The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-19 00:00:00

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beaten, and cannot ;succeed in what wo ha TT ,e
taken." Every man in the assembly must
aria:kite tee.:
that these words admitted of no cantradictit
further, that the resources of the North, whe ~.ea •a,
proved thus insufficient, were now far less sufficiakkh i ate"
s
than at first. Never was logic pressed with more
inexorable facts. If this meeting should prove in-
fluential enough to liberate opinion and open men's
mouths, we may, perhaps, wonder six weeas hence
where the strength of the war party could ever have
lain, just as in France, after the fall of Robespierre
people asked each other who could have been the
Jacobins. There is everything, except the uncer-
tainty of American politics, to make us regard such
an event as prabable. It would also seem, from the
report of the interview between Mr. Wood end Mr.
Lincoln, that the President himself would have no
objection to peace if he knew how to reach it. Per-
haps this meeting may show him the way. If an
armistice were proclaimed, we believe that neither
party would be in a hurry to renew the war, and
the desire of pence would supp,y the two Govern-
nacnts with the strongest motive for coming to rea-
sonable terms of separation:
HERALD.—Lord Russell is making the best of a
very bad case. Conscious of the enormity' of the
prectedings ol Mr. Christie, he is furbishing up ail
sorts of weapons of defence from the pigeon-beles of
the Foreign-office, and ignoring the question of Ole
Prince of Wales and of the officers of the Forte,
general charge of bad faith and ha-
bitual bringsdisregard of our representations against the
Brazilian Government. It will be recollected, that
in accordance with treaties and in deference to our
expressed desire, the Brazilian Government years
yslwavaes
tahgios adboohleis,htehdatthfeorslmaysehytryaedset.s
pSsostefftuneoctohalel
has been landed on the coast of Brazil. But out of
the arrangements between the two Governments
grew all soats of claims and new engagements,
which have from time to time given rise to an ani-
mated correspondence. Lord Russell alludes to
two distinct grievances—the failure to account for
the emancipados, or Africans liberated by the
mixed commission and the claims' convention of
1862. On the 12th of February Mr. Christie
claimed for all the negroes who had been liberated
by the Mixed Commission Court unqualified free-
dom. On the 28th M. D'Abrantes replied " that
the Brazilian Government were studying with
earnestness and solicitude the question as to the
free Africans, in order to proceed with such dis-
cretion and prudence as the case required." The
truth is it is now 20 years ago since any negroes
were so emancipated, and in 1852 the Brazilian Go-
vernment put an end to the slave trade; 'lt is
plain that to institute a rigid search for the sur-
vivors under the conditions of the arrangement
would produce a great dislocation of Brazilian so-
ciety—and knowing that, Brazil will not at once
and without consideration accede to it. Then as. to
the claims' convention of 1862, that was really ter-
minated by our own Foreign Office directing its
commissioner to stop work, because the Brazilian
Government would not accept its interpretation of
the word " claims," which both Governments con-
sidered to be unsettled, and which was introduced
for the express purpose of including Brazilian
claims, which are now rejected. The truth is, the
Aberdeen Act of 1845 is the real cause of the pre-
sent state of things. Lord Aberdeen undertook to
repeal it when the slave trade was at an end. The
slave trade in Brazil has ended, but the act is not
repealed, and its maintenance is a palpable breach
of good faith. Until it is repealed we understand
that Brazil will do nothing. Lord Malmesbury was
willing, on the ground of suppression of the slave
trade, to repeal it. Lord Palmerston positively re-
fuses. And now Lord Russell, in his last despatch,
positively indicates that further outrages are pro-
bable. The policy of the present Administration
towards Brazil has uniformly been unfriendly. It
has culminated in Mr. Christie's outrage upon her
flag. So far as our Minister is concerned the affair
is over. Mr. Christie will not return to Brazil. He
is virtually withdrawn in compliance with M.
Moreira's request. It is left to a charge daffaires
to gather up the threads of this troublesome diffi-
culty, and to retire, with the best grace he can
assume, from a quarrel in which the fault is deci-
dedly ours, and ours alone.
POST.—The Emperor of Austria has a right to
felicitate himself both on his foreign and domestic
policy. In either respect he stands forward in an
equally marked contrast to the King of Prussia,
whose dynasty was hitherto wont to parade itself
as the distinctive champion of German liberty and
progress. The Emperor's speech to the Reichsrath
is highly satisfactory, whether we regard it in rela-
tion to the maintenance of the peace of Europe or to
the internal reformations which are taking place in
the Austrian dominions. He expresses his trust that
nothing will occur to disturb the general tranquil-
lity much in the language used by Lord Palmer-
ston at the Mansion House on Wednesday night.,
though he speaks as a Sovereign on whose frontiers a.
desperate revolution is now raging. When we place
these calm words beside the programme of domestic
improvements which he submits to the Reichsrath,
we see fair evidence of the Emperor having as-
sumed a policy of moderation and progress as dis-
tinct as possible from that both of Russia and Prus-
sia. This is certainly the manner in which the Aus-
trian Government should act in its present position.
