The Express.
London, England, 1848-09-22 00:00:00

AUSTRIA.

•
We have letters from Vienna to the 17th. Boma
riots took place on the previous night, bat the
were cleared without any serious uences. News
had been received of the retirement of Hungarian
army to IVestzprins. By a telqraphio deepatch, it
was announced that the English line-of-battle•ehip
Jupiter, and the Fr..snoh frigate Psyche, had arrived
at Trie;te, with what intention was not known.

FRANKFORT flare. 17.
The ratification of the armistice of Malmo* was
voted yesterday in the Assembly by a majority of 21
—there being in its favour 2.57, and against it 238
votes. So I have been a bad prophet in my last
letter. I regret this for your sake and my own, bat
infinitely more for the sake of the Frankfort As-
sembly. It will cost that body some trouble to re-
'stabil& itself in public opinion, for something very
different from this vacillation was expected of
it. Petitions calling for the rejection of the
armistice have flowed in upon it from all
the great towns of Germany—even from those in the
Prussian territory. The Assembly, however, reset
not be too hastily condemned, even though it has rs-
tided the treaty. Rest sewed it will find other w-
agons to evince its and patriotiem. They
who count too much on this victory may find yet
that they have been reckoning without their host.
The number of the minority is within a trifle of that
(238) which gave the opposition the majority on the
question of postponing the execution of the armistice.
"The right" had called out its arri'ere-bars
to fill its ranks. All the Prussian deputies
absent on leave had been recalled. " The right" had
thus added 21" votes to those it brought into the field
on Friday last. In spite of all this there would still
have been a maiority for 'electing the armistice if the
deputies from Schleswig-Holstein themselves had not,
ratted from " the left" to the right." Various
et awns have helped to bring about this movement on
their part. In the first place, the Schleswig-Holstein
deputies believed themselves bound by ties of grati-
tude to Prussia. They said, "Proem was firet in
the field to fight for us ; she has shed her blood on our
behalf ; and now, if we vote against her,we shall entail
a great pecuniary loss upon her, and occasion to her
still greater political embarriUmnent." There is
nothing discreditable in this sentiment; but still it is
a mere personal sentiment, and overlooks the general
interests of Germany. Other motives have doubtless
had their inftuerce withone ce other of the Schleswig-
Holstein deputies. The Prince of Augnetenburg has
been seine days is Fienkfliet : he must have geed
reason to be content with the armistice, foe he is
understood to have laboured indefatigably to bring
over his countrymen to the Prussian aids of
the question. Certain it is that the deputies from
Schleswig-Holstein have, with one exception, voted
against the rejection of the armistice, and this alone
was sufficient to decide the question ; for the transfer
of their votes to the other side would of it•elf have
nearly equalised the numbers, and their example
would have drawn many after them who remained
hesitating and irresolute throughout the debate.
Two of our leading members have, is truth, asto-
nished the Assembly by their votes. Professor Waits
(of GBttingen), one of the Schleswig deputies, and a
native of that province, made the day before yester-
day a very effective speech against the armistice, and
voted to-day for accepting it. People puzzle them-
selves to explain this contradiction, but some folks
say that a German professor is capable of anything,
and probably M. Waits could allege more substantial
reasons for voting against his speech than for making
it The second turncoat is also a professor, and
(would it were not so) Ernst Moritz Arndt. This
veteran patriot has of late been losing every day a
radian of the veneration which used to be felt for
him. He has taught Germany sotto elect deputies
because they were Mamba patriots more than
a over On toold*g over the lists of the division, it will be
found that some scare of members have ratted from
"the left" to "the right." At the same time it will
be observed that the minority of yesterday is only two
less than theteila ority of eight days ago. The oppo-
sition has as many votes uit has lost. /tad
it must be in mind that the members for &hies-
wipHolstain and some others vote with " the right "
on this question only, and for personal (or provincial)
consideration. The circumstances of this defeat war-
' rant the expectation that it may, ere long, be repaired
b'Y a victory.
The excitement which the result of yesterday's
vote will produce throughout Germany cannot fail to
be great, and many will be found to have hopelessly
compromised themselves. All Frankfort was in
commotion yesterday evening. The windows, not
only of the conservative re-unions but of the
Westendhall dub, were broken. Excesses are
to be feared which cannot but subserve the
cause of inaction. The extreme left are
urgent that the whole of "the left" should
secede from the rest of the deputies, constitute itself a
separate Amembly, and recommence the revolution.
Several clubs, both in Frankfort and other parts of
Germany, have declared in favour of this step. But
ail the other sections of the opposition disapprove of
it, and it will not be taken. Three national assemblies
—one at Frankfort, one at Vienna, and one at Berlin—
are quite enough at once. To make two out of the
Fran/fort one would only be the first step towards
the assumption of a dictatorship by same perfidious
orator or lucky soldier. If we must have a dictator,
let him be appointed openly and avowedly; but I
believe Germany will do without one. The crisis is
a difficult one, but the good faith and earnestness of
en
immense majority of the people and the Assembly
are quite adequate to it.