The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-01 00:00:00

extreme anxiety which the Emperor of the French will
naturally feel in settling disputes which we ourselves have

assisted so much to complicate. (Hear, hear.) What will
happen then ? There will be a great noise in this house,
and probably in other Houses of Parliament, upon the mat-
ter. If we find some arrangement of the map of Europe
similar to that in the case of Nice and Savoy, we shall have

screaming despatches and terrible invectives—terrible in-

vectives, like those that have not yet succeeded in expelling
the Pope from Rome or the Austrians from Venice, but
which are recognised for their power and for the appropri-

ate manner in which they are always introduced in the

discussion of public affairs, (Laughter and cheers.) But
I should like to.know what will be our position under those
circumstances. I know the noble lord opposite will say to
me—" You make these remarks upon the Guvernment in

the difficult position in which we are placed, but you
never mako any suggestion of what you would do if you
found yourself responsible for the conduct of affairs in

the same situation." (Ministerial cheers.) I should be very
sorry to be in the position in which the noble lords finds
himself—(cheers and laughter)—and I cannot but believe
that if we had been upon the Treasury bench instead of the

noble lord and his colleagues, we should not have been in

the situation which Ministers now occupy. (Cheers.)
That, indeed, is the whole matter. You can sce the sole
cause of the present imbroglio in the answer which the

French Minister has made to the plaintive representations
of our Secretary of State, It is quite clear that if her Ma-
jesty's Government had not taken that unwise course with

respect to the affairs of Poland—if they had not entrapped
France into a false position, and when she was in a false
position made no effort to extricate her from it—if tb. had
not been that consequent estrangements between the two

Governments, France and England could have prevented
those events which have occurred in the North of Europe.
(Cheers.) Therefore, those frepent taunts, that we criticise

the conduct of Ministers but do not say what we would do if
we were in the same position, really come to nothing, because
I believe that her Majesty's Government have themselves
brought about the difficulties with which they are unable
to deal. (Cheers.) When we are asked whether we are ad-

vocates for war in favour of the integrity and independ-
ence of Denmark, my answer is, that I cannot say what the
policy of England ought to be with respect to going to war
for the integrity and independence of Denmark until I am
acquainted with the engagements which her Majesty's Go-

vernment have entered into. But irrespective of that point
—which I reserve--I assert that if our affairs had been
managed with due firmness and conciliation, with straight-
forwardness, and with common sense—(cheers)—the inte-
grity and independence of Denmark would never have been
endangered. (Continued cheering.) There need have been
no question of war to preserve the integrity and indepen-
dence of Denmark. That is the real issue before us. I can-
not, I repeat, give an opinion as to what should be the ulti-
mate course of this country, because Parliament is not at the
present moment fully in possession of information upon the
subject, and because we do not know what engagements
her Majesty's Government may have entered into with the
Danish Government, what expectations they have held out,
and under what understanding, verbal or written—(hear,
hear)—all parties may have acted. (Cheers.) Nor am I
too sanguine that we shall find that information in the papers
which have been promised by the Government, and which
are now appearing instalments. I wanted those papers, not
so much for the information they would give us as for the
information they omitted—(a laugh)--but because, let me
remind the house, it has twice happened with the present
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs that at critical periods
in the history of this country, when he has been obliged to
furnish Parliament for its decision with voluminouspapers,
the question has been decided, not on the papers which were
laid before Parliament by the Minister, but on papers which,
in consequence of their publication, appeared abroad. (Hear,
hear.) That is a very remarkable thing to have happened
twice to the same Minister. In 1853, when alarm first broke
out respecting probable hostilities with Russia, which ended
in the Crimean war, we had papers enough, as I told the
house the other night. On the first day of the Session the
present Lord Russell appeared at the bar, and gave us that

