The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-15 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JULY 15, 1864.

troubles to the action of the Roman Catholic priests), and
Mr C. Fortescue.

Mr COBDEN observed that, stated shortly, the question
was this—We had a debtor owing £500,000, and he said to
his creditor, "My credit is not very good in the City; but
if you will endorse my bill for a million, I shall be able to
discount it in the City upon your credit, and will then pay
you your £500,000." But what interest had the English
people, who were to provide the guarantee in this matter ?
In an economical sense the New Zealand colonists were
immeasurably above the population of Great Britain; yet
the latter were asked to bear the expenses of a war carried
on in the colony; and for what object? According to the
member for Sheffield, who, presuming on a long career of
eccentricity, had uttered sentiments which were more fitted
for a Parliament of Thugs, it was the extermination of the
native race. But the real object was the acquisition of land
by the colonists ; for the price of wool was enormously high,
and sheep pasturage was very profitable. The English
Parliament, however, had parted with all sovereignty and
jurisdiction over the lands of New Zealand, and could not
dispose of a single acre of them. As to the boasted revenue
of the colony, it was made up chiefly of customs dues on
imports, the operation of which was to fetter our trade. In
fact, the trade was a factitious one and thinking the time
was come when the Imperial Parliament ought to take
another course with reference to these colonial matters, he
should vote for the amendment.

Sir J. HAY also opposed the bill.
Lord STANLEY objected to the guarantee, because it
was proposed in the worst and most indefensible form. If
the house gave any assistance to New Zealand it had better
be done by paying down hard cash. They would then know
what they were parting with. But in this case the
responsibility which the country incurred was totally out of
proportion to the assistance given.
Sir ,T, FERGUSSON protested against the doctrine laid
down by some of the opponents of the bill, as calculated to
sever all connection between the mother country and her
colonies.

Lord PALMERSTON said the land question had no •
thing whatever to do with the present war,and argued that
the security offered by the colony was ample. Moreover,
he thought it was only just to guarantee the loan, for if
it were raised in the open market the colonists would have
to pay 7 or 8 per cent., instead of a considerably lower
rate.

In answer to Major STUART,
Mr CARDWELL said that a clause would be intro-
duced into the bill making the advance of the loan by the
Imperial Treasury, conditional upon the acceptance ty the
New Zealand Legislature of the terms upon which the
amount was to be guaranteed.
On a division the bill was read a second time by 92
to 55.

THE WAR IN DENMARK.

On the order for supply,

Mr GRIFFITH drew attention to the rumour that the
Prussians had demanded, as the conditions of making peace,
the payment by Denmark of £11,600,000 sterling, and the
surrender of the Danish fleet; and inquired whether her
Majesty's Ministers were disposed to regard the latter por-
tion of the demand with indifference.

Lord PALMERSTON replied that no information of so
monstrous a proposition having been made had reached the
Government.
Mr S. FITZGERALD asked whether the house was to
understand that Ministers had received no information of
an armistice having been concluded, and that negotiations
for peace were gang on.
Lord PALMERSTON had reason to believe that pro-
posals for an armistice had been made, but was not aware
that they had been concluded.
The house then went into committee of supply, and
agreed to the votes for the National and Portrait Galleries.
In committee of the whole house the Marquis of HAR-
T INGTON moved resolutions providing a further sum of
£650,000 for the construction of works for the defence of
the dockyards and arsenals, and the ports of Dover and
Portland, and the creation of a central arsenal, to be charged
upon the Consolidated Fund, the Commissioners of the
Treasury being authorised to raise the amount by annui-
ties for 30 years,
The resolutions were agreed to.
The Bleaching and Dyeing Works Acts Extension Bill
passed through committee.
Several bills were also advanced a stage, and

The house was counted out at half-past 2 o'clock.

