2 JUNE 1866, Page 1

The proposal to hold a Conference in Paris has been

accepted by all the Powers concerned, and their foreign secretaries will meet, it is asserted, about the second week in June. It is, how- ever, impossible, amidst the directly conflicting statements in various journals, to form more than an opinion as to the reserves laid down. Our own belief is that the following approximates most nearly to the truth :—France has suggested as subjects the Elbe Duchies, the security of Italy, and the reform of Germany so far as it affects the outer world. England accepts that pro- gramme, and Russia. Italy accepts it, with the reserve that she will have Venetia, or fight. Prussia accepts, with the proviso that German questions must be settled by Germany, and Austria, with the pledge that no absolute cession of Venetia, i. e., cession without exchange, shall be suggested. The Diet is the only other Power represented, and as the Diet has twenty-two separate and conflicting reserves to make, it makes none.