The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-15 00:00:00

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

THE WAR IN DENMARK.

DRESDEN, MARCa 13.

A large public meeting to consider the affairs of
Schleswig-Holstein took place here to-day. The
resolutions passed were to the following effect :
. " Complete satisfaction should be given to the
rights of the Duchies. The Garman people should
support those Governments who demand the entire
rights. Any solution not completely separating
the Duchies from Denmark would be treaso❑ against
Germany and German honour. Confidence can
only be restored in Germany by following the line
of conduct marked out by the wishes of the Ger-
man people."

HAMBURG, MARCH 13 (Evening)

It is believed here that the attack upon Bopp°
will commence on Wednesday. The Prussians in.
tend to deliver the assault upon the 22d, the birth
day of the King of Prussia.

COPE NHA GEN, March 10.
The following official report has just been pub
lished by the Ministry of Wm:—
" Headquarters, March 9, 1 p.m.

" Yesterday morning the 20th Infantry Regi-
ment, on outpost at Elbodal, was attacked by a
hostile division of all arms. The outposts were
hotly pressed, especially at Heisekurg and Kerne-
berg, where the Dane Company was forced out of
its line of retreat, and has probably been captured.
Our forces withdrew without offering resistance,
and took up an outpost position behind Errit:oe,
about 1,200 yards in advance of the inundation
works and the fortified camp. The enemy has oc-
cupied Sandalshuse,Fuglesardskov, and Stroustrup.
"Simultaneously with the attack upon the out-
posts before Fredericia, the enemy appeared in
great force at 9 a.m. in front of the,outposts of the
4th division. Between 3 and 5 o'clock an im-
portant infantry and artillery engagement com-
menced in rear of Valle. Bat as this position
became untenable after the evacuation of Veile, it
was abandoned about quarter past 5, and the retreat
commenced northwards, the enemy pursuing with
10 or 12 guns, as far as the heights of Juelsberg.
" General -Mister, Captain Hoffmann, First
Lieutenant Weyen and Second Lieutenant Kohler
are wounded, besides ten men of the 20th and two
of the 19th Regiment. In addition to Captain Dane
and his company, Second Lieutenant Rosenstano
and 18 men of the 20th Regiment are missing. It
is stated that they were cut off while upon patrol
in front of the Havreballe pass. The loss of the 4th
division is not believed to be great. Nothing took ,
place last night, and up to 10 45 this morning before
Fredericia.''

Dagbladet of to-day doubts whether the advance of
the Prussians towards Fredericia heralds an attack
upon that fortress, or is merely atactical reply to the
landing of the Guard in Holstein. In the former
case Dagbladet finds much comfort in the fact that
the fortress has been placed in good defensive
condition within the last few weeks. General
Lundvig, the commandant, is not likely to aban-
don the defence easily; and Lieutenant-ColoAl
Reich, his next in command, is said to be one
of the most skilled Danish artillery officers.
Major-General Wilster, wounded before Fre-
dericia, on Tuesday, by a shell in the arm and side,
arrived here this morning by the train from lorsor.
As soon as he has recovered from his wounds, the
Major-General will return to the army. Captain
Hofirrain, General Wilster's chief of the Staff, also
wounded in the engagement of the Bth, has had his
leg amputated below the knee, and is now in hospital
at Fredericia.

THE SUEZ CANAL DIFFICULTY,

PARIS, MARCH 15.

The Moniteur of to-day says :—" The Emperor
had charged the Duke de Morny to make a repurt
upon the questions at issue relative to the Suez
Canal. This report stated the basis of a com-
promise which appeared equitable to the Emperor,
and its conclusions were communicated to the Vice-
roy, who requested the Emperor to settle the diffi-
culties between the two parties.
" The Emperor, accepting the arbitration, has
formed a committee to examine the question at issue."

SPAIN.

MADRID, MARCH 14.

Some Madrid journals ask what would be the
course of the Government if an European war were
to break out in Italy.

FRANCE.

