The Press.
London, England, 1855-06-02 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

preign 6orrtspouttiut.

FRANKFORT, MAY 30.

It must be borne in mind that the present war is a war for
the balance of power, and that end will not be obtained if
Russia be weakened whilst the power of England is increased.
. . . . Austria has no interest in raising England to the
same predominance by laud as she now enjoys by sea.
Prase of Vienna.
THEEETORE she must not be allowed, if possible,
to be successful together with France in the Crimea.
The conclusion is inevitable, and the spirit of Austria
in the late conferences admits of no equivocal con-
struction. It is well that such sentiments be under-
stood at last. Better far a grim and overt foe than a
treacherous and treasonable ally with a smile on
the countenance and a false word on the lip.
Lord John Russell, early in the session, stated his
conviction that the treaty with Austria was not worth
the paper on which it was written. The house of
Hapsburg was faithless—ever faithless—now faith-
less. Thus spake the Whig. He subsequently
accepted the mission to 'Vienna, and abandoning
the straight route from Paris passed by Brussels,
where he privately left the impression that peace
was certain of accomplishment. Arrived at Vienna
he participated in the ceremony of admitting within
the pale of Christianity the eldest born of Hapsburg.
He dipped his fingers in the holy water, and gave
the young prince a Whig blessing. Did the water
remain holy "ex post facto" ? He then panegyrised
Russia, and assured Prince Gortschakoff that Mus-
covite honour should be carefully preserved as a
European necessity. In fulfilment of his pledge he
demanded " dishonouring" terms of Russia, yet on
leaving Vienna he declared to Count Buol his
willingness to support propositions that were in
reality " dishonourable" to England. At last pinned
by Mr. Disraeli, this Whig diplomatist vented his
mortification in a war speech, so superabundant of
contumely towards Russia that if it be true surety
for his opinion, it would make his conduct at Vienna
irreconcileable with the commonly accepted attributes
of integrity. Again, not satisfied with this, and
finding that he had offended the peace party, his
radical supporters, Lord John Russell on Cie follow-
ing day announced his readiness to recant his war
speech in favour of the ancient allies of Chesham-
place. The circular of M. Walewski is a cruel rebuff
•r him.

In Germany, and at the Diet, the effect of
Lord John Russell's conduct has been to an-
nihilate any reliance upon the English Ministry,
and to create a determination to act independently
of the Western powers. Prussia and Germany were
led to believe that the mission of Lord J. Russell
would be one of peace, the intelligence being very
positively conveyed from Brussels. "Le mot d'ordre,
c'est la paix." It reached the Diet and Germany
through separate channels, each proceeding from the
capital of Belgium. M. (le Bismarck on the failure
of the conferences repaired, by order, to Berlin,
where, with M. de Manteuffel and M. de Esterhazy,
frequent meetings have been held ; and Prussia and
Austria are now arranging their differences in order
conjointly to guard against a common enemy. There
is much to alarm them. In the meantime Austria
has again addressed herself by circular to the princes
to petition "ad misericordiam" for their neutrality.
The ambiguous expressions of Lord Palmerston
OD Poland, and the reception of the Polish congra-
tulations by the Emperor Napoleon, have led to an
immediate explanation at Vienna. But the direst
cause of offence yet remains to be narrated. The
reception given by the Queen and Prince Albert to
the Emperor Napoleon and the Empress Eugenie
has wrenched Germany from England. Teuton
race, Saxon consanguinity, German relationship, are
forgotten and obliterated by the heinous offence of
receiving the Imperial guests with cordiality, and,
above all, for having conferred the Garter on Napo-
leon 111. The trespass of the Queen and Prince
Albert against Germany consists in having been
courteous, loyal, and well-bred; and the exercise of
these social virtues towards the Emperor and Em-
press is in German jadgment unpardonable and
warranting a withdrawal from all but the coldest
intercourse. None of the German papers gave other
than a crude relation of the Imperial visit, and the
remarkable speech of the Emperor at Guildhall was
generally omitted. This was by command. The
immaculate Independance Beige did not dare to
shock its Orleanist readers at St. Petersburg. And
this Germanic condemnation of the Queen of Eng-
land and Prince Albert shall have a ready illus-
tration.
At the dinner of the English Embassy in Berlin,
in celebration of her Majest3's birthday, it was
prominently set forth in the Court Journal, that
"Baron de Manteuffel proposed the health of the
Queen of England, and Lord BloniSeld that of the

