The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-04 00:00:00

ME SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JULY 4, 1864.

THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,

(From the Mmes Correspondent.)
NEW YORK, June 21.
Federal victories seldom improve upon acquaintance. In
the first hasty reports from the battlefield they loom large
and splendid on the horizon. They take captive the imagie
nation of the people. The credulous multitude (and never
since the world began was a multitude so creations as that
of New York), persuades itself, without reflection, that all
is over, and that peace at home, and a glorious foreign war
are immediately to make America the first power in Chris-
tendom, without whose consent no gun shall be fired in any
part of the world. The exuberant enthueiatin lasts for a
day, or at most for two. As the beton come in—as the re-
ports from the other side awe compared with the rosy hued
despatches of the War Secretary, and as military criticism
—friendly as well as unfriendly—is brought to bear upon
the facts, the glorious victory grows thin and impalpable.
By the third or fourth day the tinting° Confederates are
found to be as strongly potted as ever. The victory turns
out either to have been a drawn battle or a small success ;
while, if it were an advantage, the cost at which it was
achieved proves to be immensely disproportionate to its
value. Before a week has passed the victory or the defeat,
whichever the loyal or the disloyal may choose to call it,
disappears from the field of vision, and the sanguine people,
always deceived, but seldom discouraged, is too fully occu-
pied with a new sensation to devote a thought to the old
one. Such has been the case with the great Federal victory
at Petersburg. It is but five days since the public were told
to throw up their caps and firs salutes of rejoicing for Grant's
achievements, but the five days have been more than suffi-
cient to dispel all illusion on the subject. It is true that
Grant made an unopposed movement from the Chickaho-
miny—that he marched 55 miles by a long deteur to the
James River at a point nearly opposite Bermuda Hundred
—that he crossed on pontoons the stream 2,009 feet wide
and 84 deep, losing neither man nor horse nor a pound of war
material by the way, an exploit which well deserves and will
certainly receive the admiration both of friends and foes—
and that taking the enemy unawares he attacked and cap-
tured the outer lines of the defences of Petersburg—a city
22 miles to the south of Richmond—putting his negro troops
in the post of honour and danger,
and meeting with com•
paratively slight resistance. But this is all. The Confede-
rates, if thrown off their guard by the belief that Grant would
make a prior attempt to reach Richmond by B^"c."'B •
bridge, or come oth.. I,lm, 0,, cue uhickahominy, before
resorting to the last and desperate manoeuvre of attacking it
by the rear, no sootier discovered his plans than they set
vigorously to work to repair the mischief they had per-
mitted. They strengthened in a night the second, or inner,
line of the defences of Petersburg, and when the Federal
army, flushed with the easy triumph of the previous day, re-
newed the assault on Friday morning it had a reception which
must have convinced even the " dour," cold-blooded, and
obstinate Grant that he was yet a long way, both in time
and distance, from the coveted city of Richmond. The Con-
federates, commanded by General Bauregard in person, re-
pulsed their assailants with enormous slaughter, as, with
mad bravery, they dashed against the entrenchments, mow-
ing them down by hundreds in a minute. But the carnage
of Friday does not appear to have surprised or shocked the
the Federal chief. Doubtless it entered into his computa-
tion of the price to be paid for Petersburg, and was endured
accordingly. On Saturday he renewed the effort, and was
again repulsed, with a loss this time of upwards of 8,000
men. It is scarcely possible for the hottest war zealot to
avoid asking himself the question whether Grant can con-
tinue to afford such losses much longer, without depleting
or demoralising his army. Even should he succeed in
carrying this line, it is clear that his work will not be ac-
complished. There will still be a third line of intrench-
ments, which may cost him as many thousands
of men; and after that there is the city itself, which
the Confederates will sell as dearly as its in-
trenchments,• and from which, if found untenable,
they can retire across the Appomattox to the suburb
of Pecahontae, burning or destroying the bridges, and
leaving Grant in possession of a barren trophy, separated
from Richmond by two rivers, ated 22 miles of hilly ground,
at every half mile distance of which forts and intrenchments
can be constructed in a night, sufficiently strong tc cost
10,000 or 20,000 lives and a week's time to capture any one
of them. "It's a far cry to Lochaw I " Grant may reach
Richmond, but, if he do, he may find it of no more use than
Moscow was to Napoleon, with this aggravation of ill for-
tune—that his opponent's army at the end of the contest
may be so much stronger than his own as to be ready to
assume the offensive, and carry the war to Washington or
any other place that may better serve his purpose.
If Mr Stanton's telegrams have proved so un rustworthy
as regards Petersburg, it seems, from an admission made
this morning by that tuuctionary, that at least one of the
generals with whom he is in daily communication is as little
to be depended on as himself. General Sherman now con-
fesses
that he was misinformed in telegraphing to the Sec-
retary at War that General Joseph Johnston wee in full
retreat across the Cliattahoochie, and that he (Sherman)
would follow immediately. General Sherma* pleads that
he was misled by the reports of some of his corps comman-
ders, and asserted that Johnston has not retreated, but
