Rassegna storica del Risorgimento

8
Howard R. Marraro
prcsent, and the p rescn t expectatious of the public mind, the sonoro us words quoted ainount ahuost to a dcclaration of war against Austria. That ehc so regards it is plain. The tclegraph brings news this morning from Vienna that a '' corps d'arniée *?, 30,000 strong are al ready in motion to reinforce the enormous mass of troops now gathered in Lombardy. There vili soon be two hundred thousand soldicrs in that province*
In the meantime the excitement of its population is as profound as any-thing can be vrith a race so shallow and unreliable as that which inhabits Italy. Every post brings news of repeated and violcnt provocation offered to the Au"-strian officerà and soldicrs by the populace. It appears that the military nave reccived strict orders to remain quiet under ali circurnstances, and they exhibit a forbearance and tempcrancc quite proportiouate to the turbulcnce of their puny adversaries.
It is the opinion of weUinformed persona that there would nevertheless be an immediate outbreak in Lombardy were it not for the expectation of approaching war. This alone holds the people in check. In the spxing, should France and Piedmont do nothing, there Will inevitably be some infiuxrectionary txouble there.
Such are the faets which are worth your notice. It is proper that I should give what information I can relative to the causes and the probabilities of the crisis. Six months since the politicai horizon was more than serene it has suddenly become dark with the clouds of war, yet it is difficult to say whence they have arisen. Nothing has apparently occurred to cali up the present state of things there are no questions of disputed territory or right between Austria and France and Piedmont, nor do the chiefs of the two last-named countries give any intelligible or admissable account of their motives. The Piedmontese declare they act from general opposition to foreign rule in Italy; the French from sympathy with the oppressed people of Lombardy. But these are not reasons for war at this time more than any other. Foreigners have pos-sessed Italy for a thousand years; Lombardy is not more oppressed now than it was six years, five years or four years ago. Indeed it has now mucb less cause to complain than it ever had before, for during the past year the Àustrian rule there has been very much relaxed. The Archduke and Emperor have both made every sort of effort to conciliate the Italian people, and the Àustrian Go­vernment has been for sometime past promising general refonns. In present occurrences there, there is really nothing to justìfy the demonstrations made abroad. Nor can any reasonable explanatùm of tbis sudden manifestation of hostility be given beyond the mere fact that France has a large army unemployed, and that Piedmont is always ready for war with Austria on any pretext from its gnawing ambition and rankling recollections of past disgrace.
esercitare una certa inflaenza sull'Inghilterra, la quale purtroppo piega ogni giorno verso
l'Austria.
L'opinione degli Americani avrebbe un peso sull'altro ramo della razza Anglo-Sas­sone. Conoscendo il suo patriottismo, confido ch'ella si adopererà a tutt'uomo onde gli abitanti di Nuova York inizino una serie di dimostrazioni a nostro favore
La prego a volermi tenere informato di quanto Ella farà e di quanto altri faranno in America per coadiuvare la santa impresa a ;ui stiamo per accingerci . LUIGI CHIALA, Lettere edite ed inedita cit., voi m, pp. 13-14.