Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1849-07-30
THE NEWS by THE STEAMER.


would fight from house to house and wall to wall
and be buried under the ruins of the city The
t&nE sture Of the place vas inevitable With well
a-,sponted army, like that headed by Gen. Oudi-
not, with all the appliances Of modern offensive
warfare and with the aid of consummate militia
rv science the reduction of even the strongest
fortress is matter Of exact calculation. 1t could
not be hoped then that Rome, which can scarce
Nv be called a walled town, under a merely pro-
visional government could successfully resist the
overwhelming force brought against it. Still. we
feel something Of regret and disappointment that
a more heroic resistance was not made, and tina.
the downfall e the young Republic was not sig
nalized BY an exhibition Of endurance worthy of
the cause. Doubtless Gen. Oudnot was tram
melted by his instructions and by the negotiations
of NJ. Lesseps, the French Minister, and. there
fore, did not act with the promptitude and energy
which might, under other circumstances, be ex
pected However this may be, certain it is that
in military point of view. the French have
gained no aurels No glory has been she'd upon
their arms to atone for the intamv of the cause
in which they were employed. We rejoice that
it is so. We rooice that the most atrocous out
rage upon neutral rights the most treacherous az
gresson upon free institutions, the most entirely
IndeensJle, wanton andnSUlting interference with
the internal concerns OF another. and that not
neighboring nation, which history records should Il
though successful by means OF an overwhelming
force, have none of the ecat of military glory 70
render it attractive. We have little reliance on
the strength of the moral sense OF nations and
even less on that of the French people-but We
vet believe that majority of them must have
felt overwhelmed with shame and indignation
when they heard that the Eternal City was sub
dued, land the Roman Republic crushed in its IL
fancy by nation which boasts Of being the oun-
tam of European liberty and the protector of
every people contending for free institutions. Ma
poeon an outlaw, and never, for a moment,
permitted considerations Of right, inStce, or good
faith, to stand in the way of any act by which he
could profit We do not include, therefore, his
remorseless deeds, when say that we have
been accustomed to regard the capture of the Da-
nfsh fleet, at Copenhagen, by the British, as the
blacklist act of modern times But this, we con- {
ceive, to have been praiseworthy act Of neigh {
borly kindness, compared with the damnIng guilt
of the French expedition against Rome.
And now. that Rome is in the hands Of the
French, what is 10 be done? VIII the Pope be
restored Internationally VIII the Republic be
overthrow : The Pope will not feel easy, that
he owes his restoration to the French. That res
toraton he would sooner have owed to any other
nation-AuStria Spain, Naples or even Russia. 5
The Catholic feeling Of Europe too. whilst it may )
be glad that the Pope is brought back to the Vat
lean, will revolt at the agency. It IS obvious that
TO leave the Pope in the hands of his loving sub
jects would be an act of downright city. He (
must be guarded and the Roman people overaw- I
ed by large French garrison. What will Aus
tria say What will Frances quasi ally, En-
gland, say 10 such an arrangement? VIII the {
other nations Of the Peninsula not be FESTIVE I'M
der military occupation, which will render the
conquest of all Italy an easy work. LOmbardy, |
now again an Austrian province, has strong lines
of defence but they have reference to an enemy
approaching from the North and West, and not
from the South.
And what will France herself say Universal
suffrage elected the Executive which planned,
and the National Assembly which sanctioned,
this infamous expedition. We may not hope,
therefore for any very unequivocal manifestation
of diSapprobation Of an act which, if perpetrated
by Austria, or Russia, would have been the SIG
nal for precipitating the French legions into Italy
TO eXpel the ntruderS and to reinstate the young
Republic. Let any one for a moment, imagine
what excitement would have been caused in
France, had an Austrian army under Raditzky
besieged and taken Rome, without deignlng to
assign false and hypocrihcal pretences for the in
terposition. Such an interpoSitlon, however,
would have been, comparatively, juStifabe. The
Austrian possessions are coterminouS with the
Roman States, and the Roman Republicans have
Deen IOuQ IN lleIr remuneration OF austrian QOln-
ination in the peninsula. Not only 50, but they
actually aided the King of Sardinia during the
late contest. Austria might, with a colorado pre-
text, have occupied Rome-For France TO do
so was act of unmitigated wickedness. n
Turning from Rome TO the internal affairs of
France, We see nothing to excite agreeable an
tcipations. If, towards other nations, the Gov
eminent is false and oppressive; at home il is re-
dictionary and quietly destroying every vestige Of
Republican Government. Charles Y by ordi-
nances against the press, lost his crown. Louis
Philippe incurred odum by the claws Of Septem-
Der, depressing its RIGHTEOUSNESS. Yet, under
neither monarch, was the press 50 much shack
led as it is at this momentin a Republic, the con-
stitution of which proclaims its liberty inviolate
The late laws Of repression, which have sienced
many of the journals. as if to leave nothing want
ing 10 make the Inconsistency complete, were
proposed by Odilon Barrot, who was wont to CRY
out against Louis Philippe for his restrictions
Let the laws proposed by Odillon Barrot-and
passed by body representing people calling
themselves Republican-be compared with the
famous ordinances against the press, which cost
Charles X his crown and consigned Po!gnac
and his colleagues to the dungeons of Ham, and
we venture to say the latter will be found to be
the less stringent If our American ideas are
correct--if free press is of the essence OF hber
ty-what shall we think Of the fitness Of the
French for Republican institutions +; 1t is no an
to 10 +bo, +bo %