strengthened his position on the Kenesaw Mountain. The
truth seems to be that Sherman is in imminent danger—
menaced both in the front and the rear, cut off from his
supplies and base, end liable at any moment to be forced to
accept battle at a heavy disadvantage. But this circum-
stance excites little attention in this city. The whole inte-
rest is concentrated rn the movements of Grant, and, until
that general be either greatly victorious or as greatly the
the reverse, it will continue to be fixed on hire. to the exclu-
gen of everything else.
Though Mr Chase's loan of 75,000,000 dollars, interest
payable in gold, has been taken at a fair premium, and
though he has led the banking interest to believe that he will
endeavour by means of such loans now and hereafter to pre-
vent any inflation of the greenback currency, the premium
on gold maintains it high rate, with a palpable tendency
to a further rise. The business world does not see its way
clearly. The victories of the Federal arms do not come
according to premise. The New Internal Tax Bill is regu•
lated rather for purposes of protection than of revenue.
The taxes are not collected, and the expenses of the war
acquire fresh volume every day, partly because of the
enormous force maintained, partly because of the stupen-
dous frauds perpetrated upon and in every department of
the Government, and partly by the depreciation of the
currency, which virtually doubles the price of every article
food, clothes, or military and naval supplies which the
Government requires. Under such circumstances the price
of gold not only goes up, but keeps up ; and defies all the
attempts of the Administration to pull it down. Yesterday,
when it was notified that the President had signed what is
called the Gold Bill, and that this egregiously stupid
measure had become law—the price, instead of falling, as
Mr Chase and the Government anticipated—actually ad-
vanced 1 per cent. To-day, all the little operators having
been elbowed out of the ring, and alarmed at the penal
consequences of any speculative venture in which they
might indulge, the gold trade was left entirely to the levi-
athans. The consequence was that the premium speedily
reached the long-predicted rate of 100 per cent, and stettaily
advanced during the afternoon to 108 e. There is scarcely
a merchant or financier in the city who does not laugh at
the measure, ostensibly aimed at the gamblers in goAl, but
in reality against the transaction of the
most legitimate
betaking business, and which, if it were possible to carry
out its provisions and penalties, would send all the gold out
of the country, and seriously interfere with the wholeim-
port trade from Europe. A meeting of bankers is convened
for to-morrow afternoon at the
rooms of the Chamber of
Commerce to consider the subject in all its bearings, with
a view to the repeal or modification of the law. The
measure is a farce from beginning
to end ; and could never
have passed either House of Congress if the members of
those bodies had been even partially composed of merchants
and men of business, or anything but trading politicians
and third-rate country attorneys.
The Democratic nartv, after any rnoisrivinza arui
Ger:tele hesitation, has finally decided not to oppose the
Chicago Convention, which will therefore meet on the 4th
of July, the day origieany proposed. Though General
Fremonehas endeared himself to the Democrats by his
bold denunciation of the illegal acts and generalimbecility
of the Administration, and /fin probably carry away a good
many votes from the independent members of the party, it
Convention is not likely that the
will separate without
agreeing upon a candidate of the orthodox democratic faith.
The candidate will be General Grant if he takes Richmond,
which no one now expects he can do before the 4th of July,
if not, it will be General ete,Clellan. Mr. Lincoln's pre-
tensions to re-election do not grow in popular favour. His
friends in Baltimore rather damaged
than advanced his
cause, and the supporters both of Fremont and M'Clellan
vie with each other who shall speak of him most contemp-
tuously,
borough every opponent of a candidate considers himself
privileged to rake up every possible scandal, public or pri-
vate, against the man he wishes to defeat, so in America,
in
which at the time of
As
a hotly contested election in an English
a Presidential election is but one huge
rotten borough, seething with political hate and animosity,
the candidate must wear much whiter robes than those
from which the designation is derived, if he would escape
the aspersions of his enemies, and be purer than the angels,
if he would not be bespattered by foul abuse and persistent
malignity, While Mr. Lincoln was simply President he
was not treated with much discourtesy even by his hostile
political foes. Tha worst that was publicly said of him was
by his friend, Mr.
Wendell Phillips, who called him an
"imbecile," Privately he was called a "buffoon" and an
"obscene jester ;" but these epithets seldom or never found
their way into print. Since his appearance as a candidate
for re-election, however, though he has not formally
accepted the Baltimore nomination, all delicacy in this
matter has been set aside. It is as if the tongues in a
thousand Billingsgate had been suddenly united, and
each were employed in the most shameless and
shameful as well as post forcible and unsavoury vernacular
in hurling vile epithets against the President. The leading
Democratic journal ref this city, in an article "On calling
things by their names," justifies the change of tone adopted
towards Mr Lincoln because he desires to be President for
another term, and has therefore to be as unreservedly spoken
of as any other citizen aspiring to the same position. "It
would have been indecorous," it says, " to call Mr Lincoln
the buffoon that he is, if he had been merely our chief
magistrate; but the truth must be told when he is s chief

