1855-60
During the next four years Lord John remained out of office. He devoted
much time to literary work. Besides writing his "Life of Fox" and editing
the papers of his friend Thomas Moore, he delivered three important
addresses. The first was a lecture on the causes which have checked moral
and political progress. As will be seen from Lady John's diary, he was
still so unpopular that she felt some dread of its reception at the hands
of a large public audience.
LONDON, _November_ 13, 1855
Great day well over.... At-half-past seven set out for Exeter Hall.
John well cheered on his entrance, but not so warmly as to make me
quite secure for the lecture. It was, however, received exactly as
I hoped--deep attention, interrupted often by applause, sometimes
enthusiastic, and generally at the parts one most wished applauded.
A few words from Montague Villiers [49](in asking for a vote of
thanks), his hope that the whole country would soon feel as that
audience did towards a man whose long life had been spent in the
country's service, brought a fresh burst, waving of hats and
handkerchiefs, etc. Went to bed grateful and happy.
[49] Afterwards Bishop of Durham.
In 1855, Lord John bought a country estate, Rodborough Manor, near Stroud
in Gloucestershire, as he wished to have a place of his own to leave to his
children. It was in the parish of Amberley, from which he afterwards took
his second title and his eldest son, Lord Amberley, made Rodborough his
home for some years after his marriage.
_Lady John Russell to Lord Dufferin_
RODBOROUGH MANOR, STROUD, _November_ 16, 1855
DEAR LORD DUFFERIN,--Thanks for your letter. I began to think you
meant to disclaim all connection with your fallen chief. We have
just been, he and I alone, spending a week in London. In that
little week he underwent various turns of fortune--hissed one night
(though far less than the papers said), cheered the next day by
four thousand voices, while eight thousand hands waved hats and
handkerchiefs. I was not at Guildhall, but was at Exeter Hall,
which was just as it should be; for, in spite of a great many noble
and philosophical sentiments, which I always keep in store against
the hissing days, and find of infinite service, I prefer being
present on the cheering days. I hope you will think his lecture
deserved its reception. His squiredom agrees with him uncommonly.
He rides and walks, and drinks ale and grows fat. As for me, I have
not been at all strong since I came here, but I hope I am reviving
now, and shall soon be able thoroughly to enjoy a life happy and
pleasant beyond expression--such peace of mind and body to us both,
such leisure to enjoy much that we both do enjoy with all our
hearts and have been long debarred from, are blessings of no small
value, and when people tell me, by way of cheering me up under a
temporary disgrace, that he is sure to be in office again soon,
they little know what a knell their words are to my heart. However,
_che sara, sara_, and in the meantime we are very happy.
Yesterday I required some excitement, I must say, to carry me
through the day, for alas! I struck forty! Accordingly the children
had provided for it unknown to me, and acted Beauty and the Beast
with rapturous applause to a very select audience. ... We are much
pleased with our new home, green and cheerful and varied and pretty
outside, snug and respectable inside.
Ever sincerely yours,
F. RUSSELL
P.S.--I hear you are going to be married to a great many people;
please let me know how many reports are true.
In 1856 Lady John and the children went abroad. They visited Lady Mary
Abercromby, whose husband was British Minister at the Hague, and later on
they joined Lord John at Antwerp. Thence they travelled to Switzerland,
where they remained till the end of September in a villa beautifully
situated above the Lake of Geneva, near Lausanne. The early part of the
winter was spent in Italy, where Lord John came into personal contact with
Cavour and many other Italian patriots, whose cause he so staunchly
supported during the next few years. The Villa Capponi, where they lived at
Florence, became the meeting-place of all the Liberal spirits in Tuscany;
and the Tuscan Government, who thought that Lord John had come to Florence
to estimate the probable success of the revolutionaries, set spies upon his
visitors.
_Lord John Russell to Lady Melgund_
VILLA CAPPONI, _December_ 19, 1856
We have passed our time here very agreeably. Besides the
Florentines and their acute sagacity, we have had here many of
those whose wits were too bright or their hearts too warm to bear
the Governments of Naples and Rome.... As for the French
newspapers, it is the custom at Paris and Vienna to let the
newspapers attack everything but their own Government, which is
their notion of the liberty of the Press!
_Lady John Russell to Lady Mary Abercromby_
VILLA CAPPONI, FLORENCE, _January_ 1, 1857
MY DEAREST MARY,--You have my first date for the New Year.... God
grant it may be a happy one to us all. We began it merrily. Mrs. E.
Villiers, who, with her daughter, is spending the winter here, gave
a little dance. Twelve struck in the middle of a quadrille, which
was accordingly interrupted by general shaking of hands among
chaperons, dancers, and all. There is a cordiality and ease in
society abroad, the charm of which goes far with me to make up for
the absence of some of the merits of society in England. The
subjects of conversation among men are queer, no doubt; but what
people have in them is much easier to get at--and to me it is a
relief not to hear all the ladies talking politics, or rather
talking political personalities, as they do in London.
_January_ 2.--I am afraid, after having been abused as
unworthy of Italy (not so much, however, by you as by Lotty and
Lizzy) you will now charge me with the far worse sin of being a bad
Briton--but _that,_ depend upon it, I am not, whatever
appearances may say--on the contrary, a better one than ever, only
grieving that with such materials as we have at home we do not
manage to make social life pleasanter.... Yesterday we had our
usual Thursday party; and before more than five or six had come, I
went into the girls' sitting-room, which opens out of the
drawing-room, and played reels while the girls and two young
Italians danced--but they had not danced long before our frisky
Papa followed with Count Ferretti, and not only joined in a reel,
but _asked_ for a waltz, and whirled round and round with
Georgy and then with me, and made the old Count do the same. It all
reminded me of our Berlin evenings, except that Papa, though
twenty-four years younger then, was not inspired by the German as
he is by the Italian atmosphere, and never, to my recollection,
joined us in our many merry unpremeditated dances. It was hardly
less a wonder to see Henry follow the example yesterday, and add to
the confusion of the most confused "Lancers" I ever saw danced....
It is impossible to say how this letter has been interrupted....
