The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-28 00:00:00

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LONDON, TUESDAY, NOT: 28, 18G5.

The attention of the politicians of Europe is
naturally being directed at present to the state of
affairs in the Austrian Empire and the States
belonging to it. The complication of matters is
increasing, and the opening of the Diets which took
place recently of course discloses some of the views
and opinions of the members. As before the atten-
tion of the assemblies was to be directed to the
suspension of the Constitution and the matters
appertaining to that movement. A private sitting
has been held by some of the members of the Diet
of the Lower Province of Austria, and at this
sitting, which lasted some time, very earnest
and animated language was used. The chief
result of the affair seems to hate beep the

determination arrived at, of the Diet electing
a committee in order to draw up an address to the
Crown.. It is so far ,satisfaotizry that this should
have occurred, since it shows that there is some
spirit of resistance extant among the members of
this Diet, and this is further proved by the reports
circulated as to the nature of the address being a
protest against the suspension of the Constitution.
Indeed, if it be true that the same course will be
adopted by many of the Diets, the Imperial Govern-
, ment will thus receive an incontrovertible proof of
the unpopularity of their recent act. It was, indeed,
a very false move to make, and one that
was eminently calculated to give great offence
lin all directions. It tantalised the people
who had begun on a sure foundation, as they
thought, to form their hopes and make their
plans. Now all is in a chaotic state, and confusion
worse confounded reigns paramount. No wonder
then that the usual even tenour of the way of these
Diets and Assemblies should be changed, and that
discord and discontent should intrude where calm
and order formerly prevailed. In the Bohemian
Diet there will in all probability be great strife, and
the representatives of the several parties will make
that their battle-ground.
It is trilling with the Assemblies for Imperial
letters to be sent to them, which lay great stress
upon the necessity of forming a constitution,
and yet which contain such provisions as ren-
der :the object nearly, if not quite, un-
attainable. The way which the Government of
the Emperor FRANCIS JOSEPH deems it desirable
to take is so tortuous a one that any one may be
excused from attempting to follow it, or to compre-
hend the motives of its projectors. It is very well
to talk of securing the rights and privileges of the
kingdom and provinces, and to unite them indis-
solubly at the same time ; but what assurance have
we that any of these efficacious arrangements will
last when they are completed, and that we shall
not witness anew the bouleversenzent of the grand
attempt. It has been proposed for a committee to
examine the two important documents of the Mani-
festo and the Patent Law. The five committees which
are to be held will send in reports to the respective
Diets, and also advance such proposals as they think
fit. The general object of this will be a decided
opposition to the Imperial Government, although it
may be carried on quietly, and not contain any
angry elements in its composition. The ex-Minis-
ter of State, M. VON SCHMERLING, would not give
a vote at all, which result appears to have created
great displeasure in some quarters, although, no
doubt, he was wise in his resolve, under the pecu-
liar circumstances of the case. Whatever be the
consequence of these expressions of opinion, it is
certain that more individuality is being manifested
than is often met with among German politicians,
and that at any rate we are on the eve of dangers
of some kind in that quarter. It was never sup-
posed that the extraordinary measure of suspending
the constitution would be popular, but ; notwith-
standing, few persons expected so decided a de-
meanour to be manifested, and such a vigorous
opposition to be inaugurated at the very outset of
the campaign as it were. Nothing can be more de-
cided than the terns which are employed for the
drawing up of the motion by the Diets, and the
Government can hardly afford to ignore the
meaning of them, however much inclined
they may be to do so. It is stated that
" no part of the Diploma of October of
1860, or of the Patent Law of February,
1861, gives to the Crown a right to suspend the
Constitution ;" and further on we find the significant
intimation that the Patent Law of the 20th of Sep-
tember, 1865, violates the constitutional rights
which are based on the " Diploma of October and
the Constitution of February." Nothing can be
more plain than this ; and more is added, to the
effect that the rights of the Provincial Diets, which
" his MAJESTY solemnly promised and vowed to
uphold, are imperilled by the suspension of the
Constitution." The work of legislation is, in-
deed, taken from those who ought to exercise it,
and given to the absolute power instead of to the
representatives of the people. It ought to have
been a weighty matter, indeed, which induced the
Imperial Government thus to fly in the face of the
wishes and expectations of the Representative Assem-
blies, to thwart the expectations of the people. It
is a degradation to the EMPEROR and his Ministers
in the eyes of Europe for them to be told plainly
that they could have brought about the modification
of the constitution " in a perfectly legal way with-
out recourse beinghad to extreme measures." Such a
reflection is perfectly true, but it is not the less neither
complimentary nor reassuring to the powers that be.
Altogether the course of events has of late been un-
propitious in the extreme for Austria, and that
country has lost greatly in public estimation—with
its foreign affairs as relates to the Duchies of
Schleswig-Holstein, and its domestic matters re-
specting the suspension of the Constitution, and
other matters. It is very difficult for us in this
country rightly to determine the motives which
have actuated the Imperial Government in their
recent transactions ; but be they what they may
the result is before us, and it is one alike to be de-
plored and denounced for its present effect, and its
ultimate influence on the interests of the empire.
In Hungary the state of things is not very encou-
raging, and the hopes of its well-wishers are on the
wane just now. The elections are not being con-
ducted in at all a satisfactory manner, and alto-
gether there is far more promise than performance,
and greater merit in theory than practice to be met
with in this persecuted kingdom. The financial
state of its affairs is also in a very disastrous con-
dition, and all the parade that has been made
concerning the advantages accruing to it from
Austrian rule is founded on falsity, and can
no longer take in or deceive any but the
very uninitiated and inexperienced. It would
seem, when we take a fair estimate of the
chief events of importance that have occurred in
Austria,i
a np theea
consolidated,
appeared
da i f
give
there had been great want of foresight
minds of the rulers. When the Constitution
at earthly satisfaction,
use
caonu d wasthere
in
dis-
turbing
r e nt
the community by all these changes ? A
more unwise device could hardly have been resorted
to, and it is difficult to over-estimate the evil con-
sequence that may ensue from it to all the interests
concerned.

