ITALY AND HUNGARY.

Marlborough Press, Volume I, Issue 23, 9 June 1860, Page 3

ITALY AND HUNGARY.

[From the Leader and Saturday Analyst .] The inhabitants of Central Italy have not disappointed the expectations formed of their prudence and patriotism, and by deciding for annexation to Sardinia they have immensely advanced their national cause, and the respect in which they will be held in every country where liberty is loved and human progress desired. In a few days the Sardinian Government will officiallv declare its intentions, and assume the sovereignty, which has been so honourably obtained; and it will be seen whether the Austrian Court will abandon its pretensions, _ or venture upon fresh acts of aggression, either in its own name or through its puppets, the Duke of Modena and the Pope. How much the Holy Father is beloved in his own territories may be seen from the votes taken at Bologna, which was of late the second city in t-hes Papal State. It appears that 21,694 electors voted for annexation, and the important nnmber of two on the , other side. The mighty two ought at lead to be canonized during their lifetime is order to make the most of such a splendin example of fidelity and folly, in which mixed condition alone can Pius IX. expect to find faithfulness in followers not actuated by selfish views. It is believed in Italy and Austria that a collision is impending, and the matter will probably turn upon whether the Emperor of the French appears inclined to leave the Italians to bear the first brunt of the struggle. The Pope is reported to have 20,000 men; the Duke of Modena’s little army can at any moment be surreptitiously increased by additions from the Austrian ranks, and Count Rcchberg has prepared for a course of military duplicity by pretending that men wearing the Austrian uniform, and specially sent to the Pope by his Imperial master’s orders, are not Austrian soldiers at all. On the 80th January this worthy minister of the Ilapsburg crown declared in the mostformal way, as may be seen by the papers recently , published, We shall begin by establishing the fact that at the present hour there is not in the whole of the Italian peninsula a single Austrian soldier outside the boundaries of the monarchy.” At that • very time an Austrian general commanded, the Pope’s forces, and a fortnight before, our vice-consul at Ancona wrote to Mr. Corbett at Florence, to say that the number of recruits landed at Ancona, “ most of

