It was therefore with these reservations I added, that I under took to make the above communication to your Lordship, and I have also thought it right, in order that no mistakes may occur, to communicate in confidence to His Sardinian Majesty's correspondent this despatch, to the contents of which, and to the correctness of my report of our conversations he has entirely agreed. Viscount Palmerston, G.C.B. RA. ABERCROMBY. No. 59. Sir G. Hamilton to Viscount Palmerston.-(Rec. July 26.) I BEG leave to correct an error I made in my despatch of the 12th instant. In making mention of Pontremoli, I said it was a fief of the empire. I meant to have said that the Marquisate of Castiglioni was an Imperial fief formerly belonging to Lucca, and now forming part of Tuscany. Viscount Palmerston, G.C.B. I have, &c. GEORGE B. HAMILTON. No. 63. Mr. Magenis to Viscount Palmerston.-(Received July 26.) WITH reference to my despatch of yesterday, reporting the advance on the 14th instant of an Austrian force under the command of Major-General Prince Francis Lichtenstein against Ferrara, and the surrender of that place, I have now the honour to inclose, in original and translation, the Convention agreed upon between that officer and the Papal Pro-Legate, for the future regulation of the mutual relations between the Austrian troops in the citadel and the town of Ferrara. Prince Lichtenstein repassed the Po on the 15th, and it appears that the object of this advance was more the relief and provisioning of the Austrian garrison in the citadel, than a military operation against the hostile troops assembled there, or a violation of the Papal territory. Viscount Palmerston, G.C.В. I have, &c. ARTHUR C. MAGENIS. (Inclosure.)-Convention for Regulating the Intercourse between the Citadel and Town of Ferrara. (Translation.) Ferrara, July 14, 1848. To regulate for the future the mutual relations between the town and the citadel, the following Convention was agreed on: I. The citadel is to be provisioned by the town for 2 months, and these stores regarded as a reserve. The Commandant will give in a list of the various articles required. II. All the various wants of the garrison may be purchased in the town, and no escort is necessary for that purpose; the ingress and egress from the citadel is particularly guaranteed to every one. III. The correspondence by post, by Santa Maria Maddalena, is to be established, and a non-commissioned officer to take and receive these letters, in the same manner as was in practice before the late occurrences. IV. The Austrian military hospital remains in the town, together with all persons belonging to it; and these latter may go back and forward without hindrance. V. In the citaldel, those works which the engineer officers deem necessary are to be undertaken. VI. In case the evacuation of the citadel should be decided on, in pursuance with the orders of His Imperial Majesty, or of the Commander-in-chief, the retreat is to take place with all the honours of war, as also with all the artillery, military stores, and baggage. The town of Ferrara engages to furnish the necessary means of transport to the Imperial frontier. The requisite provisions to be furnished to the officers and men under my command during their stay at Ferrara. In consideration of the respect which His Majesty, our most gracious Emperor, has for the Holy Father, I will abstain from every act of hostility against the town and its inhabitants; and after the conclusion of the above Convention, and the delivery of the provisions which the 1st Article treats of, I will retire with my troops. Given in the citadel of Ferrara, July 14, 1848. P.S.-I request the respected Legation to conclude the above Convention in the course of this day, and at the same time to agree to the condition, that from the moment of my departure from here, till my arrival at Pontelagoscuro, no act of hostility shall be had recourse to against me, either by the Papal troops or their allies; in the contrary case, I shall be compelled to oppose such act by all the means at my disposal. COUNT LOVATELLİ, P. FRANCIS LICHTENSTEIN. Article I is to be changed as follows: If the garrison should quit the citadel, the 2 months' provisions in store to be returned to the town of Ferrara, provided that the garrison has never been prevented purchasing what is required. Agreed to. No. 72.-Viscount Palmerston to the Marquis of Normanby. MY LORD, Foreign Office, July 28, 1848. HER Majesty's Government have had under their consideration your Excellency's despatch of the 22nd instant, inclosing a copy of a telegraphic despatch, dated from Toulon on the 21st instant, announcing that 3,000 Austrian troops had entered Ferrara, and that there was great agitation in the Legations on behalf of Charles Albert. Your Excellency's despatch also contains an account of your conversation with M. Bastide respecting this intelligence, and the scheme of an arrangement for the settlement of the affairs of Lombardy and Venice, which M. Bastide suggests as one which might be proposed by the British and French Governments to the Government of Austria. With regard to the rumoured entry of the Austrians into Ferrara, your Excellency will take an opportunity of saying to M. Bastide, that, as far as Her Majesty's Government can form an opinion, they are led to think that the occupation of Ferrara by the Austrians is rather a defensive than an offensive measure, and is intended chiefly for the purpose of preventing the Piedmontese army from turning the left of the Austrian line, and taking them in reverse by crossing the Po at some place to the westward, and then recrossing it at Ferrara. With reference to M. Bastide's scheme for the settlement of the affairs of Northern Italy, you may say that Her Majesty's Government would be very glad to find themselves able to co-operate with the Government of France for the purpose of endeavouring by friendly negotiation to bring to a conclusion the hostilities now going on between the Austrians and Italians in the north of Italy. With respect to the arrangement