The Sun.
London, England, 1859-10-31 00:00:00

LETTER OF NAPOLEON TO THE KING

OF SARDINIA.

How is it that the motives and acts of " that great
man" who undertakes to personify the genius and
will of France are exposed to incessant misinterpre-
tation on the part of a neighbouring and certainly
. .

a well-wishing nation ? Some say it is the nature
of a people constitutionally governed to regard with
suspicion a neighbour who, in the exeicise of a
purely personal power, consults his own wishes
and feelings, it may be his own caprices and im-

pulses, only. Some say that it is from the radical
difference of institutions in the two countries ; but
we know that in point of fact free governments and
despotisms have often fought and taken counsel
together as firm friends : some say it is from the
obstinate antagonism of national characteristics ;
yet we know that harmony is not unison : while
others insist that it is indispensable to a good
understanding with Napoleonism that we should
fully comprehend the idoa of a State-policy con-
ducted on theatrical principles. Strange as this
theory may at first sight appear, it is hardly more
strange than—shall we say ?—an Italian Confedera-
tion under Austrian patronage, or Italian indepen-
dence under a French protectorate, guaranteed by
the "moral influence of the Pope," and represented
by restored Ducal " families suspected of a leaning
towards" a foreign power. At any rate the theory
deserves examination, if only because the difficulty
deserves at least an attempt at solution. The
first Empire, we know, took lessons of Franconi,
and had a learned eye for ancient Roman costume
and "effects." The second Empire, obeying the
tendency of the modern theatre, combines the
dialogue of romantic drama with a modified re-
spect for the classical unities. We are a little
doubtful by what canon of dramatic criticism we
should judge the private letter of the Emperor of
the French to King Victor Emmanuel which has
just been published, and yet we are seriously per-
suaded that it is not only by the application of
dramatic criticism that this epistolary phenomenon
can be satisfactorily interpreted. We are perfectly
ready to believe that the writer of the letter was
not unmindful of the good old classical rule, Nec
Deus intersit, and that it was not until he was con-
vinced that Central Italy had become a digtaus
vindice nodus that he stepped out of his cloud-
machine, the Moniteur, and descended on the scene
in person, as the majestic " vindicator" of the final
tableau. Taken as a composition, this letter, ad-
dressed to Monsieur mon Frere, by a very Big
Brother, takes us back not merely some 45 years or
so, when it was an amusement of Sovereigns to
map out States and portion little Potentates, but
many centuries before that modern fiction, respon-
sible government, was not so much as invented. It
is all very romantic and chivalrous, no doubt, but
somehow or other a document of this kind loses all
its bouquet as soon as it is made public. Deposited
in the archives of State, and revealed to the world
in the pages of history, it would have possessed an
enduring charm ; but when we find it dated on a
Thursday, the 20th hist,- and translated into a
foreign journal the Saturday week following, it
takes place in the vulgar prints of the day like any-
mere State paper, or rather like an article in the
Constitutionnel, only with a mere august name than
" Grandguillot" at the foot.
The English press is therefore at liberty to con-
sider itself not only permitted, but invited, to con-
sider this frank and friendly exposition of " the
real state of affairs" in Italy, though addressed in
form to Monsieur mon Ft-ere of Sardinia, as in
effect addressed to the public opinion of Europe •,
and we cordially thank the Emperor of the French
for taking the words out of M. Walewski's mouth,
and for stripping off all the laborious disguises
in which the ingenuity of his semi-official penman
has enveloped his policy and purposes of late. We
now know the best and the worst of both, and we
have a genuije and authentic text before our eyes,
to which we can always turn when the Constitu•
tionnel says one thing and the Pays another with
equal confidence and equal truth.
The Emperor of the French, then, we are autho-
rised to remark, addresses Victor Emmanuel as if
" Sir, my brother" represented Sardinia in the
same manner as a Napoleon represents France, i. c.,
without intervention of Ministry or Parliament.
Conjuring him to lay aside illusions and regrets
now that it is too late to approve or disapprove of
the Peace of Villafranca, and to look at things as
they are, lie pauses to reeal the obstacles " which
rendered every definitive negotiation and every de-
finitive treaty so difficult," and we are bound to add