The Circular Note addressed to the Spanish repre-
sentatives at foreign courts relative to the war with
Chili does not afford much satisfaction to those who
hope for a speedy acknowledgment of the Spanish
mistake. In this Note the Minister for Foreign
Affairs expresses his approval of the conduct of
Admiral PAREJA, and states that the reply of the
Chilian Government to the first overtures of the
Spanish admiral precluded the possibility of further
negotiations, even through the mediation of the
diplomatic body. Spain, adds the Minister, does
not aspire to the conquest of the South American
Republics, but she will not permit her dignity to be
outraged without exacting satisfaction. The " over-
tures" the Spanish Minister speaks of were not exactly
calculated to call forth an amicable reply. When we
remember the inculting and peremptory terms of
Admiral PAREJA'S communication to the Chilian
Government, the selection of the very day of

their anniversary festival for the demand, the humi-
liation required from the Chilian authorities,
together with the brief interval allowed for
consideration, an interval so brief that nothing but
absolute surrender and wholesale indemnities could
satisfy Spanish greed and aggression, we shall not
be much disposed to acknowledge the justice of the
Spanish Minister's statement. We hear next a
great deal about the maintenatce of Spanish
dignity, though coupled with a disclaimer of any
purposes of conquest. The experience of San
Domingo might have taught the " dignified" nation
more humility in boasting of her intentions to
conquer or not to conquer. Possibly the South
American Republics which succeeded half a
century ago in throwing off her yoke might not
submit so readily to its re-imposition at the present
day as she seems to imagine. Probably, however,
we shall
-be justified in regarding this Note as a
piece of national bombast, to satisfy that gran-
diloquent people whose dignity is always in their
mouths and nowhere else. The Spanish Govern-
ment will hardly dare to press the matter
to extremities, even though the Nacion declares
that the foreign policy of France is sufficiently
generous to despise commercial considerations.
The spiteful manner in which a thrust is made at
England proves that the activity displayed in our
commercial circles has occasioned some uneasiness
at Madrid.

