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

of every word of this, of every syllable of it, we
take to be patent and undeniable. It is beyond
contradiction. And for one simple reason enough
--namely, that the Conference, now closed thus
abortively and ignominiously, was directly,express-
ly, and exclusively, an emanation from the English
Government. It was suggested to the other
Powers of Europe by—the English Government.
The responsibility of the Conference rests entirely
with—the English Government. The ignominy
of its utter failure devolves, not upon the
belligerents, not upon the neutral Powers, not
upon both neutrals and belligerents together, but
wholly and solely upon—the English Government.
Hence, every word of the proposed Address to the
Crown is within the mark, as to the lowering of the
influence of this country in the councils of Europe—,
and by whom ? by the Government.

The assembling of a body of popular representa-
tives during a time of great national anxiety and
distress is always an occasion of deep interest, and
such is especially the feeling with which we in this
country regard the opening of the Danish Rigs.
read, in the midst of the trouble and perplexity in
which the affairs of their country are involved. On
the very day on which the members reassembled
the long talked of Conference terminated its labours
—those labours from which every one had professed
to hope so much, and from which no one of the
slightest political experience or sagacity could have
expected even a little. Bat the object is gained,
and the delay is won, though neither party is much
the better for it ; and now the farce is played out,
and the last pompous leave-takings of the potent,
wise, and reverend seignors engaged in it were
being spoken on Saturday, much as the Danish
representatives sadly but firmly assembled to hear
the words of their despoiled King, Unfortunate in
many things, King CHRISTIAN has not been un-
fortunate in the unity and determination of his
people. The Danes are not quick to plan nor rapid
to execute, and they often give their adversaries
advantage of their want of promptitude and energy;
but when they have once accepted a principle they
are by no means deficient in resolution, and all the
sturdy determination of the northern character
seems now to have fixed itself upon the union of
Schleswig with Denmark. Holstein they are not
unwilling to abandon—in fact its German pro-
clivities are too manifest ever to leave the
kingdom tranquil ; but Schleswig is a part
of themselves, and they will never consent to its
separation from the Danish dominions. The people
themselves are even unwilling to consent to that
division of the Duchy to which their KING has,
from the force of circumstances, been forced unwil-
lingly to assent, and consequently the break up of
the Conference and the failure of its negotiations
cannot have been to them any great matter of
regret. The President of the Council read the
speech from the throne, in the absence of King
CHRISTIAN, which referred to the proposed parti-
tion of Schleswig. The threatening crisis and the
increased expenditure necessitated by the war have,
according to his MAJESTY, compelled this convoca-
tion of the R7gsraad, and he goes on to say with a
mournful bitterness that is fully comprehensible in
a Sovereign so despoiled and defrauded by the
strong hand of insolent aggression, " We have re-
cently learned for how little the clearest right
reckons in Europe, and how isolated we are. 'We,
therefore, acceded to the painful sacrifice of the
country south of the Schlei." This is a passage
which Englishmen will hardly read with fqua n i-
mity, when they reflect how a different line of
policy, the assumption of a different attitude, might
have preserved the integrity of Denmark without
striking a blow. Had Germany believed one quar-
ter of English protestations and threats she would
have taken very good care not to cross the Eider,
but events have proved that German sagacity was
wiser than English professions, and that Herr von
BISMARK and his coadjutors knew very well they
had little need to trouble themselves about empty
words. It is certainly somewhat of a satire on
the boasted progress of modern civilisation. 'We
hear, a great deal about the lofty principles upon
which most continental sovereigns profess to act ;
we hear also a great deal about the vast improve-
ment that has taken place in our own policy during
the last century, but the old story comes up again
after all, and notwithstanding the pathos, the pity,
the eloquence, the indignation expended on the
partition of Poland, the tragedy is to be repeated
in a milder form. A country is to be dismembered,
and Europe stands by, remonstrating, watching,
and calculating the consequences with very little
care for the right or the wrong of the matter. But
the partial dismemberment reluctantly agreed to by
the Danish Government does not fulfil the wishes
of the German invaders, Their appetite seems to
grow by what it feeds on, and they feel so secure
in their impunity and so well satisfied with their
position, that they are unwilling to retrace a step
which they have taken. Fortunately the Danish
authorities are not so lost to honour and to public
spirit as to abandon the cause without another
struggle. War, with all its losses, can hardly re-
duce them lower than their enemies would place
them, and at least Europe shall not be spared the
shame of witnessing their spoliation. They stood
firm upon the line of dernercaticn of the Schlei, and
their evil genius, Earl RUSSELL, promised that he
would support no less favourable demand; but this
promise, like the empty words that have gone before
did not bind its speaker very closely, since he sub-
sequently proposed that the question should be
submitted to arbitration, though Denmark refused
to follow ,
such a course. " I cannot," says the
Danish President, "explain how this proposal was
consistent with Earl RUSSELL'S promise," and this
enough to show the light in which
quiet satire was
the Conference were looked on
the proceedings of
by the Danes. The gallant northern people are,
however, better f
m-ornled as to the real feelings of
the English nation. Indeed they have been so
openly manifested on every public occasion—they
have
shown themselves en nnmiatakeably in the
presence of the fair young daughter of King CIIRIs-
TIAN that the Danes can hardly be left in doubt ae
to the warmth and reality of the En
g.ibh interest
in their cause. In fact, the King admits as much
in his address which includes this remarkable pas-
sage: "May God grant that at least in a certain
place the sympathy for us may grow into active
support." It remains to be seen how this earnest
aspiration may be fulfilled.

