The Sun.
London, England, 1859-07-11 00:00:00

surrounded by overwhelming numbers, and Venice,
the fairy-like floating city of the Adriatic, was
menaced with all the horrors of a formidable, and,
it might be added, as irresistible bombardment—
then with his heel upon the neck of the prostrate
foe, NAPOLEON 111. concedes to FRANCIS JOSEPH
these five weeks' armistice. Considering that
hitherto the advantage has been entirely on the
side of the Allies throughout the whole of this
rapid and masterly campaign—it is not probable,
we might even go so far as to add, it is not possible,
it does not stand to reason, that the conditions de-
manded by the Victor should be now voluntarily
diminished in any way under these, to him, extra-
ordinarily advantageous and auspicious circum-
stances. Those conditions, then, are worth re-
verting to, as they were sketched out in
the Paris Manifesto before the Emperor had
quitted his capital for the seat of war, there to
take the command-in-chief of the allied armies—
and as they have been since, if possible, more ex-
plicitly reiterated, as before observed, in his famous
Milan Proclamation. They are simple enough,
these preliminaries of a pacification. In the first
place, they require that Northern Italy shall be
swept clear of the Austrians—from the Alps to the
Adriatic. That is essential just to begin with. In
the next place, the whole of the great Powers of
Europe are to combine in solemn conclave to re-
organise afresh—de novo and ab initio—the whole
of the political arrangement of the Roman Penin-
sula. Foreign troops are to be then withdrawn
altogether from her territory. NAPOLEON 111.,
with all his marshals, and with the whole
of his gigantic army, is to return to his
dominions. The glory of Italian emancipa-
pation is to be the reward of France—a re-
ward far beyond any possible amount of territorial
aggrandisement. The Sardinian monarch alone
will—as he well deserves—have considerably ex-
tended the boundaries of his dominions. The other
legitimate powers of Italy will be placed respec-
tively upon a footing of perfect independence—
their Governments being either entirely remodelled
or thoroughly reorganised. These are the broad
outlines of the obvious and notorious conditions of
this earnestly and eagerly-wished-for pacifica-
tion. There is another opportunity for the
diplomatists of Europe at least attempting
this most desirable solution of the difficulty within
these five weeks marked out as the interval of the
armistice—before the arrival of the term of the
truce—the 15th of August—the fete Napoleon !
Rejoiced from our inmost heart should we be if
the great work of Italian Liberation, already so
heroically commenced, might only thus pacifically
and gloriously be consummated !

The unexpected armistice will now afford Austria
some time for wholesome reflection on the evils of

war, and its concomitant effects on the national
resources, both with respect to present financial
necessities, and prospectively as to her. credit both
at home and abroad. With regard to the first,
such has been the suicidal policy of the Austrian
Chancery that the forced contributions at home
have materially re-acted on its forlorn credit abroad.
When a man ceases to be honest to his own imme-
diate friends, he thereby proclaims to others to be
on their guard; and so it will be with nations as
with individuals—they must succumb to the effects
of their own misconduct and untrustworthiness.

Scarcely had the war of aggression burst forth
on Piedmont, when Austria, great and unscrupulous
in her rapacious career on tho helpless subjects
of VICTOR EMMANUEL conceived the kindred
idea of robbing her own Italian subjects by the
forced issue of paper money throughout the Lom-
bardo-Venetian territory, then groaning under her
relentless tyranny. The people were oraerea to
take her paper, with the intimation that it would
not be received for war, or in payment of any other,
taxes ! No ; Austria knew the value of her own
credit too well to give and take on equivalent terms.
The poor people were condemned to pay all taxes
in money, not in paper, and any refusal was to be
visited with confiscation and all the horrors of a
state of siege. This was a precious beginning,
before a shot had actually been fired.
That there was gloom spread over the land in
addition to its other miseries may well be imagined :
in fact, the greatest objection was manifested by the
Italians, not generally, but universally. Who
would give his produce and his labour for apparently
no return in actual value ? for the Austrian paper
was not marketable, nor, indeed, was it intended to
be. The German oppressor stamped the paper as
worthless at its issue, so that it actually became a
forced loan. It was a gratuitous insult to common
sense, much after the fashion of gamblers at pitch
and toss, " Heads, I win ; tails, you lose !" On this
point we find the following in the Derbyshire Courier:
" The Austrian Government has decided, it is said,
on the issue of fresh Bank paper in the Lombardo-
Venetian territory. This Bank paper money must
be accepted, and is not receivable for taxes. This is
neither more nor less than a system of legalised
plunder. The issue of paper money which the state
which issues it will not receive back for taxes is as
foolish as it is wicked. It is foolish, for its imme-
diate effect is to throw discredit on the paper
money, and to cause its depreciation. It is wicked,
for it violates all contracts, and causes incalculable
injury to trade and industry. What would be
thought of our Government if it were to issue out
Postage Stamps, and then refuse to take back such
stamps in discharge of postage, except at a heavy
discount ? The Austrians are not making use of
Paper Money : they are committing a profligate
abuse of this valuable circulating medium."
But the race is not always to the swift, nor the
battle to the strong. And so it has providentially
happened to the Italians, even at the moment of
their imminent calamity. The splendid and rapid
successes of the French and Piedmontese armies so
completely paralysed the Austrians, that they were
even fain to run for it, leaving their paper kites to
fly after them ! Italy became, as if by magic, one-
fervent blaze of enthusiastic rebellion against the
foreign oppressor, and repaid his insolvent paper by
the vindictive bullet, and the keen blade of patri-
otic scorn ! Nor is this all :—Austria is now in a
fair way not to turn her worthless paper to a pro-
fitable account, but to lose the land so cruelly
pressed down by her sanguinary savages. Nor is
there
any hope for her by negotiation, for what
right has she beyond the Alps ? The force of treaties,
we may be told. Treaties, indeed ! Granted by
whom ? Guaranteed by ? Why, by herself
and her congenial spoilers—a band of Crowned.
Robbers, who had privately sworn to break every
promise and every sacred stipulation at the very
first opportunity, and they have done it ! And we
are to be told that because England, or rather her
bribed Representatives, gave their (we hope unwil-
ling) consent to such villanous documents, that
therefore we ought to abide by the faith of treaties !
We really pity the self-complacency of some noble
lords who stood up in their places in Parliament
and advocated the support of such treaties—treaties
perpetrated while the blood of millions
at the
criedout
for vengeance. But Austria, who grasped
fairest portion of the spoil, has now stepped for-
ward and destroyed the sad illusion, by tearing
those records of her guilt into shreds, thereby
realising the proverb, that when certain gentlemen