EXTRAORDINARY HOAX UPON THE TIMES.

Southland Times, Volume VII, Issue 516, 11 July 1866, Page 3

EXTRAORDINARY HOAX UPON THE TIMES.

The Times thus accounts for an extraordinary announcement it made on the 21st, that the Emperor of Austria and Count Mendsorff has resolved to withdraw the Austrian Ambassador from Berlin ; that the Prussian Ambassador at Vienna had been informed of this intention, and would probably take his departure : and that the Austrian general had been ordered to withdraw the forces under his command from Holstein. The authority for these statements was the following letter, purporting to have been written by the nephew and private secretary of Lord Clarendon, which reached us in an envelope with the impressed stamp of the royal arms, and with a well-executed forgery of Lord Clarendon's signature, as if to ratify the letter of his private secretary. The letter arrived so late as to render it difficult to vei-ify its authenticity, even if there had been anything in its appearance or in the iuforniation it contained to excite suspicion. It has been for many years, and under many administrations, the practice of the Foreign-oMce to forward for publication intelligence of urgent public iuterest ; such letters are generally written by tho private secretary of the minister, and verified by his signature on the envelope. In this case, though on subsequent examination the impressed stamp has been found not to bear the words " Foreign office." the envelope is of the usual official character, and the impressed stamp is that of J;he royal arms. The letter was a forgery. No such despatch had been received at the Foreign-office, no such letter had been written at the direction of Lord Clarendon, the signatures of Mr. Lister and of Lord Clarendon were forged, and the envelope had been purloined. We were, in fact, the victims of what in some venial matters would be called a hoax, but what, where such important interests are concerned, is little less than a crime. Lord Clarendon will, we are assured, take means to discover if any subordinate in his department has betrayed his trust, and we need not assure our readers that we shall spare no pains to bring to justice the author of such a fraud upon ourselves and the public : — " Foreign Office, Whitehall-gardens, " 20th April. "Dear Sir,— l am desired by Lord Clarendon? to mention for your information that ne has received this afternoon a telegram from Lord Blooinfield at Vienna, dated one p.m. to-day, stating that at an early morning council at the Palace of Schonbrunn the Emperor and Count Mensdorff, against the advice o1 some others, resolved to withdraw Count Karolyi from Berlin, and that intimation of this decision having been made to M. De Werther, it was expected that he would leave Vienna this evening rr tomorrow morning. Lord Bloomfield states that Count MensJorft", after receiving the Prussian answer of the loth, telegraphec a repetition of the Austrian demand oi the 7th, in the course of the 18th, and received a fresh refusal by telegraph on the 19th. This unfortunate resoiutior appears to be the consequence of that refusal. The letter of recall was believec to be already despatched. An order was also to be sent at once to the genera] officer commanding in Holstein to fa!, back through Holstein and Hanover leaving only a few companies of troops ir the Duchy. Lord Clarendon much regrets to send this untoward intelligence. I remain, &c, T. V. Lister.