The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-26 00:00:00

stage Manager. Mr. R Phillips

Dress Circle, 4e. ;-BoxeGallery3s. t, 28, ; Gallery, le.; Upper
6d.
Private Boxes, £4 48, £2 2s, and £1 is.
To commence at 7 ; Carriages at 11.

CANTERBURY HALL AND FINE ARTS
GALLERY, Westminster-road.—Open at Seven.

EVERY EVENING during the week will appear.
THE DELEPIERRE FAMILY,

Consisting of three Juvenile Violinists, viz., Jules, Juliette,
and Julia Delepierre, aged, respectively, FOUR, SLY, and
EIGHT years.

The perfect execution by these Lilliputian Artistes of some
of the most difficult and brilliant Solos, Duets, and Trios ever
written for the violin, has excited mingled wonder and admi-
ration in Continental Musical Circles, and drawn forth enthu-
siastic tributes of praise from the Public Journals of France
and Belgium.

- -
They will perform EVERY EVENING, at NINE and
ELEVEN o'clock, in addition to the usual Entertainments.

THE WEATHER.-SUN OFFICE, MAY 26.

THERMOMETER, 'IN THE SHADE.
68—highest since noon yesterday.
65—lowest this morning and during the night.
68—this day at noon.

BAROMETER-29'98.
WIND, Easterly; light, with very fine weather.

THE SUN.

THURSDAY, MAY 26, 1859.

It is more than hinted that Loris NAPOLEON is
by no means satisfied with the " great" victory
achieved by his troops at Montebello. Like OLIVER
TWIST he wanted more, and cannot be contented at
the enemy being allowed to march off with all the
honours of war, drums beating, and colours
flying, in perfect order and discipline. Had the
battle been of the decisive character represented in
the French and Sardinian journals, this would not
have been the case. The first NAPOLEON would have
managed these matters better, and his successor does
not desire that invidious comparisons should be
instituted at his expense. The affair was manifestly
not another Marengo. The old general who won
his way through the camp to an Imperial diadem,
headed his men in person. He participated in all
their dangers, and always followed up his victories
with almost miraculous promptitude, heaping
triumph on triumph until the national enthusiasm
was excited to the highest pitch, and nothing was
heard but the glory of France.
It was scarcely prudent of Louis NAPO-
LEON to enter on such a rivalry, or
to hope that he could possibly emulate
the deeds of such a man. He ought to have
considered that every act of shortcoming will
be regarded as a decided failure, which must prove
highly injurious to his own interests, and hesitated
before incurring the chance of forfeiting the
prestige belonging to his name rather than to himself
personally. He has, however, wilfully and deli-
berately plunged into difficulties from which he
may find it impossible to extricate himself.
It should be remembered, also, that the Austrians
have turned their former defeats to practical
advantage. They have profitted by the painful
lessons they received have erected powerful
fortresses in contempt of all treaty obliga.
tions and the rights of other States, which
will render the carrying of the war to
any distance into Italy a task of a very
arduous character. The men, too, are better trained
and disciplined, the officers more experienced
than formerly. It would be hard to discover more
skilful engineers than those employed in the armies
of FRANCIS JOSEPH, and with such strongholds as
Pavia and Piacenza to fall back upon there is sharp
work cut out for the Franco-Sardinian army before
they match the exploits of those arrayed under
NAPOLEON the First.
It is said that revolutionary movements have
already taken place in Lombardy, and doubtless
such a course was anticipated by the Allies. We
must, however, avoid yielding too ready a credence
to such statements. We have already witnessed
many fabrications which have turned out to be un-
mitigated canards, without a particle of foundation.
We shall, therefore, await a more authoritative
account llefore we can place implicit reliance on
any assertion proceeding from either of the hostile
camps. Even " our own corresponden ts" are included
in the prevailing prejudices, and regard every
matter that occurs through either French or
Austrian spectacles. According to one the Austrians
are the mildest, best of men, and are actually
respected and esteemed by those on whom they have
been levying contributions. We are told that " the
people of Mortara are loud in their praise ;" while,
on the other hand, they are held out as sanguinary
assassins, who butcher whole families of inoffensive
peasants, and leave no pretext for plunder to
pass disregarded. It is hard to say which
side is to be credited. The truth probably
lies between the two; and we cannot believe the
Germans to be either such angels or demons as
they have been represented. The same may be said
of their opponents. The French have not earned
high distinction for moderation either as friends or
enemies. In the olden time it was the principle
that every war should pay its own expenses, and