Meanwhile, the internal affairs of Spain are not
altogether tranquil. The Progressista party have
issued a manifesto demanding reforms which are
more in accordance with the spirit of the age than
with the temper of the Spanish Court and Govern-
ment. Individual, civil, and political liberty,
liberty of the press, and liberty of con-
science, are among the foremost of their
requirements, and they are such that we need not
wonder to find the name of ESPARTERO affixed to
them. The General promises the assistance of " his
arm and his heart" to defend these liberties, but he
declines to accept the Presidency of the Progres-
sista Committee. It will be some time before these
reforms in their great principles, or in their modifi-
cations, will be accepted in Spain; but it is something
that there should be a considerable party among her
population who have power to see the right and
courage to demand it.

The arrival of the Peruvian with news from New
York to the 18th of the month shows us some signs
that all is not settled in the States. There are
symptoms which indicate a growing feeling of irri-
tation respecting the occupation of Mexico by the
French troops, though the Government has as yet
made no sign. It is true that the sale of transports
has been suspended in Louisiana, and that orders
have been received in Texas to discontinue the sales
of Government property and the mustering out of
troops ; but the members of the Administration
have naturally preserved the usual official
silence on so momentous a question. General
GRANT, however, has been less discreet or cautious.
His views with regard to the Mexican question
are already pretty well known, as he has not hesi-
tated to give them full expression on every oppor-
tunity. He has always been something of a popular
hero since the conclusion of the war, although he
had in reality less to do with enforcing the surren-
der of the South than SHERMAN. Just now he is
receiving a good deal of popular attention in New
York, and has visited the Union League Club, when
a gentleman present delivered a speech expressing
sympathy with Mexico, and a firm belief in her
coming deliverance. General GRANT, in reply, de-
clared that Mr. BEC KMAN, the speaker, expressed
his own views respecting the future of Mexico.
Some of the New Orleans journals go so faras to de-
clare-that if the Frenehdo not withdraw from Mexico
before Christmas there will be Federal intervention
on behalf of JUAREZ. The Federal Government
would scarcely be rash enough to precipitate matters
and provoke a rupture with France, even though such
a course would be anything but displeasing to a
numerous section. General GRANT and a good many
other officers would naturally look with favour on a
policy which would open to them a profitable field
for energetic action and a road to increased reputa-
tion and success, and they would of course receive
the support of most of those " mustered out" of the
different branches of the army. The numerous
classes who on one pretext or another derived large
profit from the war, the contractors and speculators
of various degree, will also be very willing to en-
courage the notion of another war, while it would
open a channel for the superfluous energies of the
South, and enable the returned troops and paroled
soldiers to forget their grief and disappointment in
taking up arms against what they might consider as a
national foe. All this could be done on the plea of
the MONROE doctrine, which, so far from being
hitherto able to carry out, the Americans have not
yet been able to establish among themselves. They
have had no light work to decide who should rule
on a considerable portion of their own dominions.
It is scarcely, therefore, an appropriate season for
laying down the law to neighbouring States.
With all these arguments or inducements
in favour of war on the one hand there are, how-
ever, many restraining influences on the other. To
provoke a war with France is a different thing from
disputing the possession of Mexican soil with a few
irregular troops, and Mr. JOHNSON has shown that
he is a temperate and cautious as well as a firm
and resolute ruler. The condition of the Federal
finances certainly requires peace, and the whole
industry of the country cries loudly for a time of
repose and restoration before any attempt should
be made to indulge in another gigantic struggle.
The energies of the country have been severely taxed,
and if the natural buoyancy of the people and the
wonderful fertility of the soil has enabled them to
rise after the crushing weight of four years of civil
war, with surprising energy, it is no reason why
fresh burdens should be laid on an over-taxed
people, why fresh victims should be slaughtered on
the battle-field or perish in the hospital—why
mourning and desolation should be carried into
those homes which death has yet spared. Moreover,
a war with France would be a very different thing
for the North from its struggle with the Confe-
deracy. The commerce of the Northern ports,
which suffered from the Southern privateers, would
feel the force of the French navies far more severely.
The Federal iron-clads would have their match in the
sea-monsters of Cherbourg. The Northern people
were spared in a great measure the horrors of war
which they inflicted mercilessly on their countrymen
of the South. The tread of invading armies, the ruins
of devastated homes, the trampled cornfields, the
flaming granaries, are to them but names. Yet
me
sayoultehaerrnnf
sr otmatetshwe
hdaetsosluateihonaofsttnhleggflaeireoasntds
theyfefertile
when waged, not on the battle-field or the sea
shore alone, but in the siege, in the march, in the
pitiless destruction. Let us hope that these reflec-
tions will have weight with the Cabinet, the Con-
gress, and the people. The great Republic of the
West is identified with plenty, prosperity, and do-
mestic comfort. May we not have to associate it
with all the burdens and distresses which reckless
pursuit of military triumphs has brought about
in the Old World.

