The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-02 00:00:00

drowned. The pumps were constantly worked during the
day.

LIST OF SURVIVORS.
PASSENGERS.—Matthew Lees, Bartholomew Reilly and
John Raber.
Cnnw.---Stephen Kelly, third mate ; Richard Long,
boatswain ; Michael Moriarty, John Smith, Richard Em-
meat, Thomas Barnes, Thomas Jordan, John Sullivan,
Harry Millar, Rodolph Thorn,, Jeremiah Williams, George
Melville, George Nott, John Rodgers, Charles Jackson,
Charles Thomson, James West, William Murphy, and
John M'Connack, seamen; John Meehan, passengers'
cook.

THE EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH ON
THE ITALIAN QUESTION.

The Moniteur of yesterday contains the following
circular, dated April 27, and addressed to all the
diplomatic agents of the Emperor :-
1 "Monsieur,—The communication which has been made
by order of his Imperial Majesty to the Senate and the
Corps Legislatif relieves me of the necessity of reverting to
the incidents with which public opinion has been engaged
for some weeks past, and which formed the subject of my
last despatchss. The seriousness of the situation has become
extreme, and the result nnfortunately is not that which our
persevering and loyal efforts were directed to secure. Under
these serious circumstances it is a source of great satisfac-
faction to the Government of the. Emperor to be able to
submit to the decision of Europe the question of deciding
with what power rests the responsibility of such an issue.
" That the state of affairs in Italy was abnormal ; that
the uneasiness and the suppressed agitation which resulted
therefrom was a source of danger to all Europe ; that rea-
son counselled by a wholesome foresight to prevent an
otherwise inevitable crisis—this was at once the opinion of
England, Prussia, Russia, and France. Unanimity of
apprehensions also produced conformity of sentiments and
of procedure. The mission of Lord Cowley to Vienna —the
proposition of a congress emanating from St. Petersburgh—
the support rendered by Prussia to these attempts for an
accommodation—the readiness of France to adhere to the
combinations which succeeded one another up to the latest
moment—all these acts have, in short, been inspired by a
single motive—by a lively and sincere desire to consolidate
peace, and no longer close her eyes to a difficulty which so
evidently threatened to embroil her.
" In this phase of the affair the Government of the Em-
peror has taken an initiative and active part. But this part,
it is necessary to state, has always been one of a collective
character. France has simply offered its, assistance as a
great European Power, in order to regulate, in a spirit of
friendship and confidence, with the other Powers, a ques-
tion which excited her sympathies_ (Z_ will not disguise it),
but in which"she neither saw particular duties to fulfil nor
urgent duties to defend.
" On the very day when the Cabinet of Vienna had pro-
mised in the most solemn manner not to commence hostili-
ties, it was prepared to offer an attitude that must lead the
Emperor infallibly to conclude that an aggression was
directed against Piedmont.
' "A like assurance in giving time for the exercise of the
mediation of the different Powers afforded hopes of the
speedy convocation of a congress. In fact, England had
settled, with the concurrence of France, Prussia, and
Russia, the final conditions of the meeting of that assem-
bly, in which the place that justice and-reason assigned to
the Italian States was accorded to them.
" Sardinia, on her side, gave her adhesion to the simul-
taneous and previous disarmament of the Powers which
had lately increased their military force. To these pro-
spe3ts of peace the Cabinet of Vienna suddenly opposed an
act, which, to characterise it aright, is equivalent to a de-
claration of war. Thus Austria destroyed by her sole act
the work pursued with so much patience by England,
seconded with so much sincerity by Russia and Prussia,
and facilitated with so much moderation by France. Not
only Austria closes the door of the congress against Sardinia,
but she summons her, under pain of being constrained by
force, to lay down her arms without any conditions, and
within a delay of three days.
"A formidable demonstration of war is made at the same
time on the banks of the Ticino, and it is, to speak the
truth, with an army actually in march that the Austrian
commander-in-chief awaits the answer of the Cabinet o:
Turin

