The Express.
London, England, 1866-04-07 00:00:00

tween Austria

with France has hitherto

of the permanency of thi
Eirrraoz, it was argued,

soldiers of France until some

ef-guaranteeing_ both the repayment of the debt
ifulogpare, nch—r.o3Vernment by that of MAXI-
, and payment of interest On the loans
Prince had contracted in -ThuroPer and
which are, for the most pert, held by Frenchmen.
To have admitted this argument would have been
to' have bound France to persevere in a hopeless
and ruinous expenditure. How the EXPEROE has
solved this difficulty, or whether he has solved it
is not known, but he has very properly resolved
that his policy shall not be made contingent upon
its adjustment. Every creditor of Maxiguain
lent his money knowing that that Prince entered
Mexico as the representative of a foreign invasion,
and must be held to have been willing to
stake his venture on the chances of success.
The Archduke Maxtexuarr has contracted in
the name of Mexico a frightful load of debt,
which the country, even if it should ever acknow-
ledge him as its ruler, could never pay. Not even
the resources of France could avail to fill up year
by year the enormous deficit of the Imperial Mexi-
can treasury, which is burdened not only with the
expenses of government, but with those of conquest
and military self-defence. The experiment of the
Emperor NAPOLEON must soon have come to an
end even if Mr. SEWARD had not written a single
despatch. It is much wiser on the part of the
French to submit to the pecuniary loss already
incurred than to persevere in a ruinous expendi-
ture; and in this view, heavily as the monied classes
in France have suffered by the Mexican policy of
the Empire, and much as they have still to lose by
its failure, the rise in the French funds is abun-
dantly justified.

OUR CONTEMPORARIES.

(THIS DAY.)

Our daily contemporaries comment upon Mr.
Gladstone's ipso& at Liverpool on Thursday night,
but the pertinency of their remarks is considerably
affected by the second address of the right hon. gentle-
man which arrived at too late an hour to be discussed.
Thus the very omissions which appear to the Times so
seekers and perverse, and which render the Thursday's
address, in its opinion, so meagre, faint, and worthless, are
the prominent features in the subsequent speech. What the
Liverpool audience wanted to hear about, says the Times,
was reform, but it only occupied the fag-end of the speech.
In a neighbouring page, however, ere printed several
columns of observations from the right hon. gentleman
which treat of nothing else but reform. The Times com-
plains that to spend his strength on a review of the past,
and, when he came to deal with the present, to avoid
everything hie reel discrusion, was not respectful to his
bearers, was not respectful to parliament, to his opponents,
or to the scalar,. Mr. Gladstone, however, has, it will
be men, met this and all similar objections by the speech
which he delivered at the meeting called specially to treat
of end consider the question of the franchise bill.
The Daily News observes that Mr. Gladstone's speech,
by revealing the attitude of the ministry, has dispelled
the last illusion with which his opponents have beguiled
themselves. Two or three newspapers which claim
to be the unrecognised euperiorities of journalism,
and whish take upon themselves all the airs of

unappreciated genius, vaunting the unanswerable
character et arguments that have been answered
over and ever again, as a quack puffs the nostrums
which science has exposed and which good sense re-
jects, will no doubt continue to put forth the periodical
mixture of sophistry and railing to which we are semis.
touted. But every day their task becomes more hopeless,
and their temper less under restraint. The party to which
they are committed is pledged to fight, and it cannot win.
The genuinely liberal character of the speeches of the
three cabinet ministers, whose position and whose jeers
make it probable that the future of the liberal party lies
largely in their bands, gives the Liverpool banquet an in-
terest and importance beyond and above that of the crisis
and exigencies of the hour.
The remarks of the Pod, Herald, and Adrertiser 'come
generally within the description we have given of the
article in the Times. The Herald in particular says that
the cause must be desperate in which Mr. Gladstone had
nothing to my, and describes him as turning eagerly from
all praise of the bill. The only paper attempting to deal
with yesterday's speech 'is the Adrertiaer, and the re-
sult is not encouraging to hurried criticism, for one
part of the article is diametrically opposed to the other,
The burden of it is that the speech was flatly received,
but paragraphs are introduced in which enthusiasm is re-
ferred to as the characteristic of the proceedings.

