The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-23 00:00:00

pendence of the vote be fully guaranteed, and provided it
establishes in an incontestable manner whether the inha-
bitants of Schleswig-Holstein consider themselves to bs my
subjects or subjects of the King of Denmark.
Although I had resolved to quit my country no more, I
should nevertheless consent, in any case, to withdraw from
it during the continuance of the vote, in order to take away
all appearance of pressure.
The love of the Duchies for their independence is no
empty caprice. They possess the qualities and the resources
necessary for their development, and only regret not to
have been able to prove up to the present moment the
energy of their will by taking part in the combats engaged
for their cause. Let them be only replaced in that state of
defence in which they were when Earope, and not Denmark,
disarmed them, and they will prove by deeds that they know
how taeonquer and maintain their independence.
I have not thought it sufficient to protest simply in the
name of my own rights and those of my country against
the violence that might be exercised against them, and to
claim my due when the question was discussed. I thought
it my duty to explain at the same time how the realisation
of these rights corresponds to the wishes of the
how in respecting them the exigez,,: -
conditions of a durable *—
attests that P'l

,uople, and
......,• of justice and the
~.ace will be conciliated- The past

Sung as the Schleswig-Holstein quarrel shall

ay,
ye settled in a legal manner, it will never oeaee to re-
appear on battle-fields and in European. congresses until
that day when full satisfaction shall have been given to
legitimate rights and to the national tame,
Kie], April 16, Is6ll. (Signed)

FREDERIC.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

THE " SATURDAY REVIEW" ON THE PRINCE OF
WALES AT THE LITERARY FUND DINNER.—The
London season would be incomplete without the
Royal Academy Dinner and the Literary Fund
Dinner. There is a common nature belonging to
these two national institutions, for such they are,
though there is a great difference between the
artists entertaining their patrons and friends of
in be-
half
and dried ink bottles of the day. What they have,
literature
of
an eating,
admirable
charity
d
in common is that the notables of social the
a n
for speechifyingth epens
worn-out
statesmen and political men, the wr'..cers and artists
of tho time are expected on ;,pesooccasions to deliver
themselves of set e:ations in praise of art and letters.
There is nr:n a little interest in all this. The
country lectures at the local Atherrea delivered by
holiday-M.P.'s have their Value. One
s
ghs at the parthriott pains of a con n-
o e sometimes
ems
skui
gn
try gentleman delivering himself of a sort of would-
be academical e/otM, and uttering the improptu
reminiscences uf history and classics for wnieh he
is furtively indebted to the curate of the parish.
But ail this tends to keep up at least the preten-
sion of an edacated standard ; and as every noble-
man of mark and every Cabinet Minister is alivays
expected to be ready with some Yeitinisbences of
general reading and literary or al-tistic talk at one
or other of the twin Londri dinners, the Literary
Fund anniversary hat Its value. The charity which
"t represents is Well and usefully conducted; and

