The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-16 00:00:00

THE FREN.H PRESS ON THE WAR.

The withdravral of the Austrian forces to the
line of the Minvcio does not appear to the Pays
likely to protect them effectually, and our contem-
porary expresses. great disregard, not to say con-
tempt, for forti Red places. The following is an
extract from the article :

"Where will .the Austrians stop ? On the line
of the Oglio, 6r only on that of the Mincio ? We
incline to think that it will be on the latter, for
Count de Gruune, in an official despatch,
declares that the army left the line of the
Adda to appr, pach their reinforcements—that
is to say, Mantua and Verona. It is there-
fore probable th.et a great battle will be fought
between the 0g1;.13, the Mincio, and the Lago Garda
—in the field immortalised by the campaign of
1796-7 ; and that; battle will be decisive. A second
victory of Magenta would terminate the campaign.
As to the famous •quadrangle, we must declare that
it inspires us little respect. Of what use are
the fortresses ? Che fate of Pavia and Piacenza tells
us—cannon are ;piked, ammunition is thrown into
the water, rampa r is which cost much time and money
to build are blown up, and the troops retire, leaving
behind them a h.E.ap of ruins. A battle lost on the
Mincio would cause the fall of Mantua and Verona,
just as the bat tle of Magenta caused the fall of
Piacenza and Pcn..via. 'Things passed differently in
1797. At that time the Lstrian armies having
been dispersed, -Wurmser, who was confined in
Mantua, gave up, the place by honourable capitula-
tion to General Bonaparte. A siege would have
had no other re gialt than to make prisoners of the
last Austrian soLdiers."

The Patrie re o larks as follows on the movement
of the Austrians since the battle of Magenta The retreat of the Austrians is changed into a
rout; and in or iler that our triumph should be
complete, the pro clamation of the Emperor to the
Italians has resounded throughout Europe as a new
victory. Such generosity after so many sacrifices,
and so great moderation after such heroism, are
well calculated to astonish the world. The pro-
clamation of Napoleon 111., grand as an inspiration
of Corneille, is one of those pages which does not
require time to ibecome historical, and which from
the first moment. belongs to posterity.
The Constitutibnnel remarks on the course pur-
sued by the Au: itrians on their entry into Pied-
mont, their viol.ent proclamations and excessive
exactions tendi og, it declares, to confirm the
exactitude of tho complaints made for so many
years by the Lc n nbard population of the severity
of the rule to which they were subjected. The
following are s‘n•me of our contemporary s obser-
vations :

" Could anyeaing be more injudicious than the
line of conduct followed by the Austrian authori-
ties in Italy since the outbreak of the war P It
was desirable to prove to the world that the Aus-
trian administrt it ion was the most paternal possible,
and that there were in reality no grounds for
the complaints alleged as the reason for calling
a congress. But what has been the conduct of
the Austrian Government, or, at least, of its agents
in Italy ? Tk.ey have published proclamations
of the most outrageous violence. Death is the
punishment denounced in every paragraph, and
one cannot help asking, on reading these procla-
mations, how any subject of 'Austria, however
peaceably incline d, can be certain of not committing
some one of the "long litany of offences enumerated
in the decrees o4' most Catholic Austria. We will
not speak of t b,e exactions and brutalities which
may have 13(1,2n committed by the Austrian
army during ,its brief sojourn in Piedmont.
Let us admit t h at soldiers in actual warfare, and
especially Cro:6 ts, may not be always models of
self-denial. Is cit the less true that, in the present
instance, the Cr, overnment of Vienna, instead of
giving the re his to the passions of its soldiers
in an enemy's country, ought, as a measure of
sound policy, t,o, have enforced stricter discipline
than on other ( casions, so as to give, in the sight
of all Europe. a. humane and civilising character to
the exercise of its power in Italy ? But, no ! the
Austrian Gove mment has done just the reverse,
as if only a axious to show its contempt for the
opinions of th( .e world."

We are maul ?: ited to state that a meeting will be
held of the memb a rs of the Hon. Societies of the Inner and
Middle Temple o• a Wednesday, the 22d of June, 1859, in
the hall of the M id tdle Temple at 4 o'clock precisely, for the
purpose of takinl i nto consideration the propriety of form-
ing a Volunteer It fie Corps. a