The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-02 00:00:00

THERMOMETER.

This day at Two o'clock 3B
Barometer-30.00.
Wind—North East ; moderate, and fine.

„
nry mut

precedent. He has seized every available opportunity
through which he might thrust the matter forcibly
and impressively under the consideration of his own
Legislature, and under the consideration also of the
Kings and the Governments of Christendom. The
EMPEROR spoke thus himself on the opening of the
Imperial Chambers. He reiterated the assurance
of his pacific intentions, in his reply to the loyal ad-
dress of the Senators and Deputies. He has now
done identically the like upon the occasion of the
grand and ceremonious gathering together in the
Throne-room of the Tuileries, upon the jour de l'an
of all tho dignitaries of the Empire, the Cardinals,
the Marshals, the Ministers of State, the legislators
and administrators of the Imperial Government. And
there it their presence, before all Christendom, in
answer to the congratulatory address of the Diplo-
matic Body, as articulated by the chief among them
all, his Excellency the Papal Nuncio, the EMPEROR
has, in the last, the most public and the most posi-
tive manner, avowed that not only he himself still
cherishes pacific hopes, but that he has a confidence
in the possibility of the nations of Europe yet pre-
serving peace, yet guarding against the lamentable
horrors of a general war. In the interim between
His MAJESTY'S Address to the Imperial Legisla-
ture, on the date of its inauguration, and his Ad-
dress yesterday, through the Papal Nuncio, to the
Ambassadors of all the European Sovereigns on the
jour de tan, he himself, as we all know, has per-
sonal 4 addressed a letter to each of the rulers of
Europe, asking them, if they would endeavour
in concert.,with himself, to arrange, if possible, the
pacific adjustment of a variety of very urgent and
very serious differences, anyone of which differences,
he saw might, we cannot but all see, still, may, lead
to a general and sanguinary war among the nations
of Christendom. In acting thus, in speaking and
writing thus, contrary, we repeat, to all precedent,
he has gone to the very extreme—he has laid him-
self open to actual derision as the most fantastic
of Day-dreamers and Ideologists. N'importe.
He has done it, nevertheless. At the risk of being
derided as an Uutopian, he has hazarded what a
Frenchman, among all Europeans, regards with the
very liveliest horror—the sneering curl of the
common-sense man's lip, the scornful shrug
of the matter-of-fact man's shoulders ! And
he has done this by a proceeding no less bold, and
even, be it said, extravagant of its kind than that
of bidding to Paris as his guests all the contem-
porary sovereigns, in an endeavour to realise, if it
might only prove in any way to be possible, pre-
cisely that very Arcadian vision, sung of in his
youth by our own Poet Laureate, in his " Locksley
Hall,' as—

" The Parliament of Nations,
The Federation of the World I"

Granted that the proposition of the French EM-
PEROR is to the very last degree a thing quite
impracticable. Yet, after all, the proposing of it—
the suggestion of this Utopian notion—amounts
simply to this, means literally this, and
nothing more than this : namely, that the French
EMPEROR, that soi disant most silent man in Europe
who now turns out to be, on the contrary, the
very man in all Europe the most outspoken, NA-
POLEON 111. says to all the contemporary govern-
ments, keeps on saying to them, in spite of all re-
buffs—Let us see if, in any way, war (a general war
otherwise inevitable) may not be avoided by
means of peaceful discussion, by means of
calm, bloodless, rational negotiations. Call me
Utopian, if you so please, but take what I have
proposed frankly into consideration. Reject my
own plan if you like—but let us see, at least, if by
any plan at all, by yours if you will, in preference
to any I myself might suggest, War may be avoided.
That is really and truly what we plain-speaking
islanders call the English of it. That is beyond
any doubt the actual purport, the inner significance
of the French EMPEROR'S proposition. And it is
a noble one.

