The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-09 00:00:00

the consolation of knot ring t hat they had saved Europe from
the horrors of a gener. tl wa' r.
Lord Cuntessronr, supported the original motion, and
Lord WonfifonsE °epos( td it, and explained the circum-
stances under which he had undertaken the special mission
to Copenhagen, and the course which the negotiations took.
He also stated that the Government had never given
through him any promise o f material support to the Danes,
and that the advice they temdered had always been sound,
and offered in conjunction with the other Powers.
The Earl of CARNARVON argued that the conduct of
the Government had, from beginning to end, been charac-
terised by failure, and that it was the duty of Parliament to
pass its judgment upon a policy so indecisive, feeble, and
humiliating.
Earl RUSSELL said that it would be most difficult to
discover the foreign policy of the Opposition. The other
night Lord Derby told them it would be wrong to contem-
plate war for Denmark under any circtimstanegs. But Earl
Malmesbury had intimated that when the German troops
were about to enter Schleswig he would have preferred a
declaration of war, which he thcught would have been at-
tended with little or no risk. The noble earl who spoke last
had said that the Government were in favour of peace at
any price. But he (Earl Russell) had more than once said
that if the honour or the paramount interests of the coun-
try were involved, we must go to war at once. But if there
was only a minor interest to be attained, or if the interests
was only that of another nation, we had a right to weigh
the advantages against the disadvantages of going to war.
The noble earl who had opened the debate was fortunate in
not having had to encounter the difficulties of recent nego.
tiations. The treaty of 1852 was no doubt a good, but at
the same time it was a very artificial engagement; it de-
pended for success upon both Denmark and Germany reli-
giously fulfilling their engagements. Unfortunately" this
was not done. The Danes governed Schleswig and Holstein
in such a manner as to make the German subjects of the
King of Denmark in those duchies feel that they were op-
pressed; while on the other hand, the Powers of Germany
asked for much more than they were entitled to. That
being so, it became a matter of the utmost difficulty to
maintain the arrangements established by that treaty.
It was said that the Government had constantly threat.
ened Germany. But that was not so. A.ll that the Eng-
lish Government had said, in the first instance, was, that
they had not the slightest objection to a Federal execution
in nolttein, if that was directed merely to the Govern-
ment of Holstein; but that they would object to it it it
was directed to bring about the Government of Denmark
by a German majority in Copenhagen. At that time it was
proposed that each of the Duchies should eend an equal
number of deputies to a Parliament in Copenhagen, the re-
sult of which would be that Denmark Proper would be
governed by the German population of the Duchies. This
pre tension had been abandoned, and that was, so far, again,
although Holstein, Schleswig, and Jutland had been occu-
pied. And so many of the despatches had been real, he
would refer to as few as possible. He thought it clear that
no promise of material assistance had been given to Den-
mark, because if Denmark had thought the contrary, her
Minister would not have failed to say so, when, in March
last, Sir A. Paget read to Bishop Monrad a despatch in
which he (Earl Russell) repudiated the notion of having
given any promise of aid to Denmark. Again, when Lord
Wodehouse went to Copenhagen he was met by reproaches
on the part of M. Hall, that no promises of support were
given. He could not help observing upon the different sort
of judgment which was passed upon the conduct of Eng-
land and France in this matter. During last year we were
engaged with Austria and France in remonstrating with
Russia on behalf of Poland. Austria and England refused
ultimately to agree to a step proposed by France) because
they thought it would lead to a war. Thereupon the Em-
peror of France said, that although he was ready to go to
war in concert with the other Powers, he would not do so
alone, dear as the deliverance of Poland was to France. No
one blamed him for that course. Why, then, should the
English Government be blamed because, having been wil-
ling to go to war on behalf of Denmark in concert with
France and Russia, they declined to take the responsi-
biliry of acting alone ? They had acted in the case of
Denmark exactly as France acted in the case of
Poland. Prussia and Austria had certainly departed
from their original promise only to take Schleswig as a
material guarantee; but her Majesty's Government had
never promised to make a cases bells either of the invasion
of that province or of Jutland. He thought it would have
led to far fewer complications if they had taken the
bold clurse adopted by the German Confederation,
declared for the treaty of 1852, and avowed their intention
to dismember Denmark. Neither of these Powers had ad-
hered to their promise to respect their engagements. For
their first proposition in Conference was that the Duchies
should have a separate government, under a sovereign of
their own, and that the Diet should decide as to who that
Sovereign should be. It was perfectly notorious that the Diet
would never choose the King of Denmark, and this proposi-
tion, therefore, plainly involved a breach of the treaty of
1852. It would have been far better if they had not begun
by professing to adhere to it. The noble earl who had intro-
duced these resolutions had objected to any deference being
paid to the principle of nationality in making territorial
arrangements ; but in the present state of opinion in Europe,
it was impossible to disregard that principle, especially con-
