LATE ENGLISH NEWS.

Southland Times, Issue 877, 6 January 1868, Page 2

LATE ENGLISH NEWS.

"We have been favored by His Honor the Superintendent with the follovftdg late private telegrams, dated London, Nov. 2nd. They embody the, spirit of the London Press on the Italian question^ and have not appeared in any other Colonial journal : — London, Nov. 2, 1867. THE ROMAN QUESTION. ADVANCE OF TffE ITALIAN ARMY. j The London Times regards the crossing of the Pontifical frontier by the Royal Italian troops a wise, no less than a bold step, but the author of the* deed must be prepared to take the conse- • quences. The King's Governmj|rt ,. are ! taking the field against the revolution, and they have thus one or two objects in common with the Emperor Napoleon. It is not known whether the mission of the Maquis Pepoli to the Emperor j Napoleon was successful. Its object was to obtain the Emperor's agreement to a joint occupation of the Papal States, by French and Italian troops. But, however easy the Emperor of the Trench may be as to the disposition of the Italian Government, he must take the chapter of accidents into account, and cannot venture with small detachments of his troops into a territory on which the King, could, at a moment's notice, concentrate from 60,000 to 70,000 combatants. The situation 13 still full of danger, and the reckonings of wise men may yet, before all is over, be baffled by the headlong fanatics on either aide. The action of Prance should be that of an ally and auxiliary, and not of a foe. In the meanwhile the drama draws near its development. The Italian troops, according to the Official Gazette; of the Italian Kingdom, are sent "to protect the rights and to assure the destinies of the Roman population." Whatever* Italy is overrunning the Pope will never get back. The towns have everywhere set up municipal G-overnment. Garibaldi himself is falling back. He listens to the envoys of the Italian Government, therefore he will yield. The volunteers withdraw within the lines of the Royal Army. From the day of the King's advance there is only one army in the field ; in the whole Peninsula there is only one people. The insurrectional committees havebeen closed, and we hear but of feeble, and probably, mere formal protests. The threatened conflict seems to be for the present averted, and leisure is granted for negotiation. The September ._ convention is in abeyance Before France and Italy again quit the field matters will have to be settled on some new and more distinct and tangible basis. ■ The Daily Wews trusts that all the sinister predictions of the last few days may be disappointed, and that the Governments concerned may at once proceed to negotiations. . . -..:;. ■■■-'■ The Post remarks that the position of Italian affairs is undoubtedly one of great difficulty for France, and supposes, for argument's sake, that a war should result from the present entanglement, and Count Bismarck were to rank himself among the defenders of Italian unity Prussians and Italians would be fighting for principles of nationalities and of the French Revolution, while France and Austria and the Catholic German States would be sustaining a cause not very, remote from that of the Holy Alliance. We hardly likely to advert to the possibility of a collision between the armies of France and Italy, and a declaration of war by the former to the latter. By waiting till the French -were at Civita Vecchia, Italy is exonerated of any wilful breach of the September Convention. The quarrel; if it breaks out, will be none" of her own seeking, and when the first shot is fired we shall hear nothing more about parties in Italy. The Daily News says the crossing of the Papal frontiers is part of the policy which Manabrea took office to execute. The French could reach Rome almost in as many hours as it would take the Italian troops to get there. The intention of the King's Government appears to be formally to constitute itself a party to the Roman question, and place it in such a position to make its voice heard, and settling the terms of the arrangement by which the Pope's security is to be ultimately guaranteed. The Emperor Napoleon canhardlj intend to expose the interests of France to unlimited risks for the sake of the priestly party. To carry the defence of the temporal power to such a length would be to endanger the peace of Europe, and to make it to the interest of every Protestant power to combine to support the Italian Catholics in putting down the Papacy as a political government The Post refers to the probable action of Prussia with a view to prevent a breach of the peace of Europe, and considers the complications in Italy render possible a Europeau convulsion of stupen<lpus magnitude. The Merald anticipates Garibaldi. max retire now that he has forced the Royal army to cross the Roman frontier.