surfeit of State papers which the noble lord seems to deligh
in, and to hope may baffle the understanding of the House
of Commons. He gave us SOO pages within 48 hours. What
was the consequence ? You had questions from all parts
of the house ; you had answers from Ministers; you
had debates and discussions; .but the house remained
as it remains now upon the Danish question, unable
to fix the Minister, but with a deep conviction pervading
both sides that they were not masters of the real merits of
the case. (Cheers.) The noble lord in one of his:speeches,
with a great want of precaution as it afterwards turned out,
denounced the policy of Russia—the ambitious, irrational,
and unexpected policy of Russia—for which the Govern-
ment of Lord Aberdeen bad not been prepared. What oc-
curred ? There appeared in the official journal of St. Peters-
burg a statement that, whatever might have been the errors
of Russian policy, one thing was quite clear, that her Ma-
jesty's Ministers from the first had been aware of the inten-
tion of the Emperor of Russia, and had approved the prin-
ciple on which he had acted. (Chi ere.) A member of this
house having some other information, made such an appeal
that the noble lord the Secretary of State was obliged to pro-
duce the confidential communications of the Emperor of
Russia with Sir H. Seymour—(cheers)—from which it ap-
peared that at the very moment of the formation of the Go-
vernment of Lord Aberdeen the Ernp3ror of Russia, with
the utmost frankness, had explained his views to the Eng-
lish Minister. (Cheers.) Nay, not only had that occurred,
but the Secretary of State had answered that confidential
communication with such a total ignorance of the merits of
the question, with such a total want of appreciation of the
exigency, that he made an admission of the right of the Em-
peror of Russia to interfere in the Turkish dominions as
protector of the Greeks, although it afterwards turned nut
that the ♦ery treaty under which that right was claimed
gave no sanction whatever to the pretension, and must have
been perfectly unknown to the Minister, who had poi haps
neither the time nor the opportunity to examine it before he
gave the solemn verdict of the British Government upon its
value and importance. (Cheers.) I should have thought that
was enough for a Secretary of state to have done to entitle
him to the lasting confidence of his Sovereign and of Paella-
men t; but what happened in those verynegotiations atVienna
which terminated so fruitlessly? I can remember no period
when there was so much anxiety, so much disturbance and
disquietude in the mind of Parliament as when those negotia-
tions were going on at Vienna. Her Majesty's Government
then was not constituted precisely as it is now. The Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, for:example, did not then sit on the
Treasury bench to denounce a statement of facts as "fire-
works." (A laugh.) On the contrary, the right hon. gentle-
man was perfectly alive to the importance of the question
then before us—(hear, hear)— and he was pressing the Go-
vernmen,—though for a different object—in order to obtain
the truth which was withheld and concealed from this house.
What happened then. We had despat _hes and papers laid
before us, as at the period before the commencement of the
Crimean war, and as at this moment ; for the noble lord is
always ready to produce papers enough to contuse the par-
liamentary mind, and to prevent members from complain-
ing of the want of ample information from the Government.
But it appeared to us on this side of the house, as well as
to many hon, gentlemen opposite—among the rest the
Chancellor of the Exchequer—that those papers in,:icated
great ambiguity of conduct, and that some secret had been
withheld from us. I myself brought the matter before the
house, but was defeated in a full house by a majority of 100,
who voted confidence in the intentions of the present Secre •
tary of State and in her Majesty's Ministers. We dispersed for
the holidays. In consequence of some of the statements made
in the house, the Prime Minister of Austria (Count Buol)
published a confidential circular in which he stated that the
noble lord the present Secretary of State, who had come back
to England and made a ranting speech in favour of a vigo-
rous prosecution of the war, had previously settled with him
what he thought reasonable terms upon which peace might be
concluded and in fact had returned home for the express pur-
pose of recommending and sanctioning that peace. (Cheers.)
Under these circumstances what became of your majority
of 100 ? The noble lord only saved his colleagues by a pre-
cipitate and ignominious retreat, (Hear, hear.) Thus, then,
twice—once at the commencement of the troubles with
Russia, and once in carrying on the negotiations with Aus-
tria, you find that the House of Commons, with the most
ample materials supplied by their own Ministry, have never
been able to arrive at the truth, and it is with the forced
publication of documents by foreign Governments that the
secret policy pursued has been revealed. Let us, then, look
at the present position. We have many papers before us.
There are none that have met my eye yet which throw any
light on those engagements which it is, I will only say,
rumoured about that her Majesty's Government have en-
tered into with Denmark, but still rumoured by persons of
very groat authority. I shall not be answered by any quib-
bling about words. When I talk of a❑gagements, I am not
talking of solemn and forum' treaties, which can of course
be appealed to ; but I want to know what have been the
expectations which we have held out to Denmark. (Hear.)
Whet has been the encouragement that we have given her ?
What has been the advice we have offered ? What has been
the moral obligation, at least, that we have incurred, which
can explain the whole course of Danish policy at the present
moment or from the commencement of these troubles ? Sir,
we were reminded, before I made these inquiries, that the
holydays were near at hand, and I don't suppose that before
the holydej swe shall find out this. But I have great con-
fidence in the revelations which the holydays bring forth,
It was during the Whitsun recess, I think, that Count
Buol published his confidential circular, and I shall not be
surprised if in due course of time we have some remark-
able documents published by Denmark, or some statement
made by some person in authority there that will throw
that light on the present position of Europe which, in my
opinion, is now extremely wanting. If we gain that infor-
mation, I have no doubt it will produce the beneficial re-
sults which always may be experienced by arriving at the
truth. At present I can only say—and it is my duty, in
the want of that information, to remind the house of the
position in which the country is now placed—that that
position is most unsatisfactory. Whether we may have
entered into conditions with France, accepting her con-
ditions probably, or whether France is entering into
this Conference without any conditions, it is 'impossible to
suppose that before the summer passes away something may
not occur which will be both inconvenient and mortifying
to this country. (clear, hear.) I hear nothing from her
Majesty's Government to guide, to enlighten, to animate the
house and the country at the present moment, The drivers