magistrate seeking re-election ;" and, acting upon this
principle, it assails him as morally unfit for his high posi-
tion, cites the opinion of a leading member of one of the
great religious organisations who went on a deputation to
Washington, that " Mr Lincoln's demeanour and language
were those of a buffoon and a gowk" (Scottice, a fool f) and
of a senator of the United States, who declared that " he
was compelled to leave the President's presence because his
aelf-:expect would not permit him to listen to the filthy
language which he employed." When to these assaults
upon Mr Lincoln's person and manners have to be added
the attacks thundering on him from every side accusing
him of violation of the law and the Constitution, of imbe-
cilitY, of intermeddling, of corrupt practices, of mismanage-
ment of the war, and declaring the obvious tendency of al
his public acts to establish a despotism for his own behoof,
or that of some abler member of his party, it is easy to ace
that the apprOaching election will lie fertile in invective and
denunciations, and impossible not to fear that the passions
that will be excited, the more especially in the not impro-
bable case cf military reverses and financial disaster in the
interval between this and the first week in November, may
lead to scenes of violence that have had no parallel in Arne-
rice, and that may imperil the stability of the Government
as much as the loss of a score of battles. Were Mr Lincoln a
truly wise man he would refuse to listen to the Baltimore
charmers who wish to make a tool of him, and leave th e
exalted position which he so uncomfortably—and, without
di,respect to him, it may be said so ungracefully and ineffi-
ciently—occupies to some bolder statesman, some more ac-
complished gentleman, some higher principled philosopher,
and some astuter politician and manager than himself. As
a President he is the worst failure that America has ever
produced, and both parties in the State admit him to be so.
It is a pity that he cannot ace himself in the same light,
and that he does not earn the respect of his true friends
and the forbearance of his fo_s by retiring into private
life. That he may yet do so is possible. [ will be
happy for himself as well as for his country it' such be his
determination.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

CRAVEN POLICY OF MINISTERS.

