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that the continuance of European troops in Syria should be limited to six months." The great Powers also declared their disinterestedness in concluding the arrangement for intervention in Syria, and their intention not to seek for exclusive advantages, influence, or privileges. He also stated what steps had been taken by the Porte for the suppression of these disturbances. The different Powers had also determined to send a Commission to Syria, and Lord Dufferin had been selected to represent England. He was glad to inform the House that the Governor of Damascus was already in custody, and was to be brought to trial. He concurred with the remarks of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe as to the difficulties in separable from the Eastern question, but he could not agree with him that the time for palliatives was passed. The stability of the Turkish empire was of the greatest importance to Europe, and everything ought to be done to preserve

it.

Lord Clanricarde expressed his dissent from the plans of the Government, and recommended the adoption of more vigorous proceed ings with the effete Government of Turkey.

Lord Granville said, that because our feelings were roused by indignation, we ought not therefore rashly and suddenly to change all our policy in the East, which had materially contributed to the peace of Europe and the balance of power in the world.

After a few words in reply from Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, the discussion terminated.

The time for closing this protracted and laborious Session had now arrived. Having commenced

somewhat earlier than usual, viz., on the 24th of January, and been marked by unusually late hours and long sittings, it was at length prorogued on the 28th of August, the Queen, who had previously departed for Scotland, being represented on this occasion by Commissioners. The Royal Speech, delivered by the Lord Chancellor, was in these terms :—

"My Lords and Gentlemen,

"We are commanded by Her Majesty to release you from further attendance in Parliament, and at the same time to convey to you Her Majesty's acknowledgments for the zeal and assiduity with which you have applied yourselves to the performance of your important duties during the long and laborious Session of Parliament now about to close.

"Her Majesty commands us to inform you that her relations with Foreign Powers are friendly and satisfactory; and Her Majesty trusts that there is no danger of any interruption of the general peace of Europe. Events of considerable importance are, indeed, taking place in Italy; but if no Foreign Powers interfere therein, and if the Italians are left to settle their own affairs, the tranquillity of other States will remain undisturbed.

The proposed Conferences on the subject of the cession of Savoy and of Nice to France have not yet been held. But Her Majesty confi lently trusts that, in any negotiations which may take place, full and adequate arrangements will be made for securing, in accordance with the spirit and letter of the Treaty of Vienna of 1815, the neutrality and independence

of the Swiss Confederation. That neutrality and independence were an object to which all the Powers who were parties to the Treaties of Vienna attached great importance, and they are no less important now than then for the general interests of Europe.

"Her Majesty commands us to assure you that the atrocities which have been committed upon the Christian population in Syria have inspired Her Majesty with the deepest grief and indignation. Her Majesty has cheerfully concurred with the Emperor of Austria, the Emperor of the French, the Prince Regent of Prussia, and the Emperor of Russia, in entering into an engagement with the Sultan, by which temporary military assistance has been afforded to the Sultan, for the purpose of reestablishing order in that part of his dominions.

"We are commanded by Her Majesty to inform you that Her Majesty greatly regrets that the pacific overtures which, by Her Majesty's directions, her Envoy in China made to the Imperial Government at Pekin did not lead to any satisfactory result, and it has, therefore, been necessary that the combined naval and military forces which Her Majesty and her ally the Emperor of the French had sent to the China Seas should advance towards the Northern Provinces of China, for the purpose of supporting the just demands of the allied Powers. "Her Majesty, desirous of giving all possible weight to her diplomatic action in this matter, has sent to China, as Special Ambassador for this service, the Earl of Elgin, who negotiated the Treaty of Tien-tsin, the full and faithful execution of which is de

manded from the Emperor of China.

"Gentlemen of the House of Com

mons,

"Her Majesty commands us to convey to you her warm acknowledgments for the liberal supplies which you have granted for the service of the present year, and for the provision which you have made for those defences which are essential for the security of her dockyards and arsenals.

"My Lords and Gentlemen,

"Her Majesty commands us to express to you the gratification and pride with which she has witnessed the rapid progress in military efficiency which her Volunteer forces have already made, and which is highly honourable to their spirit and patriotism.

"Her Majesty has given her cordial consent to the Act for amalgamating her local European forces in India with her forces engaged for general service.

"Her Majesty trusts that the additional freedom which you have given to commerce will lead to fresh development of productive industry.

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Her Majesty has given her ready assent to several measures of great public usefulness.

"The Acts for regulating the relations between landlord and tenant in Ireland will, Her Majesty trusts, remove some fertile causes of disagreement.

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The Act for amending the law which regulates the discipline of Her Majesty's navy has established salutary rules for the administration of justice by courts-martial, and for maintaining good order in the naval service. The Act bearing upon endowed charities will

give means for a less expensive administration of the property of charities, and for the speedy and economical settlement of disputes affecting such property; while, by another Act, relief has been afforded to Her Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects with regard to their charitable endowments.

"Several other Acts have been passed for legal reform, which must lead to the more satisfactory administration of justice.

"Her Majesty has observed with deep satisfaction the spirit of loyalty, of order, and of obedience to the law which prevails among her subjects, both in the United Kingdom and in her dominions beyond sea; and Her Majesty has witnessed with heartfelt pleasure the warm and affectionate reception given to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales by her North American subjects.

"You will, on returning to your several counties, have duties to perform scarcely less important than those which have occupied you during the Session of Parliament, and Her Majesty fervently prays that the blessing of Almighty God may attend your efforts, and guide them to the attainment of the objects of her constant solicitudethe welfare and the happiness of her people."

