The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-14 00:00:00

THE KINGDOM OF ITALY.

The Circular addressed by Baron Ricasoli to the
representatives of Italy at the various Courts of Eu-
rope, which was referred to in a recent telegram,
is as follows : _ _

TURIN, July 3
Sir,—The Parliament has just terminated the
first part of its laborious session, by adjourning till
the approaching autumn. In its bosom have sat for
the first time the representatives of nearly all the
populations of Italy.
Thanks to its decisions the unity of Italy has
passed from the domain of ideas to that of facts, and
has begun to develop itself in the political, econo-
mic, and administrative order. It is consequently
my duty to call the attention of the representatives
of the Government in foreign countries to the la-
bours of the two Chambers, and to furnish them
with the means of making known to Europe the
legislative debates of the new kingdom.
In the first place, you will please to remark the
spirit in which the elections were made. In the
provinces, which lately formed independent States,
and had scarcely entered on a situation altogether
new, still wanting the experience of the liberties
which they were called to enjoy, those elections
were accomplished with the utmost regularity and
perfect order. This will appear still more significa-
tive if we reflect that the provinces most recently
united, as the Marches and Umbria, were threatened
by the Pontifical troops, and were in fact attacked
by them on several points precisely at the moment
of the elections. If we consider further, the Neapo-
litan and Sicilian provinces not only were exposed
to the same menaces, but also felt the effects of a
powerful political agitation, while their territories
were not delivered from the remnants of the fallen
dominations, since the fallen King still continued
to resist in Gaeta, at the head of a considerable
corps of troops, and the taking of Messina had not
been attempted.
In spite of this situation, the new provinces which
now form the greater part of the kingdom, though
they lived uncertain of the future, elected their de-
puties freely and regularly, and not one was found
among them representing the opinions or interests
of the fallen governments ; and you have seen by the
parliamentary discussions and votes that the whole
tenor of the Opposition was to excite the Government
to precipitate the course of events, with a view to
complete the independence and unity of Italy, in-
stead of returning to the past ; an example, perhaps,
unique in history, and which demonstrates how uni-
versal and profound in the hearts of all Italians is
the sentiment of nationality ; since in all other
countries where revolution has carried to the throne
a new dynasty in room of the one which has been
hurled from it, the trace of the latter has never been
effaced in the national representation, and in all
Parliaments, with the exception of that of Italy,the
partisans of the fallen princes have found a place
under the name of Legitimists.
You will not fail to remark that our new deputies,
convoked for the first time from different parts of
Italy, who, in consequence of their political and
economical organisation, had hitherto remained
strangers one to the other, have immediately found
themselves in accord on fundamental ideas, and
only a very slight degree of opposition has mani-
fested itself when measures were brought forward
tending to strengthen the right of the nation, or to
support that right. It is, moreover, well to remark
that the Opposition, small in number as it was, did
not endeavour to impede these measures, but on
the contrary sought to carry them beyond the
bounds which political prudence would not allow to
be exceeded without rendering them ineffectual or
dangerous.
The novelty of the state of things in which the
provinces of Italy found themselves placed, the va-
riety of the situations in the midst of which they
had hitherto existed, gave rise to repeated interpel-
lations which, if they appeared superstitious to
some persons, had nevertheless this utility, that
they enabled the deputies to know each other
better, and to facilitate the fusion of the different
countries into one.
These interpellations, besides, which concerned the
policy of the Government, afforded the Parliament
the opportunity of declaring in the most solemn
manner the right of the nation, and the King's Go-
vernment that of manifesting its intentions as to
the means of completing the enterprise already con-
ducted so near its end.
You, sir, already know these intentions. You
know that the changes in persons which have taken
place in the cabinet, in consequence of the painful
and deplored loss of Count Cavour, have not caused
any modification in the policy inaugurated and car-
ried out by him with so much honour to himself
and bo much advantage to Italy; that he Wae the

The Italians have not forgotten the solemn
words which our august and generous ally ad-
dressed to them on touching the soil of liberated
Lombardy : "Be all soldiers to-day, that you
may to-morrow be the free citizens of a great
nation." For military service forms citizens to
temperance and discipline, gives them the conscious-
ness of their own dignity and strength, and ren-
ders them familiar with all those manly and austere
virtues which are necessary to the exercise and
preservation of liberty. Moreover, if good armies
are indispensable for the defence of the precious
acquisitions of the nation, by the confidence with
which a well-armed people inspires its friends, and
the respect which it imposes upon enemies, they
are also a powerful means of obtaining pacific
triumphs; or else, when, notwithstanding our en-
deavours, peace is disturbed, these armies serve to
render a perturbation, which we would not have
provoked, less durable and less fatal to the general
interests cf Europe.
The laws relating to the unification of the public
debt belong as much to the political as to the eco-
nomical order of things. To unify the various sys-
tems of debts which we have inherited from the
small states into which, unfortunately, the penin-
sula has, until now, been divided; to attract the
interests of the creditors of the state towards the
centre of national life, and provide for the future
of the nation while respecting individual rights,
have been the object which Parliament had in view
in adopting the financial measures proposed by the
King's Government. The spectacle of the ardour
of Italian and foreign capitalists in offering the
means of realising the loans voted by the Cham-
bers sufficiently proves that this object has been
attained.

You know, sir, that though only 764,000,000 lire
were demanded by the Government, more than
1,000,000,000 lire were offered, and the result of
the public subscription is not yet. known. That
is a fact to which I, with pleasure, tali the atten-
tion of the King's ministers abroad. It proves that
the kingdom of Italy has been able to create itself
credit for the future, by respecting, with the most
rigorous justice, the obligations contracted in the
past. It is the most splendid proof that could be
given that the events which have just taken place
in Italy are more than a revolution—that they are
the restoration of regular and normal order.
The Parliament has also provided for the develop-
ment of the economic resources of the country by
giving its sanction to the bills presented by the
Ministry of Public Works relative to the prompt
execution of a vast network of railways. To promote
among all classes of society, by the stimulant of
labour, wealth, and public morality ; to excite the
augmentation of national capital by the powerful
co-operation of foreign capital; to remove the ob-
stacles which distance and the configuration of the
Peninsula oppose to the rapid fraternisation of all
the inhabitants—such are the results which the
Government hopes to be able to obtain in a short
time by the energetic impulsion given to public

works.
In order clearly to understand the importance of
this subject, it will be sufficient to say that in addi-
tion to the works of the arsenal of La Spezzia,
2,700 kilometres of railway (the kilometre is five-
eighths of a mile) have been concluded; that they
are to be completed in from a year and a half to
eight years; and that the execution of them will
cost about 750,000,000 lire, of which about
290,000,000 lire are to be supplied by the Govern-
ment, in addition to the guarantee accorded by the
contract.
This summary exposition will suffice to make
known that the Parliament, in the first part of the
present session, has not only provided for the most
urgent wants, but also for the most important and
most fruitful interests of the country.
And now, if we cast a glance on the path in which
we have hitherto walked, and if we measure it with
the grandeur of events, it seems to me that we have
the right to feel great satisfaction. But if we cast
our eyes on the road we have still to go, we see that
it is rough, difficult, fall of snares and perils. We
are not, however, alarmed at it, and we venture to
repeat with just pride that Italy has been made
one. Yes, Italy is created, although part of Italy
is still under the power of the foreigner ; for we are
certain that Europe, seeing us well organised, well