SATURDAY REVIEW..--It was impossible to
read Lord Palmerston's speech of Monday even-
ing last without much surprise and much dies
appointment. Lord Russell's was bad enough,
but Lord Paltnuibtuu's was worse, Tne history
of the Conference was clearly and ably given,
but then came the announcement of what the Mini-
atry was prepared to do, and certainty no Premier
ever submitted a feebler statement to the considera-
tion of the house and the country. The main view
of the Government was one that might easily have
been justified. The Germans had broken through
a European treaty without any other plea than
their superior strength, and Europe might have re-
dressed the wrong. But Europe did not choose.
France and Russia were quite willing to adhere
themselves to the treaty they had signed, but they
were indifferent if other persons chose to violate it.
It was not therefore the duty of England to uphold
single handed the public law of Europe. This is an
account of the matter which—though not absolutely
correct, because it omits to notice all the circum-
stances under which the treaty of London was con-
cluded, the events which have made it obsolete, and
the express declaration of France that it was vir-
tually at an end—is a plausible and intelligiole ac-
count, and near enough to the truth to come trom
Ministers who consider themselves obliged to ad-
here to diplomatic traditions in theory tatter they
have abandoned them in practice. Further, Lord
Palmerston stated the Danes had agreed, for the
sake of peace, to yield a portion of Schleswig, but
they persisted in fighting rather than yield any
more, and so the war was now reduced to a mere
contest about a little slip of territory of very slight
value to eny one. This is tot a very fair way of
stating the case, and does the Danes injustice. The
Danes are fighting, not only for a slip of territory,
but for a slip of territory which, as tney think, is
necessary to their military security, just as Eng-
land might be fighting for a little slip of terri-
tory if it were fighting for the Isle of Wight;
and the D ines are also fighting because on this
slip of territory live a certain number of Danes who
have been assured the enjoyment of a native Go
vernment. But Lord Pai.nerston's statement m-ay
be pardoned as a rhetorical expression, intended
mere!) to convey that the Joss to thsD,.nes,whatever
ir night he, which the cession of Schleswig woolA
vOiVe, was but a trifle as c rnpartd with what
England would risk by a wet-. All that Lord Pel-
naerston said on the inconveniences a war would
catuq-! to England was perfectly true. We should
suffer very heavily; but we should have to spend
money profusely, and pour het blood like water.
We should eave, in fact, to wage war as a great
Power contending With other great Powers is
obiigif dto wage it. One war might easily lead to
anotter, and we might find ourselves engaged in a
contest at sea with the Federal States at the same
time we were engaged in a contest with Germany
by land. This would be very awkward and very
embarrassing, and might very properly make any
Ministry pause before recommending the nation to
encounter such complicated dangers. Besides, as
the Russian organs have kindly taken the earliest
oppothunity to point out, it may fairly be argued
that the time for action on the part of England has
gone by. It has gone by in principle, for the time
for England to take up the case of Denmark on the
basis of the Treaty of 1852 was when that treaty
was violated by the invasion of Schleswig. And it
has gone by in fact, for although England might
easily have rendered substantial assistance to Den-
mark while the line of the Dannewerke was intact,
nothing great can be done on land now that not
only Schleswig, but Jutland, is completed at the
mercy of the invaders. This, then, being the case of
the Government—that it was no more the business
of England than of the other great Powers to up
hold the Treaty of London, that the Danes were
fighting for a small strip of territory, that
gland would risk too much by going
