/ ra p e .—On the last day of August a pamphlet was published
in Paris, which, under the impression that it is intended to foreshadow
the Emperor's polio- towards Italy, has produced a considerable im- pression. It was stalled I2Empereur, Rome, et le Roi d'Italie, and deals very boldly with the Roman question. The dispute as to its official inspiration or semi-inspiration, or as to any tentative views with which it may have been launched upon the French public, is ex- ceedingly warm. The Paris correspondent of the Times has no doubt
as to its partially inspired origin. The correspondents of the Daily News and Globe did not agree with him for a long time, but the former has now come round to the belief that it is a feeler of the Government. The correspondent of the Morning Post, who is sup- posed to shadow forth the views of M. Persigny, "fears that there is at present no change in the Emperor's intentions to retain the French army at Rome, though two or three recent pamphlets on the subject might induce people to think otherwise." And this denial is repeated again in still stronger terms in a subsequent letter. The official papers in France, however, are so faint in their denials that there can-be little doubt that it is intended to feel the pulse of the French people. The pamphleteer says distinctly that the time is come when the Emperor's troops must leave Rome. Rome is now to Naples what Coblentz was to France during the revolutionary wars—the seat of a nest of reactionary conspirators, who, under the shield of French protection, stimulate the anarchy of the unhappy Neapolitan pro- vinces. The pamphleteer takes the bold line that the interests of France and Italy are identical; that France has nothing to fear, everything to hope, from a united Italy. But a united Italy without Rome is as chimerical as a united France without Paris. The most important passage is the following, in which the pamphleteer tries to sound the popular feeling as to some compensation for French gene- rosity towards Italy on another side of French territory
"There are for Italy two great questions—Rome and Venetia. The day after Solferino the liberation of Venetia was in the fore- ground ; but after the peace of Villafranca—above all, after the entry of Garibaldi into Naples, and since the annexation of the Marches and Umbria—the most urgent question is to have Rome as a capital. Italy without Venetia is like France without Belgium. But without Rome she seems only tolerated among nations. The chief thing, then, at present, for Italy, is Rome ; Venetia will come afterwards. We re- member that Venetia, given to Austria by the Treaty of Campo Formio, was delivered at Austerlitz. Who knows if in our days, similarly, Venetia, abaadoned to Austria by the peace of Villafranca, will not be delivered, in spite of the Quadrilateral, by a new European victory, and without any effusion of blood in Italy P Italy has a right to her capital, and the duty of France is to hasten the time to sur- render it to her."
The pamphleteer concludes by asserting that the Italian Govern- ment has offered all possible guarantees for the independence of the spiritual power of the Pope, and that if the Pope will not yield to the patriotic feeling which should inspire him to accept these offers, France must appeal to a plebiscite of the Roman people ; and if that be—as it of course would—in favour of Victor Emanuel, she would withdraw her troops, and permit the Italian troops to take their place. This is clear and strong policy, and it would be satisfactory to think that the Emperor of the French had got at all near to such a resolve. The most, however, that in the state of the controversy as to authenticity we can infer, is that the Emperor does wish to know what France would say to such a policy. Another controversy concerning the official mind of France towards Italy has been urged on the occasion of M. Persigny's apology for not opening in person the Council-General of his department. French political gossip delights in inventing a coming fact, and then debating the reasons why it does not come. Thus it is said that Count Persigny had made up his mind to deliver a strong eulogy on Baron Ricasoli's recent circular. When, however, lie wrote a letter of apology to the Council, stating that his health obliged him to be absent for the sake of drinking the waters of Vichy, rumour was quite equal to the occasion. M. Thouvenel, it was said, had not been able to agree with the Home Minister in his sympathy for Ri- casoli, and the Emperor had settled the question by recommending a suspensive silence for the present. Imaginary facts seem prolific of an equally shadowy progeny. M. Delangle, the Minister of Justice, has delivered one of those curious French panegyrics which outrival our puffing advertisements in coming round from the farthest point of the compass to a eulogy on the Emperor. His subject was Agri- culture, and his audience the Agricultural Society of Cosne, in the Nivre. The Emperor is extolled for making himself an agriculturalist. The Emperor rewards merit in farmers. " Is it not, gentlemen, an affecting thing to see the farmer who, like the ploughman of Homer, cultivated with his own oxen his pastoral fields, suddenly drawn from that obscurity in which the perfume of his virtues was spread around, and where his skill procured comfort and happiness for his family, to be placed on an equality with the soldier who covers him- self with glory on the field of battle, with the magistrate, with the functionary, and with the savant, who have rendered long services to their country, and, like them, to be held up to public esteem by the most coveted of distinctions P" The quality in which imperialist eloquence continues to surpass our puffing firms is in pointlessness. But perhaps there is a point. Perhaps "the perfume" of these rustic virtues is " spread around" only in obscurity, and they suddenly become the reverse of fragrant after their decoration with imperial honours. M. Michel Chevalier appears to have returned from Dublin to France with a strong opinion that social science should not allow England to be on her guard against surprises. He is very angry with Lord Palmerston for his speech at Dover. At the banquet given
by the Prefect of the department of the Herault, he said : "France is honoured and respected abroad. She is only feared by the enemies of progress and the adversaries of civilization. France is considered in the world as the principal representative and the principal cham- pion of social and political progress. She inspires admiration and sympathy in the peoples who hope for a happier destiny, and re. ceives marks of the hatred and distrust of the men animated by the passions of another age. I regret that speeches recently delivered oblige me to range on the side of the latter some ministers of a great nation, our nearest ally, and renowned for its love of liberty and pro- gress, towards which the Emperor has loyally made advances honour. able to both parties, and which merited a better welcome and a more sympathetic response." M. Chevalier is a little unreasonable. lord Palmerston can scarcely be called unfriendly for saying that while France arms so rapidly, England, though eager to keep on the most friendly terms, will not throw away her "shield." The French semi- official papers also express freely their disgust with Lord Palmerston's speech.
The Due de Gramont is to be withdrawn from Rome, and his place occupied by the Marquis de Lavalette, from Constantinople. The Due goes to Vienna, which is a political atmosphere a great deal more suitable for him than Rome. There is no doubt that the Dec de Gramont has been one of the strongest of the French friends of the Papacy, and that his removal from Rome is an important step towards a break between France and the Holy See. M. Mires's appeal from the Cour Imperiale to the Cour de Cessa- tion has not been successful. The court has confirmed the sentence of five years' imprisonment, and rejected the principle of M. Mires's defence, that the " spirit of modern commercial transactions" assumes that "deposits are made on current account," which had the effect of leaving them to the disposal of M. Mires. M. Benedetti, the new French ambassador at Turin, is said to be a firm friend of the Italian cause. The straws which seem to indicate a favourable French breeze for Italy are not very trustworthy, but they all seem to point in the same direction.
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