Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-02-07 00:00:00

FRANCE,:AND PIEDMONT

The Turin correspondent of the Independance
writes : . _ . . .

A treaty between France and Piedmont is in existence,
I repeat it ; it. written and signed ; Russia has been
made acquainted with its contents, and has signified her
approval of, and consent to, them. The very day on
which he arrived at Turin his Royal Highness Prince
Napoleon handed to the King an autggraph letter fr9m
the Emperor, which was on the succeeding day communi-
cated to M. de Cavour. A privy Council was held on
the 18th of January, presided over by the King himself,
and finally on the 19th, the next day but one to that on
which Prince Napoleon had his first interview with the
Princess Clotilda, a secret treaty was signed by M. de
Cavour, Minister for Foreign Affairs in Sardinia, on the
one hand, and General Neil, on behalf of the Emperor
• Napoleon, on the other. Of the precise conditions
of the treaty you will not be surprised to hear that I
am altogether ignorant. Dien if I was acquainted
with them, however, the delicacy of the subject would
impose silence upon me, the treaty being, as I have said,
secret, and, above all, conditional upon events Oventuel).
This' is not all, however. By a curious coincidence,
doubtless by chance, but not on that account the less
commented on, the English' diplomatic note, which has
for some days been the 'subject of conversation, and
respecting which I have promised to give you some in-
formation, reached Turin on the same day, and almost
within the same hour, as Prince Napoleon.
This note is conceived in terms which are certainly
courteous, but at the same time perfectly explicit, with
respect to the warlike attitude assumed by Piedmont,
and the course which Great Britain "will regret to be
conzpelled ,to adopt" in the event of hostilities directed
against Austria I believe I may assert with confidence
that Count Cavour has replied in terms conformable
with the dignity of his country, and that he has repelled
the supposition that Sardinia is inclined to provoke
hostilities, at the same time that he has energetically
supported the principles already enunciated by him at
the Congress of Paris, that the King and his ministers
"will never desert the national cause of Italy." It is a
mistake to suppose that the presence of Prince. Napoleon
'at Turin has given additional firmness to the language
used by the President of the Sardinian Council ? However
this may be, it is certain that this reply, and the military
arran7ements which Piedmont continues to make, are
not of a nature -tending to the peaceful solution of the
Italian difficulties, and contradict, at any rate for the
present, rumours of an imminent ministerial crisis.

PUBLIC OPINION IN AUSTRIA

A letter from Vienna, dated Feb. 2, says—

A German statesman, who a few days since came from
Berlin to this city, relates that the Prussian and British
Governments are exerting themselves to the utmost to
prevent the outbreak of a war iu Italy. The Berlin
Cabinet, knowing the sensitiveness of the French Govern-
ment, has refrained from publicly expressing its senti-
ments, but it is a positive fact that it condemns in tote
the present policy of the Emperor Napoleon. It' has
been said that this Government is about to urge the
German Diet to express its disapprobation of the conduct
of Sardinia, but the statement is unfounded. Austria is
well able to cope with Sardinia and the Revolutionary
party, and will not claim the support of her federal allies
unless she is attacked by France. The Prussian Cabinet
is aware that 'armaments are going on in France,: but
it has acquired positive information that they are on
a less extensive scale than is generally believed. " If,"
says my informant, " the French Government thought
there was any prospect of a European war, its prepara-
tions would be infinitely greater than they are." It is
not known what part Russia would play should there be
a war between Austria and France, but it is considered
probable that she would concentrate an army on the
western and south-western frontiers of Poland, ." in
order to embarrass Austria and to enforce the neutrality
of Prussia." Yesterday Count Buol was in a great rage
Oviithend), because some of the Vienna papers related
that a Sardinian noble had told the Marquis de Villa-
marina, " Que la famille Bonaparte milt (s'allie) la
niaison de Savoie—that the Bonaparte family soiled
(united with itself) the house of Savoy. The Ministerial
,Oesterreichische Correspondenz and the 'Reno. Zeitung
contain the following article on the subject : --
" The respect due to a Court nearly related to the Im-
perial House, and to a dynasty which is allied to Austria,
has not prevented some of the Vienna papers from repeat-
ing a worthless pun that was fabricated in Sardinia.
The necessary measures for punishing the offenders have
been taken."
The punishment inflicted will be that the papers will
receive an official warning, and it is probable that the
censors of the public Press will get a " wigging " for
their negligence. The Austrians, who firmly believe that
the question of peace or war will be decided before the
world is a week older, look forward with extreme im-
patience to the opening of parliament. The St. Petersburg
Gazette speaks of the necessity for revising the treaties of
1815,, and by:so doing gives great offence to the Vienna
politicians, who declare that such language is enough to
make the foimderS of the Holy Alliance " turn in their
graves." The Russian publicist seems to be of opinion
that conventions ought to be treated as waste paper when
they cease to further the interests of the parties to them.
A few nights since " The Will of the Great Elector" (of
Brandenburg) was given in the Burg Theatre, and when
the Prussian Prince declared " that he knew how to
punish foreign insolence " (ueberrnuth) there was a
perfect hurricane of applause. Accordingc, to the public
papers, some of the members of the Imperial family
took an active part in the demonstration, but I
am not inclined to believe that they displayed such bad
taste. On the 20th of January, "Norma" was given in
the Scala, at Milan, and when the chorus, " Guerra,
guerra" (War, war), was sung, the audience cheered as
if their lungs were made of cast iron, and the drums of
their ears o parchment. After a tremendous uproar,
the chorus was repeated. Eye witnesses relate that the
officers present appeared to be perfectly indifferent to
what was passing around them. A night or two before
the demonstration against Austria, there was one against
Verdi's opera of " Simone Boccanegra," which particularly
displeases the Italians, because it is an imitation of the
German style of composition. According to the critics,
the prima donna, Signora Bendazzi, was never guilty of
such .a "screaming abuse" of her powerful voice as in
" Simone Boccanegra."