The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-10-16
ITALY AND FRANCE.
The Festivities ~ osnes--Fssiing Between
the Two Nssions-Frsneh AFRO
canoe Towards Italy.

turesque harDor Oh Tue suPeio S's '"
do honor to the memory of the discoyerer
of a new world, are dispersed; the knight
ly sovereign, whose presence awakens
enthusiasm wherever he appears, and his
lovely and gracious Queen, whose
SMILE" says LIE Temps, lis one OF the poll
teal forces of the transalpine Kingdom,
have retired to their summer palace OF
Monza, and the ancient home OF the
Dorias has resumed its ordinary aspect.
II NAV be worth while to take Drie1
glance Mt the possible political conse-
Guence of this international exchange
of courtesies. ZEN
France did no more than fulfill the SIM
nlest requirements of neighborly polite
ness in improving this occasion 10 reci-
procate the civilities offered by lraly TWO
years ago, when klng HumDert Sent
detachment of his fleet to greet the fresi-
dent of the French Republic at Ioulon:
II was none too soon, for the delay OF
the French Government in responding 10
tho Italian advances was beginning 10
excite almost as much comment as did
tho Tsar's hesitation in returning the
visit of the German Emperor prior to the
interview of kiel. The obligations OF
noliteness were, however, discharged In
q manner worthy of the Repuphc. Inc
visiting squadron was ut representation
of the naval might OF France, anu us
commander. Admiral Rieunler, was the
onIv foreign officer of that grade In the
entire totilla. The letter which he pre-,
sented to King Humbert was couehed
in terms exactly corresponding TO those
of the Kings message 10 President Gar
not two years since, and the DrleI au-
d ps which we're exchanged on its
delivery were of a distinctly formal and
dinlomstic character. The Admiral was
we'll aware, however, that the tanehess
of this procedure would not SATISFY MS
expectant compatriots, and he accorulne-
ly conceived and very successluly car
r;ed ont the idea of imparting lustre to
the occasion by giving matinee dah-
sonte on board his ship, the FormidaDle.
The fete was brilliant one.. 1t was
nrotraeted from 10 o'clock in the morn
Inc until dark. The King and Queen,
the great officers of State, OF the army
and of the navy took part IN u, anu
Admiral Rieunier was honored by having
Queen Marghe rita for his vis-a-yis III
the opening quadrille. AS the chani-
payne flowed the enthusiasm mounted'
touching protestations of national aztec
tion and fidelity were exchanged between
tbn more excited conyives; and poor
Columbus was utterly forgotten. Since
then a portion of the French press, sup
ported by the Extreme Left OF ltalian
radicaIism. has not ceased to glorlfy
Genoa as a second Cronstadt; Admiral
Rieunier has been placed on o pedestal
little lower than that occupied last year
by Admiral Gervals, and the inference
has been drawn that the Italians at
length recognize their error IN auhering
To the Triple Alliance, and will take the
first opportunity of welding the bands OF
brotherhood with their natural allies,
the French What warrant is there Tor
this conclusion!
RELATIONS BETWEEN FRANCE AND ITALY.
For three and thirty years there has
been q steadily increasing tension IN the
relations between France and Italy. IL
commenced in 1859, when Napoleon III,
having undertaken to aid King victor
Emmanuel of Sardinia in liberatlng the
Lombardo-V Venetian provinces from the
Austrian dominion, and having promised
| s'to free Italy from the Alps TO the Adrlr
| atic"-an undertaking which gave MIN
| occasion to boast that France was THE
only nation which went to war TOT an
| idea"-stopped short of the fulhllment OF
his self-appointed task, and to the sur.
prise of all Europe, and the despair OF
| every friend of Italy, suddenly concluded
| the peace of Villafranca, which left the
| Austrian duchies and Venetia still sub
| iect to their former masters. Something
| had. nevertheless, been done towards the
attainment of Italian unity, and Napo-
| leon was rewarded by the cesslon OF
| Nice and Savoy,w which secured to France
| an impregnable mountain front on its
southeastern border, and for which, be
it remarked, be had expressly stipulated
in advance as the price of his lnterven'
ton. In fact, this was the idea Tor
which he went to war. The Austrian
| archdukes were soon afterwards expelled
| by popular revolution, but 1t was not
! until the power of Austria had been
humbled in 1866 by the marvellous sue
cess of Prussia, who was Itaiy's ally in
| that fateful year, that the Italians OBJ
| tanned possession of Nenetia through
it's cession to Napoleon, who at once
transferred il to Victor Emmanuel. With
this act ended the services of the French
Emperor in the cause of Italian unity
services which should be neither under.
estimated nor forgotten, but the memory
of which has been rendered somewhat
less vivid by circumstances which hll
a long column on the debit side of the
&C cunt.
FRENCH ARROGANCE.
In the first place, not in historical i'm
| portance, but in its Immediate enecl
upon the public mind, stood the fact that
| the success obtained in the Lombardo
Venetian war led the French to regard
themselves as in a large measure the
masters of the destinies of Italy, anC
they often manifested this conviction
with an arrogance which was very often
siye TO the bene6ciaries of their policy
Let me adduce a brief illustration. No
long after the conclusion of the Treaty
of Zurich. which was the formal confirm
alton of the preliminaries of Villafranca
| happened to be in cafe in the littl,
town of Ventimiglia on the Cornich'
| road, not far from the French border, OF
the Italian coast, when Frenchmal
elbowed his way into the saloon anC
brushed very roughly against an Italian
gentleman who stood near the entrance
To the mild remonstrance of the latte
the Frenchman answered, with a repul
sive swagger. which | can see to thi
day, Les Francois passent partout.
This was the spirit which animated
them all land while the majority of Frencl
citizens would doubtless have beer
less brutal in it's expression, it is unfor
tunately just such incidents which Civ,
the turn to popular opinion; and th
was by no means solitary instance
Again, it is susceptible of the cleares
proof that the aid offered to Italy in it
contest with Austria was due to the per
sonal predictions of the French I'm
peror far more than to the counsels 0
his advisors. or to the good will of tn
French people; and that, in fact, Napo
Icons hasty conclusion of the peace o
Villafranca, on the very morrow of til
brilliant victory of Solferino, was i'm
| nall .1 hxr hn nf lie let