The Late Prince Consort's Windsor

Association,

After a lapse of two years, during which no distribution
of prizes in connection with this association has taken place,
those whom the Prince Consort designed to benefit by the
operations of the society, and over whose welfare he so
kindly watched, were again called together yesterday after-
noon, under the shadow of Windsor Castle, to receive at
the ',lands of the Prince of Wales those rewards which they
'mu' earned by their industry, frugality, or ingenuity, and
which will no doubt urge the recipients to compete for fur-
ther prizes in coming years, and to endeavour, if possible,
better to deserve theni. The association, which originated
in 1850 from a desire of the Prince Consort to encourage the
cottagers in and around, Windsor, and to bestow some mark
of approbation on those housewives in humble stations who
best fulfilled their duties by keeping their cottages as clean
and tidy as circumstances would allow, soon enlarged its
field of operations, and gradually became the means of en-
couraging and rewarding agricultural labourers, handi-

craftsmen, and others who were found worthy of material
marks of approbation. The various aims and objects com-
prised within the scope of ordinary agricultural societies are
included in the sphere of operations of the Windsor Asso-
ciation, which also encourages an exhibition of horticultural
productions, of specimens of art and skill manufactured by
cottagers and others in their leisure hours, and in fact holds
out a helping hand in all directions, so that no persons in
humble life living within a tolerably extensive circuit of
Windsor Castle need fear that any remarkable virtue they
may possess will be overlooked, nor that any skill or talent
they may exhibit will remain unrecognised.

Though the association lost its beneficent prop and sup-
porter, and doubts were entertained as to the successful
prosecution of its objects, it was wisely resolved that a
society which had been started under such favourable
auspices, sad which had been the means of conferring such
benefit on Windsor itself, and on so many of the parishes
round it, should be maintained ; and, encouraged by the
direct sanction of the Queen, the committee resolved to
pursue its useful labours and to further strengthen and
support the society, The gratifying• show of yesterday, and
the presence of the Prince of Wales, who graciously distri-
buted the prizes to those who had gained them, must have
been gratifying to the gentlemen who have been the means
of keeping the association together and maintaining its
efficiency.

Like as with all other English institutions which deserve
to prosper, the proceedings of yesterday commenced with
a dinner to the exhibitors about to be rewarded. To this
feast no less than 247 were founded to be eligible, and they
certainly proved themselves to be capable of appreciating
such substantial rewards as were set before them. This
exceedingly satisfactory commencement of the events of
the day took place in one of the Queen's tents, erected on
that part of the Home Park lying between the South-
Western Railway Station and the Castle, and on the same
spot were also erected a number of other tents kindly lent
for the occasion from the royal stores, and others of larger
dimensions which had been procured for the better display
of the objects sent for exhibition. One tent was filled with
choice flowers contributed, though not for competition, by
Mr Turner, of Slough ; Mr Ingram, of the royal gardens
at Frogmore ; Mr Drake, of Amersham ; the Rev. J. L.
Joynes, of Eton College ; the Rev. W. Carter of the same
institution ; Colonel Challoner of Portnall Park, and others,

Though, as has been stated, these flowers were not for
competition they were the subjects of much competition in
others, for their great beauty and brilliancy caused the
large tent in which they were exhibited to be filled through-
out the greater part of the afternoon to such a degree as
to render locomotion and circulation exceedingly difficult,
and only to be attained after some exertion and display of
patience. Another tent was devoted to the display of
horticultural productions of less pretending but not less
satisfactory character, for the size and perfection of the
vegetables and fruit displayed in it by the cottagers and
others were sufficient to prove that the allotments and
gardens in which the trophies had been produced had been
carefully and skilfully cultivated. In a third tent was dis-
played an exceedingly multifarious collection under the
heßcla of "Needlework" and " Handicraft," and here, with-
out doubt, was the most interesting part of the display. It
seems likely and proper enough for gardeners,farm labourers

