The Express.
London, England, 1859-07-19 00:00:00

entbaaiasm to the contest would be victorious.

°Unhappily the result hu not corresponded with

the general effort, and the fortune of war has not

beenfavonroble to us.

" The valiant army of Austria his in this instance

• again given proof. of its tried heroism and its in-
comparable perseverance so brilliant that it has

commanded the admiration of all, even of its enemies.

I experience a legitimate pride in being the

chief of such an army, and the country
ought to feel indebted to it for having
maintained vigorously, in all its parity, the honour
of the Austrian flag.
"It is not less perfectly established that our
enemies, in spite of the greatest efforts, in spite of
the superior forces which they had for a long period
been preparing for the conflict, have been able, even
by making the greatest sacrifices, to obtain only ad-
vantages, not a decisive victory ; while the
Austrian army, still animated by the same
ardour, and full of the same courage, main-
tained a position, the retention of which left
perhaps a possibility of recovering from the enemy
all the advantages that he had gained. But for this
purpose it would have been necessary to make new
sacrillose, which certainly would not have been less
bloody than these which have been made already,
. .

and which have deeply afflicted my heart.
" Under these conditions it was my duty

as • sovereign to take into . serious con-
sideration the propositions of peace which
had been made to me. The consequences of this
continuance of the war would have been so much the
heavier, because I should have been obliged to
demand from the faithful people of my dominions
new sacrifices of blood and of money much more con-
siderable even than those which had been made up
to that time. And, notwithstanding, sue-

oess would /re remained doubtful, since I hive beau
mo bitterly deceived in my well-founded hopes that
this contest not having been entered into for the de-
fence of the rights of Austria only, I should not be
left alone io it.

" In spite of the ardent sympathy worthy of
acknowledgment which the jostles of our cane bee
inspired, for the most part, in the journals and
peoples of Germany, oar national allies, our most
ancient allies, have obstinately retried to recognise
the great importance of the grand question of the
day. Coaseqoently Austria would have been obliged
all alone to face the events which were being pre-
pared for, and which every day might have rendered
raw rave.
"The honour of Austria coming intact out of this
war, thanks to the heroin efforts of her valiant army,
I have resolved, yielding to political considerations,
to make a sacrifice for the reestablishment of
peace, and to accept the preliminaries whisk
ought to lead to its conclusion ; for I have
acquired the conviction that I should obtain
in any event conditions less unfavourable in coming
toe direct understanding with the Emperor of the
French, without the blending of any third party what-
soever, than in causing to participate in the nerd*.
Lions the three great powers which have takes
no part in thestruggle. Unhappily I Dave been unable
to escape the separation from the rest of the empire I
of the greater part of Lombardy. On the other
hand, it must be agreeable to my heart to
see the blessings of peace assured afresh to I
my beloved people, and these blessings are doubly
precious to me, because they will give me the
necessary leisnre for bestowing henceforth without
distraction all my attention and solicitude on the
fruitful task that I propose to accomplish—'
that is to say,to found in a durable manner the inter-
nal well-being and the external power of Austria by
the happy development of her moral and material
forces, and by ameliorations conformable to the spirit
of the time in legislation and administration. As
in these days of serious trials and sacri-
fices my people have shown themselves faith-
ful to my person, so now by the confidence
with which they respond to me they will aid in
accomplishing works of peace, and in attaining the
realisation of my benevolent intentions.
As chief of the army, I have already expressed
to it, in a special order of the day, my acknowledg-
ments of its bravery. To-day I renew the ex-
pression of these sentiments. While I speak
to my people I thank those of their chil-
dren who have fought for God, their Emperor,
aid their country. I thank them for the heroism
of which they have given proof, and I shall always
remember with grief those of our brave companions
in arms who have not, ales! returned from the
combat.

(Signed) " FitAzicis Joszpo.
"Laxenbourg, 16th July, 1869."