to war singlehanded, and that the time for efficient
action was past—how did the Government explain
the course it had taken, and how did it propose to
act ? This was where Lord Palmerston broke down,
and this is where so great and so unnecessary an
opening has been given to the Opposition. The ques-
tion raised between Ministry and Opposition is not
that to which MrKinglake'samendtneetpoints. It is
not whether, at this conjuncture, war or peace is
advisable. It is weether a Government that holds the
views which the Government describes itself as hold-
ing should have acted as the Government has acted.
It is inconceivable the House of Commons shout('
allow itself to be led away from the only real point
of controversy. What has to tie decided is, whether
a Ministry determined not to act. without the support
of powerful allies, and thinking the losses with
which Denmark is threatened trifling as compared
with the evils of war to England, should have en
couraged the Danes wire the hope of assistance,
should have threatened and insulted Germany, and
should have left it to the last moment. to announce
that this assistance was not to be rendered, and
that these threats were only simply bragging. rile
country enjoys a certain amount of influence abroad,
because it is thought that England does not go to
war lightly, but that when she goes to war she
makes war in earnest.. That influence is necessarily
impaired when, through her Government, she en-
courages friends and threatens enemies without
having any intention of going to war. It is the
part of a very littie and very mean Power to trade
upon intentions it does not possess and upon strength
it fears to exert; to meke a show of indignation
and virtue and courage, and all the time to know
mar it shrinks from war singlehanded, and think.
the cause of the w tr it threatens is not nearly worth
the risk the war will entail. No one can say that it.
does not lower the reputation of England when this
course is the course taken by the English Govern-
ment. For the last few months England has been
teaching Denmark that she is protected by an indis-
putable treaty, that she ought not to stand alone,
and that the English navy is ready forection. For
the last few months England has been telling Ger-
many that it has been guilty of a great wrong, that
the fundamental pacts of European law have been
set aside, that the invasion of Schleswig and Jutland
has been a monstrous and brutal outrage. The simple
question is, whether this is the language towards
friends and foes which ought to have been held by a
country determined not to stir without its allies,
and thinking the cause at issue a trifling one. And,
as if Lord Palmerston were determined there should
be no doubt about this issue, and as if he were fully
prepared to stake the existence of his Ministry upon
the right he claimed for itto utter impotent menaces,
and while acquiescing in present discomfiture, to
utter vague mysterious hints of some tremendous
policy of action in the event of some remote contin-
gency happening, he took upon himself to declare
what he would do if the war took a new phase. He
pictured the Germans triumphant by sea as well as
by land, Copenhagen taken by assault, lives of its
peaceful inhabitants sacrificed, the father of the
Princess of Wales taken as a prisoner of war. He
held up this dreadful prospect to the imagination of
his hearers, and then he announced what would be
the consequences if this picture became reality. It
was not that England would interfere to prevent
this accumulation of disasters; it was not that she
would. spring to arms, or hurry her fleet to the scene
of horrors, but he would not say that if all this hap-
pened, or were likely to happen, h the position of
the country might not be a subject for reconsidera-
tion." This Was what was said to the listening,
world on behalf of England, and it was Lord Pal-
merston who said it. Solon was certainly right
when he told Crasius that, until a man was actually
dead, there was no knowing what he might not ,
come to.

