The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-08 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—The prospects arising from the Treaty of
Peace lately concluded at Vienna are less favourable
to Austria than they are to Italy. The difference
does not merely lie in the fact that the vanquished
Italians are enriched to the full extent of the losses
of their Austrian victors. It is not simply because
Austria has been compelled to part with Venetia and
renounce her place at the head of the German Con-
federacy that her condition inspires her well-wishers
with serious apprehensions. The uneasiness pro-
ceeds from the extreme difficulty created for her by
the late events of determining her proper position
for the future. The Hapsburg has ceased to be a
German and an Italian Sovereign. What.place will
he have in Europe simply as an Austrian monarch ?
The time has come at last for men to get at the mean -
ing of the word " Austrian." The petty feudal lord
of some of the south-eastern circles of Germany, the
Duke of Austria, became a Mighty Prince by a series
of auspicious events which brought Bohemia,- Hun-
gary, and other non-German lands under his sway.
By the aid of these non-German possessions he se-
cured supreme power in Germany, carried Imperial
elections, and fixed the Empire on almost hereditary
rights in his House. The ascendancy of the Empire
in its turn enabled him to strengthen his sway over
the non-German dominions. The work of so many
centuries is now at last thoroughly undone. In Ger-
many the Emperor Francis Joseph counts for even
less than the petty feudal chief, his ancestor. But
he is still the lord of a small separate and indepen-
dent German State, the head of a vast extent of
non-German possessions—perhaps 8,000,000 Ger-
mans against 25,000,000 non-Germans. The posi-
tion is wholly reversed; the basis of empire displaced.
Up to 1806, or 1815, or even 1848, so long as Aus-
tria was at the head either of the German Empire or
of the Confederacy, she ruled by the aid of a German
majority, if not of numbers, at least of political and
social strength and intelligence, with her seat of
power at Vienna ; but, since Sadowa, the Kaiser
finds himself with his Germans in the minority, and
his State shows a tendency to gravitate to the east-
ward, to look for a new centre at Pesth, if not fur-
ther down to Szegedin or Belgrade. There is at
the present moment apparent calmness in the
Austrian Empire, especially in its light-hearted
capital, and the Government have at last deemed it
expedient to raise the state of siege, acknowledging
thus the improvidence of a measure of rigour for
which those easy-going Viennese had given no pro-
vocation ; but under that smooth surface the Empire
is no less a prey to helpless anarchy, an anarchy in
every branch and order of the administration. There
is as little Government in Austria at this moment,
as little mind and will to frame a policy for the
future, as there was in the worst days of 1848,
when General Perrone, Minister for Foreign Affairs
in Sardinia, being urged to profit by the disorder of
Austria to renew the contest in Lombardy, answered,
with what seemed then sound wisdom, " that he
thought it folly to meddle with a mad dog sure to
die of its own rage." The knots which the sword
managed to cut in 1848 present themselves again
now, awaiting a peacefal solution. The nationali-
ties are once more let loose. The position of 1848
is reproduced in 1866, but with two main points of
difference. In 1848 Germanism was still strong
enough to stem the tide. It first enlisted national
pride in the overthrow of a foreign aggressor. It
bore up the old Hapsburg standard against Sardinia.
It then turned its regained strength to the suppres-
sion of home factions; it reorganised the central
power at Vienna, and hence proceeded to the
_sub-
jugation of the non-German Provinces. But there
was even then one of these Provinces for which
Germanism was not a match. Hungary was too
strong for Austria, and had to be brought to alle-
giance by Russian interference. In 1866 Germanism
constitutes a feeble minority in the Empire ; but,
on the other hand, and by way of compensation,
the loss of her position in Germany and Italy
enables Austria to throw all the weight of her
power into the settlement of internal difficulties.
The main difficulty, now as before, is, of course,
Hungary, and as the German element must needs
have lost so much of its ascendancy it has
occurred to some that the- safety of the Empire
could best be provided for by a compromise between
Germanism and Magyarism—a partnership of power
between Vienna-and Pesth. Under a scheme of per-
sonal union these two leading races, it is supposed,
could keep all the minor nationalities under subjec-
tion. But it is, in the first place, very questionable
whether the German and the Magyar will either
agree to an equal share of power or bow to one an
other, and it is still more doubtful whether the minor
nationalities will be easily amenable to the rule of
either or both of them. Were the Austrian Empire
composed only of three or four distinct members, or
were one, at least, of its members so compact and
homogeneous as to be able to take a central position
and maintain it, the cohesion with and subordina-
tion to it of the minor fragments might be easily
obtained. But out of the German element, which
has lost its main stay in the Confederacy, and con-
stitutes now, as we said, a small minority, there is
no such possible basis. The Magyar is the domi-
nant, bnt by no means the only, race in Hungary ;
the Czech does not occupy the whole soil of Bohe-
mia, and all the East and South-east is swarming
with Slavonic tribes, so mixed up and interspersed
with the German, or Saxon, and the Magyar, and
so constantly pressing and trampling upon one
another, that it would be idle to attempt to trace
either distinct or permanent limits between them.
