, 1859-07-30
THE PEACE.
1NE Is sTHCSDEGER: on NAPOLEON Am
HIS PElCE.


s., This abrupt and disappointing Termination of
the noble struggle has naturally filed both the
covert and avowed enemies Of freedom and pro-
gress with unwontcd exu.tatiou. The friends Of
despotism and intolerance, the a,istocra,ic par-
t.zans Ct Hapsburg rule. the supporter, Of the
holy alliance and tue Papal throne. are nn.t
beside themselves with sudden joy. It is u iu.
b'lee for Austrian Grand Dukes, Ita1ian Curdi.
nals, Trench Priests and English Peers. All
this is natural enough, but there are others be-
sides tue aTowed mud real enemies Of progress,
Who regard the .peace with 4 kind Of sa,is-
iaction. Many sincere friends Of the Italian
Cause LOOK upon 1t with kind If sar-
donic pleasure. as fuf6I!ment Of the
gloomy prophecies they hare uttered ever since
tic commencement Of the war. Such IN alIi.
and could produce no good result. Tic psace
IL no douht>a very bad one, bnt they are not dis
appointed Us they never predicted anything bet
ter, aud can only marvel ut The ignorance or
credulity Of those who imagined the Italian
cause would be really seryed By selfish and
at the conditions Of the peace. they turn will,
m mir of triumph and exclaim, " hc has betrayed
tn. cause as ne always expected he would"
We have no wish to share this feeling Of t1i.
umph, nor do we accept the grounds On which
it rests. The cause Of Italy il dearer to us thau
the ful61lnc0t Of any prophecies.
1t is far too sacred to he made tue instrument
of mere personal or party triumph, and those
who arc in earnest on tue subject, will be moro
anxious to examine the actual result, than to
condemn tue whole effort Us IN utter failure.
The peace is no.ogiously imperfect, and We
hare criticised it rs it deserves This criticism
hns brought tue prophetic cniEmas OF the alti-
ance around us. More thnn one correspondent
of5this class hHs written in q tone Of mingled
cougratulation and censure. They heartily ap-
prove our condemnation Of the peace and the
author Of It. But while iailinE what they re-
gard US IN altered tone in reference to Louis
Napoleon, they express their surprise and re-
grct that we could have trusted and supported
him-the answer to this is short and simple.
We have never trusted or supported the En-
peror Of the French in tile sense referred to by
our own correspondents. From the da, be first
hare been unsparinGly criticised in these COL
umns. The Judgment formed on both seren
years ago, hns been confirmed during tie inter-
raj By fresh acts Of tyranny, and repeated over
mud over agair and wc huvc hitherto seen no
reason to change it. His best impulses arc OBJ
yiously Of most selfish kind, but useful actions
often spring from questionable motives. To
help the great cause Of Italian nationality is
emphuticaily good action, to be welcomed By
Ill lovers Of freedom. When Louis Napoleon
offered such help, VIC ia common with the great
est Italian statesman, willingly accepted it.
There was certain peri! in accepting help from
such quarter, but while the need was ur-
gent, many reasons conspired 10 render the dan
ger small.
His fidelity to his engagements, VIC were per-
fectfy assured, must be an net Of enlightened
self-luterest. Had lie. according to his prom
would hsvc cf1sctually humblsd Austria, hare
established 4 powerful frien.lTv kingdom on lis
Southern frontier, fixed himself aud dynasty on
tie throne Of france, and gaiaed ut least tile
admiration Of patriots in every part Of the
world. lie has to great extent thrown this
mid.career and hastily patched up miserable
peace when he might have gloriously concluded
q noble war. But VIC believc i'll doing 50 hc has
betrayed himself quite as much Us the cause he
clanpioned. lie il unfaithfnl, not only to Italy,
but to his own highest sclCiutcrest. Had lie
concluded the work. his triumph, both in France
aud Italy, would hare been certain and com-
plete, but il is now ouly dubious and partial.
A latent consciousness Of this turks in the
meudacious and apologize tone of the Imperial
manifesto just issued by the Emperor to his SOL
diers. "1l,c principal ain, Of the war is Ut
tanned, !" runs the proclamation, p" and Italy will
become for the tirst t me naliou." 1taly,
however, has always been, save to mcn Of the
Aettet1,ich stamp, nation. The wnr was u11-
dertakcu not to create = nation, which as Aus
tria herself las found it utterly bcyond the
power Of tho sword, but to make nation, al
ready existing. independent. Tint it has
failed to do. as the next eentence Of the procla-
nation proves: "yenetia; it Is true, remninH'
to Austria, but will, nevertheless, be m 1tal-
ian province, forming part Of the ltaltan
confederation" This Is certainly very like
adding insult to injury. After promising to lib
crate Tencsia, it was bad enough to lenTc ber
;n the epe Of Austsia nnt 70 ,nsn,t hcf WIN
nsgrarat,on Of the injury. How Venice can be
POLITICALLY ltaliun it il diticnt to see. Austrian
rule is unharpily M iron fact, while the conlcd-
eratioo is at present myth. and ulay never be-