we are yet to see whether NAPOLEON 111, will
abandon the
" Good old rule, the simple plan--
That they should take who have the power,
And they should keep who can."

General GYUALI has removed his head-quarters
to Garlasco, and has ordered that the arms in the
possession of the people should be in every instance
given up, under the penalty of death to those retain-
ing them. This is, of course, one of the striking
manifestationq of confidence in the good will of the
inhabitants. If they welcomed the Austrians as
liberators (!) it can scarcely be supposed that such
stringent measures would be adopted towards
a friendly population. Indeed it seems to
be almost decisive on the other side of the
question, and to prove, what might easily be
imagined, that Austria had no Italian sympathies
in the course which she had adopted. She may
keep the people enthralled, but she cannot hope to
retain the good wishes of any, save Government
employes or the veriest cowards that can be im-
agined.

It cannot be denied that the French were, to a
certain extent, taken by surprise at Montebello, and
but for the extraordinary exertions of General DE
SoNNAz, who struggled even against hope, the
result might have been very different. That Gene-
ral FOREY displayed great gallantry, bravery, and
when in the field, skill and efficiency, is indisput-
able ; but even when the firing had commenced, he
thought it was but a mere reconnoitring force, and
brought up but a small party in the first instance,
although it was redeemed by subsequent good con-
duct. The mistake, however, probably occasioned
the deaths of General BEURET and Colonel
MORELLI, and of many others of inferior rank and
position.

The great majority of the Austrians have now
withdrawn across the Po, and we shall see what
effect can be produced when the war is carried into
Lombardy, and Pavia and Piacenza are to be cap-
tured before anything great can be accomplished.

The first battle has been fought, the first victory
has been gained, and now the great work to be '
accomplished lies fairly before the Army for the
Liberation of Italy. It must surely be a work of
time, of labour, and of blood. Unless the Austrians
prove cowards where even cowards might from
circumstances be expected to be brave, unless all
accounts of the strength of their position prove
false, or unless some unexpected plan of operation
be devised, or some unlooked-for event occur to
drive the hated oppressors from the land they
burden, it must be a work of years rather than
months. Suppose all Italy to rise, Italy is un-
armed; and what are multitudes against soldiers ?
To suppose the soldiers of Naples to be marched
against the Jesuit-ridden Austrians by the Jesuit-
' trained son of the Jesuit-loving King just dead,
is, with a witness, to make SATAN cast out SATAN.
Neapolitan troops, indeed, are the hirelings of
Austrian despotism, and care nothing for Italian
independence. The States of the Church and the
Duchies on the south of the Po can do nothing of
military importance, except furnish roads to take
the Austrians in flank, and if NAPOLEON have a
sufficient force for that of course he will not wait
on their leave.