though an attempt was unsuccessfully made a few
years ago to discredit its management, general bon-
fideeee is felt in its efficiency. On Vtrednesday the
Prince of Wales commented what we may almost
call his publit tiro by presiding at this dinner.
The oecesien bust have been a very trying one.
These celebrations are attended by an exacting
and critical, though generous, audience. Men not
only of mark, but of tried eloquence, and long ex-
perience in sitting at the middle of a great ernss•
table, would find en this special ottaeicia a difficult
task before them. The prince of Wales had to
make his debut, tint only as a Chairman and a
speechemaker) but as a public man. It is en odd
way that we have of introducing the Heir of Eng-
land or the Consort of the Queen to the duties of
station and responsibility by asking him to make a
speech on booke and bookmakers in general. tut
the son had only to follow his fathers admirable
example. It were, of course, invidious to compare
Prince Albert and the Prince of Wales on a similar
occasion. Prince Albert's mind was rest in the
professorial mould. Set speechen and occasional
spoken essays of the formal and academic type—
papere, for such they were, carefully elaborated
and thought over—were eminently suited to his
cast of thought. His education had fitted him to
compose and deliver them; and a powerful and re-
flective mind, deeply impreesed With the delicate
responsibilities of hiseitatietl, and perfectly aware
that he had many prejudices to combat, was spurred
by the oppetennity or making a public speech. It
was by his public) speeches that the late Prince
Consort slowly won his way, first, to the attention,
then. to the respect,and lastly to thc admiration of the
country. 'the same inducements to it special energy
are not necessary in the Prince of Wales's case.
His education had been different from that of his
father. What is wanted in a constitutional Sove-
reign is not so much genius and deep wisdom as
ease, a thorough sense of responsibility, good tt.ste
and right feeling. Splendid ahilitiet; aI•C almost
out of place in oar Sovereigns. The Prince of Wales
exhibited these gaelitiesi both of mind and character
in all that he is reported to have said on Wednesday
evening, He went in a. business-like way to the
purpose of the meeting, and we all like to see
common sense taking the practical view of things.
After all, the Literary Fund is simple in its objects.
It gives to decayed and r k.)or authors some little
solace and comforts in age and Sickness; it gives
aid secretly; its almoners are men of honour; and
its managers know that letters would be dishon-
oured by the popular arts of begging, and b popu-
lar reports and eloquent secretarial tai. The Prince
of Wales said this, and, because it was a simple
thing to say, he said it simply and without affecta-
tion. There was good taste in avoiding the etyle
of an undergraduate's theme on the obieetT, rica-
sures, and advantages of learning ih cheral ; and
there were too many old stager. ;resent, who had
themselves prolusionised it rectorial addresses and
lectures at country intitutes, for the Prince to have
any chance in the high style of platitude and '6o°-
ventional rhetoric, And there wan gdo'cl taste, and
appearance
good feeling also, in the brier but sincere tribute to
his father's memoree, tratl to his father's
on a former eetAtiiol3 of the same nature. Altogether
tine Prints achieved a marked success, if success
cannists in having a sufficient naivete rated in
attaining it. The Heir to the Thnne of England
has a part to play, or rathet a function to discharge,
which is not withent its difficulties ; but those diffi-
culties are best got over by perfect and entire sin`
cerity and simplicity. Honesty carries a man, on
the whole, through the duties of life better than
any other quality. The late Prince Consort Was
honest and loyal to his duties, arid he tetognised
their special temptations. He met their subtlety by
equal subtlety of intellect; his decisions showed the
result of deep thought and long pondering. But
this habit of mind has in its turn its dangers, cape-
cially to a public man. If the late Prince Consort
had not been loyal to his country, he
might have
been a very dangerous intriguer. He was too
good to be dangerous, but his character had all the
elements of political skill and subtlety in
_attic
e
father's position had its tempts*:-ns and snares, in
his case so happily corn
scarcely less dift cudt
quered,
other grounds.
The heir 1:0 tnough upon
'cry prothinent,
and sue throne cannot be 1
e a public man,
• jet, if he is net in genie sees
uis country will complain.is the worse
position is
No
roan
but history
for an apprenticeship to his calling t
to
thrones
presents a catalogue of heirs apparent
to rule by
who have certainly not learned. .
eW 1 matters the
their expectancy or rule. In political
Prince of Wales may have, or rat must have,
the son's
of youth and
express them. Yet the best yearsspent in exclusive
devotion to the pursuits of
opening manhood are but idly
life without its
opinions, but a constraint is laid upon hint him not to
country
personal responsibilities. On every account, there.• ,
fore, the country will Ow gee the Prince of
Wales accepting, as he has alreadyf.
done, those op-
portunities,rare though they he,o dentifying himself
it is. Among
made our and his England w
non around of all
those public interests—the
ellich party can have
with some of those lofty publicsbniterests which have
educated and public men, in
pent, at least very
literature stands, if not pre-col-
been educated to
high. The Prince of Wales has
hereditary taste in art
no place and selfish aggrandisement is impossible—
appreciate literature ; an
and reverence for science must be natural in his
father's son. If the Prince's sphere ofb usefulness
the country will more thoroug_ey. pp e the
It is of good
diligent cultivation of a scanty ti
ItlEl been commenced
and the range of his possible duties as
rueteniaatrrow,
omen that his public career
father's case conducted
undertb p u ba
lui sop icesw
confidence.hich in hisEy e n
the honest desire to
-
tread in his father's steps will be loyally appre
ciated. Letters and
which and a kindred taste for letters,
give princes friends
stand them in better
try which is not
arms, but upon arts, and the counh
hold stead than the minions of fashion or the parasites of
faction. Our real greatness depends, not upon our
great intellectually has hut a poor o on material
prcsperity. That the Prince of Wales is disposed
frankly to recognise the highest sources of national
greatness is surely a matter for national congratu-
lation.
THE " SPECTATOR" ON JOHN PARRY AND MRS.
ROSELEAP'S EVENING PARTY.—Few people COM-
paratively, we imagine, are aware how very extra-
ordinary an intellectual feat has been for some time
nightly visible in London at oue of those evening
" entertainments" which is to a play what negus is
to wine, or at which the drama loses half its evil
by losing all its interest—the " Gallery of Illustra-
tration." You have indeed to go through something
to arrive at it, for Mr. and Mrs. German Reed,
while they provide no doubt all that a well-regu-
e un ev e'a enter-

