'This engagement had been allowed to sleep; I will not say that it was
forgotten, but no one seemed disposed to revert to it. But after the
twenty-second Protocol, when Piedmont was allowed to threaten Austria,
and neither England nor France defended her, Buol got alarmed. He feared
that Austria might be left exposed to the vengeance of Russia on the
north and east, and to that of the Italian Liberals on the South. An
alliance with France and England, though only for a specified purpose, at
least would relieve Austria from the appearance of insulation. She would
be able to talk of the two greatest Powers in Europe as her allies, and
would thus acquire a moral force which might save her from attack. He
recalled, therefore, the old engagement to the recollection of Clarendon
and Louis Napoleon, and summoned them to fulfil it. I do not believe that
either of them was pleased. But the engagement was formal, and its
performance, though open to misconstruction, and intended by Austria to
be misconstrued, was attended by some advantages, though different ones,
to France and to England. So both your Government and ours complied.'
_Tuesday, May 20_.
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