The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1859-05-21

crisis. IL il safe TO say that troops could he
thrown hom Ipdlon into Alessundrla, Ia
| hghting order, within three, or ut most four
days. 1t is most probable that the Austrian
! iorccs will take this route because drci i've
actions can soonest take this place. and be-
cause IN the Turin route their retreat would
be beset with far greater hazirdA Another
reason for AustfiaI kerplng we'll 10 tho
south Il found IN the disdfvot,d condition 1T
the Duehie', which may require quick move
mcnis Of large por,l0ns of her f0revs thith-
err
With this glance AZ the field, il i proper
! TO pnl some attention % the cumbaiAnts. Ii
! ~ prcshned--!or we have not met with a
definite statement on the point--thnt Snrdin.
ia has about 10000 moyeabls soldiers ROW
uRder arms To these must be added 90
900 volunteers from al parts Of Italy, max
ing UP IN determination what they may lack
tn drill. II has been the impression that
! they would be exposed to a perfectly over.
| NhrlmuB force of Ndstrianr, IN point of
numbers. This cauhot ne 80. The Austrian
troops in Lomhardt have been yniously ~.
/ timuted Of from 5000 10 100000 men. II
We take the average Of the two estimatcs-
100000 men-wc may not be far from cor
| rect. Now there are four great furtrcsses,
| and eight or ten lesser ones, TO be occupied,
besides the several cities which cannot bs
! left unpro,ided with soldiers The fact Is,
! Austria cannot march step into Sardinia,
withoduk keeping a sharp look foi .nsurrec-
ponaTy hres ~ the rear. We doub,, there
fore, u she can throw much more THIN lOO,-
! 600 men across the Ticinu-the number
which our dispatches state was T., readiness
under command Of Gen. Gyriai. This is
! about third more han the rmost Sardn-
ian force which can he raised, but the Aus
/ tran superiority in discipline and eonipment
is probably more marked than in numbers
There has been n great ado about the
French army not being prepared for war,
and the Emperors wanting I'LL June, in or
der to get ready; il is all nonsense An
American, writing from Marscics on tho
goth ult said that more than 100000 men
were gathered nj Lyons alone, and that in
this harbor of Toulon one Of the largest fleets
known in modern times was ready To sail at
A'' l+,,si+4 ssuttce. urrtStiu1 that
the Austrian force can be fully matched by
French force at any given point in Sardini,
at less than weeks warning. For month.
ship after ship has been bringing from hlge,
ria.the Iouaves and other trained soldiers,
and returning with new recruits to supplv
their places. The whole force never was, la
/ better conditions and the facility with which
/ 10000 men (ns appears by our dispatche-l
were landed in Genoa, gives some idea nf the
intrcpidity Which has presided over the pre-
paratory war movements of France What
we see at Genoa, we shall see ~ Spezia, az
Venice, ~ TriCste, wherever, In fact the
HAniea Of teEQlt OF the emergencies Of tho
hour indicate available points OF attack.
But these things belong to the contingencies
of the futurc-lnd our only object was To-
sketch briefly the field and the comhatantS AZ
presented IN the opening scenes OF the war in
Sardinia.
We take the following account Of the cause
OF the European war from the same paper:
correspondent would like t5 be inform
J ed OF the cause. of the present disturbances
IN Europe, remarhiug very frankly that mat
ters are so mixed up there, that our people
are not very we'll posted in regard to the orr
gin OF the appfoathing war His ncighbors
arc not alone in their perpleSitw 9s may be
seen in the contradictory representations Of
the press, abroad aS well as d. home. The
late discussion In the British Parliament, al
so, reads as IT the eminent speakers were in
state OF suninambulsm so vague and shad-
nowy is their treatment OF the question The
truth Is, the problem does not lie in spccifs
ucts, PerhapA our correspondent has seen
small ncighborhood, or still worse, rersnn.
living under the slime roof, brought into
downright quarrel In the ahsente dr any Oh.
'ious exciting cause. A harsh word breed.
"l''SI IeJo'uucIh- nero, mlsrcprc-
scntaiions there, Misunderstanding all round
until a>fear Of something worse provokcs
slight denomination, and then ensues open
hostility. A fair looker-on might siv -. In
one sense, all these people are TO blame, hut
in another, they are all more or less excusa-
tle They were never fitted to live together
any way, and their circumstances have been
peculiarly bad" So il is with the nations
of Europe, and without some such enafr,d
view, We cannot understand the present cri,i,.
Now the basis of the whole trouble ia Eu-
rope is the conflict between liberal ideas and
the system Of furce-thc spirit Of the nge and
the spirit Of the middle ages. This gives
rise to the "italian question for in Italy the
antogonism is most severe. There we have,
on the one hand, Austria, the very inearna-
lion Of priestly and political power, selfish,
eovetous and pitilesAi and on the other the
indignant masses, aspiring for something bet
ter, they hardly know what, but fully con
vlneed that they can exchange their present
condition for nothing worse. A few years
ago the despotism OF Austria, pointed nv
the sword Of Radetzky, was on one side and
the visionary youth. led by Mozzin. we're
arrayed against il. That looked like dan
gerous state OF things. itut wurse has
succeeded For, while Austria has grown
more stolid and unreasonable. young Itlly.
by force Of one bright example, has gropu