Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-10-24 00:00:00

. -
and united- themselves to Sardinia, does not in ----
any way infringe upon the setular rights of the
Church of Rome ; therefore, this marked distinc-
Clrawn by Louis NAPoLEON bet*een his treat-
ment of the different delegates who sought an 1
interview with him at the Tuillerics. We cannot
fail to see in this a- yet' lingering respect' .to the
Ecclesiastical. Powers, emanating either from f.4:'
motives arising from sacred or from political con-
siderations. He has, indeed,put the screw upon-
the Court of Rome, by threatening to withdravit'
the French troops, by whose bayonets- alone the
power of the PorE. has been, for the last tea -
years, sustained, unless his Holy Father'consents
to certain reforms-in the civil polity of the Papal
States; which he will not do, since the only reply
to such a measure .was a , declaration through' :
CardinalANTo:iNELLl to the DUE.EDE
that Pius IX. had reached the utmost limits of

any concessions he was prepared to make to
popular opinion and demand.
With such a state of affairs, what is the
Congress which is to follow as the sequel of -
the Peace of Villafranca, now ratified pit t
Zurich, likely to effect ? The very starting
point in itself is one of difficulty. A year
agq, perhaps, none of us expected a war would
take place between Austria and France and Sar-
diaia. No one could exactly foresee the expulsion
of the Italian Dukes from their respective king-
doms ; not even the intimate frinnis of the
Emperor of the French,—neither had Lord
PALMERSTON and Lord CLARENDON, then visited
the Ir.:perial circle at Compeig,ne,—and therefore,
in all probability, they were ignorant of how •
soon the Exchanges of London, Paris, Berlin,
and Vienna would be ringing with the rumours
of approaching war; and, perhaps, there was but
one man who knew of, and saw the coming conflict
rising like a little cloud in the political horizon, and
he—namely, Count CAVOUR—is now an ex-Minis-
ter, dissatisfied with the results of the war. What
has been the issue of this so far unexpected cam-
paign The cession of Lombardy to Sardinia ; the
self-glorification of NAPOLEON 111. ; the consolida-
tion of his dynasty ; and the amity of the
Emperor of Austria, for his moderation at the
meeting at Villafranca. In fact,. the Italians
themselves are now inclined to carry out the
Napoleonic " idea" of establishing the freedom of
the Peninsula—the intention left incomplete by
NAPOLEON, after the imposing promige of libe-
rating Italy " from the Alps to the Adriatic."
The disposal of the Dachies will form the great
subject of discussion in any European Congress.
which may meet for the deliberation of this
most important . preliminary question. The
people of the Duchies have already
repudiated
the restoration of their late rulers, and have
themselves determined upon annexation to Sar-
dinia. But the Congress, it appears, is to de-
cide for them the form of government they are to
adopt, and which, when decided on, will, we
may expect, be supported, and, if possible, carried
out, by all sorts of political and diplomatic
manoeuvring, or by any other means short of ab-
solute force. Sardinia will, of course, take a seat
at the Congress, as well as England, Russia •
France, Austria, Prussia, and the other three
second-rate Continental Powers of Spain, Sweden,
and Belgium. But will these Powers, which are
hereditary monarchies, encourage a people rising
to select their own form of government ? AlO4
assuredly not ; and should Lord JOIIN RUSSELL
persist in his avowed determination, that this
country will, be no party to any compulsory re:
storation to their dominions of the Dukes 0'
Tuscany, Modena, and Parma, either by mill-
tarp force or diplomatic arrangement, what, in
such an eventuality as the Congress deciding in
favour of the return of the Dukes, will be the
position into which England must be thrown
She must stand alone, or else she must choose the
alternative of an undignified isolation, or an actic°'
co-operation with the States of Central Itali.
which refuse a confederation, and will haTe
nothing more nor less than amalgamation with
Piedmont. The more, then, we look into the
probable turn which the discussion at this
coming Congress will take, the less desirable doe°
it appear, for our own honour and dignity, that eve
should have anything to do with it ; and the
more apparent it becomes that it is most unforttl;
nate for this country, at so critical a juncture
ra
European affairs, that we should have Lo
JOHN RUSSELL at the Foreign-office.

NOTES OF THE DAY.

It is evident that King Victor Emmanuel has
~fisit
length made up his mind to act for himself in the TO',
question. Since he is to be no party to a treaty of
with Austria, he doubtless feels himself at liberty ""
pursue his , own course ; and that coarse, it is 11°,s'r
manifest, is to be, what he calls, Italian independence' j,
although it is not to be an independence that will egcl";
his own rule, wherever it can be enforced. The langll4oi
he has just held to the Municipality of Genoa 1
5 llg
only very decisive, but very warlike. Ile tc;oa
them, in the first place, that " with resolution, 11° "be
and perseverance, the lawful wishes of Italy will
granted ;" and then he reminds theme that 44 there 91;1;
questions which are more promptly settled on the bat'
field than by means of diplomacy,"—at the same time e.:**s
pressing the hope that, since their cause has the synlP
of Europe, diplomacy may yet do the work, insteaa °f
resorting again to the battle field. But the very .0-,
stance stance of the King of Sardinia again conte
such an extremity in the present state of the Peniroulti'
looks like anything but peace.
The King of Naples, on one side of the States of .1,
Church, and Garribaldi on the other, are whetting the.B
swords for a fight respecting the Papacy. Theretr:o
every reason to believe, moreover, that 1.5,d,
is quite prepared to stand up for the Popedonl ; and,
is
so far as one can judge, the French Emperor
unwilling to give his aid to its support. There is test
little doubt that this is one of Louis Napoleon's gre° be
difficulties at present. If his recent declarations are to
believed, he would fain see great concessions re. °,°_,c,_
the Papal Power to the States that are under its tu`
poral rule. Bat'he knows the influence of that
he would rw-7
even among his own people, nud the risk roplatieS