discussion at Paris seems indicative of a change of policy with regard to Rome and Papal affairs.
Meanwhile there was high jubilee at Rome when the intelligence was received there that Gaëta had fallen. According to the time-honoured traditions of Italian demonstrations, crowds of Romans—there were thousands upon thousands—paraded the Corso arm-in-arm, their eyes gleaming with triumph for what had been done further to the South, and with the hope of a speedy liberation from all the evils which they had endured. A Bengal light—the first was a white one—was fired near the Piazza del Popolo; and instantly from that vast crowd there arose shouts for a United Italy—for Victor Emmanuel—for Louis Napoleon. Then a red light was displayed—and then a green one. The next moment the national colours were displayed in the most prominent situations in the city—aye, before the very Palace of the Austrian ambassador. The soldiers and gendarmes in the service of the Pope, wherever they showed themselves, were driven back with curses and execrations down the side streets—and attempted no interference, where interference would have been in vain. The French soldiers chatted and laughed for a considerable time with the people; and it was not until the demonstration had fairly exhausted itself, that any serious effort was made by the French authorities to check it in any way. Can such a state of things last? If matters remain quiet in Upper Italy, the system at Rome seems perishing of itself. Should the Austrians, on the other hand, make any insane attempt upon the new-born kingdom of Italy, one of the most obvious means of annoyance at the disposal of the French Emperor, would be to withdraw his troops from Rome, and leave the Pope to his fate. The Parti Prêtre in Austria would struggle to the death against any policy which might lead to such a conclusion. Meanwhile time passes, and the situation of the Pope is becoming more desperate from day to day.
But what about these French armaments? Why should Louis Napoleon collect under arms so numerous a body of Frenchmen, when France is not threatened from any side? A short time back it was believed that just in the same way as he had defeated Russia to revenge the memorable campaign of 1812, and—as he had driven the Austrians out of Lombardy as an answer to the double occupation of Paris towards, and at the conclusion of the great European war, so he was about to find employment for his troops in Prussia—notably at Berlin. The vote of the Prussian Chamber, however, seems to have dissipated this dream. The new King of Prussia may be sufficiently well disposed to carry out the policy of his two immediate predecessors; but the nation—in this instance—wiser than their Sovereign, instinctively recoil from the pit which has been dug as a snare to their feet. Had the Prussians mixed themselves up with the fortunes of Austria in Venetia, they would very soon have found that the contest was to be decided rather on the banks of the Spree than of the Mincio. There is an end of that. The Rhenish provinces of Prussia are so tempting and so easy a bait, that it is no wonder if a French ruler should seek to incorporate them with his dominions. The Prussians have seen this, and have drawn back in time. Meanwhile, what is Louis Napoleon to do with these great armies which he is collecting at Chalons and elsewhere? Towards the latter end of Last Week an idea prevailed in London that there is a secret understanding between Sardinia—may we not say Italy?—and France, in pursuance of which an attack is to be made upon Venetia, even if Francis Joseph should not provoke it by any overt act of hostility. The realisation of such a project, if it be seriously entertained, will entirely depend upon the turn which affairs may take in Hungary; and the prospect in that portion of the Austrian Empire is just now gloomy enough as far as the interests of Francis Joseph are concerned.
It is scarcely credible that Great Britain should be seriously involved in these complications of policy and intrigue upon the continent of Europe. The unhappy differences in the United States of North America are to us of far more immediate interest. The prosperity of about one-third of the inhabitants of these islands is for the next few years inextricably bound up with the fortunes of the cotton planters in the Southern States. Will the breach in the Union be healed? If not, the manufacturing districts of our own country will feel the results of the dissension with terrible intensity. The general opinion in town for the last six weeks or two months has been that the disturbances in the States were merely transitory, and that the North and South were so indissolubly bound together by the ties of mutual interest, that Separation was merely a popular outcry—the political hallucination of the moment. But if credit is to be attached to the recent advices from the other side of the Atlantic, the election of Abraham Lincoln is merely the match which has caused an explosion which had been carefully prepared for years beforehand. The Northerners now declare that the ulterior object of the Southern States for many years past has been the formation of a grand Slave Empire which should embrace the islands in the Gulf of Mexico, and the territories facing it. They say that this was the idea of General Walker, which failed simply because the man was not equal to the occasion. They say that the leading notion of the Southern Statesman, for many years past, has been to weaken the resources of the Northern, and to arm the Southern States.
In the days of President Pierce, when Mr. Jefferson Davis was Secretary of War, the conspiracy against the North was matured; and, during Mr. Buchanan’s tenure of power, the policy has been fully carried out. The Army has been tampered with. Secessionists have been placed in all important posts. No effort has been spared to destroy the credit of the Government. The election of Abraham Lincoln only brought matters to a crisis, whilst Mr. Jefferson Davis is the head and leader of the conspiracy against the integrity of the Union. In the words of the American journalist, “At the South a movement towards the tropics is felt to be a necessity. More room for the Slave or a black Republic bordering the Gulf, instead of a white one is felt to be inevitable.” The movement has come sooner than was expected.