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    nevertheless , siifficient to absorb the entire of his intellectual energy , and to colour the whole . course of . Iris personal / career . The political egotism of his . uncle may be said to haye t been at all tiines inseparably associated with schemes of domination in Italy . Bonapartist fame and influence there first became known . The presti ge of irresistibility was originally acquired by Napoleon in his memorable struggles with the Austrians in Lbnibardy ; arid amorigliislatest and , most significant coinnientari . es on the history of ! Etirope are those in which , at St . Helena , he professed to describe his purpose and policy in .. his . ¦ . manner ' of dealing with the peninsula . The present ruler of France not only holds ' such traditions sacredj but openly avows his

    desire of realising that Italian , nationality which his illustrious predecessor .-affected at least to have in view . Questions of detail in the sum of Italy ' s grievances may change their aspect , in the fluctuation of events " throughout the rest of Europe , and tangible pretexts for an open rupture between France and . Austria , may , for a time , be removed ; but the anomalous ; and dangerous condition of the peninsula generally will not and cannot be altered by diplomacy ; and . sooner or later , if Louis Napoleon -lives , he will send the elite of the French army to encounter the troops of Austria in the same plains and river 7 sicl . es where then * forefathers in the sixteenth ;' -. seventeenth ,, and eighteenth centuries foujrht and bled before .

    But , for the present , war has been postponed . Uaval- ' arid military preparations for what is ironically termed " defence" are somewhat slackened , though not altogether , laid aside . Lord Cowley has , at the- direct instance of the French ¦ Grovemriient , been sent with a flag of truce to Vienna , and fciendly ' . assurances have been offered to . the cabinet of fiei-lin . The ¦ ¦ .. hysterical request exacted from the 1 ' ope . that botli French ahd Austrian troops ' should , be witlidrnwn from his dorninions has been promptly complied Withj so far at least as the : preliminaries of . . evacuation are concerned , and the , Monitcur lias published a distinct

    announcement that the treaty of alliance . recently contracted . wifch the King of Sardinia only binds his Imperial Majesty to send . militaiy succour in cas « his ally should be attacked . War pamphlets have , been suppressed- in Paris during a' whole fbx-tnight , and--it ' jwi ' eet rnitraille of pacific articles has been directed against : those who conjure up groundless alarms . The ambitious bridegroom of $ he daughter of Piedmont has been compelled to retire ' from the administration of the colonies in

    consequence of the incompatibility of the viws he is known to entertain respecting foreign policy with those of MM . Morny , Walewski , arid Fould . Finally , the correspondence of the ruler of France witli the rattle-brained Knight of G ' ro ' yclon is -officially published , for the sole object , apparently , of telling the French people how solicitous their Sovereign has always been of the good opinion of England , and how deep is his chagrin at having lost it . The coquetry of moderation can no further go . «

    What has caused this sudden falling back from the position of menace assumed two iriontlis ago ? Three causes . . mainly contribute , ' we believe , to the resailt . The first arid , perhaps , the most unexpected check was that produced by the refusal of . Russia , when called upon to bind herself to any measures of active co-operation with Sardinia and Franco . Every art of Muscovite diplomacy had been used during the autumn to stimulate the policy of aggression in the councils of Paris and T . urin '; and the seal of the alliance sot by the marriage of the Emperor ' s cousin with Princess Clotilda its beliovod to have been nscribublo , mainly , to the personal instances of the Grand Duko Constantino . No fioont-r , however , had the sacrifice

    been decreed , and the garlanded victim led away , than tho Court of St . Petersburg became icebound , and signified tho impossibility of any open movement on its port which might lead to war . The manifest aim of Kussia now . appears to have been to commit its Continental rivals of the West to an internecine struggle , in tho midst of which its own resources mi ^ , without hindrance , be employed in accoinplishing those projects of aggrandiaeinent on the Danube and the Bosphorus , which it took all the Powers of the united west to frustrate five yenps ago . Nbxi eajne tho discovery that tho Austrian army was in a state of much higher eflioieucy , both as regarded numbers and spirit , than hid boon suppoaea . The strong national feeling , ( vvluoU tho threats of Fre ' noh aggression i « ousod