suggested with that view by M. Bastide, Her Majesty's Government believe that such a plan might perhaps be agreed to by Austria, because the Austrian Government was not unwilling some time ago to consent to an arrangement by which the claims of Austria upon Lombardy should be given up, in consideration of an agreement by which Lombardy should take upon herself a suitable portion of the Austrian debt; and in regard to Venice, the Austrian Government was disposed to consent to an arrangement by which the Venetian State should receive separate administrative and constitutional institutions, and should be placed, with an Austrian Archduke at its head, under the sovereignty of the Emperor. But it might possibly happen that an arrangement of this kind in regard to Venice might be declined by the Italians; and Her Majesty's Government would wish to know what are M. Bastide's views as to the course which he thinks the 2 Powers should pursue in such a case. With regard, however, to any guarantee, it is not likely that Her Majesty's Government would feel themselves at liberty to enter into any engagement of that kind beyond the sanction which might be implied by Great Britain being, together with France, a signing party to any Treaty by which the arrangement which might be effected, with the consent of the parties concerned, would be recorded. I need not, of course, more particularly remind your Excelleney that Her Majesty's Government, though they might consent to regotiate, would not be parties to any forcible interference in these matters; and that their object in co-operating with France in negotiation, if they should find it practicable to do so, would be thereby to dissuade the French Government from armed interference in these Italian affairs. H.E. The Marquis of Normanby. I am, &c. PALMERSTON. No. 73.-Sir G. Hamilton to Viscount Palmerston.-(Rec. July 29.) (Extract.) Florence, July 21, 1848. I HAVE the honour to inclose a despatch from Mr. Petre at Rome. At Leghorn and at Florence, the busts and portraits of the Pope have been burned in a riotous manner; this occurred, however, previous to the Pope's energetic proceedings on the subject of the Austrian invasion of Ferrara. Viscount Palmerston, G.C.В. SIR, GEORGE B. HAMILTON. (Inclosure 1.)-Mr. Petre to Sir George Hamilton. Rome, July 19, 1848. Ir appears that the Austrians have retired from Ferrara, after having changed the garrison in the citadel. Count Mamiani, Minister of the Interior, has however addressed a circular letter, with the consent of His Holiness, to the Governors of the provinces and towns, calling on them to endeavour to raise up the population, but warning them at the same time, that if there should be any supineness, it would be more prudent and humane not to make a vain and useless show of defence; that an energetic protest of His Holiness will immediately appear against this act of the foreign invader, and that the Government has asked for immediate succour from the King of Piedmont and from General Pepe. Yesterday, in the Council of Deputies, Count Mamiani explained that the Germans, after passing the Po, and leaving 1,500 men between Francolini and Lagoscuro, advanced with about 4,000 men, and invaded but did not occupy the city of Ferrara; that Prince Lichtenstein presented himself to the Pro-Legate of the city and demanded provisions and forage for 2 months; that, on refusal, the Prince retired, and wrote to the Pro-Legate in a threatening style, that he would use force if necessary; and that the Pro-Legate, on the condition that the troops should be withdrawn from the city, yielded, and they retired. Count Mamiani, at the close of his speech, said that he hoped that in the course of a few days the Ministerial crisis (of which much has been rumoured for some time) would cease; that the Ministry had requested this grace of His Holiness. He here probably alludes to the Secular Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the sale, or the pledging of church property, and other such matters. After some debate, a Commission was appointed to draw up an address to His Holiness, which after a short time was unanimously voted, and of which the following is a translation: "Most Holy Father, the Council of Deputies unanimously brings to your Holiness the declaration of its acknowledgments for the readiness with which you have ordered a solemn protest against the invasion by the Austrian troops of the territory of the Church. Catholics and Italians, the Deputies rage with indignation at such violence; Representatives of the people, they offer to you the heart and arm of the people, which is the nerve of nations. They have in memory the crimes in all times perpetrated by the Imperialists against this Holy See, and the old and recent lacerations of Italy, which can no longer be a slave, since you, O Holy Father, have blessed it; and with the reverent affection of sons, they pray you and conjure you so to act that your Government interpose no time in brandishing arms, defensive and offensive, and in uniting itself in durable alliance with Princes who are worthy to guide Italian independence. Bound by indissoluble ties to your Holiness, in whose name Italy regains its primacy and the world renovates itself, we are ready to defend to the last extremity your, our, the inalienable rights of the Church, of the people, of the nation. Invoke anew, O Holy Father, the benediction of God on Italy and on us; and pronounce the allpowerful word which raises the oppressed and beats down the oppressors. The Council of Deputies, confident, wait prostrate to kiss the sacred foot." A circular note to the Diplomatic Body has been addressed by the Secretary of State, Cardinal Soglia Cerroni, on the late affair at Ferrara, containing a protest in the name of His Holiness, against these acts of the Court of Austria, to be communicated to all Governments; His Holiness reserving to himself to take all those measures he shall consider most efficacious for the protection of the independence of the Papal States. Sir G. Hamilton. I have, &c. WILLIAM PETRE. |