So long as Austria was an absolute State, and Ger-
manism her centre, not only was her rule unre-
sisted, but hailed for its highly beneficial, civilising
influence ; but any attempt on the part of. the
Government to organise itself on free PrinciPk's' to
introduce representative forms, and, above all
has
things, to admit the justice of national claims,
had hitherto no other effect than to raise a
storm of sub-national counter claims, and bring
the State to the verge of utter dissolution. It
is in consideration of these supreme dangers
that the Government of Francis Joseph, if any-
thing like Government may be said to exist in-
Austria, seem staggered in their schemes for the re-
construction of the Empire, either on the principle
of a Dualism between the German provinces and
Hungary, or of a federation of the main national
divisions of the Empire. Anything like a constitu-
tional plan, either general or partial, or the forma-
tion of a real Ministry, is in abeyance, and the ma-
nagement of military and diplomatic affairs alone
engrosses the attention of the rulers. The Archduke.
Albert, the only man of energy, as it appears, about
the Emperor's person, seems to put all his faith in
the army, and the only measure of importance in
the appointment of Count Goluchowsky to the Go-
vernment of Galicia, and of Count Rothkirch Pan-
then to that of Bohemia; the formerte
ltaotitehretogrtehaet
satisfaction of his Polish subjects, the
great indignation of the Czechs. The mere creation
of satrapies, with 'power to deal with local Diets,
upon more or less independent or autonomous prin-
ciples, might, perhaps, produce the form of
govern-
ment best suited to the minor Provinces, and' might
transform the Empire into a Confederacy with a
strong military centre ; but the larger kingdoms,
especially Hungary, aspire to an entirely separate
government, and are bent on actual independence.
either with or without the Hapsburgs. There is
very little show of disloyalty as yet on the part of
the Magyars ; but they may be less determined be-
cause they are not clamorous. An outbreak in
Hungary would involve no slight danger to the
Monarchy ; but the Emperor and the Archduke
Albert are straining every nerve to keep the army
in the utmost state of efficiency, and as the armyis
quite German by reason of its strong organisation,
they rely upon it as the most conservative element
in the State. The peace concluded with Italy, and
the removal of the garrisons from the Quadrilateral,
enable theta to concentrate their forces round the
seat of Empire, and to act with undivided energies
upon any given point. In any dispute with Hun-
gary, in any difficulty in the East, Austria will no
longer have to be on her guard against the South.
Her mission in Europe " no longer leads her in
that direction,"
standing many as she informs us, and, notwith-
petty demonstrations of it
is not likely that she can harbour any serious
thought of a new quarrel with Prussia or of the
recovery of her lost ground, in Germany. Her life
or death now depends on the solution of the
home question, on the settlement of the great na-
tional difficulty. It is in all probability with a view
to prepare against internal disorders that the army
is being set in order, not for a new appeal to the
fortune of arms in Germany. Austria should be as
anxious to cultivate a neighbourly feeling towards
Prussia as she exhorts Italy to entertain towards
herself. In all her complications on the Danube, in
her conflict with, rebel races, or in her advance upon
Turkish or Russian borders, she can have no better
ally than the new North German Confederacy.
The animosity between Austria and Prussia, how-
ever natural under present circumstances, should
not be long-lived. The ground. of between
them is for ever removed, and the two countries need
never again cross each other's path. They may
still have, both in the East and West, community
of interests, but scarcely any ground for rivalry and
hostility.
ANGLO-A3IERICAN TIMES. The Pall-Mall
Gazette is a very young thing in an antique
garb: Ably conducted, young though it be, it
is already a great success. The Spectator—
through its spectacles—has perhaps become con-
scious that a vacant place has been filled. The
" Weekly" will be the more sensible of this, from
the sharp slap given to it by the young " Daily."
The Pall-Mall alleges on the part of the Spectator
the most painful ignorance of the Eastern question.
