The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-19 00:00:00

their ascent. Whereupon there etiek.lrs for treat)?
rights present an n'Aimaturn to the Danish Goceru_
molar, and, in default of its acceptance, threaten,t
occupy' i
cupySchieswig and break the peace of
Euror,:
Vlore s still one flagrant contradiction to b 3,,
l ,ie„
corded of the many-eidrd German mind. ."-
Prussian people urges on its Government to Well.:
on, occupation, war. upon thi3 Schleswig-I°6°lu
t
question ; but when the King asks fora loan tio,
carry out its martial intent he is snubbed. The lc/
refused, The Prussian people would wilitng
4
is
see Kiel a German port, but'refuses to Pay the e 3,.
of the annexation. The whole thing would be Nei,
crous but for its tragic aspect. The Austrian. an
du
Prussian ultimatum has been presented and deohnie e'
bindi the envoys of the two Governments have ic'.
Copennagen. Nothing else could have been bit
pected. The German people have got the
between their teeth and arc fairly running an
with
ith their Governments; the latter have beet`
with the national passion until it hog °le
ing
st
mastered them ; and now Austria and Prussia 1311/
go with the stream. They cannot stultify thr3ef
selves by patiently submitting to the re;ess, d
their ultimatum. They probably intended, tv
hoped, that it would be refused; otherwise trnit
would never have addressed to an indelln'jewcp
European Power an ultimatum leaving only ,11
days for deliberation and reply. Moreover, even
the presentation of the ultimatum has been Preclu e•
by the significant announcement of military Pre,
parations and movements of troops, wilic,ll -
shadowed but too plainly the designs of We 4..0
Powers. There seems, then, to be no alter d
for them but the occupation of Schleswig' arn,d,
that means war, which may be ro
commen
by the advance of the Prussian and Austrd'ii
armies against the Danes, but which will assn tea
bring other Powers into the field. F°r ;e5•
occupation of Schleswig would be a direct agg'oo
sion upon Denmark. The German Diet has ".,73:11,-65
locus stanch: upon the soil of Schleswig that' I",i to
upon Denmark proper, and the Danes are houll'ot
resist the aggression. To counsel their abandon° de
of Schleswig to Austria and Prussia as the best 113,i'lle
of preserving it as a Danish province is absurd. Iv
Danes have retired from Holstein, and it is rc'c,t3heit
Lionised. Prussia and Austria must retain '',"ber
ascendancy in the Diet. They cannot affordall°;oe
Rh einbund ; they cannot even face a union °Lhicit
minor German Sovereigns for a purpose in
their own peoples are heart and soul inters feat,
and which they would be doing their best to derio
In the present temper of Germany there can fib° little
In
doubt that the occupation of Sclaleswi „uefroa-
trooys would mean the realisation oft he ue'n-der
aspiration of a dukedom of Schleswig-Holstein tillbe
Frederick of Augustenburg, and the erasure niro,
name of Denmark from the list of European P°::, be
Denmark hes taken her course. It remains
par
seen what support she will receive from the P"," it'
to the. Treaty of 1852. We look in vain for 013•Yt io
dication of the policy of the British GoverntnePer
Lord Russell's written despatches. Always
spore'
tremes, never to bo relied upon, our Foreign 'Teti
tary's forte seems to consist chiefly in enven°.lll,;trtig
quarrel, preventing its pacific solution, and irri„.,`"e to
both the disputants. To-us the question sefijeoro
resolve itself into one of honour and policY.
parties to the treaty which is now insolently "o°l
ridden. We have an interest in the mainten°llooa
the. integrity of the kingdom of Denmark• cietia
faith and expediency alike demand that Eit tbe
.should neither shirk her solemn responsibilitY act
signatory of the Treaty of 1852 nor sanctionii);t to
of aggression which will hold out a preeeuei-eaot
every potentate who has an army to move, AP
nationality to offer, or a province to gain,