The progress of the war is the foremost question in
everybody's mouth ; but there is so little either from the Baltic or the Black Sea beyond the advance of ships or soldiers, that the question really most important is the position of the German Powers. Prussia has now established her lead in Germany by the unhappy line which she has taken in holding back from the European al- liance, and intriguing for a separate " German " ascendancy. It is true that the Prussian Minister has signed the protocol which was under consideration, declaring the sentiments of the Four Powers; a document in accordance with others of the same series adopted by the Conference of Vienna. Lord Clarendon has also stated in the House of Lords, that there is not the slightest ground for apprehending that Prussia "had gone over altogether to Rus- sia,"—an event, he said, which "is quite impossible." He also said that there is no official declaration of the recall of the Che- valier Bunsen. Our Foreign Minister's explanation, however, is far from being sufficient to allay mistrust. Its language is pecu- liarly guarded. He mentioned the expectation of another special mission from Berlin, and anticipates that it will have "the same result" as the last had. The recall of M. Bunsen might have many reasons, personal as well as political, and it does not of itself prove that there is any material change in the feeling of Prussia towards this country. Neither does it contradict the force of the evidence to that effect. The conspicuous facts in Prussia are, that very manly language in the Chambers, exactly such as this country would desire to see held by Prussia ; that the actual Ministers are deli- cately steering a middle course between the statesmen who hold that language and who are in Opposition,—and the Court, which preserves a dead silence, while its special emissaries are wandering from Berlin to London, Vienna, and St. Petersburg, making pro- positions that neither England nor even Austria can accept. Such undeniable facts naturally create strong uneasiness ; and the very narrowed expressions of our Government convey the less as- surance, since the present Ministers have proved their adhesion to the established practice of not condemning the conduct of an ally until the facts proving that condemnation are officially known. The question therefore is not what Prussia will do,—for Lord Clarendon's political speculation as to the possibilities of a Prussian alliance may be at once admitted,—but what the Prussian Govern- ment is about ; and on that question not a ray of light is thrown by the statements of the week.