The weather being too bright and beautiful to allow us to spend the
morning indoors, the first interruption was a drive to San Miniato,
where there is one of the finest views of Florence, and since we
came home I have been jumping up every five minutes from my
writing-table to receive one visitor after another--whereas many an
afternoon passes without a single one--and since they all
disappeared I have been called upon to help in a rehearsal for a
second representation of our "Three Golden Hairs," [50] which is to
take place to-morrow on purpose for Lady Normanby.... The gaiety
and noise of the rehearsals, the fun of the preparations, and the
shyness, which effectually prevents any good acting, all reminds me
of our dear old Minto plays. How very, very long ago all that
seems! Not long ago in time only, but the changes in everybody and
everything make the recollection almost like a dream. I was sorry
to say good-bye to poor old fifty-six, for though not invariably
amiable to us he has been a good friend on the whole, and one
learns to be more than grateful for each year that passes without
any positive sorrow, and leaves no blanks among our nearest and
dearest. God bless you, dearest Mary; pray attribute blots and
incoherences to my countless interruptions.
Yours ever affectionately,
F.R.
[50] A children's play written by herself.
On his return, Lord John continued to give independent support to the
Ministry until circumstances arose which forced him to oppose Palmerston's
foreign policy. In March Cobden brought forward a motion condemning the
violent measures resorted to against China. Palmerston had justified these
measures on the ground that the British flag had been insulted and our
treaty rights infringed by the Chinese authorities at Canton. A small
coasting vessel called _The Arrow_ (sailing under British colours, but
manned by Chinamen, and owned by a Chinaman) had been boarded while she lay
in the river, and her crew carried off by a party from a Chinese warship in
search of a pirate, who they had reason to think was then serving as a
seaman on board _The Arrow_. Sir John Bowring, Plenipotentiary at
Hong-Kong, demanded that the men should be instantly sent back. It was true
that _The Arrow_ had at the time of the seizure no right to fly the
British flag, for her licence to trade under British colours had expired
the year before; but he argued that since the Chinese could not have known
this when they raided the vessel, they had deliberately insulted the flag
in doing so, and afterwards infringed the extradition laws by refusing to
restore the crew immediately. Upon the British fleet proceeding to bombard
the forts, the men were released, but the apology and indemnity demanded in
addition were not forthcoming. More forts were then bombarded and a number
of junks were sunk. The real motive of these aggressive proceedings lay in
the fact that the English traders had not yet been able to get a free
entrance into Canton, in spite of treaties permitting them to trade there.
Sir John Bowring made the refusal of apologies an excuse for forcing the
Chinese to admit them. Not unnaturally the Chinese retaliated by burning
foreign factories and cutting foreign throats. Meanwhile Palmerston at home
characteristically supported Sir John Bowring through thick and thin, and
the upshot was a long war with China.
Lord John detested aggressive and violent proceedings of this kind. His
speech on Cobden's motion was one of his finest. The following passage from
it expresses the spirit in which later on he conducted the foreign policy
of England himself:
We have heard much of late--a great deal too much, I think--of the
prestige of England. We used to hear of the character, of the
reputation, of the honour of England. I trust, sir, that the
character, the reputation, and the honour of this country are dear
to us all; but if the prestige of England is to be separated from
those qualities ... then I, for one, have no wish to maintain it.
To those who argue, as I have heard some argue, "It is true we have
a bad case; it is true we were in the wrong; it is true that we
have committed an injustice; but we must persevere in that wrong;
we must continue to act unjustly, or the Chinese will think we are
afraid," I say, as has been said before, "Be just and fear not."
Palmerston was defeated by sixteen votes, and went to the country on a
"Civis Romanus" policy, or, as we should say now, with a "Jingo" cry, which
was immensely popular. Its popularity was so great that there seemed no
chance that Lord John would retain his seat for the City. Even Cobden and
Bright were defeated in their constituencies, and the country returned
Palmerston with a majority of seventy-nine. Unpopular since his apparent
change of front regarding the Vienna treaty, it would have been small
wonder if Lord John had taken the advice of his committee and retired from
the contest; but he was bent on taking his one-to-hundred chance, and, as
it turned out, his courage won the seat.
LONDON, _March_ 7, 1857
J.A. Smith called on me to know whether John had determined what
to do. Said I thought he meant to fight the battle. He looked most
woeful, and said, "As sure as I stand here, he will not be the
member for the City."
I said I believed he thought it best at all events to stand. "Ah,
that's all very well if he had seen a chance of a tolerable
minority--but if he has only _two or three_ votes!" He also
said John had as much chance of being Pope as of being M.P. for the
City.
Although a lack of the faculty which conciliates individuals was one of the
criticisms most constantly brought against Lord John as a political leader,
he certainly possessed the power of overcoming the hostility of a popular
audience, without abating one jot of his own independence or dignity. A
bold, good-tempered directness is always effective in such situations. He
never lacked the tact of an orator. In this election the Liberal Committee,
on the first rumour of his resignation, without verifying it, or notifying
their intentions to Lord John, substituted Mr. Raikes Currie, late member
for Northampton, as their Liberal candidate. Lord John at once called a
meeting to protest against the action of the committee. The following
passage in his speech was received with enthusiastic applause, and did much
to secure a favourable hearing for his anti-Palmerstonian views during the
campaign. It must be remembered that he had represented the City for
sixteen years.
"If a gentleman were disposed to part with his butler, his
coachman, or his gamekeeper, or if a merchant were disposed to part
with an old servant, a warehouseman, a clerk, or even a porter, he
would say to him, 'John, I think your faculties are somewhat
decayed; you are growing old, you have made several mistakes; and I
think of putting a young man from Northampton in your place.' I
think a gentleman would behave in that way to his servant, and
thereby give John an opportunity for answering. That opportunity
was not given to me. The question was decided in my absence; and I
come now to ask you, and the citizens of London, to reverse that
decision."
His success won back for him some of the general admiration which he had
forfeited by his loyalty to the Ministers in 1855. Many of the best men in
England rejoiced in his triumph; among them Charles Dickens wrote his
congratulations.