It has still enemies to conciliate, it has but an im-
perfect constitution, and it seeks to consolidate its
empire by pointing out the community of all inte-
rests in that result, and by evincing a disposition
to rely upon its own intelligence, and upon the
affection of its subjects, rather than upon force.
The Reichsrath is a great experiment, and it is still
upon its trial. The object for which it was devised
was to establish a system which we may describe as
representative centralisation. Between the Crown
and several parts of the empire—such as the Hun-
garian and Venetian kingdoms—two classes of con-
tests had been maintained. The earlier advisers of
Francis Joseph had endeavoured to make the go-
vernment both homogeneous and despotic. The
Hungarians and Venetians, on the other hand, de-
manded both political liberty and also distinct go-
vernment. Neither party has been able to carry its
point. The Reichsrath is in itself the offer of a
compromise on the part of the Crown. By it the
Crown abandons its pretensions to despotic govern-
ment, but still clings to the principle of centralisa-
tion. On this basis the Emperor of Austria offers
political liberty to his whole empire indifferently.
We all know that this proposal has at present been
very imperfectly accepted. The Hungarians have
been reluctant to merge their peculiar legislative
rights in a general parliament of the empire. This
is but natural. They have been deceived more than
once, and theyare s'ow to trust those in whom their
former confidence was misplaced. On the other
hand it is natural also that the Emperor of Austria
should wish to assimilate his own government to
the conditions which render France so powerful a
State. In these days it is almost as hard to rule
without centralisation as without political liberty:
The genius of the age is opposed to mediaeval tra-
ditions and to complicated administrative machi-
nery. We think, therefore, that the Emperor of
Austria and his present advisers have a claim to
the moral support of Europe in their endeavour to
redeem the past errors of the State, and to ask per-
sistently for moderate centralisation while they
yield the principle of representative government.
Unless we are greatly mistaken, the Austrian
monarchy is now assuming a strength. and settling
itself on a broad basis, such as it has not for a long
aolft e
jus-
tice time experienced. The reforms which are proposed
for the new session evince that the Government are
he
tpreparedious they t
now
opursue p
otsheeii
hr
the advantage.
administrationT
strike at once to the root of very much of the
prejudice—or, rather, in many cases, the well-
grounded distrust—that has been entertained by the
Confederation,whaleGeraa people, in almost every State of the
against their rulers. The Government
publicity.
have long three condi-'
demanded.
in vain. In our own opinion, the
tilatter is the mosteen
satisfactory and
jhst
'of Austria now propose to introduce oral procedure,'
;trial
onsof b y jilry
important amendment of the three. Those who
have most accurately analysed the ill feeling which
has actuated the Germans towards their princes
have commonly agreed •in ascribing it to s belief
that judicial tribunals were closed to the public in
order to shelter their malversations of justice. Nor
is it surprising that such a belief should have
thrown a general odium
over all the political insti-
tutions of the count
though rarely, ry. The judicial procedure,
we incline to think, corrupt, has
hitherto been
in German greatly in fault; and we believe that,
Austria at all events the general
intelligence i • fully equal to the satisfactory work-
ing of a trial by • Jury. We see no reason why
Austria should not become a prosperous, and in
time a more or less united, nation. If Transylvania
should now give in her adhesion to the Reichsrath,
as the Emperor announces that his Government
expects, a great step in this direction will be gained.
It will be the more important, as Transylvania is
a province hitherto possessing a Diet of its own,
and touching the Russian frontier. Nor ear: Frer,ds
Joseph's moderation in his conduct tow,:rds the
Galicians be without its influence on the r solution
both of the Transylvania ns and of other natiorrtli-
ties of the empire, whenever they also may consent
to take part in the Reichsrath. With increasing
public confidence, an amended Currency, and a com-
merce developing itself largely year by year, the
trading position of Austria is likely thoroughly to
recover from the discredit to which alternate con-
vulsion, war, and misgovernment have reduced it ;
and, if the Reichsrath will legislate justly in the
interest of all, we see no reason why the most fas-
tidious reference to local privileges and traditionary
right should interfere with a readiness on the part
of all to meet together and legislate in common on
all matters of imperial concern:

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