latpd mind (in

ht. to eEnect

by their various rechaujes of themselves in diffe-
rent costumes those who come willing and anxious
to " make believe very much" as the Marchioness
said to Mr. Swivcller about her diluted beer, cer-
tainly do not attempt to furnish any very refined
species of amusement. For any one, however, who
will sit out the dinner for the sake of the dessert,
there is reserved a rare and, in its light way, even
subtle enjoyment. The last half hour of the "en-
tertainment" is more than entertaining; it is an
achievement which not only illustrates, it extends
the very meaning we attach to the phrase "plastic"
art. Mr. John Parry—whom we can recollect, we
should think, twenty years ago singing that ordi.
narily vulgar species of song called " comic" with
a humour and expression that allied them to comedy
rather than farce—comes on to the scene ^'
and in his own dress, and tells thP
he is going to introduce •'
evening party. T•
illusion. F‘-

..torte

atedientS;e teat
seem tes deelArl.
mesy bhhicy help the
...ese..yst thee he represents Mrs. Roseleaf
eerselcitatekeeeele a fan and bouquet which he shoWS
us lying on the piano, but be, will not deed any
other aid at all from bostittne. Thhs intich he says
simply in his own eiereen, and the audience have
time, while hee is :laying it, to notice a face somewhat
wan, rather weary, yet with a colour slightly hectic,
perfectly refined, end yet with something of that
expression of mental bareness---nf thought and
emotion with the bloom eft by being laid bare to
others—which we aetnehow associate with
racteristia roundness, baldness, and asene Cross
lines of thought of feelitne 'tile face, No face
could be ittsagited that offers at the first glance less
promise of flexibility. You would say of it—as
Shakspere said of the elephant—that "lit legs ate
legs'for necessity, not for flexttreOes-that its lines
of expression are linen rot neeessitY, not for dexttre.
You. have scarcely made up your Mina that it is so,
whets Mr Parry sits 'down to tb.e piano, and his face
at once assultes thet btolid expression of hired
drndgery of fishiness islauded in the amusement of
others, which, without an explanation, declares to
every one the professional pianist engaged for an
evening
party at which there are to be a few qua-
grilles, -While thus playing Mr. Parry announces
the names of a few guests succeeding one another,
and presently rising from the piano he takes up his
bouquet and fan, and the stolid persistency of the
hired musician is suddenly transformed into the
engaging suavity and complaisance of a lady-like
hostess. Mrs Roseleaf is a thorough lady, slightly
affected indeed, but with the affectation arising from
an excessive amiability, not froth any tinge of vul-
garity. There is nothing Very original in any
thing she says—" This is a pleasure indeed--eso kind
of Sou to come," and so forth ; but the epettator
gazing through the beet of opera glasses at the
genOeman its plain black clothes who is baying
all this, Can hardly persuade himself it is a gen-
tleman at all, and not Mrs. Roseleaf. Indeed,
so stung is the illusion that when we come
away and recall the scene in memory, it is the
hardest thing in the world to believe We have
seen' only one actor thientthodt, and that
actor a gentle Men not in disguise. Presently Mrs
Roseleaf inquires after the baby of one of her
guests, and toe reply indistinctly murmured is re-
flected with such extraordinary vividness in the
dropping lines of unspeakable concern ih her face,
that you know it meat haVe been erotip of a More
than ordinatily datneerotis kind. When the answer
to:the next inquiry after a seemed childagaih length-
ens tint the face, it is to a lea's degree, and you see
the amiable hastesa's desire to blend her sympathy
with the cheering playfulness appropriate to the
occasion when ;her guests are not, after all, in too
much alarm to come to her party; and so with :a
plertiant regret of expression she slides bale
through some a itch rethark as sad indeed, why
you have had quite a sick house," to her gentle
company-smile. Then she introduces her little
daughter to her friend; and the pleasant Company-
smile gro ma tender with the illusions of maternal
pride'. The daughter is, of course, present only to
the spiritual gaze of the spectator, but few who re-
call the scene will find it easy to persuade thent-
I selves that the little girl was only seggested to
them, and no mere there than any Other of the
shadowy Wore. While being praised for decoroits
and pretty behaViottr, the voting lady thatehes at
the fan or the bouqeet, aild the mother's pride in
her good dohductelaanges gently into playful amuse-
ment at her childish tricks. Then the little girl
retires and the party grows denser. You can see
that Mrs. Roseleaf moves abotit with greater diffi-
culty and mo:e anxiotis, sense Of responsibility: She
prevails on a Mr iene to eitee, and the fah and
bouquet Vaniehing), *e stiddenly behold Mrs. Rose-
leaf he more, bat a vain and self absorbed young
man of muddy sentiment, awkwardly oonseions Of
literary pretensions, and with t btoOping gait, who,
with a glass in his eye-, is featehing dieconteetedly
for an admiretien which lie (166 not seem to rebeive.
The extietbitlinate o:PreOlfin CtirLici fermenting
vanitiee-neent eoesplaisant nor self-assured, bat
suttdenly emigeant, which now passes over the actor's
flee is again completely transformineie, agei cha-
racter, everything is abseliitely changed; the scum
of gloomy hoobbledeheyieh conceit spreads like an
unclear fluid over the Whole facN lie eings big
song, " Woeld ydu late me, if you knew me .
('‘ Words and music both my own," as he blurts
outs with a gloomy and clumsy vanity at the con-
clusion), interrupted by nerderolis announbenaents
of successive guests; at each of which Mr. Jere
darts furious glanees tester& the dont—and at the
end scuilles a' ay Frain the piano With sulky eyes,
at Oise inflicting retribution, and searching the corn-
' piny for traces of admiration—amidst the profuse
thanks and apologies of Mrs. Roseleaf. Then Mrs.
Roseleaf consults her husband as to the nest part
of the pro; rainMe; tend deq '
des to get the 'iucrii.as
to cif g. The Fluere ss, nowever, are ooviousiy
divided from her by a great crush, though no mens
tion is made of it—and the inimitable company-
playfulness with which she peeps through an acci-
dental vista in the crowd and wafts with s*eeteet
faseiriatnen and smiling menace, threatening a re-
quest, the words, "I'm coming to you," over the
intervening space, is one of the most effective
touches in the piece. Mr. Fluenia has a fearful
cold, and toneplying at his wife's instance gets
through a single lino of modulated cough—on which
Mr: and Mrs. Roseleaf interchange with each other
a very expressive sentence or two of condolence-a
and then we are introduced to Miss Flora Gushing-
ton, a young lady of conscious attractions, who
sings an Italian duet with an admirer at the urgent
ralueg of Mr. itobeleat-,-and whose sweet and side-
long but still open demands for admiration are a
very carious ecrgragt to, the fumes of smoky conceit
whiCh elooded Mr. jenn's broW. And fee thb eeen-
lug party slides away—the pianist getting more
weary and utterly mechanical in hie movements,
and more profciumlly Woodenefaced, as he plays
the last Sir Roger de, eoSerleyl and the 6ompani
diepeist. the there're' of the p6rfortnaite is
the extraordinarily powertnl impression left upon
the mind tivitt., the diaraoteta and faces we
'ate keeit till really genuine and dietinct
tagility to connect them with the black-suited gene
tleman, as we yet know, was the only person pre-
sent. It is, in its way, the most wonderful triumph
of powers of expression over plain material feet that
can well be conceived: The only machinety used
is the sytabolistii of wide, gostute, and lines of ex-
pression,—and to coneteract all these is the I.sbysie
cal evidence of our senses that no one is there but
Mr. John Parry in Mr. Sohn Parry's ordinary dress,
—.and yet we carry away the keenest feeling of only
having seen Mr. John Parry at the commencement
and conclusion, and of having beheld in the interval
all kinds of invisible ladies and gentlemen, whose
characteristic gait and expressions there was nothing
to show us except the changing postures and lines
in the actor's person and face. The feeling it pro-
duces almost is, that Mr. Parry must himself get
confused between his real and some of his fictitious
characters.

