TONS OF THE DAY.
t NEUTRALITY.
Inn object f the war is now defined, and whatever our respon- sible public servants may do, the interests and honour of England demand that her influence should be exerted to assist in securing the declared object of the war. It is well defined in the mani- festo of the Emperor Napoleon,—to determine whether Austria shall, as she has been illegally endeavouring to do for many years, rule to the Alps, or whether Italy shall be free to the Adriatic ; and he has pledged himself to the single object of re- covering Italy for herself. Englishmen must approve of that object, ant they can hold the Emperor to his pledges ; but the professed eutrality, whether of Germany or England, must be an actual neutrality, not a neutrality all on one side. In order to recognize the soundness of this policy, we must not suffer ourselves to be distracted by the erroneous, and in some cases false statements which are put forth in high quarters. Mr. Disraeli usually selects his words with careful regard to their ac- curacy ; but he forgot his own rule on Monday, when he asserted that Sardinia has " clearly indicated a desire to occupy a more important position in Italy than under treaties she is entitled to." Sardinia has done nothing of the kind. No treaties, indeed, can forbid a state's becoming " important "; but we would ask what treaties Sardinia has broken, or on what specific points she has violated, infringed, or disregarded any treaty stipulation ?
Mr. Disraeli, as he handsomely avows, has no reason " to think, from what has subsequently transpired, that there was any want of sincerity in what took place" at Paris, with reference to the first proposal of the English mediation. Lord Stanley makes an assertion totally inconsistent with this admission of Mr. Disraeli, when he says—alluding to "wicked" ambitions—" the inde- pendence of Italy is the plea, but it is nothing more than a plea." This involves a double or triple error, of the most serious kind. Not one of the parties to the Conference of 1856 put forward " the independence of Italy " as a plea, pretext, demand, claim, suggestion, or proposal, in any form whatsoever. Sardinia simply claimed that Austria should not go beyond her own treaty rights ; requested that France and England would support Sardinia in moral efforts to procure improvements in Italy ; and suggested, very courteously and temperately, the expediency of some im- provements in Lombardy. Our own Minister, Lord Clarendon, distinctly, emphatically, and positively approved of that repre- sentation by Sardinia ; Count Walewski admitted it rather than urged it ; Austria tried to evade putting in any appearance. Lord Stanley, therefore, is totally in error when he represents "the independence of Italy" as having been advanced at any time, in any shape. We have already, in the first page, exposed one statement in the Imperial manifesto of the Austrian Emperor which cannot be characterized as less than a falsehood ; another statement is an implied falsehood—" The overthrow of things that be is not only aimed at by factions, but by thrones." Now Sardinia and France have throughout stated exactly what they were proposing, and how they intended to act, inviting the sanction of the Powers, and restraining themselves within precise legal limits. The as- sertion, therefore, is, like the other, a falsehood. The same document says, that ten years ago Sardinia " entered the Lombardo-Venetian territory with the intention of acquiring possession of it—thus violating international law and the usages of war." This is at once an absurd plea, and a falsehood. The author omits the important fact that the various provinces of the Austrian empire were at that time in a state of civil war ; in such a condition, it is consistent with " international law and the usages of war" for an independent state to enter on the invitation of either party to the conflict. It was manifest, from the circum- stances as well as from positive declarations, that the Sardinian King had neither avowed, nor entertained, any "intention of ac- quiring possession" of the Lombardo-Venetian territory. This statement also is a direct falsehood.
If Englishmen will pay the slightest attention to facts, which they can ascertain for themselves, they will not be misled either by these errors or these falsehoods. The question before them is really more simple than some wish to make it ; for a crooked pur- pose always finds its best medium in obscurity. Austria has gradually been encroaching in Italy, until now ; when she has taken the initiative, and the sole alternative has become the com- pletion of her mastery, or her total repulse. Italy rouses herself, for the twentieth time, but with better hopes than ever, to shake off the oppressor. If Sardinia is doing it without the active con- currence of England, it is because England chose to abstain, not because she was uninvited. The feeling of congenial peoples is shown on the continent by many significant facts. The Italian states spontaneously rally round the flag of Italy raised by-Vio- tor Emmanuel. When the French, under the pressure of neces- sity, temporarily violate the letter of a treaty in stepping across neutral ground, the Swiss, instead of being offended, cheer the illustrious travellers. When the Emperor Napoleon draws the sword for Italy, the French provinces spontaneously offer him their support. Nay, the national feeling of France is so universally felt that the second son of the House of Orleans, the Due de Chartres, is serving in the army of King Victor Emmanuel, and the eldest son of the House of Bourbon, the Due de Bordeaux, re- fuses to reside at Vienna because Austria is at war with France. One single fact illustrates the difference between the two con-
tending powers : we contrast the French appeal for funds through a spontaneous " open loan," with the Austrian extortion and embezzlement.
The public opinion of this country, for the day, dictates neu- trality. We are told that if we reserve our strength we shall ultimately mediate with better effect. We are convinced that when the time for intervention does arrive, England will inter- fere to affirm the independence of Italy. That she should stand idle while others prepare the ground is the only thing that we re- gret; but at least she must see that her own neutrality, and that of others, be really neutral
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