Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1859-05-28
THE GAZETTE.
SATURDAY MORNING, MAY -. 1859.
FRENCH lNyASlONS OF ITALY.

The present state OF the beliigerehts IN
Europe recalls To remembrance the causes l
the present political division OF Italy, anu the
times Of its settlement. Ever since me tlTles
of the Romans, and when the food OF lnva-
sion noured from the Peninsula under Cesar
into HauI. and thence along the Rhne-the
,ni.rs of the destinies Of France, whether
claiming as successors of Rome, or in their
own right, as neiqhbors, have exercised, or
attempted 10 exercise, control over the affairs
Of the Italian States.
The expeditions of Pepin and Charlie
magne into Italy, and the revival ofthe Roman
Empire, resulted, not in the ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
of France, but in creating q claim to inter
ference and control in the affairs of Italy,
which after passing through the hands of va-
rious German families, finally settled and
remained in the House of Austria.
Seven hundred years later, in l494, Charles
VII. led a new French expedition into Italy,
Of which the object was the conquest OF Ma
Piles. Nothing was capable Of resisting the
oyerpowering impetuosity OF the french
troops, and the immovable frmness of the
Swiss infantry, ofwhom Charles had a strong
body in his army. The King of Naples died,
it was said, of terror at the approach of the
French. His son and successor retired to a
convent. Twenty thousand Swiss troops
easily completed the conquest of the king
dom. But this expedition and its result
awakened the jealousy of Austria and Spain;
and a league was soon formed, with these two
Powers at its head, in which all the Italian
States Joined, for driving out the french
the first rudiment of those alliances was for
maintaining a balance of power, and prevent
ing too great an ascendancy on the part OF any
one State, which afterwards became and still
continues the ruling idea of European politics.
The French, the first foreign invaders whom
Italy had seen for q long time, very speedily
became as obnoxious to the Italians as the
AustriaGs now are, and in less than two years
from their entry into Italy they were driven
cut of it. The attempt upon Naples was re-
vivcd in 1902 by Louis XII. with whom
Ferdinand of Spain now co-operated. Ma
pies was again easily conquered; but the
two Kings Immediately quarreled for the
possession of it, and the struggle resulted IN
its annexation, not to France, but to Spain
in consequence of which it became a part
of the empire Of Charles V.
Just before this second clutch Of Naples,
Louis XII. had seized IN the Duchy Of Milan,
but the result of the first war between Francis
l. aud Charles Y. was not only the loss OF that
province, which soon after passed into the
hands Of Charles '. but a total Remuneration
Of all those pretensions ON Italy which, dur
ing the thirty-six years preceding, had cost
the French so much blood and treasure.
Naples and the Milanese, thus passed ever
through French intervention, to foreign domi-
nation, remained a part Of the Spanish
dominion till the commencement OF the war
of THE Spanish succession, (another result Of
French intrigue and ambition,) when they
were detached from Spain and made n part
If the dOminions Of the House Of Austria
Naples, as a result Of the war Of 1913, III
which France took an active part, reverted
again to Spanish rulers, but the Milanese re-
NAMED permanently attached to Austria,
whose foothold upon Italy dates from that
acquisition.
For the eastern portion Of her present
dominion in Italy, Austria is also indebted to
French Interference. The first invasion OF
italy BY Bonaparte cost Austria the Mllanese,
but gave to her, by way of exchange, a large
portion of the Venitian terrific ries; while the
final result of the French possession of Italy
was to give to Austria her present Dominion
there, to create for her that very influence OF
which the French Emperor complains, and
the curtailment of which is, the protested OBJ
lect for which he now makes war upon her.
Having contributed SO much as she has done
in times past to the overthrow of her native
rulers and the subsection Of Italy to foreign
domination, France would certainly seem to
owe TO her at least a work Of dellverance.-
To Judge, however, from the past, but little
ultimate benefit to the cause of Italian indie
pendence is to be expected from that quarter.
NJ. Couneau. private medical attendant of
the French Emperor, attends him to the com
mand of the army in Italy. Of all the ad-
herents Of Napoleon in exile, this Is the only
man who has kept the even tenor Of his way
refusing honors of every kind, or riches
His existence would not he known except that
on %eventful occasions, such "a a coup det"t,
the Empress's accouchment, or an OCCASION
like the present, he suddenly appears
Yet he it was who passed six years OF hlS
life at Ham with him, and, through good and
evil report, never despaired of his ultimate
success. AS they embark together IN the
Queen Hortense, the friends-for bosom
friends they have ever continued-cannot
help but exchange a smile at the mutabiEty Of
all things: a dozen years ago a prisoner ea-
Gaping in the guise of a carpenter, with a
plank on shoulder, from the dungeons of the
King of France. now Emperor and Field