ABSTRACT
“We should show in our foreign policy that we have learnt something from the past. i want both sides of the House to consider whether it would not be a wise thing for us now to come to the conclusion that in future we shall hold ourselves strictly aloof from Continental wars in which we can have no interest, or at least our interest in which can only be such as we must always feel whenever any people in any part of the world is suffering. If we do so, we shall set an example which must have a great and beneficial effect; and if at any time two foreign nations should, through unhappy circumstances, become involved in war, as it would be known that it was the solemn principle of England never to shed its blood in European conflicts, we should be a tribunal altogether impartial to which our Continental neighbours could appeal with the belief that if our counsels or our good offices were asked they would be given in that spirit of generosity and confidence in which they were solicited.”—Mr. Bright in the House of Commons, June 9, 1859.