have lost the road, the reins have fallen from their hands,
_ _

the horses are wild, and now we the' hear their answer to

aay inquiries. (Cheers.)

Lord PALMERSTON, on rising, was received with
cheers. He said,—Sir,—The right hon. gentleman never is

so great—never in his own opinion is so successful as when

he has an opportunity of attacking an absent man. (Cheers.)
He was pleased the other day to take advantage of my tem-

porary absence--(" Oh,'' and cheers)-1 having been de-
tained somewhat later than usual by public business that

could not well be postponed : and now ho takes that which
suits him still better—vie, the opportunity of attacking my
noble friend in the other House of Parliament. lam here;
but my noble friend cannot be. (Hear, hear.) But the right
hon. gentleman chooses with wonderful dexterity and with
somewhat of, I will say, simplicity of mind—(laughter)--
the ground of his attacks. He has been absent from his

place for the last three or four days. He has been studying,
pondering over, getting by heart, making extracts from, and
tinning dog's-ears down in the papers presented upon
Danish affairs—(a laugh)--and finding little or nothing in
them—(cheers from the Opposition) upon which to found

an attack on my noble friend—(counter cheers)—he ran-
.

. ,
sacks Hansard,he turns over the pages of the Annual Bey is-
ter, he goes back to the blue-books of 10 years ago for the

purpose of founding a charge against my noble friend as to

what happened at Vienna in 1353. Well, sir, I congratu-
. _ _

late my noble friend that the right hon. gentleman has found

the ice so hard in Danish affairs that he has been obliged to
go back 10 years for his topics of accusation. (Hear, hear.)
Why, sir, my noble friend performed with ability and
fidelity the duties which were imposed upon him at that
time at Vienna. (" Oh I" and "Hear, hear.") By the
admission of the right honourable gentleman he did his

utmost to bring about a peaceful solution of the then pend-
ing questions. Unfortunately, the proposals which be and

M. de Lhuys agreed upon failed, and war ensued, not by
their fault, but by the fault of others. My noble friend went

on that occasion as far as it was possible for him to do in the
performance of his duty, in concert with the representative
of France, for the settlement of those affairs, and that at-
tempt on his part is now made a charge against his conduct.
.__