sidering that it was favoured by so powerful a Sovereign as
the Emperor of France. He did not think that the Germans
were inspired by a merely selfish desire to possess themselves
of Kiel. He believed that they had a genuine sympathy for
the people of the Duchies, who they believed to be oppressed.
After these duchies had once been occupied by the German
troops, it was perfectly impossible that England could go to
war, or could even take steps for restoring Holstein and the
Germans to Denmark on the old footing. It was clear that
even if the Austrians and Prussians had been driven out,
the Diet of Holstein would have declared for independence,
and we should have been reduced to the necessity of govern-
ing them by military force. That was impossible. It was
said that if the Government had threatened the Germans
with war if they invaded Schleswig, the threat would have
been effectual, and no war would have ensued. But he did
not think that England, acting by herself, would have been
justified in taking the chance of such a threat proving futile,
and involving us in war. Nor did he believe that it would
have been successful ; for the fact was, that Austria and
Prussia were driven on by a popular force which they
could not resist. The cabinets of Berlin and Vienna did
not, he thought, in the first instance desire to break the
treaty of 1852 for any ambitious projects ; but they
were powerless to resist the impulse to which they were
subjected—they were determined to prevent the minor Ger
man princes from gaining additional power, by becoming
the representatives of the public feelings ; and they were
determined also to check the progress of democratic feeling
in Germany by enlisting it in favour of an attack on Den-
mark. The latter desire had also influenced Russia, and
had inclined her of late to act in accordance with the German
Powers. The noble earl opposite said the Government had
no principle in their foreign policy; but they certainly had
one—that of non-intervention in the internal affairs of
other countries. They had declared soon after entering
office that the people of Italy should be left free to decide
their own destinfes; and that declaration following on the
victories of the Emperor of the French, had been so far
effectual, that no attempt had been made to disturb that
Italian unity which the Government were so glad to see
established. On that side of the house there was the greatest
disposition to favour the Confederates in the civil war which
had arisen in America. The Government determined that
no such offer should be made to the Confederation, In
conclusion, the noble lord said if the Government had been
guilty of anything, it had been guilty of advocating peace,
maintaining justice, and promoting freedom in Europe and
in the world: (Loud cheers.)
Earl GREY said that the influence of the country did not
depend solely upon its material strength, but in a great de-
gree upon the opinion of neighbouring nations. Now, did
England at the present time enjoy the respect and goodwill
of all the nations of the earth so largely as she formerly did ?
For his part he thought she did not. He would not detain
their lordships by entering into an examination of the volu-
minous correspondence which had been laid on the table; but
lie must express his opinion that the negotiations terminated
e—as indeed the Government themselves now admitted—in
the triumph of might over right. The noble duke had told
them that the treaty of 1852 could no longer be considered as
a living question. That was so; but if there had been a
little foresight on the part of the Government they ought
to have eeea at an earlier period that that treaty could not
be maintained. (Hear, hoar.) Her Majesty's Government
had represented those who differed from them as being in
favour of war, but this he denied. The Government, how-
ever, bad diminished the securities for peace, and had
admitted. that they were diminished. The noble earl the
Foreign Secretary had said that no threats, but only warn-
ings, had been addressed to the German Powers. But lie
did not think that it was possible to draw a practical dis-
tinction between the two thing's. He thought that if the
ountry had been lowered by the course taken by the Go-
vernment, the best way to wipe away the stain upon our
honour was to show that that conduct had not the approval
of the country, and. on that
pound he should support the
resolution.
Earl GRANVILLE believed that the debate had shown
how unfounded were the charges
brought against the
Government. He denied that any promiseo; aid had
been held out to Denmark. When Lord Pam
he
made
the speech which had been so oaten referred to "hoonly ex-
pressed a conviction that France and RussiaßussiaWould join us
in supporting Denmark. H© never promised that we would
go o war alone ; he had never given Denmark any advice
which was not shared in by the other Powers ; nor had the
Danish Government ever assorted that any promise of aid
had beat given to them by England. The resolution was a
vote of censure, and as such the Government accepted it.
B at it did nut lay down any principle or indicate any policy
on the part of the Opposilion. It only amounted to a
declaration on their part th it they were willing to fake the
place of the Govarnment. The Government had been

charged with inconsistency, and with blowing hot and cold.
Bat the samo thing could be said of Conservative speakers,
and especially of the Esxl of Derby, who had said last year
that the integrity of Denmark was of vital interest to Eng-
land, and that he should be prepared to go to war in her

favour, and had said this year that it wou:d be insanity to

go to war with Germany. He denied that we had lost our
influence in Etmpe ; and the proof of this was that we had
aced in entire harmony with the neutral Powers in the
recent Conference. Be did not think that the language of