The Express.
London, England, 1864-08-23 00:00:00

ESPR,ESS FROM PARIS.

(mom milt owl oozazaroncerr.)
PARIS, MONDAY EYLNDIO.

German politics will continue for some time to
attract a liberal share of attention. The retrograde
step taken by the secondary states hardly modifies
the position, which remains nearly as unsettled as
before. One head is lopped off only that another
may arise ; and if one German diplomat retires,
others remain to barter and quarrel. We are
assured here, in quarters which must be well in-
formed, that both at Berlin and Vienna public
opinion pronounces itself strongly against an
Austro•Prussian alliance. Prussia finds herself
hampered by this alliance whilst aiming at supre-
macy; she looks upon the duchies as so much
territory conquered by her, and her alone. She
naturally asks herself what is to be done with them
To form them into a new state of the confedera-
tion would be to augment an evil system, created
in 1815, and consolidate a situation which has
been condemned by nationalverein, parliaments,
assemblies, and congresses. Her aim seems to be
Ito protect the duchies, at least for a time, and
what such a protectorate is likely to end in it is not
difficult to surmise. On her part, Austria is daily
opening her eyes to the folly of her past conduct,
and M. de Rechberg is severely blamed for sacri-
ficing the goodwill of staunch adherents in the wild
pursuit of an impossible friendship. _ _

On the visit of the Prussian monarch to the Em-
peror of Austria and the present situation of Ger-
many the Debate remarks :
It is very natural, under existing circumstances, that pub-
lic opinion in Germany should attach great importance to
the visit which King William is paying to the Emperor
Francis,/ oseph, and that the interviewof the two Sovereign'
should be regarded at Vienna sod Berlin as the ratification
of the new alliance which late events have brought about
between the two (great German powers. Will the two
monarchs 'noosed in coming to an understanding on all the
gnostic.' which at the present time still appear so divide
the two cabinets, and particularly on that which concerns
the ulterior fate and situ►tion of the Duchies? That is
what we shall soon learn. We shall await the results
of this interview to know how far it may justify
the enthusiasm with which the Vienna Gazette
now 'peaks. However great and however "glorious'
may be the event which brings the Emperor of Austria and
the King of Prussia in close alliance, we are not obliged to
look at it with the same eye as the journal of Vienna, and
to point it out as an essential gage for the maintenance of
peace in Europe, or as a guarantee for the independence
and the security of Germany. However that may be, the
two German cabinets appear to have agreed on striking
a heel, blow against the secondary states, and against
the Germanic Confederation. A letter • ildreesed from
Holstein to the Augsburg Gazette announces that
Prussia is on the point of occupying militarily the
whole duchy. According to that letter the allied
troops in considerable force were comenteated on
the Eider, and were to enter the Holstein territory
on the 20th. According to the imaniremente come to be-
tween the two cabinets, the Austrian, would occupy the
western side of the duchy. Thus, the two great powers
would reply to the warm reclamation. made by the mots-
dary states against the occupation of Rendaburg, by
adopting a similar movement for the whole of Holstein.
If this new coup d'etat be accomplished, what will become
of the federal execution decreed by the Diet, and of the
federal troops? Will the latter be forced to evacuate Hol-
stein as they did Rendeburg ? Then Count de Bismarck
might boast of having conquered not only Deomtrk, but
also the Federal Diet and the whole of Germany.

La Patric, in alluding to the interview of the
two German sovereigns, asks from what motive
Austria can yield so humbly to the exactions of
her powerful and ambitious rival. What interest
has she to show herself to Europe in the light of
an accomplice, and what is the price she demands
for yielding to the will of Prussia 1 What is the
secret connexion between the houses of Hapsburg
and Brandenburg, and bow is it that M. de
Reobberg resigns himself to follow so humbly the
footsteps of M. de Bismarck 1 The writer can only
imagine that Austria has demanded what she
demanded from the smaller states when she
assembled them—to guarantee to ber all her
possessions. But Prussia will not commit herself
so deeply ; she will only act as a member of the
Diet and declare that the line of the Mincio is
essential to Germany.
The King of Spain has taken his departure, but
before he left, the indefatigable publisher Dentu
bad a pamphlet on his voyage. I don't suppose that
many people will read it, nor do I think that those
wealthy enough to purchase it will be gained
over to the author's views of the Spanish alliance.
La France of this evening mentions a sad
event to which I alluded in my letter of Saturday
—the death of the Princess Czartoriska, daughter
of the Queen Christina of Spain—the France adds
"universally regretted." The deceased princess
had married the second son of Prince Adam Czar-
toriski.

The Presse, which has Russian tendencies,
points with satisfaction to the reduction of the
Russian armies. Once the great powers disarm,
then the European congress for the establishment
of perpetual peace becomes possible. To talk of a
congress whilst troops remained under arms was
simply placing the cart before the horses.
A letter printed by the Temps states that the
celebrated traveller Miani has received as a present
from the Minister of War at Vienna, for his new
expedition in search of the sources of the Nile, 100
muskets with bayonets, 0,000 ball cartridges,
10,000 caps, 100 knapsacks and croesbelts, and 100
pairs of steel-tipped boots. The cabinet of Vienna
is evidently not satisfied with Captain Speke's
discovery, and is determined to find new sources
by force of arms.

The Mositeur gives a prominent place in its
columns to such official news as arrives from
Mexico. The military and financial commissions
appointed by the new sovereign were, when the
last mail left, &boat to commence their labours,
the plan of which, we are informed, has been traced
with considerable ability by the Emperor himself.