The Sun.
London, England, 1859-11-22 00:00:00

AFFAIRS OF ITALY.

A. letter from Vienna, dated Nov. 18, says—
Although the Austrian Government has recently
been even more reserved than usual, it has trans-
pired that the letter which the Emperor Napoleon
addressed to King Victor Emmanuel on the 20th of
September produced an exceedingly disagreeable
impression on the Emperor Francis Joseph, and led
to remonstrances on the part of his Minister for
Foreign Affairs. It is still somewhat doubtful whe-
ther the Congress will meet, as Austria is resolved
that Peschiera and Mantua shall not become federal
fortresses, and has repatedly expressed herself to
that effect. It is also stated that this Government
entered a protest against the proposed Regesicy of
the Prince de Carignan, but the story does not ssp,
pear probable, as Austrian statesmen must have
known that the matter could safely be left in the
hands of the Emperor Napoleon, who is evidently
disinclined to give further encouragement to the
Sardinian project of annexation. The French
Monarch wishes -to strengthen Sardinia at the ex-
pense of Austria, but not to make her so strong that
she could hold her own against her powerful foe
without the assistance of France. Russia and
Prussia aro willing to go into Congress without
previously making conditions, but Austria and
England wish to come to a complete understanding
before they meet in council. In this city it is now
the fashion to rail at England, but in the highest
political circles the French Government is much
more unpopular than the English. Austria is
obliged to bow the knee to France, and such a
humiliation must be wormwood and gall to the
chief of the house of Hapsburg, For the moment
Austria is powerless, but it does not admit of a
doubt that she calculates on regaining possession of
Lombardy at some future time. As long as Napo-
leon 111. -sits on the French throne Lombardy will
form part of the kingdom of Sardinia, but hardly
mush longer, unless the great Powers should pea-
rantee its possession to the House of Savoy. The
Duke of Modena, who has been inspectins, his troops,
which are cantoned between Mantua an SSerravalle,
has returned to this city. In official circles it is
said that the Emperor of Austria was exceedingly
struck by the "talent for business" which was
displayed at Villafranca by the Emperor of the
French, but when the Congress meets it will bo seen
that the latter committed as great a blunder as ever
was made by professed diplomatists. Instead of
making the lino of the Po between Borgoforte and
Ostiglia the frontier, his Majesty left the districts of
Suzzara, Revere, Sermide, &c., which are on the
right bank of the river, in the hands of Austria.
The Austrians t'onsesTatulate themselves on this over-
sight on the part of the French Monarch, but it
would have been better for all parties if the Po had
divided the Austrian possedsions from Modena. As
things now stand, this Government will be con-
tinually tempted to interfere in Central Italy, and
the past has clearly shown that it is unable to resist
such a kind of temptation. Several persons have
recently been arrested in Venetia for carrying on a
compromising correspondence with persons on the
other side of the Po, and among others are Dr.
Gerra, of Padua ; M. Montalbano, of Conegliano ;
and M. Spruzzi, a sculptor of some renown at
Verona. There was a private Schiller Festival
at Venice on the 12th instant, and the Germans
proved their veneration for the great deceased by
dancing until cockcrow. There is some question of
establishing a " Schiller Casino" at Venice, but
the plan has very little chance of success, as every
man with Italian blood in his veins is sure to be
opposed to it. Venice is now much infested with
burglars, and last week an' old man was murdered
on the road to Mestre, and robbed of his watch, a
couple of rings, and a considerable sum of money.
A few days since an Italian noble was arrested at
Treviso, for endeavouring to induce soldiers on
furlough to join the national army. The soldiers
who belong to the regiment Wernhardt, which
recruits at Treviso, informed against the Count and
one or two other persons who offered them money
if they would be faithless to their flag.
Officers of rank have repeatedly told me that the
spirit in the army " is not what it used to be," and
this information is indirectly confirmed by a circular
which was a few days ago issued by the Chief of
the Supreme " Commando" of the army. In the
circular, which is addressed' to the generals of
divisions, it is said that during the war the
"Ober-Commando" had to complain of the loud
and disloyal discussions of the officers in public
places. " The admonition then given," says the
military censor, " appears to be forgotten, and is
therefore republished. It is an offence against the
discipline of the army if its members criticise or
censure the measures of Government or the orders
of the Emperor, and any persons guilty of such
offence will be severely punished." The circular
has produced a very bad impression, and the
dislike to the system of favouritism appears to be
greater than ever. At all events, the officers speak
enn „mprc, I)Jitujy,kligp,-Ibey-sdi(l.lornterly, 'and
Openly declare it to be a disgrace to the army that
men who proved their utter incapacity both at
Magenta and Solferino should still be in command.
According to the new arrangements, the army is to
be divided into eight infantry and one cavalry
corps. Count Clam is to command the first infantry
corps, Prince Edmund Schwarzenberg the second,
the Archduke Ernest the third, the Archduke Chas.

