[War. France and Austria.] No. 296.-PROCLAMATION of War by France against Austria. Paris, 3rd May, 1859. FRENCHMEN! (Translation as laid before Parliament.*) The Emperor to the French People. AUSTRIA, in causing her Army to enter the territory of the King of Sardinia, our Ally, declares War against us. She thus violates Treaties and justice, and menaces our Frontiers. All the Great Powers have protested against this aggression.† Piedmont having accepted the conditions which should have insured peace, one asks, what can be the reason of this sudden Invasion? It is that Austria has brought matters to this extremity, that her dominion must either extend to the Alps, or Italy must be free to the Adriatic; for in this country every corner of territory which remains independent endangers her power. Hitherto moderation has been the rule of my conduct; now energy becomes my first duty. Let France arm, and say resolutely to Europe, "I desire no conquest, but I desire firmly to maintain my national and traditional policy. I observe the Treaties on condition that no one shall violate them against me. I respect the Territory and Rights of Neutral Powers, but I boldly avow my sympathy for a people whose history is mingled with our own, and who groan beneath foreign oppression." France has shown her hatred against anarchy; she has been pleased to give me a power strong enough to reduce to helplessness the abettors of disorder and the incorrigible members of those old factions whom one perpetually sees plotting with our enemies but she has not, therefore, abdicated her task of civilization. Her natural allies have always been those who desire the improvement of the human race, and when she draws the sword it is not in order to dominate, but to liberate. : The object of this War, then, is to restore Italy to herself, not to make her change masters, and we shall then have next our *For French version, see "State Papers," vol. lvii, p. 237. frontiers a friendly people, who will owe to us their Independence. We are not going into Italy to foment disorder or to shake the Power of the Holy Father, whom we have replaced upon his throne, but to free him from this foreign pressure, which weighs upon the whole Peninsula, and to help to establish there order upon legitimate satisfied interests. We are going, in fine, to seek upon this classic ground, illustrated by so many victories, the footsteps of our fathers. God grant that we may be worthy of them! I am going soon to place myself at the head of the army. I leave in France the Empress and my son. Seconded by the experience and the enlightenment of the last surviving brother of the Emperor, she will understand how to show herself equal to the grandeur of her mission. I confide them to the valour of the army which remains in France to watch over our frontiers as well as to protect our homes; I confide them to the loyalty of the National Guard; I confide them, in a word, to the whole people, who will encircle them with that affection and devotion of which I daily receive so many proofs. Courage, then, and Union! Our country is going once more to show the world that she has not degenerated. Providence will bless our efforts, for the cause which rests on justice, humanity, love of country, and independence, is holy in the eyes of GOD. Paris, 3rd May, 1859. NAPOLEON, [War. France and Sardinia and Austria.] No. 297.-CIRCULAR of the British Government to Her Majesty's Ministers abroad, relative to the War between France and Sardinia and Austria. London, 4th May, 1859. SIR, Foreign Office, 4th May, 1859. THE apprehensions which, as I stated to you at the close of my despatch of the 7th ultimo, Her Majesty's Government at that time entertained lest all their efforts to prevent Peace from being interrupted should prove unavailing, have unfortunately been realised. It is, therefore, unnecessary for me to enter into a detailed account of the various transactions which intervened between the date of my last despatch and the breaking out of War between France and Sardinia, on the one side, and Austria, on the other, although it is right that you should have a general idea of what has occurred in that interval. The negotiations turned generally on two points, the one relating to Disarmament, the other to the admission of the Italian States, in some form or other, to the proposed Congress. The Cabinet of Vienna insisted, at first, as an indispensable condition to its entry into the Congress, that Sardinia should, in the first instance, disarm and disband the free corps which she had enrolled; but it finally acquiesced, with some modification, in a proposal made by Her Majesty's Government, and declared it would be contented if a general disarmament were carried out by Austria, France, and Sardinia, previously to the meeting of the Congress. The Government of France was prevailed upon to admit, for itself, the principle of a General Disarmament; but it hesitated for a long time before it consented