    throughout Germany , acted , no donbtj . in an important manner upon the temper of the Austrian troops " : '¦ for though it is true that a considerable portion of them consists of men of other races , it is also certain that the Teutonic element is the predominant one in the garrisons and camps of the Kaiser . Then- total " numbers have , for some reason or other , been generally arid greatly underrated . We have heard one of the most eminent diplomatists now living — and one whose means of information on the subject from personal knowledge are perhaps unrivalleddeclare very recently his belief , that Austria ' s

    muster-roll was much nearer th ^ ee-quarters than half-a-million of men . The army is described as admirable in its appointments arid discipline , and as being marvellously homogeneous in its temper and disposition . This was the second cause of hesitancy on the part of the ruler of" France . But there was another and a far more influential one . In spite of all the adulation paid him by the court and aristocracy of England of late years , the strongest disinclination was manifested by both to taking any part with him in Ms Italian project . On the contrary , many symptoms ^ betrayed themselves of a decided tendency in the opposite direction . The national will was never more

    strongly pronounced , or with more ¦ unanimity , on any " hypothetic ' question-.... If the Italians should prove themselves able to drive out their foreign tormentors , England would rejoice at their success , and recognise promptly arid cordially their newbornliberties ; but nothing should induce tis to allow a ship or a regiment to be sent . in concert with the forces of France to . ' make ¦ ¦ war in the o-enirisula . Louis Napoleon . ¦ hardly cotinted ,

    perhaps , upon Lords Derby -and Mahnesbury as fiivourers of his views ; but he certainly did reckon -r-and some say not without reason—upon the countenance and aim of their parliamentary rivals . The recent debates iri Parliament on . foreign affairs have dispelled these illusions ; arid the saturnine despot of the Tiiilleries , without giving way ' to ' ill-humour , Or admitting that lie has been out in his calculations , finds that he must hold his hand and bide his time .

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    THE REFORM BILL—OPINIONS REGARDING . IT . Tkn days have elapsed since the country was made acquainted with the terins of Lord Derby's bidding for- national favour on the subject of Reform . Many - of the greatest interests and weightiest judgments remain yet to be pronounced ; but enough has been said and . written to enable us to tell what are tlie more obvious driftiugs of opinion , and though there may be powerful under currents setting in , in a contrary direction , those on the surface are too important to be overlooked .

    Wherever public meetings have been held , dissatisfaction in towns more or less strong has been expi'essed at the non-reduction of the franchise in towns , and the transfer of the freehold votes from counties to boroughs . A comparatively small assemblage ( chiefly of non-electon-i ) , in Westminster , passed resolutions in favour of manhood suffrage ; , and many thousands pronounced in Lambeth the like opinion . But the general tone of the meetings that have hitherto taken lias been equally firm and moderate ... There wns sti'ong language' used , indeed , at Norwich , and one or two minor places , about the mipistry , which sounds to us oxtremely liko the echo of an eager and awkward suggestion from head quarters " town . Elsewhere there has been more of businesslike tone and judgment in the language held ; and

    wo hope , for tho credit of the middle classes throughout the country , that so great and weighty a subject as the future construction of our representative system , -will not be made tho pretext for miserable party recriminations . or personal feuds . It is quite possible that the Whigs may wakeir at last to a sense of what is really duo to tho claims of industry and intelligence , and tliat they may not only outbid their Toi'y competitors in thoir professions about lioform , but that they may actually give the proof , so long wanting , of sincerity as to their fulfilment ; . , But in common docpnoy they ought to refrain from party tauntings , until , as a party , they shall have regained something like a right to popular confidence in the matter , They had the opportunity any day these last seven years to secure the people much of what

    they wanted , in the way of improvements in their electoral system , but they wilfiiilly threw the opporturity , year after year ,: away . It may be that the Tories shall be adjudged by the country to have likewise fallen short of what it required ; but at least they have not ' shirked the question . They have brought in a bill which contains confessedly many good and right things , though it omits the larger and more important features' of substantial progress . They have staked . their existence , as an Administration , uppri their ability to carry some measure of the sort through both Houses , and if defeated on the second reading on any of its main provisions , it is now thoroughly understood that they have the power and the determination to dissolve Parliament . It would indeed be alike Unconstitutional and impolitic in the'Court arbitrarily