(Hear, hear.) The right hon. gentleman has talked to-night
of " diplomatic rubbish." Why, sir, there is such a thing
as Parliamentary rubbish—(cheers and laughter)—and that
we are very often doomed to receive from those whose genius
and ability ought to qualify them for better things. (Hear,
hear.) But the right hon. gentleman says that the Govern-

ment are in what:he thinks very unfortunate:circumstances,
and he seems to regret that he and his friends have not had
the management of these affairs. " Very different," he said,
" would be the condition of the country if we had the ma-

nagement of n_atters." Very different indeed I—(cheers)—
if we are to believe in the sincerity of the line of argument
taken by gentlemen on the other side of this house. What

are the circumstances in which we have placed the country?
Why, we are at peace—(cheers) ; we are prosperous ; we
have been occupied in communications with all the Powers

of Europe in endeavouring to settle differences without war.
___

(Hear, hear.) If we were to be led by the language of those
who sit opposite, and especially of the right hon, gentleman,
we ought to have made war against Russia for Poland—
(hear, hear, and murmurs)—we basely abandoned France
on the Polish question when she was ready to make war
with Russia. That is the charge against us, if we are to be-
lieve the right hon. gentleman's arguments to-night; and
be said " France proposed you should make war with Ger-
many about Denmark, and you shrunk from accepting her
proposal." Well, the right hon. gentleman would not have
shrunk from that, I suppose. (A laugh) I say, sir, that in
my humble opinion, and without, I am sure, begrudging
any success, official or otherwise, which the right hon, gentle-
man and his friends may be anxious to obtain on these seats
here or elsewhere, the country is just as well served by those
who are now in office as they would be, according to the
doctrine of the right hon. gentleman, if he and his friends,
occupying our places, had acted up to the reasonings they
have used on this grave and important European matter.
But the right hon. gentleman says he is uninformed on
this subject, and he asks the Government to enlighten his
mind. Why, sir, some people like to run away with half
a story, and find it far more convenient to express an opinion
on that half than to wait and know the whole, being fear-
ful that when they know the whole the conclusion they
wish to arrive may not follow so legitimately from the pre-
mises laid before them. The right hon. gentleman cer •
tainly puts the house in a very embarrassing situation, be
cause when no papers are given he says, "How unfairly
you treat tile house; you leave it in the dark without any
documents or information; we are unable to arrive at a
conclusion." Then, he tells us this evening that "If you
give the house 800 pages of information the house is then
more unable than ever to come to any definite conclusion."
(Laughter.) How we are to please the right lion, gentleman
it is really very difficult to say. If we give him no papers
he complains of the absence of papers; if we give him the
papers, he says he is unable to digest them and come to any
rational result. Well, it is a natural fault with some minds
that they arc so constituted that they either do not choose
to come co a conclusion, or they are unable to do so. But,
one way or the other, it is quite clear that it is of no use
giving the right hon, gentleman the papers, because he says,
with or without them, he is equally unable to understand
anything with regard to our foreign affairs. (A laugh.) But
the right hon. gentleman, I assume,was speaking for others,
and not for himself, for of course I have a higher opinion of
the acuteness of his mind than to believe that if even ten
times 800 pages at a time were offered to him he could not ar-
rive at a clear and definite conclusion upon them, according
to his own opinion, (Hear, and a laugh.) But I think he is
quite right in the course which he now pursues. In com-
mon with the rest of the house, he has had delivered to him
papers coming down to the latter end of last September.
It was evident that those papers could only contain a por-
tion of the communications which had passed between this
and other Governments upon the Danish question, but the
right hon. gentleman thought, and he was quite right, that
it was more convenient to get up and to make, upon im-
perfect information, a flourish about the conduct of the
Government upon the Danish question rather than to wait
until he should receive the papers to-morrow, which will
bring those communications down IQ a '..ater period. I can
only say it would be a long story to tei:: the right hon.
gentleman what are all the contents of the mass of papers
which he will be able to read for himself to-morrow; Lit I
say let him wait, and let the house wait for these papers
before coming to any conclusion—(hear, hear)—as to the
course we have pursued, either in accepting proposals
