tention. We will add that the execution of the book is thoroughly worthy of its subject. The skill, the modesty, and the selfrespect with which Mr. George Hodson relates his brother's life almost entirely by means of his letters, are very remarkable. That form of narrative is now very common, and is often extremely tiresome; but there is not a page of Mr. Hodson's book which has not its own interest, or which fails to carry the story forward.

ART. X.-1. L'Empereur Napoléon III. et l'Italie. Paris: February, 1859.

2. La question Italienne, Etudes du Comte Charles Catinelli, ancien Chef d'Etat Major de l'Armée Anglo-Sicilienne, sous Lord William Bentinck. 8vo. Bruxelles et Leipzig: March, 1859.

3. Italy; Remarks made in several Visits from the year 1816 to 1854. By the Right Honourable Lord BROUGHTON, G.C.B. 2 vols. London: 1859.

THE incidents which have agitated Europe and alarmed diplomacy from the 1st of January to the 1st of April, are of so momentous a character, that although it is not within our province to trace from day to day the course of events, we seize the first opportunity to examine with some detail the causes of a state of things which was till lately unforeseen, and the consequences which still threaten to affect the relations of several of the great Powers of Europe.

As if by some pre-arranged signal, the festivities of the Tuileries, on a day usually devoted to peace and good-fellowship, were disturbed by a remark which, in the conventional language of courts, indicated something more than coldness between France and Austria. With electric rapidity the commotion spread. A more warlike speech at Turin responded to the Imperial declaration at Paris. A strange marriage, secretly negotiated and abruptly solemnised, seemed designed to cement the policy of the House of Savoy with the fortunes of the Bonapartes. Italy was flushed from one end of the peninsula to the other by the promises of her champions, and the impetuosity of a southern population is only restrained by the belief that the cause of national independence has at last found an Italian prince to lead it, and a powerful ally to defend it. France became alarmed at the prospect of hostilities which certainly had not been provoked by any affront to her own honour or interests; Germany united and indignant;

England strenuously opposed to any infraction of the peace of Europe; Austria was compelled to take the most active measures for the defence of her own territories and rights; Russia watched from afar, not without latent satisfaction, the occurrence of dissensions which left her free to pursue whichever course of policy she might prefer. Such was the state of Europe within a very few weeks of the commencement of this year, when the pamphlet appeared, which we have placed at the head of this article, professedly and avowedly emanating from the head of the French Government, or from a writer in his immediate confidence, for the express purpose of making known to France and to the world the view entertained in the closet of the Tuileries on what is termed the Italian Question.

But whilst the arguments of this writer, and a variety of other incidents betokening active military preparations in Piedmont and in France, could not fail to excite the liveliest apprehensions of war, the language of the pamphlet was so far guarded that it pointed to a settlement of the state of affairs in Italy by diplomatic means, rather than to an actual and immediate rupture. Availing himself of this reservation in favour of peace, Lord Cowley, the British ambassador in Paris, having obtained permission from the English Cabinet to proceed to Vienna, urged upon the Emperor of Austria and his Ministers the expediency of entering into negotiations on this subject, which was backed by the Russian proposal of a Congress. The Court of Vienna had prepared to meet the peril with great alacrity, but it also met the provocation, which had not been spared it, with imperturbable coolness and temper. Well-armed at every point to repel a hostile attack-wellsupported in all her essential rights by treaties which have been established for upwards a century in the public law of Europe -Austria could without the smallest sacrifice of dignity concur with the other Powers in considering what arrangements, if any, may be devised to obviate the danger of revolutionary war and foreign interventions in Italy. The Emperor of the French, on the other hand, though foiled in the warlike objects which he appeared at one time to contemplate, and compelled by the determined attitude of Europe and the unanimous repugnance of France to modify the support which had been held out to the ambitious policy of M. de Cavour, may lay claim to the credit of having brought before a European Congress questions which deeply affect the welfare of that country. Something is gained if the suggestions of the writer of this pamphlet, or any other suggestions of a more practical character, can be discussed amicably instead of being carried

violently: and this result, if it be attained, is mainly due to the judicious and persevering intervention of Lord Cowley. But though the question may thus have entered on a second and more tranquil phase, we cannot jump to the conclusion that its difficulties are removed: Austria is not become less tenacious

of her rights -or France less eager for foreign influence and renown or Italy less dissatisfied by her condition, which indeed has been sorely aggravated by the false and mischievous agitation of her pretended friends. The aspirations of Italian nationality, the abrogation of territorial treaties, the civil reorganisation of the Papal Government, are not subjects which a Congress of independent and jealous States can easily agree upon; nor are such controversies easily settled with a threat of invasion behind them.