THE " LONDON REVIEW" ON " THE OWL" AND
THE FRENCH EMPEROR.--For some time a mystery
has hung over certain small and humorous extracts
that, have appeared, both in the Morning Post and
in the Times, heeded with the significant title of
The Owl. What was The Owl? Where was its
place of habitation Noboby seemed to know.
" Monsieur, perch© apparemment," said M. Talley.
rand to a lame gentleman who was boasting that he
never went to bed. Doubtless The Owl roosted
somewhere, but it had no known locus standi. All
that could be considered certain was that it was a
bird of audacious tendencies, and very much in-
clined to make fun of her Majesty's Government.
This week, however, The Owl has won for it-
self an European reputation. Across the Channel,
the Emperor's private secretary, M. Mocquard,
was alarmed by it, and hastily wrote to the French
papers to contradict the truth of what, in the
columns of The owl, never pretended to be more
than an amusing joke. Sitting aloft on its post
or perch of observation, the Owl, for some weeks,
has been retailing to the public every kind of State
secret. The members of the Conference have been
taken off seriatim; Hord Russell has been depicted
as he might demean himself when offering a remark
in German to M. von Beust ; and the world has been
even favoured with a pretended copy ot the des-
patches sen, to the admiral of the Channel
fleet.
Daring the last week, the mysterious bird of Minerva
published a clever squib, purporting to be a letter
addressed to the Owl, by M. Mocquard, on the sub-
ject of the foreign policy of the Palmerston. ian Mini-
stry.
The Owl had not thought, we are told, of
publiebing at all for a fortnight; for it appears that
the publication of the Owl is irregular, and depends
on the sweet caprice of its editor. But
.when the
letter— verbosa et granclis epistola—arrived from
the Tuileries, on the merits ot the system of "med-
dle and muddle," the Owl felt it a solemn duty to
Rider its decision, and came out into daylight

