The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-10 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TlMES.—Since the days when the First Napoleon
scattered armies and dated proclamations from fallen
capitals no more merciless conditions have been im-
posed on a conquered enemy than those contained in
the preliminaries of penee between the German
Powers and Denmark, and in the arrangements
with respect to the armistice which is to be observed

till the conclaeion of a definitive treaty. Denmark
yields everything. The King renounces his rights
to Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg in favour of
their Majesties the King of Prussia and the Empe-
ror of Austria, and he engages to recognise the ar-
rangements their said Majesties shall make in re-
spect of these Duchies. By these expressions the
two victorious Sovereigns at once fulfil their old en
gagement to recognise King Christian as the Sove-
reign of the whole kingdom, and they exclude the
Diet from any control even of the Duchy which is
now occupied by Federal troops. Instead of the
King of Denmark being made to acknowledge that
he had no rightful claim to Schleswig or Holstein,
his former title to them is allowed, in order that he
may make them over to the actual belligerents as
the prize of war. It certainly makes but little prac-
tical difference to Denmark what may be the fate
and who may be the rulers of the ceded territory;
but the fact that it has been torn by force from the
old Government is even more conspicuous in the
present language of the treaty than if the right of
the German Confederation to control the succession
had been formally recognised. The islands usually
held to be part of Schleswig follows that Duchy in
the separation. Not only does Alsen become Ger-
man, but also the large islands on the western coast
which were formerly looked upon as wholly or in
part belonging to Jutland. These are Amrom,
Fohr, Sylt, and Romo. In compensation the
Danes acquire a little strip of land on the bor-
der, forming part of the district of Ribs on the
west and Kolding on the east. The arrangements
concerning the debts and loans are not objectionable,
but the stipulations as to the support of the
Prussian army in Jutland, which is to be held
till the definitive treaty of peace is signed,
are most onerous for Denmark, and betray on the
part of the allies an unworthy desire to make their
enemy drink the cup of humiliation to the dregs.
The levy of contributions is of course suspended,
but the provisions for the allied troops will be fur-
nished at the expense of Jutland conformably with
the Prussian and Austrian regulations. " The
lodging of the troops and officials connected with
the army, as well as the means of transport for the
use of the army, shall equally be furnished at the
expense of Jutland." The surplus of the ordinary
revenue of Jutland after these expenses are paid
will bo returned to the Danish Government. We
may be sure that it will be no very formidable sum.
When it is considered that these conditions have
been acceded to in about six weeks from the breaking
up of the London Conference, there need be no
other proof that the policy of Denmark in repelling
the advice of its friends, and entering again, unaided,
on the contest with Germany, was unwise in con•
ception, and has been fatal in result. Nothing,
indeed, could be less in accordance with the defiant
tone used a few weeks since by the Danish Envoys
at the Conference than the language of the King in
the speech he has just addressed to the Rigadag.
He confesses that the courage of his fleets and armies
has been in vain, and that, though the people have
made every sacrifice for the country, yet resistance
to superior force has been impracticable, for, as
Europe has loft the Danes without assistance, " we
have seen ourselves forced to yield to numbers, and
to endeavour to terminate a war the continuance of
which, under existing circumstances, would only
occasion our beloved country greater losses and
misfortunes, without holding out the prospect of
any improvement." This is an acknowledgement
which naturally suggests to any one who has fol-
lowed the course of events the inquiry, "Why,
then, did Denmark engage in this new campaign
and tempt there new aggressions, so as to end
in such grievous humilia;ion " Without
wishing to add to the sufferings of the Danish
people by one word of reproach, we must
yet, in reply to the general complaints they are
making against England, remind them of the differ-
ence between what the Conference might have given
them and what they now retain. We admit that
in playing a bold gams, and standing up alone
against the two Powers, in the hope that at last
France or England would join them, they did not
act without a certain show of reason, But it was
the statesmanship of the gambler, and not of the
patriot. Relying on the fallacious hope that popu-
lar feeling in England would force the Government
to act on their side, or that the Opposition would
save them by accession to power after a Parliamen-
tary battle, or that the ambition and pride of France
would not permit Prussian aggrandisement, the
mistaken Government of Copenhagen spurned the
advice of this country and the concessions of its
Own enemies, refused a partition of Schleswig, re-
fused even a prolonged armistice, and brought again
on itself the full force of the two great monarchies.
To appreciate the value of the Conference, and the
advantage of the terms which the Danes might have
obtained by it, it is only necessary to call to mind
that on the 2d June the allies, after having claimed
the whole of the Duchies with entire independence
of Denmark and the right of establishing a new
succession, so far withdrew from these pretensions
as to propose a boundary line which would have
given Ihwnark at least two-firths of Sahleswig.