BOURSE, Kirch 14.—Sales for realisation have
caused canted a slight retrograde movement,
Threes, for the Account, being now at 66f. 65c.
Mobilier have also receded, having hem done at
1,055 f., bat have since reeovered to 1,060 fr. Rail-
way Market without animation, with prices gene.
rally firm. The market again recovered towards
the close, and left off as follows :

41 per Cents. 93
Do. and month 93 40
:3 per Cents
Do. end month 66 7,5
Credit Mobilier 1052 60
Do. end month 1067
Bank Shares 3315
Credit Foncier 1265
Roman

Italian Loan 68
Do. end month
New ditto 67 50
Do. end
Russian —
Austrian .. 79
Spani.th Threes
Home Debt
Deferred

RAIL WAYS.
Cash. Account.
Orleans lOO5 .. 1007 60
Northern
New ditto
Lyons and Mediterranean 930 .. 930 --
New ditto ..
S anthem . • • 657 5(
Western
Eastern -
Sardinian ...... — • • 377 I
Austrian , 410
Lombard
North of Spain
Saragossa..
Ditto to Barcelona

653 75 .. 657 50
516 2:5 .. 577 50
480 - .. 476
378 - .. 377 50
405 - .. 410 -
532 50 .. 537
7550
- - 483
685 - 687 50

WEST INDIA AND PACIFIC MAILS.
SOUTHAMPTON, MARCH 15.

The Royal Mail steamship La Plata, with the
above mails, has arrived here. She brings 105 pas-
sengers, 5,194,690 dols. in specie, and 1,619
packages of cargo.
The La Plata left St. Thomas on the 29ih ult.,
and on the Ist inst. spoke the English barque
Northern Light ; on the 10tb, the barque Harvey ;
on the 12th, the ship Avalanche, homeward bound;
and on the 14th, off the Lizard, the ship Devon-
shire from Calcutta.

A severe earthquake had been experiAneed at
Copiapo. Several houses were damaged, but no
lives were lost.

The Government of Santiago had issued a pro-
posal for a loan of six thousand dollars at 71 to 8
per cent. Upwards of two millions were at once
tendered for the first half.

good. Freights
General business at Chili was
less active at £4 10s. E zcchange, 44d. to 446 d. per
dollar.

The British bark Countess of Winton had been
destroyed by fire in Valparaiso Bay-

The Government of Peru bad entered into a con-
tract with Messrs. Oyague, Graham, Rowe, and
Co., for the conversion of the Bolivian currency and
the introduction of a new standard national coinage,
whereby all Bolivian coin will be sent out of the
country, or melted in Lima, in two years. A new
currency had been established, and an exchange on
London fixed, which it was anticipated would be
most beneficial fir the extension of commercial re-
lations with the country.
Lima exchange, 90 days' sight, 37d.
The news from the West India Islands is unim-
portant.

The transactions in the produce market were

limited. Freight was scarce, and the rates had
declined to 21d. for London, and 2s. for Liverpool.
Business was very dull at Jamaica, and the coffee
and pimento crops scarce. Prices were unchanged,
and sugar ranged from 183. to 225., according to
the quality.
The weather was fine at Demerara, and favour-
able for the estates.

Freights heavy. Exchange on London, 90 days,
per cent. premium.

The Proposed Conference.

L'Europe of the 14th inst. publishes the following
as the text of the last note addressed by the Govern-
ments of Austria and Prussia to the Governments
which signed the Treaty of London of 1862
"The Government of - had hoped that the
Danish Government would have shown a more con-
ciliatory spirit. Had it been so, the two great
German Powers would have willingly stopped their
military action and entered into negotiations. But,
with regret, we must state that our hopes have been
deceived. The attitude assumed by the Court of
Copenhagen, its refusal to accede to the Conference
proposed by England, impose upon us the duty of
maintaining the coercive measures to which we
have had recourse. Important strategical conside-
rations have justified the authority given to the
Commander-in-Chief of the Austro-Prussian troops
to enter Jutland to cover the position of his forces
and to keep in check the Danes assembled at Fre-
dericia, preventing them from threatening the
flanks of the army, or from devoting all their
strength to the defence of the lines at Duppel.
" The two Powers had the less hesitation in
allowing this strategic movement as they had good
grounds to use reprisals towards the Danish Go-
vernment, which had issued orders to seize in the
open sea ail vessels belonging to the belligerent
States and to States forming part of the Confede-
ration.