and even sewerm9 (of which class was one of the exhibitors)
to produce prodigious potatoes, Brobdignagian beans,
colossal, and such like edibles ; but when one finds that
among the articles properly classed as needlework some half
dozen of her Majesty's household troops are competitors;
when an interesting young footman, aged 20, exhibits a
child's frock "made in leisure hours ;" when a coachmaker's
labourer occupies his spare time in the production of a
similar article; and when, amongst a miscellaneous collec-
tion, one finds that a coalheaver shows a pair of boots of his
own manufacture, and that a soldier exhibits several pin-
cushions, the thought will arise that some of these worthy
people have missed their vocations, though great credit
must undoubtedly be given to them for the skill displayed.
One man of the Coldstreams exhibits a patchwork quilt, and
another a table-cover made in a similar manner ; while a
third, belonging to the Scots Fusiliers, proudly displayed a
complete pair of trousers made of small pieces of red and
white cloth cut diamond shape, after the fashion of the
border round his undress cap. Ho was not so fortunate as
his comrades in obtaining a prize, but his ingenuity, and
perhaps his workmanship, was worthy of such a reward. A
footman and gardener showed that his mind was concentrated
on his business by the production of a vermin-trap, and a
tray for silver, divided into compartments. A smith ex-
hibited a table, and a pair of snuff-boxes made from the
wood of Herne's oak, A juvenile scholar of Eton, aged 11,
intimated, by showing the model of a cannon, that at no dis-
tant day he will contend the palm with our Armetrongs
and Whitworths ; and a future Turner, though now a
watchmaker, evidenced his taste in colour by the exhibition
of two oil paintings, though he did not prove that he could
pass an examination for the civil service, but rather the
contrary, as on the ticket describing one of his production%

—Pembroke Castle—the word Wales had an unfortunate
"h" in it. The scholars in some of the schools in the
neighbourhood exhibited frocks, shirts, shifts, and other
articles, showing that needlework is not neglected in the
useful education they are receiving. Some of the exhibitors
were of exceedingly tender years, even as low as 6 and 7.
Taking the multifarious nature of the collection into consi-
deration, it is certain that the exhibitors in all classes de-
serve the encouragement they met with yesterday, liberal
as it was.

The Prince of Wales, attended by Lord Alfred Hervey
and Capt. Grey, left Waterloo station yesterday afternoon
at 2 40, by the ordinary passenger train, to which a royal
saloon carriage was attached. On arriving at the Home Park
his royal highness was received with great joy by the people
assembled, though they were much disappointed at finding
that the Princess of Wales was absent. The prince was
conducted to a pavilion placed in an enclosure, within which
were seated many ladies and gentlemen, subscribers to the
association, and others, and Without which were standing a
far more numerous assemblage, who had paid a smaller sum
for admission than was required of those who occupied the
inner circle.

The prince entered the enclosure by the eastern entrance,
where he was met by Col. Sir C. B, Phipps, Major-Gen.
Seymour, the Mayor of Windsor, and the committee of the
association, and, passing through the dining tents, at once
proceeded to the pavilion, where he was supported by Lord
Alfred Hervey, Viscount Kirkaldy, Col. Sir C. B. Phipps,
Major-Gen. Seymour, the Dean of Windsor, Col. Ponsonby,
Lieut.-Col. Keppel, Col. R. H. Vyse and Mr Vansittart
(the members for the borough), the Rev Seymour Neville,
Mr T. Cleave (the mayor), Mr Alderman Blunt, and oilier
gentlemen.

