The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1859-11-03
NAPoLEoNs CONTEST WITH THE
POPE.
spro,ndence of The Eyenipg Post.

4 correspondence OF Inc Evening fost
Paris, October 5, 1859.
1t seems to me that Napoleon has brought
the Italian question precisely to the point which
| he contemplated from the beginning Is, he
| has got the Pope in position where he can be
! compelled TO ameliorate his civil government,
and bring it more into harmony with the civil
cation of the present age. Napoleon's chief
cause of quarrel with Austria was, that the Aus
| trian Government peotected the Roman Gov
| ernmenti in the abuses which were Matching as
sassins. He then started with his army across
| the Alps, and drove the Austrian army out of
| Italy, or Whereabouts, and then again asked
| what he had pleaded for several years, that the
| Pope would incorporate certain essential re-
| forms into his Government, so as to render 1T
less unwelcome to his subjects. The Roman
pontiff not only refused, but even went so far
as to treat the Emperor as a meddler. The
Emperor thereupon permitted him to have a
taste of what he had to expect without foreign
protection if he refused to take measures to be-
come reconciled with his subjects. If the re-
volt Of the Legations does not answer the pur-
pose, perhaps the French troops viii be ordered
to retire to 0stia, or farther, perhaps, and then
his Holiness will be left to the mercies Of a
Roman mob.. Befoye that crisis will be allowed
however, to occur, it is probable that the King
dom of Piedmont viii be consolidated from
Savoy alt the way to the Papal frontier, and
its ruler prepared to accept the allegiance of
the Roman States, should they be deserted by
their present sovereign, as they probably would
be, if he and his ministers valued their lives as
much as they did in ls48
Should the Pope, by his obstinate refusal to
respond to the appeal of all civilized Europe to
reform the unparalleled abuses of his Govern
ment, bring upon himself the catastrophe
have just indicated, the blame ought not to rest
on Napoleon, who, / sincerely believe, desires
to guard the Church from all harm, and would
delight to be instrumental in giving il an eclat
to which it has for many years been stranger.
But he knows that under the present system
durable peace in Europe is impossible. He
means to do no violence to the Pope himself,
nor does he mean to lay himself open to the
direct censures of the Church in any way; he
limits himself merely to the removal and pre-
vention of repressive measures from without,
| leaving the Italians to endure or resist the
tyranny of which they have so long been VIC
tins, as they please.
To accomplish this object, the war was long
enough, and the terms Of peace all-suficient.
If the Italians are capable Of governing them
selves, and know how to make proper use of
independence, he fought long enough to secure
them an opportunity of proving it; if they were
not, he did not fight so long as to have them
left on his hands. In his remarkable address
| from the Villa Bonaparte at Milan, the first
and the last which Napoleon addressed to the
Italian people, he used language which struck
me then as full of significance, but which has
shed light, every day brighter, upon the path
In which he has since been treading.
81 do not come here" said he "with any
preconceived purpose Of dispossessing sover-
eigns, or of imposing my win upon you; my
army will be occupied with but two things
| fighting your enemies and maintaining order
it will interpose no obstabcle to the free mani
festation of your legitimate wishes.
Providence sometimes farors individuals
By giving them the opportunity Of suddenly be-
coming great, but IL is upon condition that then
hnoto hoto 10 take ddcantdge Of 1t. Improve,
then, the good fortune which is offered to you.
Your desire of independence, for so long a
time upon your lips and so often disappointed,
aciH nosc be realized If you shop yourselves
toorthy Of it,"
Was not this clear intimation that he did
not propose to take it upon himself to breathe
courage, energy, and the spirit of liberty, into
the Italian race, nor to supply it's absence in
any other way, but simply to give them the op-
| portnnity of showing whether they were equal
to the establishment of an independent nation
ality? He did as much towards accomplishing
that result as could be wisely or safely done,
! when he drove the Austrians out of Lomb hardy,
| and put an end to their armed interference in
the parts of Italy lying at the south and west.
To secure this, he pledged himself to make
no opposition in any way to the restoration of
the runaway rulers of the Duehies, carefully
! guarding, however, against their restoration by
force from any quarter. If the people could be
reconciled to their return by pledges from them,
or IN any way, he had no objection; it was their
affair, and did not necessarily interfere with
Italian independence. If, as he doubtless an
ticipated, they refused to have an Austrian
ruler, they we're and are at perfect liberty, as |
understand it, to do as much better as they can.
But Austria is now his ally and friend; she
must be treated by him as such; and if, there
fore, he seems occasionally to act with less oil
| sympathy with the Italian cause than was to
have been expected from his demonstrations
last summer, it must be borne in mind that he
stands now in precisely the same relations to-
wards Austria as towards Italy before Europe
both are friendly Powers, and he must keep the
spirit as well as the letter of the treaty of Villa
franca, because he wishes to keep in a position
to compel Austria to do the same, which is all
he thinks necessary for Italy or for Europe.
| think so too.
Napoleon is expected to make speech al
| Bayonne on Monday, when he will probably
give more definite statement of his policy and
expectations for Italy. If he should say or dc
anything inconsistent with my Interpretation oil
his past actions must consent to rank with
that large, not to say highly respectable, class
of people who sometimes make mistakes in
their judgments OF public men. J.B.