or in answering proposals, or in making proposals to
other Governments. (Hear, hear.) Let him wait until he
gets the whole statement, which he will receive in the course
of a few hours,'and then he and the house will be better able
to judge what the course of the Government has been. Our
object has been from first to last to endeavour to conciliate
differences—(hear, hear)—to bring together parties who are
holding opposite and apparently incompatible opinions, to
endeavour to modify exasperations, and to obtain a peace-
able settlement of that which threatened to be the cause of
European war. (Hear, hear.) Why, the cliarge which the
right hon. gentleman brings against my noble friend is
that he was too abundant of suggestions for the attainment
of these ends. That having failed with one suggestion he
proposed another, and that is what is called "diplomatic
rubbish." My noble friend is fertile in experiments.' (Hear,
hear, and laughter.) Not succeeding in one suggestion he
proposed another ; that other being unsuccessful, he pro-
posed still another, hopeful that he would eventually attain
the desired end. (Hear, hear.) Instead of that being urged
as a charge against my noble friend, it is really a compli-
ment paid to him by one who is at the same time endeavour-
ing to run him down. The right hon. gentleman asks
whether we accepted the proposal of France made at one
period, and whether we made at another period a different
one. I ask him to have the kindness to wait only a few hours,
when he will have the whole correspondence in his hands,
and 1 am satisfied that in a week's time, and when he again
gets up on the question of going into Committee of Supply,
with all the knowledge in his head which he has not got in
his head now, we shall not have the same language from his
lips which we have heard from him to-night. (Cheers.)
Mr. S. FITZGERALD said that no one who had listened
to the noble lord could have concaved it possible that his
speech was a reply to the right hon. gentleman—(hear)—
who had requested to be furnished with specific information
as to the Conference. The noble lord, however, had not
given the house the slightest information of any sort, kind,
or description, in reference to the proposal of a Conference.
The house ought to be informed of the present condition of
affairs. Had the Conference been unconditionally accepted
by France, and what was our position in regard to Russia ?
The noble lord, or some of his colleagues, ought to state
whether Denmark had accepted the proposal, and what was
meant by the assertion that Austria and Prussia had
accepted the Conference in principle. At the commence-
ment of his speech the noble lord charged his right hon.
friend with making observations upon an absent man ; but
did the noble lord mean to assert, that because a member of
the Government happened not to appear ho was to be privi-
leged from criticism ? (Opposition cheers.) Hon. mem-
bers on that side of the house were not anxious, as the
noble lord insinuated, to rush headlong into a war ; but
they feared the Government had brought the country to the
brink of war. He believed that we were in a most critical
position, and that the country attributed that critical position
to want of firmness, to vacillation, and the bragging lan-
guage at one time, and the subservient language at another,
on the part of the Government ; and he was certain that
the speech of the noble lord would not contribute to disabuse
the country of that belief.
The motion for adjournment was then withdrawn.
THE BUDGET.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER rose and
said—ln my absence a question was put as to the day upon
which the financial statement will be made. It is, perhaps,
rather early to fix a day, and it is certainly difficult to fix a
day definitely and finally; but it will not be before the re-
cess, as the recess takes place in March, before the financial
year has been cpmpleted. If it be convenient to the house
I think we will fix it for Thursday, the 7th April—that is,
the Thursday after the recess.
Tho house then went into committee of supply, and re-
sumed the consideration of the navy estimates,
Tho votes for the number of men and boys, and for the
wages of seamen were agreed to after considerable discus•
Bien, involving the chief points in reference to naval admi-
nistration which formed the topic of debate on Friday

evening.
Mr, WILLIAMS (Lambeth) made his first appearance

this session and 'reviewed tho estimates, contending that
the expenditure was as usual extravagant and unnecessary.
On the motion that £168,605 bo granted to defray the
salaries of the officers and contingent expenses of the
Admiralty-office,

Mr. LINDSAY moved to reduce the vote by £5,200,
but after some discussion the proposition was rejected by
109 to 10.

On the vote of £71,276 for the scientific branch of the
navy,

Mr. A. SMITH moved to reduce the amount by £2,300,
for the School of Naval Architecture.

