The Austrian Government is undergoing some form of minis- .
terial crisis, but it is very difficult to know whether it is by official design, or by the ordinary impulse of vulgar curiosity, that the effect of the change seems to be exaggerated in the ac- counts. The grand facts are, that Count Reehberg not only re- tains his post as Foreign Minister, but becomes President of the Cabinet, which would seem to imply that the spirit which has animated the Austrian administrations recently is now more intense than ever. On the other hand, Baron Bach, who was the Home Minister and guiding mind of the Austrian Government, is now either shelved, or exalted, into the post of Ambassador at Rome. At the same time the official Gazette is permitted to contain a non-official article, calling for a list of reforms under sweeping heads—better control of the finances ; municipal regulation ; the free exercise of the Protestant religion and the regulation of Jewish affairs; the paper winding up with a very sage remark on the dangers of " over caution." Without more positive in- formation it is impossible to conjecture what may be the value of this display. That it is intended to gather some degree of public favour cannot be doubted ; but until we are better informed we can have little faith that Austria will really plunge heartily into the competition for public favour as a reformer.
