The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-15 00:00:00

THE WAR IN DENMARK.

On the order for supply,
Mr GRIFFITH drew attention to the rumour that the
Prussians had demanded, as the conditions of making peace,
the payment by Denmark of £11,G00,000 sterling, and the
surrender of the Danish fleet ; and inquired whether her
Majesty's Ministers were disposed to regard the latter por-
tion of the demand with indifference. _ _

Lord PALMERSTON replied that no information of so
monstrous a proposition having been made had reached the

Government.

Mr S. FITZGERALD asked whether the house was to
understand that Ministers had received no information of
an armistice having been concluded, and that negotiations
for peace were gc ing on.
Lord PALMERSTON had reason to believe that pro.
posals for an armistice had been made, but was not aware
that they had been concluded.
The house then went into committee of supply, and
agreed to the votes for the National and Portrait Galleries.
In committee of the whole house the Marquis of HAR-
TINGTON moved resolutions providing a further sum of
£650,000 for the construction of works for the defence of
the dockyards and arsenals, and the ports of Dover and
Portland, and the creation of a central arsenal, to be charged
upon the Consolidated Fund, the Commissioners of the
Treasury being authorised to raise the amount by annui-
ties for 30 years,
The resolutions were agreed to.
The Bleaching and Dyeing Works ;tots Extension Bill
passed through committee.
Several bills were also advanced a stage, and
The house was co out at half-past 2 o'clock.

ri h e Late Prince Consort's Windsor
Association,

After a lapse of two years, during which no distribution
of prizes in connection with this association has taken place,
those whom the Prince Consort designed to benefit by the
operations of the society, and over whose welfare he so

kindly watched, were again called together yesterday after-
noon, under the shadow of Windsor Castle, to receive at
the hands of the Prince of Wales those rewards which they
had earned by their industry, frugality, or ingenuity, and
which will no doubt urge the recipients to compete for fur-
ther prizes in coming years, and to endeavour, if possible,

better to deserve them. The association, which originated
in 1850 from a desire of the Prince Consort to encourage the
cottagers in and around Windsor, and to bestow some mark
of approbation on those housewives in humble stations who
best fulfi lied their duties by keeping their cottages as dem
and tidy as circumstances would allow, moon enlarged its

field of operations, and gradually hocame the means of en-

eouraging and rewarding agricultural labourers, handi

craftsmen, and others who were found worthy of material
marks of approbation. The various aims and objects com•
prised within the scope of ordinary agricultural societies are
included in the sphere of operations of the Windsor Asso-
ciation, which also encourages an exhibition of horticultural
productions, of specimens of art and skill manufactured by
cottagers and others in their leisure hours, and in fact holds
out a helping hand in all directions, so that no persons in
humble life living within a tolerably extensive circuit of
Windsor Castle need fear that any remarkable virtue they
may possess will be overlooked, nor that any skill or talent
the; may exhibit will remain unrecognised.
Though the association lost its beneficent prop and sup-
porter, and doubts were entertained as to the successful
prosecutisn of its objects, it was wisely resolved that a
society which had been started under such favourable
auspices, and which had been the means of conferring such
benefit on Windsor itself, and on so many of the parishes
round it, should be maintained; and, encouraged by the
direct sanction of the Queen, the committee resolved to
pursue its useful labours and to further strengthen and
support the society. The gratifying show of yesterday, and
the presence of the Prince of Wales, who graciously distri-
buted the prizes to those who had gained them, must have
been gratifying to the gentlemen who have been the means
of keeping the association together and maintaining its
efficie,Ficy.
Like as with all other English institutions which deserve
to prosper, the proceedings of yesterday commenced with
a dinner to the exhibitors about to be rewarded. To this
feast no less than 247 were founded to b 9 eligible, and they
certainly proved themselves to be capable of appreciating
such substantial rewards as were set before them. This
exceedingly satisfactory commencement of the events of
the day took place in one of the Queen's tents, erected on
that Dart of the Home Park lying between the South-
Western Railway Station and the Castle, and on the same
spot were also erected a number of other tents kindly lent
for the occasion from the royal stores, and others of larger
dimensions which had been procured for the better display

of the objects sent for exhibition, One tont was filled with
choice flowers contributed, though not for competition, by
Mr Turner, of Slough; Mr Ingram, of the royal gardens
at Frogmore ; Mr Drake, of Amersham ; the Rev. J. L.
Joynes, of Eton College ; the Rev. W. Carter of the same
institution; Colonel Challoner of Portuall Park, and others.
Though, as has been stated, these flowers were not for
competition they were the subjects of much competition in
others, for their great beauty and brilliancy caused the
large tent in which they were exhibited to be filled through-
out the greater part of the afternoon to such a degree as
to render locomotion and circulation exceedingly difficulty
and only to be attained after some exertion and display of
patience. Another tent was devoted ft the display of
horticultural productions of less pretending but not loss
satisfactory character, for the size and perfection of the
vegetables and fruit displan;'s in it by the cottagers and
others were sufficie::6 to prove that the allottnents and
gardens in svi'Lso the trophies had been produced had been
careful'; and skilfully cultivated. In a third tent was dis-
Pi.syed an exceedingly :nultifarious collection under the
I heads of "Needlework" and " Handicraft," and here, with-
out doubt, was the most interesting part of the display. It
seems likely and proper enough-for gardoners,farm labourers
and even sewermen (of which class was one of the exhibitors)
to produce prodigious potatoes, Brobdignagian beans,
colossal, and such like edibles ; but when one finds that
among the articles properly classed as needlework some half
dozen of her Majesty's household troops are Competitors ;
when an interesting young footman, aged 20, exhibits a
child's frock "made in leisure hours ;" when a coachmaker's
labourer occupies his spare time in the production of a
similar article; and when, amongst a miscellaneous collec-
tion, one finds that a coalheaver shows a pair of boots of his
own manufacture, and that a soldier exhibits several pin-
cushions, the thought will arise that some of these worthy
people have -missed their voca,ions, though great credit
must undoubtedly be given to them for the skill displayed.
One man of the Coldstreams exhibits a patchwork quilt, and
another a table-cover made in a similar manner; while a
third, belonging to the Scots Fusiliers, proudly displayed a
complete pair of trousers made of small pieces of red and
white cloth cut diamond shape, after the fashion of the
border round his undress cap. He was not so fortunate as
his comrades in obtaining a prize, but his ingenuity, and
perhaps, his workmanship, was worthy of such a reward. A
footman and gardener showed that his mind was concentrated
on his business by the production of a vermin-trap, and a
tray for silver, divided into compartments. A smith ex-
hibited a table, and a pair of snuff-boxes made from the
wood of Rerne's oak, A juvenile scholar of Eton, aged 11,
intimated, by showing the model of a cannon, that at no die-
tent day he will contend the palm with our Arsastrongs
and Whitworths ; and a future Turner, thoush now a
watchmaker, evidenced his taste in colour by the ea hibition
o, two oil paintings, though he did not prove that b.e could
pass an examination for the civil service, but ra the: the
contrary, as (II the ticket describing one of his psr,i auctions