The amendment, however, was on a division rejected by
LOO to 15.

Several other votes were agreed to, and the Chairman
reported progress and obtained leave to sit again.

The Vestry cess Abolition:(lreland) Bill passed through
committee.

Leave was given to Sir IL PEEL to bring in a bill to
amend the law relating to bills of exchange and promissory
notes in Ireland.

The house adjourned at 12 o'clock.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—When a man ;peaks, not because he has
something-to say, but because he has to say some-
thing, it is not surprising if he fails in producing
any practical result. He strikes at the air, and,
though the blow may be admirably delivered, it is
difficult to see that it has any effect. There is a
great consumption of powder, a great flash, and a
loud explosion, but as the discharge is irregularly
and loosely delivered, and as there is no mark
aimed at, the display amounts to little more than a
letting off of fireworks. Mr. Disraeli was in just
this unhappy position last night. He had nothing
to propose, and, indeed, only took advantage of an
accidental motion for adjournment. He had no
definite question to ask, and no definite charge to
make ; but it was some days since the house and
the country had been informed of the existence of
an Opposition, and it was necessary to make a re-
conaissance to remind us of the fact and to keep his
own followers awake. Under such circumstances
the subject very naturally " dropped ;" and if we
make a few remarks on the short discussion, it is
by way, if possible, of saving any one for the pre.
sent the unnecessary trouble of resuming it. But
this speaking without definite purpose has its ad-
vantages as well as its drawbacks. You are not
fettered to a definite argument or a particular point,
and you can say anything that happens to come in
your way. The same amount of powder produces
a much finer display in the form of fireworks than
as the charge of a 100-pounder Armstrong. It is
not all concentrated in a particular groove for a
single effect, but may be spread out into different
constructions with various displays. So Mr.
Disraeli was free to expatiate, unfettered, upon
any part of our foreign policy within the last few
years that could possibly catch the eye of a
spectator. "It is pleasant," says the Epicurean
philosopher, " to stand upon the shore and see
ships tossed upon the sea," and Mr. Disraeli, being
stranded for the present, appears to apprecicte this
pleasure to its fullest extent. There is a very
respectable storm gathering now, and the Govern-
ment ship is rather uncomfortably tossed, and Mr.
Disraeli seems to find an endless satisfaction in
asking the pilots how they feel, and what they are
going to do. They are old hands, however, and
decline to make any display either of their feelings
or their intentions for his amusement. But he
easily finds other resources. The difficulties of the
unfortunate ship which had to weather the storm
of the Crimean War afford him, even at this dis-
tance of time, an instructive retrospect, and, though
he does not know the condition and bearings of the
ship at present before him, there is ample oppor-
tunities for speculating on what they might be.
He does not know the rocks ahead, but it is easy
to imagine any number of them. The Government
are confessedly steering for a Conference, but
Conferences are dangerous things in general,
and the present pilot, the Foreign Minister, having
already been rather unfortunate in passing through
one of them, may, except that he has probably
learnt experience, be unfortunate again. The con-
sent of the French Government may be with condi-
tions or without conditions, it is impossible to say
which, but it is possible to speculate on the conse-
quences of either or both. If a course of action has
been proposed, it may be one thing or it may be
another, and objections may be found to everything,
and Mr. Disraeli is prepared to object to everything
that he can imagine. But if a course of action has
not been proposed " What will happen then ?" Mr.
Disraeli is seriously of opinion that " the Spring
will at last arrive," and there is no saying what
may happen in the Spring. The Emperor of the
French may be master of the situation, there may
be a Confederation of the Rhine, a rectification
of the Rhino frontier, and " What will happen
then ?" "'I here will be a great noise in this house.
and probably in other Houses of Parliament." No
doubt of it, and there will be " screaming" speeches
and " terrible invectives, like those that have not
yet succeeded in expelling" Lord Palmerston from
the Treasury Bench o; Lord Russell from the Foreign
Office. There will be a great demand for " diploma-
tic rubbish," and Mr. Disraeli will do his best to
light a fire with such waste papers ; and, if he fail,
he will denounce the laborious preparation with
which Lord Russell has rendered them incombusti-
