The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-10-12

The Roman question - N0pOl eOn y
Part I'm the Settlement Of Europe
The Perplexities OF the Roman
OuestiOn-The Pope without the
French-His Personal safety As
sured. :
From the London Times, SeptemberA.
The Emperor of the French left for Bar
ritz on Thursday night, but his friends are
not quite reassured on the score of his
health. We are very unwilling to give
weight to the reports that have been spread
as to the serious nature of his indiSposition !;
but neither can we too readily credit the
accounts that are given of his perfect re-
covery. The well-being of the Emperor
Napoleon, and his fitness for intense and
constant application to public business, are
matters of such great moment for France
and the world that it is no wonder if ru-
NOR exaggerates hopes and fears, and if the
excitement, Is kept alive by every variety
of gross and wilful misstatement. AL
though we have reason to believe that the
Emperor is in no present danger, yet we
are also assured on very good authority
that his medical advisers recommend pru-
dence, and ,rarn him against the "serious
consequences of any departure from their
The will of the Emperor is of such para
mount weight in France, and the settle
mcnt of the most intricate questions is SO
dependent on him alone, that it is of the
greatest Importance that the exercise of
his faculties should be unimpaired, and his
Judgment unbiased by any subordinate in
fluence. Our readers will have had little
difficulty in understanding the hints that
have been thrown out in the Paris CORE
spondence whiclwe published on Saturday.
Round the Imperial Throne and about his
Maiesty's person there are conflicting
agencies at work striving to draw him into
different and contrary directions, and to
sway his resolutions into obedience to their
peculiar views and especial purposes.
Although their influence may be but
slightly felt in ordinary circumstances, and
so long as the master mind is in the full
enjoyment of perfect freedom, they may,
however, not be so easily resisted when
the mental energies are borne down
by bodily suferings. These disturb
ing forces, these contending court
factions, are headed by two persons of
exalted rank, one of whom lately pre-
coded the Emperor to BiarritZ, and the
other has been for some enjoying his lei
sure at his charming residence on Lake
Leman. Should any sinister event either
remove the Emperor from his place at the
head of the Government, or even slacken
that rare activity of which he has hitherto
given proof, there is no doubt that many of
the vital European questionswhich are even
now awaiting the Empcror's good will and
pleasure would receive different solution
from that he might wish to give them.
Among these none would become a more
serious subject Of contention than the Ro.
man question, on which the tendencies of
the Biarritz party are known to be rigidly
conservative and Ultramontane, while the
political school of Prangins are avowcdly
bent on securing the triumph Of the cause
Of nationality and freedom.
1t is, perhaps, under the necessity of
trimming between these two opposite forces
that the Emperor somewhat obscurely con-
veyed his mind on that subject in the cir
cular published by the Marquis de Lava
lette, by asserting that the interests OF the
Pontifical Throne were assured by the
of. the 18th of September"
That convention, We all remember, 81 is to
be Loyalty executed. The French troops
are to be withdrawn from Rome, but in
their stead, and as guarantee for the Sc
curity of the Holy Father, the Emperor
will leave the protection of France" On
the other hand, General d'Aurelle, in the
act of Diminishing the Franco-Pontltical
Legion organized at Antilles, intimated
to the soldiers that, "although they were
henceforth to serve under other cOlors,
they would not cease to be French soldiers,
and would, under all circumstances, have
to uphold the honor of the French name,
of which they would soon be the only re-
ct Rome" and Marshal Ran
don, in letter to Count darcy, the Off
Ger In command of that Antilles Legion,
tells him that "that Legion is called to a
high mission"; shat it will have the
honor to defend the person and the autho-
rity of the Holy Father, as the Corps OF
Occupation has already done" that "the
watchful solicitude Of their sovereign will
follow them; and that "the most lively
sympathies of France are enlisted in the
cause they are about to serve."
1t is difficult to say to what extent these
declarations, SO widely in excess Of the
Emperor's own words, may be supposed to
have been made with his knowledge and
consent. The Emperor's circular prepares
us for the substitution of the protection of
France-of her political and moral ascend
ancy-for the material force Of the French
bayonets, and the Minister Of War talks of
superceding the Corps Of Occupation by
the mercenary legion commanded by Colo
mel darcy. The Emperor only vouches
for the security Of the Holy Father; Mar
shall Random intrusts to the Legion the de-
fence of his person and authority. The
Emperor considers himself pledged to the
loyal fulfilment of the September Conven-
tion-to the application to the Roman
States of the principle Of non-interven-
ton; and his officers pirate about the An
tibes hirelings being still French soldiers
no less than the Pope's, and Of the French
sympathies enlisted in behalf Of the cause
they have been recruited to serve. All
this ambiguity In the language of the I'm
perisl Manifesto, and the broad hints in
the scarcely less official addresses Of his
distinguished generals, bode no good to
those sulIo 6eoin 10 entertain some hope Of
happy termimotioa Of q question fraugM
uik De greatest danger to the tranquility OF
Europe.
Should the Emperor, g We are no longer
allowed TO doubt, be as good as his word,
and on the 10th Of December leave the
Pope alone with his subjects, with no other
protection thsn The 1905 men Of the An
tibes Legion, these, backed by the prestige
Of the mere name Of France, might per-
hsps have Il In their power TO uphold the
Papal Government and keep tho peace.
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