The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-21 00:00:00

Austrian Commissioners an address bearing more
than a thousand signatures, in which they Saii,e'„
plicitly :—" We wish to remain united with
swig
mark.. We would prefer a division of Schleswig ace
cording to the nationality of the population t° if
union with Holstein and annexation to GertnileY7l
There. was nothing in these peaceful re
to entitle German allies to visit their authons,,tee
penalties, Through the events of war the veme,
in Schleswig have lost the protection of the' 11'/„1
reign they prefer, and the people to whom tu%
,preseutsto.Zu
naturally belong. King Christian pretends to tIA"
rights over them, having conceded all he ever claimed
to his victorious enemies. The North Sclaleswige4
well undeistand the defenceless situation in whi°
they are placed, with no arms but those of reaso°'
and areunder no temptation whatever to resort I°
foreign intrigue or domestic conspiracy. They WI
that Prussian power is practically irresistible, se
they do not attempt to resist it. Their cone/
might be held for Germany by a corporal's geehr,,;
Abstinence from opposition by the do Apt° aut";,/
lanes is enjoined on them by civilised usagee°,lo
that the comparative military power of their frisiri,
and their foes has been fairly tested, and filo".
decided in the field ; but more than this the Gertoe,o
°
are not entitled to require. The future lot of the
Duchies is undecided, such at least is the diploslatie,
hypothesis set before Europe. There has not, therof
fore, been, for there could not be, any transfer a
e allegiance of the Schieswigers. Under thtot
circumstances, it is most natural and desirable tlio
the people who have the greatest interest i 0
settlement of the question should declare th.
wishes.. Such a declaration does not involve tro
claira.to make the future political connections of lel9
Duchies or particular parts of them dependents ole
and absolutely on the will of the inhabitants'
11',
simply implies that their opinions and feelings ,e°4
stitute one element of the question. The peoPie.o-0
North Schleswig could not have taken a more pa°l
course than they have done. Nobody can per/ e%
the meaning of their address to the beaten, eb,a.1,0
doned, despoiled King of Denmark, who is the ld
person in the world from whom anybody Tii.°7lo
expect material succour as against Germany•
the memorial to the German Commissioners thows
selves, that address was and could be nothing bto°
a peaceful manifestation of wishes which es° be
efficacious only so far as they are agreeable to. ti.t,
public reason, and warranted by public rirot
And now let it be remarked how these P°oo
people have bean dealt with. They have bln•
loaded with penalties such as might have been ;fa
flitted on men who had conspired against their °
lawful government; such as might, for install
have been imposed on the people Magdeburgto
they had. petitioned the King of Saxony and. la,
Germanic Diet for annexation to his donaint°"oo
A. Prussian paper, the Cologne Gazette, obserl 0
that " the prisons in Schleswig are full of perie°,llo
whose only crime consists in having signe°,Thief
address." And the Pluisian Commander-in-u"; 10
has issued a proclamation prohibiting the signot„e.
of petitions under penalty of the rigorous enfe,l,o
meat of martial law, reminding the people--107,0..
was surely unnecessary—that the state of war, e 1
tames. This last fact, however true, has no rati°"„n.
connection with the matter. Prussia never Pro
fessed to make war on the population of the Dnelliof
The state of war has placed those provinces Wil°
in the hands of Prussia, whose power nobodci
Schleswig dreams-of resisting. It is not disPet'he
that the people must accept the fate to which, the
Prussians may consign them. The authority 0` tot
government now placed over Schleswig is paraligoi•
and unchallenged. But by its nature and detroe
nation. it is provisional and transitory, a" elf
manifestations of the Sleswigers have refereneel,
to that. permanent state of things which is to fe'npo
when it shall have passed away. Even if Bttravele
had no interest in knowing the desires and ati"es•
meats of the people of the Duchies, it must he,,,-eit
pedient that those people should express '7.0
wishes for what they are worth before their fo-re
irrevocably fixed. Prussia undoubtedly can diaPfee
of Schleswig as she likes, but it is desirable; %est
for her own sake, that she should know on the
the
authority whether she is engaged in realisipg
fusion of a homogeneous people, or combiniegioe,
pugnant elements in a forced or unnatural ea..,os
If the Prussian Government discovers, as it '5O
long since have suspected, that the connectioe
effectuating is of the latter character, nobody (1°"00
its ability to accomplish it. But at this .Ptible
Prussian hardihood seems to fail. Even irrei,ela,pel
power has its fears, and the conquerors of PI:14
are unable to endure the light which is refiest'oetl
their actions from a simple declaration of neer
and helpless citizens.