The proceedings commenced by Mr 11, Wrench, one
of the numerous hon. secretaries) reading a report of the
committee for the past year, which gave a very satisfactory
account of the hopes and prospects of the society, and
stated that the sum now apportioned for prises was the
same as during the last three or four years, namely, £2OO ;
and also stated that since the commencement of the institu-
tion in 1850 the total number of persons rewarded was 2,584.
No less than 114 persons belonging to the first six classes
received rewards for such virtues as are generally recog-
nised by agricultural societies, and rewards were plentiful
enough to those who had distinguished themselves by their
needlework and handicraft and by their vegetable produc-
tions. The amount distributed was thus apportioned—First
class, £l6l 15s; needlework, £ll Os 6d; vegetables, £lolls
6d ; and handicraft, £9 5s 6d. Certificates, enclosed in a
neat frame and ready for hanging in the homes of those to
whom they were apportioned, were also distributed by the
Prince. These certificates consisted of a large card, ou,
which was a medallion portrait of the Prince Consort, and
words stating that they ware presented in honour of the
royal founder. An additional proof of the interest the
Queen takes in the society is shown by the fact, as stated
in the report, that the signature at the bottom of each card,
" Victoria R," written in a fine bold hand, is the royal
autograph, which, of course, renders the recognition of
merit tar more precious to its recipient. Mr Wrench also
read the awards of the judges and of the committee, which
necessarily occupied some time, in consequence of the num-
ber of persons to whom rewards were distributed ; but in
about an hour from the commencement the proceedings

were concluded, and the prince proceeded to inspect the

conten's of the tents. His Royal Highness soon afterwards
left Windsor, travelling by the 5.15 train on the South
Western Railway to Waterloo Station.
The Scots Fusilier Guards' band played on the ground
during the afternoon.
In the evening the members and friends of the associa-
tion dined together at the town-hall, Windsor, under the
presidency of Col. the Hon. Sir C. B. Phipps, one of the
vice-presidents, The healths of the Queen, the Prince of
Wales, and Prince Alfred, the patrons of the association,
were drunk with much enthusiasm.

The Election of a Common Councilman for
the Ward of Cripplegate Within,

Yesterday the poll of the freemen, inhabitants of the
ward of Cripplegate Within, took place before Mr Alder-
man Challis, between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., for
the election of a commoner to serve in the room of the late
Mr B. B. Brown, deceased.

As we stated yesterday, the candidates were Mr W.
Clements and Mr A. Grant. both well known as men of
position and long residence in the ward, and consequently
the voting was very spirited on both sides, the candidates
not varying in closeness of numbers more than four at any
period of the polling. Ot the 180 voters upon the autho-
rised ward list 107 recorded their votes, and at 4 o'clock,
when the poll closed, the Alderman declared the numbers
to be—

For Mr Clements
For Mr Grant

Majority for Mr Clemente

Alderman CHALLIS then declared Mr 'William Clements
duly elected to serve as one of the representatives of the
ward in the Court of Common Council for the remainder of
the present civic year.
Both the newly elected representative and Mr Grant
having thanked the numerous electors present for the sup-
port they had respectively received,
Mr CLEMENTS proposed, and Mr GRANT seconded, a vote
of thanks to the worthy alderman for the ability and
courtesy he had displayed in presiding over the wardmote,
which the Alderman briefly acknowledged, commenting
upon the kindly manner in which the contest—one of the
severest he ever remembered—had been conducted.

Great Excitement in the Iron Trade,
Reduction in Prices.

There was immense excitement amongst the makers,
sellers, and buyers of iron from all parts of the kmgdom
yesterday in Birmingham. It wag the day for the quarterly
meeting of ironmasters to be held in that town. At the pre-
liminary meeting of the trade held a fortnight ago in the
same district, it was stated that the prices at which iron
should be sold by the leading firms should be those which
have ruled for some months past, and which are in the pro-
portion of £9 108 for bars. At the preliminary meeting,
however, Mr W. D. Forster, M.P. for South Staffordshire,
objected to the decision, and said he would not be ruled by
it, but promised that he would not take any contrary action
until quarter day (yesterday). Yesterday, however, he
came to the meeting and said he had reduced his prices 20s
per ton. Loud complaints and protestations of unfairness
followed from other masters, who were thus compelled also
to reduce. Iron is therefore down V. per ton. And this is so
without there being any probability of wages being brought
down at the finished iron works. Hitherto the price of
finished iron has been understood to depend upon wages.
It was forced up when masters were beaten in a strike with
their puddlers about 18 months ago, and prices have been
advanced with every additional rise. Now, however, there
is a reduction without any arrangement as to wages. Indeed
it is understood that wages are not to be affected by this
change, for the trade is not prepared to stand together and
demand that the men shall accept lower wages or be locked
out; and it is well known that no individual firm is strong
enough to reduce their own men while the union of the
workmen exists. Masters will now therefore be selling iron
at 20s a ton under the prices which they have hitherto ob-
tained,:without being able themselves to secure any set off in
the way of labour or cost of material, excepting to the extent
to which Shropshire pigs are used, and that is very limited.
Buying was checked yesterday by the suddenness of
the
alteration in prices, merchants and consumers imagining
that even better terms may be obtained by negotiation.

