The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-04 00:00:00

THE ITALIAN QUESTION.

Signor Farini's pamphlet, says a letter from
Turin, could not be expected to add much to our
stock of facts relating to the questions of which it
treats. They all have been long generally
known, and, indeed, of late they have been
recapitulated even to weariness. The object
of the present writer has been to state the
question clearly, according to his point of
which tends to show the necessity of war. He is
one of those who do not admit that the question.
can be settled otherwise. He begins by a brie
recapitulation of the principal events in the historf,
of Italy since 1815, and insists upon the repeated
violations by Austria of the treaties of that year,
especially by occupation of territories not her own,
and by fortifications she had no right to erect.
She has violated them also, he says, with res Pee!
to Lombardo-Venetia, by withholding from that
country the separate administration to which they.
entitled it, by not giving it a special council, as woe
done to Hungary and Transylvania; and, final)",
after '4B, by taking away every vestige of self-Bawl'
nistration from the Italian provinces, and definitivell
incorporating them in the empire. At considerable
length he insists upon and inveighs against the in'
prisonments, tortures, eapital punishments, confis'
cations, banishments, and other innumerable penal"
ties and cruelties inflicted by Austrians on Italians
at various dates in the last 34 years ; and in support
and as an instance of them, he cites the case of $
student named Ungarelli, for whose veracity be
vouches, and whose long and painful narrative of
the floggings and other sufferings inflicted on him
1852, in the prisons of Ferrara, Signor Farini
at the end of his letter to Lord John Russell. The
flagellation of State prisoners he affirms to have
been a common practice of the Austrians, and he
could furnish, he says, in proof thereof, many Per"
fectly reliable testimonies in addition to the one he
gives. He contrasts the results of the Austrian
and Piedmontese systems, does not deny, that it were
very desirable that diplomacy should succeed in
settling the Italian question, but repeatedly declares
his conviction that this is impossible. With respect
to the question of Rome, in particular, he writes
follows

" It appears to me the most difficult and involved of all ;
and I hold it for certain that if diplomacy attempts to greP.e
its way through that labyrinth, it will net emerge from it
either with honour to itself or satisfaction to the population.
Certainly, my Lord, the Romans, as you have attested in
Parliament, have, like the Reunions, a right to be consulted
as to their wishes; but I have great diffioulty in believing
that the Powers will afford them that opportunity,_ or that;
if they did, they would accept as valid the wishes the,
would be signified. The Romans, like the Roumann, 'nub%
perhaps be reasonable in their demands, but the Court 0
Rome, if I do not deceive myself, would be less yielding
than the Ottoman Porte, and that of Vienna would be far
more troublesome, and offer far greater resistance on the
banks of the Tiber than on those of the Danube."

In short, Signor Farini everywhere concludes for
war. This was to be expected. He belongs on:
phatically to the war party ; to those who see nu.
possibility of repose or safety for Europe so long 0
there is an Austrian left in Italy. Diplomacy °
deems impotent to achieve any satisfactory result;
Austria will not give way, and Rome, supported b/
her, will be equally unbending. He takes the the"
roughly Italian view of the question, and insists on
believing that, because England desires to keep the
peace in Europe, and to exhaust every possible
pacific means before having recourse to the sword,
she therefore sympathises with Austria. He speake
of English journals which have made themselves
the advocates of Austria and have vouched for het
liberality (i mallevadori della sua liberalita.)
tria may yield to pressure short of war, but no one
will suspect her of voluntary liberality. Referring
to Count Cavour's recent diplomatic circular, Signet
Farini repeats the old assertion that Austrian We'
naces preceded Piedmontese preparations for war"
in short, that all the provocation proceeds from
Austria. The Italian question consists, according
to the pamphlet, entirely in the antagonist°
between the Austrian and the Piedmontese systeinef
and therefore Italy cannot hope for peace or sect'
rity, so long as the position made for her by thl
treaties of 1815 shall endure. Signor Farina
expresses his great regret that the English nation
does not espouse the Italian cause, and expressee
himself towards England in courteous, friendly, and
flattering terms. The concluding paragraph of the
pamphlet is as follows :

" The cause of our liberty (of Piedmont) is inseparably
linked with the Italian question, and in vain may he hope
to defend it, who, in the name of the violated stip ,ul4-
tions of Vienna, seeks to sunder Piedmont from Italy'
Of this truth those statesmen should persuade themselves
who believe that an European Congress might be able to
give order and peace to Italy and prevent that
which to many appears inevitable. Certainly it wow,
be desirable to obtain by peaceable means that which
may cost many sacrifices; but as not even a conned
of angels could change the condition of things and ti°
nature of the Italian question, no one can hope that 14,
Congress can give peace, liberty, and security to Italy, 1".
it be not first agreed among the Powers, that the trestle!
of 'l5 be corrected, and that Italy must be independent
of all foreign domination. If these bases were laid down
and agreed to first, the Congress would be unable
to avoid the dangers of war, and
_perhaps, event,.
would result in enlarging its 'fields. Every expediee"
would be not only useless, but hurtful ; it might pee;
sibly postpone war for some months, but, perhaps, it woolti
lead to war by means of revolution. The evils of Italy
and the perils of Europe springing from the antagonise!
of the Austrian and Piedmontese systems, peace canne"
be established either by making some other State enter
into the Piedmontese system, or by changing in Italy till
seat or restricting the state of the Austrian system ; 031:
it appears to me certain that, if the Powers should seer
some compromise of the like nature, Austria, conscious, ee
we are, of the true nature of the question, would say, el
Metternich said in 1831, at Vienna, to an Ambassador of
Louis Philippe's 'better to die of a violent death than to let
oneself slowly waste away.' Wherefore it appears to Eae
that public opinion, so painfully intent on that which, in 00
much discontent of the Italian nations and arming Of
European Governments, the fates prepare, must hold it to
be proved that the customary remedies of diplomacy cannot
heal the wounds of Italy."

COWES, ISLE OF WIGHT.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
MARCH 3.

REMOVAL OF THE COURT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT•

—According to present arrangements, her Majcsti
will leave Buckingham Palace for Osborne on the
12th inst.
UNIVERSAL ROYAL YACHT CLUB.—We under-
stand that there are some gentlemen now at Cowes
about establishing a Universal Royal Yacht Club,
which shall be open to members of Royal Yacht
Clubs, and to officers in the army, navy, &c.
DIED at the Medina Docks, Cowes, on Satur.
day last, Thomas White, Esq., the eminent ship-
builder. He was in the 86th year of his age. His
funeral took place this day; and, as a mark Of
respect to his memory, all the shops and nearly au
the private houses in the town were closed.