The Sun.
London, England, 1859-02-07 00:00:00

NAPOLEON 111. AND ITALY.

(From the Times.)
The pamphlet, as opposed. to the newspaper, may
be an Imperial and statesmanlike organ of publicity,
but it certainly is deficient in simplicity and.useful-
ness. It is too elaborate to be clear, and too pre-
tentious to be pleasing. No one accustomed to the
pithy comments with which liberty notices passing
history can read such a production as " Napoleon
111. and Italy," of which we published a translation
on Saturday, without complacency that he does not
live in the country which produces it. Better the
daily infliction of endless verbiage, better rhodo-
montades and personalities, better all the glare of
the most reckless and ruthless publicity, than the
darkncss which can be illumined by such a phos-
phoric flash as this. If this be the teaching, what
must be the ignorance ! If this be explanation,
what must have been the previous bewilderment !
To see at anytime the heavy apparatus of an essay
brought out 'to solve a question on which men have
corresponded,, and talked, and speculated in the
funds, and acted in the most practical manner
possible for a month -past, is as strange as if we
beheld some spectral review where soldiers of
modern date handled arquebuses and culverins, and
guards stood. with partisans before the General's
tent. But this production is in a more especial
manner out of date. It treats historically of
events which it is absurd to treat otherwise than
practically, and as of immediate importance. What
are we to shank of a manifesto which, in the midst
of general alarm, deals in nothing but the sonorous
generalities of a professor's lecture ? What are we
to think of a writer who seeks to satisfy intense
excitement and expectation by discussions which
might have been written five or ten years ago ?
The Court of the Tuileries and the publicists whom
it inspires seem to have forgotten that the world
lives in the present, and that beyond the boundaries
of France, at least, men will not be content to defer
their consideration of an event until it has ceased
to be important. The weakness of, the Imperial
pamphlet consists in this—that it does not necessa-
rily touch the present situation. Much in it may
be true ; but, unfortunately, it does not contain all
the truth, nor, notably, that part of the truth
which principally occupies the minds of men.
Those who are accustomed to the style of contic
nental discussion will anticipate the exordium of
the French writer. Italy is the common country
of all civilised States ; she represents nationality,
civilisation, imperishable principles, glorious exam-
ples. We are, therefore, commanded to show our
sympathy for her misfortunes, and lend our aid in
her regeneration. This is the leading idea of the
pamphlet. Italy is to be delivered and endowed
with nationality—we hear nothing of freedom—
by foreign interference. The following is, as far
as we can trace it, the course of the argument :
There are two elements in Italy—the revolutionary
element and the national element. The revolu-
tionary element corresponds to subversive theories
and violent passions. It is hostile to religion and
the Papacy. It is isolated in Europe, " where the
spirit of order happily predomixates everywhere."
It therefore can do no good. There remains the
element of nationality. From this great things
are to be expected. It opens a glorious part for
the Papacy. It is the strength of the King of
Sardinia. It has even kindled a spark of pa-
triotism in the breast of the King of Naples. It
receives the sympathies of Europe. Among the
nations which have encouraged it England stands
pre-eminent. Before the Revolution of 1848 Lord
Minto made his journey to Italy; Lord Palmerston
delivered his diplomatic philippics against Austrian
rule in Lombardy. By the Revolution of 1848
Austria was nearly ruined ; in May she would have
come to terms; in July Piedmont was exhausted.
But all this time English influence and sympathy
were on the side of Italy. For eleven years we
have encouraged the hopes of the Italian patriots.
The consent of England, therefore, to the inde-
pendence of Italy may be considered as granted.
And is not Germany equally interested in the
same result ? The Imperial Pamphleteer shows
that the loss of Lombardy by Austria could
have nothing menacing for Germany, and pro-
ceeds to examine the case of France. France,
he says, does not wish to renew the con-
quests of the First Empire, but only to carry
out in Europe an idea of the First Napoleon—the
agglomeration of peoples. France only invaded
Germany and Italy, according to the illustrious
exile of St. Helena, in order to make them German
and Italian. " The union of Piedmont with France,
that of Parma, Tuscany, Rome, had only been tem-
porary in my thoughts, and had no other object
than to watch, to guarantee, and to promote the
national education of the Italians." It is in this
spirit we are left to infer that French armies will,
if necessary, cross the Alps. Should the education
of the Italians prove not to have been completed,
they may, according to this argument, possibly
remain in the provinces whence the less civilising
German -has been expelled. However, the propo-
sitions of the writer are now logically educed. It
has been proved that Italian nationality will be a
benefit ; it has been proved that England and Ger•
many are of this opinion, and that France not only
agrees with them, but has the power and the will
to enforce her views. The rest of the pamphlet
is taken up in showing that the status quo in Italy
cannot last, that reforms are necessary, that Austria
will not allow reforms, that the Italians of them-
selves cannot obtain them against the force of
Austria, and that consequently a foreign Power
must interfere. Which Power this is to be it is

