The Express.
London, England, 1866-06-09 00:00:00

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Although the Prussian ana
in the Duchies have managed to avoid a conflict,
'each seeming desirous of avoiding the responsibi-
lity of striking the first blow, the hope of main-
taining peace is all but abandoned. General
'lGablenz, with his small force, has retired before
General Manteuffel, and two of the principal towns
in Holstein lately in the administrative occupation
of Austria are now in the hands of the Prussians.
The question now arises, will Austria attempt to
convoke the Holstein Estates at Altona, and if so,
will the Prussians force General Gablenz to evacu-
ate Altona as he has Kid and Rendsburg
In the present temper of the antagonists every one
must feel that this continued pressure put upon
Austria must inflame the popular and military
sentiment of the empire to the utmost ; and the
Emperor will be compelled to adopt some decisive
course. He will, in all probability, either order
General Benedek to advance into Prussian
Silesia, or call on the German Diet for
Federal execution against Prussia. In the
former case war would exist ; in the latter
it may be deferred for yet some days ; but no
illusions as to the permanence of peace exist either
in Berlin or Vienna. The Prussian government
have made the final arrangements for the defence
of the Silesian frontier, and there is a rumour of
suspension of the Prussian constitution, so as to
remove every obstacle to the free and unfettered
action of the government. The Vienna Gazette
on its part declares that the pressure put on
Austria in Holstein is a real commencement of
hostilities.
On the Italian side of the question the Italia and
Opinione both speak of war as an event that must
take place in a few days at the utmost, and some
of the foreign correspondents go so far as to indi-
cate Monday or Tuesday next as the day when the
die will be cast. It results from the intelligence
that arrives from all quarters that the opposing
forces are about to clash, but the chances seem to
be pretty equal as to the first battte-field being in
Germany or Italy.
A letter addressed from Volhynia to the Cuts
says:
The greatest secresy is observed regarding the move-
ments of the Russian army. The local police themselves
I receive only two days' notice of the advance of troops and of
changes of encampment. The Russian army is evidently being
concentrated by regiments along the eastern frontier of
Gallicia. Persons coming from Podolia state that
Russian troops are constantly on the march
towards the Danubian Principalities, without how-
ever losing sight of Gallicia, which is traversed
at the present moment by Russian agents who are endea-
vouring to stir up the Ruthenians of that province by
telling them that Russia is their friend. They pay
especial attention to the clergy of the Greek rite who have
in former times done so much for Russia.

2ELLIGENCE. .
•
THE APPROACHING WAR.
the Pruasian and Austrian commanders

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PARIS, FRIDAY Evainaa.
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If any change is to be noticed in the sitnat_
is only that the belief in immediate war is so uni-
versal as to find no contradicters. The in-
genuity which hitherto inspired pen holders like
Boniface and Limayrac to make the best
of bad symptoms is exhausted. Even the
weekly Memorial Diploniatique, which never before
failed to invent something reassuring for Saturday
readers, is now fain to declare that Austria sees a
cams belli in the invasion of Holstein by Prus-
sian troops. Prussia had already declared that
she found a earns belli in the Austrian appeal to the
Diet and the Convention of the States of Holstein
at Itzehoe. The game of brag cannot possibly go on
many days longer, and the question of striking the
first blow must by this time be in military hands.
The Liberte, M. E. de Girardin's paper, contains
the following paragraph, which exactly dovetails
with the situation :
The rumour of • manifesto of the Emperor of the,
French, under the form of a speech, to be addressed to the
great bodies of the Ante, is now so strongly attested, that
we cannot do otherwise than notice it.
There ought to be nothing surprising in this
hint. The attentive public must remember
that several days ago when people were
exhorted to believe in the conference,
the Pattie, doing its work awkwardly, concluded an
article headed " There will be no war," with the
ominous assertion that, if the powers should be so
obstinate as not to make peace, the Emperor would
make an appeal to the " patriotism " of the Corps
Legislatif,and that he could put 600,000 men in
line at four days' notice.
At the Bourse there were fluctuations caused by
persistent attempts to raise prices by the system of
discounts. This system, often explained, con-
sists in a usage sanctioned by the house to
call upon sellers to deliver securities they may
have sold for amount on receiving full pay-
ment. The original object was to check
fictitious transactions, but now the offer of dis-
count has oome to be so fictitious that the
syndicate is petitioned to make a change in
the regulations, requiring those who offer to
discount to deposit their funds for payment,
so that the offer may not be, as it very
often is, merely in terrorem. To-day it
was observed that the discounts produced
but little effect. Ultimately Rente, after
oscillating between 63fr. 71c. and 62fr. 50c., closed,
without change from yesterday, at 62fr. 90c. Italian
fell 25c., closing at 36fr. 75c. Other securities
were a little weaker only.