_Lord John Russell to Lady Melgund_
PEMBROKE LODGE, _April_ 1, 1857
...The contest has brought out an amount of feeling in my favour
both from electors and non-electors which is very gratifying. ...It
is the more pleasant, as all the merchant princes turned their
princely backs upon me, and left me to fight as I could (the two
Hankeys alone excepted)....Fanny has not been very well since the
election ... but this blessed place will, I hope, soon restore her.
_Lady John Russell to Lord Minto_
PEMBROKE LODGE, _April_ 4, 1857
The City election engrossed my thoughts for many days, and made it
difficult to write to anybody who cared as much about it as you
till it was over. I have since spent my life in answering letters
and receiving visits of congratulation, most of them very hearty
and sincere, and accordingly very pleasant. I thought my days of
caring for popular applause were over, but there was something so
much higher than usual in the meaning of the cheers that greeted
John whenever he showed himself, that I was not ashamed of being
quite delighted. There was obviously a strong feeling among the
electors and non-electors, in Guildhall and in the streets, that
John had been unfairly and ungratefully set aside, which far
outweighed the effect of his unpopular opinions on ballot and
church rates. Altogether there was a good tone among the people (by
which I don't mean only one of attachment to John) which made me
proud of them. Next to the pleasure of seeing and hearing with my
own eyes and ears how strong his hold upon his countrymen still is,
was the pleasure I was wicked enough to feel at the reception which
greeted the unfortunate Raikes Currie.
The repose of Pemmy Lodge, which I hope you will by and by share
with us, is very welcome after our noisy triumph.
_Mr. Charles Dickens to Lady John Russell_
_May_ 22, 1857
DEAR LADY JOHN,--Coming to town yesterday morning out of Kent, I
found your kind and welcome note referring to the previous day. I
need not tell you, I hope, that although I have not had the
pleasure of seeing you for a long time, I have of late been
accompanying Lord John at a distance with great interest and
satisfaction. Several times after the City election was over I
debated with myself whether I should come to see you, but I
abstained because I knew you would be overwhelmed with
congratulations and I thought it was the more considerate to
withhold mine.
I am going out of town on Monday, June 1st, to a little
old-fashioned house I have at Gad's Hill, by Rochester, on the
identical spot where Falstaff ran away, and as you are so kind as
to ask me to propose a day for coming to Richmond, I should very
much like to do so either on Saturday the 30th of this month or on
Sunday the 31st.
I heard of you at Lausanne from some of my old friends there, and
sometimes tracked you in the newspapers afterwards. I beg to send
my regard to Lord John and to all your house.
Do you believe me to remain always yours very faithfully,
CHARLES DICKENS
_Lady John Russell to Lord Minto_
PEMBROKE LODGE, _September_ 27, 1857
John's reception at Sheffield equalled anything of the kind I had
ever seen in our "high and palmy" days. So little had we expected
_any_ reception, that when we arrived at the station and saw
the crowds on the platform I could not think what was the matter,
and it was not till there was a general rush towards our carriage
and shouts of John's name that I understood it was meant for him.
From the station we had to drive all through the town to Alderman
Hoole's villa; it was one loud and long triumph. John and Mr. Hoole
and I were in an open carriage, the children following in a closed
one. We went at a foot's pace, followed and surrounded by such an
ocean of human beings as I should not have thought all Sheffield
could produce, cheering, throwing up caps and hats, thrusting great
hard hands into the carriage for John to shake, proposing to take
off the horses and draw us, etc. Windows and balconies all thronged
with waving women and children, and bells ringing so lustily as to
drown John's voice when, at Mr. Hoole's request, he stood up on the
seat and made a little speech. All this honour from one of the most
warlike towns in the kingdom will surprise you, no doubt; indeed, I
am not sure that you will quite approve.
PEMBROKE LODGE, _December 25, 1857_
A bright and lovely Christmas.... Sat more than an hour in the
sunny South summer-house, listening to birds singing and boys and
little May [51] talking and laughing.... Dear, darling children,
how I grudge each day that passes and hurries you on beyond blessed
childhood.... I am too happy--there can hardly be a change that
will not make me less so.... A glorious sunset brought the glorious
day to an end.
[51] Mary Agatha.
_Lady John Russell to Lady Charlotte Portal_
PEMBROKE LODGE, _December_ 26, 1857
I cannot remember a happier Christmas than ours has been, and I am
sure nobody can remember a milder or brighter Christmas sky. I sat
more than an hour yesterday in the sunny South summer-house,
listening to the songs of the blackbirds and thrushes, who have
lost all count of the seasons, and to the merry voices of the boys
and little May, and thinking of many things besides, and wishing I
could lay my hand on old Father Time and stop him in his flight,
for he _cannot_ bring me any change for the better, and he
must very soon take away one of the best joys of my daily life,
since he must take away childhood from my bairnies.
In the meantime I know I am not ungrateful, and when the little
boys in their evening prayer thanked God for making it "such a
happy Christmas," oh! how I thanked Him too. We have had a
Christmas-tree, and for many days before its appearance the
children were in a state of ungovernable spirits, full of
indescribable fun and mischief, and making indescribable uproar.
John has been by no means the least merry of the party, and seeing
a game at "my lady's toilet" going on yesterday evening, could not
resist tacking himself to its tail and being dragged through as
many passages and round as many windings as Pemmy Lodge affords.
Although the Palmerston Ministry seemed firmly seated in power and were
certainly capable of carrying out the spirited and aggressive foreign
policy on which they had so successfully appealed to the country, an
unexpected event occurred during the recess of 1857 which led to their
downfall. On the night of January 14th some Italian patriots threw three
bombs under Napoleon's carriage as he was driving to the Opera. The Emperor
and Empress had a narrow escape, and many spectators were killed or
wounded. The outrage was prompted by a frantic notion that the death of
Napoleon III was an indispensable step towards the freedom of Italy.
