The Express.
London, England, 1866-07-23 00:00:00

,LIGENCE.

The acceptance of an armistice between Austria
and Prussia, to continue for five days, is confirmed,
and the acceptance of the preliminaries of peace,
based on the exclusion of Austria from the Ger_
man Confederation, is also stated to be a fact.
But it appears that the basis of peace
' proposed by Italy, namely, the possession by
Iltaly of the Trentino, which she regards as the
key to the country, has not yet been accepted by
Austria, and we learn from Italy that 'her armies
will advance till they have possession of the Italian
Tyrol. The disaster which appears to have been
sustained by her fleet idling" will only make the
Italian army and people more determined to ad-
vance until they occupy what they claim to be
Italian territory. It is not alone in Italy that the
movement of the army is continued. Almost
simultaneously with the announcement of the ac-
ceptance of the armistice, we find that the Prus-
sians are concentrating their forces in front of
Vienna. A despatch from Nioolsburg, dated on
Saturday last, says : "The Prussian troops continue
to be concentrated onthe Marchfeld—A division has
marched through this place in a southerly direction,
and more troops were expected on that day." It
may be taken for certain that the Austrians will
take advantage of the truce to concentrate all
the troops they can in and around Vienna, so
that should the propositions for peace fail,
the battle that is to decide the fate of the
empire will only be more extensive and
decisive than before. Some of the Vienna journals
are disposed to accept the position created by the
Prussian victories, and they even go so far as to
say that Austria would be all the stronger by her
exclusion from the Germanic confederation. But
it must be borne in mind that Austria is now a
member of the confederation with a population of
some 12,000,000 Germans, and that a German
confederation with such an amount of the German
population excluded would be far from that
German unity which is the aspiration of almost
every German and which is said to be the
real aim and object of Count Bismarck's
policy. There are the provinces of Upper
and Lower Austria, Styria, Carinthia,
Carniola, Austrian Tyrol, as well as the large Ger
Irian element in Moravia and Bohemia, and how to
reconcile the possession of these provinces and
elements by Austria with the unification of Germany
will be a difficult problem for diplomatists to settle.
Austria, in her present position, would indeed come
well out of the war—all her possessions save those
in Italy, which were a source of weakness, being
left intact. She would have lost prestige and
nothing more, and might wait for some favourable
opportunity of attemptingto reconquer in Germany
that pre-eminence which her traditions will never
allow her to resign without a present regret and a
future hope. One thing is quite certain that that
combination which was meant by the diplomatists
of Vienna to be "an eternal league, to be denomi-
mated the German Confederation," exists no longer,
and will never reappear.
The Prussians are not only concentrating
before Vienna, but they have left Frank-
fort in a southerly direction, no doubt
in search of the Federal and Bavarian
armies. At Frankfort they have left reminiscences
which the inhabitants will not soon forget. Sena-
tors and journalists have been imprisoned, journals
have been suppressed, notices issued that all the
saddle and coach horses in the city should be
I assembled for the inspection of the Prus-
sian Cavalry Inspector any defaulter in
this respect to be fined 100 thalcrs, and finally
contributions in money ordered which amount to
401. for each of the 60,000 inhabitants of the late
Free City, and the seat of the German Diet. There
was a report in Berlin that Count Bismarck asked
the King of Prussia to have the city of Frankfort
placed under his special orders.
The accounts from Italy, both with regard to the
encounters between the volunteers and the
Austrians, and between the hostile fleets in the
Adriatic, are so conflicting that the reports of im-
partial correspondents can alone rectify them. In
the naval engagement the Austrians seem to have
had the best of it, but the Italians appear to have
fought their ships with great bravery.
THE CAMP AT FLORISDORF.
- - -

WAR.

The camp at Floriadrof is covered by considerable
works, but without any revetment, and separated
by long intervals, so that the troops can easily
debouch in order to attack. On the left is rests on a
little affluent of the Danube in front of the village
of Jedelsee. It was necessary to bring this first
work as near as possible to the Ute de punt in order
Ito avoid the extensive prospect downwardsfrom Bis-
amberg, which is situated some thousands of yards
more to the west. It was necessary to give
greater prominence to this fort in order the
better to protect the ground behind from
being enfiladed. From Jedelsee the camp
makes a circuit by the village of Jedlersdorf,
having outside and in front of it Leopoldau, and
Kagran. On its right it rests on the Danube.
Communications are established between the
numerous isles distributed in the bed of the
river, which may serve as a rendezvous for the
defenders of the camp if unsuccessful. It is
always a dangerous operation to accept battle with
a river behind. Benedek, who fought with the
Elbe in his rear, found it to be so. But in
the present case Austria has hardly any other
choice. To fight a battle in the open field against
troops flushed with success would not be prudent,
and to abandon Vienna would be to acknowledge
that a single disaster had destroyed the power of
the empire. To make a last struggle, then,
within an entrenched camp was the only alternative
that remained. It is the opinion of the Debata
that even should the negotiations for peace fail, the
Austrians will not fight, but abandon the city.
There are now said to be 600,000 men assembled
either for the attack or defence of the city.

(arrizt's 11111/01•103.)
AUSTRIA AND PRUSSIA.

PARIS, JOLT 23.
Aust-ia him accepted the preliminaries of peace
proposed by Prussia.

THE WAR IN ITALY.
FLORENCE, JULY 22, EVEWiWO.

The conditions placed by Italy to her acceptance
of the armistice, and communicated to Prussia and
France, particularly with respect to the Tyrol, have
not yet been accepted by Austria.
According to the Rabe, the commanders of the
Italian army have declared that no suspension of
hostilities can take place between Austria and Italy
before the present military movement has been
completed, and the Italian army corps have secured
a safe and regular position.
The Austrian commanders in Venetia have im-
posed extraordinary taxes by way of fine upon
those localities where public rejoicings took place
in celebration of the cession of Venetia by Austria.

NEW ZEALAND.
PLYMOUTH, JULY 23.
The Celaeno, Captain Renant, from Otago on