The Express.
London, England, 1866-08-14 00:00:00

THE ';'"tKPRESS,

when the armistice came' witii the news 744"ti:iii
wonderful week of Pruimian conquests. That
came the naval battle off Lissa, a reverse infinitely
more disappointing and discouraging than that of
Custozes. Here was a fleet on which millions had
been went, loans and taxes lavished, a fleet to
which the building-yards of France, England,
and America bad contributed their resources,
and armed, it was supposed, with the most ,
destructive guns of the most recent invention,
commanded by a gallant seaman of conside-
rable reputation, and capable, as all the world
believed, of destroying every Austrian ship and
fort within reach of its broadsides. After
an inexplicable delay this fleet puts to sea,
and while bombarding the forts of Lissa for two
days in most gallant style, until the
crews and ammunition are tolerably exhausted,
is borne down upon by an Austrian squadron in-
ferior in number and calibre, and after a desperate
_ .

engagement, is burnt, sunk, or disabled sufficiently
to enable the Austrians to claim a victory, and
to compel the Italians not to dispute
it. Assuredly, we cannot be surprised if
the irritation and impatience of Italy have risen
to ouch a paroxysm of rage, after such a succes-
sion of untoward enterprises and deplorable re-
sults, that the nation is half disposed to go on
fighting for fighting's sake, rather than take the
prize for which it fought from the mediation of an
ally.
OUR CONTEMPORARIES.

(THIS DAY.)

TIM TRUCK DINAND ON PROWL.
The Times considers that whatever share the
Emperor of the French may have had in promoting, or in
seeking to prevent, the war, no one can doubt that its
result has been unforeseen and is peculiarly unwelcome
and distasteful to him. He hoped to play the easy and
glorious part of mediator between two great monarchies
worn out with a long and equal struggle, and he finds
himself, instead of this, confronted by a state flushed with
conquest, and issuing from the war far stronger than it
entered on it. The demand which the Emperor has made
upon Prussia the Times regards as ill-timed, unprecedented
(except in the case of the French demand on Italy),
ungenerous, and unwise. If Prussia were ever so anxious
to meet the wishes of France, such a concession is at this
moment most difficult. She owes her splendid success
mainly to the fact that she is not only the impersonation
of force, but the embodiment of a principle. That prin-
ciple is the unity of the German race under one political
organisation, the amalgamation of the small states into
which the fatherland is parcelled out, and the making all
Germany one land and one people. How can it be expected
that a minister devoted to this single idea can at the very
moment of its accomplishment, in the face of ell Germany
and all Europe, cede to a foreign power a portion of Ger-
man territory? Such an act would in itself half undo all
that has been done, and convince the German na-
tion that its destinies were in unworthy hands.
The Emperor of the French has for once been baffled by
events which no one foresaw. It is the lot of man, from
which even his sagacity is not exempt. But he would
turn a small check into a great calamity if he sought to
heal one evil by another, and to plunge France into all the
mi•eries of war in order to convince the world that he bad
rot been mistaken. In politics as in business, it is often a
good thing to know when to make a loss, and a check
patiently encountered is often the parent of a more favour-
able opportunity.
The Laity New, remarking as a notable circumstance
the seeming abstinence of Russian diplomacy in the pre-
sent critical state of Central Europe, proceeds to observe
that it will require the most delicate management on the
part of Napoleon 111. to draw and keep to himself any
share of that influence in Germany which Russia exercised
for nearly half a century. If, indeed, French arbitration
or mediation had been perfectly disinterested and accom-
panied by no demand of territory or implication of occult
suzerainty, it might be borne with or accepted gratefully.
But any advance to the Rhine on the part of France,
or even a quasi-legitimate wish to shield or defend the
minor states, can only appear to the Germans a resuscita-
tion of the old Napoleonic policy, which to them means
only degradation and disgrace. The political labours of
Napoleon 111. have resulted in the erection of two great
military empires on his frontier—friendly, certainly, to
him, and even grateful, but tolerably certain in future to
present far more serious obstacles than before existed to
an extension of French empire and dominion. That such
barriers should be erected, and that the most agg.essive
and domineering powers of Europe should be held ln
check by others equally compact and formidable is, the
Daily New believes, the very best of results. But that
this should be to the taste of ambitious countries and
restless rulers is scarcely to be expected.
If the French claim, writes the Herald, is put forward
only as a suggestion on the part of the French government,
it will be open to the governments concerned to take is
into consideration, or reject it, as they may think ads is-
able. If they reject what has not been asked, but only
insinuated, they cannot give umbrage or any fair ground
of quarrel to Napoleon 111. If it is put forward ass de-
mand, the case is altered. Belgium is not Along enou;b
to refuse any demand made by France, but any
compulsion put upon her will become a matter of
European importance. France can need no guaran-
tees in the direction of Belgium, and an very
well afford to do without Phillipeville and Marienburg.
If France has formally demanded the cession of Saarlouis,
or Landau, or both, it is because she feels sure that
the demand will be complied with without a murmur.
Her confidence can only have arisen from the fact of a
distinct understanding to that effect between the Prussian
and French governments before the commencement of this
war. If no such understanding exists the demand for
compensation is as rash as it is unjustifiable. France is
running the risk of a collision e:th a power which has
already made itself the terror of the Continent. The am-
bition to retrieve the consequences of the great disaster of
1815 is intelligible enough, and by no means discreditable
to the French government. The Herald trusts, however,
that it will be advised to keep such pretensions in abey-
ance, rather than press them at the risk of a general war
in Europe.
The Emperor Napoleon, says the Star, has hitherto
walked in prudent paths. If the insensate jealousy or
ambition of France should drive him to unsafe projects, to
dismember Belgium, as some fear he now designs, or to
insult Germany, another European war may result, as the
war which ended at Waterloo resulted, in the disastrous
fall of the unscrupulous ruler and the misguided people.
There is strong reason to hope that no such consequence
will follow on the step the Emperor has taken. It bears
every mark of a previous moingement with the astute
statesman who directs the policy of Prussia.
to I
NOWNLLANNOCII TOPICS.

