Vattel,  that  eminent  jurist,  had  well  said  that  Avlien  a  people
for  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.  Did  the  people  of  Naples  and  the
Eoman  States  take  u^d  arms  against  their  government  for  good
reasons?  Upon  this_  grave  matter,  her  Majesty's  government
held  that  the  people  in  question  are  themselves  the  best  judges
of  their  own  affairs.  Her  Majesty's  government  did  not  feel
justified  in  declaring  that  the  people  of  Soutliern  Italy  had  not
good  reasons  for  throwing  off'  their  allegiance  to  their  former
governments.  Her  Majesty's  government,  therefore,  could  not
pretend  to  blame  the  King  of  Sardinia  for  assisting  them.  So
downright  was  the  language  of  Lord  John.  We  cannot  wonder
that  such  words  as  these  spread  in  Italy  like  flame,  that  people
cojDied  the  translation  from  each  other,  weeping  over  it  for  joy
and  gratitude  in  their  homes,  and  that  it  was  hailed  as  worth
more  than  a  force  of  a  hundred  thousand  men.^

The  sensation  elsewhere  was  no  less  profound,  though  very
different.  The  three  potentates  at  Warsaw  viewed  the  despatch
with  an  emotion  that  was  diplomatically  called  regret,  but
more  resembled  horror.  The  Prince  Piegent  of  Prussia,  after-
wnrds  the  Empei'or  V\'illiam,  told  Prince  Albert  that  it  was  a
tough  morsel,  a  disruption  of  the  law  of  nations  and  of  the
holy  ties  that  bind  peoples  to  their  sovereigns.^  Many  in
England  were  equally  shocked.  Even  Sir  James  Graham,  for
instance,  said  that  he  would  never  have  believed  that  such  a
document  could  have  passed  through  a  British  cabinet  or
received  the  approval  of  a  British  sovereign  ;  India,  Ireland,

1  Walpole's  Russell,  ii.  pp.  335-339.  '^  JIartin's  Prince  Consort,  v.  p.  220.