Painful Suicide in Wellington-street, Strand,

INQUEST.
Yesterday morning Mr W. J. Payne, coroner for
the duchy of Lancaster,
held an inquiry at the
White Hart Tavern, Strand, respecting the death
of Mr John Bryant, aged 61 years, who committed
suicide under very painful circumstances :
William Pratt, porter, said that deceased was a cataloguer
of books at Messrs. Sotheby and Co.'s, 13, Wellington-
street, Strand. Witness had known him in the establish.
ment for 18 or 20 years. He was not in any difficulty at his
employers. For the last few weeks he had been very strange
in his manner, apparently
in consequence of the receipt of
a letter from his wife, who was in Colney Hatch Asylum.
Ho was very reserved, and he never stated to witness wha
his grief arose from. On Monday afternoon witness found
him in the closet on his 'toss. The place was covered
with blood. Witness lifted him uP, and found that his
throat was cut. He was quite dead, but still warm. All
the arteries of his throat were divided. Witness found a
razor in the pan. He had no quarrel with any one—he was
quite in a distinct department from the porters. Money
matters were not wrong, so far as witness knew. Witness
did not know whether deceased was related to his wife be-
fore marriage. Deceased used to speak strongly against
suicide, and say that no one but a fool would kill himself.
Mr. E. R. Hodge said that he was one of the firm of
Sotheby and Co. Deceased was strange latterly. He spoke
to witness abut domestic troubles. Two or three years ago
he mentioned his wise having given way tc intemperance,
and his own unhappiness in consequence. She was then
living with him. He suffered more acutely latterly, and he
told witness that his wife had attempted to drown herself.
Witness believed the statement was incorrect that she had
been removed to an asylum. His conduct was correct in his
business. He wait of sober habits.
Mr James S. Bryant, No. 362, Gray's-inn-road, said that
deceased lived with him. Deceased was in a state of great
excitement on Sunday. He had given Mrs Bryant money
on the Saturday, and he was irritated at none being in her
possession on the Sunday. He never threatened to destroy
himself. He always spoke strongly against suicide. It
was not in consequence of his wife's attempt that he spoke
against suicide. The razor produced belonged to deceased.
Deceased told witness that he had asked the firm for an ad.
vance of £2O. Witness did not know whether he had been
refused it.
Mr Hodge said that the deceased applied for the advance,
but he received £2 of the amount on the Saturday to pay
his income tax. He said that would be sufficient for a few

days. He spoke of being in pecuniary difficulties on ac-
count of his wife's infirmity.
After other evidences

The Coroner summed up, and remarked that generally he
found that persons who expressed strong feelings against
suicide were generally more likely than others to destroy

their lives.

The Jury returned a verdict of " Suicide while in a state
of unsound mind."

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TlMES.—There is a Zealand in the northern
hemisphere, and a Zealand in the southern ; New
Zealand we call it, but no doubt it is a namesake of
the northern. Both are islands, and both are occu-
pied by brave and proud rakes, apt to take a high
ground, and well able to defend a moderate one.