"The extension given, however, to the military
operations does not in any respect alter the previous
declarations of the Government of -- relative to
its attitude in the present conflict. To prove in a
still more patent manner that its conciliatory views
are sincere and that its intentions are unchanged,
the Government of declares itself ready to
conclude an armistice with Denmark, either upon
the basis of the evacuation of the positions of Duppel
and of Alsen by the Danish troops, or of Jutland by
the Austro-Prussian army, upon the basis of the
military uti-possidetis. But in either case the
Government of -- insists upon the condition that
cessation of hostilities by sea shall be included in
the armistice, and that all captures shall be recipro-
cally returned, and all embargo on vessels in port
removed.

"The Government of -- declares itself, at the
same time, ready to ester into conference with the
Powers interested to discuss the proper means for
the re-establishment of peace."

The Cat and the Brand v, Military

Recruiting,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—I would beg permission to say a few words
through the medium of your extensively circulated
journal on the subject of military flogging and
branding, which occupied the attention of the
House of Commons on Thursday. I do not pro-
pose to consider the question from the philanthropic
and humanitarian point of view, but simply as a
choice of evils. It is said that, having regard to

the exceeding rough raw materials which have to
be wrought up into the soldiers of which our army
is composed, discipline cannot be maintained with-
out the lash and the brand. But the brand and

the nine tails of the cat are just so
many scare-crows hung up to scare away the
bone and muscle of the country from entering the
army. The like principle applies to the navy.
Which is the greater evil of the two ? the hypo-
thetical difficulty—for it is not proved—of main-
taining discipline, or the dead certainty of fright-
ening men out of the army ? It is not merely the
cruelty of the system, as its degrading character,
that operates so strongly to deter men from enter-
ing a service where it is in force, and where they
may thus run the chance, for a venial offence, of
being disgraced and degraded for life, and never be
able to hold up their heads again. The very patrons
of it, who ask, " what punishment would you sub-
stitute if that were done away with ?'' answer them-
selves by telling you that the punishments arejust as
severe, and therefore just as effective, in foreign
armies where flogging does not exist. I repeat, it
is chiefly the disgrace and degradation which Eng-
lishmen look at in this question. The English-
man asked to recruit says very naturally "if I
were to enlist in a foreign army I should not be

liable to this irrecoverable degradation. By enter-
ing the service where the soldier is flogged, I place
myself immeasurably below the level of the com-
mon soldier in other armies." If we still had the
press gang, or if we had substituted a conscrip.
Lion, we might be in no danger of getting men
to recruit our armies, because we could force them
into the ranks. But now that our service, army
and navy both, is strictly a volunteer one, to
frighten men away from it by brandishing the
oat and the branding iron in their face seems
not consistent with

COMMON SENSE.

Naval and Military Intelligence.

THE ARMY.

Captain Hay, 72d Highlanders, is:about to retire
!rem the service.

The 78th 11;ghlanders will shortly proceed to
Dublin, there to be quartered.

Lieut.-Colonel Enderby Gordon, Royal Artillery,
is to succeed Lieut.-Colonel Ward in the R. 119.
Repository, Woolwich.

Major-General B. Willis has accepted the £6OO
per annum retirement.

Lifeboat Services,

CASTLETOWN, Isle of Man, March 12.
The schooner Water Lily, of Pwllheli, left Dun-
dalk on the 9th March, in ballast, bound for Bangor,
and on the evening of the next day was driven by
stress of weather into Derlyhaven Bay, where she
anchored with two anchors out. About noon on
the 11th a very violent gale from the N.W. came
on. One of the anchor chains parted, and the
vessel dragged out round Fort Island into the Tides-
way. A signal of distress was then hoisted, and
the lifeboat at this place belonging to the National
Lifeboat Institution was at once transported to
Derlyhaven Bay, and launched to the rescue of the
shipwrecked crew. It was now blowing a furious
gale of wind, but the lifeboat soon reached the
vessel and succeeded in rescuing the crew, consist-
ing of three men and a boy, and afterwards landed
them in safety. • The vessel ultimately became a
total wreck.

LOSSIEMOUTH, March 12.
The smack Barbara, of Burghead, laden with
coals, sprung a leak, and afterwards came on shore
at this place, during a gale of wind last night. The
National Institution lifeboat stationed here was soon
launched and succeeded in saving the vessel's crew.
The smack afterwards became a total wreck.
ORMESBY, Norfolk, March 14.

