The Press.
London, England, 1856-01-12 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

shall palliate that foul bravado, that infamous
degradation of the humanities which, fearing the
strung, would insult the brave in their less fortunate
moment. The Gazette dc Berlin says :—" Prussia
does not consider her neutrality to be confined to a
state of inactivity. She has the duty imposed upon
her of insisting upon counsels of moderation and
peace." What attitude is Prussia prepared to assume
in order to apply the word "lust-t"? But even the
Anglo•alliance party in Prussia is apprehensive of
the future. The Prince Royal, in addressing the
officers of the garrison of Coblentz, with the Prince
Regent of Baden a: their bead, said :
Providence has permitted our country for the last year
to remain in a state of peace, yet that should not diminish
oar zeal for the service of the King, since the longer"
a pacific neutrality may be maintained, the more difficult
will it be to keep our army really for war. And this is the
object we must have constantly in view; so that when
called upon by our King, "nous soyuns prits au combat
et sie de la victorie."

These words, coming from the chief of the Anglo-
Prussian party, have a certain significance.
Bavaria, not backward in her antipathy to the
allies, and not caring to conceal her aversion to
France, declares through the medium of the Russian
journal :

We are quite aware that the French are determined at
the first opportunity of wiping out the stale received by
their armies under Napoleon, in their defeat by the Bava-
rian troops in 1813. It is well known that in the retreat
after the mink of Leipsig, the Prince de Yi'retle, at the
head ot• the Bavari...n army, almost annihilated the Young
and nothing but fragments of that corps ever re
turned to France, "Le successeur de Napoleon I. n'a
point oublie retie sanglante defaite et comme je vous le
disats hunt, 'ow train!' ici qu'il s'aisisse la premiere
occasion pour s'en venger ear l'Allemagne et speciale went
stir la Baviere."

These martial extravagancies have been caused by
the censures of the Times upon German neutrality,
made more unpalatable by the speech of the Eu►-
peror Napoleon at the close of the French Exposi-
tion. There is no need of spur to the animosity of
the French against Germal.y. They are ready for
the onset, and a worn will send them ►o the frontier
of the Emilie. In the meantime Prussia consoles
itself by substantial gains, which d, not prevent the
Zeit from an abuse of the Times in remarking
that—

La Prnsse s'enrichit par le commerce svec la Russie ;
elle autorise la contrabaude de la guerre qui fournit I ceue
puissance les moyens d.- soutenir lalutte.
In the lace of a fiat denial of the truth of this
observation, and which is called a " vieile chanson
sur un nouvel air," a correspondent from Stettin
asserts :

At no epoch of our history have our commercial relations
with Russia been so active ; it is almost tabulous, and,
unless I witnessed the fact (la verite ) with my own e)e.4,
1 should be tempted to believe th t it was only a myth
invented for amusement. One can hardly have an idea of
the number of carriages and mineaut, laden with immense
quantities of merchandise, coining from all parts of
Europe, that are to be seen on the road to Memel, Konigs-
berg, Polangen, and Kowno, on their way to Courhuld,
and from thence to the interior of Russia.

After this wholesale confession from Stettin, it
must require an ample share of hardihood to sit
in judgment on the Times fur asserting the identical
fact.
A manifesto from Munich, couched in firm and
temperate language, counsels the German Faderland
to be true to its common cause, and to assert a power
that shall command peace. It animadverts on the
reereancy of Austria in joining the allies even in
word. In the deed Austria is held to be deficient.
She is revised for being forgetful of the enemy of
old, Napoleonic Franc?, and is accounted to have
lost her claim to integrity, in exchanging that enmity
for friendship :
N'oubliona oas que la France est la nation militaire par
excellence. Ses auxiliaires sontpartout en Italie, en Non-
groie, en l'ologne, dans son indefatigable propagande litte-
raire, politique et sociale, dans la revolution qui n's pas cease
de reorder la France comme son Me?ale, mettle quand
celle-ci bailloneit la liberte. La temperament de l'Au-
trielie pent se (Mink en deux mots; le contraire de tout
ce qui fait la force de la France.
The camarilla of V►enna has taken refuge in
Munich.
In every German Cabinet the treaty with Sweden
is considered adverse to German interests, and the
expression of the Emperor, "II vaut une armee de
cent mines baionettes," is felt to be correct.
Notwithstanding the cold reception given to Count
Esterhazy at St. Petersburg, the propositions of
which he was the bearer are said not to have been
wholly rejected. A reserve may remain for further
negotiation. The stipu ations were supposed to
have been kept secret. Prussia, however, privately
and confidentjally obtained an authentic ver-ion, and,
faithful to Russia, transmitted the same to St.
Petersburg, so that they had already been fully dis
cussed when M. de Nesselrode said to Count
Nesselrode—" Mon maitre s'avisera."
A serious obstacle has been removed from the
ground of debate. Russia is said no longer to insist

