THE CONDITION OF ITALY.

Otago Witness, Issue 380, 12 March 1859, Page 2

THE CONDITION OF ITALY.

The intelligence that daily reaches us from Italy is full of painful interest. From every J portion of the Peninsula tidings come of a na- j ture calculated to kindle anxiety in the breasts ( of all who wish for the preservation of European peace, and re-awakening hope in those j who long for the advancement of Continental , freedom. The French Protectorate or priestly } rule at Rome no longer pace devotediy up and down, keeping time to church music, and ' meekly solicitous for Apostolic blessing. In Tuscany there are symptoms of resistance on - the part of the authorities to the twofold die- ; tation of the Vatican and of Vienna — signs \ which wise men mark with silent satisfaction. In Lombardy a new outrage has been comI mitted by Imperial power upon its subjects, ! by the increased rigour wantonly given to the | law of the conscription : while throughout i Piedmont there are once more perceptible j those impatient throbbings of the popular 1 heart which sooner or later ministerial opiates ' must lose their power to allay. I However inaccessible Louis Napoleon may 1 be on man)' points to the influence of public opinion, there are some on which he either finds it impossible to show indifference, or on ' which he does not choose to try. For nine years , he has been the friend and flatterer of the | Papacy, the ostentatious guardian of its decre- ' pid political existence, and the munificent | benefactor of its ministers abroad as well as at j home. No sacrifices seemed too great if he j i could but win the cordial support of the priest- | hood, and that sanction and sympathy thro ugh- ! out Catholic Europe which a grateful Father 1 of the Faithful promised to secure for his dyj nasty. The implied contract between the par- ! ties seemed for a long time to be thoroughly ; understood and carefully observed. Not only in France but throughout Italy sacerdotalism was untiring in its praise of the moral and religious Monarch of France, the restorer of j churches and paymaster of priests, the supJ pressor of liberal opinions, and the Imperial ' sentry at the gates of the Vatican. On his part the Emperor of the French was ready to "wink hard" at the continuance year after , year of all the abuses and abominations of I ecclesiastical misrule in the States of the ' Church, and all the extravagance and fanati- [ cism in which' Ultramontane organs thought ; fit to indulge nearer home. The Imperial pa- ; tience, however, seems to be wearing out. ' Napoleon 111. is growing fairly ashamed of 1 his priestly proteges ; ashamed of their real ! I kidnappings and their mock miracles; ashamed of their intolerant diatribes agninst Protestants and Jews, and still more their obstinate and 3 dangerous maintenance of an exclusively sacer1 dotal system of administration in Central Italy. ' It was specially for the sake of the abrogation j ' of that system, and on the pretence that the civil regeneration of the Roman States would be thereby ensured, that the Legislative As- ' sembly of France consented to the sending of 7 a garrison to Rome. In utter dereliction of the promises then made, and wilful defiance of 1 j European opinion, that hateful and mis- j ' | chievous sj'stem has for nine melancholy years " been maintained, and, far from having secured " the permanent gratitude of the Papal Court, it is now palpable that their French protector is looked upon by them with aversion and distrust. In a recent article, evidently inspired by authority, the Armoiiica, of Turin, openly I lectures Louis Napoleon on his lax Catholicity ' I in matters of State, invidiously contrasts his ' | conduct with that of the Austrian Emperor, and tells him plainly that the time may not c be far off when Rome will choose to lean in 3 preference on the arm of the latter. While - this language is held to the faithful in Italy, i, the Univers assails, in France itself, the iml pious policy of employing Jews in thegovern- ;. meut of Algeria ; and many other minor t proofs might be cited of the mutual alienation t that is springing up between these Papal and - ' Imperial friends*

Turning our glance for a moment in another direction, we find that notwithstanding all the specious protestations that conciliatory measures were preparing for Lombardy at the instance of the Archducal Viceroy, nothing of the kind has been done ; but that, on the contrary, fresh stringency is about to be given to the oppressive provisions of the conscription. Immediately after the suppression of Italian liberty in 1848, the Austrians began the refortification of their strongholds in the Lombard plains. Year after year they have gone on spending vast sums upon these massive guarantees of conquest; and now that they are complete and pronounced impregnable the task of moderation may, it is supposed, be more loosely worn. Hitherto " only sons " were, in the worst of times, exempted from liability to be drawn in the compulsory ballot ; and the period of service was rarely protracted beyond five years. The term is now arbitrarily extended to seven years, and the son who is the sole support of a widowed mother is in future to be liable to be taken as a conscript. Even in a country where the army is strictly national, and the scene of military service is to a great extent domestic, such enactments would provoke unpopularity enough, But what must be the feelings of an Italian community when, in a time of professed peace, they see the prime of their youth oppressively taken from them, placed under foreign drill, and drafted off to do garrison duty beyond the Alps, should tranquillity be preserved, or to be sent to perish by French or Russian bayonets, should war break forth ? Towards Russia or towards France the Lombard feels no enmity ; his whole stock of hatred is too small to pay that which he owes to his Austrian oppressor. If he thinks of any other foreign powers at all, it is with some vague feeling or belief that, quarreling with his tormentor, they may indirectly help or serve him. It is impossible to conceive repugnance more profound or exasperation more intense than that which these new decrees are fitted to produce. Let us rest satisfied that nothing but a fearful sense of the imminent danger of leaving the healthful blood of youthful Lombardy in its veins, could have induced an intelligent tyranny to resort to so odious and cruel a measure. It is palpably the desperate wish to strike a preparatory blow while yet there i 3 opportunity and time, that has impelled the Cabinet of Vienna to trample down thus ruthlessly every hope of amelioration held forth by the young and merciful Archduke Maximilian. Once more the Piedmontese Chambers are about to meet, and once again M. Cavour will be asked in every variety of form and accent whether he is not ready yet ? He has contrived with singular ability on many past occasions to appease the importunities of which bis Government has been the object, alwaj's holding out the hope that national patierjce would be assuredly rewarded ; and by hinting not obscurely that he waited only for a good opportunity, when the word might be given with the consent of France. It seems but too probable that a time is approaching when neither Victor Emmanuel nor Napoleon 111. may be able to sustain him much longer in these Fabian tactics. The attitude hitherto maintained by the Sardinian Minister has been no less wise than firm. The question, is how long he can sustain it. There are cases in national history when wisdom and firmness are resented as weakness and apathy. Italy, there is too much reason to fear, is again on the verge of such a crisis. The sands of national endurance are running low, and the ominous decade is already expired. — Daily News.