Correspondence.

New Zealand Herald, Volume IV, Issue 1130, 28 June 1867, Page 4

Correspondence.

NIL DESPJEEAKDUM BAY. To tlio Editor of tUo New Zealand Hebald. g IE Through your valuablo paper I -wish to call the attention of ship masters visiting your port to the secure anchorage to be fouu 1 in a bay bu tire on ArLd Island and the Great Barrier, east side, wlueh is secure from southerly gules, round by W. to N W It can bo entered from the £.Li. by a chaunol OIT.C mile in width ;no danger It can be seen on the nocrth side of the island. r lhe channel is three miles in width. In taking up a position to anchor bring the north head of the bay to bear by compass north, south head bearing JC.S-K, centro of Arid Island bearing J£. and N., and anchor in eight fathoms, clay and saTid, three-quarters of a mile irom Sandy Beach Plenty of room to get under weigh should wind caster. Plenty of freah water can be obtained southcud of Sandy Beach. Bay abounds in fish. Hoping this will prove a benefit to your valuable harbour, I &c., A.. Delandelles, Nil Desperandum. P.S. As my brig was tho first, with your permission, we will call it- " Nil Deeperandum Bay." TBo it so. Hencoforth let tho bay between Arid Island and tho Great Harrier Island be called M Desperandum Bay. We have said. Ed. In .Z.H.J

THE PRESENT STATE OP EUROPE. (From tlic Sydney Horning Hkrcild.) In oiio of tho ablest existing works on the balanco of power* it is laid clovm as an axiom that the satety of tlie world consists in keeping England and Prance in separate scales of the balancc; that out of the generous emulation between these two great but essentially rival Powers tlie grand results of European civilisaii m have been wrought. When the logic of fact ran counter to the logic of theory, and tlie page of history recorded the alliance of France and 1 ii gland, there were not a few people who a! cucc exclaimed, " Tlic alliance of these lowers is the peace of Europe." We do not find either statement to be in conformity with fact, for not only is tho "well argued scheme of international policy, in which tlie natural allies of a maritime Power like England were laid down to be the Germanic races and tho Empires I of Austria and Kussia, and those of a military I Power like Prance were assumed to be the I Scandinavian and Latin races, scattered to the I winds ; but tho union of England and France has rather resulted in war than in peace to the Continent of Europe. Tho chemist accustomed to produce ccrtaiu unvarying results from the materials of inorganic matter, often finds himself at fault in operating where the principle of vitality is apt to disturb "his calculations. Similarly, abstract thinkers on political questions, who reason upon human events without reference to human nature," are apt'-, make too little allowance for those eoniuaing interests and accidents which have so n.uch to do with the quick mutations in modern system. Every one perceived tliat the grasp of the Hapsburg could not long contain the incongruous States that composed the Austrian Empire before the battle of Sadowa. Probably the " deluge " which Mettermcli predicted on his departure, and which may be said to have occurred, is not exactly of the character expected either by himself or others. That absolutist statesman appeared to expect complete disintegration upon tlie introduction of the leaven of . liberty ; but the poison which he dreaded, administered medicinally by a judicious haud, has been tho means of stopping the progress of disintcgation, and of bracing up an effete Constitution. Although tho traditionary policy of the Hapsburg dynasty has been reversed, aud the Empire kas been shorn of much of the territory which conferred a fictitious glory upon it, it "will be found that Austria has lost only that which proved a source of "weakness, and retains ■what will prove the source of its permanent solidarity. It is true that the prestige of the ' Empire is gone, and that the Lombardian . Provinces, followed by Venetia, have been wrested from the lia'o d that could not hold them; but tlic remainder, even though tbc.headsliip of the Danubian Confederation never be added to it, makes a most respectable appearance on the man.

The population before recent events was 35,019,058. Tlie loss of the Lombard-Venetian Provinces has rcdueed it to 32,573.000. Nor has the loss of territory been more serious. In the year of the demise of the Empress Maria Theresa, in 17S0, Austria comprised 232,999 square miles English ; during the reigns of the Emperors Joseph I. and Leopold, this area was augmented to 233,117 square miles by treaty ; further acquisitions up to 1707 increased it to 251,020 ; by cession at the Peace of Vienna, in 1810, the area was reduced to 159,583 square miles; and in ISIS, by acquirement at tho Vienna Congress, it was increased to 235,527. The Treaty of Munich made the area, on the accession of Ferdinand 1., 213,279 square miles ; tho acquisition by treaty of what is now Aus-trian-Poland, raised it to 253,727 in 18-1S ; and now, by tho losses of 1559 and IS6G, the territory under the Crown of Francis Joseph ia said to be IST",3-1/ square miles. For purposes of comparison it may be well to remember that that of France comprises 211,852 square miles, and a population of 37,152,732 souls. When wo consider the heterogeneous nature I of the population brought willingly or unwillingly to obey ltcscripts issued from Vienna, we cannot wonder at the difficulties that have pursued tho Government of the Hapsburgs since it has attempted to drive so unlikely a I cam. The Germans number 5,200,000, tho Northern and Southern Slavons 15,300,000, the Magyars 5,000,000, tho Bonmans 2,700,000, the Jews 1,000,000, the Italians 500,000. Here is diversity of race, of language, of creed, sufficient to liave defeated the builder of any political Babel. One of the chief elements of rebellion lias been removed —Lombard-\'ene« tia; the other, Hungary, with a population of nearly 10,000,000, is in process of pacification. Although defeated in her attempt to shake off tlie yoke of Austria in 1818, by reason of the treachery of the Commander-in-Chief of her own forces, Hungary has since remained persistently true to her traditions. _ She lias never admitted the right of Francis Joseph I. to claim her Crown by virtue of conquest; but she ever acknowledged him her King by election, under oath to maintain her free constitution. The Emperor has sought to bow this proud people to submission ; he has recruited his armies from tlieir homesteads, and paralysed their industry by the heavj-heeloftaxation ; their aspirations have been crushed, andtheirnational feelings outraged. Happily for Hungary, she has listened io wise counsels. She has been told that if she could but wait patiently, passively resisting the imperial demands, tlie necessities of the Imperial Government would oblige it to seek her friendship. And so it has proved. Hungary has couqucred liei'Xing. ihcMagyar has brought the Hapsburg to terms. The old Constitution is restored; the ;ievt Ministry in installed ; the iron crown of St. Stephen lias cucireled the brow of tlie Emperor, who, by the members of the Upper and Lower Houses of tho Legislature, habited in their national military costumes, has bceii freely hailed Kiug of Hungary. Many Constitutions have been ottered to tlicm, but they would accept none but thir own. They were not dependent on the largess of the Emperor, and demanded only what was thcilS bv inalienable right. . "From this union there is eyerythmg to hope. That tho dual Government thus established will work well, there can be little fear; and beneath the regis of a sound Government the flowers of industry and the fruits of labour will crown with plenty that internal peace which guarantees the peace of contiguous kingdoms. This is not the only instance m history in which the passive resistance of conscious right has tried out and tyrannous power of brute force. ♦ Hccren'd Treatise on tlie Foreign Policy of Groat Britain.