Orsini, the leader of the conspirators, was not himself of a crazy criminal
type. He was a fine, soldier-like fellow, who had fought and suffered for
his country's independence, and he had many friends in England among lovers
of Italy who never suspected that he was the kind of man to turn into an
assassin. When it was discovered that the plot had been hatched in London
and the bombs made in Birmingham, a feverish resentment seized the whole
French Army. Addresses were sent by many regiments congratulating Napoleon
on his escape, in which London was described as _ce repaire
d'assassins_ and much abusive language used. The Press, of course, on
both sides, fanned the flame, and for some days the two nations were very
near war. The French Ambassador requested the Government to make at once
more stringent laws against refugee aliens, and in answer to this request
Palmerston brought in a Conspiracy to Murder Bill. Lord John informed the
Government that he, for his part, would oppose any such measure as an
ignominious capitulation to a foolish outcry.
_Lady John Russell to Lady Mary Abercromby_
LONDON, _February_ 4, 1858
I have never seen John more moved, more mortified, more indignant,
than on reading a letter from Sir George Grey yesterday announcing
the intention of the Ministry to make an alteration in the
Conspiracy Laws under the threats of an inconceivably insolent
French soldiery. He had heard a rumour of such an intention, but
would not believe it. He thinks very seriously of the possible
effects of debates on the measure, and feels the full weight of his
responsibility; but he is nevertheless resolved to oppose to the
utmost of his power what he considers as only the first step in a
series of unworthy concessions. . . .
PEMBROKE LODGE, _February_ 20, 1858
John woke me at two with the news of a majority for the amendment
(234 to 215)--the country spared from humiliation, the character of
the House of Commons redeemed. But, privately, what will become of
our victory? Lay awake with the nightmare of coming office upon
me--went to sleep only to dream that John was going to the scaffold
(being interpreted, the Treasury Bench).
Although the division was taken in a very small house, as the above figures
show, Palmerston resigned, and after some hesitation the Queen charged Lord
Derby with forming a Government. This was the second time Lord Derby had
attempted to govern with a majority against him in the House of Commons.
The first task of the new Ministry was to patch up the quarrel with France,
and, thanks to the good sense and dignity of the Emperor, it was managed in
spite of the scandalous acquittal by an English jury of the Frenchman, Dr.
Bernard, who had manufactured Orsini's bombs. The Duc de Malakoff, whose
conduct in the Crimea made him a popular hero in England, replaced M.
Persigny at the French Embassy. His presence helped to remind Englishmen
that it was not many years since they had fought side by side with French
soldiers, and resentment against the Emperor's army died away.
PEMBROKE LODGE, _October_ 30, 1858
Dinner at Gunnersbury. Met Malakoffs, D'lsraelis, Azeglio. Never
before had opportunity for real conversation with D'lsraeli--a sad
flatterer and otherwise less agreeable than so able a man of such
varied pursuits ought to be.
Although these years of comparative leisure had been welcome to them both,
the issues at stake in Europe were so important that Lord John could not
help wishing he again had an opportunity of directly influencing events.
He writes to his wife on December 15, 1858:
When I reflect that a Reform Bill and the liberation of Italy are
"looming in the distance," it gives me no little wish to be in
office; but when I consider what colleagues I should have, I am
cured of any such wish. I can express my own opinions in my own
way.
He feared that he would not have hearty support from his colleagues in his
views on Italy and Reform, which accounts for the above allusion.
In March the Ministry were defeated on Disraeli's Reform Bill, and
Parliament was dissolved. Meanwhile Italy's struggle against Austria was
exciting much deeper interest than franchise questions. On June 24, 1859,
the battle of Solferino was fought. Although the Austrians were beaten, the
cost of victory to the Italians and French was very heavy. The fortunes of
the whole campaign, indeed, had hitherto been due more to the incompetence
of Austrian generalship than either to the strength of the allies or to the
weakness of the Austrian position. Though Solferino was the fifth victory,
the others had been also dearly bought, and the allies still remained
inferior in numbers. Besides, should Austria go on losing ground there was
more than a chance that Prussia would invade France, when the prospects of
Italy would have been at an end, and England too, in all probability,
involved in a general war. Napoleon, who knew the unsoundness of his own
army, dreaded this contingency himself; though the English Court
supposed--and continued to suppose, strangely enough--that to provoke a war
with Prussia was the ultimate end of his policy. Generally speaking, the
English people were enthusiastically Italian, while the Court and
aristocracy were pro-Austrian. "I remarked," wrote Lord Granville to Lord
Canning at this time, "that in the Lords, whenever I said anything in
favour of the Emperor or the Italians, the House became nearly sea-sick,
while they cheered anything the other way, as if pearls were dropping from
my lips."
The elections did not strengthen Lord Derby sufficiently, and in June he
resigned.
"Lord Derby's Government was beaten this morning," writes Lord
Malmesbury, [52] "by a majority of 13.... The division took place
at half-past two, and the result was received with tremendous
cheers by the Opposition. D'Azeglio (the Piedmontese Minister) and
some other foreigners were waiting in the lobby outside, and when
Lord Palmerston appeared redoubled their vociferations. D'Azeglio
is said to have thrown his hat in the air and himself in the arms
of Jaucourt, the French attaché, which probably no ambassador, or
even Italian, ever did before in so public a place."
[52] "Memoirs of an Ex-Minister."
It was not easy to choose Lord Derby's successor, since the Liberal party
was divided; but its two leaders, Palmerston and Lord John, agreed to
support each other in the event of either of them being charged with the
formation of the new Government. The Queen, either because she was
reluctant to distinguish between two equally eminent statesmen, or because
she did not know of their mutual agreement, or more likely because she did
not wish the foreign policy of England to be in the hands of Ministers with
professed Italian sympathies, commissioned Lord Granville to make the
attempt, who, though he felt some sympathy for the patriots, considered the
peace of Europe far more important than the better government of Italy.
After he had failed she sent for Palmerston, under whom Lord John became
Foreign Secretary. This change of Government had a happy and instant effect
upon the prosperity of the Italian cause. Technically, England still
maintained her neutrality with regard to the struggle between Austria and
Victor Emmanuel, backed by his French allies; but the change of Ministry
meant that instead of being in the hands of a neutral Government with
Austrian sympathies, the international negotiations upon which the union
and freedom of Italy depended were now inspired by three men--Palmerston,
Russell, and Gladstone--who did all in their power, and were prepared,
perhaps, to risk war, in order to forward the policy of Victor Emmanuel and
Cavour.
