M. Drouyn de Lhuys invited my Russian colleague and myself to meet him this afternoon at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. M. Drouyn de Lhuys opened the conversation by recounting the substance of the communication which he had addressed to London and St. Petersburgh, and he proposed that the Governments of Austria, Prussia, and Italy, and the Germanic Confederation, should be invited by England, France, and Russia to join in a Congress, in order to discuss the 3 Questions laid down in his telegram of the 8th instant, which are set forth in your Lordship's despatch of the 10th instant. I asked his Excellency how he proposed that this invitation should be made-whether collectively by the 3 Powers, or by France alone, assured of the support of the other two. His Excellency replied, by a collective, or at all events by an identic, communication from the 3 Powers. M. de Budberg asked when it was proposed that this Congress should be held, and how it was to be composed. [Proposed Congress. Peace of Europe.] M. Drouyn de Lhuys replied that the idea of the Emperor was that the Congress should meet at Paris, and that the Plenipotentiaries of the Powers, resident at Paris, should compose it. Of course if any Government chose to send a Plenipotentiary ad hoc, no objection could be made to it. The Earl of Clarendon. COWLEY. (9) The Earl of Clarendon to Earl Cowley. Understanding upon which Great Britain could take part in a Congress for the Preservation of the Peace of Europe, and the Questions to be discussed; the Elbe Duchies, Venetia, and German Federal Reform. My Lord, Foreign Office, 17th May, 1866. THE French Ambassador has received from M. Drouyn de Lhuys a despatch, dated the 13th instant, referring to the communication made to the latter by your Excellency of the purport of my despatch of the 10th instant. Your Excellency, M. Drouyn de Lhuys says, agreed with him on the necessity of England, France, and Russia communicating to the Powers whom they might invite to take part in a Congress, the Questions to be there discussed. The serious circumstances of the present time make it indispensable to restrict, as far as possible beforehand, the range of discussion. Remonstrances or advice would not, in the opinion of the French Government, ensure the result which it was sought to obtain; but being sincerely desirous of arriving at it, the French Government accepted generally the proposition of a Congress when suggested to it, stipulating only that the object for which it was to meet should be clearly defined. France did not, any more than England or Russia, propose to constitute herself the judge of the Differences which had caused a portion of Europe to take up arms; the 3 Powers did not, therefore, propose to agree among themselves upon the manner in which the question in debate should be solved, and to put forward their conclusions to be accepted by the Powers more directly interested. But the French Government thought that, when inviting those Powers to join in an endeavour to arrive at a peaceful solution of existing Differences, it was but fair and prudent to |