In Mr. DISRAELI'S few remarks the other night
there was no passage more effective than that in
which he referred to the anomalous state of our
present policy as regards peace or war. We tr 3
always rnakiug the most extravagant assertions,
and uttering threats, yet when circumstances seem
to call upon us to verify the one or carry out the
other, we draw back and hesitate, and finally do
nothing. Truly did the right hen. gentleman call
these tirades " useless cad spiritless menaces,
which, by impairing the influence of our country
in the Councils of Europe, have really diminished
the moat effective means of maintaining peace."
Further on he stated that it would be better if the
country were governed according to the principles
and views of Messrs. COLDEN and BEIGHT, tan
after the present fashion, for it would be a course
wre consietoat, limitable, and digaifia This is

quite true, for it is impossible to conceive a more
false position than that in which we are now placed.
It would be extremely difficult to determine on what
grounds such a policy is founded, and what object
our Cabinet proposes to effect by this shuffling
manner and inconsistent course. It would seem as
if they were irrevocably pledged to keep out of war,
yet, to vindicate their own fancies and disarm cri-
ticism, they played the part of braggadocios for the
mere sake of doing so. There is one thing quite
certain, and that is, however well this strange and
seeming mode nay have served their turn and
suited their purpose in past days, it has now become
quite spent—its virtue has gone, its strength has
departed. The intelligence that theFrenchEMPEP.oll
had uttered a disparagiog remark, or appeared irri-
tated in discoursing with any important personage,
or conveyed the presage of some dark meaning in a
public address, would most probably occasion the
greatest consternation, and give rise to all sorts of
rumours of war and impending evils ; but the
time has gone by when the expression of similar
threats or recriminations from the potentates of
England can at all alarm or excite. Now this is
not what should be by any means; the majesty of
tee country is not thereby lowered, and its fair
fame sullied, yet there is a still more reprehensible
practice now in vogue among many that should
know better and be more elevated in their views,
and that is the habit some persist in of declaring
that we must not go to war because of the risk. If
they spoke of the horrors of war as a deterring
agency; if they expressed their conviction that no
good results would ensue from hostilities, and that
a safer course would be wiser, we might respect
their motives if we differed from the premises of
their arguments. But it is too much to be told
that at this juncture Englishmen are not able to
fight so as to accomplish their designs and to carry
on a war to a successfu' issue and a triumphant
termination. We expect to hear these opinions
put forward from time to time by visionaries, or
by those whose birth makes them citizens of the
soil, but whose sympathies and interests are far
away and centred in foreign lands. We do not
expect, however, in great assemblies and high
places from men of mark, eminence, and
position, a repetition of such absurdities, and a
confirmation of such unworthy statements.
Earl RUSSELL, for instance, the other night, speak•
ing as the Foreign Secretary of England, in hie
place, amid the House of Lords, actually declared
that we could not gain anything by going to war.
The French, it appears, pay us a better compliment,
for they say that " England, with her naval power,
can materially add to the strength of Denmark, and
might bring the war to a close." We could not
expect any other opinion from an enlightened
nation, but at the same time it is very mortifying
to hear that our Allies propose a course which our
Ministers have not the spirit to follow, nor the
honesty to allow to be practicable. It is time that
some change was effected, or that we should not
insult our common sense by proclaiming that we
rule the sea, when the Minister who is the exponent
of our policy in the face of the world, can thus speak
in Parliament : "I cannot but think that we should
suffer materially if our mercantile marine were
exposed to all the depredations which might take