• Grosvenort motion, by far the bolder course, or
pare in committee an amendment " That no part of this
1011 !hall, epply to. any borough returned in the Census as
of lees than 50,000 inhabitants." On redistribution neither
Mr. Gladstone nor Mr. Gosohen said one word, and the
objections to a bill without schedules remain just what
they were—namely, that it compebr the house to vote for
a great transfer of the sovereign power before it knows
the extent of the transfer, or to whom it will be made.
The Economist complain, that Mr. Gladstone did not
in his Thursday's speech try to prove that the bill
now before parliament is the best way to give
' augmented influence to the working claims. We
say, adds the Economist, that it is advisable to give
the working dames a real influence in the state—to give
them not only votes but members too ; but we my also,
that it is not advisable to augment the present corruption
in the small boroughs ; that it is advisable when we are
giving power to a new class, to see how much we are
giving ; that now we do not know how much ; that till
we know bow much, what we give is given upon imagina-
tion and in charity, not in policy or wisdoms ; that a bill
which is by avowal a preface to others must be eoniidered
with those others and not alone. The great majority of 1
the higher newspapers of Great Britain have said so too :
it is an obvious thing and a plain thing.
The Press accuses the authors of the Reform Bill with
making unconstitutional efforts to create a majority in its
favour, but they will not succeed in peeving it into a law.
In the opinion of the Prue those liberals who refuse to be
dragged through the mire at the lidding of Berl Russell
and Mr. Gladstone are fairly entitled to the gratitude of
their countrymen. If amber of the House of Commons
give the same verdict as that which hoe already been pro-
nounced by tin peb c, they will reject the bill on Its
second reading by a substantial majority.

councils and

conr4tatic.ms between the King and Count von
Bismarck are frequent, but we are yet ignorant of
any definitive resolution teen by them. There is
evidently a pause in the policy of Prussia which is
not war or peace, but which will incline by some
expedient or other hi the Alhection of peace if
!Ong William pesseverns in the sentiments which
animate him at present."
The Kreuz Zeitung says that the Diet, if called
upon to decide between Austria and Prussia, being
composed of States which for the most part are
opposed to' the policy of Prwada—would naturally
decide against her. How then could Count Mena-
dorff imagine that Prussia would be so simple as to
be caught by so apparent a snare 1 According to
the Kreuz Zeitung, therefore, it is not to the Diet
that,rwmia will consent to submit the difference
between her and Austria.
The correspondent of the Temps at Naples says :
We have in Naples sew facts and statements of facts
with regard to the general report. of war occasioned by the
announcement of the formation of two large corps &armee
at Bologna and Piacenza, under the command of Generals
Durando and Cialdini. The following are the facts which
have been acoomplished or announosd. The 26th and Nth
infantry regiments, which should have come into garrima
at Naples, are ordered to North Italy. They will march in
two or three days. The artillery at Caserta has been @vita.
Admiral Vaasa, whose fleet was to be stationed at Syra-
cuse, has been ordered to proceed to Tarentam and probably
to Ancona. Orders have been leaned for the re-equipment
of vessels which were placed out of minimising:ea. In the
midst 'of warlike reports of all kinds one ought not to go
beyond the exact %eta, sad the facts which I have stated
are those which have taken pines."
The New Free Press of Vienna says :

Baron Werther, the anibiisacior of Prude, had a eon.
ferenoe to-day (April 3) with Count von Mensdortf, but it
does not appear that he was In a pacrition to make any com-
munication to our Minister of Foreign Affairs with regard
to the reception of the note of March 3L We must not
deceive ourselves se to the effect which that note will
produce. At Berlin it will be regarded nether is a now
provocation than am an effort of conciliation. People
saytthere is a long way between mobilisation and actual
war, but Count von Bismarck, by his impudent and revolt-
ing circular, and Count Kerolyi, by his last note, have
greatly shortened that way. The alternative is
now placed before Pelmets in such a manner
that she can no longer prolong the present intolerable
state of things. The Berlin cabinet must fall back, or
fight. We have no fear of Austria's firmness and
energy on the field of battle, but we do fear
lest, by Prue& yielding a little, our too great
moderation may not make us pay too dearly for
peace, and lest we may be juggled by the cunning of a
thief out of that which he has neither the courage nor
the power to wrest front us as a btigand.
• (arovaa's vsuantam.)
VINI7NA, Arm 7.
Baron von Werther, Prnagan ambammadce at
_ _

Vienna, has delivered to Count Mensdarff the
reply 'of the Prussian government to the
Austrian note of the 31st ult. To this note
Count von Bismarck states that the Aus-
trian armaments admit of no satisfactory
explanation, that they cannot be accounted
for by any question of internal policy, and are pro-
vocativeof difficultiesbetweenthetwo states. Austria
cannot really consider herself threatened by Prussia,
otherwise: she' world have appealed to article
11 of the Federal constitution, which provides
for disagreements arising between members of
the confederation. The armaments of Prussia
are caused by the attitude assumed by
Austria, which has created the present
difficulty between the two states. Prussia
repudiates the accusations of Austria. She has
no intention of attacking that power.
The King of Prussia in no way doubts the per-
sonal friendly feeling of the Emperor of Austria,
and will ntaintain his own friendship for his
Austrian Majesty, unaltered by political considera-
tions.

.The note states in concinsion that it will be
in the power of Austria to prove by her course of
action her friendship for Prussia.
-The semi-official Nordc!attache Z►itung states that
the situation has not changed, and that the' arma-
ments are still going on.

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some way had ...n found by the bill, and if they are ... they will .eli I I *of yesterday says : -
wire
the repayment of the debt 'llt out on is no sensible change to-day in the relations
come. on do one of two things, either . .
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