4482. EBB to Sarianna Browning
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 26, 282–283.
[Siena]
[early September 1859] [1]
Dearest Sarianna, As Lord Brougham could’nt understand the war, it is’nt very likely that he should understand the peace—only we here, perfectly understand that if Lord Brougham & such as Lord Brougham had acted & spoken with a little of that nobleness which appeared to one half of them “unintelligible” and to the other half “inexcuseable,” we should have had no premature peace at all—as it is, it may be consistent that after blaspheming against the rights of humanity he should carry his irreverence a little higher,—but the consistency certainly stops there. If it was a wrong to take away Lombardy from Austria “in defiance of treaties,” it was just as much a wrong to take away Venetia from Austria “in defiance of treaties,”—& consistently he & his friend should be glad that no more wrong was done.
For the rest, I know perfectly that England was not the immediate cause of the complication which issued in the peace. Neither perhaps was Prussia the very immediate cause– Russia probably was, who behaved better than either of them, but did not feel prepared to engage in the general war which according to Lord Palmerston (or Lord John .. I forget which) would have “probably” followed. Napoleon hoped till the battle of Solferino that affairs in Germany were susceptible of arrangement. Afterwards he made an effort at getting better terms for Venetia, through the English government– But the E government, though it forwarded the French propositions to Austria, would not recommend them by even a word, for fear of breaking their precious neutrality, & Austria therefore refused. Had the propositions been recommended by a word,—Lord Palmerston avowed in parliament in his devil-me-care way, “that, of course things would have gone differently at Villafranca”–!! [2] ——
But I do not feel pain, out of partizanship for Italy, though I love Italy:—it was for all humanity, and justice’ sake[.]
And now, now—if I could but see more clearly about Venetia, I should be comforted quite for the peace– Things are going admirably—& room has been made by this pause for the magnificent attitude & bearing of Tuscany & other Italian states. But let no one mistake—here, no one does mistake: the Italians have not “freed themselves,”—simply, because to do so was impossible– The first battle won by France, freed Italy in a potential sense, from north to south—and all this activity of political life is the consequence of the act. Even now, do you suppose that if Louis Napoleon removed his hand, Austria would’nt pour in upon us?—do you suppose we ever had conditions here before, under which, we had our present power of action?– Indeed no–
And we feel it so– The emperor’s bust is side by side with Victor Emanuel’s in the national assembly, & unanimously they voted, that never in the annals of history had a benefactor done so much for any nation.
The English & Austrian press belied the intentions of the Emperor, & the terms of Villafranca in every possible way, & excited among ill-informed persons a good deal of uneasiness—was not justified by the situation– Before the Emperor left Italy & after the peace, he assured our delegates with his own lips, that the “popular choice should not be forced”—and this was repeated again & again in Paris. [3] It was difficult <***>
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Fitzwilliam Museum.
1. Dating based on EBB’s comments about Lord Brougham, similar to those she made in letter 4481.
2. In the House of Commons on 8 August, Palmerston reiterated the statement he had made the month before concerning his government’s role in communicating peace terms between France and Austria (see letter 4469, note 12). He went on to say: “But if the British Government had expressed an opinion strongly in favour of those conditions, and had undertaken to support them at Vienna, the natural and necessary consequence would have been that the Emperor of the French would not have been disposed at Villafranca to propose to the Emperor of Austria more favourable terms than those which he had been led to imagine the British Government would support and would induce Prussia and Russia to support in conjunction with her” (The Times, 9 August 1859, p. 8).
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