Before the Austrian Delegation, Count Andrassy gave explanations which were almost identical with those given by the Committee of the Hungarian Delegation, adding, however, that the crisis was now at its height. Replying to another question regarding Austria's military arrangements, the Count said that, as far as military matters were concerned, nothing had been done excepting what was indispensable for guarding the frontiers and for the accomplishment of the duties of neutrality. The only expense arising from the present situation was that of relieving the wants of the refugees from the insurrectionary provinces. He declared the statements that reinforcements had been received by the Insurgents from Servia and Montenegro to be exaggerated, and gave his assurance that everything had been done to keep aloof the inhabitants of those two countries from participating en masse in the insurrection. The Eastern Budget's Vienna correspondent, shortly afterwards, stated the posture of affairs as thus :-" The debates of the Delegations are proceeding most harmoniously, and the almost identical statements made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs to the Austrian and Hungarian committees on the great question of the day have produced a very reassuring effect on both halves of the Monarchy. Some of the delegates seemed inclined to look upon the non-appearance of the Red Book' this year as an attempt to curtail the rights of the Delegations, but the Minister easily dispelled this suspicion. It is evident that the negotiations which are still pending in the East cannot yet be made public, and it would be a mere farce to publish a 'Red Book' in which the most important question of the day would be left out. A more reasonable subject of anxiety was the attitude of Austria in presence of the events now passing on her southern frontier. In this respect also Count Andrassy gave explanations which have been received with unanimous satisfaction by all parties. People now regard it as certain that so far as the peace of Europe depends on the agreement of the Powers, it is not in the slightest danger. Another important declaration made by the Minister was his decided rejection of the suggestions made to Austria, both by her friends and her enemies, to take the opportunity of the present disturbances for enlarging her territory. By a fortunate coincidence Prince Gortschakoff's organ gave equally reassuring explanations almost on the same day as to the attitude of Russia. It will be some consolation to Austrian politicians to know that, notwithstanding the violent attacks made upon them by some other organs of the Russian press, the semiofficial Journal de St. Petersbourg has shown that the Governments, at any rate, of the two countries are entirely agreed as to their Eastern policy at the present juncture." The part played by Austria in the international transactions respecting the position of affairs in the Turkish Empire, culminating in the "Note" of Count Andrassy on December 30th, will find a fitter place in our subsequent narration. The strenuous efforts made in the interests of Protectionism as against Free Trade, which we had occasion to notice at the beginning of our Austrian record, bore fruit before the year ended. On November 26th Her von Chlumecky, Minister of Commerce, replying in the Lower House of the Austrian Reichsrath to an interpellation on the Customs question, said that Count Andrassy, Minister for Foreign Affairs, would shortly give effect to a decision already arrived at by the Government in October lastnamely, to give the British Government notice before the end of the year of withdrawal from the Treaty of Commerce and the Supplementary Convention, to notify the Government of France also of its intention to withdraw from the Commercial Treaty with that country, and to urge upon the German Government a revision of the present Treaty of Customs and Commerce before its expiration. After having come to an agreement with Hungary and to an arrangement with the German and French Governments with regard to the bases of the new Treaties, the Austrian Government, he said, would lay the draught of the new Customs Union before the Reichsrath as soon as possible. In its compilation every reasonable regard would be paid to the interests of Austria's commerce and industry. A general tariff would be presented to the Reichsrath simultaneously with the tariff of the Treaties with Germany and France, whereas no tariff arrangements would be concluded with England or other States. Herr von Chlumecky, in conclusion, promised the removal of existing abuses in the dressing of goods. The Ministerial statement was received with general marks of approval, and was referred to the PoliticoEconomical Committee, with instructions that a report should be promptly presented to the House. R CHAPTER IV. ITALY.-Garibaldi at Rome-New Cardinals-Debates on Ecclesiastical Affairs and on Repression of Crime in Sicily-Visits to Italy of Emperor of Austria and Emperor of Germany-Signor Minghetti on the State of the Country. SPAIN.-King Alphonso's Arrival-His Campaign in the North--Politics at Madrid -The King's visit to Espartero-Manifesto of Cabrera-Progress of the Civil War-Difficulties with America about Cuba-Letter of Don Carlos-Ministerial Crisis-Transactions with the Vatican. PORTUGAL.-General Condition. BELGIUM.-Diplomatic Dispute with Germany-Marriage of Princess Louise-- NETHERLANDS.-Leyden University Jubilee-International Association at the DENMARK.-Icelandic Althing-Volcanic Eruption in Iceland-Death of Hans C. SWITZERLAND.-Religious Disputes. GREECE.-Ministerial Changes. TURKEY.-Famine in Asia Minor-Rebellion in Herzegovina; its antecedents and progress-Position of European Powers-Turkish Budget and RepudiationCount Andrassy's Note-Firman of December 14-Servia and Montenegro. EGYPT.