recon

that nothing less than a surgical operation would
ever get ajoke into a Scotchman's head, he never pro-
bably thought that a Charivari would pats muster
among the crowned heads of Europe as a State
paper. M. Mocquard's sense of the ridiculous must
have been strangely swallowed up in the solemnity
of his position. His excuse is the lees, for not only
is he said to be familiar with English life, but he is
also a man of letters. The only thing to be urged
in his favour is the fact that his Imperial tnaster so
ela often is wont to burst upon the we
ments of alsimilardescription, that perhaps leet- docu-
ments
guard trembled lest Europe should be ite;-: Moe,
by a second forgery followce -
Confer'-''upon
forged Confeae
o- —lc 70 elmselt titßitt the
siv
--e"' At'Patte 13;ln P(3B'
Toni forgive us
fps ilia ,Irreverent suftestion t--7-that; M. Moe-
!paid and S apelean li.. saw the joke them-
selVes, but were afraid, from an experience of the
English Foreign Office; that
.the English Foreign
Office might net see it. They were natiirallY anxious
On *want of Lord Aus6ell'e poor head. Politeness
Ould render it impossible for them to assume in
their diplomatic correspondence that the Queen's
Ministers might again be taken in: Accordingly
M. Mocquard,, eabrificed hitAelf tkl ithe demon of
perisiah pereihage in order to save Lord Russell
l'rom falling victim to another !abet. if thiS is the
real explanation, it Says a great .deal fOr M.
Modquardt deliCakor, We are afield that the other
AeliAtin or the difficulty will, however, be more
generally received, and that the Imperial secretary
is destined to run the gauntlet of the wits of
France. He will be tansetis for all tithe for having
coMP3sed a political comedy on the subject of Abde
el-Kadere—for having introduced carpels on to the
French stage froth the lardin des PlanteS, and for
hatiog mistaken the Owl for a newspaper of high
political gravity. The Owl, after this, like the
jester of King Louis, may abdicate and retire in
peace, for the cap and bells belong elsewhere. • M.
Mocquard has vitaditated his right to pass as the
greater owl of the two. M. Mocquard's blunder lets
us into a secret, and draws up for one moment the
curtain that hangs over the Emperor's private cabi-
net. Tbis gentleman is the author of a consider-
able portion of his Imperial Majesty's correspon-
dence. We now know what M. Meequard thinks
an Imperial letter at this crisis might be like. He
has the making of them, and he ought to know ;
and here we have what he acknowledges to be an
ingenious and deceptive imitation. A genuine let-
ter should Show, we may infer, a frank disregard
of diplomatic etiquette. It should call attention to
the fact that Napoleon 111. is not merely the most
pacific, biit the wisest and most dignified of
princes. He alone is right and consistent in his
policy; and through him France holds the arbitra-
ment of peace or war in the hollow of her hand.
There is nothing the Emperor more thoroughly
enjoys than patronising the English people. There
is nothing he finds harder to accomplish than the
maintaining his temper, at the sight of English
foreign policy. If the wl has not hit the exact
truth, it hei gone taneommonly near it, What
alarms M. Mocquard is, that his master's sentiments
are proximately conveyed, and it did not easily
occur to him that the Emperor's real opinions could
hate teen inserted in an English Comic periodical
at a venture. if the Emperor never wrote what
the Owl humorously put into his mouth, we may
surmise, without risk of error, that he thinks and
long had thought it. This is the only palliation for
M. Mocquard'a obtuseness to a joke. The joke in
question was only a serious truth, expressed with
an improbable absence of formality and etiquette.'
THE " EXAMINER" ON THE DANISH QUESTION.
do not knave whether the Danish quarrel
may be Considered aS at an end. The Conference
certainly has come to no set or formal coteltsion,
except so far as to consider the treaty of 1852 as
no more. It has adjourned for ten days, till the
28th. but this proceeded not from disagreement,
but on the contrary frotrt a general though tacit
understanding that a compromise was necessary,
and was rendered ineretatiVe, not only by the posi-
tion of the oontendirg patties but by the sentiments
of the neutral Powers. Not one of them were pre-
pared to go the length of war. Such a compromise
therefore, ae the belligerent Governments, and the
equally Urgent belligerent populatidns would con-
sent to, became inevitable: We have before declared
our disposition to see Holstein giVen to the Ger-
mans and Schleswig seethed to the Danes.
It seems, however, that the attempt to
wrest the Southern district of Schleswig
frions holstein would lead to disturbance and re-
sistance, and would require the prolonged sojourn
of armies upon the Eider. The Conference, there-
fore, Or its, titeinherit barer it is said, tacitly decided
that a dividing line must tie drawn north of the
Eider. When and how that dividing line it to be
draWn, remains an unsolved prob:em, and a pro-
bleth, shall #e#3, riot very easy of adjustment.