The mention of the former just now is painfully
suggestive. We have had to leave it in the lurch.
We hare made a good defence, it is true. They
were wilful and obstinate. Finding a difficulty in
their way, they attempted to rid, through it, and

break th.e.fence that would not part or bend. But
unfortunately the small pecple that was to reap all
this glory could only hope to succeed by our assis.
tance, at our risk and our cost, and in a cause upon
which we had tendered our counsels in vain. So,
upon counting the cost we declined to enter on an
interminable and unprofitable strugele that did not
even promise us the pleasure of doing things as we
might think best. Not altogether without loss of

credit, we backed out of the affair. We have not
been so fortunate in the other hemisphere with the

other Zealand. There, too, we have to play second
fiddle to a Colonial Legislature; there, too, we have
to find all the ships, all the men, all the money—
everything, in fact, with the single reserve that we
are not to be allowed a voice in the conduct of affairs.

We are to maintain an army, which we have seen

put at 10,000 men, and a fleet, both provided with
the best new rifled guns and muskets, and subsisted
at the cost of several thousand pounds a day, with.
out having even the chance of being listened to a

moment either as to the conduct of the war or as

to our dealings with the natives. All that we
know and that we learn, especially from the last
mail, is that we are driving the savages from
one resting point to another, that we are doing
our work with that weapon which strikes down
women and children even before it touches the

fighting men—starvation, and that meanwhile we
are acquiring no glory, not even the very small
glory to be picked up by clearing off savages with

courage and skill. We are out-generalled, we are
surprised ; we fall into ambuscades ; we are beaten
at a stand-up fight; a whole regiment is put to the
rout, and its officers shot down while trying in vain
to rally their men ; after thundering for hours
against wooden stockades, our men are scared and
paralysed by terrific yells. We are not even al•
lowed the opportunity of retrieving our disgrace,
for the enemy escape in the night. Upon counting
heads, with more than a hundred killed and
wounded on our side, we cannot hope to have dis-
abled more than forty of the foe. So we have to
content ourselves with the beggarly consolation
that, though we are killing the natives slowly, they
are only 60,000 ; and that though we don't shoot
many, yet famine and disease are doing our work,
and we shall eventually succeed in exterminating a
brave and high-spirited race. The disaster at Gate
Pah tells its own story. All went on well till the
troops, having forced several lines of defence, and
fancying resistance was at an end, suddenly found
themselves exposed to a deadly fire from all sides,
and from the very ground below their feet, besides

a hand-to-hand encounter, in which they had to
meet tomahawks as well as they could with the
bayonet. Even when they had recovered from the
first surprise they were still at a disadvantage in
their firearms, the Maoriesjhaving double-barrelled
smooth bores, and the British soldier the Enfield
rifle, certainly not intended for close quarters. As
every inch of the ground was very cleverly laid
out for this occasion, and the defenders had pro-

bably fallen back only to draw the assailants into
this fiery furnace, we must not be too hard
on the soldiers, who only did what the bravest
and best soldiers have done before—retreat from