-International Court-Suez Canal; Khedive's interests in it-Egyptian Finance-Abyssinian War-Colonel Gordon. ITALY. ITALY passed a prosperous and tranquil year. In January her veteran patriot, Garibaldi, made his appearance in Rome to claim his seat among the Deputies to Parliament. Immense crowds hailed his appearance, and enthusiasm ran high when the General, bowed by infirmity rather than by age, appeared in the traditional costume, red shirt, white mantle, and blue cap embroidered with gold, his son Menotti and a few other attendants guiding him through the throng. Speaking from his carriage to the crowds, he said: 66 Certainly the honour you have done me is higher than I merit. In finding myself once more among you I cannot but remember the glorious and patriotic days of 1849. I beg you also to be calm and to preserve the most perfect order, for the least disturbance would be a cause of great grief to me." Again he addressed the people from the balcony of his hotel:"Romans," he said, "You know that when I am among you I am, as it were, in my own family. I am no orator. I speak as best I can, and in a word I tell you to be calm, be serious, show yourselves men by your deeds and not by mere words. I thank you heartily and now beg of you to disperse quietly." And indeed it had been expected that Garibaldi's arrival in Rome would be the signal for political disturbance. The Pope was extremely uneasy. Some said that he suffered greater mental agitation that day than at any previous crisis of his relations with the Italian people. But the popular hero had come with peaceable thoughts and useful projects in his brain; not to set up a Republic, but to drain old Father Tiber, or rather to divert that river from its present channel and make another course for it, so rescuing the city from the frequent inundations and malaria to which it is liable. He aimed, indeed, at three things:-the embankment or canalization of the Tiber in the vicinity of Rome, so as to relieve the city from inundations; the improvement of the navigation from the city to the sea, with the construction of a port that should be a harbour of refuge; and lastly, the purification of the pestilential Agro Romano. His first idea was to make a port a little to the south of ancient Ostia, to canalize the Tiber as far as Rome, and by enlarging the width of the river, increasing its depth, and cutting off many of its tortuous windings, admit the sea water up to the very walls of the city. The impracticability of this scheme having been demonstrated to him, he then proposed making a port at Ostia itself or rather at the mouth of the river, just beyond where the remains of the ancient city stand; but a very slight examination convinced him that here, too, insurmountable difficulties stood before him; and so, finally, at the suggestion of the engineer Temenza, he turned his thoughts to Fiumicino, the spot which the great Julius had chosen as the true site for the port of Rome. To test the possibility of carrying out his object at Fiumicino, Garibaldi went down to that place, surveyed it, and having ascertained by sounding that at a comparatively short distance from the shore a depth of nearly six fathoms existed, there he determined that the new port of Rome ought to be created. He proposed to throw out from the southern side of the mouth of the canal a great breakwater, extending about a mile and a quarter in a direction at first westerly, and then, following the segment of a circle, sweeping round due north, thus affording a sufficient protection from the prevailing storm winds which blow from the south-west. At the same time, according to this scheme, the Claudian Canal was to be widened so as to admit the sea up to its point of junction with the Tiber, and at that point locks were to be placed in order to prevent the river mud from washing down and making deposits within it and upon the bottom of the harbour. This, it was calculated, would also have the effect of removing the turbid quality of the sea at Fiumicino, caused, in fact, by the flow of the Tiber mud into it, and make the place eventually practicable as a bathing station. With regard to the Tiber it is proposed by Amadei,—one of the engineers whose opinion Garibaldi has consulted,—says an informant, writing on the 17th March, "to cut a canal from the point where above Rome the Teverone flows into the Tiber, and carrying it round the southern side of the city along the valley which bounds the table land extending from the Quirinal, Viminal, and Esquiline Hills, or rather promontories, where the new city is rising, make it join the Tiber again near the Basilica of St. Paul, thus diverting the river altogether from the city. The cost of the canal, the rectification of the course of the Tiber, where between Rome and the mouth it is most tortuous, and the construction of the breakwater at Fiumicino, Amadei estimates at 60,000,000f. The engineers Giordano and Laudi have also been instructed by Garibaldi to prepare plans, and Baccarini and others are doing the same for the Minister of Public Works. Garibaldi is decidedly favourable to Amadei's scheme, but, on the other hand, the idea of banishing old Father Tiber altogether from the city is likely to meet with considerable opposition, nor does there seem to be any absolute reason why so extreme a measure should be taken." These were the plans the old hero came to discuss and propagate. How far they were favourably entertained or modified by the Legislature is matter for future history. His interview with the King of Italy on the 30th of January was of a cordial and mutually respectful character. No spectator save Menotti Garibaldi was present; but the King, on his leaving, accompanied the General to the door. Their "talk had been of cattle," i.e., of the Tiber and Campagna improvements. Shortly afterwards Garibaldi delivered an address to the working men of Rome, in which, after exhorting them to bring up their sons as artisans, so as to ensure them a honest and laborious occupation, he concluded with the following gratifying compliment to our nation: "Be as the Romans your forefathers were-steady, undaunted, unflinching, persevering. Imitate the English of modern days, and particularly in the serious purpose they throw into all they do; in what they call 'steadiness' (and here he used the English word). In my opinion, the English bear a greater resemblance to the ancient Romans than any other modern people. Nothing daunts them; whatever they desire to accomplish they set about with an earnest, steady will, which seldom fails in obtaining its end. They are never beaten down by misfortune. Follow in their footsteps. This is the advice I have to give you as your friend and your brother." Most curious at this period of her history are the contrasts which the Eternal City presents. Side by side with the picture of Garibaldi addressing the working men of Rome in the foregoing strain, we have to place that of Pope Pius IX., elevating six Ecclesiastics, sworn champions of Ultramontane bigotry, to the rank of Cardinals. The ceremony took place solemnly, but without the pomp of old days, on the 16th of March. The Pope, in an Allocution delivered on the occasion, expressed regret that he could not invest the creation of the new Cardinals |