The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-14 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—It seems certain that Denmark has soli-
cited a suspension of hostilities, and desires to enter
upon negotiations for peace. Although the Liim
Fiord has just been passed by the Prussians, and
the extreme northern towns of Jutland have been
occupied, there is nothing which need prevent these
negotiations from being successful. Peace, indeed,
seems now so inevitable that we can hardly refuse to
credit that it has already arrived. Such an event
will give heartfelt satisfaction to every one in this
country. We feel too well the humiliations of Den-
mark from the shadow they have cast on ourselves.
We understand the greatness of the sacrifices endured
by its people from the agitation which the mere spec-
tacle of them has caused among neighbouring na-
tions. Of these calamities there can be no end as
long as the war lasts. Denmark now stands alone.
No Power will move a step to save the provinces
which have been the cause of war. France, for
reasons of her own—either to inspire confidence in
the German States, great or small, or to show her
resentment of England's alleged discourtesy—has
abandoned the ally of the Great Napoleon, and has
all but encouraged the violence of its adversaries.
Russia's only interference has related to a mere
dynastic question, and the new alliance or under-
s ending between the three Northern Courts forbids
the Government of Copenhagen to hope for any aid
from the Power which in 1848 was so zealous a
friend. As for England, there is no more need of
advice, and there never was any chance of assist-
ance. During the last fortnight the agitation in the
country has subsided, the errors of the Government
have been condoned, the spiteful delight of foreign
society and the foreign press has been borne with
equanimity, and the nation has now definitively
abandoned its part of mediator or partisan for that of
a calm spectator, wishing well to the cause ofjastice,
feeling for those who suffer from military violence,
but fully resolved not again to take part in discus-
sions where arguments go for so little and artillery
goes for so much. The Danes being thus left to
themselves, what c:n they do batter than follow an
example which Prussia and Au-tria have both set
them within the present century, and accept a peace
dictated by the conqueror ? They have not yet
undergone the last humiliation of an overmatched
people ; they have not yet seen tneir capital taken,
the palaces of their Kings occupied by domineering
General, their museums ransacked, their treasury
plundered. But any one of these things might
happen to them through persevering in a defiance
which they could not support by resistance. The
allies have no sr taken possession of all Jutland—
they have established there their own regulations
and their own cfficials—they have taxed the people
to an excess which is a disgrace to them, but which
has at last broken the spirit of their victims. The
whole Peninsula is in their power—they may at
any time cross to Funen, and thence carry the war
into Zealand itself. The Danish fleet, whatever its
efficiency and the courage of the seamen, can do
little against the powerful armament which Austria
can send into the Baltic, In such circumstances
what can be more wise than to yield to fortune and
ask terms of peace from those who have conquered
by means of so immense a disproportion of strength?
This is what Denmark has now done, and it is pro-
bable that a few days more will bring a suspension
of hostilities, and a statement from the German
Powers of what they demand as a reward of the
war which they have undertaken. Various reports
are current abroad as to the course which these
negotiations have taken. It is said that the Danish
King at first addressed himself to the Emperor
Napoleon, not asking his mediation btween Den-
mark and the allies but his advice as to whether it
would be expedient to meke direct overtures to one
or both of the allies for the purpose of obtaining
peace. It was in accordance with the Emperor's
advice that the King's brother was despatched on
his late mission, and there was, it is asserted, a pre-
mise given by the Emporor that Le would do his
best to insure the Prince's success. There is,
however, little doubt that the French Govern-
ment recognises the necessity of a cession of the
two Duchies. Whatever engagements may have
been made by the two Powers at the outset of
the campaign, with whatever pretexts they may
have covered their first acts of invasion, whatever
arrangements may have been suggested or half
accepted at the Conference, it appears to be the
opinion of the French Government that the fortune
of war has decided all questions in favour of the
Germans, and that it now only remains for them to
appropriate formally the conquest which they have
made.- Whether an Oldenburg or an Augusten-
burg shall inherit, whether the popular vote shall
be taken as suggested by France and strongly ob'
jetted to by Austria, or whether the Government
shall be supposed to pass by the grace of God to the
nominee of tie allies and the Diet are purely Ger-
man questions ; all that concerns Denmak now i
to acquiesce formally in the expulsion of its troops,
and to obtain back Jutland as the price of this and
other concessions. It may be that the extraordi-
nary demands said to be made on Denmark by the
German Powers are exaggerated, but no one can
hope that the latter will be very placable or gene-
rous. Victory to them is too rare an event, a war
successfully ended is too novel in their annals,
for them to be likely to display the chivalrous
virtues. Denmark will, no doubt, have to pay in
territory and in gold, and the only limit to the
exactions of the enemy will be her ability to
satisfy them. The present year will certainly close
on a diminished and impoverished kingdom, with
nearly half its territory gone, and what remains
exhausted by the maintenance of armies, friendly
or hostile, and by the payment probably of a large
indemnity. It is a sad spectacle, and may well cause
a pang to those who brought a nation so weak and
so utterly unprepared for war into a conflict with
two great Powers. The British Government, how-
ever, may justly feel that it is not responsible for
these consequences. For many weeks the Danish
Government have known that they had nothing to
expect from this country or indeed from any other ;=,
and yet, in spite of this, they insisted on continuing
the war with an obstinacy which seemed like hero-
ism, but which the event now shows to have been
merely foolhardiness. While making every allow-
ance for a nation which has been the victim of
such injuries, we must regret that the Danes
did not show themselves more reasonable during
the later part of the Conference, and avoid the
defiant resumption of a campaign which they
have now been obliged to terminate abruptly by
suing for peace.
They would then have kept a part
at least of Schleswig; they will nuw lose the whole
of it, and, it may be, find German influence extended
into Jutland as the consequence of the occupation.
But they must now mske the best terms they can,
and we can only express a hope that the German
Powers will refrain from inflicting on them the
worst humiliations of the conquered. The change
of Ministry and the possible dissolution of the Rigs-
read show the altered counsels of the King ; if they
are met with some degree of fairness, this most un-
a En
13 end.g
English Government
thoa
pp
renderpo ys Tlr ae
no myd
aes
tcoeiosr nii
oa come oaornsfseitshttoetence to Denmark bids
fair to be followed by events); which everyone who
has studied the peculiar relationship existing be-
tween Denmark and Germany must have anticia
pated. That they were anticipated by the English
Cabinet is best evidenced by the unremitting
exertions made by it to effect a pacific settlement of
the Dano-German dispute, and that they were dis-
regarded by the other neutral Powers is to be ac-
counted for, not by any want of perception on their
part. but by motive desiffipol ultic precisely
which
to define. ofat the present
in
resent
moment it may be
order to make intelligible to our readers the line of
policy upon which the Danish Government have
now apparently entered, and the consequences to
which a persistence in it may possibly lead, it wiil,
however, be necessary to recall to their minds the
position which Denmark held ie Europe at the ac-
cession of its present Sovereign a few months since,
and the 'codifications which during that period it has
undergone. When Frederick VII. died in the month
of November lust, the Danish dominions inciudtd
the islands of Zealand, Funen, and other smaller
ones on both sides of the Great Belt, together with
the Province of Jutland, and the Duchics of Sebles-