The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-13 00:00:00

ANOTHER AUSTRIAN NOTE.

The following is the text of the Austrian note of the
23d ult. addressed to the Austrian Minister at Berlin in
reply to the Prussian despatch of the 13th ult. :
"The Royal Cabinet has only responded to our own
desire, when, as it remarks in its despatch of the 13th, it
has subjected to examination the whole of our communi-
cations of the Ist. We were able to fall for this examina-
..

tion with the full assurance that its results, although big
with consequences for all interested parties, would cer-
tainly not be ofa nature to cause to be ascribed to our man-
ner of acting the causes of a scission which we find it
difficult to bring ourselves to think as possible. We
have always been far from wishing to restrain in any
manner the right of Prussia to decide freely and by her-
self on the acts which we have ourselves laid down in an
independent manner. Ie the convention of April, and
in the negotiations which preceded it, we reserved to
ourselves the liberty of adopting independent measures,
and acting according to circumstances, in so far as the
latter shall be in full accord with the priuciples of the
said convention. Why then oppose to us, with
so much persistence, that we Lave acted indepen-
dently, if that manner of acting wore sufficiently
called for ? Why not rather ask if we never acted
otherwise than is a way rigorously consistent with
the principles of the treaty, and with the view of
assuring the realisation with the object it had
in view ? The convention with the Porte was the
previous and necessary audition of the execution of
the supplementary article of the 20th April ; our
present attitude in the principalities is equally the
necessary consequence of it. When the treaty of offen-
sive and defensive alliance was concluded, Prussia
did not ask that we should take the engagement of
not co-operating with the adversaries of Russia, if
that power should refuse to evacuate the princi-
palities. She must hare even foreseen that the con-
trary would take place. In this case, the operations in
the principalities would not have had for their exclusive
object the protection of German interests. Why then
now lay down this impossible condition ? If we must
express the impression which, ou the whole the last
declarations of Prussia have can ied to us, we will say
that we find between her and ourselves, less a di-
versity of principles, less a divergence in the manner
of understanding the rights and the duties whieh
result front the treaty of April, than a peculiar man-
ner of considering the facts. These facts have pre-
sented themselves in the eyes of the Prussian Govern-
ment in a manner different to that in which they have
presented themselves to us, and we found on that cif
cumetance the hope of an early understanding. The
Prussian Cabinet appears to give to the fact of the re-
treat of the Russian army in the Principalities a political
signification, which we cannot admit. On the other hand,
the Cabinet of Berlin sees in the declaration of Russia

' to confine herself to the defensive,' a guarantee which

we do not find. It finds nothing alarming in the as-
sembling in Poland of the best troops of Russia, whilst
we consider it as a menace of the gravest kind. Every
day renders the situation clearer, and gives a more
serious warning. It consequently only remains for us
to express anew our confidence in the assurance
which has been given to us that H.M. the King under-
stands, in all their extent, the duties which are imposed
on him in all eventualities by his anxiety to assure the
security of Germany in the East. We still attach, as
we have always done, the greatest weight to a common
attitude of Prussia and Austria before the Diet. We
have displayed solicitude and perseverance in maintain-
ing ourselves on a line in which Prussia and the other
German States ought to meet us. In the affair of Hol-
stein, to which the Royal cabinet refers, extraordinary
events prevent Prussia from strictly observing the same
conduct; but the solo consequence to be deduced from the
issue of this affair is precisely to recognise the immense
♦alue far all Germany of the union of Austria and Prussia.
In the present state of things, we think it right again to
propose to Prussia to co-operate in a completely uniform
action of the representatives of the two powers in the
Diet. With this view, we communicate to you the
eventful instructions which we have drawn up from the
Imperial ambassador in the Diet, and we authorise you
to communicate them confidentially to Baron de Man-
teuffel—ard to add that we will not make use of this
document until the Prussian Cabinet shall have entered
into explauatioas with us. Your excellency will pre-
sent a copy of the present despatch to the Minister Pre-
sident of the Council.—Receive, &c.,
" DE BUOL."