The Lyttelton Times.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XIII, Issue 752, 21 January 1860, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times.

Saturday, January 21, 1860. It is with a reasonable anxiety that we wait for the arrival of the mail frjm Europe, due to-day. There has never been an occasion before the present on which the monthly message'from bur' mother country has been looked for with such apprehension lest it may be the bearer of evil tidings. The last few words flashed along* the telegraphic wires from London to catch the boat leaving Aden were full of grave importance. It has been said that this telegram rests upon no authority, - and is doubtful on the face of it. It is true that its tendency is directly contrary to the appearances at the departure of the reg-ular mail. But the two leading papers of Australia —the ' Argus' of Melbourne and 'Herald' of Sydney—received each separate but corresponding information by the same means. It has been objected also that the time of transmission between London and Aden as stated'in the telegram is impossible, no wire having been laid down between Malta and Alexandria by the latest accounts. But it appears from an official intimation dated the 17th October, that this wire, the only link wan ting, bet ween London and Aden, was to be complete in a few days after that time. We therefore fear that the electric messenger is only too trustworthy; bad news proverbially travels fast. Our readers will recollect the purport of the message. At the end of October, it said, a serious change had occurred in the relations between England and France. The treaty of Zurich, which p 'was to have settled the Italian question once more, was received with great disfavour. This is intelligible; the public declaration of Lord John Russell, now Secretary for Foreign affairs, made at Aberdeen while the negotiations at Zurich were pending, affirmed an Italian policy on behalf of England directly, antagonistic to that which the Emperor of the French adopted with Austria and urged upon Sardinia. We may take the words of our Foreign Minister as signifying, on behalf of the British Government, an uncompromising, hostility to any settlement of the Italian question which siiaH>eftnpose Austrian rule upon the Italian duchies. A determination not to submit to the Hapsburg dynasty is evident also- on the part of the Central States of Italy. Yet this objectionable arrangement was an absolute condition of the peace patched up after Solferino, one demanded by Austria, and assented to by Napoleon^ with whose natural desire to limit the progress of freedom such an arrangement also evidently harmonises: France, then, stands between «the,determination of Austria on the ore side, to wTifcirslfe" is "committed, and the determination of the States oii the othely whose ckampwu>Jie o&J^jjsibl^ y, ger oaty

way out'of Mm "difficulty is by calling^ Congress of tlie Powers for a general adjustment. Wo now come to an important pnit of the telegram. England, one of thegreat powers, refuses to join the Congress. Not without reason, ns it seems to us. If England were ty take part in a Congress on the .Italian question with France, Austria, find Russia, she would bo in a conspicuous minority'; she would be simply helping- to effectuate n settlement in which' she could not concur. She would he repenting1 the rnistnke of'lßlß, submitting* Il'erself to be bound to terms prescribed by the advocatesof despotism, and abandoning' the*position she hns assumed with regard to the Italian States. The late war in Italy hiis released Great Britain from the mute partnership with tyranny forced upon her at the Congress of Vienna; she must be weak indeed to reimpose the yoke on herself. The only hope for Italy is that all the Great Powers do not agree that the will of their majority shall settle the question of Italian, independence.

The refusal of Great Britain to take part in a European Congress on the Italian question is naturally a cause of offence to Louis Napoleon, whose object it was by means of the Congress to release himself from the difficulty'he f'aund in keeping apparent faith both with Austria and Italy. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that a pretext of quarrel has been found by the-Emperor, and the alliance between England and France is imperilled. Active co-operation in the" movement .against .China of course is not to le expected from him: and accordingly w)j find the announcement that "The French preparations against China have been suspended." The Emperor is .displeased, the alliance is ruptured, the hitter feeling of the army and people of France against England is set at liberty, and—"Anglo-French relations are alarming." Supposing that no overt act of hostility on one side or other should take place at once, still the prospects for the future are alarming; in fact, it will be only common prudence to anticipate evil. The temper of the French nation towards England cannot be disguised under the superficial amity which it has pleased Louis Napoleon to exhibit. On this point wo cannot, do better than quote the words of the /Saturday Review,' a journal which usually takes a liberal and not timid view of our relations with France:-—

" Frenchmen of all ranks and callings speak of an expedition against England a* a tiling certain to come sooh as the winter to follow the autumn. The most cool and wary do no more than urge that sufficient preparation can scarcely be m ido under eighteen months. All agree that war will be declared directly the Government is ready, and that the Government is getting ready as soon as possible. We can appeal to the experienceofany Englishman who has passed through Prance, or stayed in Paris during the last few weeks, tnd who is sufficiently acquainted with the people find their language to understand what is passing. An attack on England is the regular theme of conversation in all the public conveyances, and public places. The army naturally take the lead, but it is singular how many classes of persons echo the opinions and wishes of the army. The clergy are almost, to. a man in favour, of a'i attack on the foster-mother of heresy,, and the * Univers'. speaks of an expedition to pillage the Bank of England in much the same language as a hermit of the Middle Ages might have used when exhorting Christendom to enter on a crusade for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. The Legitimist party, which still commands a certain amount of provincial influence, raves against England, urges an attack on her with a bitterness proportioned to the benefits which its chiefreceived from her during so many years. Even the moneyed classes begin to say that anything would be better than the state of utter stagnation to which they are now condemned by the suspense in which they are kept. Persons, also, who are acquainted with the. working classes of Paris, and the lanre t.nvns, assert that tnere is now running through them one of th >se. strange uph.eavinjfs of vague uneasy emotion, which, front time to time, stir in their depths; and that this uneasiness takes the shape of a senseless animosity against England," Under the circumstances, we look with the deepest anxiety for the news winch the mail may bring* us. The telegraph may have imposed upon us, after all, but the fear is that, its evil tidings may be only too fully confirmed.