Lady John unfortunately lost her diaries recording events from May, 1859,
to January, 1861; but it is known that she was in close sympathy with her
husband's policy, and she looked back upon the part he played in the
liberation of Italy with almost more pride than upon any other period of
his career. Italian patriots and escaped prisoners from the Papal and
Neapolitan dungeons found a warm welcome at Pembroke Lodge. She was never
tired of listening to their stories, and she felt an enthusiastic ardour
for their cause.
PEMBROKE LODGE, May 9, 1859
Farewell visit from Spaventa and Dr. Cesare Braico, [53] who goes
to Piedmont Wednesday. Spaventa full of eager but not hopeful talk
on Neapolitan prospects, Dr. Braico very quiet, crushed in spirits,
but not in spirit.
"For me the illusions of life are past," he said. "I have given the
flower of my youth to my country in prison--what remains to me of
life is hers."
In answer to some commonplace of mine about hope he replied, "To
those who have suffered much the word hope seems a lie.... While I
was in prison my mother died--my only tie to life." Said he left
England with regret, and should always gratefully remember the
sympathy he had found here. Told him I thought there was not
enough. "More than in my own country. We passed through four
villages on our way to the port after leaving the prison; not one
person looked at us or gave us a word of kindness; not a tear was
in any eye; not one blessing was uttered." I wondered. I supposed
the people (the Neapolitans) were _avilis_. "More than
_avilili--sono abbruttati_." All these sad words, and many
more, in beautiful Italian, would have touched any heart, however
shut to the great cause for which he and others have given their
earthly happiness, and are about to offer their lives. As I looked
at that fine countenance, so determined, so melancholy, and
listened to the words that still ring in my ear, I felt that,
though he did not say so, he meant to die in battle against
tyranny. He gave me some verses, written with a pencil at the
moment, to little May, who ran into the room while he was here.
Farewell, brave, noble spirit. May God be with thee!
[53] Spaventa and Braico had been prisoners in Italy for about ten years.
To get clear what Lord John's share was in the creation of Italy, we must
remember what hampered him at home and what difficulties he contended with
in the councils of Europe.
The Palmerston Cabinet, as far as ability went, was exceptionally strong.
Lord Granville, himself a member of it, had failed in his own attempt,
because Lord John had stipulated that he should lead the Commons, and that
foreign affairs should be in no other hands but Palmerston's; while
Palmerston, who was as necessary as Lord John to any strong Whig
Government, had declined to serve unless he led the Commons. The motive of
Lord John's demand that Palmerston should be Minister for Foreign Affairs
is clear; he did not trust Lord Granville where Italy was concerned. He
thought extremely well of his qualifications as Foreign Minister--he had
previously appointed him his own Foreign Secretary--but Lord Granville had
objected shortly before to Lord Clarendon's dispatch to Naples, in which
Ferdinand II's misrule had been condemned in terms such as might have
preceded intervention. This dispatch had had Lord John's ardent sympathy,
while Lord Granville had disapproved of it on the grounds that in diplomacy
threatening language should not be addressed to a small State which
prudence would have moderated in dealing with a powerful one, and that the
whole tenor of the dispatch was calculated to draw on a European war.
It was these views upon Italian questions--namely, that peace was
all-important and that little kingdoms, however corrupt and despotic,
should not be browbeaten, which made Lord Granville so acceptable to the
Court. Throughout the next two years he was the principal agent through
whom the Queen and the Prince Consort attempted to mitigate the pro-Italian
policy of Lord John and Palmerston. The Cabinet itself was divided on the
subject; the "two old gentlemen," as Sidney Herbert called them, were for
stretching England's "neutrality" to mean support of every kind short of
(and even at the risk of) committing us to intervention; while the rest of
the Cabinet, with the important exception of Gladstone, were more or less
in favour of abstaining from any demonstration on one side or the other.
When Palmerston came into power the matters stood thus: Austria, after
losing the battle of Solferino, was securely entrenched within her four
strong fortresses of Verona, Mantua, Peschiera, and Legnago, but her
Emperor was already disheartened and disgusted by the fighting.
Napoleon, too, on his side was anxious for peace--most anxious, in fact, to
extricate himself as soon as possible from the dangerous complications in
which his alliance was likely to land him. On the eve of Solferino he had
heard that Prussia, ready for war, was concentrating at Coblenz and
Cologne, and he knew well there was no army in France capable of much
resistance. He began, too, to realize that success pressed home might lead
to the formation on the south-east border of France of a new--and perhaps
formidable--Italian power; a possibility he had not considered when he
planned with Cavour at Plombières their secret alliance against Austria.
The war was now becoming unpopular with far-sighted Frenchmen precisely
because its success plainly tended towards this issue; and, in addition,
the formation of such a kingdom, by implying the confiscation of the Papal
territories, was most distasteful to his Catholic subjects, with whom
Napoleon already stood badly and wished to stand better. After a brief
armistice, he proposed terms of peace to Austria, which were signed at
Villafranca on July 9th. They ran as follows:
Lombardy was to be surrendered to France and then handed over to Italy; the
Italian States were to be formed into a Federation under the honorary
presidency of the Pope (this was intended to soothe French Catholics);
Venetia, while remaining under Austrian rule, was to be a member of the
Federation, and the Dukes of Tuscany and Modena were to resume their
thrones. Napoleon wished to add a further stipulation that neither side
should use their armies to secure this latter object, but over this there
rose so much haggling that the outcome was only an understanding between
the two Emperors (not committed to paper) that Austria would not oppose the
establishment of constitutional government in those States, should they
themselves desire it, but at the same time she retained by her silence her
right to interfere for other reasons; while France on her side asserted
that she would neither restore the Dukes by force of arms herself nor--and
here lay a point of great importance--allow Austria to interfere should she
act upon the right she had reserved.
As may be imagined, to men who had set their hearts on a free united Italy,
such a treaty was exasperating. However aware Victor Emmanuel might be that
he owed much to France, he could not but be bitterly disappointed by
Napoleon withdrawing his help when the struggle had just begun and when the
freedom of Lombardy alone had been won. Cavour resigned in a passion of
resentment that Victor Emmanuel should have countenanced such a peace.