31

upon treating with Turkey alone, on a formal ratifi-
cation of terms agreed and determined upon with the
allies. Russia had objected that any propositions
forwarded by Austria should tend—" a faire tout
regler, non pas entre la Russie et la Porte mais entre
la Russie et les allies substitues a la souverainte de la
Turquie," and it was demanded that the questions
concerning the Black Sea should be " retlees de
commit' accord entre ces drug puissances, non pas ,
mime dans touts la plenitude de leur souverainte,
mais sans que l'intervention des puissances &likes
soit ostensible." England and France peremptorily
refused. Turkey nut having the power to resist
Russia, applied for the eilectual assistance of the
allies, and placed her sovereignty in trust for her
own benefit; but the controlling power in the bene-
ficial interest is vested in the trustees, Eni4land and
France, until such time as the object of the trust
shall have been

J. E. L.

SIENA, Dec. 5.
WITHOUT presuming to animadvert upon the doings
of the chief magistrate of Auld Reekie and his
covenanters, yet it is proper to observe that his
address to the King of Sardinia, in reprobation of
the Roman Catholic religion, t 3 which he belo.iged,
has had pernicious effects in Italy. The archbishops
and bishops of the several States have denounced it
as an att rapt to stimulate a propaganda against
Romanisin in the name of Victor Emanuel. Austro-
papal partisans quote it in proof of the necessity of
stringent laws to check Protestant heresy, and pro
clamations have been alrea ly issued against several
liberal works reputed to be iui nieal to ultra•nontane
Romanism. Monsignor Romilli, Archbishop of
Milan, has sent a sharp pastoral to the librarians,
booksellers, and newsveulors iu tie Milanese,
censuring, and it might be fairly said anathematis-
ing, the various periodicals of tt.e day, in which it ►s
said that the light of Romanism is obscured uy the
profane applications of science to moral government,
and wherein au attempt is made to substitute pen.
deal infidelity for the holier precepts of divine Rome.
The Revue des Deux Minutes, tie English Quarter-
lies, and monthly Reviews, or all such of them that
►n any way treat of religion or morals, are for the
future strictly prohibited. censorsait) is about
to be most rigid, and a vigilant watch will be kept
upon teachers of languages. Were it possible, the
Archbishop would prohibit learning English altoge-
ther, and ass►tredly every obstacle will be interposed
to the diffusion of that language. To possess a
number of Punch, with the caricature of the Re-
demptorist FatheN would suoject time unfortunate
owner to incarceration or exile. The Bishop of

Bergamo has not been behindhand, and has
launciied his invective and interdict against all
literary journals and periodicals. It is evident that
the Vatican is more alarmed at the progress of
science and literature than at the direct attack on
Romanism. As a set-off to this iguoratit severity,
the Austrian Government has withdrawn the seques-
tration on the property of the Marchese l'allaricini,
who is in the Sardinian service; and probably the act
of clemency extorted from an uneasiness at the
present crisis of affairs, may be followed by others
of a simile tendency.
If the Roman priesthood is to save Italy, according
to the preaching of tile Ultramonanes, the supply of
the article at ltorne must furnish much cause for re.
joicing. The recent census gives the population at
177;461; and the ecclesiastics in 34 parishes com-
prise 30 bishops, 1,220 priests, 2,213 monks, 1,910
nuns, and 007 collegians. The nuns are not in pro-
portion to the sacerdotal emergency.
Baron Brennier, the Minister of France at Naples,
has commenced a new era of things. His language
is nut of a doubtful order; and the French steamer
that conveyed him is still in port, ready at a mo-
ment's notice for his service, should he taiie down
the imperial arms from the gateway of his palace.
.fhe mules bought in Sicily for the Crimea were for-
bidden to be embarked ; bui, since the arrival of the
French Minister, a counter order has been despatched
bj telegraph, so that the King has been compelled
to give way. French diplomacy in urgent clues is
vastly superior to that of England. It may be short
in manner, but it is successlul ; and the " stat pro
ratione voluntas " always commands a becoming re-
spect. With the Sovereign of Naples the appeal in
political muralny is not understood ; justice is
ignored, and mercy and truth have no place in the
13,mibaic vocabulary. A king of this temper
is a
mighty help to repuolicanism.

E. R.