he does not recal them, but contents himself with the
aphorism that " war has often fewer complications
than peace," since in war there arc only two sides,
and in peace many. But he adds, that his object
was to conclude a treaty which should not only free
Italy and satisfy Piedmont, but also " not wound
the Catholic sentiment or the rights of the A'ore-
reifins in whom Europe felt an interest."
We were' really not aware that Europe felt an
interest in the Grand Duke of Tuscany, the Duke of
Modena, or even the Duchess of Parma ; unless
Europe be interpreted to mean the Courts and not
the populations of Europe, and it is surely impas-
sible that a Bonaparte should resign himself to such
Than
ee
dpi.ogra repetitionm ni e
no f
detail
ti
al lial f;r abnucta ,w nowe
ag.a
iant
an antiquated and legitimist conception of Europe
length authenticated by its original author, is tooas this.
familiar to
thank the Emperor for withdrawing the veil from
the statue of the Liberator, and permitting us to
admire the solidity of the pedestal and
the sym-
metry of the figure. An Italian Confederation,
presided over 1:03. the Pope, may, for aught we know,
satisfy the religious sentiment of Catholic Europe,
if indeed the religious sentiment of so large a por-
tion of mankind be dependent upon the comfort and
prosperity of Cardinal Antonelli and the perma-
nence of banditti in the Papal territories ; and it
may even increase the moral influence of the Pope
throughout Italy, since it would be difficult to
diminish what is already infinitesimal; but there
will still, we fear, be many among the populatian
who were invited at Milan to be free citizens of a
great country, who will attach less value to " the
plan formed at the moment of making peace," than
to the plan formed at the moment of making war.
Venetia is "to become a province purely Italian,"
and meantime two-fifths of the population of
Venice are driien into exile, or imprisoned
by the Austrians, for the encouragement of
their fellow-eountrymen in the North and
Centre. All idea of foreign intervention has been
"finally set aside" in Central Italy, though the
rights of the Sovereigns are "reserved." The
express adhesion to the principle of non-interven-
tion is, however, a perfectly sufficient set-off to all
reservations, whether of personal engagements, or
of the rights of Sovereigns, or of the moral influence
of the Pope, or of the Catholic sentiment ; and if
" the part of France," as it is "traced beforehand,"
be to desist from intervention herself and to restrain
others from taking her place, we Heed not be
troubled with a complimentary distribution of the
Duchies. A Confederation based on the real wants
of Italy would, in the language of an ordinary
letter-writer, mean a Confederation created by the
people of Italy, not thrust upon them. As to the
traditions of the Peninsula, we are at a loss to con-
ceive whether Pagan or Papal, or Republican, or
Napoleonic, or Austrian traditions are signified.
The exclusion of every foreign influence is unhap-
pily not a " tradition of the Peninsula" at all, but
it is not the less respectable on that account, seeing
that it is precisely what all Italy demands.
There is one party which ought to bo grateful to
the writer of this letter, who, in defiance of the prin-
ciple upon which his own sovereignty prafesses to
be based, demands that, in spite of the national
will, a Duke shall be restored in one place and a
Duchess substituted in another. The Emperor of
the French is evidently a believer in the principle
of legitimacy. lie believes it to be essential to the
pacification of Italy and to the repose of Europe.
Now, lot us, by way of hypothesis, put Paris in the
place of Tuscany, and suppose, par impossible,
that Russia, Prussia, and Great Britain„ sitting
in Congress, decide that it is essential to the
pacification of France and to the repose of Europe
that some old monarchy or sonic younger branch be
" restored." Evidently the correspondent of " Mon-
sieur mon Frere"•would have nothing to say against
the principle of restoration. Are there two weights
and two measures of rights and justice for petty and
for powerful States ? Non-intervention is indispen-
sable to the exercise of the national will ; and it is
by resisting the one that the Emperor of the French
makes good the other.
The letter speaks positively of a forthcoming
Congress. The English Government has not yet
signified its readiness to take part in one, whatever
some foreign journalists may write ; but if it be a
Congress in which England is expected to take her
place, we know that the rights and the wishes of
the Italians will be respected. The personal engage-
ments of Louis Napoleon will not have been for-
feited by the non-acquiescence of Italy. It is meet
and right for the Chief of a State, in which personal
government reigns supreme, to signify his demands
in a letter, and to publish his private counsels to a
brother Sovereign ; but it is competent to King
Victor Emmanuel to reply by a simple acknow-
ledgment of receipt, and to leave to his responsible
Ministers the duty of upholding the rights and in-
terests committed to their constitutional keeping.

Perhaps this Imperial letter points a moral which
we may, without offence, commend to the discretion
of Signor Rattazzi, and we put it in the form of a
simple interrogation. How long is parliamentary
government to be suspended in the Subalpine king-
dom ?—Daily News.

COUNTRY MARKETS.

LIVERPOOL-OCT. 29.

To-day the extreme prices of the week are well supported.
Oats and oatmeal have improved is 2d per 451 b and 6d per
load. Beans and peas very firm. Barley has been firmly
held, but the sales have been rather limited. The weather
has agein become wet.