The Sun.
London, England, 1860-10-26 00:00:00

FRANCE AND ITAZY.

1 It is not an uncommon figure of rhketoric to sug-
gest against ourselves an accusation w.hich we are
fully competent to answer. The triump h may be
rather a cheap one, but still it is a triumph, and how
few people stop to weigh its exact magnitude), or
see through the logical artifice by which it has j!een.
obtained ! Such, we cannot help thinking, has b eels
the object of a very dexterous article bearing the
impress of a semi-official character which hair .ap-
peared in the Constitutionnel. There are many
things which any one writing in a spirit of cavil' or
even severe criticism might find to reprehend in the
conduct of the Emperor of the French with regard
to Italy. He might be asked a series of questionto
to which it would be very hard for him to find an
answer. Why did he, professing himself the enemy
of revolution, give himself the signal for !evolution
by the quarrel which he forced upon Austria on the
Ist of January, 1859 ? Why, having commenced
his career and formally announced to the world the
object which that career was to realise, did he sud-
denly stand still in the very midst of success, in
lnee oftty e
pre-
sence of an obstacle which the revelations as to the
real state of the garrison. stores, and fortress of
could Verona
not sbeartitoluesof resistance?Solferin w,h
o show
y
did he allow La of
moriciere to take charge the Papal
army, and send Cialdini to destroy it ? How came,
he
to commit himself to a scheme of Italian Confe-
deration, which, notwithstanding authority and
the
power of its proposer, has never found a single
hearty adherent ? How could he be so shortsighted
as to break the peace of Europe
andexpose his
army and himself to the danger of a most disas-
trous reverse to raise up in united Italy a power
far less obnoxious to French influence than the di-
vided and half-subjected Italy which existed under
the yoke of Austria and the fetters of Naples ?
These, and fifty other questions of a similar nature,.
the Emperor of the French might have found it
difficult to answer ; but the question which he has
chosen to propose to himself involve no.difficulty
at-all, The Emperor NapoleOn is asked, on the ono
side, why he has not intervened to promote the
cause of the liberation of Italy ; and, on the other,
why he has not intervened to put down the revo-
lutionary movement. Before we consider the rea-
sons_. which the Emperor urges in defence of his
abstinence from intervention in favour of or against
Italian liberty, we may venture to suggest another
answer which the modesty of the Imperial cate-
chumen has probably prevented him from mah*
for himself. When a man is asked why he h_
done such and such a thing, it is assumed ti *Vile
has not done it. Now, this is precisely the assump-
tion which the querist is not entitled to make, as
the Emperor • did interfere for the revolution in
Lombardy, and is now interfering against the re-
volution in the Papal States. The occupier of
Milan and Brescia cannot, deny that he has done
something by armed force to forward political
changes, nor can the present holder of Viterbo,
Velletri, and Orvieto pretend that he is not inter-
vening by armed force on the reactionary side.
This consideration robs the article of a good
deal 'of its interest, for it is, after all, nothing more
nor less than an attempt to account for events which
have not happened, and is besides, under the form.
of a defence, the severest censure on the line of con-
duct which was actually pursued. When Napoleon
tells us that it was impossible for him to take the
revolutionary side without becoming the chief in-
stead of the moderator of the revolution, he pro-
nounces the severest censure possible on himself;
and when he shows that he could not take the
reactionary side without betraying his origin as the
elect of universal suffrage, he reflects with equal
bitterness on his own conduct. Still, though based
on an inaccurate assumption, the article is interest-
ing; as showing in very clear and energetic lan-
guage what the Emperor Napoleon believes, or
wishes Europe to believe, is the duty which his
position in Europe casts upon him. He has made
a profession of faith by which not only, as we have
shown, his past, but his future actions, must be
judged. The Emperor Napoleon cannot be accused.
of undervaluing his own mission. "He holds a
character from the universal suffrage by which he
was elected, and an authority as Sovereign of France
necessary to the good of Europe. On the other
hand, he can be no accomplice to a revolutionary
state of things; he shrinks from the contingency
of a general war. He is the moderator of the re-
volution, the pacificator of Europe, the arbiter of
questions relating to the balance of power, the re-
presentative of the national will." There was a
time when European Sovereigns as little thought of
descanting in official or semi-official documents on
their greatness, their glory, or their power as of
claiming two-and-fifty kingdoms, like the Turk,
or a near relationship to the sun and moon. But
we live in other times, and the established maxims
of good sense and modesty must change like every-
thing else. Pretensions which ancient and long-
established potentates may repudiate as tinctured
with vulgarity may find place more naturally in
the mouth of the founder of a dynasty which exults
in the appellation of parvenu. l'he Emperor might
have left it to others to invest him with the magni-
ficent title' of "Pacificator," "Arbiter of Europe,"
and "Moderator of Revolution.' Such names are
honourable indeed when conferred by the common
consent and felling of mankind, but of little weight
when assumed without that preliminary sanction.
As having some right to speak on behalf of a coun-
try which has not always been last in the camps or
councils of Europe, and which till lately has not
been accustomed to hear without comment or with-
out protest such assumptions of superiority by one
great Power over its fellows, we bpg to remark
t hat Europe does not recognise in the Emperor of
the French either its pacificator or its arbiter. A
pacificator is one who neither originates nor fosters
war ; an arbiter is one to whose justice, fairness,
and absence of indirect or selfish motives mankind
are willing to submit their differences. The con-
queror of Magenta and Solferino is no pacificator.
The Sovereign who made war for an idea, and ended
it for a province, may be great in the executive, but
can lay little claim to the impartiality of the judicial
character. The word "arbiter" has another sense
too offensive to be attributed. We cannot suppose
that even in a semi-official document the Emperor
would designate himself as the master of Europe.
That as yet, he is not ; and, if he were, he would
do more wisely to emulate the moderation of he
first Cwsars, who condescended to associstethear
equals with men of whose lives and fortunes -
could dispose as absolute masters.
article is its
To us the most agreeable part of the
dui Italy is
conclusion, "An organized and powg This is a
henceforth for the interest of Eurofreier it may—a
truth let it come from what
qua recognised in
truth we fear not always sufflcioefn
pyroposed Italian
the times not yet very remote_
destined, we trust, to
federations, but still a truth,
ractical verities b
p
take its place among
those y
-are henceforth to be
which the destinies of nations
ruled and determined. We hope the time is not
it may meet with the approbation
of an European
very remote when
Congress. Such bodies ought
rarely to be called in
d 'n to alter by the vote of a
majority the rights and the Governments of man-
kind, but they have nevertheless a mission of the
most indisputable utility when they serve to record
and give solemnity and validity to changes which
popular will or the fortune of arms has brought
about. We do not despair that the day ill arrive
when the three Northern Powersw
who
have just
met at Warsaw, apparently to commemorate their
joint exploit—the partition of
Poland,—and to
recall to the memory of mankind the detested
tradition of the Holy Alliance,
will unite to acknow-
ledge the crown which
Italy has just placed on the
brow of Victor Emmnnuel,
and to give their sanc-
tion to a revolution,
successful in spite of their
earnest protests and bitterest reclamations.— Times.