" You know, Monsieur, the impression caused at London,
Berlin, and St. Petersburgh, by the resolution, so inoppor-
tune and so fatal, of the Cabinet of Vienna. The astonish-
ment and displeasure of the three Powers have been ex-
pressed by a protestation, the echo of which has been car-
ried by public opinion into every part of Europe.
"If England, Prussia, and Russia, by the steps which they
have hastened to take, have been able fully .to redeem their
moral responsibility, and to give satisfaction to their offended
dignity, the Government of the Emperor moved, moreover,
by similar considerations, had also to indicate its own atti-
tude, and other obligations were imposed upon it. Nothing
has diminished the unanimity which was established from
the first between us and the mediating Powers. The ques-
tion remains at bottom the same, but we have too great
confidence in the disposition of which these Powers have
furnished us such striking examples, to think for a single
instant that they will misapprehend the sense of the policy,
that ancient traditions and the imperious necessities of geo-
graphical position so naturally indicate to us.
" France for half a century has never pretended to exer-
cise
in Italy an interested influence, and it is assuredly not
her that can be accused of having attempted to revive the
remembrance of ancient struggles and historical rivalries.
All that she has hitherto demanded—and the treaties are in
unison with her wishes—is that the states of the Peninsula
shall exist independently, and in their internal affairs, as
well as in their relations with foreign-states, shall only have
to consult their own wishes. I do not know that in this re-
spect a different opinion exists in London, Berlin, and St.
Petersburgh than that which exists at Paris.,,Whatever it
may be, circumstances have invested Austria, in face of the
Powers of Italy, with a situation universally pronounced
to be preponderant.
" Sardinia, alone, has for the present escaped from an
action which has altered, in the general opinion, in an im-
portant part of Europe, that system of equilibrium which it
was desirable to establish there. Everywhere else this fact
would be very grave, but whatever were our own senti-
ments, we should have been satisfied with the opinions
which we knew to bo entertained by other cabinets—to
point out to them this evil in order to its correction.
" Such a reserve, Monsieur, when it concerned Sardinia,
would become a forgetfulness of our most essential into-
rests. It is not the configuration of the soil which
covers on that side one of the frontiers of France. The
passes of the Alps are not in our hands; and it con-
cerns us in the highest degree that the key of them remains
at Turin—only at Turin. Not only French interests, but
interests equally European, as well as regard for rights and
legitimate interests of states, which bontinue to regulate
their reciprocal relations—these considerations, I say, would
not permit the Government to hesitate upon the conduct
which it has to follow when a state so considerable as Aus-
tria assumes towards Piedmont the tone of menace, and
openly prepares to dictate laws to it. This obligation im-
presses a new gravity upon the refusal of Austria to disarm
before acting. We would nat, at whatever hazard, find
ourselves in the face of an accomplished fact; and it is this
fact that the Government of the Emperor is resolved to
prevent. It is not, then, an offensive attitude, it is a mea-
sure of defence that we are adopting at this moment.
" Old recollections, a community of origin, the recent
alliance of the sovereign houses, unite us to Sardinia. These
are serious grounds of sympathy, and we appreciate them
at their full value; but they would not of themselves per
haps be sufficient to decide us. That which marks out
clearly for us our course is tho permanent and hereditary
interest of France, is the absolute impossibility for the Go-
vernment of the Emperor to admit that a coup de force
should establish at the foot of the Alps, contrary to the
views of a friendly nation and to the will of its sovereign, a
state of things which would deliver entire Italy to a foreign
influence.
(4

is Imperial Majesty, strictly faithful to the words
which he pronounced when the French people recalled him
to the throne of the chief of his dynasty, is not animated by
any personal ambition, by any desire of conquest. The
time has not long passed since the Emperor proved in a
European crisis that moderation was the soul of his policy.
This moderation at the present moment presides with the
same force over his designs, and in protecting the interests
which have been committed to him by Providence, his
Majesty does not imagine that you can give a more posi-
tive assurance that he does not separate his views from
those of his allies. Far fiom that, hii Government,
in referring to the incidents which have marked the
negotiations of preceding weeks, cherishes the firm hope
that the Government of her Britannic Majesty will
continue to persevere in an attude which, in uniting by a
moral tie the policy of the two countries, permits the Cabi-
nets of Paris and of London to explain themselves without
reserve, and to combine, according to events, an under-
standing destined to preserve the Continent from the effects
of that struggle which may arise at one of its extremes.
Russia, we have a profound conviction, will be always
ready to direct its efforts towards the same end. As for
Prussia, the always impartial and conciliatory spirit of
which she has given proof since the origin of the crisis is a
sure guarantee of her disposition to neglect nothing in
cider to circumscribe the outbreak (1' explosion.)
" We wish, in a most emphatic manner, that the other
Powers which compose the Germanic Confederation should
not allow themselves to be guided by the recollections of -a
different epoch. France can see only with pain the agita-
tion which is excited in some States of German. She does
not understand how that great country —ordinarily so calm
and so patriotically imbued with the sense of its own
strength—can believe its security menaced by events of
which the theatre ought to remain far removed from its
territories. The Government of the Empire wishes, then,
to think that the statesmen of Germany will quickly under-
stand that it depends in a great measure upon themselves to
limit the extent and the duration of a war which France, if
it is forced to engage in it, will have at least the conscious-
ness of not having provoked.
" I invite you, Monsieur, to possess yourself of the consi-
derations developed in this despatch in your first interview
with M—, and to leave a copy of it with him. Considering
the clearness of the language which I hold to you here by
order of the Emperor, and which implies, in the mind of
his Majesty, a desire to offer to the other Cabinets all pos-
sible guarantees to lead them to a true appreciation of the
situation, and to reassure them, in all that concerns them.
selves as to its consequences, it is difficult for me to suppose
that the GOvernment of will not meet' 'bur explana-
tions with a confidence equal to that which has dictated
them.—Receive, &c., " WALE WSK. I."