The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-07-23
Nirhmnnh Qispatthh.
The Armistiec.

The Armisttec.
Ma event of the last ten years has '''n'"
public SO completely by surprise. r....,or.r
mistice between the Allies ana '"e -,..,,,,,a
of Austria or left open sue" ." -, .ht. a.
se,d to surmise and speculation W.
c.s,or at least, the telegraph does NOV ~
n. in f.n,, for IT communicates ~ W. al we,
vas tnown in London when t''e All -"
r, tells rs that the suspension Va nus
,vas pror,osed by the Emperor oil the ffeheh
,.,.p,f bnt il leaves us to guess at the motives
that could havesprompted SO sagacious II mon
.-on 20 nause in the career of victory, when his
adversary. though beat n at all points, had as
cot given no signs Of submission. This. in
Saoa il is that renders the whole affair so per-
s.etlv enigmatical 1t surely cannot be the
irtention of NAPOLEON to abandon the ltal-
i,ns to the tender merces of Austria, after
having evoked the spirit of detesiaiion with
which they universally regard the domination
Of that odous and semi barbarons Power A
drama that Numbered so loud in the prologue,
cannot possibly squeak so feebiy IN the dtno1s-
.,.n. We cannot believe that an enterprise SO
magnifcently begun, can have such rioicu-
Ion. termination. NAPOLEON, after having
done so much to win the applause anu tiie IT,
gard of Italy, cannot entertain the design Vi
mourning her everlasting reprobauoh, oy
leaving her still the slave of foreign pow
or. And vet We know not how he can propose
to Austria TO abandon the whole of her pos
sessions in Italy while she is still in posses
sion of Verona and Mantua, and before the
first gun has been fired upon The iortresses
that encircle Venice.
II has been suggested by the London TiP,cS,
that. in all probability, the French armies
Il l-,,- han, 4 he
world is aware Of That may possibly be 50
vet those losses, actual and moral, bear no sort
OF proportion to those of Austria. The latter
has lost every battle she has fought. The for
tresses she had been strengthening for the last
ten years, in the hope TO render them impreg-
nnble, have given way, one after the other, all
the way from the Ticino to the Mincio, with
out firing n gun. The capital of Lombardy,
the railroads leading TO Vienna, all Lombardy
itself, with the exception of the boasted his
toric square, portion Of country about
eighteen miles long by about fifteen wide, are
either already in the power Of the French, OF
so nearly so that little trouble is anticipated
in rendering them completely SO.
The loss of men on the Austrian side must
have been immensely greater than ii was on
the French side because had it not been, il is
been uniformly beaten wherever they have
fought have uniformly given up every for
tress as soon rs it was approaches have vol
unfairly exposed the empire to the innumera-
bic dangers which i'll success is sure TO bring
in its train have voluntarily incurred that
loss OF prestige which is fatal to its charac ter
as a great Power. NAPOLEON Ill knew that
he must necessarily incur great losses; he
lpe hat hp nj
greater than he anticipated. 1t is to be
supposed that he weighed the object, and the
chances, before engaging in the enterprise, and
that he struck the balance between them
Presenting him 10 have made these calcula-
tons before he left Paris, it is hardly possible
that man of so much forethought and such
consummate prudence, could have been SO
completely taken by surprise, the sugges-
ton of the Time, would seem to imply
Neither do we suppose it possible that the
idle yaporing of the German confederation can
have had any influence upon a mind already
prepared for any emergency that might arise
even from open hostilities in that quarter
There seems to be but one plausible solution
of the mystery. The times are peculiarly aus
picious for the assemblage of 4 Congress SO
far as the interests of the Allies are concern
France, in the present complications. The
late change of ministry in Great Britain has
been extremely lucky for NAPOLEON. Lord
PALMERsToN has always been friendly to
the French alliance and il is well known
that Lord JOHN Russell has long regarded it
indispensable to the continuance of a general
peace that the Austrians should be driven out
Of Italy. 1t may be that NAPOLEON. taking
advantage Of the position which the success of
his arms has acquired for him, has determined
to propose to Austria 4 Congress, in which
Sardinia shall have seat, and by which the
affairs of Italy shall be definitiyely settled
There are strong reasons why he shonld pro-
pose such measure. Apart from the fact
that he is sure of a majority of voices in favor
OF his policy, ii may be the means of get
ting rid of several quest tons which. under
present circumstances, are calculated not a
little, to embarrass his movements Himself
the child of revolution. he has heretofore
shown himself an enemy TO Instruction in
all its shapes. Under the pretext of suppress
ing instruction, he took possession of Rome,
and threw the weight of his powerful influ-
snce in favor of the Pope. His measures have
all had con sentative tendency. Even when
he espoused the cause of the Italians, he seems
10 have been actuatcd ny a desire TO anticipate
those revolutionary outbreaks which he fore
saw would necessarily ensue from the oppres-
sive policy of Austria. VICTOR emanuel had
already absorbed the entire revolutionary
party in Italy, and every revolutlonist looked
TO him as the regeneration of the country
With rare tact, NAPOLEON seized the oppor-
tunity to control the revolutionary spirit by
marching along with ii, and TO convert into
firm friends, the revolutonists who had SO late
ly been deadly enemies In one word he con-
verted revolution into conservatism. and dis
armed conspiracy by uniting with the conspira-
tors. Yet his appearance in Italy, and the proc
lamation he issued upon entering Milan very /
naturally excited the hopes of the subjects of !
the Pope, whom he was bound TO protect. and !
OF the Hungarians, who consider their cans.
as sacred as that of the Lonbarfs The in.
diligence Of these hopes, meanwhile might
lead to general war, and that il is nri his
Wish nor his interest to provoke Nothing is
more probable than that he should wish to do
folve The settlement OF these delicate ouestions
upon Congress OF the European Powers
In the meantime, il is plain that the emulsion
OF the Austrians from Italy must lead even.
tuaiiy, TO the entire independence of the nenip.
suia. The Central and Southern governments
"PP"' w. ~ 'iic soiuieTs Oh austria,
must yield TO the just demands of their sub.
)ects, and reform their entire course of admin
isiratlon, or cease TO exist. NAPOLEON l. said
ltaiy must be conquered in the North of Italy.
glance at the map will show how true this
remark is.
We take ii for granted that Venice will not
% separated from The rest of the Italians, in |
the disposition which will be made of the
Northern portion vi Itaiy. The great desire OF |
the Italian soul is To get rid OF Austria, and to