place in consequence of being at war." We have
come to something if we are to fear the navy of
Germany. It was only last year that Lord PAL,
MERSTON stated that the reason why the Germans
wanted to possess themselves of "Kiel" was.for the
purpose of becoming a naval Power. This the noble
lord very truly designated a vain ambition. It was
not so vain, however, if the mere mention is to
terrify the navy of a country that was once the
terror of the world. It may be truly said
that Earl RUSSELL did not seem to care
so much for the injuries inflicted on the mer-
cantile marine of this country in the Americen
war. He has turned a deaf ear to all complaints,
and resolutely determined to exact no reparetion
for wrongs perpetrated on our vessels by the base
and unjustifiable measures of the officers of the
United States. In the Times of yesterday the same
ideas are expressed ; and an impression is con •
veyed that if we went to war with Germany we
should be the losers. Really this is a very strange
way of taking up the matter, and it seems a posi.
tion unworthy of the leading journal of this great
country to talk as if there was no chance of our
being victorious in an encounter with foes so
far beneath us in all respects, Now, in
the name of our ancient glories, present
fame, and future prospects, we must pro..
test against this language being employed, not
in the height of political or party zeal, or in the
heat of debate, but in sober reasoning, and a calm
review of cur position, it is quite out of character.
When we are told, further on, that " we should lose
man for man till all our army had disappearedo' it
is surely time that the blast of war were sounded
in our ears, and that we should arise and dispel
these illusions, or foreign nations will come to be-
lieve that we are indeed what our friends are de-
scribing—the degenerate sons of a gallant race, and
the unworthy inheritors of a glorious prerogative.
When NELSON won Trafalgar, and WELLINGTON
returned from Waterloo, or our forefathers
triumphed at Agincourt, it would have astonished
any one to be told that the day would come when
such language would be used to expreseour position,
and such an estimate formed of our powers and the
extent of oar prowess.

It was quite consistent with the threatening
aspect of foreign affairs that the close of Monday's
sitting should be devoted to military matta.s. It
is true, that Mr. ADDEr.LEY's motion referred not
to the contest for the possession of the world-famous
Duchies, but a colonial frontier in another hemi-
sphere, bat his motion was founded on the avowed
possibility or even probability of a war which may
happily never come about, but for which it is wise
to be prepared. The right hon, gentleman objected
to the present disposition of our forces in Canada,
and considered it imprudent and unsafe to station
detachments of British troops on exposed posts on
the frontier unless they were adequately supported
by the Canadians themselves. The troops are scat-
tered along the North American frontier, which
extends about a thousand miles, and have little
power of communicating with each other or with
the mother country. He drew a startling picture of
the possible results of such a system, and his views
were supported by Lord ROBERT CECIL, who pointed
out the evils which would ensue if the American
Government, having concluded the civil war, should
think fit to employ all its superfluous war estab
lishment in an attack upon Canada. British troops
might in such a case be easily surmounted and cap.
tured, and the consequence would be an indelible
stain on our arms, unless we could afterwards per.
form some astonishing feat of valour. Beth advo•
cates of the case were a little extreme in their views,
but thero was undoubtedly much truth in the sub-
stance of their views. Both hon. members appeared
to forget what Mr. FORTESCUE afterwards reminded
them of—that an invasion of Canada meant war
with England, and although the Federal Govern-
ment might be very well pleased to capture a few
comvanies of British soldiers, and to boast of their
glorious victory, yet the most rash and presumptous
of their statesmen would hesitate to rush into war
with the whole strength of this coantry, Still fore-