We have much pleasure in stating that Sir
Charles Wyke, late Minister in Mexico, has been appointed
to represent Great Britain at the Court of gooyer.

LA TEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TEL E GRA M S.)

SPAIN.
MADRID, Nov. 24.

The semi-official Correspondencia de Espana of
to-day says :—" According to the statement made
by one of our contemporaries yesterday in quoting
the English papers, the Spanish Government, in
consequence of the attitude taken up by England
and France in the Chiliau question, had decided
upon recalling its fleet. It cannot be certainly
stated that France has assumed a hostile attitude,
although certain interests may have been endangered.
But if we rely upon very trustworthy information
England is at present on the best terms with Spain,
and deeply grateful for the useful assistance sent
by the Captain-General of Cuba to the Governor
of Jamaica to suppress the negro insurrection in
that island."

The aid above alluded to consisted in the despatch
of the schooners Santa Lucia and Guadiana from
Cuba. A letter from Havana states that the com-
manders of these vessels had instructions to offer
to the English authorities a reinforcement of Spanish
troops to the number of 2,000, which General Dulce
had at his disposal.

MADRID, Nov. 27.

The Minister of Marine has issued a circular,
ordering the commanders of Spanish ships to treat
as pirates all vessels of which the captain, the offi-
cers, and the majority of the crew are not Chi Hans,
or who may not have received their commissions
direct from the Chilian Government.

The Politica of to-day says The Progressista
manifesto is radically revolutionist and clearly anti-
dynastic. The adhesion of General Espartero to
this manifesto is a soldier's desertion of his Sove-

reign."

ENGLAND AND AUSTRIA.

VIENNA, Nov. 27.

The General Correspondenz denies the rumour
that England had yielded on all points to the de-
mands of Austria in reference to the conclusion of
the Treaty of Commerce.

CROATIA AND HUNGARY.

AGRAM, Nov. 27 (Evening).

A deputation of the party who desires the union
of Croatia and Hungary left to-day for Vienna,
to complain of the conduct of the Banns.
The members of this deputation are Count
Pejachevich Khuen, Herr von Rauch, Hellenbach,
Mrazovioch, Ciotta, Zeatarovics, and Ozegovics.
The members of the Fusionist party did not ap-
pear in to-day's sitting of the Diet.

THE BOMBAY MAIL.
SUEZ, Nov. 26.
The Baroda, from Bombay, arrived here at 8
a.m. to-day (Sunday).