them wearing Austrian uniforms o$ the respective regiments they belong to* is, up to this date, three hundred and eightythree, including eleven office vs, whose names are annexed.” The day before Count Jteehberg set his name to the statement we have quoted—“ seventy-nine, men and one officer, Austrian recruits of thie Papal service, arrived at Ancona on bofird a small Papal steamer from Trieste, after landing, marched off to Macerate as usual.” On the 28 th when our vi ce-consul gave this information, lie desc /ibed the district as in the “deepest anxiety and consternation.” People were takers f rom their beds at night, and marched off to unknown prisons; atid he adds, “ the number of persons who have •emigrated fro ,m Ancona and district, since the comme l jeemeut of the Italian war, is reckoned to be about 2,000;” *a number which is itself considerable, but which appears, enormous when we find that the whole population of the province was only 176 ,619 according to the eensus of 1858, aP .d could.not have been very much larger v.fhen the migrations began. If the Austrian Government does not seek an opportunity for renewing the war, its conduct in Italy is inexplicable; and if such a contingency is reckoned upon, its behaviour in Hungary is still more perilous, and without reason. Instead of appeasing the anger of the Protestant churches, Count Thun is driving them to rebellion ; and it is not improbable, that before long, we shall witness a renewal of the old sort of religious war, but with the difference that the tyrannical and Popish party does not possess its former strength. On the 11th January the r Protestants held a great meeting in defiance of the prohibition of the Court. Forty or fifty thousand people assembled, and the Imperial functionary commanded them in the name of the Emperor, to disperse. The Protestant leader, in the spirit of an old Covenanter or Cromwellian, thundered out, “In the name of God I command you to stay.” The people obeyed what they accepted as a Divine injunction to support their faith. At this meeting it was decided'that another meeting should be held on the 20th April; and on the Ist and 2nd March smaller gatherings took place, n at which .many of the nobles of Transylvania were present, including Count jDegenfeld, the brother of the Austrian TJommantler in Venetia; and'itwas resolved with unanimity that the 20th April meeting should be held. If the Government should resort to force, it : is probable that a collision may occur; and, if religious zeal should not betray the Protestant /churches into imprudence, the rieketty Empire of Austria may find that the nineteenth century will overthrow and avenge the crimes against the Reformation, of which its. rulers were guilty two centuries ago. The Court of Vienna has degenerated; its superstition has none •of the ancient grandeur about it—it is effete .-and contemptible ; and if the Protestants <san produce -a Hungarian Gustavus, their enemies will not be able to bring another Wallenstein into the field. There is nothing in the Austrian system to produce great men, and if one should arise, he would be likely to consign his beloved Emperor to Leicester Square or .Spielberg, and grasp the power himself. We watch this movement in Hungary with an interest that Vi .11 be felt all over the kingdom when its bearing sare understood, not only because it day lead to most valuable results, but from its strong resemblance to those important passage in English history which contributed so much to make us great and free. If a fresh rebellion occurs in Hungary it will not be an outburst of “ GoSless democracy,” nor a political struggle in which -the younger and less prudent part of the population will take the lead; but a -solemn, determined, “ Godfearing” business, ’resembling that magnificent mingling of the Bible and the sword which carried the Ironsides in triumph through every fieldThe great danger is lest the outburst should ■be premature. If it is well timed it may stir up old associations in Bohemia, and do much to redeem even Austrian character from its levity and frivolity, giving’ to her Court and aristocracy something better to believe in than licentiousness and superstition, or roughly . “improving them off the. ’ face of the earth.” The stories of Austria’s alliance with Russia are much doubted, although it is known that the Czarina was in favour of such a scheme. For the present, Gortcffiakoff, who hates Austria, is believed to have triumphed, and a new rumour is a float - that the French Emperor has improved, liis relations with St. Petersburg, by offering to ‘-cancel that part of the treaty of J?ariß, 'which excludes ships of war from the Black Sea. Wq offer no opinion on the tr uth of t4»s story, and place no reliance in the conventions which diplomatists c oncoct. Tjbere is no putting faith in prince js; one •after another breaks his word or bis oath, and few continental potentates are entitled to complain if the Tuileries should prove treacherous, for most of them haves acted as if perjury belonged to tbe iD.signia of royalty quite as much as the sceptre or the crown. * - ►

Last week our correspondent from Hanover gave au excellent picture of the state of opinion in Germany, and the wonders of the excellent beer drinkers and tobacco smokers at what they fancy our apathy in the face of the designs of France. It is quite true that we have recovered from everything like panic, and entertain a good hope of escaping from any serious convulsion ; still our dockyards and arsenals are actively at work, and the number of our volunteers proves the wide spread determination not to trust the chapter of accidents but our own well developed and organized strength. The Savoy business does not alarm us, and efforts to make a bugbear of it in the House of Commons have ended in ridiculous failure. We do not, however, wonder that any revival of Napoleonic aggression . should frighten the Germans about their Rhine; but if Germany will run mad in its intestine quarrels and jealousies, it is from herself and not from the character or ambition of her neighbour that her danger will arise, Looking to the false and hollow character of diplomacy, we are glad to find our Government growing less diplomatic; but a fuller recognition of great principles is needed, and there is something like hypocrisy or vacillation, when we find Lord Palmerston saying that England may be proud of having given her moral influence to bring about the present state of tilings in Italy, whereas both he and Lord John Russell, only last year spoke very strongly against the very course which they now praise, Nor do they seem to have learnt wisdom from experience, for as will be seen from the “Further Correspondence on the Affairs of Italy,” Lord John Russell now urges the King of Sardinia not to do anything for the liberation of Yenetia, just as last year he urged him to do nothing for Lombardy and the Duchies. If the patriotic efforts of Victor Emmanuel and his great minister should succeed, and Italy be free from the Alps to the Adriatic, Lord Palmerston, next spring, will boast of the moral aid his Government gave to bring about such a happy state of affairs. We want a reconstruction of foreign policy, and need some one to. arise in the House of Commons and defend a cause because it is right, and urge its prosecution whenever it is practicable. The cant of pretending frendship for Austria, and helping her enemies, is a national disgrace. The English people wish all Italy to be- free, and no language should be held to Count Reckberg or anybody else, which is inconsistent with the plain rules of Christian morality applied to neighbours who have a moral right to our support.