    to throw-any-obstacle 111 the . way . of an appeal to the nation . There may be , and wu iear 'there are , certain false Mends of the Liberal part } - who would counsel the Sovereign to trip up the heeld of her present-advisers , 'for the sake of installing the old clique of retrogrades and ' - -exclusives in power ; but no sincere reformer will lend any sanction to such plottings . If tlie present House of Commons be , as is said , tlie best fitted for canying the least possible measure of Reform , that is precisely the reason . why the Queen should riot identify herself needlessly , ¦ by a stretch of the prerogative , with its unLoriqured . existence 1 . There is no . subVersive or revolutionary fooling in the country that the Coui't have 'any piotenee to fear . There " is no dansrer that a dissolution by a

    Conservative Ministry will -produce a runaway Parliament . But , considering how undes'ir . ible it is that the question should be perpetually kept open , it is of real moment that a decisive , , though moderate , tone should be infused into the llo-iito of Commons , and that , -.- whatever ¦'¦ MunsttTr 'bo in power niter Easter , lie may Le able to carry an adequate arid sufficient bill . The worst that has been said , or- can be saidj against the plan riow before us is , that it leaves tlie nomination-boroughs" and the town . fnuichise . uritouehedi No doubt there is livutrh ibive in the argument tliat personal enfranchisement and the

    redistribution of seats . are . distinct '« . juostio ' ns , and that we shall be better'able to ilc . ' . l v . itli the latter efficiently next , session if We get a good suilrngc bill now . If , ¦ for . argument ' s sake , we admit to be the sound view of the case in point of Parliamentary tactics , it is all the more necessary that the present , looking sit it as A purely franchise measure , should be made satisfactory and comprehensive . This it will not be , unless the suffrage in towns is lowered to 5 / . or 61 ., and unless lodgers are admitted to vote who pay Ions tl-rnh Ss . ft week . The clause regarding the tnuir-iVi" . <> '' n'ec " hold votes from counties to towns Avill , we presume ,

    be abandoned . Mr . Disraeli has alromly intimated that the-rights of existing froehohk-rs will he saved , an option being given them , wo . presume , us to whether they will register , in town or in e . nintry . The mischievous crotchet about -voting pup"' * is also likely to bo withdrawn , nn'd w ' ilU these aiid other amendinents tho measure may , no doubt , be rendered iiiiobjcctionabk' sis far as it goes , 13 ut the battlo will come upon ( lie attempt to establish a principle of 10 / . linulily in oitu's am linmiiffliH . Tt , wns nn tin ' s ' miint that the UL'OplO 01 boroughs . It was oa this point tli . it the peopw "i

    Birmingham and No % ycastlo expruri . sodt hoin . sclYCS the other , day so -vehemently ; and it i < 'Upon tins point , we may be sure , that nil tho othor gi'cnt towns of the kingdom will mo .-t doc ' uk'dly pvonounce . On this point , therclore ; Lnrd Jolin Ilussoll may unhesitatingly take hi « ftnnd . lie can , with perfect honour and eonswteuuy , recur to tlio nieasures ho himself brought i ) i , in 1 ^ - "" > Sji * ' and argue with irreirngaUo ibrce that whnt lie then offiired is demanded by the country now . Ho will bo supported by ninetecn-twciilJcMw 01

    tho Liberal inembers of the IXouuo ol t-ominous , and if there bo renegades or desertorH , hu cun-wtu aflbrd to do without them . Only this is oloov , thut for any effective-purpose he must lay down broiuin as a principle andaplodgo , Unit the adjudication ui Parhainont on the ciuOBtion ought Jo bu no lon o ^ postponed . To do liiiu justice , ho would lia > o settled it—if it had boon loll to him to aottjo--lo «« ago 5 but ho suflbrod hjiuseU' to be Jmlhod nim oajojed by ill-advisore and nusleading colloagiios into foregoing his omx better jud « iiient ; . |> « vindicates the wisdom of . tl » Q wwo , " and Lord . loiin has now the plainest oouwo open to him winon 1 patriotic statesman can dosird . Alter yum a

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    aaa the xeaber . £ No ^ tf ( 6 i 8 »;^ w ^ ^ ig :. i 8 J 5 a-

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 12, 1859, page 338, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2285/page/18/