Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-06-21 00:00:00

GERMANY AND THE WAR

THIS will assuredly now be the great point of interest
—the position of ,Germany towards the war which
is advancing so rapidly to the very frontiers of
" fader-land." The Confederation is quite prepared,
and so are all the States of which it is made up.
It was intimated some days since, that " matters in
Piussia are in a very ticklish condition. The feeling
against France is so great among all classes of the
population, that it is not supposed the Government
will be able to resist it." The mobilisation of the
army, which has since been mentioned, only confirms
this too well grounded apprehension. Later accounts
inform us, that " the armaments continue allover
Germany with unabated activity, although the
public exchequers are relieved from the burden of
maintaining large bodies of soldiery until actual
service is required from them • for as the me heave
uuu Luroub u a great ammint or arm tor last
eight weeks, they will be, it is presumed, efficient
enough for all martial purposes." Prussia is no
doubt very unwilling to be involved in a war with
which she has, from the first, had nothing to• do.
But her situation is exceedingly critical. Not only
is her own safety to be considered as in some degree
bound up with that of her near neighbour and
confederate, Austria ; but the German mind and will
must of necessity exert an influence over her, d
impel her to join in a course of resistance to the
encroachments of what they consider the, common
enemy, which otherwise she might successfully have
striven to avoid. Prussia is well aware of the im-
portance, at such a conjuncture, of her sailing along
with the current of popular German feeling, as much
as possible. And then, there is her own national
defence to look after. It can therefore create no
surprise to find her become busier and busier with
her defensive preparations. " Last week," it is
stated, "twenty new gunboats were ordered by the
Government at different private establishments, told
the -completion of the works of Konigsberg, Loetzen,•
Marienburg, Danzig, Thorn, Graudenz, and Posen—
the Prussian line of defence on the Russian side—is
near at hand; and within the last week, incredible
numbers of workmen have been engaged upon them.
Another item of recent intelligence, is most impor-
tant,—namely, that " a few days ago the Prussian
Cabinet, in resolute words, requested the French
Government to state distinctly whether or not,
under any conditions, it was intended to carry the
war beyond the limits of Lombardy and Venice,"
the answer to which, it since appears, was signifies

cantly ambiguous.
Now the French Emperor has, for some considerable
time, been aware of the strong feeling that prevails
in Germany against his policy, if not also against
his dynasty. We find proofs of his knowledge of
the state of feeling in Germany in Lord MALMES-
BURY'S official correspondence. Lord COWLEY, for

instance, writing from Paris to the Foreign Secretary,
so long ago as March last, and giving an account of
an audience he had just had with the Emperor,
states,—" His Majesty said that he could mot ex-
aggerate the critical state of Europe. He, admitted
that that critical state had arisen from a series of
faults from which no one, perhaps, was exempt; but
it was useless now, he observed, to inquire into the
past. We were in presence of facts, and with those
facts we had to deal. Sardinia was armed to the
teeth, Austria equally so, Germany had taken the
alarm; and although he could conscientiously assert
that up to this time he had made no armaments, he
must declare that if means were not found, and that
immediately, for restoring Europe to its natural
equilibrium, he must at once put the French army on
the war footing. Already France began to show
symptoms of dissatisfaction at the haughty tone
assumed by Germany. Within a month the whole
country would demand war. His Majesty read me
letters from the interior to prove the truth of his
words, and I believe he is correct in his assertions,
and that the demonstrations in Germany have had
the contrary effect to what, perhaps, was expected'
of them, and have, to a certain extent, excited the
indignation of the French nation." Subsequent
events have corroborated much of thiii pregiction;
while they have also given a fiat contradiction to his
pretence, that "up to that time' he had made no
armaments,".-.a circumstance which only increases i
one's mistrust of Louis INTAPoLEmes Sincerity and 1