Austria has declared peace against France, and with his usual
sagacity and boldness the Emperor of France has retorted the challenge in the most prompt and decisive manner. Communi- cations, it would appear, have been despatched from Vienna, in- timating to certain Courts that the Austrian Government would not be indisposed to accept good offices in healing the breach be- tween Paris and Vienna, should the Western Powers be able to agree on the basis of the said " good offices" ; a condition which if it be truly reported must have thrown no small respon- sibility upon our Queen's Ministers. That they, with other neutral powers, incline to peace is to be believed ; but the post-
tion is embarrassing. The fad is that the motives to war are not limited to any one oountry, to any one party, or to wy one provocative. Each coueatry sees some souree of danger *aside its own frontiers, makes Its preparations defensively, and wears an aggressive aspect towards its neighbours. Thus Austria and Sardinia are reciprocally charging upon each other armaments of aggressive appearance. The French Government seems unable to suspend its course of preparations ; for the Emperor Napoleon desires to maintain his position. in Europe, whatever may hap- pen,. And even we are about to increase our Navy, because the fighting powers of other countries are augmented ; yet certainly we have no aggressive intentions.
No doubt the Emperor of Austria intended to checkmate his brother of France by a forced march a in Frederick the Great, to preoccupy the ground of peace, with all the advantages of an aggressive diplomacy. The Emperor Napoleon's Government has responded, by issuing in the Moniteur a warning addressed to the press, which had been very warlike in its tone ; " Such dis- cussions," says the official paper, " being of a nature to arouse ill-founded uneasiness in the public mind."
But the Conference of the Plenipotentiaries, says the same offi- cial organ, is shortly to reassemble in Paris for the purpose of discussing the result of the Moldo-Wallachian elections—newly complicated by the decree of Colonel C,ouza, the double hospodar, absolutely to fuse and unite the Governments.