Parliament was next read at the table, and the Lord Chancellor, by virtue of the Commission, declared the Parliament prorogued accordingly until Tuesday the 6th day of November. Thus terminated a Session of great activity, and not unimportant legislative results. A considerable part of it indeed was expended fruitlessly on measures which became abortive, especially on the Reform Bill, to the discussion of which much valuable time was sacrificed. The reluctance of Parliament, and the apathy of the nation on this subject, made it impossible, indeed, that any such measure should have passed at this period; but had those circumstances been different, it is more than doubtful whether such a measure, introduced in conjunction with several others of great importance, especially the extensive financial changes proposed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, could have been brought to completion within the limits of an ordinary Session. As it was, the fiscal and commercial reforms were the great results of this Parliamentary campaign, and although opinions were much divided on their merits, and it will require some time to develope their results, it may safely be pronounced that the Session which produced them will not be regarded in after-times as barren or un

The Commission for proroguing eventful.

CHAPTER VIII.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS. ITALY-Proposal of a Congress-Various schemes for settling the question of Central Italy-Vote of Tuscany and the Emilia in favour of Annexation to Piedmont-King Victor Emmanuel receives the homage of his new subjects-Annexation of Savoy and Nice to France-Speech of the Emperor of the French-Opposition of the Swiss Government with respect to the Provinces of Chablais and Faucigny-Result of the Appeal to Universal Suffrage in Savoy and Nice-Autograph Letter from the King of Sardinia to the Pope -The Pope's Reply-Opening of the Sardinian Parliament -Specch of the King-Articles of the Treaty of Cession of Savoy and NiceMisrule of the King of Naples-Outbreak of Insurrection in SicilyExpedition of Garibaldi-His Proclamation to the Italians-Question of the complicity of the Sardinian Government-Successes of Garibaldi -Capture of Palermo-Battle of Melazzo.

THE interest in the foreign af

THE

fairs of Europe this year was wholly concentrated on Italy, where events happened of immense importance, and a new kingdom was called into existence, with a rapidity that outstripped all calculation, and au unanimity that baffled all opposition. It is therefore to Italy that our narrative will almost entirely confine itself; and the incidental notices of what took place in other States will be found to be material chiefly so far as they bear upon the question of Italian politics. We have to relate, not the obscure struggles of faction, nor the abortive attempts of conspiracy, but the history of dynasties overthrown, and the union of the North with the South of Italy in one large kingdom, under the constitutional monarchy of the House of Savoy.

By the Treaty of Villafranca, which was signed at Zurich on the 11th of November, 1859, it was agreed between France and Austria that an endeavour should be made to assemble a Congress of the European Powers, to take into consideration the question of the pacification of Italy. The Congress, however, never met; for it was found impossible to arrange a common basis of action on account of the discordance of the views entertained with respect to the question of the Duchies of Parma and Modena, and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. France was pledged to Austria to do all in her power to effect the restoration of the Dukes and Grand Duke; but England was opposed to any interference, and wished the inhabitants of those kingdoms to settle their own respective Governments free from the compul

sion of external pressure. The consequence was, that a great deal of diplomatic correspondence took place during the latter part of last year without leading to any result. We have, in our preceding volume, quoted the remarkable letter of the French Emperor to the Pope, dated the 31st December, 1859, in which he called upon the Holy Father to renounce the Legations, which for the last fifty years had caused so much embarrassment to his Government, and in exchange to demand from the Powers that they should guarantee him possession of the remainder of his dominions. This added a new element of difficulty, for the Pope was inexorable in his refusal to abandon any part of the dominions of the Church, and they were ultimately torn from him by what, on another occasion, the Emperor called "the inexorable logic of facts," or, in other words, the irresistible force of war.

In the mean time, nothing could exceed the admirable conduct of the people of Central Italy in the trying crisis in which they were placed. They steadily adhered to their determination to be incorporated with Piedmont under the sceptre of Victor Emmanuel, and did not for an instant indulge in visionary dreams of a republic. Nor, with one melancholy exception, the murder of Colonel Anviti, at Parma, in the month of October, last year, were they betrayed into any act of violence or excess.

As was truly stated by Lord John Russell, in a despatch written by him to Lord A. Loftus, our minister at Vienna, on the 31st of January, this year: "In 1848, the people of Europe, misled by wild enthu siasts, attempted to found stable governments on republican theoVOL. CII.

ries; but at the present time the people of Italy, in harmony with public opinion throughout Europe, seek for order as well as liberty beneath the dome of monarchy, supported by national consent and equal laws."

At the close of last year, the idea of a congress had been abandoned or at all events indefinitely postponed; and this was chiefly owing to the publication of a pamphlet at Paris, called Le Pape et le Congrès, the real authorship of which was attributed to the French Emperor, and which advocated the deprivation of the temporal govern ment of the Pope in every part of his dominions, except the city of Rome alone. Austria was too much offended by such a proposal to meet France in Congress unless the French Government would undertake not to support the views put forward in the pamphlet. And this the French Government declined to do.*

The British Government then came forward with the following proposal:

1. That France and Austria should agree not to interfere for the future by force in the internal affairs of Italy, unless called upon

"A pamphlet published in Paris, under the titk of Le Pope et le Congrès, which has created too much stir in the political world not to have attracted your Lordship's 's attention, is the indirect cause of the postronoment. The Austrian Government, it appears, requires an engagemnt, on the part of the French Government, neithr to bring before the Congrens pamphlet is the advocate, nor to support them it brou ht forward by others. The Fren h Government hesitate at entering into any such engagement, and Austria in con quence decins appearing at the Congress."-Earl Cowley to Lord John Russell, Jan. 1, 1860, Correspondence respecting the affairs of Italy, 1560.

them the means of which the

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