Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-05-21 00:00:00

AUSTRIA AND THE WAR,

IF we are to judge of the chances of Austria in
the war which she has commenced on the confines
of Piedmont, by what she has already done, either
in the Cabinet or in the field, we must be forced to
come to a conclusion most unfavourable to her
interests. We say nothing, at present, of the
counsels by which she has' been influenced in her
resolution to go to war at all. Doubtless she had
her provocations, though she herself gave occasion
for some of them. But she has evidently been
distracted. in her Cabinet, or she could scarcely have
proceeded so unthinkingly to work in the field.
And that such has been the case, may be inferred
also, we think, from the fact of there having been a
change to be made, at so critical a moment, in the
office of her Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The impression throughout Europe had been, that
Count BOUL was the life and soul of the Austrian
Government, that it was his counsels that had
prevailed in the all-absorbing question of the war,—
that he had directed all the negotiations which had
led thereto —and that his was the master-mind on
which its direction, and what might issue therefrom,
very materially depended. The importance of such
a position as his, for some time past, can scarcely be

over estimated, with reference to the very safety
of the Austrian empire. When it could be said—

as it has been, during the speculations on this event
—that the French Government had contemplated
an attack upon Austria, certainly for not less than
twelve months, and probably from the close of the
Congress of Paris,—and that it was highly probable
that the policy of aggression was not fully deve-
loped, and that the question of neutrality would be
practically raised by proceedings widely remote from
the Austrian declaration of war against Piedmont,—
that the representative Chambers in the minor
German States were urging their Governments to
resist the insolence of France, and the Emperor of
Austria expressed a confident hope that he would
soon be reinforced by the strength of the Confede-
ration, and that the Russian army, which was
destined, from its position on the Polish frontier, to
maintain the sacred theory of independent nation-
alities, had already caused Prussia to incur a vast
expense in placing an extraordinary force on foot,—
when all this, and much more, could be said re-
specting the position of Austria, and the state of her
foreign relations—at a moment, too, when the war it
indicated so forcibly was actually being entered upon,
there cannot possibly be a question as to the vast
importance of such a position as that occupied by
Count BuoL in the Government of Austria. And
yet, just as the campaign is entered upon, Count
BuoL is suddenly removed from that position —to
the surprise of all Europe, the gratification of France
and Sardinia, and the consternation of Austria her-
self. They wrote from Paris concerning it,—" great
sensation has been caused here by the news of the
resignation of M. de BUOL ; people wonder what it
means." And the same might be said of it in Ber-
lin, in St. Petersburgh, and in London. In all these
capitals —and, indeed, everywhere —" people wonder
what it means." Count 13ii0L's successor is Count
RECIIBERG, President of the Federal Diet at Frank-
fort-on-the-Maine ; who left that city immediately
on his appointment being communicated to him, to
proceed to Vienna, and enter at once upon the
onerous duties of his office.

The natural inference to be drawn from such a
change, at so critical a moment, is either that the
counsels urged upon the Sovereign, as to the war,
were not acceptable, or that those which had already
been adopted had proved injurious. No doubt, we
believe, exists that it had reference to the war. And
this idea is strengthened considerably by the- an-
nouncement that it is immediately to be followed by
the removal of the Commander-in-Chief of the
Austrian army. The Austrian people, we believe,
were not at all pleased that the fate of the army
should be entrusted to General GYULAI, when
General HESS possessed in so much a greater degree
the confidence of the nation. General HEss, it is
true, is rather an old man ; and the fear that he was
too old probably silenced the national discontent at
his being superseded on so all-important an occasion.
He was born in 1786, entered the service in 1805,
and his services have been highly appreciated by
those acquainted with military affairs. It was he
who advised the operations of the five days' cam-
paign, which in 1849 decided the fate of Italy by the
defeat of NOVARA, and Marshal ItADETZKY loudly
stated this to be the fact. He was certainly, there-
fore, admirably qualified to take a part, even at the
ripe age of seventy-one, in the operations of such a
campaign as that which has just been opened so un-
promisingly. But there was a reason for his being
set aside, it is now said, with which age had really
nothing to do. " Baron HEss," said a recent com-
munication from Vienna, " had fallen into a sort of
disgrace for having shown himself more of a soldier
than a courtier." The Emperor, as the story goes,
had submitted to the veteran a plan of the proposed
campaign in Italy, asking his opinion upon it.
said Baron HESS, after having seriously
examined it, " I must declare to your Majesty that
the author of this work has no military knowledge,
and that to execute his suggestions would infallibly
lead to the defeat of the army." The Emperor him-
self, it turned out, was the author of it. And, of
course, it was scarcely to be expected, after this, that
Baron HESS would stand very high in Imperial
favour. But bitter exaerience has already, it would
seem, shown the Emperor his error. General
GYULAI'S operations have been anything but
those of one who has the military know-
ledge that is indispensable for the direction of
such a course of hostilities, as that which Austria
has entered upon, and in which she has two such
allies as France and Sardinia to resist, whose
Soverigns, both of them men of great ability, are at
the head of their respective armies.
But the Austrian Emperor, it seems, is also about
to place himself at the head of his army. Not,
however, that this of itself promises very much ;
for FRANCIS JOSEPH is not esteemed a military
genius by any means, and he has had no military
experience. With Baron HESS at his elbow, it is
true, his presence might have some effect ; especially
as it really appears that he is popular with
his army. He is popular, indeed, generally, it
would appear ; and there is evidently a warm
sympathy for him among the people with regard to
the war. A recent letter from Vienna, that has

" Sire,"