Count Bismarck has followed up his attack on the Emperor
and his creatures by publishing a photograph of a note and a draft treaty sent by Count Benedetti to himself in August, 1866, after the Prussian victories, the note speaking of the Treaty transmitted with it as coming from Vichy, where the Emperor was then staying. The Graphic of this week has given a fac-simile of the Treaty, but not of M. Benedetti's note cover- ing it. It seems to be accepted on all hands that the handwriting is M. Benedetti's, and the Draft Treaty certainly proposes to transfer Luxemburg to France, and to unite France and Prussia in an offensive and defensive alliance in case any measures taken by France for the acquisition of Belgium should bring a declara- tion of war from any other country,—the only return for which seems to be that France graciously concedes to Prussia the right of keeping what she had already obtained, and would even permit a federal union between North Germany and the States of the South, Austria excepted. All we can say is that Count Bismarck's confessed encouragement and histrionic discussion of these and similar proposals, during four years, was a very mean and unworthy policy in the Minister of a kingdom which had already proved itself quite the equal of France in power, with a certainty of deriving the greatest increase of that power from any open collision with French arms in such a cause.
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