The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-28 00:00:00

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which he is anxious not to complicate. Fur
wishing to aggravate the difficulties which may ef-
tard the re-establishment of peace, his Majesty seek
to diminish them.
The Plenipotentiary of Russia, after having ex-
plained these iviews, by order of the Emperor,
added—
" I congratulate myself on having been called
upon to express, as I have just done, the sentiments
of his Majesty, in depositing the Protocol of War-
saw of the year 1851 among the archives of the
Conference. That document has given rise, more
than once, to false interpretations. They will be
contradicted by the publicity which the declaration
I have just made in the name of the Emperor will
not fail to acquire. The spirit of conciliation which
presides over his Majesty's pol:cy will then be
gantraily known, as it has been unanimously appre-
ciated to-day by all the members of the Conference."
Already the task confided to its care ran the risk
of being rudely interrupted by the sudden resump-
tion of hostilities. We bad arrived at the 6'h of
June. There remained only sir; da3 s up to the
term fired for the duration of the truce. It Ives
with hesitation that the Danish Cabinet decided to
prolong it. At the reiterated request of the Pleni-
potentiaries of the neutral Powers, they ended by
consenting to it. But they limited this prolonga-
tion to a fortnight.
Austria and Prussia, on their side, felt extreme
repugnance to accepting a truce of such short dura-
tion, when they had proposed the conclusion of an
armistice of several months.
After discussions, the record of which we abridge,
it was agreed to suspend hostilities till the 26th of
June. Clearly, this period was insufficient to leave
to the Conference the necessary means of accom.
plishing its task successfully.
The Protocols of the 6th and 9th of Jane attest
the perseverance of the efforts employed to obtain
the consent of the Danish Government to a ceases
tion of arms of a longer duration.
In order to explain the refusal repeatedly pro-
nounced by order of this Court, M. de Quaade de-
clared more than once that it could not consent to
a prolongation of the suspension of hostilities unless
there should appear to be a fair probability of agree-
ment upon a point so vital as that of the frontier.
This particular question has, formed from that
time the main subject of discussion. It has been
discussed not only in Conference, but in meetings
held confidentially by the Plenipotentiaries of the
neutral Powers, both with the representatives of
Denmark and with those of the Germanic Powers.
These frequent deliberations, prolonged and
directed by a feeling of sincere friendliness, have
had for their object to bring about a desirable re-
conciliation between the two parties.
We will indicate briefly the results of this attempt
at conciliation.
The first line of demarcation adopted by the
Danish Government had been traced from Eckern-
forde to Frederickstadt, a little to the south of the
line proposed on the 28th May by the Plenipotene
tiaries of Great Britain. It was only at a later
period that the representatives of Denmark were
authorised to adhere to the line of the Schlei and
the Dannewerke. They stopped there, their in-
structions not permitting them to entertain any
other arrangement whatever.
The first line of demarcation put forward by the
Plenipotentiaries of Prussia and Austria was traced
from Apenrade to Tondern. Nevertheless, Count
Bernstorff, wishing to give a proof of his desire
for conciliation, declared his readiness to recoms
mend to his Government a second line which

should be drawn from a point to the north of Flens..
burg, and would terminate to the north of Tondern
at Hoyer. This second line would have had the
advantage of leaving the Danish Government in
possession of the Island of Alsen.
Count Apponyi did not at first consider himself
authorised to adopt this second line. Subsequently,
however, he obtained permission to do so. The
Protocol No. 9, however, states that this second line
which Count Bernstorff had recommended to his
Government was not definitively adopted, " because
hitherto no steps had been taken on the other side
to meet the German proposals."
This consideration decided the Plenipotentiaries
of Austria and Prussia to recur finally to tLeir first
line traced from Apearade to Tondern, and this,
proposition forms the extreme limit at which they
have finally taken their stand.
In this state of things there remained between
the two lines—the ono Danish and the other (hr-
man—an intermediate territory in dispute, and it
was not in the power of the Plenipotentiaries of the
neutral Powers to induce either one or the other of
the two parties to advance a single step towards an
equitable arrangement.

Such was the situation on the 18th of Jane. One-
half of the period granted by the Danish Govern•
meat for the suspension of arms had elspsed. There
remained but a space of eight day's to accomplish.
the work of peace confided to the Conference.
Wishing to persevere in this task without permitting
themselves to be discouraged by the obstacles which
they encountered at every step, the Government of
her Britannic Majesty resolved upon a last attempt
at conciliation.

in: suggesting this arrangement, Lord Russell
conformed to a desire earnestly expressed at the
Congress of Paris in the interest of the maintenance
of a general peace. This desire, enunciated on the
14th of April, 1856, had for its object to recommend
to the Cabinets, in the event of a serious misunder&
standing, to have recourse to the good offices of a
friendly State before appealing to force.

In making himself the organ of this proposition,
Lord Russell expressed himself in the following
terms, which we quote verbally :

"Now that the principal
question in dispute has
been reduced to the tracing a frontier some miles
more or less to the north, when the two belligerent
Parties have brilliantly sustained the honour of
their arms, and when the renewal of hostilities
would produce a new series of calamities, disastrous
to humanity, and unworthy of the civilisation of our
age, the Plenipotentiaries of Great Britain think it
their bounden duty to propose to the belligerent
Powers—namely, to Austria, to Prussia, and to
Denmark, that a friendly Power should be appealed
to, in order that a line of frontier may be traced,
which should neither pass to the south of the line
indicated by Denmark, nor to the north of that
designated by the German Plenipotentiaries."
The Plenipotentiaries of the belligerent Powers,
being without special instructions, took this pro.
position ad referendum.
The Earl of Clarendon thought proper to explain
its meaning, so as to prevent any misunderstand-
ing. With this object, he said, that he did not
admit the interpretation of M. de Krieger that the
declaration of the Congress of Paris is not applicable
unless an appeal is made to the mediating Power
with :regard to all the questions in dispute. The
disputed territory and the frontier are alone in
question. The intention of the English Plenipo.
tentiaries is to propose that the question of the ter-
ritory between the two lines pointed out should be
submitted to the arbitration of a friendly Power,
the belligerent Powers engaging to accept its de-
cision as final,

In the same sitting the plenipotentiaries of
Prussia demanded that the inhabitants of Schleswig
should be consulted upon the arrangements to be
adopted with regard to them, and that the fate of
a part or the whole of those populations should be
decided without their wishes being first properly
declared.

This project gave iiie to a discussion which the
Plenipotentiuly of Russia summed up in rube

erms

" In this meeting we sometimes choose divergent
paths in order to arrive at an object which is COLIIIIIOII
to us all ; I mean the restoration of peace. Tho
proposal which the Plenipotentiaries of Prussia
have just made with this object has not :net with
an unanimous assent in the Conference. The
Plenipotentiaries of the Court of Austria have
stated how far their views differ from those of
Prussia. The Plenipotentiaries of Great Britain
have pronounced their dissent in a manner still more
formal. I have been compelled to express myself
in the same spirit. The Ambassador of France has
limited the question to the mixed districts, without
extending it beyond them. The ➢linister of Sweden
and Norway has been unwilling to prejudge in this
respect the intentions of the Plenipotentiaries of

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