The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-08-24

II. aak
,nn,a,.. II is Impossible 10 say what this first
~, NAV had 10 in tho future. For our own
,,srf as long as Austria, with her two hun
.ired thousand men, remains an Italian power,
we are not disposed to trust TOO implicitly 10
her ferbearamec, or 10 believe that she may no,
alter the present condition Of affairs whenever
.he may think proper. We are told that the
Emperor has been convinced by the late war
aba, great changes are necessary, in the organ.
ixatton of his army, As well as in the civil
government of his dominions, and that he is
about to iusntute a thorough system CT re-
form As far as we can see, these REFORM
are only intended TO make him more pow
erfni than he already is, and therefore
more formidable TO the independent States OF
Italy Hoping, however. fer the best, we
trust we shall be required TO make no apology
for Introducing geographical sketch OF lis-if'
and showing what a mighty empire II mighi
become II it were ever united under single
r,yernnent, and that an Italian government
rapahle of giving the fullest scope 10 its ca
pabsiities aud the greatest energy 10 its i'm
!. provemeRss.
Spread the map of Italy before you, take
pair Of eosnpasses, place ono leg on the city OF
Parma, and the other on the mouth of the Var
which separates it from France, and strike
semi circle itewf be found 10 sweep me,
Alps, and 10 rest upon the mouth OF tn
Isonzo, which separates il from the hereditary
States OF Austria, and forms its eastern bouh-
dairy by land. The Alps then extend IN "a
sen,i- circie around Italy, including upon theii
.a,thars stones the Swiss baiiiwieks, the Val
feline and part of the Tyrol, which, poItf'eaH5
.,,e.gjns. do not belong to Italy, although
rfa,9a 4tf9
west and on the east. Monte Faicone, the
county OF Goritz, and Istria belong politically
70 Itsiy. though not geographically. Da!ma-
tia. also. from its having belonged to Venice,
and been taken by Austria along with the res
OF The Venetian territory, is politically Italian,
though geographically it forms part Of
Iilvria Sardinia and Sicily, geographically
and politically form part OF Italy.
italy ID bounded the west by France,
from which 1T is separated by the river Var,
and by Mount Fiso Mount Genevre, Mount
Cents. the little ST. Bernard, and the Simplon.
On the north it is bounded by Switzerland,
from which il is separated by the Simplon,
and Mount s.. Gothard. 1t is separated part
" on the north and partly on the east, from
The hereditary States of Austria by the Bren-
ner. the pass of Jarvis, and the Isonzo. The
French provinces bordering upon Italy
Dsuphiny aud Provence; the Austrian prov
inces. bordering on it, are the Tyrol, Carinthia
Carniola, and 1stria. Before the introduction
OF railroads. il communicated with France by
the road across the Var, passing along the
gulf TO Genoa and Florence, and branching
off at the Col di Tende TO Turin. This was
the road by which NAPOLEON invaded Italy
In 1896, when he said 'HANNIBAL carried the
4 t,,-s We hit N : -
There were alec and still are, roads across
Mounts Gencyre, Gents, and The little ST
Bernard The communication with Swift
zcriand was by the passes of the great ST
Bernard, the Simplon, and the St. Gothard,
aud with Germany by those of the Bremen
Jarvis, and the openings of the Isonzo. From
the Gulf of Genoa on the west, and the
Adriatic on the east, the passes gradually
grow higher until they eliminate in st. Co
thard the highest of them all. Thus on the
west the Col d Tende is the lowest Mount
GEMS Is higher than the Col Iii Tende the
little ST Bernard is higher than Mount Gems
as.s the Simpton is higher than the little ST Der
nard, and ST. Gothard is higher than the
Simpion. Beginning on the other side, with
the mountains of Carniola, we find the passes
OF Jarvis. the mountains of Galore, ant
- Mount Bremen, rising the above tn,
<other, as they are nearer to ST. g othard, wlicl
oyershadows them all. On the western ex
tremiiy, the Alps gradually subside. unit
& they terminate in Mount St Jacques, near Sa
vona There rise the Apennines, which. near
Ia ly filling the space between the Gulf OF Gre
noa and the Pc, sweeps, in Il semi-cirele
round that Gulf, aud run through the tire
length of Italy to the extreme southern
boundary of the Kingdom of Naples, dividing
the peninsula nearly in half, and giving rise
10 numerous streams part Of which empty
into The Po, part into the Adriatic ana the
rest into the Mediterranean.
The Alps forming semi-circle around It.
ally, the distance between the mouths of the
Var and lsonzo tabout $50 miles,) is the diam
@eter of that semi-circle If the figure Were
entirely regular, the semi circ adherence would
be abont Ave hundred and twenty five miles
but being only approximatiye 1t has many
sinuosities, which make it much longer.
has been computed at six hundred and fifty
which we should judge TO be nearly correct
II thus appears that every part of the Alps i.
equi-distant, or nearly so, from Parma the
distance being the radius of the semi circle, OF
about one hundred and fifty TO one hundred
and seventy miles. As we go south, the dis
lance from Parma TO Rome is about two hun
dred miles; frsm Rome to the Basilacata, in
the Gulf of Tarentum, about two hundred and
forty miles and from Rome to Reggie at the
toe of the boot, about three hundred miles
From Mount ST. Gothard, then, TO the extrem-
i.yof the Italian boot the distance is hard
upon seven hundred miles. The country in
cluded within the semi circle may be- and we
believe is, called influential. The remainder
from Parma southwark. is peniasular The
peninsula of Italy, through it's whole length,
is about one hundred to one hundred and
+ twenty miles wide, on an average. For in
stance, from Leghorn TO Rimni the distance is
about one hundred and twenty miles, while
from Monte Leone TO Brintlis it is about one
hundred and fifty, and from Naples to Man
fredonia only about one hundred. We have
spoken here Of distances in straight line
Following the roads they are of course much
greater.
Italy, including the islands of Sardinia aud
Sicily, contains, we should suppose, about one
hundred and twenty thousand square miles.
OF which about forty thousand lie within the
scmi-circie, about fifteen thousand in Sicily
and Sardinia, and the rest in the peninsula, or
boot between Parma on the north, and Reg
gio at the extreme south. Its extreme length
IN proportion TO its breath, has Undoubtedly
shad powerful influence upon its destinies
for u the peninsula had been two hundred
miles wide instead OF one hundred. and short
in proportion, so thai the central point MIGHT
have been nearer 10 the extremi,ies Tho CIV
munity OF interest would have been n, ora' 80
tiAcs, the nation would have been rooro ~,
form. would have resisted all attempts =, ,,a.
eel Il out into separate Kingdoms, and. by 1ha
mere force Of cohesion, II would have become