The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1859-08-12
The London Times ON che
Peace,

Peace,
The following discussion Of the peace
ofvillo Franco is from the London Times:
The abrupt and disappointing termina-
ton Of the noble struggle has naturally |
filled both the covert and avowcd enemies /
Of freedom and progress with unwonted
oxultotion. The friends ofdespotism and
intolerance, the aristocratic partisans Of
the Hapsburg rule, the supporters Ortho |
holly alliance and the papOl throne, are al
most beside themselves with sudden ioy |
Il is jubilee for Austrian Grand Dukes, /
Italian Cardinals, French priests and Eng [
hsh Peers, All this Is natural enough,
but there are others besides the avowed
and real enemies Of progress who regard /.
the peace with kind Of satisfaction. Ma. |
ny sincere friends Of the Italian cuuse
look upon il with kind ofsardonic pleas
.uro, as a fulflment Of the gloomy proph-
ecies they have uttered ever since the
commencement ofthe war. Such an al
lance, they always said, would never pros
per- and could produce no good result
The peace is nodoubt a very bad one, but
they are not disappointed, as they never
predicted anything better, and can only
marvel at the ignorance or credulty Of
those who imagined the Italian cause
would be really served by selfish and ar
bitary ruler like Louis Napoleon. Look
ing &C the conditions Of the peace, they
turn with an air Of triumph and exclaim,
che has betrayed the cause ns we always
expected he would.n We had no wish
TO share this feeling Of triumph, nor do
we accept the grounds on which itrests.--
The cause of Italy is dearer to US than
the tulhllment Of any prophecies,
/ II is far too sacred TO be made thg in
strument of mere personal or party tri-
umph, and those who are in earnest on
the subject will be more anxious 10 ex-
anime the actual result than to condemn
the whole effort as an utter failure. The
peace is notoriously imperfect, and we
have criticised il as Il deserves. This crit
icism has brought the prophetic engmas
ofthe alliance around US. More than one
correspondent of this class has written in
a tone Of mingled congratuation and dcen-
sure. They heartily approve our con-
demnOtion Of the peace and the author Of
! il, But while hailing what they regard
as an altered tone in reference TO Louis
Napoleon, they express their surprise and
regret we could ever have trusted and sup
ported him; the answer to this is short
and simple.
We have never trusted or supported
the Emperor Of the French, in the sense
referred TO by our own correspondents
From the day he first assumed the purple
his character and conduct have been un-
sparingly criticised in these columns
The judgment formedon both seven years
ago, has been confirmed during the inter-
val by fresh acts Of tyranny and repeated
over and over again, and we nave hither-
60 seen no reason TO change t. His best
impulses are obviously of a moro selfish
kind, but useful actions often spring from
questionable motives. To help the cause
of Italian nationality = emphaticOlly a
good action, TO be welcomed by all lovers
Of freedom. When Louis Napoleon Of
fered such help, we In common with the
greatest Italian statesman, willingly ac-
cepted il. There was a certain peril in
accepting help from such a quarter, but
while tue need was urgont, many reH.
sons conspired to render the danger
, small.
His fidelity to his engagements, We
, were perfectly aEsured, must be an nct o.
I. enlightened self-interest. Had he ac
Tore'i',s- a. AZ I,ramise, freed Italy from
: the Alps 70 the Adriatic, he would nav
7 effeCtually humbled Austria, have estab
lished a powerful friendly kingdom on hii
= Southern frontier, fixed himself and dy,
nasty on the throne Of France, and gain,
ed az least the admiration of patriots in
/ every part of the world. He has, 10 o
great extent thrown this great opportuni-
ty away. He has stopped in mid-careeI
and hastily patched up a miserable peace
= when ne might have gloriously concluded
. noble war. But we believe in doing Sc
= he has betrayed himself quite as much as
} the cause he championed. He is uniaith,
ful not only TO Italy, but to his own high,
est self-interest, Had he concluded the
; work, his triumph, both in France and It.
I ally, would have been certain and com
Plete, but il now only dubious and par
tial. r r-.-.
A latent consciousness Of this turks II
! the mendacious and apologetic tone of the
! Imperial manifesto Just issued by the EN-
] peror to his soldiers "The principal ain
| OF the war is attained" runs the procla
. nation, "and Italy will become for Tn,
iEbI Ulllt nullpHs Alulys upWtNtIa nu
. always been, save to men of the Met
ternich stamp, nation. The war wal
l undertaken, not 10 create a nation, whicl
Z as Austria herself has found II utterly be
I yond the power ofthe sword, butte maxi
A a nation, already existing, independent
( That II has failed TO do, as the next sen
: tenoe Of the proclamation proves: "Ven
{ eta, it is true, remains 70 Au9tria but viii
9 nevertheless, be an Italian province, form
= ing part of the Italian Confederation.
This is certainly very like adding insul
10 injury. After promising 70 liberat,
Venetia, it was bad enough TO leave hel
9 in the gripe Of Austria, but to insult hei
= with the assertion Of a fictitious independ
i ence, is an aggrdvation Of the injury
! How Venice can be politically Italian 4
|, is difficult 10 see. Austrian rule 10 un
happily an iron fact, while lhe confeder
alton Is at present a myth, and may nev
er become a reality. The next sentences
Of the proclamation is even more insult
|, ing. "The union Of Lombudy with Pied
/, mont creates for US a powerful ally who
! will owe TO us its independence" Mo-
is the daring assertion that Italy will here
, after be "mistress of her own destinies'
at all more truthful. The whole procla.
nation is indeed a poor attempt 10 dis
guise the fEct that the proclaimed objects
! Of the war have been 10 great extent
sacrificed. Yet il would be unjust 10 de.
ny that something is gained. A large
. uortuIoua and vtaaitbv nrOvince IA NnallV