Ferdinand the fourth, Count Stadion the fifth
Prince Edward Lichtenstein the sixth, Priebe
Alexander of Hesse the seventh, Count Thun the
eighth, and Prince Francis Lichtenstein the cavalry
corps; but General Benedek has neither been made
Feldzeumeister nor appointed to the command of
the army in Italy.
The Jesuits, who are known to be reactionary
politicians rather than pious priests, daily become
more unpopular, and, strange to say, some of the
highest persons in the realm seem to take pleasure
in identifying themselves with them. Dr. Schrader,
a Jesuit professor of theology and dogmatics, who
was not long ago imported from Rome, has esta-
blished a " Maria Congregation" here; but the
thing does not seem to take, although there aro two
noble proselytes—one of whom is a pensioned
General—at the head of it. During the Schiller
festival at Innspruck the .Jesuit professor Pater
Kobler, who is Rector Magnificus of the Univer-
sity for the year, ordered the " black-red-gold"
ribands to be taken from the banner of the stu-
dents. As the colours had been borne in 1848 and
1849, when the Tyrolese students sallied forth to
do battle against the enemies of the empire, the
young men were very wroth, but they managed to
suppress their ire until the evening, when they
held a conventicle or " commerce" in the village of
Wiltau. As soon as the students were supplied
with das cilia nass (the generous " wet "), one of
them—Count 'Hugh von Enzenberg —made a speech,
the pith of which was that the Pater had commit-
ted an act which was either "stupid or impei f t•
nent," inasmuch as the colours removed had twice
taken the field against the enemies of Austria. The
Innspruck correspondent of the Franlifert Journal,
who gives the foregoing details, adds that the toast
" The German Colours " was drunk with thunders
of applause. Things are progressing so rapidly in
all parts of Austria that the reforms of the Govern-
ment will come too late unless a little more steam
is put on. In defiance of the Ministerial ordinance,
the " Seniorate " of the Lutherans in the Pesth

Great occasions produce great men. But this is
an age of mediocrity, and even Italy cannot pro-
duce a genius of the first class. Here is the mother
of conquest, the land which teemed with heroes,
the country where eloquence and poetry grew wild
like pines between the tropics. The very weeds
of such a soil should be more priceless than the
exotics nurtured in a more genial clime. Trodden
is the fields have been, every blade has been
crushed as it shot forth. We have now seen the
ground opened before our eyes. We have seen it
ploughed and laid bare to the atmosphere. What
has sprung up ? Respectable qualities we had not
hoped for come forth, and nothing is seen of the
deadly plants we had feared. We expected tho
armed men turning their swords against all the
world, and we find gentle, courteous, quiet people,
who deserve all our praise and all our sympathies,
but who a little surprise us by the equable manner
in which they conduct a revolution. We would
not willingly undervalue the universal aspiration
for freedom which has burst forth from Italy. But
where is the man of the occasion—the master-spirit
of the time, capable to discern, fertile in expedients,
and firm to govern ? Europe has, perhaps unrea-
sonably, looked for such a man among the leaders
of the various insurrections which have brought
about the present provisional state of government

in Parma, Modena, dud Florence. Certainly there
is no such ruling mind now directing the councils
of Piedmont, nor do we see that the Realigns',
although in full agitation, has yet produced the
genius of the hour. Hitherto the directors of this
great Italian revival have become remarkable only
for their safe mediocrity. They have been no better
and no worse than ordinary circumstances have
produced here and elsewhere. They have been pru-
dent men, acting with something very nearly akin
to timidity. Even official routine has suffered little
in their hands, and they have sometimes been afraid
even to change the instruments of the tyranny
against which they rose up, or to dismiss Aus-
trian policemen in whose bl ick books they them-
selves conspicuously figured. These men arc
certainly not of the mould and temper of which the
great men of the world's history have been made.
If there should be in any of the four Assemblies, or
in the Councils of Victor Emmanuel, some Crom-
well, Washington, or Napoleon, he certainly has
not yet emerged. Perhaps the tall shadow of the
French Emperor has chilled his early energies;
perhaps the mediocrity about him has choked his
enterprise ; perhaps the etiquette, and routine, and
official propriety incident to a monarchy have been
unfavourable to the development of the rude power
necessary to decide the people to a resolute course.
One exception there was to this general dead
level, or to this multitude of small eminences. But
the great man was pushed aside from the seat of
power. The name of Garibaldi had become gigantic.
He it was who, in the estimation of every Italian,
had become the champion in whom Italy trusted.
Napoleon 111. was her friend, Victor Emmanuel
was her King, but Garibaldi was Italy's own child.
It was to him the volunteers flocked from every part
of the Peninsula ; it was to him that Italians and
foreigners alike opened their purses and their hearts.
It was he who was believed to love Italy for her-
sctlf alone, and with a love unalloyed by personal
pride or private hopes. It was ho who was trusted
to mean earnestly all that others had only said, and
to be ready to carry on even a hopeless struggle—
not iii order to change his masters, but to be with-
out a master; not to make Italy French' instead of
Austrian, but to give her a place among the nations
of Europe as a free and independent State. Well,
this man has resigned his post ; he commands no
longer an Italian army. The only steady beacon
light which the humble zealot had is put out.
Henceforth he must walk in darkness, or in such
uncertain light as Emperors and Kings may from
time to time set up. This is an unexpected sequel
to Garibaldi's recent visit to Turin. Of course,