UICIDE IN THE SERPENTINE.—Last evening
Mr. Bedford, the coroner, held an inquest in the vestry-
room, Mount-street, on the body of William Smith, aged
42 years, who destroyed his life under the following _cir-
cumstances :—From the evidence it appeared that on Mon-
day morning last the deceased left home, as it was believed,
to proceed to' his employment. About seven o'clock the
same morning, however, ho was seen by a man named
Harris to get upon the parapet of the bridge crossing the
Serpentine, and before he could reach him the deceased
plunged into the water. Harris raised an alarm, and John
Parson, the deputy supetintendent of the Royal Humane
Society, together with police-constable Lloyd, 97 A, were
quickly on the spot, and at once proceeded to the rescue of
the deceased. The deceased, before assistance arrived, 'ol°
seen to rise to the surface and throw up his arms, and 61'
to sink. The jury returned a verdict that the clol'le,„.
committed suicide while in a state of temporary Wan' .'
' .)
When
undertakingl intof
this forced
project
The inquiry then terminated.
SUEZ RAILWAY.—The Malta Times
lowing :—" It is said to be the intention of the OP
the quez along
Government to carry the railway from Suez near Cape
Af-
rican shore of the •Red Sea as far as a pointhort steaming
Guardefui, which would be within ~,:a dead sandy level
dis-
tance of Aden. The coast is said too
ion;
pediment whatever
nearly the whole distance, offerin t-
got which the work would
ces(r):°-:: :b'etahicel°dujwaPsolearYnsttyipahmaert of the voyage, and
to the laying down of the rails, hasthblea:ybtfoitottiulin-er
almost entirely
could be brought to bear eriP9:o:,/ii
carried out, the overland j u
dPaayssht: ,
tihtemdiganght
of Red Sea navigation will be avoided ,-
.11 be shortened by five
passengers will °soap
~
° r.
si
°Lin: 103111 ot4C:ew;,psaniy, willill s : save
etrhfeulgnreesast.
necessity for keeping up a coal
present
A DVERTsIS I'd b
e wirer c
enders a
the it
blood t he
better
ident in a town will remark the wonderful flow
dtt‘hoesetelet'acatisn tailedezll,,:ir,
_at_hiledT.i _
L
hiapcxuhpr,ceriirn its turn, revives droop-
ingthYwe
"'"-- --rtstill its healthy action is establishedeach
organ,
of that
re-
sult is the renewal energy, vivacity, and self-con-
tentment which too frequently fly with youth. Holloway's
fitted :7 7 its
duties,
Pills will effect this happy change in all who cannot leave
..of glbBPo'fract is
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