The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-10-18 00:00:00

PRUSSIA

The correspondent of the Times, writing from
Berlin on the 12th inst., says :
Baron von_Budberg, the Russian Minister here,
returned to Berlin in the course of last night, from
accompanying the Emperor of Russia to the fron-
tier, and early this forenoon, he had a long interview
With Baron von Manteuffel.

The Ministry met together to-day in Council;
fora week past there had been no Council held.

The follo-wing article, from the Zeit of this morn-
ing, I give you at full length, together with another,
from the Correspondenz Bureau, both of which
articles may be understood to be official :
" If Prussia remains neutral, it cannot by any means be
predicated of her that she thereby binds herself to a do-
nothing course. Prussia's task, if we apprehend it rightly,
is a mediative neutrality. The more Prussia holds herself
aloof from an active participation in the existing differences,
the less interest of her own she s hows in the subject matter
of these differences, with so much the more disinterested-
ness will she be able to raise her / oice in mediation, and so
much the better prospect there will be that her voice will be
listened to. No one of the great Powers of Europe stands
so unconcerned in the Russo-Turkish differences as Prus-
sia. The roads that our commerce travels run west-
wards : in the Black Sea the • Prussian flag is seldom seen,
because our manufactures have no outlet there. Our ma-
terial (apart from our political) interests, are thus hardly
in the Slightest degree touched by a war between Russia
and Turkey, and by the point of difference which at
present is possibly about to occasion a state of war
between these two Powers. Neither England, nor France,
nor Austria can say the same of themselves. It is this
uninterestedness that constitutes Prussia's call to mediate.
Prussia can, however, desire' to mediate nothing else
than a peace. In England and France they speak of corn-
pelling peace by means of war measures, or, on the other
hand, of confining war within certain localities. We do not
fear that Prussia will be obliged to assume a w irlike atti-
tude in order to exert herself for the preservation of peace.
But, even were it so, it would be, according to our convic-
tion,. only for the purpose of giving greater emphasis to her
mission of peace. On a former occasion we said, Prussia's
position with reference to the events in the East, will, we
are convinced, be that of a neutrality that commands
respect ; we now add, what we are no less convinced of,
that this neutrality must be no merely passive waiting for
what may come, it must be a mediative neutrality."
The Correspondo Bureau sayB',

- -
" In the last few days we have sufficiently pointed out
that the fulfilment of the hopes •of peace in the Oriental
question still lies within the realm of probability. The
pacific assurance of the Emperor of Russia, and the calm and
measured bearing of the English Cabinet, gives rise to hopes
that the mediative policy of Austria and Prussia has firm
ground to go. on. To set diplomatic negotiations on foot is
therefore the ,task, even though an indispooition hao boon
expressed in one quarter to a mere continuance of the Vienna
Conference. More general points of contact, and with
them new deliberations, will be possible. We believe that
our Government now has the proper forms under considera-
tion, in order on its part to admit nothing that may serve as
a means for the preservation of peace."
You will perceive from. the tenor of these two
articles, when compared with those I sent you yes-
terday, and my own remarks for the last few days,
that the course about to be adopted by Prussia is
passing from a passive nentrality to an active me-
diation. As to the manner in which this latter will
be put into praCtical execution, I am in receipt of
information from more than one quarter, but as the
statements vary, and to a certain extent contradict
each other, I must for the present reserve any fur-
ther communication on this point.