We had hoped better than this fdr the Danes_ But
on the whole, if they lose but half a million of dis-
affected fellow-subjects, and cut off all pretext for
kny futtire interferSnee on the part of the Germans,
the Danes may congratulate therhseiskes on being
released with iecteased honour and scarcely
preflts ftom an. unequal contest. The Ger-
mans will have aehleiedi if they do take a southern
bit of Slesvig, the conquest of bolle banks and the
dominant approaches to Kiel harbour. They will
have got, thart, the on they have been crying
for. The next thing will be to go to' a cooper's and
order tubs enough to float the Fatherland that is
preOentlY going to be a great maritime people. The
toy shops, it is aid are, already preparing tenders
for the German fleet of the Future, and a condi-
tional order for ships has already strived at the
Noah's Ark in Holborn. It we not easy, however,
td ettki44 at a hone of this conclusion, and during
the first sitting Of ih6 Conference the general im-
pression was one of despair. 'When the German
Powers denounced the Treaty of 1852, add When
Russia and Denmark held it tenaciously, France
remained silebit. TheEaglish plenipotentiaries were
at a less what to do. The German Powers went
even so far as to demand that their Diet be consi-
dered the fitting tribunal to decide the claim of
suedeeeion. J,,f the Treaty of 1852 were set aside,
the German Powers Might indeed pretend that the
Diet had claims to decide respecting Holstein.
But what had it to do with Slesvig 0. If the dis-
pute Wad to be one of law and legal nicety,
there was no isette but an appeal to
force. A compromise suggested itself to all,
And aS that compromise is in favour of the Germans,
the balled certainly have shown praiseworthy for-
bearance in hearkening tO it, and perhaps finally
accepting it. The supposed firmneee of the Danes
*DS not, indeed, the only stumbling block. What
was eilieLly Levied was the criminal obstinacy of von
Bismark, who had odadeiled the idea of signalising
his administration by keeping gleatig and Holstein
for Prussia. Such monstrous ehetensiote were in-
-1 deed ithpossible ef realisation —if any thiog monstrous
is now impossible of realisation on the Continent of
Europe---since they would unite all Europe against
sleet, if anything now can unite European Powers
against rapine that does not immediately claim a
pound or two ,Eet their own flesh. But still feeble
opponents of his rottt'iy,might have suggested to
the cunning and unscrupuldtie Prussian Prime Mini-
ster the means and the expediently of adjourning
the decision of the Congress, and finally defeating
its aim in order to prolong the milti.ll7
occupation
of the duchies. This gather however, tspi;:aared too
dangerous and barefaced to king William, te;„-'O. it
is said, incredible as it may seem; foetid it necessary
to come round and abandon his own. Claim, lest Bhp-
mark's folly should place Prussia at the fiat of
Europe, and produce a general coalition against her.
Were Prussia wise she would limit her efforts for
the present to commercial extension. She can do
more by her Zollverein than ever she will be allowed
to do by armies. Liberal commercial legislation,
joined with liberal political administration, would
make Prussia a great country. Military aggression
in the present state of Europe will not profit her.
There is indeed one important point of view in
which this Slesvig and Holstein question has not
been considered. It is the commercial. England
receives half a million's worth of cattle from that
region, besides corn and all kinds of provi-
sions, for which our manufactures go in
exchange. Up to 1848 the tariffs of Denmark and
the Duchies were different. In 1851 the one tariff
was established, by which the rate of import duty
into the Duchies was increased. We shall now see
this undone: and probably Holstein will sooner or
later join the Zollverein. Were she to do so
after the acceptance and ratification of the German-
French Treaty of Commerce, there would be a dimi-
nution of tariff of well nigh 25 per cent. There are
difficulties, to be sure, in the way of Holstein joining
the German union, as long as Hamburg, Lubeck.
Lauenburg, and the Mecklenburgs remain out of it.
But, nation of shopkeepers as we are, these things
do not enter into the public head. No journal has
touched upon the subject, and it has been treated
disinterestedly and as a simple question of public
right and justice, without an allusion to figures, to
the advantage or to the balance of trade. If Ger-
mans would but consider these facts, they would
abandon the charges which they make against us
of narrowness and selfishness. The fact is, the
English are a very earnest and right-seeking people,
ready at every just opportunity to fling material
interests to the wind. Not only material interests,
but personal predilections, yield here to the sense
of right, as has been seen in two great foreign
quarrels by the small influence of our natural pre-
dilections for the Germans in Europe or the men of
the North, with whom our natural sympathies are
strongest, in America.