Nine lives were saved this morning from the
Alice, of Newcastle. The vessel had struck on the
Cross Sand last night in very stormy weather, when
the crew took to their boat, and was afterwards
picked up by a Caistor yawl. The Seratby and
Caistor lifeboats had also gone off with the view of
rendering assistance to the same crew.

Mr. BonN has sold his publishing bnsiness and
classic copyrights to Messrs. Bell and Daldy, of Fleet-street.
THE LOCK- ,UT OF THE YORKSHIRE COLLIERIES.
—The lock-out at the South Yorkshire collieries,
there seems to be little doubt, will become an accomplished
fact, so that in the course of a few days there will be some-
thing like 3,700 men out of work. Both sides seem deter-
mined, so that the struggle will evidently be the most se-
vere that has ever taken place in the district. The men,

it appears, will be dependent in a great measure for sup-
port on the union, which now extends over England, Scot-
land, and Wales, and are confident of being able to make a
long stand. At present there are between 500 and 600 out,
but the entire body will be out of work to a few dap,

LITERATURE.

Macaulay's History of Enylaaci. Part V. People's

Edition. Longman and Co.

The second volume of this beautifully-printed
popular edition of Macaulay's continuation of the
History of England is here in this fifth monthly
instalment of its periodical issue, duly commenced.
It begins with that memorable seventh chapter of
the great work in which the Hero of the Historical
Romance (to call things by their rigl.t name) makes
his appearance—to wit, that wonderful hook-nosed
demigod William of Orange, who may be said to
have fairly taken the \Vhig annalist's imagination
captive. Reading the chapter again—dissenting
still toto egio though we must needs do to the very
last from the conclusions arrived at by the great
writer, who condescended to constitute himself
the systematic traducer of James, and the sys-
tematic apologist of William—we cannot still
help reading on, enthralled and delighted I Neither
enthralled nor delighted, observe ! with the opinions
expressed, but simply with the way in which utter-
ance is given to them. It is surely not hyperbole
to assert that without one exception Lord Macaulay
is the most eloquent writer of prose in the English
language.

Dalziel's Illuerated Goldsinzth. The Vicar of
TYakefield. Part I. Ward and Lock.

Already the April instalment of this new edi-
tion of the celebrated works of Oliver Goldsmith
has been published by the Messrs. Ward and
Lock. It gives promise of fulfilling our first an-
ticipations of its success. It reflects the highest
possible credit upon the eminent engravers by
whose enterprise, skill, taste, and experience it
has been undertaken. By an opportune fly-leaf
advertisement, emanating from the popular pub-
lishing house through which it makes its appear-
ance, this new illustrated Goldsmith recalls to re-
collection the fact that—" Sixteen years ago Messrs.
Dalziel Brothers, in conjunction with the late
Mr. David Bogue, commenced, and in the year
1850 completed, a very elaborate edition
of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress,' illustrated
with above 300 designs by the leading draughts-
man of the period, Mr. William Harvey. This edi-
tion was printed on fine toned paper and issued in
a serial form, and the whole issued at a price which
will bear comparison with anything that has been
since attempted, taking into consideration the repeal
of the paper duty. It is scarcely necessary to say
that since that period the Brothers Dalziel are uni-
versally admitted to have stood pre-eminent in the
production of the highest class of illustrated litera-
ture, in the most popular form." In justification of
which, the Messrs. Ward and Lock have, in truth,
only to direct attention to the initial instalment of
"The Vicar of Wakefield" here offered to the public
at the monthly cost of sixpence ! One of the loveliest
popular stories in the language, at once boldly
and charmingly embellished by the pencil of
G. S. Pinwell, the drawings beicg engraved
by the Brothers Dalziel, and the text of the work
exquisitely printed in large type upon ample pages
of delicately-tinted paper. Altogether the serial
is one, we feel satisfied, as sure of winning for it-
self a rapid, widespread, and permanent success as
that superb companion work of the Brothers Dal-
ziel, their illustrated "Arabian Nights Eatertain-
ment." About the most graceful embellishment in
this opening instalment of their " Vicar of Wake-
field" is the one on the twenty-fifth page, where
Mr. Burchell and Sophia are seen conversing in
the hayfield—dear old Mr. Primrose visib e afar
off—quietly observant.

