The Press.
London, England, 1856-04-12 00:00:00

346

defends the privilege that is the foundation and
safeguard of representative institutions. The parties,
unpopular and popular, are not evenly balanced :
that of the " Croix " is composed of obdurate mate-
rials, clinging to worn-out principles belonging to the
time of the Great Fredenck, and designated in
France by the word "rococo "; and the other, re-
moved alike from the licence of democracy and the
injustice of despotism, marches onward in accord-
ance with the views and necessities of civilisation.
Both, equally opposed to Austria, have distinct views
on the German question. On European politics, the
peculiar opinions of the "Croix" despotists have
been advanced by M. de Gerlach in his pamphlet,
"Les Francais en Allemagne—oui ou non "; whilst
the Gotha Liberals loudly condemn the crusading ad-
jurations against France as unwise and uncalled for.
Whatever loss Prussia may have sustained in
national importance has been an immediate addition
to that of Russia, and cannot be remedied ; neither
is it desired by England and France that there shoqld
be a remedy, since it is their object and determina-
tion that Russia should be scrupulously preserved in
her elevation as one of the three primary powers.
Crooked courses rarely lead to a safe haven.
If Sardinia was anxious that Italian affairs should
have had a more prominent place in the discussions
at the Conference, there is the ready consolation
that recent occurrences will compel the European
powers to interfere without further loss of time.
To explain away or to justify the crimes, hot and
heavy, of the King of Naples, is a specimen of that
blind infatuation and craven submission to tyranny,
that has brought more than one sovereign into irre•
mediable trouble. Neither is the Pope a less
grievous blight to Italian freedom and good go-
vernment. The nature of his spiritual power is
in eternal conflict with the temporal, to the injury of
both, and the wretchedness of his subjects; and this
crying evil has directed popular opinion against the
person of the priest. Should the army of France be
withdrawn from Rome, the Papal States would be
instantly disorganised from Ferrara to Ponte Corvo:
and the question would arise whether Austria would
be permitted to occupy the place of the French
troops. The plenipotentiaries of Sardinia, there-
fore, may be assured that the affairs of Italy will
force themselves upon the notice of European states-
man without fear of inattention or neglect.
Much money and more blood has been spent to
preserve the entirety of the Ottoman empire. But
Turkey is one thing, and the Turks are another. It
is the distinction between the Snitan and the
Ulemah. To save the shattered influence of Turkey
in the Danubian principalities, the provinces should
be united under a Christian prince, chosen by Europe,
and not belonging to the house of Hapsburg, who
should pay a guaranteed tribute to the Porte.
This plan is displeasing to Turkish ideas of suze•
rainty, and to the designs of Austria, and a claim is
made speciously to maintain the Porte in the precise
state " ante quo helium," according to promise. It
is as a draft drawn at sight on the assumed liabilities
of the allies, and which, if honoured, would plunge
the principalities into their former course of in-
trigues and revolutions.
The fifth point of the propositions that was said to
be charged with peril has been facile of solution, and
that of the Danube, which, from the first, has been
treated in THE PRESS as the key of the Eastern
question, will prove the real difficulty. Austria will
use every energy—fair and foul—without scruple as
without compunction, to keep the Moldo-Wallachian
provinces in a state incapable of good government,
so that at a future time they may be dealt with in a
bargain and for the personal profit of the house of
Hapsburg-Lorraine.
The fate of Europe, with the hope that the peace
may be of long duration, depends upon the prepon-
derating influence of the three great powers. The
moment the war has ceased, the sincerity of the
peace has been tested and proved by the frank union
and determined co-operation of England, France,
and Russia, in a policy that will not permit secondary
States to disturb the restored tranquillity of Europe.
J. E. L.