The Express.
London, England, 1866-09-18 00:00:00

IMPORTANT FRENCH CIRCULAR NOTE.

The Moniteur of yesterday state,' that that the
Marquis de Lavalette, ad interim Minister for
Foreign Affairs, has addressed the following cir-
cular to tha diplomatic agents of the Emperor :

Paris, Sept. 16.
Sir,—The government of the Emperor can no
longer withhold the expression of its sentiments
co the events which have lately been ac-
complish in Germany. As M. de Moustier
cannot immediately assume the duties of his office,
' his Majesty has directed me to explain to his
agents the motives whic determine his policy.
The war which recently broke out in the centre
and South of Europe has destrord the Germanic
Confederation and finally established Italian na-
tionality. Prussia, whose territory has been en-
larged by victory, has extended her authority as
far as the right bank of the Maine. Austria has
lost Venetia, and is also separated from Germany.
4n contemplation of these great changes, 0% ery
State has a sense of its own responsibility brought
home to it ; each asks what is the significance of the
. .

justconcluded, what will beita influence on
peace
European order, and how it will affect the situation
Of each power among other nations.
Public opinion in France is excited. It fluc-
tuates uncertainly between joy at seeing the
treaties of 1815 destroyed, and fear at seeing the
power of Prussia assuming excessive proportions ;
between a desire for the maintenance of peace
and the hope of obtaining a territorial aggrandise-
ment by war. It applauds the complete enfran-
chisement of Italy, but has its fears as to the
dangers which may menace the Holy Father.
The perplexities which agitate the public mind,
and which have their echo abroad, impose on the
government the duty of clearly stating its views.
The policy of France cannot be equivocal. If
it had been attacked in its interests and its force
by the important changes which have been made
in Germany, it would be its duty to say so frankly,
and take the measures required for its security. If
it suffers no damage from those transformations, it
should sincerely declare that conviction and oppose
those exaggerated apprehensions and ardent
opinions which by exciting international jealousy
'would violently carry it out of the road which it
• should follow.
In order to put an end to doubt and establish
conviction, it is necessary to look at the past as it
was, the future such as it appears in prospect.
What do we see in the past Z After 1815 the
Holy Alliance united all the peoples of Europe,
from the Ural to the Rhino, against France. The
Germanic Confederation, with Prussia and Austria,
included a population of 80 millions ; it extended
from Luxembourg to Trieste, from the Baltic to
Trent, and enclosed us within an iron girdle,
strengthened by live Federal fortresses. Our stra-
tegic position was hemmed in by skilfully con-
structed territorial arrangements. The least diffi-
culty which we might have with Holland or with
Prussia on the Moselle, with Germany on the
Rhine, with Austria in the Tyrol, or the
Friculi, would have caused all the forces
of the Confederation to be arrayed against us.
Austrian Germany, inaccessible on the Adige,
might advance at heir ci,wqchosen time as far as
the Alps. Prnesian elermany had fa/ its advanced
guard on the Rhine all the secondary States, which
were continually agitated by desires of political
change, and which had been taught to regard
France as the enemy of their exiistence and aspira-
tions.

With the exception of Spain, there was no
nation of the Continent with which it waa pos-
sible for us to contract an alliance. Italy was par-
celled out and powerless. Prussia was neither COL,-
pact enough nor sufficiently independent to break
away from its traditions. Austria was too much
occupied with the care of its possessions in Italy
to be able to come to an understanding with us.
No doubt the peace which was so long main-
tained threw the dangers of these territorial ar-
rangements into the back g-ound, for it is the
prospect of war which makes them formidable. But
France obtained this precarious security at the
price of being deprived of its proper part in the
world's affairs. It cannot be denied that in a
period of nearly forty years France saw boldly
standing up against her the coalition of the three
northern courts united by the memory of common
victories and defeats ; by analagous principles of
government, by solemn treaties, and by distrust of
our liberal and civilising action.
If now we examine the future of transformed
Europe, what guarantee does it present to France
and to the peace of the world ? The coalition of
the three northern courts is broken up. The new
principle ruling in Europe is the liberty of alli-
ances. Each of the great powers is restored in
turn to the plenitude of its independence, and the
regular fulfilment of its destinies. Prussia, aggran-
dised, and henceforth free from all solidarite, is
a security for the independence of Germany.
France should not take this amiss. Proud of its
own unity, and its indestructable nationality, it
will not feel disposed to oppose or to regret the
work of assimilation which has just been accom-
plished, and to subordinate the feelings of jealousy
the principles of nationalities which it represents
and professes towards the peoples. By mutating
France, Germany has taken a step which draws her
nearer to us.
In the south, Italy, whose patriotism a long
experience of servitude could not extinguish, has
been placed in possession of all the elements of its
natural greatness. Its existence profoundly modi-
fies the political condition of Europe ; but not-
withstanding unretlecting susceptibilities and tran-
sient injustice, it has been drawn nearer by its
ideas, principles, and interests to the nation which
gave its blood to aid Italy to obtain Its inde-
pendence.
The interests of the Pontifical throne are assured
by the convention of September 15. This conven-
tion will be faithfully executed. While withdraw-
ing his troops from Rome, the Emperor leaves
there as a guarantee of the security of the Holy
Father, the protection of France.
In the Baltic as well as in the Mediterranean
second clans naval powers are arising favourable to
the liberty of the seas. Austria, relieved of her
Italian and German leanings, and no longer em-
ploying her forces in barren rivalries, but concen-
trating them upon the East of Europe, still repre-
sents 35 million souls, whom no hostile interests
separate from France. By what singular reaction
of the past upon the future shall public opinion see,
not the allies, but the enemies of France, in nations
liberated from a past that was hostile to us, and now
called to enter upon a new existence guided by prin-
ciples which are our own, and animated by the
sentiments of progress which form the pacific link
of society t
An Europe more strongly constituted, and more
homogeneous bybetter defined territorial divisions,
is a guarantee for the peace of the continent, and
is neither a peril nor an injury to our nation.
France with Algeria, will soon number 40,000,000
inhabitants ; Germany, 37,000,000, of whom
29,000,000 will be in the Confederation of the
north, and 8,000,000 in that of the south; Austria,
35,000,000 • Italy, 26,000,000 ; Spain, 18,000,000.
What is there to disturb us in this distribution of
European forces ?