The Battle of the Standards. By John Taylor,

One vol., pp. 93. Longman and Co.

The learned author of " The Great Pyramid, why
was it Built?" has in this remarkable little treatise
put forth a most opportune argument in favour of
our old-fashioned system of measurement. " The
Battle of the Standards," it will be borne in mind,
has already commenced this session in the House of
Commons. And now before Parliament commits
itself further in regard to any scheme of in-
novation, or even of partial modification in our
national system of weights and measures, it will be
as well that a man, as much in earnest upon the
subject as any one living, such as Mr. John Taylor,
should have a patient hearing, a deliberate per-
usal, a calm and dispassionate consideration. He
puts forth his argument like (what he is) a logician,
and he discusses it in all its bearings like (what he
is also, as in disputably) a scholar, and a philosopher.

OUR TJOCKYARDS.-A very valuable pamphlet
has jaws been issued from the pen of Sir William
Snow Harris, entitled the "Past and Present State
of Naval Construction in the Government Service
—its Future Prospects." The talented writer, it
will be recollected, was the inventor of the light-
ning conductor now in use in her Majesty's Navy,
and from the sources of information open
to him, it will at once be admitted
that he is well able to give an opinion upon
a subject of such vital importance to the welfare
of England. After an elaborate review of the former
and present mode of construction, he comes to the
opinion that the great want at the present moment
is a " National School of Naval Architecture," and
in this we entirely agree with him. Sir W. Harris
proposes to convert some of our principal arsenals
into as many colleges in which students might be
allowed to enter upon certain terms to be prescribed
by her Majesty's Government. If Chatham, Ports-
mouth, and Plymouth, or even the two latter,
were only selected for such a purpose, Sir William
feels certain we should at once arrive at all we
could desire. The plan is a good one, and as
the object of the writer is to preserve the supre-
macy of England as a maritime Power, his
pamphlet is worthy of the most attentive considera-
tion of her Majesty's Government.

The Late Xing of Bavaria,

The intelligence of the illness of the late King of
Bavaria, and that his life was actually in danger,
fell upon the population of Munich on the 10th
inst. like an unexpected thunderclap. The theatre
was closed, and no music was performed that night
at the public places of amusement. Thousands of
persons of all classes hastened to the palace to
ascertain the latest news, and filled the apartments
adjoining the royal bedchamber, no person being
refused admission. The Queen did quit the
bedside of her husband, nor did their children. The
other princes and princeises of the royal family
hastened to the palace, as did also all the Ministers.
The proof that the illness set in so suddenly is in
the fact that on the preceding day his Majesty was
engaged in transacting business up to three o'clock
in the afternoon, and that he then had an interview
with his guest, Prince Albert. At four o'clock, the
date of the first bulletin, the condition of the King
was very serious.

At half-past 10 on the 10th inst. the Marshal of
the Court, Count de Butler-Clonebough, announced
to the crowd assembled in the apartments at the
castle that there was no improvement in the King's
condition. At that time, however, his Majesty did
not suffer, and was in fall poEsession of his faculties,
During the morning he had a fainting fit of a long
duration. At half•past 10 the Queen summoned
the Minister of the Royal Household, Baron von
Schrenk, and the Council of State met under the
presidency of Prince Luitrold.
At half-past 11 the condition of the King gave
no room for further hope. The Archbishop of
Munich was present, and administered to his Ma-
jesty the last consolation of religion. The physi-
cians had then left their royal patient. Half an
hour after noon the lugubrious sound of the bells at
Munich announced the great blow which had fallen
on Bavaria. His Majesty had expired a quarter 01
an hour previously.

AMERICAN MAIL STEAMERS DUE AT LIVERPOOL
THIS WM:K.—The City of London, from New York on
the 2d instant, may be looked for at Queenstown to-night.
The Asia, from New York on the fith. will no doubt reach
Queenstown on Saturday.

MR. ALFRED WIGAN may, it is rumoured, at no
distant period, resume the management of the Olympic
Theatre.

VOLTAIRE'S LETTERS.—M. Hennin, a celebrated
collector of autographs, medals, &e., has left more than
10,000 autographs to the library of the Institute, amongst
which is a iertes of interesting letters of Voltaire, written
to the father of the above gentleman-101247i Atvklv,