cial investigation and the sifting of evidence.

The Queen would wish a report to be made to her upon this important
subject.

[Footnote 68: Bussahir was a State in the upper course of the
Sutlej. In January, the Punjab, including the Sutlej States,
had been made a distinct presidency, but Bussahir was not
finally included until 1862.]

[Pageheading: NON-INTERVENTION]

_Queen Victoria to Lord John Russell._[69]

OSBORNE, _21st August 1859_.

The Queen sends the enclosed draft to Lord John Russell; she is very
sorry that she cannot give her approval to it. There are many points
in it to which she cannot but feel the gravest objections. It is
unnecessary, however, for her to go into these details, as it is
against the principle of England volunteering at this moment the
intrusion of a scheme of her own for the redistribution of the
territories and Governments of Northern Italy, that she must above all
protest. Moreover, a step of such importance, reversing the principle
of non-intervention, which the Queen's Government has hitherto
publicly declared and upheld, should, in the Queen's opinion, not be
brought before her without having received the fullest deliberation
and concurrence of the assembled Cabinet.

[Footnote 69: A month earlier, on his return from the war, the
Emperor had tried to enlist British support in his scheme for
a European congress. But the Cabinet decided (24th July),
with the Queen's full concurrence, that no answer should
be returned to this proposal, till a Treaty, embodying the
preliminaries of Villafranca, should have been signed.]

_Lord John Russell to Queen Victoria._

PEMBROKE LODGE, _23rd August 1859_.

Lord John Russell presents his humble duty to your Majesty; he begs
to explain that with respect to reversing the principle of
non-intervention, he has never proposed any such course. If
intervention were to mean giving friendly advice, or even offering
mediation, your Majesty's Government from January to May would have
pursued a course of intervention, for they were all that time advising
Austria, France, Sardinia, and Germany.

If by friendly and judicious advice we can prevent a bloody and
causeless war in Italy we are bound to give such advice.

If we refrain from doing so, we may ultimately be obliged to have
recourse to intervention; that is to say, we may have to interfere
against the ruthless tyranny of Austria, or t