HERALD.—It is now a good many years since
Captain Warner procleimed himself the inventor of
a "long range" missive and an "invisible shell,"
whereby the art of naval warfare was to be revolu-
tionised. The ingenicns operator, who kept his in-
ventions a profound secret, gave Some evidence of
their power by blowing to atoms a vessel which
was moored for the purpose off Brighton. Captain
Warner, we presume, is now dead, and his inven-
tions ere buried with him, but his favourite mode
of warfare is by no means gone out of the world ;
and it seems quite possible that the principle in-
volved in his system will soon take a somewhat
conspicuous place in modern tactics. There is little
apparent difference between the so-called " invisible
shell" and the American "torpedo." Midway be-
tween the two we find the torpedoes of the Baltic,
laid down by Russia at the outbreak of the recent
. war which our arms were engaged. Sir Charles
Napier, with his coarse raillery, had ridiculed the
idea of the invisible shell; but it became his fate
to venture into the vicinity of the submarine en-
gines provided for the defence of the Russo-Baltic
waters, and had he attempted to force the passage
into Cronstadt the gallant admiral would probably
have found that these aquatic mines were not to be
despised. But Sir Charles kept outside the range
of the granite batteries, and nearly all the torpedoes
remained quietly where they were placed. One or
two exceptions occurred. A torpedo was picked
up by one of the vessels, and overhauled on the
quarter-deck, where it unfortunately exploded
while undergoing the process of examination, and
the eye of a vice admiral was blown out thereby.
Another of these submarine engines—or a couple of
them—exploded by rine of her Majesty's ships, and
created considerable havoc in the steward's depart-
ment. But no great catastrophe occurred, and the
torpedoes failed to prevent " Old Charley" from
making thesomewhnr unusual boast,thache brought
his fleet home uninjured by the fortune of war.
A restless, inventive, and, we may say, a ware
like people, are doing their best to turn this and
every possible contrivance to account, in the grand
work of human destruction. The American war has
developed the monitor, and seems likely to make
something out of the torpedo. The belligerents have
not been content merely to sink explosive oases—
after the manner of the Russians—but have given
wings or fins to the lurking volcano, and in fact
have created a sort of submarine fireship. In this
way the Confederates destroyed the Federal sloop
of war Housatonic, as she lay off Charleston, on the
14th of February last. An attempt was made to
blow up the Federal steamship
Wabash in the same
manner on the 19th of April.
This vessel was at
anchor off Charleston bar at ten o'clock at night,
whet. a rebel torpedo boat was distinctly seen about
a hundred yards astern approaching the ship's star-
beard quarter against wind and tide. The Wabash
was a giant in size compared with her assailant.
The latter carried no guns and was almost under
water, being in fact scarcely visible except to a
watchfutandsomewhat practised eye. But no sooner
was the Federal ship aware that this veritable sea
serpent was close at hand than the Wabash slipped
her cable, and word was given to the engineer to
‘
fired her nine inch guns
w
could all the time, and madesignals for assistance.
' gitoh ahead."
grat rapidity,
8 hb
lupt scampered off as fast as she
The torpedo boat hunted her closely, despite the
shower of big shot, but could not succeed in getting
to the rescue,
. and the assailant disappeared, appa-
rently uninjured by the hurried discharges which
had been fired. f.rom. the Federal cruisers. The
this incident sufficiently under her side or counter.
history of Two other vessels came
—eiently shows that
squadronof had a 'wholesome
warfare to which
they were thus exposed.
We also find that on
the 6th of M Federal a ederal gun boat was
blown up in the James River by a torpedo, it
being apparently only, necessary that the blow
should be well planteft,t n
dthreendbloofcktandoing description
order to secure the de-
struction of the vessel attacks
We have some
exeunt of the torpedo apart from its marine con-
veyance. Thus, we are told that on the 26th of
May a train was conveying
a number of troops and
four torpedoes from Newoern to a
point in West
Carolina, where it wasintended that the latter
should be used "to complete the blockade of the
Neuse River in the direction of Kingston." The
last of the four torpedoes was about reaching the
station platform when an accidental blow from a
log of wood fell upon the cap and exploded the
machine. The account states---',
The concussion
was so great that the other three followed on the
explosion of the fir-t, and so quick as to make but
one mighty report, like the crash of a thousand
pieces of artillery fired simultaneously; „
The nar-
rative reads almost like a fable. Heads, bodies,
and limbs are said to have been scattered for a
quarter of a mile around. The signal tower and a
commissary building, 20 feet by 80
feet, built of
logs, were blown through the air a distance of 800
feet. The country round for a considerable area
was strewed with fragments, and 10 soldiers and
negroes were killed. Such destruction, if cor-
rectly reported, indicates enormous Power in these
infernal machines, and shows the peril which be-
sets every vessel exposed to this description of
warfare. Bat we have indications nearer home of
what may be expected from the use of gunpowder
on the " undermining " principle, if such a term
may be applied to naval tactics. Last week the
Lords of the Admiralty witnessed some experi-
ments in the way of submarine explosions in the
neighbourhood of Pembroke Dockyard, the site
selected being a submerged rock in the offing,
known as the Prince Consort's Rock, the ship of
that name having struck on it in the course of
last year. The Admiralty yacht Osborne took up
a position about two hundred yards from the rock,
and we are told that two explosions. were fired
with great success, at a signal from one of the ene
gineers who had charge of the proceedings. The
effect is described as being very remarkable, an im-
mense mass of several thousand tons of water and
stones being heaved up, towering as high as the
masthead of the Osborne. Thousands offish, includ-
ing salmon, congers, were afterwards found
floating dead on the surface of the water. Not only
did the Osborne vibrate with the violence of the
shock, but a sensible effect was produced on the
Blenheim and Saturn, which were more remote from
the scene. Even on shore, and to a great distance,
the explosion was sensibly felt, and it was evident
that an immense power was thus exercised, without
the aid of any artillery properly so called. The
employment of eubnariue explosions in naval war-