to press the acceptance of it on Sardinia, and at length only agreed to do so on condition that the Italian States should be admitted to send Representatives to the Congress, not simply as Advocates, but as Plenipotentiaries, having an equal position and voice with the Plenipotentiaries of the Great Powers in the deliberations that might ensue. On reviewing the state of the negotiation, His Majesty's Government conceived that there was still a chance of affecting [War. France and Sardinia and Austria.] such an understanding between the parties as would ensure the meeting of the Congress, and for this pursose they proposed, on the 18th of last month, 1st. That there should be a previous, immediate, effective, and simultaneous Disarmament, on the part of Austria, France, and Sardinia; 2ndly. That the details of that Disarmament should be settled by 6 Military or Civil Commissioners, to be named severally by the Great Powers and by Sardinia ; 3rdly. That those Commissioners having met and entered upon their duties, the Congress should forthwith be convened; and, 4thly. That the Congress, when convened, should invite the Italian States to send Representatives, who would be admitted to, and take part in the deliberations of, the Congress, in the same manner and on the same footing as they were admitted to, and took part in the deliberations of, the Congress of Laybach. This proposal was accepted in the main by the Governments of France, Prussia, and Russia, and partially by the Cabinet of Vienna. The latter however, absolutely refused to agree to the admission of the Representatives of the Italian States to the Congress, or to the participation of Sardinia in that Assembly, under any conditions whatever. This decision on the part of the Austrian Government put an end to all hope of any Congress being brought together; for, though the point was not again raised, I may as well mention to you that, in an earlier stage of the negotiations, Her Majesty's Government and that of Prussia refused to entertain a suggestion made by the Cabinet of St. Petersburgh, that,-in consequence of the hesitation at that time shown by Austria,-England, France, Prussia, and Russia should hold a Congress on the affairs of Italy, without her participation. The refusal of Austria to accept the last proposal of Her Majesty's Government, was accompanied, on her part, by a peremptory summons to Sardinia to disarm, and to disband the free corps. Her Majesty's Government, on receiving this intelligence, addressed to the Cabinet of Vienna the strongest remonstrances on the impolicy of this proceeding, and directed Her Majesty's Minister at that Court to place on record a formal Protest against it. This precipitate measure was the more to be regretted inasmuch as the Cabinet of Turin, which had pre [War. France and Sardinia and Austria.] viously declined to comply with the combined representations of England and Prussia, on the subject of disarmament, had announceed, on the very day that the summons was dispatched from Vienna, though the Austrian Government were unacquainted with the fact when the summons was dispatched, that as France had united with England in demanding the previous disarmament of Sardinia, the Cabinet of Turin, although foreseeing that such a measure might entail disagreeable consequences for the tranquillity of Italy, was disposed to submit to it. In this state of things, all hopes of accommodation seemed to be at an end nevertheless, Her Majesty's Government resolved to make one more attempt to stay hostilities, and they accordingly formally tendered the Mediation of England between Austria and France, for the settlement of the Italian question, on bases corresponding with the understanding arrived at between Lord Cowley and Count Buol at Vienna. But this too failed: and Her Majesty's Government have only to lament the little success which has attended all their efforts, jointly with other Powers or singly, to avert the interruption of the general Peace. In the present position of the contending parties, it would obviously be to no purpose to attempt to restrain them from engaging in a deadly struggle. Her Majesty's Government will, however, watch the progress of the War with the most anxious attention, and will be ready to avail themselves of any opportunity that may arise for the exercise of their Good Offices in the cause of Peace. It is their earnest desire and firm intention to observe the most scrupulous Neutrality between the contending parties. MALMESBURY. On the following day the Earl of Malmesbury addressed a further Dispatch to Her Majesty's Ambassador in Paris, in which the following passage occurs:— "The British Government have always recognised as a sacred rule of international obligation, that no country has a right authoritatively to interfere in the Internal Affairs of a Foreign State, or, with a sound policy, long withhold its acknowledgment of any new form of government which may be adopted and established, |