As to the value of these objects in themselves, there is, we apprehend, but little difference of opinion in this country. We are not insensible to the glory and the grief of Italy, and we should rejoice to witness that resurrection of her national greatness which her poets and historians have been proclaiming to mankind for five hundred years. The beauty of her natural gifts and the genius of her people have, throughout that period, protested against her political condition; and even the prolonged peace, which has brought to other European nations the blessings of increasing civilisation, has only awakened the Italians to an increased sense of their divisions and their wrongs. But if these evils are in part attributable to the ambition and territorial pretensions of foreign Powers, it must in justice be remembered that they are also the result of the passions and divisions of the Italian people. "We ourselves,' said Count Balbo in his Hopes of Italy' have called in 'the Greeks against the Goths, the Lombards against the Greeks, the French against the Lombards, the Germans against the French Angevins against Suabians, Aragonese against Angevins, French against Aragonese, Austrians against French, French against Austrians repeatedly, with no other result than that change of servitude which is the worst of servitudes. France has always been called in against Germany, and Germany against France-one being equal to the other as to the danger of having to bear their yoke, save that the 'yoke of Germany has always lasted longer than that of 'France.'

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The bad governments Italy has for ages endured are commonly imputed to foreign rulers or foreign influence predominating in various parts of the peninsula. But are these bad governments the consequence of foreign dominion, or is foreign

intervention the consequence of bad government? To a certain extent, a country in this unhappy condition treads in a vicious circle, and foreign dominion perpetuates the internal vices of government which introduced it; but the origin of foreign interference lies in the absence or decline of that union and strength which are the basis of national independence. At the present time, as in past ages, the most odious and tyrannical governments of Italy are not foreign but Italian governments - the Papacy, which exercises so considerable an influence over Italy and the world, is essentially Italian-the execrable cruelties which lately cast upon the shores of Ireland Poerio and his unfortunate comrades in the dungeons of Naples, were the deeds of Italians on their fellow-countrymen and no government which has ever existed, south of the Alps, has found any want of Italians to be the instruments of misgovernment and oppression. Hatred of the foreigner is an excellent rallying cry, for it expresses a universal sentiment. But if the foreigner were expelled, every other question which can embarrass governments and divide nations would still remain; and we see no reason to believe that these questions would be settled without long and furious contests, leading to the re-introduction of that foreign domination which was, in the first instance, expelled. Indeed the question, as it is now presented to the world, is whether Italy is to be permitted to advance in the course of self-improvement under the ægis of constitutional monarchy, as it is established in one portion of the peninsula, or whether the effort for her emancipation is once more to be based on a foreign intervention, which all her wisest and noblest patriots have condemned.

The tenth section of the pamphlet before us distinctly asserts that Italian nationality can never be worked out but by the latter course. Here, then, we at once join issue with those who confound the liberal policy of England and English statesmen towards Italy, with that policy which bears the stamp of the French Empire. It may suit the purpose of the ruler of that empire to encourage the belief, that as we entertain a common desire for the improvement of the condition of the Italian States, so we are disposed to pursue that object by similar means. But the fact is altogether otherwise. The views entertained by the liberal statesmen of England and by the Emperor of the French, for what is termed the liberation of Italy, are not only different but opposite-not only dissimilar, but incompatible. England holds that to restore the States of Italy to their true position in the world, they must look first of all to themselves, to the gradual development of their own institutions, to peace and

legality, without which there can be no freedom, and to the education of a generation of citizens better qualified than their forefathers have been to work out the laborious task of political union and national progress. Nor are these the opinions of dispassionate foreigners only. They are shared and corroborated by the highest Italian authority. Thus in the Marquis d'Azeglio's 'Programma per l'opinione nationale' we find these words:The opportunity of reconquering our independence is perhaps remote. We await it in calm activity, not applying ourselves to disturb, inconsiderately, the repose of others, but to reform our institutions in that shred of Italy which is left to us, and to render ourselves more capable of profiting by such opportunities as Providence may vouchsafe to us.'

Again, in the debates on the last Sardinian loan, Count Solar della Margherita said, with true sense and patriotism :

'To speak candidly, gentlemen, if, since 1849, we had quietly attended to the development of our institutions; if we had made it our chief care to promote science, art, and commerce within our own limits; if we had not extraordinarily increased the taxes; if we had not held out allurements to the factions in all parts of Italy, and evoked hopes which for eight centuries have been nourished in vain; if we had thought more of improving our own lot than of censuring and causing anxiety to other governments, we should not have the name of agitators, nor should we see the plains of Lombardy inundated with Austrian bands; rumours of war would not arise on the shores of the Ticino.'

We are satisfied that these opinions are entertained by the great majority of the Piedmontese themselves, who are threatened with bloodshed, bankruptcy, and perhaps destruction chiefly to gratify the passions of refugees from other parts of Italy and the military ambition of the Court of Turin. Savoy, especially, protests loudly against a policy which first imposes on her the burdens of an Italian war, and would then probably surrender her to France as the price of Italian conquest.

As long as the Piedmontese Government has the strength and resolution to confine itself within its rightful limits, and to maintain the principles of constitutional liberty within the King's dominions, a great and good example is shown to the world, and the sympathy and support of England are most cordially given to it. But, unhappily, the influence of the war party is exerted to produce results absolutely fatal to the cause of rational progress in Northern Italy. While we talk of freedom, they talk of territorial aggrandisement while we advocate economy and free trade, they encourage the costly armaments of offensive war-while we maintain the rights of Piedmont to