The Press.
London, England, 1856-08-02 00:00:00

Flap dortrsponbtutt.

BRUSSELS, July 20.
THE appointment of Count Benkendorff as Russian
Minister to Stutgard, and that of M. de Brunow to
the Court of Prussia, have a certain significance.
Both these statesmen aro of long-tried ability, and
possess diplomatic intimacies that render them
vastly superior to the less apt intellects with which
they have to deal. Few persons have a more perfect
knowledge of England and the state of parties than
M. de Brunow; and the domestic alliance about to he
effected between Prussia and England makes it
necessary for Russia to have a Minister at Berlin
thoroughly conversant with the bearing of those in-
terests that will be immediately brought into play.
M. de Benkendorff has hitherto been the military
resident of Russia at the Court of Prussia. In what
manner he performed his supposed military
duties is well known to the German princes. If
they be satisfied with his peculiar antecedents, they
will be further pleased at his nearer approach, and
at his official allocation in the heart of Germany. In
this sentiment of approbation it is not likely that the
Emperor of Austria will coincide.
The two Hospodars of Moldavia and Wallachia
having resigned their dignities, the Kaimakans ap-
pointed by the Porte have been duly installed, and
the international commission for settling the affairs
of the principalities will immediately commence its
labours. The first question treated will be the
amalgamation of the provinces. As Prussia and
Sardinia have a voice in the matter, the corrupt op-
position of Austria and the Porte will undergo a

729

severe scrutiny. At Jassy and Bucharest the resolu-
tions in favour of union have been unequivocal and
unanimous. They are opposed by Austria on
account of such junction being an insuperable

barrier to a future extension of dominion ; and the
Porte views with jealousy the governmental indepen-
dence of a country on whom the exercise of
monarchical prerogative is, even at present, difficult
and almost phantasmal. But the Porte forgets its
obligation to the allies in having formally and
forcibly obtained its almission into the European
bond of nations. The Ottoman Cabinet will, also,
remember that in the 21. th article of the Treaty of
Paris, after a special recognition of the Turkish em-
pire in its actual integrity, the Sultan promised and
bound himself to convoke forthwith a Divan in each
of the two countries, which Divans, " seront appeles
a exprimer les vacua des populations relativement
a l'organisation definitive des principautes." Now,
this clause bears a clear meaning, and if resisted in
spirit and in deed,the whole treaty becomes a solemn
farce, and in that case the most farcical engagement
would be the maintenance, in statu quo, of the Otto-
man empire in Europe. Austria and Turkey, upon
different and sinister grounds, both oppose a parti-
cular form of settlement, without which future revo-
lution in the principalities is certain.
Mazzini is said to be in the lake district of Upper
Italy, and in communication with the various gangs
of outlaws. Any effort on his part to resuscitate
Italian republicanism will be completely abortive,
since the Italian reformers have advisedly and de-
terminedly adopted the policies of Piedmont, accord-
ing to the views expressed by M. de Cavour on the
Bth of April, at the Congress of Paris. "Ora mai
Mazzini non vale piu "—was the recent observation
of a popular leader. The Archbishop of Milan has
just banished " les Lorettes " from the town, and
many have joined the banditti; but the strangest thing
is their being accompanied by several priests in
order to protect their spiritual interests. General
Baumgarten has replaced General Crenneville in
the command of the Austrian troops in the Duchy
of Parma, without the effect of reconciling the dis-
cordant ements of Austrian and Italian Govern-
ments. It is still insisted that the authority of the
military commissioners shall supersede that of the
legitimate tribunals ; and to this indignity the
Duchess Regent and her Ministers refuse to submit.
For any purpose of good, Lord Normanby is utterly
impotent. To every remonstrance on the part of
the Duchess it is replied—that the Austrian troops
are at hand ready to march on Parma and Piacenza
whenever the order shall be given. Ten thousand
Austrians occupy Piacenza, and a large army is on
the frontier. At Cerra a several assassinations have
lately taken place, and the Ausu ians despatched
thither a military commissioner of the name of
Ghol. An Italian spy, a native of Reggio, drew a list
of suspected persons, and gave it to the Commis-
sioner Ghol, who thereupon had several of the
principal inhabitants of Massa and Carrara thrown
into prison.

