The" Florentine incident" has ended in a substantial triumph for
Signor Crispi. The Florentine Praetor is, it is true, to be removed—not degraded—in order to avoid "personal complica- tions ;" but the Freneh Consul is not to stay, and the French Government acknowledges that his conduct was illegal. The Treaty of 1868 between Italy and the Bey of Tunis—reneited by the pact with France of 1884—is acknowledged to be the law of the case; and the property of the late General Hussein, as a Tunisian subject dying in Florence, is to be distributed by the Italian tribunals. The Government of Italy is quite right not to press the personal question, which, as Signor Tosini is neither injured nor overruled, does not matter ; but its sub- stantial success on all serious points should be noted. So, also, should the fact that immediately after the negotiations for a renewal of the commercial treaty between France and Italy had been broken off, M. de Mouy received orders by telegraph to resume them. These unusual results are partly due to the ability and firmness of the Italian representative in Paris, General Menebrea ; but they must also be ascribed to the sound foothold which Italy has obtained through her recent alliances. For the first time, she can negotiate freely without caring for the threats of the Parisian Press; and when Italian diplomacy is free, it is very hard to defelt.
