The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-28 00:00:00

Prussians have a great deal of work before them,
and certainly will not gain the place without paying
dearly for it. And if they have to take the place—
which they cannot do without great loss of life—l
think you will find that the military spirit of Ger-

many will have been roused by the conflict, and that
the personal union will no longer be agreed to by

,he German Governments. Here, in this poor little

Schleswig village, with a name as rugged as the
climate and the coast, we hear not much of politics,
see few papers (a couple of ten days old Vines that
have juxt reached me, after wandering over the

greater part of Schleswig and part of Jutland, are
quite a treasure), and know nothing of what diplo-
matists are planning and doing. But there are some
things that will stand out pretty clearly before us.
The allies will not leave their lines round Duppel
until the Danes have evacuated it de gre ou de force;
the siege may be a long one, but they will ultimately
take the place, because their resources are greater,
their implements of war better, and,their troops, in

my belief, and as I think the incidents of the cam-
paign have already shown, of superior quality to those
of their enemy ; finally, the prolongation of this
conflict greatly increases the danger of its leading
to an European war. These three propositions are,
I think, incontrovertible, and they certainly claim
some consideration at the hands of those who desire

and have it in their power to restore and maintain

peace in Europe.
It is afternoon and, as I write, I hear the big
Danish guns occasionally booming, but the cannon-
ade seems less lively. To-day is Prince Frederick
Charles's birthday, and the soldiers said this morn-

ing that the unusually brisk and early interchange
of shots was in celebration of the festival. The

Prince is very popular with the troops under his
orders; his activity is great, and he is constantly to
be seen riding about and visiting the lines and out-
posts. He has long had the reputation of a very
smart soldier, and he has now the opportunity,
doubtless much coveted, of proving his military

capacity in aft important command and a difficult

enterprise.
A Danish officer taken the other day at West
Doppel states that five of the Prussian shells fell
in Sonderborg, nnd caused no small sensation, as

well as considerable apprehension lest these live

proofs of the powers of the Prussiar, guns should
only be the precursors of a great many others. You
may tranquillize the minds of your friends in that
place by informing them that there is no present
intention of practising upon its buildings or shelling

out its inhabitants. But when the day comes for
an assault upon the forts, they had better be upon
their guard. There are certain fire-shells in store
for them which assuredly will not miss their mark.
Nothing can save Sonderborg upon that day when
the Prussian artillery shall devote it to destruction.
Advantageous points for the observation of the
surrou -Wing country, including the greater part of
that corner of the mainland which the Danes still
occupy, abound in the neighbourhood of the quaint
and pretty village in which I have for the present
taken up my quarters. The nearest of these points
is the churchyard, which forms the rendezvous for
idlers and others desirous to watch the exchange of
shots between batteries and forts, .1-ust within the

low parapet wall separating it from the road, above
which it is somewhat elevated, groups of soldiers are

nearly all day to be seen, and in the morning, before
the reliefs go out, one usually meets there officers of
all ranks, smoking their after-breakfast cigar or

waiting for their horses to be brought up, while the
surgeons from the neighbouring hospital stroll in
after going their rounds, as though it were to watch
the sexton preparing a last resting place for those
their skill has been inadequate to save. There is
naturally no small interchange of news, of remarks
on the past incidents and future probabilities of the
campaign, and it is possible that not a few canards
are first hatched in that cemetery. Field glasses
are in demand to ascertain what may have occurred
during the night, whether any new battery has
sprung up on our side, or any visible damage been
sustained by those upon the other, especially by
that inveterate fellow, No. 2 Fort, who has hitherto
fired more than any three of the others—perhaps
than all put together, and who has been pelted in
proportion. Then, from one corner of the church,
high above the ground, project two poles, from
which depend sundry cords, to which latter at
times black balls are attached, arranged in various
positions, signalling orders or information to other
similar posts at a distance. Persons whose curiosity
is not to be satisfied by what they can see from the
ground below, may, by ascending sundry ladders,
squeezing thou:selves through trapdoors, and ven-
turing over some very ricketty temporary flooring,
reach a high station within the church, where they
will find a guard of soldiers, loopholes in the wall,
and a good telescope through which to look down
upon the surrounding country. I have not yet had
leisure fully to ascertain all that is done within that
church, but one feat that is daily performed on a
certai❑ part of its exterior is worthy to be pointed
out to that eccentric Englishmen who ie said con-
tinually to attend the exhibitions of the most intre-
pid lion-tamer in hopes of seeing him one day de-
voured by his beasts. Broacher church has two
steeples, strongly reminding one, by their form, of
Receivers, and constantly intruding themselves into
view, owing to their elevated position, as one wan-
ders over the surrounding country. The points of
the slated steeples, risiug out of towers which, as
well as the body of the edifice, are of a whiteness
pure enough to make any London church shake
with envy, are surmounted by tall iron rods, sup-
porting two quaint figures, which, if they had legs,
would represent a cericature of feathered bipeds,
and which are supposed to be cocks, and to have
been once gilt—probably thinly, or very long ago,
for the process sadly wants renewing. About half
way up each rod is a rusty iron ornament, of no
great size, and of a form dkffieult to describe, but
from below they looked to me like iron Catherine
wheels, the rods passing through their centre. On
one of the first days that I was at Broacher, returning
home towards dusk, I was startled at seeing a living
creature, whose genus I could not immediately de-
fine, apparently transfixed on the iron rod of the
north steeple. Its limbs moved and curled them.
selves round the rod, as if in the agonies likely to
be caused by impalement ; and it was rather a relief
to find, on nearer approach, that the strange object
was not writhing in the tortures of a cruel death,
bat only a man looking through a telescope. By
opening a doer in the side of the steeple, which fell
back into a horizontal position and so served as a
platform, and by planting a ladder upon it, he had
got to the top of the steeple ; then began the ascent
of the finial, and that was more difficult, but its base
is an iron ball, looking like a cauldron with the
cover on, and upon this he had managed to get
and thence firmly to fix two wooden bars, by means
of a cord, transversely on the iron rod, forming two
steps, which enabled him to reach the ornament
before-mentioned. Upon this he sat, with one arm
round the rod, calmly sweeping the enemy's lines
with a long telescope. On the platform of the
steeple a soldier lay upon his back looking up at
this adventurous climber, and probably transmit-
ting his communications to some one within. By
the aid of my glass I made out that the man on the
rod was tall and stout and bearded, and that he
seemed as much at his ease in that perilous post as
if he had passed his life. Assuredly he mast, at
one time or another, have been either a sailor or a
tiler, or perhaps he has taken lessons of Blondin.
I have got used to seeing him now, for he passes
hours every day up there, and I have seen him
go down and get up very steadily and delibe-
rately, assisting himself by one or two rope-ends
that hang from the rod ; and I have left off suppos.
ing that ho must end by scattering his brains on
the tombstones below for want of a firm grasp or of
a head that never knows dizziness, and I hardly
think it would be worth the while of a sensation-
seeker to take up his quarters in Broacher on the
chance of his coming to grief. A man who passes
his days in so exalted a position may be supposed
unwilling to condescend to earth even for his
nightly rest ; and I suspect he must take his meals
and sleep in some lofty nook of that ancient edifice.
I did think I saw him one day turning a corner,
and I rushed after him to express my respect for
his performances, and inquire about the manners
and habits of the Danes, which he is always prying
into, but I did not find him ; and, as I saw him a
few minutes later sitting cross-legged on the iron