THE SPECTATOR --" Couricilq of war never fight,"
,tnd the Cuuncil of Friday, though it clled itself a
CAbinet meeting, proved no exception to the maxim.

The bolder members of the Government were over-
ruled, and by Saturday it was known that the Ad-
ministration had reconsidered its half-formed resolve
that the preparations commenced were useless, and
the Cabinet which had retreated from its own
TT-I.tein was "executed," when
Jutland was tali( n
had been

tlfit•v -

ground when lee—
Schleswig was occupied, vent,.
in pledge, and when all up to the Schie.
surrendered, was about to retreat once more. Few,
however, expected that the retreat would be justi.
fled by such reasons as those produced, that a Pre
mier whose hold upon the country is his reputation
for pluck Would con fees that he thought it danger-
ous to risk war without sit allyi that a Foreign
Secretary who had hardihood enough " to Command
the Channel fleet" would hesitate to defend Euro-
pean order because there might be an "interruption
of our relations With the United States." The scene
which awaited the Ministers as they entered the
houses might have roused the blood and fired the
heart of the most apathetic orator. The Commons
were thronging on the benches like bees, dozens of
men were standing unable tofind seats, the galleries
were bursting with tenants, who overflowed into the
lobbies, the passages, the staircases, everywhere
where they might hope to catch a rumour of the
drift of the explanati n. Throughout the assem
blage of men, each one of whom possessed himself
some apprecieble fraction of power, there was that
hush of suspense,that compressed thrill of excitement
which isseen only when great audiences have caught
the meaning of a great situation, or know that a
great event is at hand. Beforesuch N house so roused
had Lord Palmerston to acknowledge and to accept
a humiliating failure, to confess that he had menaced
without meaning action, to explain with masterly
lucidity how deeply Denmark had been wronged,
how defiantly Germany had broken every pledge,
how "Might la; d" in his own words, "over:
right," and then to show, less lucidly indeed,
but with painful clearness, how easily the Govern.
ment had pardoned the wrong-doing, how care-
lessly it had condoned the perjury, how submissively
it intended to much before the menace of superior
might. "We believed," he said, and as he said it
he seemed for half a moment not humiliated—" we
believed that, from the commencement to the end of
these last events, Denmark had been ill-used
(cheers); that Wight had overridden right (renewed)
cneering); and we knew also that the sympathies
of almost the whole of the British nation were on
her side." (Continued cheering.) And therefore
" we do not think it consistent with our duty to
recommend Parliament and the country to make
those great exertions, and to undergo those great
sacrifices, which would have been the necessary
consequence of entering into a conflict with the
whole of Germany." Denmark was originally in
the wrong, France declined interference, Russia
would not move, the weight of a war would fall
upon this country alone, and it was his duty to ad-
vise the country and his Sovereign to shrink from
that great risk. As if this were not sufficient for
humiliation, the old Premier, burning with inward
rage at his position, broke into what we believe to
have been either a fierce taunt at his own colleagues
or a hidden promise to the Prince of Wales, but
what sounded like a fiftieth menace of future action.
If, he said, with a bravado which, after such a
speech, and while revealing such a policy, was
almost ludicrous, if " we had reason to expect to see
at Copenhagen the horrors of a town taken by
assault . . . . the capture of the Sovereign as pri-
soner of war, the position of this country might be
a subject for reconsideration." He would not war
for a country or for honour, but if a city were
threatened—; be would not fight for the inclepen.
dente of a free nationality, but if a German prince
were prisoner—! then, the Cabinet might rise to
the height of its position in Europe, and gravely
and solemnly reconsider whether, when all was
lost, it might not be expedient to do grand battle for
nothing at all! The house, quiescent as it was, and
disposed to accept its humiliation with patience,
could endure no more, and a storm of ironical crier,
almost daunted the Premier, and relieved the pent
up feeling of rage, annoyance, or regret. There has
been no such exhibition of a great man made in our
time, and in the Lords tnitters were little better.
E Russell, indeed, amidst an audience almost as
numerous and excited, was more clear and consistent
in his statement, but it was because he was not
'Afraid to produce reasons for it bstinenc,, such as are
rarely heard from the lips of statesmen who have
wielded the power of Great Britain abroad. He
supported peace because he was afraid of war. Be.
sides all the arguments offered by Lord Palmerston,
he 'adverted to the extreme difficulty of the under•
'eking, the impossibility, as he assumed, of protect.
ir.g Denmark by she fleet alone, feared " we snould
suffer considerably if our commercial marine was ex-
posed to depredations such es might take place in the
event of our being at war with Germany," dreaded
lest our relations with the United States with its
" great army" and " formidable" navy might suffer
interruption, hesitated to risk the " great commerce
which has grown up in China," considered our im
(noose possessions in India," mentioned the surplus,
and, in short, expressed his belief that we were so
great, so successful, and so rich that we were com-
paratively powerless in the world. We could not
operate in the North without an ally, and _Russia
would not move, while France would demand com-
pensations which, said Earl Russel!, with an old
reminiscence of the time when England had influ-
ence on the Continent, "might disturb the balance
of power"—that European law which he ranges to
pievent 9ermany from violating. As to the South
he held that it was the duty of this country to be.
have better than Austria and Prussia, not to light
up a flame which might extend over the whole of
Europe, but to endeavour to confine the war within
the narrowest limits. He, like Lord Palmerston,
ended with a menace, but he kept its conditions in
reserve, did not state that if Copenhagen were bom..
banded the Government might consider the possibi-
lity of further remonstrance, and with the Prince of
Wales opposite him avoided the insult to Denmark
of imagining her King a prisoner in the, hands of
his enemies.

