Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-04-18 00:00:00

AUSTRIA.

VIENNA, April 13.—1 t is not yet certain that
the Congress will meet, but it will be entirely the
fault of the Emperor of the French if it does not.
The Austrian Government no longer insists on a
general disarmament before the Congress assembles,
but it will be satisfied if 'the Moniteur will inform
the world that the first step taken by the Congress
will be to make arrangements for placing
the armies of Sardinia, Austria, and France
on the usual peace footing. In fact, Austria
requests nothing but the above-mentioned indirect
proof that the real object of France in insisting on a
Congress is the maintenance of the peace of Europe.
The Austrian Government must be well aware that
the concession which it requires is without any value,
but it probably wishes to give to the mediating
Powers, and to the, world at large, another proof
of its moderation and wish to avoid war. The
extreme docility of Count Buol has given great
offence to all parties, and it is related that very
influential persons have complained to the Emperor
of his Minister's want of firmness. Nine Austrians
out of ten firmly believe that Louis Napoleon wishes
to gain time, and that when his armaments are com-
pleted (which will probably be the case towards the
end of May), he will find so me excuse for breaking
off the negotiations, and for going to war with
Austria. All professional politicians with whom I
have spoken on the subject are of the same opinion,
and they express their astonishment at the short-
sightedness of the British and Prussian Govern-
ments, " which are involuntarily playing the game
of the man who is endeavouring to reduce Europe to
a state of moral servitude."
It may be observed that when the Gallo-G arman
Foreign Legion was formed, it was stipulated that it
was to serve abroad, so that in case of war its mem-
bers might not be pitted against their fellow-country-
men. It is evidently the system of Napoleon I.
carried out in a diminutive scale. The reply of the
South German newspapers to the last Moniteur
note is---" Arm ! Arm !" " How," says the
Augsburg Gazette, " can a man who with sneer-
ing perfidy is assisting in the gross 'violation
of a treaty (that of 1856), which is hardly
two years old, except that Germany will place con-
fidence in his honeyed phrases?" According to
advices from Alsatia, a French army of 100,000
men is to be collected in the departments of the
Upper and Lower Rhine by the end of April, by
which time the change which is being made in the
French artillery will be almost completed. The Arch-
duke Albrecht reached Berlin soon after five o'clock
yesterday morning, but, notwithstanding the
earliness of the hour, he found several of the
members of the royal family waiting at the terminus
to receive him. The Austrian Prince was conducted
at once to the palace, where a suite of apartments
was placed at his disposal. As soon as the Imperial
Envoy had made himself comfortable, he received a
visit from the Prince Regent.
In my letter of yesterday some information was
given relative to the claim of Austria to garri-
son Piacenza, but a fact has to-day come to
my knowledge, which clearly proves that Count
Cavour has not been candid with the British and
Prussian Governments. On the 20th May, 1815,
the great Powers and Sardinia signed a treaty, con-
firming the reversionary rights of Austria to Parma
and Guastalla, and on the very same day Austria and
Sardinia signed a 'secret article, in which it was
stipulated that as soon as Austria acquired a right
to Parma, the city of Piacenza (including the for-
tress) was to become the property of the Emperor
of Austria, who was to give in exchange for it some
other part of the territory of Parma. On the 28th of
November, 1844, Austria, Sardinia, Tuscany, and
Modena concluded a treaty at Florence, to the
effect that Sardinia was to have a reversionary
right to the Duchy of Guastalla, in exchange for
the city of Piacenza, which is ceded to Austria.
" Thus,' says the Ost-Deutsche Post, " the military
position of Austria in Piacenza was acquired with
the- consent and direct co-operation of Sardinia."
To this I must remark, that as Sardinia only has a
reversionary right to the town or city of Piacenza, it
cannot make a legal concession of it until it has
acquired possession, which it cannot do until the
family of the late Charles Ferdinand 111. of Bourbon,
Duke of Parma, is extinct.
The day before yesterday the Bohemian nobles
presented to the Emperor an address, in which they
expressed their readiness to sacrifice life and property
(Blut and Gut) for him.

- THE NORTHERN-TIMES, MONDAY, APRIL 18 1859