In an article devoted to the state of parties in the
United States the Time believes it AM be a misfortune
to the country if Mr. Johnson is sacrificed, and a still
greater one if the radicals are able to dictate the choice for
the next Presidential election. Fortunately, the Presi-
dent has a cabinet which is little likely to lead bim into
excess, and the adroitness of the veteran politician who is
always at his right band may save him from any serious
mistake, even if his own excellent judgment fail him.
Dealing with recent events in Mexico, the Daily News
remarks that an incident of the short and sharp battle on
1 the plain of San Gertrudio—the desertion of an imperial
battalion to the liberal', at the crisis of an engagement—
shows the hollowneaa of the support which the Emperor
has hitherto received from native Mexicans ; a support
on which, to the credit of his intellizence, it must be ac-
knowledged he has not much relied. The Sierra Gorda
regiment, after replying to the order to engage the
liberals, and save the imperial artillery, with the
cry of " Viva la Libertad," went over to the
" enemy," i.e., to their own countrymen, and then turn-
ing upon their late companions, the " Austrians," as-
sisted in cutting them to pieces. It was the result of this
action which decided the imperialist General Melia to
abandon Matamoros, which could not be held with Mexi-
can troops on account of their propensity to desert. The
situation of these men of the Sierra Gorda regiment, im-
perialist until the decisive moment, and then suddenly
national, represents that of nine-tenths of the small body
of imperialists in Mexico. All events point now to the
speedy return of the Emperor Maximilian to Europe.
The Poet concludes an article on the same subject as
follows The French troops are quitting Mexico, and the

„

DAY EVENING, AUGUST 14, 1866.

T INTELLIGEN

FRANCE AND PRUSSIA.
The correspondent of the Temps at Berlin writes
as follows, on the 11th :
Business people begin to be seriously alarmed at the
possibility of a conflict with Pianos, and public opinion
is getting excited. The publication of a ministerial
decree, which orders the immediate recommence-
ment of the operations of the revision commission
which were suspended on the 29th of July has particularly
tended to augment this apprehension. This measure is
explained in official quarters by the desire to discharge as
soon as possible all the Lndwebr troops and the troops of
the line of two-end-a-half years' Barrios, but
the public see in it • proof that the govern-
ment is preparing for serious events. As for
me, I have good reasons for persisting in my opti-
mism. Ido not believe in the posaibffity of a conflict
between Prussia and France. On the contrary, I believe
es shall soon ass the proof of a formal Un-
dents/ding between both Powers. We have been made ac.
quainted to-day with the address of the Chamber of Peers
which contains this significant parssraph :—" We are in-
debted for having obtained such great results to the
wisdom and firmness of your Majesty, and, as we willingly
admit, to the mediation for preliminaries of peace of a
foreign power who has with disinterestednessand with
a just appreciation of the situation." I understand that Herr
von Reutel, the chief person under Count Bismarck, and
the director of the political business in the ministry of
foreign affairs, took part in the sittings of the commission
on the address, and that this sentence was inserted in
the draft at the suggestion of this high functionary.
The Efendard, which is generally considered at
semi-official, says :
What we can akin is that the negotiation commenced
is being pursued on terms of the greatest cordiality
between France and Prussia, the good understand-
ing between whom has not undergone any alters-
tion. We may therefore be permitted to hope for a
solution which, without being a cau►e of discontent for
Germany, may give to Fr►noe a security proportionate to
the interior changes of Northern Germany, and to the
public sentiment the satisfaction which has always been
-wired to it by the policy, at the same time national and
erste, of the Emperor.