THE JAW•BONE OF AN Ass lies done more de•
sirnetion in this country than it ever did is the hwads o

The thunderstorm of Friday, Which appears to have
been pretty general all over the country, visited the coasts
of Northumberland and Durham with unprecedented vio-
lence, and during several hours of the busiest portion of the
day caused considerable alarm in the principal towns of thd
district. It broke over Berwick a little after tuidnidht,
Continued with brief interval. A •
ULltll .3 o'clock in the after-
noon. e storm burst over the towns on the Tyne laterl
about 9 o'clock in Jthe form:mai with vivid flashes of
utrnain t
tngt anLroliliignhgtntihredroirnascooma.payneiryed beyo'nlidderelauge
of lt
amount of injury in that district between 9' and 10'
o'clock. About the time mentioned a labourer, who had
been employed draining in a field at Prospect-Mild, sear
North Shields; *as making hir way along the waggon way
there to obtain shelter hi the engine-house, when he was

struck by the lightning and killed -a`pon the spot. There.
were several persons near him at the time, but tion•a 01 them
were latirt; The tinfortmnte deceased, whose nama. /04

Oswald Gibson, had been struck above the right ear, tb,e
lightning having passed down his left side and leg, which,
were completely stripped. gis clothes were torn, and pieces,
of them were scattered about the spot where the deceased
fell. About the earhe time that this accident occurred
farm labourer named Foster, belonging to Fife-street,