It is said that a secret arrangement has been made
with Rome on the Concordat, and as the late debates
in the English Parliament have assured the Papal
party of the non-interference of the Western powers,
the opposition to M. Baldasseroni has assumed a
tone of increased vigour. The Tuscans, however,
freely and firmly support M. Baldasseroni, in spite
of the Jesuits, the Court party, and Lord Normanby.
Count Bacciocchi and Mons. d'Azelio are both in
Tuscany —one at Leghorn, and the other at Lucca.
Whether a fortuitous concourse of events, according
to the diction of Baruch. Spinoza, or other motives,
have caused their visit, cannot be known.

At tNapleq, a Padre was lately arrested by the
" sbirri " he happened to be popular with the
lower orders, and particularly with the female
portion, on account of his liberal absolution of
them from the venial transgression of "it voler
bene." Thereupon, in the "Piazza del Mercato,"
the very scene of the revolt of Masaniello, they
mustered in force and attempted to rescue their
favorite and benevolent priest. So resolute was the
attack, that the commissary campagna was obliged
to send for a company of soldiers, who succeeded
after some trouble in capturing fifteen of the rebel-
lions petticoats. They were subjected the day follow-
ing to the " colpi di bastone," with its accompanying
indecencies. Assassinations, in revenge, are certain
to follow, and the life of the commissary campagna
is not worth a day's purchase. Looking at the state
of things in Lombardy, the Milanese, Parma,
Piacenza, Modena, Tuscany, the Roman Legations,
and Naples, it may be reasonably demanded whether
the Ministers of England were justified in statin; to
the Parliament that the political affairs of Italy wore
such an harmonious aspect as to justify the hope of
the troops of France and Austria being speedily
withdrawn. C. A. H.

I

730

lot* anb. &lonia! `‘futtiligence.

FRANCE.

The Monitcur of last Sunday published the
following remarkable article upon the recent events
in Spain :
We have watched with interest the recent events
in Spain, and we have approved them to a certain
extent, as we fancied we discovered therein a
favorable chance for establishing the Constitutional
Government on a firm basis; for France, which re-
presents in Europe the ideas of 1789, can entertain
no other wish than that of beholding a neighbour-
ing State, in whose prosperity she takes a deep inte-
rest, avoid anarchy or despotism—those two shoals
so dangerous to progress and liberty; and, as the
Espartero Ministry did not seem to possess either
the power to prevent excesses or the requisite
energy to 13ad a great country, it is natural to hail
with sympathy a change of a nature to consolidate
the throne of Isabella 11.
Some foreign journals, blinded by their unwar-
ranted preference for a name, have called a coup
d'kat that which was simply a resignation of Minis-
ters, accepted purely and simply by the Queen atter
reiterated refusals. If the resignation had been that
of O'Donnell they would have found it perfectly con-
stitutional. Party spirit should never misrepresent
things to such an extent, and thereby endeavour to
mislead public opinion.
The condition of Spain had been deplorable for
two years ; that great country, for so long a time
the arbiter of Europe, whose alliance but recently
was eagerly sought for, had sunk into insignificance.
It had neither finances, nor army, nor commerce,
nor Administration, nor influence abroad. In this
difficult position ambitious men, instead of endea-
vouring to give strength to what existed, attempted
to overthrow it, either by flattering the passions of
the mob or by attempting to realise dangerous
utopias. The disorders which have agitated Spain
for the last few years must be attributed to the
fatal idea of certain Ministers, four years since, to
make a coup d'itat, when Spain was tranquil and
prosperous, and when there was no cogent reason to
urge them to make a sudden change in the laws of
the kingdom.
For a coup d'etat to be legitimate in the eyes of
posterity it must be justified by a supreme necessity,
and be regarded by all men as the sole means of
saving the country.
We know those who dreamt of coups &kat not
with a view to modify some institutions, but to sub-
vert the throne or change the dynasty, either by
uniting Portugal to Spain under the house of
Braganza or by establishing a regency. We
therefore give credit (nous luis savors fire) to
Marshal O'Donnell for having attempted, without a
coup d'etat, to restore order in Spain, the first and
indispensable basis of liberty. We give him due
credit for having during the first moment of
snatchy devoted all his care to the reform of the
Spanish army, as well in a moral as in a material
point of view; for it did not suffice to reform
battalions and squadrons—it was essentially neces-
sary to give to soldiers who are as brave as they are
capable of great things the only mainsprings lor the
maintenance of an army, duty and fidelity to the
Sovereign, and discipline.
Let us hope, then, that the recent changes will
put an end to those coups (Mat and to those baneful
pronunciamentos, for it is our sincere desire that
Spain, which contains so many elements of strength
and prosperity, should resume, in the midst of
quiet, the rank which is her due, instead of descend-
ing to the level of certain Republics of South
America, where neither patriotism, nor civic virtues,
nor high principle are to be found, but only a few
generals who dispute the power with the help of
soldiers led astray by empty promises.
The Sicle replied to this article, and, though
agreeing with it in the main, ventured to express an
opinion that it was difficult to maintain O'Donnell's
attempt was not a coup d'etat. In regard to Espar-
tero, the Sii.c/e differs tote ccelo with the Moniteur