"Siamo traditi" was the cry at Milan and Turin. Yet Napoleon had already
done much for the union of Italy; in fact, he had done more than he knew,
and far more than he ever intended. Though no one at first fully realized
it, the stipulation that Austria should not attempt to use force to restore
the fugitive Dukes, and that France should abstain from similar
interference, really opened a path for the union of Italy. This was the
first important juncture at which Lord John brought valuable assistance to
the cause of "Italy for the Italians," since he kept Napoleon to his
promise, after he had good reasons to regret it, and bent the whole weight
of England's influence towards persuading reluctant Austria to accept on
her side the principle of complete non-intervention.
It must be remembered that the terms of Villafranca, in so far as the
question of armed intervention was concerned, had never been finally
ratified; and it was Napoleon's wish that the European Powers should form a
Congress at Zürich, at which the Convention would acquire the stability of
a European treaty, and the nature of the proposed Italian Federation be
finally defined. Lord John and Palmerston, while protesting against the
clause of the treaty which, by including Venice in the Federation, still
left Austria a preponderating influence in Italian affairs, refused to take
part in this Congress unless Napoleon promised beforehand to withdraw his
army from Italy as soon as possible, and to join England in insisting that
no Austrian troops should be allowed in future to cross the borders of
their own Venetian territory.
At home the English Court did its best to prevent its Ministers exacting
these promises. It was the Queen's strong wish that the Federation of Italy
and the restoration of the Dukes of Parma and Modena should stand as
Austria's compensation for yielding Lombardy to Italy, and that the
Congress at Zürich should insist upon these conditions forming part of the
ultimate European treaty. She objected to the pressure which Lord John was
applying to France, on the ground that in making England's presence
conditional upon an assurance that Napoleon would consider terms more
favourable to Italian independence than those already signed at
Villafranca, her Ministers were abandoning neutrality and intervening
deliberately upon the side of Victor Emmanuel. The contest between the
Court and the Foreign Office was obstinate on both sides; at one time it
seemed likely that Palmerston and Lord John would be forced to resign. Lord
John succeeded, however, in obtaining a favourable assurance from Napoleon
to the effect that if it should prove impossible to construct an Italian
Federation in which Austria _could_ not predominate, he would accept a
proposal for an Italian Federation from which Austria was excluded
entirely. On these terms England consented to appear; but after all these
intricate delays the Congress, dated to meet in January, 1860, never sat.
In December a pamphlet, inspired by Napoleon himself, entitled "Le Pape et
le Congrès," had appeared, which advocated the Pope's abandonment of all
territory beyond the limits of the patrimony of St. Peter, and declared
that the settlement of this important matter should lie not with the
Congress, but in the hands of Napoleon himself. If these were the Emperor's
own views, Austria pronounced that she could take no part in the Congress;
for she would then be denied a voice in decisions very near her interests
as a Catholic Power and the first enemy of Italian union. The Congress
consequently fell through.
Meanwhile events had been moving rapidly in Italy. Relieved from the
immediate fear of Austrian coercion, the Tuscan Assembly had voted their
own annexation to the kingdom of Piedmont, and the duchies of Modena and
Parma and the Romagna soon followed suit. The question remained, could
Victor Emmanuel venture to accept these offers? He had the moral support of
England on his side, and in his favour the threat of Napoleon that should
Austria advance beyond her Venetian territory, the French would take the
field against her; but on the other hand, Austria declared that if the King
of Piedmont moved a single soldier into these States she would fight at
once, and Napoleon, while he threatened Austria, did not wish Victor
Emmanuel to widen his borders. Cavour was now again at the head of the
Piedmontese Government, and the problem of British diplomacy was to propose
terms so favourable to Italian liberty that Cavour would not be tempted to
provoke another war as a desperate bid for a united Italy, and yet of a
kind that France and Austria would accept. The terms Lord John offered
were: (1) that Austria and France should both agree to abstain from
intervention, except at the invitation of the five Great Powers; (2) that
another vote should be taken in those States which had desired to
amalgamate with Piedmont before the King should be free to enter their
territories. The other provisions dealt with the preservation of the
_status quo_ in Venetia and the withdrawal of the French troops from
Rome and Northern Italy.
It will be seen that the first clause was merely a reiteration, a
reinforcement with Europe to back it, of the clause which Napoleon, blind
to its results, had attempted to induce the Emperor of Austria to put upon
paper at Villafranca. Having failed then, he had contented himself with
announcing that he would not interfere himself, nor allow Austria to
interfere, by force of arms in Italy, a promise to which English diplomacy
had from that moment firmly held him. We have seen, too, that before Lord
John had consented to take part in the Zurich Congress, he had exacted from
Napoleon an assurance that he would consider, as an alternative to the
Federation proposed at Villafranca, the formation of an Italian Federation
in which Venice (or in other words Austria) should have no part whatever.
Such a Federation would not have been very different from the amalgamation
with Piedmont which the other States had just proposed of their own accord;
and consequently the Emperor of the French could not well protest against
Lord John's proposals without repudiating all his earlier negotiations.
Thus England and Italy now held France on their side, an unwilling ally in
diplomacy, and Austria, on whom Lord John had endeavoured all along to
force the principle of non-intervention, at last gave way. She refused,
however, to commit herself for the future, or to admit that she had not the
right to interfere at any time in Italy's affairs; but she let it be known
that, for the present, reluctance to renew war with France and Piedmont
would determine her actions. Of course the people of the States confirmed
their vote in favour of annexation, and on April 2, 1860, the first
Parliament representing Piedmont and Central Italy met at Turin.
This was the first stage in the making of Italy. When it was completed
there remained only three independent Powers (excluding Austrian Venice)
dividing the peninsula among them--in the north the new kingdom of
Piedmont; in the centre the diminished Papal States; in the south the
kingdom of Naples. Lord John, as the spokesman of England, by playing off
Napoleon, who was no friend to Italian unity, against Francis Joseph, who
was the prime enemy of Italian freedom, had secured for Italy an
opportunity to work out her own salvation. He and Cavour together had
forced Napoleon to prevent Austria from checking what Napoleon himself
would have liked to prevent.
