Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1859-08-23
A GLANCE 1T THE EUROPEAN PRESS

a GLASCE Ai l6E EUhUfEAN fhESS
If the state of the European press is 10 b
taken as 4 faithful expression Of the state @
minds in those regions, we must go back t,
the most wretched times Of the history of tn
old continent to find t parallel to its confii
sion. Logic, consistency, firrnness, discrimi
nation. prsctcal view of affairs were no NOR,
abscn, from the Byzantine city besieged By tn,
Mussulmens than they seem to be at this mo
ment from the capitals of Europe, as repre-
seutcd by newspapers. 1t is more easy to be
Iicvc that the public press has ceased, for {
while, to be the press of the public, than tc
admit, all at once that whole nations have fallcr
into that miserable impolency Of not knowing
what to do what to think, by what decision tt
stand. or even as last resource in hard case
how to wait in = cautious silence for an oppor
tunity Of sezing upon those elements Of tht
question that will enable them to emerge from
incertituie and darkness
Before the peace, from the first Of January
to tho 18th Of July; from the day in which tho
Emperor Of the French snubbed the ilu>trou,
representative Of his noble cousin the Emperor
of Austria, up to the hour in which the two
! Empcrors were brought face to face ard sud
denly put aside the sword for the pen, there were
/ two strong currents well marked in the public
| opinion, rs we'll as in the public press; one o.
w,ich may be said to have been flowing in the
rear Of the French army, and the other stream
/ ing in the track Of the Austrian host. That dou
bic current, however, which followed so faithful
lyand so closely the pillar Of fire and the pillar
cf smoke, as long as they were progressing,
most positively refused to stop with them when
they came 10 G stand STILL and instead Of re.
treating or disarming with their Imperial lead.
cr$, they actually keep up war at blind mans
buff, in which friends and foes are indiscrimi.
natcly hit: and, if there is one among the
struGgiers whom chance or Shrewdness has IA.
vorcd with small ray OF light, nc is sure to
strike his friends most hard. Tho pacific men
of Yesterday have become the bellicosc Of to-
day. What. they say, is the war already fin
ishcd: And yet, scarcely had the first diplo-
matte difficulties Of the Italian question arisen,
when they were overwhelmed with alarm. 4
well furnished stock Of arguments was emptied
out France was :nan!frsting anew her old am
bition; the Emperor was about to display his
co.ors, and, Ike nadman, flourish sword Of
three hundred thousand blades for the greater
benefit Of his glory; war was to be universal;
quarter Of dozen Of generations were to be
devoured by the unjustiliable conflict; the hap
py men who were to enjoy the blessings Of
peace had yc, to be BORN
.erpi sia..ra pra5isit cj iiiee eorair.
Nor ;yss that all, the people, the very nation
for which that crusade was to be undertaken,
were not worth the trouble of thinking Of still
less n loss of money and life. The Blackwood
Magazine would inform US that the present
Italian stock was degenerated and prostrated-
sybaritisn. superstition, rottenness and what
moi had spread from the South to the North O
I:alv. and it was a. attempt to be counted
hcncclarth, among the great monuments OF hu
man folly and presumption, to undertake
the galyanizing Of corpse doomed to decay.
The majority of the organs who held such
hish.colored language, have, in the course OF
the last month, changed their opinions without
any transition.
II is true that the Nalomauia Of most Of
the French papers has Of late turned new
leaf and discovered. to their great confusion,
that poor Austria was rot quite so black as
they had made her The Italians are not so
interesting as they fancied they were. Some
already call them ungratcful; others argue that
lhey would not tight, and that they refused to
illustrate another, Now, guards, at them Al
Magenta, by any extraordinary display oi
valor. To the judgment Of others, the
Iialians proved to be stinsy and rapaclous
gusts, plucking their libcrators OF every fea-
,hcr in The shape of q set, and that their rc-
pugnance for lead was compensated bya strong
yea-n;ng for gold They will pretend, more
oyo., that they have liberated Italy and ren-
dcred hey the mistress Of her destiny, which is
not t:uc to the extent claimed by them. The
fate Of the most unfortunate and most unde'
serving yenctia, gives the lie to such boast,
and rivets the name Of Napoleon 70 the sur
name OF impostor even in an occurrence which
is the HOS, creditablc to him, one in which, fol
the first time, truth and pledge were tramplet
upon, Only by half When we think Of it, We
have mind 20 exc!aim: "Ycs, ungrateful peo
pie, why don't You return thanks more, mrcf
more, for the harm he has not done you, than fol
the good he ministcrcd unto you? His power
for the fomer is pretty near unbounded-his
ability for the latter is restricted to the narrow
est limits. You had your head in the tigers
Jaws, and net only did he let you off, but he
bounced and skipped with you; had nice piece
of fun in bis way met with your great bully
thrashed him; snatched from him the two
thirds Of your stolen property, delivered it W
to YOU, retired-and you complaint.
If we lay aside the protracted metaphor
we will find this to be the gist Of the matter
the historical import Of the war. 1t is not tru'
that Austria, who loses three millions Of sub
iects, is, as some would have her to be, stronger
than ever, and Piedmont who enriches hersel
with Lolnbardy is not impoverished. An in
crease Of territory, which benefits her in tn
double shape Of material and political interests
which expands her boundaries amidst thos
Italian populations from which she was to b
isolated BY any new cncroachment of Austria
an even, that thus adds wealth and health t
whatever advantages she might previously en-
10Y, cannot be said to have ruined and enfceble
that State. This truth is obvious enough, bu
if we required any proof VIC might find it in tn
following article which has attracted the atten
ton Of the Piedmontesc journals. 1t app:ea,re.'
in the Verona Gazette" and as the article i
headed "Quartierc Superno,' it has all the AL
thority of a communicated article:
"Thc sacrifice of Lombardy is great NJ
doubt, but we find consolation in the ref1eetioi