The Sun.
London, England, 1870-10-01 00:00:00

N. THIERS'S VISIT TO AUSTRIA.

In a letter, dated September 25, the Vienna correspon-
dent of the Times gives an account of M. Thiers's negotia-
tions whilst in the Austrian capital :—" As far at least as
this country is concerned, M. Thiers did not present him-
self in the capacity of a plenipotentiary or negotiator on
the part of the Provisional Government of France. The
letter itself which he bronght from Jules Favre is a
simple letter of recommendation ; it mentions no sort of
full powers or proposaLs, and states the object of his
journey to be to enlighten in general the European
Powers on the true state of affairs in France, and
to remove any erroneous impressions which may have
arisen in this respect. In spite of the appearance of the
German army before Paris, and in spite of the inability
for the present of the French to cope with it in the open
field, M. Thiers does not consider the position of France
as so very desperate, and still believes in her inexhaustible
resources, and his conclusion therefrom is that it would
be wise on the part of Prussia not to drive matters to
an extreme, but to come to a fair compromise.
He thinks the apprehensions at Prussian Ilea l-
quarters, lest the present Provisional Government
should not be able to keep its promise and have the
preliminary treaty ratified by the National Convention,
are greatly exaggerated and without foundation. Re
considers France thoroughly Republican in her feelings,
and the present Provisional Government, although some-
what irregular in its origin, as representing really the
opinion and feelings of the great majority of Frenchmen.
M. Thiers was at great pains to bring this conviction in
official quarters here, and stated as his opinion that the
Germans would have risked nothing if, instead of losing
1 the time in the settlement of preliminary material
guarantees, they had at once debated and fixed the terms
of the preliminary Treaty. He entertained no doubt
that, with very trifling exceptions, the men chosen for the
National Convention to be called together will consist of
thorough adherents of the men at present in power, who
by their character and tact command the confidence of
people all over France. M. Thiers entertains no fear of
theiipositibn being shaken by the Reds, who may have their
adherents in one or another large town, but who have the
great'majority against them. The object of all this seemed
to be to remove the idea that the present government
was ephemeral, that it had no hold on the country, and
could not be taken au serieux, and to induce this Govern-
ment to recognise. officially the present Government of
France. The recognition of the latter by the great
Powers of Europe, 'he thought, would do much to
strengthen its hands, and would help to give it stability,
which would be in the interest of all Europa.
He was assured in return that the changes which have
occurred in France have not altered those feelings Of
friendship and goodwill which had existed under the for-
mer Government, but that official recognition
was scarcely possible before France herself
had by her representatives, recognised the Pro-
visional Government. No doubt was entertained
that this would follow the convocation of the National
Convention, but it would be scarcely meet to anticipate
1 this decision of the people of France. The second object
which he seemed to have iu view was to induce this Go-
vernment to give its support to any steps which Russia
might think fit to take in order to get more moderate
terms from Germany. M. Thiers thought this so much
the more possible, as he did not flatter himself with the
hope of getting from Russia more than moral support
and a favourable diplomatic representation, in which
Austria might join. In what shape - and by what
means M. Thiers means to bring about this action
on the part of Russia after she has distinctly declined any
interference between the belligerents it would be difficult
to tell, as he was rather reserved on this point. So much
the more explicit was the answer he received to this
suggestion. He was assured that this Government had
always been ready to join the other neutral Powers in any
effort of friendly mediation. Although this readiness
has never been put to the test, it still existed. If,
therefore, this Government was offerred an opportimity
to co-operate in the re-establishment of peace on
a durable basis, it would willingly seize it, but
until it knew in what form Russia might think fit to act,
it was impossible to give any positive assurance. Of
course, this form could only be that of a friendly media-
tion, and M. Thiers was distinctly told that he must
dismiss all idea of finding this country disposed to join
Russia or any other Power in exercising any pressure on
the decision of Germany. Whatever hopes France might
have had or might still entertain to the contrary, they
were totally groundless, for it was the firm decisidn of
His Majesty the Emperor from the beginning not to in-
terfere in the quarrel between France and Germany, but
to maintain the strictest neutrality.