Subsequently it came to light that Napoleon's surprising readiness in
agreeing to the annexation of Central Italy in April had been due to a
private arrangement between him and Cavour in the previous month. It was
agreed between them in March that Savoy and Nice should be handed over to
France as the price of her acquiescence. In the secret treaty of
Plombières, Napoleon's reward for helping the Piedmontese, should the war
leave Venice, Lombardy, and the Romagna in Victor Emmanuel's hands, had
been fixed as the cession of these territories to France. But since
Napoleon had withdrawn and made peace when, as yet, only Lombardy had been
wrested from Austria, he had waived his claim upon Nice and Savoy at
Villafranca, and claimed in exchange a contribution towards his expenses in
the war. But the moment Piedmont proposed to annex Tuscany, the Romagna and
the Duchies, he returned to his original claim. His action had two
important results: one which immediately added to the complication of
Italian politics, and one which affected the diplomatic relations of the
Great Powers for the next eleven years. In Italy his demand made a lasting
breach between Cavour and Garibaldi. The latter never forgave the cession
of Nice, his native town, to France, and never could be convinced that the
sacrifice of Italian territory was a necessary step towards uniting Italy.
In his eyes the agreement with Napoleon had been a kind of treason on the
part of Cavour. Among the European Powers, on the other hand, Napoleon's
action created an impression, which was never effaced, that he was a
predatory and treacherous power.
In England the news was received with the greatest indignation. Lord John
was extremely angry, and practically threatened war. He, like Garibaldi,
did not realize that Cavour was driven to the concession, nor that Napoleon
was, in truth, compelled on his side to demand what he did. The following
letter from Sir James Hudson, the English Minister at Turin--"uomo
italianissimo," as Cavour called him--is particularly interesting, because,
though addressed to Lady John, it reads as though it were also intended for
the eyes of the Foreign Secretary, from whom indignation had temporarily
concealed the truth that this sacrifice was the only compensation which
would have induced Napoleon to look on quietly while the new kingdom of
Italy was consolidating on his frontier. The last event Cavour desired was
a war between the two Powers whose unanimity forced neutrality upon
Austria. Napoleon on his side was practically obliged to demand Savoy and
Nice as a barrier against Italy, and because the acquisition of territory
alone could have prevented his subjects from feeling that they had lost
their lives and money only to further the aims of Victor Emmanuel.
_Sir James Hudson to Lady John Russell_
TURIN, _April_ 6, 1860
MY DEAR LADY JOHN,--I have seen Braico--Poerio brought him to me
after I had offered my services to him in your name, and we have
combined to dine together and to perform other feats, besides
gastronomic ones, in order to cheer him whilst he resides in these
(to a Parthenopean) Boeotian regions.
You mention in your letter the name of that scandal to royalty,
Louis Napoleon. What can I say of him? Hypocrite and footpad
combined. He came to carry out an "idea," and he prigs the silver
spoons. "Take care of your pockets" ought to be the cry whenever he
appears either personally or by deputy.
But do not, I beg of you, consider and confound either the King of
Sardinia or Cavour as his accomplice. Think for a moment on the
condition of Sardinia, who represents the nascent hope of Italy.
Think of the evil that man meant--how he tried to trip up the heels
of Tuscany, establish a precarious vicarial existence for the
Romagna, and plots now at Naples. Not to have surrendered when he
cried "stand and deliver" would have been to have risked all that
was gained--would have given breathing time to Rome, reinforced and
comforted Rome's partisans in the Romagna--have induced doubt,
fear, and disunion throughout Italy. Judging by the experience of
the last eight years, I must say I saw no means of avoiding the
rocks ahead save by a sop to Cerberus. But do not lose confidence
in the National party--Cavour or no Cavour, Victor Emmanuel or
another, that party is determined to give Italy an Italian
representation. I regret that the Nizzards (who have a keen eye to
the value of building lots) are wrenched from us by a French
_filou_; but I cannot forget that the Savoyards have
constantly upheld the Pope, and have been firm and consistent in
their detestation of Liberal Government in Sardinia. _I am not
speaking of the neutral parts_, please remember.
Your most devoted servant,
JAMES HUDSON
Meanwhile the reign of Francis II of Naples and the Two Sicilies, who had
succeeded Ferdinand, was proving if anything worse than his father's. Early
in 1860 insurrections began to break out in Sicily, and on May 5th
Garibaldi, on his own initiative, set sail from Genoa to help the rebels.
"I go," he said, "a general without an army, to fight an army without a
general." His success was extraordinarily rapid. At the end of May he had
taken Palermo from 24,000 regular troops with his volunteers and some
Sicilian help, thus making the dictatorship of Sicily, which he had
declared on landing, a reality. It soon became known that he intended to
recross to the mainland to free the people of Naples itself. Piedmont, of
course, wished Garibaldi to succeed in this further undertaking. His cause
was her cause. Though this action was entirely independent, his
dictatorship had been avowed as a preliminary step to handing over the
island to Victor Emmanuel. The King could not, therefore, oppose him nor
prevent him re-embarking for Naples without separating himself from the
cause of United Italy and making an enemy of almost every patriot in the
country; but both he and Cavour were afraid either that Garibaldi might
fail, in which case the union of Italy would have been postponed for many
years, or that the pace at which changes were coming would lead France or
Austria to interfere again.
France, of course, was most anxious to stop the further increase of the
power of Piedmont, and therefore to check Garibaldi. Napoleon's idea of
"United Italy" was a federation of separate States under the presidency of
the Pope, who in his turn would be under the influence of France. He at
once put pressure upon Cavour and Victor Emmanuel, compelling the latter to
write to Garibaldi, telling him to stop in Sicily. Thus, in spite of her
desire that Garibaldi should sail and succeed, Piedmont was compelled
publicly to express disapproval of his intention. In England it was
supposed that Cavour meant what he made the King say in his letter to
Garibaldi, and in addition Palmerston, who was glad enough to see the old
Governments of the little States tumbling to the ground, was rather alarmed
at the prospect of a United Italy, which would also be a Mediterranean
Power. Hitherto the honour of assisting Italy had belonged equally to him
and to Lord John. Henceforward, however, Lord John, who had been brought up
in the Fox tradition, and whose Italian sympathies had been fortified by
his wife's enthusiasm, definitely took the lead in determining England's
policy.
