We have said that the Three Northern Powers have not
yet finally disposed of Cracow ; for the ulterior consequences of the annexation are only beginning. There is every sign that the French Government merely bides its time to improve the un- known opportunities made for it. Whatever the exact tenour of M. Guizot's protest—still actively disputed—the discretion of French statesmen is evidently constrained : the general impulse is to action. In Germany, the smaller states are much dissatis- fied with the arrogant nonchalance which the Great Powers have shown in making arrangements that override the treaty of Vienna : the Great Powers, of course, rely on their own brute strength; the smaller powers, possessing only an aggregate and more precarious force, rely on public law and faith, and naturally view with dismay and disgust the great hornets' breach in the web of the law that holds all together. The King of Saxony is said not to be silent upon the offence. Italy has signalized the event by a curious outburst—a line of bonfires in the Apennines, to com- memorate, it is understood, the breach of a treaty on which mainly rests the heterogeneous empire of Austria. These inci- dents confirm our belief that the annexation of Cracow is not to be accounted a "fait accompli."