The English public will hear with great satis-
faction a rumour that their Ministers have at
length adopted a bolder and more vigorous course
with reference to the dispute between Germany
' and Denmark than the one they have hitherto fol-
' lowed. The note which Sir ALEXANDER MALET,
the British Ambassador at Frankfort, has addressed
to the Federal Diet, end which was referred to the
Holstein Committee at the sitting of Wednesday,
is of no great weight, since the suggestion of a
Congress is one very unlikely to be carried out. It
is very well when people are disputing about a
matter to let them argue it out, but when they
they have once come to blows it is not very likely
that they will be persuaded to return to the milder
form of proceeding. Denmark and Germany, if
they are not actually combatants, have passed
beyond the stage of diplomatic mimic battle, and
approached too nearly to the actual tug of war to
render it likely that such a proposition will solve
the difficulties of the case. The fact of Sir A.
MALET being instructed to present to the President
of the Diet a copy of the London Treaty is, how-
ever, more impressive, seeing that the terms of that
treaty distinctly reprove the part now being played
by tha German States. In the words of the third
article of that treaty,' "It is expressly understood
that the rights and the reciprocal obligations of his
Majesty the King of DENMARK and the Germanic
Confederation concerning the Duchies of Holstein
and Lauenburg, rights and obligations established
by the Federal Act of 1815, and by the existing
Federal right, shall not be altered by the
present treaty." There is no mention of
the name of Schleswig throughout the treaty,
saving where Prince CHRISTIAN, the pre-
sent King, is styled Prince CHRISTIAN of
Schleswig-Holstein Sonderburg Glucksburg, nor
is there the smallest allusion to this suddenly-dis-
covered claim of the German Diet to interfere with
the Government of Kiel. In a very able little
brochuret which has just appeared, an attempt is
very successfully made to unravel the entangle-
ments of this perplexing question. The ostensible
cause of dispute is thus clearly and briefly summed
" The informal engagements contracted by
Denmark, and on the interpretation of which the
dispute with Germany turns, are the following :
" 1. Denmark engaged not to incorporate Schles-
wig with the Kingdom of Denmark-Proper, or to
take any steps tending thereto; and
"2. Danmark engaged to establish an organic
and homogeneous constitutional connexion of all the
parts of the country, so as to form a united moh-
e.rchy in which no part was subordinate to another.
" Germany maintains that Denmark also en-
gaged—

"3. To extend equal protection to both the
Germany and Danish nationalities in Sleawig.
"Denmark denies having made such an engage-
ment, for it is not found among the stipulations
contained in the Austrian despatch of December
26, 1851, to which she assented."

Nevertheless, as is shown in the pamphlet alluded
to, Denmark has made considerable efforts towards
securing to the Dachies a large amount of political
independence, and that " autonomy" which we hear
so much of. Most of her endeavours have been

frustrated by the perversity of the German ziement
in Holstein, and recent events have proved very
clearly that it would be completely hopeless to
establish a constitution which had to obtain the
approval of four distinct and separate representative
bodies, each of whom looked with a jealous eye on
the others' proceedings. The simple plan of basing
the representation upon numbers is scouted, for the
simple reason that the half million of Holsteiners
wish their influence to preponderate over the
million and a half of Danes. As Denmark is not
prepared to grant their secret wishes, and abandon
any claim to rule over them, nothing she can offer
will satisfy their demands. But as the " Memo-
randum" already referred to very pointedly says the
report of the ordinance of the 30th March leaves
the Confederation without the shadow of a legal
pretext for occupation, the object of the exe-
cution "is necessarily not Holstein but Sleswig,
a Danish crown land over which the Confederation
has no rights whatever." It is worth noticing that
before the signature of the treaty the Emperor of
PRUSSIA had thought it advisable to renounce for
himself and his descendants all claim to the Duchy
of Schleswig an Holstein in favour of the reigning
house of Denmark, with the express stipulation
that such renunciation was only in their favour.
With the view of " maintaining the Danish
monarchy in its integrity," the names of Prince
CHRISTIAN of Glncksburg ae.d his descen-
dants were distinctly i.litroduced. A copy
of these documents may, therefore, suitably
be laid before the President of the Diet es a re-
minder of some very important facts which appear
to have slipped from the German memory. It is
said, on good authority, that England has gone yet
farther, and protested against the occupation of
Schleswig; warning the signitaries of the Treaty
of 1852 that in the event of any attempt to infringe
the territorial rights of Denmark, it would be her
duty to afford moral and material support to that
Power. Language like this, if it has been
really held, is befitting the crisis, and it is only to
be regretted that a mistaken idea of conciliation
has so long delayed it. We suspect its logic will
be more convincing than any mere diplomatic
arguments, and we may, perhaps, see its effect in
the reply of the King of PRUSSIA. The Empe•
ror of the FRENCH, in its ready answer to the
appeal of the Prince of AUGUSTENBURG, quietly
intimates that the sympathies of France are rather
on the side of King CHRISTIAN, and plainly re-
minds the new claimant of the obligations of that
Treaty, which he should know as well as any one,
seeing that his father was personally concerned in
it. How far German subtlety may attempt to evade
the clearly stated arrangement as to the succession to
the Danish throne remains to be seen, but Austria,
with Hungary like a volcano at her feet, and
Venetia waiting to rise, and Prussia with the vision
of the Rhine as the old French boundary, will do
wisely to pause and consider before by a wanton
disruption of the faith of treaties they lend them-
selves to a course which will open the gates of war,
before whose closing they may see themselves
stripped of half their fairest_provinces.

