FORE: The Year of RevolutionsLord Palmerston's Advice to SpainIt is rejected by the Duke of SotomayorDismissal of Sir H. BulwerThe Revolution in GermanyCondition of PrussiaThe King's OrdinanceHe disclaims a Desire to become German EmperorThe National Assembly dispersed by ForceA New ConstitutionThe King declines the German CrownThe Revolution in ViennaFlight of Metternich and of the EmperorAffairs in BohemiaCroats and HungariansJellachich secretly encouragedRevolt of HungaryMurder of LambergDespotic Decrees from ViennaThe second Revolution in ViennaBombardment of ViennaAccession of Francis JosephCommencement of the WarDefeats of the AustriansQuarrel between Kossuth and G?rgeiRussian InterventionCollapse of the InsurrectionThe Vengeance of AustriaDeath of Count BatthyaniLord Palmerston's ProtestSchwartzenberg's ReplyThe Hungarian RefugeesThe Revolution in ItalyRevolt of VeniceMilan in ArmsRetreat of RadetzkyEnthusiasm of the ItaliansRevolution and counter-Revolution in Sicily and NaplesDifficulties of the PopeRepublic at RomeThe War in LombardyAustrian OverturesRadetzky's SuccessesFrench and British MediationArmistice arrangedResumption of HostilitiesBattle of NovaraAbdication of Charles AlbertTerms of PeaceSurrender of Venice, Bologna, and other Italian CitiesForeign Intervention in RomeThe French ExpeditionTemporary Successes of the RomansSiege and Fall of RomeRestoration of the PopeParliamentary Debates on Italian AffairsLord Palmerston's Defence of his Policy.
FORE:From the affairs of the royal family, we turn to a more important subject, the partition of Poland. Poland, lying contiguous to Russia, had for ages been in a condition calculated to attract the cupidity of ambitious neighbours. Its nobles usurped all authority. They kept the whole mass of the people in hopeless serfdom; they usurped the whole of the land; they elected their own king, and were too fond of power themselves to leave him more than a puppet in their hands. To make the condition of the country worse, it was violently divided on the subject of religion. One part of the nobles consisted of Roman Catholics, another of what were called Dissidents, made up of members of the Greek Church, and Protestants, Lutherans, Calvinists, and Arians. Although by what was called the Pacta Conventa the Dissidents had been admitted to an equality of rights, this was totally disregarded by the overbearing Roman Catholics; and in 1736 the Pacta Conventa was formally abolished. Every Dissident was, by this measure, for ever excluded from government, and from all interest in it.Still the affairs of Wilkes continued to occupy almost the sole thought and interest of the Session. On the 23rd of November the question of privilege came up; and though he was absent, having been wounded in a duel, it was actively pushed by the Ministers. Mr. Wilbraham protested against the discussion without the presence of Wilkes, and his being heard at the bar in his defence. Pitt attended, though suffering awfully from the gout, propped on crutches, and his very hands wrapped in flannel. He maintained the question of privilege, but took care to separate himself from Wilkes in it. The rest of the debate was violent and personal, and ended in voting, by two hundred and fifty-eight against one hundred and thirty-three, that the privilege of Parliament did not extend to the publication of seditious libels; the resolution ordering the North Briton to be burnt by the hangman was confirmed. These votes being sent up to the Lords, on the 25th they also debated the question, and the Duke of Cumberland, Lord Shelburne, and the Duke of Newcastle, defended the privilege of Parliament as violated in the person of Wilkes. In the end, however, the Ministers obtained a majority of a hundred and fourteen against thirty-eight. Seventeen peers entered a strong protest against the decision. On the 1st of December there was a conference of the two Houses, when they agreed to a loyal address to the king, expressing their detestation of the libels against him.