LONDON REVIEW.—On Monday evening last,
Lord Palmerston in one House and Earl Russell in
the other, went through what must have been to
them the disagreeable task of explaining their
Danish policy and its results. It is impossible to
suppose that ever' the two noble lord o did not feel
the ignominy of the confession which they were
compelled to make, or that they were entirely desti-
tute of some sense of shame as they recalled
recollection of their promises unfulfilled, their pro-
fessions belied, and their menaces disregarded. Into
their past policy we need not enter here on the
present occasion. It is defended by scarcely
anyone, and affords pride or satisfaction to none.
Even those who rejoice at the practical conclusion
at which the Government have arrived—to do
nothing—do not pretend to justify the steps by
which rttey have reached it ; and if ti.ey venturz-) to
say a word or two in hesitating defence of E.rl
Russell's acts, they are forced to abandon his words,
his writings, and his diplomacy to the contempt or
the indignation of the country, Our Ministers,
however, appear so much enamoured of their faults
that they are never weary of repeating them. In
the same speeches in which the Premier and the
Foreign Secretary set. forth the failure of their im-

potent exertions, and the fruitlessness 01 their

empty threats, they launched out into fresh

mations of great and brave things to be done by
' them—some of these days. In the very act of eat-
ing the leek they burst out into valorous protesta-
tions of pugnacity, in use Copenhagen should be
attacked and King Christian taken prisoner. It is
nut that ovscii lugUagc rteeiki-d ;A hott,
nouses the well merited condemnation of the Op?c-
sition leaders ; and that the indignation of the House
of Commons found vent in a manner still more ex •
pressive and decided. Almost everyone seemed to
feel that it is only adding new insult to the old in
juries to hoid out once more to Denmark hope of
assistance never destined to be realised, and the
prospect of a support sure to be withheld at the last
moment. It is not requisite to support or justify
by an elaborate process of reasoning the instinctive
condemnation which the feelings of a high-spirited
people have pronounced on the policy of the Eng-
lish Government ; but, at the same time it is not
right that another Government shank' be allowed
to escape the censure which it also richly merits.
Poe Emperor of the French may be thus far free
from blame, that he has never given Denmark any
hope of assistance. If he has not fulfilled the duty
which he owed to the cause of international right,
he has at least avowed from the first that he in-
tended to be a bystander while wrong WAS done.
THE EXAMINER. De Retz says there are
circumstances of such complicated difficulty that
the best statesman who has the misfortune
of having to deal with them has only a choice of
errors. Whatever is done or left undone will
appear wrong. Certainly, pre-eminently of this
class of unmanageable cases was the Danish. From
a superabundance of forethought England has got
entangled in this affair. If we had never troubled
ourselves about the Danish succession we should
have been clear of this difficulty. But we must
settle that Denmark cotsld not retain the indepen-
dance essential to the balance of power in the
north without certain Provinces, and now that those
provinces are wrenched from her the opposite
argument is to be maintained, and Denmark is to
be persuaded that the retention of the semi-German
Duchies would do her more harm than good. Ten
years ago the integrty of Demark was held indis-
pensable to the peace of Europe, but now that the
integrity is virtually nornoreDenmark is to be taught
that half is more thAn the whole, srVoe srater4,
and that in losing her appanages she only gels rid
of focuses of disaffection and foreign intrigue. It
is unfortunate that, in 1852, the parties to the Treaty
were
" casting the fashion of uncertain evils," and
providing
against them with so little real foresight.
r,

