The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-23 00:00:00

SlintiT OF Tin PUBLIC JOURNALS,

Es.—At labt the Conference of London on the
affairs of Denmark May lie belled upon as at an
end. The delays which have market': its Career were
strangely epitomised in the prt„;zfdings of jqoterA
days. For some reason that only Court fune-:°11"
tidies Ceti tififleittarld it is thought necessary that the
Plenipotentiaries should attend etety levee; and
consequently the diplomatists on whose deliberatioha
the peace of Europe depends duly presented them-
selves before his Royal Highness the Prince of
Wales at two o'clock; and Were unable to assemble
for the Most ititportant Meeting of the series
until a later hour than usual. The disctisaions may
have been interesting; they were certainly long.
It was past 6 o'clock before the members separated,
and the last effort of England to preserve the peace
between Denmark and its opponents was shown to
have been in vain. The Conference, we believe,
will meet again on Saturday, but this is only as a
matter of form, in order that the protocol of yes-
terday's proceedings may be read, and the members
may exchange the courtesies which are usual at a
separation. As far as business is concerned the
Conference is at an end, and it has ended in failure.
On no side has there been a disposition to accept
the proposals which this country has thought it
advisable to make in the interests of peace. After
Six months of ceaseless exertion, after having used
every argument which could be addressed to the
justice, the'humanity, or.the prudence of the Ger-
man Powers, the British Government finds that it
must either retire from the dispute and leave Den-
mark to the fate it is so anxious to brave, or enter
upon active operations for her defence. The
proceedings of the meeting may be soon told. The
members met only to hear from Prussia and Austria
their definite rejection of the proposal of arbitra-
tion, and their acceptance of the alternative of a
renewed campaign. There was, indeed, :on their
part an offer which in such circumstances can
only be looked upon as a mockery. This was, that
b ny Power that chose might arbitrate on the ques-
tion of frontier, but that they would reserve to
themselves the right of rejecting the award. It is
needless to say that this absurd proposal was
scouted by the representatives of this country, and
was justly held by them to mean that the two Ger-
man States were determined to brave the public
opinion of the world, and proceed to the last ex-
tremity in their career of violence. At the same
time, Denmark showed an equal unwillingness to
submit her claims to the arbitration of any foreign
State. The one idea of the politicians of Copen-
hagen is that no settlement can be agreed to by
them which does not give Denmark the line of the
Dannewerke. They would prefer that of the
Eider, of course, but with the Dannewerke, which
is involved in the line of the Schlei, they would be
content ; anything else they have been all along
determined to reject. The idea that a foreign
and, it might be, an unfriendly potentate should
have the power of depriving them of half Schleswig,
and giving them only a strip without a definite
geographical area, without a defensible frontier, has
all along been so distasteful to them that we are not
surprised that they should now add their refusal to
that of their opponents. They have had time to re-
cover from the shock of Dappel, Their army, though
weakened by the late campaign, is still respectaSle
in point of numbers, their fleet is ready for opera-
tions, they hold Alsen, they are at present unthreat-
ened in Funen, the German shipping offers them a
rich prize, and, all things considered, they are per-
haps in a better military situation than when they
occupied positions on the mainland which were
exposed to the full strength of the German armies.
Their enemies are equally anxious to complete
the work they have so unscrupulously and yet so
successfully begun. All that remains for them
now is to achieve the conquest of Alsen. With that
done they might rest on their arms and refrain from
any further operations against their humbled adver-
versaries. Alsen alone is required to given them full
possession of the Schleswig territory, and as yet
they profess to want nothing more. Jutland they
may occupy in order to force a peace from Den-
mark; Funen or Zealand might be the object of any
great access of vindictiveness, such as the Germans
might conceive against the people who have resisted
them for so many years, and who have in this war
threatened the blockade of their ports and the des-
struction of their marine. But this extension of the
area of hostilities is not necessary for the success of
the German policy. Their highest hopes will have
been gratified if they can detach the whole of
Schleswig and Holstein from the kingdom and
erect it into an independent State under a Prince
of their own choosing. This, in fast, can now be
done by a simple proclamation. With the excep-
tion of Alsen, they hold the country, and, unless
some other Power intervenes, they have only to de-
clare it separated from Denmark, and to constitute
the new Government. They may then leave Den-
mark alone, so far as the invasion of any new ter-
ritory is concerned, and content themselves with
resisting its efforts at sea, and holding Jutland as
a guarantee for the payment of the expenses and
losses that may have been inflicted on Germany.
Something like this is possibly the Prusso-Aus-
trian programme, Clough it certainly may be that
a more ambitious war is contemplated, and that
Denmark left alone would have to expect an in-
vading force in Funen, and perhaps at the capital
itself. The passion which animates the Germans,
and the ambition which possesses the Prussian
reigning family and their Minister, may lead to
any excesses. In this latter case there can, we
thiak, be no doabt of the course which honour and
international duty would recommend to Europe.
Whatever may be the decision of the country with
respect to operations on the mainland, we feel sure
that the expression of English feeling would be uni-
versal to the effect that the Danish islands should
be made safe against any attack of an enemy. In
this there would be no difficulty, as a small squadron
would be quite sufficient to bid defiance to any arma-
ment which the German Powers could put to sea.
These speculations, however, are almost premature.
There must be to-day, or very shortly, an explana-
tion in Parliament by Ministers, and a discussion of
the present critical state of affairs. Parliament,
which has left matters so long under the com-
plete control of the Cabinet, contenting itself
with occasionally showing its sympathies and
the intensity of its interest in the struggle, will
now take care that the national honour is not
compromised. Though this country cares little for
the taunts of foreigners, it cannot bear to have an
ill opinion of itself; and it, therefore, becomea her
Majesty's Government to make to Parliament such
recommendations as will convince it that the nation
is being directed in a wise and honourable course.
To maintain our own honour and reputation by
fulfilling strictly our international duties is the wish
of every patriot and every man of sense.
POST —The meeting of the Conference, yester-
day, may be considered as virtually its last sitting ;
though an adjournment till Saturday at one o'clock
was agreed to—for what purpose it is difficult to
understand. There seems nothing remaining to be
done. The German and _Danish. Plenipotentiaries,
though differing on every other point, were as one
man in opposing an arbitration upon the question
of the boundary-line, It is stated, indeed, oa less
reliable authority, that Austria and Prussia ex-
pressed their willingness to accept the proposed re-
ference, but clogged their consent with such condi-
tions as effectually precluded Denmark from acced-
ing to the arrangement. The prolongation of the
armistice stands in much the same position, The
German belligerents would not oppose such an ex-
tension, but they declined it for any period less than
two months. For obvious reasons the negotiations
went off at this point. We find, therefore, all the
preliminary subjects in dispute as far from a settle
meat as ever. The boundary line itself, the reference
of it to arbitration, the prolongation of the armi-
stice, are still matters upon which no agreement
has taken place. On this account we repeat that
we are at a loss to see cui bono another
meeting of the Conference on Saturday. The ar-
rangements that have been found impracticable
in so many sittings can scarcely be made in
one. The armistice expires on Monday, and the
German troops in Jutland are then free to recom-
mence their work of devastation. Of the British
fleet the operations are by no means so easy to be
foreseen.