a position in seleich they could only fail. If
the 43d Regiment retired too soon—and it cer-
tainly did retire without waiting for orders or con-
sulting even the safety of its officers—it did not
retire without first suffering terrible loss. The
officers fell, because no doubt they were picked off
from loopholes ; and while they were doing their
best to rally and reanimate their men, their fate
added to the general discouragement. We must
not, then, be hard on men who did their duty up
to the very loophole of the hidden foe, the very
mouth of the ritlepit, and the very swing of several
hundred tomahawks. Oae thing, however, is too
evident. While the officers did. their duty as they
will do, almost equally in the best and worst of
causes, the soldiers had not the enthusiasm which
drives a man into the very jaws of death, and
keeps him there. They had no wish to be shot
down, riddled, or hacked and hewn into pieces—
for what ? For the glory of Old England ? For
the protection of their altars and hearths, their
wives and families? For vengeance? For justice
and mercy ? No, for none of these things, but just
to clear off some poor fellows from their own native
land, and obtain the title clear of incumbrances for
the speculators at Auckland. That the case of these
epecu ators, and of the colonists who want land and
can't get it, is very hard, we douot not ; but hard
es their case is, it is still harder to die for it, par-
ticularly when they are in no hurry to die for it
themselves, or even to pay other people to die for it.
The disaster betrays, what we have other means of
knowing, that the soldiers we land in New Zealand
are in one respect seriously " demoralised," as a
military critic would express it. They have their
own opinion upon the war and have lost all faith
in its justice and wisdom. They dont like shcot-
ing down savages upon their own lard. It has been
repeatedly stated by soldiers that the most hateful
work they were ever employed on was collecting
tithes, levying distresses, and supporting other legal
processes upon the Irish peasantry. That is the feel-
ing which now pervades the British forces in New
Zealand. They don't like the work, and therefore
they don't do it as well as they would if their hearts
were in it. It may be something to fight for—what
is not ?—but it is not a thing to die for. If the
colonists want the land, let them fight for it and
die for it. They can do so with some reason. Their
blood is up. They have lost houses and land, cattle
and everything. Many, we fear, have lost relatives
and servants. It is a good cause in their case, and
to their colonial apprehension. But it is a very
sordid, very coldblooded affair for the British sol-
dier, who knows only what he sees. If, then, the
war is to proceed with any hopes of success, the
colonists must take it more in hand than they have
done hitherto, both by risking their own persons
and by dividing the cost.
POST.—We are anxiously expecting the details
of the truce arranged between Denmark and- the
Allied German Powers. In other words, we shall
be interested to learn the extent of the concessions
which the former Power has made. We have little
doubt that they will be far less advantageous to
Denmark than those proposed at the London Con-
ference, and we at all events may learn the useful
lesson of abstaining for the future from the thank-
less task of peacemaking between belligerents who
were from the outset determined to settle their
quarrel their own way. The accession of Count
Moltke and the reactionary party to power was sig-
nificant of peace crisis. The departure of Prince
John for Berlin gave rise to rumours that he had
proposed to Prussia the annexation of Holstein and
the lower part of Schleswig. There is every reason
to believe such was the case, but that, however
strongiy inclined Count Bismarck may have been
to accept so tempting an offer, the obstacles in the
way of a solution so purely Prussian were too for-
midable even for that skilful politician to overcome.
This proposal, however, did not emanate from the
present Government, who are reported to have con-
ceived the idea of entering the Garman Confedera-
tion with the two Duchies one and indivisible, upon
conditions apparently so favourable to many that
they have formed the basis of overtures for peace.
Unfortunately it does not rest with Denmark and
Germany alone to settle this question as they may
think best. The Emperor Napoleon has maintained
hitherto an attitude of remarkable reserve, but we
can scarcely suppose he will permit the accession of
a whole monarchy to the German Federation with-
out either exacting a compensation or objecting to
the proposed scheme in toto. It is not likely, more-
over, that Russia anticipated this denouement when
she promised the Allied German Powers her cordial
co-operation and support. At the same time she is
too deeply committed to the Holy Alliance to back
out of her engagements, and may reconcile herself
more easily to the prospect of an increased Federal
Germany than to the only other alternative which
would seem possible, that of a Scandanavia. In fact,
Russia would prefer to see Denmark united under
Oldenburg under the most favourable conditions
possible to the kingdom, but as she cannot gain her
point, she will be better satisfied with the German
than with the French solution. We may consider,
then, that any terms which Germany may make
with Denmark Russia will agree to, and that she
considers the greatest danger to her power to be,
not the addition to the German Federation, but
those European ideas and tendencies which have
been alluded to by Bismarck as the justification of
the renewal of the Holy Alliance. Nobody can follow
the remarks made upon the documents lately pub
lished without arriving at the conviction, which is
by degrees becoming more B emly established abroad,
of their genuineness. From one end of Europe to
the other their publication has produced an excite-
ment which has not yet subsided, and which has
called forth the most frantic denials or. the part of