CONTINENTAL COMPLICATIONS

Wellington Independent, Volume XV, Issue 1398, 17 January 1860, Page 5

CONTINENTAL COMPLICATIONS

(From (he European Times, October <lS.J

A very extraordinary statement appears in the Paris correspondeuce of the Times — extraordinary, if true,—tj the effect that Louis Napoleon is about to make a demand upon Sardinia for the expenses of the Italian war. The writer states that lie should have hesitated to forward such a piece of information if he had not the highest confidence in the opportunities an! veracity of his informant. It was certainly rumoured, before the war, that Victor Emmanuel was about to cede Savoy to France, aud in this communication some details are given which shew that the project was only arrested until a more favourable oppottunitv for carrying it out. The statement is this:— "The Piedmontese Government concealed the project as much as possible; it felt that it was an ungracious, not to to say an odious act, to make over to another Pow^r — no matter to what Power or for what consideration— a loyal and faithful province, the cradle of the House of Savoy, to which its inhabitants had been warmly attached subjects, and had furnished its best soldiers. But when Count Cuvour was pressed upon the subject on two different occasions, ence by n distinguished Savoyard nobleman and deputy, and again by a depi tation from that province, whicn had occasion to see him on business of another nature, the Sardinian Prime Minister was unable to deny the imputed project, but quahEeditby saying: that it would be left to tne option of the provinces of Savoy and Nice to remain with Piedmont or be transferred to France. The unexpected termination of the war, ly the convention of Villafranca, so bitterly distasteful to Piedmont and to the Italians generally, made a change, we may naturally suppose, in the intentions of the Sardinian Government, and that which it would have been willing to cede for the possession of Loin-bardo-Venetia was too much to give up for the insecure tenure of little more than half the territory, and that half continually menaced by a formiiable line of Austrian fortresses."

This will go far to account for the pecuniary demand which France is said to be about to mike upon Victor Einminuel for the expenses of the Italian campaign, and it may also account for the apparent reluctance which France has to see the same sovereign grasp the D.ichies and the Legations. If the bargain were struck, as here siated, and not fulfilled, Louis Napoleon may think himsell justified in getting payment either in. meal or in malt, and, if he cannot hare Savoy and Nice, he may he determined to have what will serve him equally as well at the presenttime, when the screw has been put on hi 3 subjects with a good deal of pressure— hard cash. May not this state of things also account for the non-return of Cavourto the Prerniersaip of Sardinia ? As that Minister, in all probability, nejfouiated the transfer, supposing the statement we have quoted to be correct, he ma v be unwilling to iueur the odium of carrying H out, new that events have takeu a turn so iii efferent from what was expected. . Hitherto the demand of the central Italians to be annexed to Piedmont appeared to be the triumph of Cavour's policy, and people wondered why. lie held aloof, after the first feeling of disappointment at the sudden termination of poace had subsided: but he may probably have felt, and still feels, that the worst part of the business is to come, and that he had better remain quiet until all difficulties have been smoothed, wnich at tbe present moment seems remote enough. On this assumption, Cavour's tactics are intelligible enough — on any other they seem almost inexplicable. The pecuniary demand upon Piedmont could not be made at a more unfortunate time, for Austiia is pressing that Power for its share of the national debt of Lombardy before it cedes the province, and this claim by the French .Emperor greatly aggravates the embarrassment.

Bui Louis Napoleon has his hands full in other quarters. In visiting Bordeaux he was waited upon by the authorities, and ihe bishop of the diocese, attended by his clergy, made, an address to the Emperor, the pith of which consisted in a demand for the continuance, at the hands of the Emperor, of the temporal power of the Church. The bishop's speech whs a model of lhat flattery so acceptable to "crowned beads ; it described L'Miis Napoleon as the eldest son of the Pope, and it quoted a passage frora the Emperor's speech on a former occasion, in which it was declared that v tho tehi--poral sovereignty of the venerable head of the Church,,was as much hound up with the eclat of Catholicism as with the liberty an-1 independence of Italy." The reply, an unpremeditated one, has caused a sensation in France, and, in. deed throughout Europe, for it shews that whatever vitiws the Emperor of tie French may have formerly entertained on this suhjejt, he is ! disposed at piesent to Jet the Pope take care of himself. One passage is highly significant. " I will merely saj that the Government which was thejneans of restoring the Holy Father to J the Pontifical throne will only give attention to such respectful counsels as are dictated by sin cere devotedness to the interests of his Holiness, but it cannot but be alarmed at the day, which is not far distant, when Rome will be evacuate.! by our troops. Europe will not allow that the occupation of Rome by French troops, which has lasted for ten years, should be prolonged indefinitely." This speech has given great dissatisfaction to the clerical }aHy in Fiance and it arrives almost simultaneously witft the intelligence of the departure of tho Sardinian Minister from the Court of Rome. It was known previously that bia* passports had been sent to him by the Pope's Government, but it was not known, until now, that, on the eve of his depavture, no fewer than 15,000 persons had, in sympathy, left their cards at his residence, a demonstration which is declared to have been very orderly, to which, uo doubt, the presence of the French troops considerably contributed. It would seem that the temporal power <<f the Pope is in a fair way of agait u^u^ UP tllC llorrors of * ar "> the* Peninsula. His Holiness has left Rome to have, it is said an interview with the King of Naples, at Castel Gandolfo, and is not likely, in th 3 present state of public feeling, to return to his capital. In the meantime, Garibaldi is preparing for the field. Us has issued an address at Bologna to the army of Italy, declaring that a new struggle was. approaching. It is believed in some quarters that 4 ustria shows a disposition to interfere at the present moment, and that she will make the assassination of the Count An viti in the sti eels of Parma, under the circumstances we mentioned recently, the pretence for doing so ; but we still incline to the belief which we have more than once expressed — that the Italians will be left to settle their affairs amongst themselves. The reply of the Ernpeior of the Fieuch to the Archbishop of Bordeaux seems to settle the question, of the temporal power of the Pope. It is so regarded in France, it will be so regarded in Italy, but events ?nay arise out of it of which at present uo oue can see the end,