SATURDAY=

King of Prussia." The intrinsic value of the com-
pliment to the Queen shall be tested. At Kreuznach,
a small watering-place on the Nahe in the Prussian
Rhineland, there happened to be staying, during the
past week, a nobleman belonging to the " Maisons
Comtales," of Prussia proper. He was a field
officer, and well acquainted with the goglish lan-
guage, which now forms everywhere a part of German
education. After supper, and over has cigar, in the
saloon of the hostelry, he read in the Times the
description of the departure of the Emperor Napoleon
and the Empress Eugenie from Dover harbour. It
was there related that the delay in getting under
weigh being longer than had been expected, Prince
Albert returned three several times to shake hands
and bid farewell to the Empress. On perusing this
passage the Prussian courtier started to his feet,
drew himself up to his full height, and, pale from
passion, poured out in Prussian (that is to say bad
German) every abuse that words could convey upon
the head of I'rince Albert. No curse dredged from
the deep wells of jesuistic anathema was sufficiently
potent to slake the hissing rage of the Prussian
count. In this wild, incautious, and impolitic dis-
charge of temper, it may easily be imagined that
many secrets of the prison-house freely escaped,
and that the private sentiment of the Court to
which he was commissioned came forth without let
or hindrance.
A beautiful and imperial lady pays a visit to the
Queen of England, and having won the sympathy
at.d admiration of all, not less from the graces of
mind than those of nature, the Consort—let it be
more familiarly said the husband—of our beloved
Sovereign, loyally and courteously takes the hand of
his lady guest at parting, and expresses gratification
at having made her acquaintance. This is the
crime of Prince Albert in the eyes of Prussia.
Prince Albert may differ with many in England
on questions of policy,. Every one has a full right
to the liberty of thought and speech ; but there is
not a gentleman in England, not a man in the
empire, be he Tory, Conservative, Whig, Radical,
Quaker, or Papist, who, if his Royal Highness be
treated with disrespect by Germans for performing
gallantly the courtesies of royal hospitality, or be
lectured to shape his social intercourse to suit con-
tinental views, would not rally round him as one
man to resist an insult so personal and natural.
Let this fact be well understood—let the case be
truthfully stated—and it can be supported by ready
evidence teeming on every side—that Germany ries
sworn enmity to England, and Prussia in a more
especial and royal manner, for the offence of the
Queen of England in having welcomed to her palace
the Emperor and Empress of the French.
J. E. L.

SIENA, May 24.

There is a suspicious move throughout Italy. The
Pope, it is reported, declines to trust himself in
Rome, where he was to return this week, and pur-
poses to remain for the present at Castel Gaudclfo.
Beacon fires, as in 1820 and 1848, have been seen
occasionally at night on the mountain near Radico-
fani, communicating with others near Monte
Fiascone and Viterbo, on the Roman side, and
again with Volterra, and on by the Apennines above
Lucca and Massa, northward. The withdrawal of
the Austrian troops from Tuscany, the junction of
the Sardinian army with the allies, and the sight of
the Italian tri-colour on the Mediterranean waters,
in honoured alliance with the two great nations,
France and England, have assuredly given an im-
pulse to those who honestly desire to follow the
example of constitutional Sardinia. The Neapolitan
Bombs blurts out
Gene Mimics mibi Tyrrhenum navigat gequor,"
and fills the oubliettes with a few more persons
whom he may suspect of carbonarism. Mazza and
Antonelli, the two most depraved Ministers of Italy,
are on the alert, but have no means of arresting the
discontent of aa classes. The Austrians are exe-
crated in the north ; the King of Naples is loathed
for his personal acts of cruelty ; and Cardinal Anto-
nelli, the son of the brieand,is more feared than any;
but the greatest and acknowledged evil of Italy is the
priesthood. The entire country, from one end to the
other, begins to feel and to recognise the nature of
its incubus. The Italians have at last discovered the
" cause mali"—they are unanimous in their anti-
pathy to Rome, are convinced that the blow must be
struck in that quarter; and the power of the Vatican
is so far gone that it can only be maintained by
force, fraud, and cruelty. Were it not from the
dread of Red Republicans Italy would not be in her
present state. " Maledetto it prete" is the household
shibboleth.
The greatest anxiety prevails on the subject of
the Sardinian convents. Every temptation has been
offered, every artifice and menace has been resorted
to by the Pope and his camarilla, in order to deter