It warns its venerable contemporary off that ground;

till it has made itself acquainted with the commonest
facts of Turkish history. But though the smart
young daily in the antique guise, pulls up its con-
temporaries for errors, with what the sailors call " a
round turn," it' stumbles sometimes while so
jauntily tripping along. On Thursday last it told a
story under the head of "Military Law in Bengal,"
a well-known story, considering hat three years ago
it made as much noise in India as the Jervis case
does now. It is affectation, therefore, to give
dashes for the names. The Pall Mall Gazette tells
the tale as having occurred in 1853, while it puts
into the mouth of one of his actors the words, "in
" these days of Sir CHARLES WOOD, one must think
of oneself. If I tell everything, Sir CHARLES will
abolish my appointment." In 1853, and for years
after, Sir CHARLES had nothing to do with the
officers of the East India Company's Army. The
East India House was flourishing in Leadenhall-
street, little dreaming of its end then so quickly
approaching. We would not notice this mistake if
the questions of fact were correctly told. The story
is simply as follows:--Col. Burney commanded at
Dinapore in 1863. lle was a very gallant old officer,
and assiduous in his attentions to young and pretty
women. The friends of a lady construed a note
written to her by the brigadier as being insulting.
It was a curious production but it might not have
meant anything. The husband of the lady being
absent, the adjutant of the regiment to which he
belonged and another gentleman called for an ex-
planation on the brigadier. Their tone, considering
they were addressing their commanding officer, was
anything but respectful. They gained their point
and left the old officer, having extracted a promise
that he would not again address the lady. A
scandal like this could not in India remain
in such a half developed state. Further cor-
respondence and interviews took place. In one
of these Captain EYRE openly spoke of
himself as having called on the brigadier and
threatened to horsewhip him. He stated that
Colonel BURNEY submitted to this insult, and de-
scribed himself as sitting on the stool of repentance.
The real question hinged on this interview, at which
no one was present but the two principals. Cap-
tain EYRE was not the young sub. as represented by
the Gazette, but an able and gallant officer who had
raised himself through every grade of the British
army to the post of adjutant. A court of inquiry
was directed to investigate the circumstances, and,
acting on its report, Colonel BURNEY was advised
to resign. The Brigadier resisted, and complied
only on a strong pressure being brought to bear.
He retired to Calcutta and filed a complaint in the
Supreme Court, and the case shortly after was tried
by Sir MORDAUNT WELLES. Unfortunately for Mr.
LYRE, he had been sent home in charge of troops,
and as the question was one which turned solely on
the interview, the trial scarcely gave him a fair
opportunity of vindicating his assertions. To read
the story in the Pall Mall Gazette, one would sup-
pose that Mr. EYRE had been cross-examined in
court, and had not told the truth, when, unfortu-.
nately for him, he was in England or at sea on his
way there, while the court was sitting in Calcutta.
Sir MORDAUNT WELLES had to weigh the testimony
of Colonel BURNEY against that of Mr. EYRE. There
was not a particle of evidence on ' either side
beyond these statements. The Chief Justice had
to make up his mind from the balance of
probabilities. A guard was within call, a
sentry in the verandah, and the judge held that
no officer in such command would have borne such
insolence as that Mr. EYRE alleged he had offered,
and which Colonel BURNEY denied. On such points
Sir MORDAUNT arrived at his decision, and it is
highly improbable that he would have spoken of an
absent man on evidence like this, as having per-
jured himself. The trial only deserves notice from
the cross-examination of Colonel TURNER, Deputy
Judge-Advocate-General. He stated that his sole
anxiety " had been to carry out the Commander-in-
" Chief's wishes, bywhose breath only he existed, and
" who could remove him from office in a moment if he
",were to forfeit his Excellency's confidence. That
"he considered it his duty as Judge-Advocate
" blindly to obey orders ; to obey orders first, and
"then to do justice. He admitted that he
" did not know exactly what the duty of a judge-
" advocate was, and that his chief anxiety in the whole
" business had been to protect himself against the dis-
"pleasure of the Commander-in-Chief, which would
be fatal to his future prospects." Injustice to this
officer we must state that lie was ill at the time,
and bullied by the plaintiff's counsel beyond Eng-
lish endurance in the climate of Calcutta. The
Commander-in-Chief held that he wasquite as good
a judge as Sir MORDANT WELLES as to who was
likely to be right and who wrong in this military
case. He promoted Mr. EYRE to a company
when his turn arrived, showing that he differed
both from Sir MORDANT WELLES and the Pall-
Mall Gazette. Mr. EYRE'S offence consisted solely
in having carried his defence of a lady to too ex-
treme a point. No doubt, between the evidence of
Major-General BURNEY and Captain EYRE there
was a wide discrepancy, and that the Chief Justice
held the General to be right and the Captain to be
wrong, but there were a great many people, very
good judges, who thought differently- and, there-
fore, we consider the comments on that officer to
be most unfair, which is our reason for following
the Pall Mall Gazette in commenting on a story
that had better be forgotten.