The aim of Cavour was to help the revolution as much as possible without
making it obvious to Europe that he was doing so; but, like everybody else,
Lord John had taken him at his word, and thought that the liberation of
Italy might be retarded by Garibaldi's departure from Sicily for the
mainland, till information reached him that in reality Piedmont was most
anxious nothing should hinder Garibaldi's attack upon Naples. It reached
him apparently in the following manner.
Cavour determined to appeal to the Russells personally through a secret
agent. With this object Mr. Lacaita [afterwards Sir James Lacaita], who had
been exiled from Naples for having helped Gladstone to write his famous
letters upon the state of the Neapolitan prisons, which Lacaita knew from
inside, was instructed to call upon Lord John in London and to tell him
that in spite of her official declaration, Piedmont was desperately anxious
that Garibaldi should drive the King of Naples from the throne; for
Garibaldi's extraordinary success in Sicily had made his failure on the
mainland far less likely, and Cavour was now certain that there was not
much power of resistance left in the Neapolitan kingdom. Lacaita, though
ill in bed, got up and went to deliver his message. He was told that Lord
John was closeted with the French and Neapolitan ambassadors and could not
see him. Lacaita guessed that Lord John was at that very moment talking
over the means of preventing Garibaldi's expedition, and he immediately
decided to ask for Lady John. When informed that she was seriously ill, he
insisted upon being taken up into her bedroom, and adjured her for the love
of Italy to get Lord John away from the ambassadors at once. A scribbled
note begging her husband to come to her immediately brought him upstairs in
some alarm. And there he learnt from Lacaita that Victor Emmanuel's letter
of July 25th was a blind, that united Italy must be made now or never, and
that he would never be forgiven if England stopped Garibaldi.
This incident is recorded by several persons to whom Mr. Lacaita told the
story. [54] It explains the sudden right-about of English diplomacy at this
juncture, which, as Persigny shows in his memoirs, puzzled and astonished
him. For Lord John having received this information, refused to act with
France in preventing Garibaldi from crossing the Straits of Messina. This
he accordingly did, and marched straight on to Naples, where he was
welcomed as a deliverer; the royal troops deserted or retreated to Capua,
and Garibaldi made his entrance into Naples, as was said in the House of
Commons, "a simple traveller by railway with a first-class ticket." Before
the end of October the King of Sardinia and Garibaldi met near Teano and
Garibaldi saluted Victor Emmanuel as King of Italy.
[54] Lady John's diaries of 1860 being lost, this incident is given here on
the sole authority of the late Sir James Lacaita.
On October 27, 1860, Lord John wrote a dispatch, in which he said that--
Her Majesty's Government can see no sufficient grounds for the
severe censure with which Austria, France, Prussia, and Russia have
visited the acts of the King of Sardinia. Her Majesty's Government
will turn their eyes rather to the gratifying prospect of a people
building up the edifice of their liberties and consolidating the
work of their independence....
Lord John also quoted from "that eminent jurist Vattel" the following
words: "When a people from good reasons take up arms against an oppressor,
it is but an act of justice and generosity to assist brave men in the
defence of their liberties."
_Mr. Odo Russell to Lord John Russell_
ROME, _December_ 1, 1860
MY DEAR UNCLE,--Ever since your famous dispatch of the 27th, you
are blessed night and morning by twenty millions of Italians. I
could not read it myself without deep emotion, and the moment it
was published in Italian, thousands of people copied it from each
other to carry it to their homes and weep over it for joy and
gratitude in the bosom of their families, away from brutal
mercenaries and greasy priests. Difficult as the task is the
Italians have now before them, I cannot but think that they will
accomplish it better than we any of us hope, for every day
convinces me more and more that I am living in the midst of a
_great_ and _real_ national movement, which will at last
be crowned with perfect success, notwithstanding the legion of
enemies Italy still counts in Europe.
Your affectionate nephew,
ODO RUSSELL
Such was the second important juncture at which the British Ministry came
to the rescue of the Italian nationalists. If after Villafranca the
negotiations which secured the safety of Italy were the work of three men,
Palmerston, Lord John, and Gladstone, contending against an indifferent and
timid Cabinet and the opposition of the Court--it is clear that when the
success or failure of Italian unity was a second time at stake, the
decision and initiative were Lord John's.
After his retirement, when he was travelling with his family in 1869, they
took a villa at San Remo. The ceiling of the _salon_ was decorated
with those homely frescoes so common in Italy, which in this case consisted
of four portraits--Garibaldi, Cavour, Mazzini, and--to their surprise--Lord
John himself. Next to the national heroes he was associated closest in the
minds of the people with the achievement of their independence.
When Garibaldi came to England in the spring of 1864, and received a more
than royal welcome, Pembroke Lodge was, naturally, one of the first houses
he visited. On April 21, 1864, Lady John writes in her diary:
All looked anxiously to the sky on getting up--all rejoiced to see
it bright. Sunshine the whole day. Garibaldi to luncheon at
Pembroke Lodge. Our school children, ranged alongside of approach
with flags, cheered him loudly. All went well and pleasantly.
John gave him a stick of British oak. Garibaldi gave John his own
in exchange.
Agatha gave him a nosegay of green, red, and white--he kissed her
on the forehead. Much interesting conversation with him at
luncheon. Told him he would be blamed by many for his praise of
Mazzini yesterday. He said that he and Mazzini differed as to what
was best for Italy, but Mazzini had been his teacher in early
youth--had been unjustly blamed and was _malheureux_. "Et j'ai
cru devoir dire quelque chose," and that he (Garibaldi) had been in
past years accused of being badly influenced by Mazzini: "Ceux qui
ont dit cela ne me connaissent pas." That when he acts it is
because he himself is convinced he ought. Inveighed bitterly
against Louis Napoleon, whom he looks upon as _hors la loi_.
Simple dignity in every word he utters.
Park full of people. Richmond decorated with flags.