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

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

, FRANCE.
bell Is, Friday Night.—We were yesterday, I
on tebve, Within a few hours of a declaration of I..tvairs
att ;he part of Austria, and I regret to say that
oN,r-e'lltable to the prevarications of the Imperiala
4isareiriloxileut of France. When the question of
'P44 n'elent was at first . proposed the popular
"W:- was against Austria, because she, a great..
to with vast armies, required, as the condition
4E16,1. entering the congress, that Piedmont should
ith:4l.fissarni• This was a fault, but Austria retrieved
nien"f-tie more reasonable demand of a general disarma-
to gal The French Government, whose only object was
lloCa-11 time, started a new objection : -France had
Ali,jPaed, and she could not be asked to disarm.
sloth demanded that the general disarmament
Conn take place previous to the meeting of the
„o•c,eret,SB' and England urged the same. The French
Iledh,---,,lnent, whose equivocal policy M. Cavour's
4.4Cntiese friends declare so much reassured them,
Th' that the question of the disarmament should
e" IMitted to the Congress and be decided by it.
eon). eujeet, of course, was to have sufficient time to
breatet,„,e its preparations, and, when completed, to
ou.one pretext or another, all further ne-
4:he t„-114, and take the field with its ally, Piedmont.
eoral ;Psi' Government were aware of this creditable
whom ; So, of course, was Austria. Austria, to
,eous „erY day, nay, every hour, is of immense
t;n2lr,,ertee, made up her mind for the worst ;
441;11.; asked for a categorical answer to the
arid the for immediate and general disarmament,
its i„-eFrench government was called on to exercise
had the with Sardinia to enforce compliance. It
Sarnia ffrontery to plead that it could not compel
eour to do anything of the kind.
_O. f
Posed we then saw that our friends were dhis-t
a to Play us false, and Austria intimated that
tt eerteategorical answer was not given within_
Would aill time, as to the disarmament, shewar
; Consider it as equivalent to a declaration
be
at Tr Would act instantly ; and would probably e_
preeikr.n
of ttut ten days. Austria may be accused of
"4ting matters, but her situation is
army , e Most critical ; the expenses of her
are straining her resources to the ut-

most, and , her only chance of safety was to re-
nounce all hope of peace, and act at once. It was the
necessity of her condition. When people blame
her, they ought to remember that, in point of
fact, she has been menaced since the Ist January last.
From that date she has, beyond all doubt, seen
through the plan contrived against her by M. Cavour
and his great friend, and set herself to prepare
accordingly.. She knew that she was, to be duped,
and, as she had no faith in the fair promises and
pious aspirations of the Moniteur, she resolved to
be ready against all emergencies. It is difficult to
see how she' could act otherwise than she has done,
and it has proved her best means of salvation.
As I have told you, matters reached yesterday
the extreme point. The French Government were
informed that the responsibility of so terrible a
calamity as a general war would fall upon them
alone. In spite of the civilities, courtesies, and
coquetting going on for some time past between St.
Petersburg and Paris, it was shown that when the
critical moment came the French Government
would not have the support or sympathy of any
one Government in Europe, except, I suppose
Piedmont ; and Russia, notwithstanding her re-
sentment against Austria, showed symptoms (as I
am assured), of a wish to stand well with old
dynasties and old friends, and litttle real inclination
towards a war which sooner or later must become
revolutionary. But the scene, it appears,
has changed, and hope smiles once more.
The French Government are said to have seen the
dangerous course they were hastening on. But, what-
ever be' the cause—whether the prospect of the
unanimous condemnation of all Europe, the certainty
of the condemnation of France, the soundness
of the reasons and arguments of her allies, or
all these things togetker—l am given to understand
that we have at last got into smooth water. I pre-
sume that the French Government have agreed to a
general disarmament, including, of course, that of
Piedmont, previous to the Congress ; as I am told
that the Congress will meet about the time already
mentioned, and that
,the Moniteur will soon an-
nounce the fact. No one will rejoice more heartily
at this than the' French people themselves ; and M.
Walewski and one or. two of his colleagues will
exult as much as any one. I hope it is not the inven-
tion of some rash optimist, but I also hear that M.
Walewski this morning made inquiries about a house
at Baden-Baden with a view to the Congress.
Prince Gortschakoff has already done so.
It is announced that M. Fleury, brother of General
Fleury, who is French Consul at Liverpool, has been
appointed Consul at Palermo.