The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-21 00:00:00

Manifesto of the Emperor of Austria.

VIENNA, June 17.
The full text of the Imperial manifesto issued to-
day (summary telegraphed) is as follows :
" To my People,—
" In the midst of the labours of peace I had undertaken
to lay the foundations of a form of Constitution which was
not only to strengthen the unity and power of the common
realm ; but to secure to the individual countries and peoples
their free internal development, m) duty as a ruler has
compelled me to call my entire forces under arms.
" The armies of two allied enemies stand on the frontiers
of the empire in the south and in the north, with the inten-
tion of shaking the position of Austria as an European
Power. To neither of them have I given cause for war.
God the All-knowing is my witness that I have always
considered it one of my first and most sacred duties as a
ruler to preserve to my people the blessings of peace, and
have faithfully striven to maintain them. One, however,
of the two hostile Powers requires no pretext. Greedy for
the plunder of portions of my empire, it considers favour-
able opportunity cause for war.
"Allied with the Prussian troops which now oppose us
'as enemies, a portion of my bravo and faithful army ad-
vanced two years ago to the shores of the North Sea. I en-
tered into this brothership in arms with Prussia to preserve

rights acquired by treaty, to protect a menaced German

race, to confine the misfortune of an unavoidable war to
its narrowest limits, and by the intimate alliance of the two

groat Powers of Central Europe—to whose share in
especial had fallen _ the task of preserving European

peace—to obtain a lasting guarantee of that peace neces-

nary for the welfare of my empire of Germany and Europe.
I have not sought conquests. Disinterested in the con-

elusion of the alliance with Prussia, I have also striven

for no advantage to myself in the Vienna Peace Treaty.
Austria bears no blame in the melancholy series of unfor-
tunate complications, which could never have arisen had

Prussia been animated by similarly disinterested objects,
and could immediately have been settled in a spirit of
similarly faithful alliances. The complications were pro-
duced by the realisation of selfish objects, and could there-
fore not be solved by my Government in a peaceful way.
The gravity of the situation was thus constantly increased.
But even then, when warlike preparations had manifestly
been made in the two hostile States, and an agreement
between them which could only be based upon the inten-
tion of a common attack upon my empire became more
clearly evident, in the consciousness of my duty as a ruler,
and ready to make every concession compatible with the
honour and prosperity of my people, I remained in the

most profound peace. When I perceived, however, that
further hesitation endangered the effective repulse of hos-
tile attacks, and thereby tho safety of the monarchy, I was
" • '

compelled to determine upon the serious sacrifices insepa-
••• • • •

rably connected with armament for war.

"The assurances of desire for peace given by my Govern-
ment, the repeated declarations of my readiness for mutual
common disarmament, were answered by Prussia with pre-
tensions to have acceded to which would have imperilled the
honour and security of my realm. Prussia demanded entire
immediate disarmament, not only as towards herself, but
also towards the hostile Power upon the frontier of my
territory in Italy, for whose love of peace no guarantee
was offered, and none could be given.
"All negotiations with Prussia in the Duchies question
have constantly afforded fresh proof of the fact that a solu-
tion of this question suitable to the dignity of Austria, the

rights of the interests of Germany and the Duchies, is not
to be attained by agreement with Prussia, on account of her
plainly evidenced policy of violence and conquest. The ne-
gotiations were broken off, the entire question was handed
over to the decision of the Diet, and the legal representatives
of Austria were at the same time convoked.

" The threatening prospect of war induced the three

Powers, France, England, and Russia, to issue an invitation
to my Government also to participate in common delibera-
tions, the object of which was to be the preservation of
peace. Following up my desire to preserve peace to my
people if in any way possible, my Government did not refuse
participation, but at the same time coupled its assent with
the express understanding that public European right and

existing treaties should form the points of departure for
those attempts at mediation, and that the Powers taking
part therein should pursue no separate interests to the dis-
advantage of the balance of power in Europe and of the

rights of Austria. If even the attempt at peace delibera-
tions was wrecked upon these natural assumptions, the fact
affords proof that the negotiations themselves could never
have led to the maintenance and consolidation of peace.
" The most recent occurrences irrefutably prove that