ITALY.

New Zealander, Volume 4, Issue 214, 17 June 1848, Page 3

ITALY.

The mcmbeis of the Conmlta have, by twenty in font voices, decided ihat their sittings shall beop.u and public The Vatna of Florence «t,ites that Monsignor Forii is to leave lLtniu: noon for Constantinople, oh a mi&Mora from the Pope to ilia 'niltHii. The Tus( an Industnal Society has presented to Uiq government a plan for constiucling the railway fioni Rome to Civita Vecchiu; the cost is calculated at 1,800,000 bcudi. AdmirHl Raker arrived <i 1 Rome, from Leghorn, oit the 9th, and immediately culled on Loid Minto, wiUi whom he hud n loii£ conlrrence. The la ii: Duciusss or Paiim a.— The Conscrra/c v, has the following on the death of the Archduchcs MaiiaLouisu:— ''The death of the Archdudicbs Maiii Louisa, duchess of Parma, will have, a<'coulinij to all probability, impoilant consequences lor the inTiiis'of Italy, although that princess h id personally no politic, i! importance. We explained in one of our recLin inimbcrsthrsiratagclic value of the position of Pontiemolj —it is the key of the passage between the state* of the King of Saidinia nnd those of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. In 1815 Austria employodall its efforts to have the possession of Pontremoli awarded to it. The Congress of Vienna lefused that ; it would not consent that Austria, nheady so powciful in Italy, should, by establishing heihelf m n military manner in that position, keep in perpetinl check the kingdom of Sardinia end the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, and the.eby, in f.itt, reduce both ot them to the state of simple vasaals Tho Confess even refused to award I'ontiemoli to tho Duchy of Modena, or to that of Lucca, from the fuel that Austria had a right of leveision on those two duchies. In virtue of the decision of the Congress Pontremoli and its tcintory wc.e therefore awarded to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, although geographically separated from the states of that prince," and sui, rounded by those of the duchy of Lucca. We ln»o already had occasion to make known how, in virtue o£ subsequent arrangements between Austria Tusrmv mT" nf M ? d T a ' P ? ntrei ?°" W " S '° be incorporated in the Lttcr duchy, when Lucca should pass to Tu,^ cany and how the Duke of Modena hastened to demand this incorporation when recently the Dnkp of Luc a ceded his principality to the Grand Duke of luscany. Our leadeis know the extreme .cpu.nanrc which was manifested by the inhabitants o f I'^emolf at the idea of becoming the subjects of the Dul«. o f Modena. All Italy echoed tilth protests. One mH,t have feared at one moment that the people hasten?,,f.om the neighbouring states, to preseive them f.oiu the lot which threatened them, a «ar would break oi" on that almost imperceptible point of the Peninnih which war would have soon .Mended to all its surface' It is that which causes the destiny of that little dislnct to have now so much importance, and it is that whici makes tho death of the Duchess of Parma mat tar of general interest for Italy. According to the opinion ot the King of Sardinia, who was chosen an a.bitrator sn the difference relative to Pontremoti, which aiobe betweet iu»cany ond Modena, the possesaion of l'outremoh ought to be awarded to the Pnnce Mho s cal ed to lh B heritage of the Duchess of Pa, ma, that is, and the Duke of Modena have already adhered to the p.oposit.on of the King of Sardinia ; it only remain" o obtain the adhewon of the Duke of Lucca and of Austria. _ The Duke of Lucca cannot make any dill 1 ., culties, bincc he gains by the arrangement. Au-tna it is true, may desiie to oppose both, m the Lope of one day pi Basing Pontiemoli, if it shou'd ie..im awarded to the duchy of Modena on account of the right of reversion winch it has to that durliy. But it is permitted to us to hope that its spi.it of wisdom will induce it not to sacrifice to this distant and iincr tarn hope a combination which must contr,bur e \fi assure the tranquillity of Italy. Tlio influence of Austria will still remain sufficiently great in Italy i water even tlnn the Congress of Vienna dewed. As to the inhabitants of Pontremoli, the uill no doubt regret to exchange the domination of the Giand Dukg ot luscany for that of the Duke of Lucca, o>, to sneak more correctly, of the Duke of Parma, but Uicy will have some consolation in thinking that they escape that of the Duke ofModenj." ' The Milan Gazette of the 2Gth ultimo, oTicully announces the evacuation by ilw Austriansof the (owucf l'errara on the 23rd. The Port* Po alone will hnv tf an Austrian guard, on account of the necessary communication of the ganison with that of the river.

FATE OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY. While addressing ourselves to the task, it is impossible not to be »truck with the idea of fatality which i tins throughout the whole history of the Company. We find the struggleo of this body against the greatness which was thrust upon them, their anxious attempts to confine themselves to the trading opcraiions which were the original object of their eiiitence, utterly vain. I Ci'cumstances forced them on to political power, »n<! their own servants, whom they selected to check i>a impetus which at once tm rifled and enraged them, merely diiected its course. Still, tiade, trade, trade, was their dream. They had conquered India lor the advantage of commerce and hud so completely identified them elves with the great business which was the result ot theii labor for tsvo hundred years, that the one, as they fondly imagined, could nut exist without the other. When compelled to give up a certain tonnage in their vessels to other merchanis, the sacn/ica seeratd rnthcr ridiculous than formidable, and so it, really was, but when called upon by the voice of thu nation, in 1813, to abandon altogether their monopoly of the Indian trade, they looked upon it as a piophvcy of the mJ of the Commeic al world, and a voice aro.su from Leadenhall-street as wild and sad as that which once wailed on the Af.ic.ui shoie— '« Deleuda est Carthago !" But the sacrifice was made — the ungrateful bu-ines3 they had abandoned sprang up with the vigor and exultation of a captive who has escaped from his bonds, and theie was no avoiding their final doom, In ten years more they were stripped of the Chiu.i and Tea trade, the last remains of their Commercial greutness; and the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indias, casting many a lingeiing look behind, found themselves, God knows how, nothing more than the Sovereigns of a mighty empire. — Ritchies British World in the East.