uler. He protested against the
presence in Italy of foreign troops, whether French or Austrian, and in
despatches to Paris and Vienna he made the French and Austrian
Governments aware that England was altogether opposed to any return to
that 'system of foreign interference which for upwards of forty years
has been the misfortune of Italy and the danger of Europe.' Lord John
urged that France and Austria should agree not to employ armed
intervention for the future in the affairs of Italy, unless called upon
to do so by the unanimous voice of the five Great Powers of Europe. He
further contended that Napoleon III. should arrange with Pius IX. for
the evacuation of Rome by the troops of France. He protested in vain
against the annexation of Savoy and Nice by France, which he regarded as
altogether a retrograde movement. In March 1860, in a speech in the
House of Commons, he declared that the course which the Emperor Napoleon
had taken was of a kind to produce great distrust all over Europe. He
regarded the annexation of Savoy, not merely as in itself an act of
aggression, but as one which was likely to 'lead a nation so warlike as
the French to call upon its Government from time to time to commit other
acts of aggression.' England wished to live on the most friendly terms
with France. It was necessary, however, for the nations of Europe to
maintain peace, to respect not merely each others' rights, but each
others' boundaries, and, above all, to restore, and not to disturb that
'commercial confidence which is the result of peace, which tends to
peace, and which ultimately forms the happiness of nations.' When
Napoleon patched up a peace with Francis Joseph, which practically
ignored the aspirations of the Italian people, their indignation knew no
bounds, and they determined to work out their own redemption.

Garibaldi had already distinguished himself in the campaign which had
culminated at Solferino, and he now took the field against the Bourbons
in Naples and Sicily, whilst insurrections broke out in other parts of
Italy. France suggested that England should help her in arresting
Garibaldi's victorious march, but Lord John was too old a friend of
freedom to respond to such a proposal. He held that the Neapolitan
Government--the iniquities of which Mr. Gladstone had exposed in an
outburst of righteous indignation in 1851--must be left to reap the
consequences of 'misgovernment which had no parallel in all Europe.'
Garibald