The Sun.
London, England, 1848-09-09 00:00:00

a retrospective character, upon the "Memoirs of Sir
T. Nowell Buxton, Bart.," and another of an antici-
pative character, on the " Political Prospects of
France and England," add the piquancy of contrast
to the more literary portions of the publication.
Upon the " Revolutions of Italy," the Quar-
terly writes at some length and with an
ample amount of acerbity. Besides looking
at the conduct of King Charles Albert as perfidious,
the reviewer speaks of Pope Pius IX. as the origina-
tor of all the miseries which at present cause so much
desolation through the length and breadth of the
Roman peninsula. It is singular that one who coin-
cides so thoroughly in the political opinions of the
Quarterly as Mr. James Whiteside should differ so
widely from this notion as to the real character of
the Sovereign Pontiff. In the preface to his new
work called " Italy in the Nineteenth Century," Mr.
Whitesidesays that he entirely agrees as to the opinion
expressed about the King of Sardinia, but further on,
respecting Pius IX., he observes, "The Pope, when he
ascended the throne, did not mean to be a great poli-
tical reformer, and had not the remotest
intention of granting a free constitution to his sub-
jects, but what he has done has been through the
force of circumstances." The italics are his own.
Ves ! of course, Pius IX. has acted throughout
simply through the force of circumstances. When
Italy was, politically speaking, stagnant under the
influences of her prolonged oppression, when Gregory
XVI. died amidst the apathy of the millions living
between Mount St. Bernard and Mount Vesuvius,
when in that solemn moment Cardinal John Mastai
Ferretti— just invested with the tiara—caused the
whole heart of Italy to leap by the eloquence of his
noble amnesty—he was only acting through the force
of circumstances. When he ameliorated the condition
of the wretched Jews—when he disbanded the old
Swiss guard—when he armed the people of Rome
and thereby rendered them the guardians of their
own liberties—when he protested against the occupa-
tion of Ferrara—when he enlarged the municipal
rights of the states of the Church—when he called
forth the buried genius and the nearly extinct civism
of his people by a spontaneous constitution—when he
gained the friendship of the patriotic and incorruptible
Gioherti—when he inaugurated by his sovereign will
the first Roman Parliament of modern times—Pope
Pius IX. was impelled only by the force of circum-
stances ! We thank Mr. James Whiteside for
his inimitable skill in seeing what the
whole world had failed to recognise. " A
Daniel, yea, a very Daniel come to judgment !" But
the Quarterly thinks that Pius IX. is the guilty cause
of all this Italian wretchedness. Alas, for the inge-
nuity of the reviewer, Mr. Whiteside has ,
spoken
•
and he has said that the Pontiff could not act other-
wise, for that he has been driven forward by the
force of circumstances. Europe bends before that
authoritative and oracular decision. We can only
bow down like the Greek scholars under the porch,
exclaiming reverently—
" Aura; fin% ! Aura; EIVEY

Mr. James Whiteside bath spoken !—Be dumb, thou
mannikin Quarterly !—Hide thy diminished head, thou
lowly Ponta! Tnree other contributions complete
the current number ; those on " Cabet's Voyage en
Icarie," on "Entails of Land," and " On the State of
Religion in France." We have written at such
length upon the contents of the two elderly Reviews,
that we have I.c-served for ourselves only room for a
passing sentence on the Westminster and Foreign
Quarterly. Already we have had occasion to notice
the bold " Address to the Queen" appended to the
former—an address which touches upon every one
of those grievances which have raised the ire of Mr.
Hume, Mr. Cobden, and Mr. Osborne. Of the
other contributions, one is biographical (on "Lord
Chancellor Har.lwicke"), another historically critical
(on " Thiers' History of the Empire"), another is
sanitary (on the "Corporation of London"), another
is architectural (on " The New Houses of Parlia-
ment"), and another is educational, being devoted to
the consideration of the " English Universities." In
many respects, .in point of research, of earnestness,
and of general intelligence the Quarterlies for July,
1848, are of a very superior character.