The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-08 00:00:00

The " Situation,"

(From the Realm of To-day.)

There is every reason to anticipate that the
Danish Government will persist in its prudent oppo-
sition to the indefinite prolongation of the armistice
The German Powers for strategical, the English
Cabinet for parliamentary, purposes, are equally
desirous of gaining time. In a few months the sea-
son, which is advantageous to the Danes, will have
passed away; in a few weeks Parliament will b 3
disbanded; and when the summer is over Ihnmark
will once more be at the mercy of Germany, and
the guardianship of English interests and English
honour be entrusted to an uncontrolled and vir-
tually irresponsible executive. We frankly con-
fess that the prospect of further disaster to Den-
mark is not the apprehension which we have
principally in view when we express the
anxious hope that the design which the German
and English plenipotentiaries are pursuing
together may be speedily and finally frus-
trated. We are more concerned to perceive
that the peace of Europe cannot be considered secure
as long as a question so fertile in discord is allowed
to remain unsettled. But what touches us most
nearly is the reflection that, if the Ministerial tactics
attain their object, we may again be subjected to
the humiliation under which the country is still
smarting, and be condemned to witness another

I aeries olthreatening despatches, followed by vacil-
lating conduct, and resulting in concession and
surrender. If the peace of Europe requires that the
Danish question should no longer be left in suspense,
it is no less indispensable to the honour and dignity
of England, that the opportunity should immediately
be given to Parliament, undiaturbed by current
negotiations, to review the foreign policy of Her
Majesty's Government, and to determine whether
we are still to be represented before the world by
men whose acts and language are so little in corres-
pondence with the generous spirit of our country.
It is because we believe that it will have
the effect of hastening a solution, that we
congratulate the country upon the animated
debate which unexpectedly arose in the House
•f Commons on Monday night, No one can
reproach the Opposition with a want of forbearance,
and Mr. Disraeli's demand for information is as
little open to the charge of being excessive as it is
to that of being premature, Mr. Kinglake, al-
though too anxious to serve the German cause to
subject the Government to inconvenient interpella-
tions, fully acknowledged the force of Mr. Disraelea
position, that the reserve of the House of Commons
was dependent upon the fidelity of Ministers to the
basis of their negotiations. Even according to Mr.
Kinglake, a change in that basis ought to be com-
municated to Parliament in order that it may have
the opportunity of expressing its unaltered confi-
dence in the Government, or its disapprobation of
their new policy.
If we be rightly informed, the Danish plenia
potentiaries have adroitly availed themselves
of the opening afforded by the English proposi-
tion to place the Government in an embarrass-
ing dilemma. They have, it appears, agreed
to accept the proposed boundary of the Schlei, on
the condition that England should make its accept-
ance by Germany an ultimatum. Although in our
own opinion the Government should have adhered
to a system of non-intervention, which would have
made such a demand impossible, it cannot be denied
that, after all that has been written and said by her
Majesty's Ministry on the Schleswig-Holstein
question, Denmark has a right to expect that the
arbitration of so great a country as England should,
if necessary, be backed by efficient action. Unless
this demand be complied with, and unless the Ger-
man plenipotentiaries show themselves on Thurs-
day next more yielding than they appeared on
Monday, it is probable that the labours of the Con-
ference will be brought to an abrupt conclusion.
It is satisfactory to reflect that the interval in
the negotiations will be usefully occupied by de-
bates in Parliament, which oan now no longer be
postponed, By a variety of expedients, the Govern.
meat succeeded in suppressing discussion before
Easter, and since then the Conference has come to
their assistance ; but the country is impatient of
delay, and unless the regular organs of oppositio❑
in Parliament be found ready, as we have every
reason to anticipate that they will, to perform their
constitutional duties, the indignation of the people
will find vent through other and unsuspected chan-
nels. Nothing could be more fatal to the influence
of Parliament than the neglect, at such a crisis as
the present, of its supreme functions as the autho-
rised interpreter of public opinion.

The Gun-cotton Explosion at Stowmarket.

The inquest on the body of Elizabeth Barnard,
the second person whose death had been caused by
the explosion at Messrs. Prentice's gun-cotton
factory, was resumed on Monday morning at Stow-
market. Mr. F. B. Marriott, the coroner, stated
that the Secretary of State for War had instructed
a competent officer to inspect the works and give
evidence at the inquest. After several of the
workpeople had been re-examined Mr. Manning
Prentice stated that he had visited various scientific
gentlemen in London to endeavour to ascertain the
cause of the explosion. Professor Tyndal, to
whom the knife used in cutting the cotton, with
its notches, was shown, at once expressed his
opinion that it arose from this knife coming in
contact with the copper wire employed in the
cotton which is cut. Mr. Prentice also read a series of
new regulations for the factory, prepared with
the concurrence of Mr. Abel, the chemist to the
War Department. Dr. William Allen Miller, Pro-
fessor of Chemistry at King's College, London, the
first scientific witness examined, said, Dr. Frank-
land and myself came down from London on Satur•
day, and visited the Gun-cotton Factory, where we
saw the whole operation of the manufacture of the
cotton. We then proceeded to make experiments
on the ignition of gun-cotton by mechanical means,
particularly with the cutting machine. We made
a great number of experiments, our object being
to satisfy ourselves upon the conditions which
were likely to arise, and to ascertain the cause of
the explosion. We took pieces of copper wire '
and placed them so that they should be cut
through, and endeavoured to ignite it in that way,
The copper was placed in various ways, sometimes
spirally and sometimes in the rope, and we also
tried to shave a piece off. We made 40 or 50 cuts
through the rope and the copper in various ways,
but did not succeed in firing the cotton in this way.
We put some small pieces of flint into the rope, and
cut it three or four times without any explosion,
but on the fourth or fifth cut the cotton exploded.
I think there can be very little doubt that the ex-
plosion was caused by the action of the knife either
upon copper or grit. lam not certain which, but I
think most probably copper. Dr. E. Frankland,
Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution,
London ; Dr. T. Richardson, technological chemist,
Newcastle-on-Tyne, and Professor of Chemistry at
Durham University; and Mr. J. Scott Russell,
C.E., were then examined, and gave evidence
confirming that of Dr. Miller. The coroner said
that the public must feel that everything possible
had been done to investigate the cause of the explo-
sion, and that Messrs Prentice had done all in their
power to throw light on the matter. The evidence
of the scientific men was that the explosion was
produced by the knife coming in contact with the
copper wire or with a piece of grit; but they all
inclined to the opinion that it was with the wire
and not with the grit. He did not know that they
were called upon to decide which of the two it was,
so long as they were satisfied it was accidental ; and
it was clear that if the rules now arranged were
attended to there would be no danger of an explo-
sion in future. After a consultation of about three
quarters of an hour the jury found " That the said
Elizabeth Barnard died on the 29th day of May
last from injuries received by her clothes having
been accidentally set fire to by an explosion at
Messrs Prentice and Co.'s gun-cotton factory on the
24th day of May last. The jury wish to state that
they are entirely satisfied with the manner in which
the recommendation for a ecientifio inquiry has been
carried out,"