Mr. STANSFELD'S diligent investigations into
the Civil Departments of the Navy seem to be pro.
twitted without intermission. It was only the
other day that we heard of him down at Devon-
port; and now, almost before the year closes, he
revisits Chatham. This indefatigable inspection of
our Dockyards seems to indicate that there has
been a screw loose somewhere, and the Junior Lord
of the Admiralty is resolved to find it out. That
he has a very intricate affair to deal with is beyond
doubt; but we fear all his labour will not avail
much while " the system " remains in full force.
It was an Herculean task to clear the Augean
stable ; but it will be found still harder to resolve
the mystery of mysteries—the Dockyard doings
which have hitherto proved as fathomless as the
bottomless pit. It is a labour of hopelessness.
Still the pressure of public opinion has become so
urgent that something must be done, and to do
Mr. STANSFELD common justice, he is doing his
best. The meeting of Parliament, like coming
events, is casting its shadows before; and, as much
is expected, something must be accomplished. The
Naval Estimates for the last two or three years
have been so heavy, that the public look for corre-
sponding results to compensate for such extraordi-
nary outlay. True it is that our iron ships make
a large show for the money, but the question is yet
to be proved how the problem will work. It is
not enough to make experiments, like playing at
soldiers, on targets at Shoeburyness, nor yet on
board the Excellent, at Portsmouth, however skil-
fulry the operations may be conducted. The true
test is on the open sea, with a bold antagonist, and
there we may learn, perhaps to our cost, that too
much money has been thrown away. It
may suit the fancy of builders to specu-
late with other people's money in a way
which they would not do with, their own. But
the question arises, why go on so fast before
you see your way more clearly. If it prove that
we are in the wrong course, and have yet to take
another, look at the enormous expense incurred.
Even now the new Constructor of the Navy says
that the system of his predecessors is wrong, that
the Warrior, the model ship, is too long by a hun-
dred feet. That may be a matter of opinion. The
improvements still going on in gunnery are such
that be the thickness of a ship's side ever so strong,
with safety to her floatation, it can be pierced
through :and through. We really waste much
money in the hope of attaining invulnerability.
Taking the experience of the Americans as a test, for
their Monitors are comparatively as small as our ships
are large, still these Monitors, iron-cased and tur-
retted though they be, have recently found the forts
of Charleston too much for their mettle, however
heavy the projectiles. A few more shots from the
forts, and the Monitors would have 'gone to the
bottom. There may be excess in all things, for too
much of a good thing often defeats its purpose, and
we may be casing our iron ships beyond their
power or their necessity. Whatever is over-
added to strength detracts from speed, and may
imperil safety. The requisites for our ships of war
are power, strength, and speed—but speed, above
all ; for though our ships are not intended to run
away, yet they should be able to overhaul an
enemy in any weather. We suspect that our present
ideas will become very much altered before we are
three months:at war. The days of line-of- battle-ships
aro gone for ever, such as NELSON gloried in, and a
new syseam will be resorted to as circumstances
may require. Our sailors will not bear to keep
pouring broadsides against walls of iron, without
any hope of making an impression. JACK will in-
sist on coming to closer quarters, and carry his
prize by boarding. The ironsides, then, are
so mush surplusage. Not that iron is not
a great protection, but, carried to excess,
it will militate against speed, and damp
the ardour of our seamen. JACK would rather cap-
ture than sink his enemy, for he dearly loves prize-
money. Iron ships will be of immense advantage
for coast defence, and a vast number of our present
navy might be very well fitted for that purpose.
But we do not, see why many of our best ships
should not be lined with belts of iron all round
the water-line, some feet above and below, This i