_____,..........,........„...a
But it was then thought that paper rivets could
Ihold a kingdom together, no matter what material
as wholly Germanized and
changes might be working in it by the progress of
_anioni thatP
nagPs I 1f1.04t
rb: woulda °
tI. have
anothera
wereilv
without Germanizedieghahrdletoth
e uls
nbtele.teina disposal,ibent
w i..a.,
ni n7aFe et spite I
itallih.uear. ]sThsroaerpatpetyyd
nptohne•l:i f." ever to Denmark,
-a. and natural yearn-
ings
have followed. Let vs take v.,- n.1;3
qr ina
conseque.."
from the example, and never more be panicr to t.
arbitrary disposal of nations in marriage. It is trr
there was no guarantee, but it would have beer%
better if there had been no soffit-mein, no Treat?.
appearing to commit us to carry out what has proved
equally undesirable and impracticable. Seeing the
result of so much misbestowed precaAtion, w...-: twist
say with the satirist—

O Cures hominum 1 0 quantum est in rebus inane I
As usual in quarrels, there have been faults on bott
sides, but the misfortune of Denmark has been that
her right and wrong were at the wrong end of the
affair, and she did not put herself right till her
more powerful enemies had irretrievably put them-
selves wrong. She now sees her continental terri-
tory disquantitied, as Lear saw his train of knights.
And every diminution becomes an argument for the
farther diminution. Having given up so much, is
it worth while to stand oat for a little more or a
little less, is the question. But the Danes are stub-
born, and, as Hamlet. says,
Two thousand souls and twenty thousand ducats
Will not debate this question of a straw.
Our statesmen hove cone their best for peace, but
have not carried their love of peace so far as
to go to war for it. They have tried to part angry
combatants, but not succeeding, they have not said,
" As you will not be reasonable and just, and will
insist on going on with this iniquitous war, we will
take our share in the crime we cannot s,op, and so
nere's at you." But England's part would not be
mere share in the war. It England plunged into the
war it would make it co-extensive with half Europe.
Our great, our only ally would be Revolution, which
would bring retribution home to Austria, Prussia,
and probably Russia ; but with what a cost of
ruinous trouble ! Wherever there has been mis-
government and oppression, there would be revolt
and insurrection, and it wnuld h 0 yeara before order
could arise again out of so gigantic a disturbance.
" The World well Lost ; or, all for Love," is the
title of an old play, but how would sound 4, The
World well Lost ; or, all for Denmark ?" To pre-
serve two Duchies to that small Power would it be
quite wise to set Europe on fire from the Baltic to
the Adriatic? Is the Helen quite worthy of such
a stupendous sacrifice ? We shall be told no one is
for war; but really the reproach intended for the
Government is that having gone so far in inter•
ference it has not proceeded to that dire extremity
or at least to the hazard of it. " Why," ask some,
"was not a demonstration made which might
have checked Germany ? Why was not the
fleet sent to the Baltic ?'' But what if the
warlike demonstration had failed as much as the
Conference has done? So momentous an issue must
not be hung upon an if. And, after all, Lord
Palmerston's Government has only failed to pre-
serve peace between Austria, Prussia, and Den
mark, as Lord Derby's Government failed to pre-
serve peace between France, Italy, and Austria.
But no blame was cast on the Derby Ministry for
that want of success, though their bias against the
better cause was just matter of animadversion. But
why bark if not resolved to bite P is the next ques-
tion. Why carry so lofty a sail if not prepared for
a breeze ? Why talk big and act little ? Why
interfere at all, or, as it is phrased, why meddle
and muddle ? For by this it is said the influence
of the country is lowered. Well, and what would
have been said if the silent system had been adopted?
The complaint would be, Why do you not raise $
voice of remonstrance ? Why do you not appeal
to the conscience of Europe ? Why do you not
protest against what you may not be able to pre-
vent ? Why not at least try the moral influence ?