But this flank attack is not now so easy. In
1796 the first NAPOLEON found a ready way for
his rapidly marching battalions. Piacenza was
then an easy road to the rear and flank of BEAU-
LIEU'S army ; he promptly used it, surprised the
brave old general, and forced him to move
back and to cross the Adda very quickly. Now,
in defiance of treaties, by which Austria was
most unfairly allowed to keep a garrison in the
citadel of Piacenza, she has converted that place into
a strong fortress—one which could delay the allies
probably for some time ; nor could it well be
masked without danger to their communications
via Genoa. Then, if Prince NAPOLEON receive
sufficient reinforcements to enable him to move
north from Leghorn, and to attempt the passage
of the Po more to the west, this could not be a
surprise ; his army must march fully a hundred
miles through the Duchies; and Cremona and all the
regular passages of the Po east of Piacenza are said
to be strongly fortified, at least as far as Mantua, be-
yond which natural obstacles, and distance from
the present bases of operation, render precautions
needless. Again, as to the Adriatic, nothing could
be done by landing an army south of Venice, ex-
cept to leave it to perish in the marshes ; and Venice
itself, which the Austrians have almost ruined in
favour of Trieste, will be not an easy place to cap-
ture and use as a place of debarkation.
Suppose, then, the south, -the left wing of the
Austrian defence, to be effectually protected by the
Po ; suppose its mighty stream impracticable,
especially during this season of melting snows, by
pontooning and by masking the fortified places—let
us then look at what the Allies have to do. It is to be
remembered that if they advance far, their left and
rear will be open to the attacks of an Austrian
army descending through the passes of the Alps,
the annoyance of which even the first BONAPARTE
experienced, and on one occasion, but for what
seemed like the lucky mismanagement of the
Austrian Generals, he would have been irrecoverably
ruined by having left WURMSER in Mantua, and
by help coming to the brave old General through
the, Alps.

And then what a hundred miles of rivers and
Tortresses have the Allies to force before they find
the great plain of Lombardy theirs, as far as Verona
and Legnago. Let the reader but glance at Mr.
WYLD'S map ; on the north, the left wing of the
Allies, he will remember that the Austrians, who
had been plundering Piedmont there, have retreated,
and that Prince of Irregulars, GARIBALDI, is on
their side the Ticino ; in the centre, at Vercelli, the
Allies appear to have driven back the hungry and
ragged plunderers, who seemed chiefly intent on
cloth, forage, and loaves of bread; these they took,
with a flogging to boot ; and the Ticino now lies
between them and the Allies. On the south, the
right wing of the Allies, the marauders have just
received their first great defeat at Montebello, on
the south side of the Po, in Sardinia ; after which
they appear to have crossed that river, and as the
Austrian EMPEROR'S head-quarters are said to be
at Garlasco, near the Ticino, we suppose that the
whole Austrian army will soon be behind the
Ticino, with that river and Pavia and Milan as their
reliance. Not far from this line, however, we see
the line of the Adda, with its fortresses of
Pizzegghettone, its famous bridge of Lodi,
and other fortifications. This line forced, and other
rivers crossed, the Allies will soon be in face of the
supposed impregnable rectangle of fortresses on the
line of the Mincio, and with all the Austrian'
Tyrolese passes of the Alps open behind them. The
line of the Mincio may be about twenty-five miles
long, not more, from Peschiera to Mantua. The
former town, on its little Island in Lake Garda, is
very strong ; and Mantua,' in the midst of its own
dangerous lake, is to be taken, we are told, only by
famine; again, at the back of these two fortresses, j.
on the Adige, we find Verona capable of holding
an army in its fortifications, and on the south Leg-
nago—all these four places being capable of sup-
porting each other. Such is the severe part of the
task [before the Allies. Accomplish it they must.
Loris NAPOLEON cannot afford a failure. The

cause cannot afford it. May military success be on
the side of right, and then may the conquerors
themselves do justice to Italy !

At the very time when the organ of the Opposi-
tion is throwing ridicule upon Messrs. RUSSELL
and Co. for assuming to themselves the right of
claiming a monopoly in the supply of the genuine
article of Reform, that same organ, almost in the
same breath, is inconsistently expressing a vague,
almost despairing, hope that even now " a simple
and moderate measure" may be carried through
Parliament by Messrs, BRIGHT, and RUSSELL, and
PALMERSTON.