The official journal (it says) does not make suffi-
cient allowances fur the difficulties of the position in
which Espartero's Ministry was placed—difficulties
which now appear in all their reality by the sad
events that are passing in the Peninsula. We
approved of the liberal and democratic tendencies of
Espartero, and we think that the Moniteur, which
was alarmist the day before yesterday, is now over-
eonfident in the re establishment of tranquillity in the
country of local franchises and pronunciamentos.
The Assemblee Nationale, in a repi), pins its faith
upon Narvaez as the only man, during the last twenty-
five years, "whom personal ambition or the entrain-
ment of circumstances has never made to deviate
from the line he has traced, and which may be
abridged in two words—consolidation of the Throne

THE PRESS.

and exclusive devotion to the interests of Spain."
And, in direct opposition to the Moniteur, asserts:—
" Peace can be restored to Spain only by a sincere
return to the ideas of order, and by the complete
abandonment of a policy the inevitable consequences
of which have revealed themselves. We think we
know that such is the desire of the Queen. The
energy she has shown in face of the insurrection,
alter having supported, not without dignity, the two
years of the preceding regime, has awakened in all
hearts those sentiments of fidelity and loyalty which
ally themselves, in true Spaniards, to their unalter-
able attachment to their religion. If the Govern-
ment wishes to assure its triumph, it is in these
sentiments that it must seek support—it is there
that it must seek strength and duration. Let it re
nounce those impious laws which were but a first step
towards a more general spoliation ; let it break ener•
getically with the deplorable tendencies of the regime
that has just fallen: it is at this price only that it
will conciliate, without exception of party, all honest
men, and that it will consolidate its victory."
The formation of an army of 25,000 men on the
line of the Pyrenees still proceeds. The camp at
Boulogne has been broken up.
At the farewell review of the camp, Marshal Bara-
guay d'Hilliers addressed the troops :

Messieurs,—The camps are about to be raised. The
army of the north is dissolved. You are under orders to
march to Paris, and I understand all your joy. I should
share it most heartily did I not feel a deep regret at
quitting regiments and officers with whom I have served
tor the last eighteen months—who have so entirely satis-
fied me, and whom I have been so proud to command. 1
know not what the future may reserve for us, but if it
answer to my desires we shall meet again, and in that case
I shall rely upon you, as you may rely upon me. We are
animated by the same sentiments of devotion to our coun-
try and the Emperor, and we shall ever have for our
rallying cry " Vive l'Empereur."
Prince Lucien Bonaparte has returned to France
from Spain by order of the Emperor.

Count Walewski has returned to, and the Emperor
is expected in Paris on Monday.

SPAIN.

Despatches from Madrid up to the 30th ult. an-
nounce that the authority of the Queen's Govern.
ment was recognised throughout entire Spain,
excepting the interior of the city of Saragossa.
No further movement had taken place at Barce-
lona, and the slight revolts at Gerona, Corunna,
Granada, Malaga, and Cadiz, had been suppressed
with eit,e.

Generals Dulce and Echague are before Saragossa,
and the surrender of the town is stated to be hourly
anticipated.
The Queen is reported to have demanded of
Marshal O'Donnell the return of Queen Christina.
M. Gonzales Bravo has been granted permission
to return to Madrid.

The National Guard of Madrid was to be re-
organised, and the present Cortes to be dissolved.