HERALD.—The last faint hope of peace has dis-
appeared. The reference by the Danish and
of
Ger-
man plenipotentiaries of the English proposal
arbitration to their respective Courts was but an
an
empty courtesy ; yet so long as
i peace propositionso
were even nominally under discussion sanguine
minds might hope against all probabilities for a
successful issue to the labours of the Conference.
Now the most sanguine must look forward to a
renewal of hostilities. We shall hear no more of
peace until the north, and probably enough the
south, of Europe havo drunk their fill of the bitter,
yet, perhaps, not unwholesome cup of war. At the
sitting of the Conference yesterday the plenipoten-
tiaries proved a second time the impossibility of
their agreement ; bat this time, having the con-
sciousness of a fearful struggle impending, in which
nations which had been for centuries allies would
find themselves opposed upon the batee-field, they
adopted a more moderate and a more becoming
tone. They felt that they were about to fight, and
that they could not do less than emulate the cour-
tesy of the professors of the noble art who shake
hands before they begin to maul each other. The
sitting
was not only remarkable for the good tem-
per displayed, but for a singular inversion of the
arrangements which have been wont to obtain when
Germans meet other nations in negociations. The
Danes, generally men of few, wards, read a long
memorandum detailing the reasons for which they
were unable to accept the last British proposition ;
and the Prussians, who equally refused that pro.