The meaning of all this is surely obvious. The
Times is fairly bewildered as to how events may go
in the new Parliament. It cannot for the life of it
conjecture which side will be uppermost. Parties
are by this time so exquisitely balanced—six of one
to half-a-dozen of the other—that it leaves the
judgment as to the future, if not by sympathy, in
perfect equipoise, at any rate alternating now in
favour of this, now in favour of that, in a series of
bewildering and tantalising oscillations. Prudence
would appear to dictate at one moment a peculiar
regard to that arch-recommendation to the worldly
wise—" to treat your enemies as though they were
sometime to be your friends"—an axiom which
seems to condense within it all the better part of
the philosophy of RoCIIEFOtiCAULT. Another,
with a yet more prudential instinct, would appear
to inculcate the practice of that contrasting ver-
bum sapientie—" to treat your friends as though
they were one day to be your enemies"—a sugges-
tion containing within it the very quintessence of
the wily policy of MACHIAVEL. And so the Times
has during these last few days alternated between
conciliation and scurrility as applied in equal moi-
ties now to the Government, now to the Opposi-
tion. The Parliamentary trimmers, in fact, don't
know what to be at. And if, as SYDNEY SMITH
once humorously said of the late Lord MELBOURNE,
"he appeared to play at chuck farthing with the
constitution"—the corresponding farthing has but
just now been " chucked" by the Times—it is still
spinning in mid air, showing (to those who watch
keenly enough) now this side, now that in its rapid
revolutions ! The ultimate decision of the toss-up
we shall know now speedily—whether heads or
tails will win—whether the Times will declare
eventually for her MAJESTY'S Opposition or for her
MAJESTY'S Government.

It is certainly a bewildering moment enough for
a particularly loose and moveable weathercock.
Now—when in this lull of the political storm the
wind seems to be blowing intermittently from all
points of the compass in turn—N.E.W.S.—blow-

ing together, however, by this very means, a more
than ordinary supply of that acceptable commodity,
the problematic origin of the name of which was
once upon a time thus wittily defined by some
anonymous epigrammatist—North, East, West,
South—and the solution's made. Each' quarter
brings accounts of War and Trade. And so—even
as the wind blows in rapid variations—the vane
creaks round and round, to and fro, hither and
thither respectively. Hardly to be wondered at,
certainly, under the circumstances—remembering
the liability of all weathercocks to " turn and turn,
and yet go on and turn again," as readily as in
OTHELLO'S eyes the varying whims and fancies of
DESDEMONA. Especially remembering, too, the
looseness of this one and its proverbial
fickleness. There is a peculiar temptation,
moreover, in the apparent uncertainty of the situa-
tion, now that the newly- elected House of Commons

is upon the very eve of assembling, for the first
time, down at Westminster. According to the
showing of the hitherto avowed organ of the Op-

position, there are returned to that new House
353 Liberals and 302 Conservatives. Examining
more closely, however, the Ins and Outs of the
655 representatives thus returned to the popular
branch of the Imperial Parliament, the proportion
appears to be in reality yet more equally balanced
—balanced almost into a state of equipoise. For
while the 302 may be defined as to all intents and
purposes 302 Derbyites— the 353 confronting
them can hardly be marshalled together by any
such distinctive cognomen, under any one over-
shad&Wing banner, under any one great statesman's
chieftainship. They cannot in reason be spoken of
as 353 Brightites, or Russellites, or Palmerstonians.
They are a heterogeneous concourse, including
among them all sorts of impracticables—men like
HonsmAN and ROEBUCK, whose course Could
hardly be defined with any degree of tcrtainty,
whether in a debate or on a division. Bewildered
as utterly as ever was the love-dick GENIVIEVE in
the ballad of COLERIDGE, b, -y the
;:nat kindle hope,
" Hopes and fears
guishable throng ;
AndAngue
rnd ,aies Il
-ishes long subdued,
SP:odued and cherished long"—
our hesitating contemporary indulges in alter-
natr.Ay wistful looks askance now at the strength-
ened and reinvigorated ranks of the Government,
now at the (if united) still powerful and formidable
ranks of the Opposition. PARIS could hardly have
been more bewildered between JUNO and MINERVA
—as there is no glimmering yet before the eyes of
the expectant swain of the benign face of the
supreme Aphrodite. It is still no more than the
customary choice between the blonde and the
brunette ; but the chances of which are so equally
distributed that the judgment, long held in
suspension, is at length piqued at moments into
something like the petulance of the lawless MAc-

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