The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-20 00:00:00

TILE WAR IN ITALY.

(From the Mot niny Post.)
If the last few days have not been marked by
exciting tidings from the seat of war, the absence of
these is compensated by the rapidly-increasing
political effect of the victories already won. When
first the possibility of a war in behalf of the Italian
cause was mooted, there were not wanting those
in very influential places, both here and abroad,
who refused to acknowledge that there was
any such thing at all as an Italian cause.
Our own Government did not scruple to brand the
patriots of Italy as discontented spirits, and to
censure as wantonly ambitious the natural efforts of
Sardinia on behalf of Italian freedom. King Victor
Emmanuel was denounced as the accomplice of
France in a deep game to be played at the reckless
cost of many lives for an impossible stake, and
English and foreign newspapers vied with each other
in denunciation of all the parties concerned. But it
was mainly against Napoleon 111. that the fiercest
fulminations were hurled. Some of our daily and
weekly contemporaries had no words strong enough
to stigmatise the cunning, the treachery, the blood-
thirstiness, and the despotic tyranny of the Monarch
of France. His purpose was asserted to be nothing
less than the subversion of the peace of Europe and
the destruction of the balance of power. He was
declared to be in league with Russia against Eng-
land and Austria. The two were to combine their
forces and overrun Europe; and when the spoil
came to be divided a French Sovereign was to rule
in Italy, and Russia was to possess the long-coveted
supremacy of Constantinople. Absurd and impos-
sible as this was,
.there were journals that affirmed
it and thousands of intelligent persons who believed
it. In every railway carnage, on every exchange, and
at every dinner-tab le this empty nonsense was freely
uttered. There was, it was said, no Italian cause,
and no appreciable reason for the Franco-Sardinian
alliance. The Emperor of the French was de-
nounced as wishing to "plunge Europe into
war," without cause or provocation. Au contraire,
it was denied that the Austrians were oppressive;
and the Times went so far as to avow in a leading
article that, in the present condition of the Italian
peasantry, the rule of Austria was a good thing.
There was a general incredulity as to the sincerity
of those who proposed to emancipate Italy. Even
many of the Italians themselves, though they had no
doubts about the grievance, were not without mis-
givings at the thought of a French army of great
magnitude within their borders. When at last the
Austrian army invaded Piedmont, and Napoleon
himself headed the French troops, and went forth to
the succour of Sardinia, the same relentless hate and
the same disparaging predictions pursued him. He
was overrating his powers, they said. He might
be successful in political administration, but gene-
ralship was out of the question. He would fail in
the field, and peril at once his reputation and his
throne.

Such, not six weeks ago, was the language
uttered by leading newspapers and important poli-
tical personages. What do we hear now ? Success
has brought its usual vindication ; and, of those who
were loudest in their denunciations or suspicions,
the more generous openly confess their predictions
falsified so far, and the rest either keep silence or
pervert the truth to suit their purpose. It has come
to light that the Italians have a grievance : that the
Austrian Emperor and not Napoleon has begun
" the plunging into war ;" that the Allied Sove-
reigns are acting with wisdom and moderation ;
that Napoleon is not failing as a general, but has
displayed, considering that he was never on a
field of battle before, the most surprising powers,
arid has accomplished unprecedented successes;
that he has taken nothing but fame by these ; that
he has declared he will take nothing else ; that he
is most anxious to localise the war and define its
objects ; and that up to this moment he has ful-
filled, not the part of the conquerer of Italy, but of
her deliverer. We repeat that these things have
been and are being demonstrated in the sight of
the world, and cannot be gainsaid. They vindicate
at once the Empermy the King, and the cause.
One of the first and most natural effects is the
impression all through Italy that this is the crisis of
her fate. Accordingly, wherever the expulsion of
the Austrians make it possible, the Italians lift up
their voice for liberty. All the towns and provinces
of Lombardy are united in their allegiance—pending
a final settlement—to the King of Sardinia. Parma
and Modena follow suit. The exigencies of the war
require the withdrawal of the Austrian soldiers in
the Romagna, but no sooner is the last foreign
bayonet out of sight than the people declare for
Victor Emmanuel. At Rome a popular movement
could be organised at any moment, but regard for
the Pope, with whose spiritual rule the allied
armies are not at war, makes a revolt inexpedient.
They do not, therefore, rise ; but they express their
feelings, which are strictly in unison with those of
their allied champions. In the Two Sicilies the
popular feeling is growing strong, but the Allies
are not at war with Francis 11., and therefore no
rising of his subjects is promoted. When the future
of Italy becomes a part of the treaty of peace it will
be impossible for Naples, as for Rome, to persevere
in modes and principles of government repugnant
to those which have been consecrated by such
copious sacrifices of blood.
We are justified, under all these circumstances
in asserting that the effects of the war, so far, have
been as satisfactory as its achievements in the field
have been brilliant. And not the least important
is the effect on this country. Mr. Bright did honour-
able justice to the Emperor of the French and to
England when he stood up in Parliament the other
night for the maintenance of the French alliance as
the best security for the preservation of English
We may expect that with the new Go-
hese considerations willhve more weight
neutrality.

than they did with the old. We give Lord Derby
and his colleagues every credit for their desire to
preserve a strict neutrality. Their new blue book
abundantly proves that. Whatever other fault may
be found with it, at least it shows in every page the
desire of the Government for peace. But it shows
also that they were pursuing a very blind policy, and
one not at all likely to secure the object they had in
view. It is not too severe a thing to say of them
that they placed the Anglo-French alliance in the
greatest peril. They were fast drifting from France
to Austria, and would soon have reached the point
at which they would have lost all influence with both
Powers. Having, then, alliance with neither, either
might have drawn us into war, and in drawing us
have involved the rest of Europe. Under the policy
of the Present Government we may expect better
things, and it is an augury of good that they com-
mence their administration at a time when the
acts of the allied Sovereigns have dissipated so
completely the fears that prevailed when the war
commenced, and have drawn the sympathies of
England more powerfully forth both towards the
Italian cause itself and towards the Sovereigns who
have so gloriously espoused it. This is one of the
surest pledges of our peace and neutrality, for
nothing would be so likely to enlarge the war as a
feeling amongst other Powers that England had no
sympathy with it, and would therefore support them
in espousing the side of Austria.