this honest and simple-minded man has been con-
vinced that at this moment he is better out bf the
way; that the time is a time for diplomacy,
and not for theds; that Italian patriotism
requires a ' course of expediencies which
would be necessarily repugnant to the instincts of
an Italian soldier. It is certain that Garibaldi has
been made to believe that the best and most effica-
cious manner in which he can at present serve his
country is by quitting her service; for it is certain
that if Garibaldi had not been so convinced no
power would have induced him to descend from the
position which he held. The manner of his resigna-
tion has been consistent with all his past career.
There is no trace in it of any thought of Self ;
nothing of pique, or jealousy, or discontent. He
retains his rank as General under the King of Sar-
dinia, and ho takes occasion to anticipate any com-
plaints that may bo made on his behalf by declar-
ing that he is ready to resume his duties whenever
the King of Italy shall summon his army to active
service.

Perhaps Garibaldi and the advisers of Garibaldi
were right. Perhaps the grand game is not suited
to the present capacity or to the present circum-
stances of his country; and perhaps Garibaldi is
not cool and sceptical enough to play the little
game that is now on the cards. We could even
imagine Victor Emmanuel explaining to his General
at that recent audience how difficult was the position
of Piedmont, compelled to endure her too powerful
protector, who every now and then threatened to
let loose her late enemy upon her, and who also
commands an obedience which is rapidly alienating
all Central Italy. - Victor Emmanuel might even
mournfully admit, as he must painfully feel, that
unless that great ally should uphold him to the
end his forced subserviency mus eventually deprive
him even of that lead which he has earned by so
many sacrifices. Garibaldi was probably thus made
to see that Piedmont is bound to the Emperor, and

that Napoleon's policy is such as Garibaldi could
not work out. The Emperor's policy is, whether for
good or for ill, to suspend Italy in mid-revolution,
—to expose the revolution he has himself called
into being to the test of a sudden cessation of ac-
tion. If Garibaldi remained at the head of the
army of Italy he must have supported this policy
or must have ruined Piedmont. Ile must have gone
over the frontier of Tuscany, or he must have closed
his ears to that "cry of anguish" which was so
piercing that the sensitive hearts of Victor Em-
manuel and Napoleon 111. were once moved by it.
Master of a sufficient force to redress every ill is

Italy, Garibaldi would have been compelled- to see
the States of the Church and the people of Naples
suffering all thole evils of misgovernment from
which the Central States have just freed themselves.
Probably a large portion of the armed force which
he must have commanded and repressed would be
composed of natives of these countries, up for free-
dom, and of Venetia, groaning loudly in her bond-
age. It is no wonder that the Bayard of Italy, if
put to choose between resignation and acquiescence
in the inactivity which France imposes, should pre-
fer to retire. Ho had raised a forte for the defence
of the Duchies and for the liberation of Rome and
Naples. It was not consistent with his character
that he should be the instrument to disappoint the
hopes he has excited. The Emperor of France is
not his ally ; he acknowledges no allegiance any
more to him than lie does to the Emperor of Aus-
tria ; he has no care for the interests of either ; and,
as his desires and character militate against the
maintenance of a policy the abandonment of which
would precipitate another war, Garibaldi withdraws
from the scene. The position of all parties in this
transaction is very painful. Even that of the Em-
peror of the French is not without its difficulties
and hardship. That, however, of Gkribaldi, Victor
Emmanuel, and of Central Italy is much more diffi-
cult to endured. At this moment they all seem to
be doing their best to bear it ; but if the pressure
should become intolerable, and if, in consequence of
his deference to France, Victor Emmanuel should,

like his father, lose the sympathies and incur the
suspicions of Italy, then there will be an outbreak.
In such an event it would, in all probability, be an
outbreak of frenzy and ineffectual bloodshed, but
its responsibilities will certainly not attach either
to Garibaldi or to Piedmant.

For the fifth or sixth -time, Prince Alexander
Jean has changed the Wallachian Ministry. The now
Cabinet is composed of M. Jean Ghyka, President of the
Council and Minister of the Interior ; M. Alexandri,
Foreign Affairs ; M. Golosko, Public Instruction ; and M.
•
Balatchano Finance. Tho departments of Justice, and.
War, remain in the hands of M. Czetziano and M. Gor-
nesko. It must be remarked that Prince Ghyka has already
been at the head of the Moldavian Ministry, in which posi-
tion he could not agree with Prince Alexandri, and also that
M. Alexandri holds at the same time the portfolio of foreign
affairs in Moldavia,