Mount Pleasant, Gateshead, was employed rolling a field,
belonging to a small farmer named Elder, near to Wreck.
ington. lie had loosed his horses when the storm came on,

and was returning to the village of Wreckington with his
horses yoked to a cart, about 10 o'clock in the forenoon,
when he was struck by lightning, and killed instantly. One
of the horses was also killed, and the other much injured.
Dense masses of black clouds continued to pass over North.
umborland and Durham until 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the
lightning at times being very vivid. Several houses were
injured in Newcastle and Shields by the lightning striking
them. Several persons had narrow escapes in these towns,

but none were seriously hurt. About 4 minutes before 1
o'clock, while a thunderstorm was passing over North
Shields, the time gun, with which a fusee had been con-

nected in anticipation of the time being sent down from
Greenwich at 1 o'clock, was fired by the lightning. A. tele-
graph post on the highway side at Howden was shattered to
fragments, and at the same place the lightning struck one
of the wires and travelled into the River Tyne Commission.
era' office, smashing an iron box. At South Stockton the
lightning lifted the roof of a house, and a widow woman
named Walters, aged 75, was so shaken that she was not
expected to recover. So severe a thunderstorm has not been
experienced on the north-eastern coast during many years.
The rain which accompanied the thunder and lightning have
had a wonderfully reviving effect upon the crops,iwhich now
look remarkably fresh and green.
In the North Riding the extraordinary heat of the last
7 days culminated on Friday afternoon in one of the most
terrific storms ever experienced. About noon dense masses
of black cumuli gathered in the south-west, and gradually
overspread the heavens until all was so dark that gas had
to be resorted to for some hours. About 3 o'clock, the storm
broke out, its greatest fury being spent on the north side of
the great vale of Pickering, taking the lines of the towns of
Helmsley, Kirby, Sinnington, Pickerington, &a. The
lightning and the thunder were simultaneous, and several
persons speak to having seen ball lightning, and also to
having seen the forked lightning pass horizontally along
the sky from one cumulus to another. The track of the
storm was to the north .east, and for some hours along the
course indicated the clouds poured down a very deluge.
The roads and fields were at once flooded, and the streams
from the various moor-vallies rose with unexampled ra-
pidity into raging torrents, carrying down trees and rocks
along with them. Kirkdale-bridge, a wooden structure,
fairly bent with the pressure against it, and a gentleman
had there a very narrow escape for his life. Between Gill-
amoor and Kirby, Mr. Jackson, a well-known cattle dealer,
was driving, and it is believed was disabled by the light.
ning. His horse ran away and upset the conveyance, Mr.
Jackson being powerless. He died in a few hours. In the
same locality several sheep were killed under a tree. Hail•
stones as large as nuts fell for some time, and at Sproxton,
near Helmsley, and at Al:erston, near Pickering, the de-
struction of glass is reported very great. Oa Saturday
morning the rivers Rye and Derwent, which the previous
afternoon were lower than for many years, were found to
have filled to the top with floodwater, and in places about
Kirby Mills, Marton, Sinnington, and Howe, the roads are
submerged. The hail and rain have done great damage to
crops. Fruit and even the leaves are cut off the trees, crops
are washed up, and gi ass lands are covered with mud in some
places. Early potatoes are cut down. The Wolds seemed to
attract the southern portion of the storm, but the rain that fell
there did not do any damage, but much good, Singularly
enough some parts of the Howardian range did not get a
drop of rain, although the valleys on either side were being
delved. On Saturday night the rivers were still rising.
but it was thought they would not overflow to any extent.
It is stated in the Scotsmen of Saturday that in Edin-
burgh rain began to fall heavily in the city, and continued
almost without intermission up till an advanced hour in the
evening, Distant peals of thunder were heard at intervals
during the day, and occasional flashes of lightning were
seen—but the storm seems to have raged more furiously in
the direction of Selkirk and Peebles. Our correspondent at
the ferettrer place writes :—" A thunderstorm of consider-
able violence passed over this town yesterday. Distant
peals were heard during the forenoon, and about midday
there was a strange and sudden change in the wind, which
for a time blew in violent and fitful gusts from all points of
the compass. A heavy thunder-cloud approached from the
south, and about a dozen peals were heard as it passed over
the town. Rain, mixed with large hailstones, fell in tor-
rents during the height of the storm. The wind afterwards
settled in the west, and rain fell in moderate and refresh-
ing showers during the afternoon." From Peebles we learn
that that town was yesterday visited by a thunderstorm
more violent than any that has yet been experienced in the
district for many years back. It set in about 11 o'clock and
continued almost unceasingly for about two hours, and was
heard at intervals during the after part of the day. The
heavy rain which fell flooded the streets. At Kelso, also,
the storm was experienced, thunder having been heard
during the greater part of the day, accompanied in the
afternoon by a copious fall of rain.