easy to discover. The chief stress is laid on the
advantage to England and Germany of such a
policy, since the pamphlet is plainly addressed to
Englishmen and Prussians even more than French-
men.
The obvious reflection which suggests itself on
reading this lengthy production is, that it might
have been written at any former period of the Em-
peror's reign. What is there new in it ? What
has Austria done in Italy since Napoleon 111. pro-
mised her a lasting friendship three or four years
ago, and accepted the highest Order of Knighthood
that Francis Joseph could confer ? Italy had
genius before 1856; she was the mother of civilisa-
tion before the attempt of Orsini, and the "agglo-
meration of the peoples" was an immense concep-
tion before Imperial visits linked together St.
Petersburg and Paris. Whatever the truths of
this pamphlet, it is clear that they can have had no
influence on the warlike attitude of the French
ruler. They are pretexts, and not motives. The
Emperor must not think to impose on the world by
affecting enthusiasm, either historical or poetic.
We know that he is not a man of impulse. This
essay does not represent the action of a mind like
his. The dreams of an agitator expressed in the
language of an academician are not in analogy
with what we know of the Imperial resolves.
These are arguments which could have been urged
against Austrian rule in Italy any time these
twenty years. The necessities of the French
Emperor's position or the restlessness of his
temper induce him to seek a cause of quarrel with
a neighbouring Power ; and these arguments are
then furbished up and given to the world as his
immediate motives of action. But we know that,
with them all present to his mind, he has professed
esteem and friendship for Austria, and that Austria
has since not only committed no new offence, but
has notoriously endeavoured to conciliate and re-
form. Can the world be deceived by so transparent
an artifice as this ?
But, as the pamphlet has dwelt much on the
former policy of England, it may be as well to
reiterate that this policy has never been changed.
England has given proof of her desire to see Italy
contented, and, if she has not interfered by force,
she has not, on the other hand, encouraged evil
government by the spectacle of popular assemblies
violated and free institutions overthrown. It may
suit the purposes of French Imperialism to take
up for the hour the cause of nations crushed by
military and priestly government, and to sneer at
the moderation of a free country which urges re-
spect for treaties; but it should be remembered that
for years past it is the Tuileries which have fur-
nished the fittest school for military monarchs de-
sirous to deal summarily with unquiet populations,
while England has by the exhibition of free govern-
ment continued to protest against the excesses of
rulers. Even now this country is most willing to co-
operate with France in any prudent scheme for the
improvement of Italy. We joined Napoleon 111. in
withdrawing our representatives from the Court
of a bad and obstinate King ; we have helped by
counsel and example to raise Sardinia to the moral
position she now is tempted to abuse, and even in
Rome, we will venture to say, that if a word of
noble and manly sound ever reaches the Papal ear,
it will be from the mouth of some Englishman,
who, though he deems his own country heretical,
has yet imbibed unconsciously the lessons which
she teaches. Let the Emperor Napoleon cease from
his preparations, give pacific assurances to Europe,
and curb the petulance of his new kinsman, and he
will find England a willing ally in redressing the
real grievances of Italy. Much mischief has,
indeed, been done already; the pride of Austria
and the national feeling of Germany have been
roused by wanton demonstrations, and the French
Ruler has achieved the wonderful task of turning
nine-tenths of the English Liberals into sym-
pathisers with the Power which was their favourite
object of denunciation. However, even with these
disadvantages, he may do something for Italy. A
year of calmness and moderation may make his
name respected in the Peninsula ; but the first
cannon-shot fired in a war of aggression will place
him and the cause he advocates under the ban of
Europe.