ble and will boast that if he had had the making of
them he would have converted the rags and shreds of
torn treatiesinto papers combustible enough to set not
only the House of Commons but all Europe in a blaze.
After all this superfluous expenditure of breath
Lord Palmerston had only to get up and ask what
it was all about. What did Mr. Disraeli really
want ? As to papers, he complained loudly a shurt
time back about not having them, and now he had got
some of them he came down to say he could make
nothing of them, and did not believe he should be
able to make any more of what were to come. Those
n had did not tell him what he wanted, and he
was " not too sanguine" that those promised
would. 1;r cannot pretend to regret that he is dis-
satisfied. whh.! would most delight the Opposition
would be to find the t the Government have com-
mitted the honour of the country to the support of
Christian IX. in Holstein aald Schleswig, to the
forcible expulsion of Austria anal. Prussia from Jut
land, or to any other course of actioo which might
involve us in a European war, and won:d certainly
involve the Government in a general want of confi-
dence. Instead of that the papers already prop; need
only show thet Lord Russell has been doing is3s
best from first to last "to conciliate differences, to
bring together parties who are holding opposite
and apparently incompatible opinions, to endeavour
to modify exasperations, and to obtain a peaceable
settlement of that which threatened to be the cause
of a European war." So long as he and his col•
leagues confine themselves to doing this they will
receive the support of the country, and will afford
no ground for an attack by Mr. Disraeli and his
friends. In short, if Mr. Disraeli wishes to find fault
effectually, it mast be with something definite. It
is open to him to attack either the past policy of
the Government or its present course. If, as the
past conduct of this Danish affair is detailed by the
gradual publication of the papers, he is unable
to fix upon any mismanagement or to ;find
any sufficient ground of censure, he would do
much more wisely to say nothing. The present
conduct of such delicate negotiations ought, on the
other hand, unless there is grave reason for sus-
pecting it, to be left almost entirely in the hands
of the Government, and the country is as yet con-
tent that it should be so. But it is alike useless and
mischievous to waste the time of the House of Com-
mons in speculating on what might have been, or
may be at present, or may in future be, the policy
of the Government, and in conjuring up imaginary
charges on this speculative foundation.
POST.—It aamot be denied that the Opposition are
fairly entitled to dert;..
end from the Government some
basis of the proposed con-
information respecting te
ference on Danish affairs. Whether the policy
n
hitherto pursued by Great Brite;j in her relations
with Denmark and the German Po7ers has been
sound or otherwise, there can be no question that
the present juncture is extremely critical, ts:ad that
the general peace of Europe is seriously endangeesed.
It may be, and it doubtless will be found to be so,
that the course pursued by the British Government
was eminently conducive to more satisfactory re-
sults, but that countervailing circumstances pre-
vented its being crowned with success. Bat still,
in the present position of affairs, no one can be
blamed for regarding with some little anxiety, if not
suspicion, the further prosecution of diplomatic ne-
gotiations which up to the present have, to say the
least, been so uniformly unsuccessful. The Dan a-
German dispute may now be said to have passed
through every possible stage, except the last one
which, by the conclusion of a formal treaty, marks
the termination of a quarrel. We have had what
may be termed the diplomatic stage in which nego-
tiations and proposals, and suggestions and demands,
are freely interchanged between the principal parties
to the dispute, and such others as deem it to be their
duty or their interest to tender their advice or in•
terpose their authority. Then we have had the
belligerent stage, in which, negotiations having
failed, the disputants attempt to solve all difficulties
by the employment of the final argument of kinge.
We have still, however, to wait for the last stage in
which diplomacy again intervenes and separates the
wearied combatants. At this point we have not yet
arrived, and it is whilst war is still progressing
with unremitting rancour on both sides that another
attempt is being made to solve at the council table
difficulties which are simultaneously left to the issue
of the sword. NV hilst, however, it is extremely un-
certain whether the scheme even in its inception will
receive 1 he assent of those for whose special benefit it
has been devised, and whilst, if assented to, its pos-
sible results are extremely problematical, it cer-