The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-21 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY, MARCII 21, 1864.

While diplomacy is still vainly endeavouring to
discover some means by which the further com-
plication of the war now ragieg in the North of
Europe may, if possible, be prevented, and still
more (if this could but be proved to be in any
way practicable) some means whereby the war
itself might be brought to a close without further
bloodshed—the war, such as it is, not only con,
thaues but threatens to become still more disastrous
by reason of further and yet further complications.
Sweden appears to be hesitating upon the verge—
ready to plunge into the conflict side by side
with Denmark, as opposed to the banded armies
of the invading and aggressive forces sent against
Denmark by the two chief Powers of Germany.
The siege of Duppel seems to be pished on
vigorously by the Prussians. Oa Wednesday the
16th, inst., a heavy fire had been opened by them
on the Danish entrenchments. Simultaneously
under cover of the Brosger batteries a fierce
attack was made by large masses of Prus-
sians upon the centre and left of the
Danish position. The rumoured result of this attack
on Wednesday, is stated to have been the capture
by the Prussians of tee° points occupied prior to the
attack by the Danes—not, however, until after a
severe encounter and a lamentable amount of blood-
shed upon both sides. Since then, as recently as
the da•y before yesterday, the bombardment of the
Duppel entrenchments has been reopened by the
Prussians. With what result we have yet
to learn. Meanwhile, we obtain information
that on that very same day, Saturday, a powerful
reconnaisance directed against Fredericia had led
there to the driving back of the Danish outposts
into the fortress: Notwithstanding which, a
sharp fire both from the fortress itself within
which the outposts had been withdrawn, and from
the neighbouring gunboats, contrived to inflict
some loss, though apparently not much, upon the
enemy—so far keeping them at bay. If, how-
ever, on Wednesday, two positions at Duppel
were lost by the Danes to the Prussians ; if on
Saturday the outposts at Fredericia were compelled
to draw back within the shelter of the fortifications
hsfore the powerful reconnaissance of the German
invaders—on Friday a naval engagement off Griefs-
wald ended in a wholly different way—leaving the
Prussian men-of-war defeated by the blockading
squadron of the Danes. While comparatively
hale, if anything, comes of all this, towards
the bringing of the quarrel between the Danish
and German beligerents towards any definitive
settlement one way or the other—these fragments
cf warlike intelligence have at any rate this signifi-
cance about them, that they evidence the actual
continuance of blemished at the seat of war, and the
embittering thereby, of course, as a necessary con-
sequence, of the angry feeling already engendered
between the belligerents. It seems lamentable that
nothing whatever can be done by mighty Power.
such as either France or England, or still more by
,
bath of them together with a view to eI th ntel-raps
tijel of this disastrous conflict, a conflict
_ t4O longer
it lasts the more likely to lead to tlan dragging
cc others among the European Powers into
,
the whirling vortex Of the war It is
ginAttr of profound regret among" ourselves,
here in this country, that circumstances
have precluded us from obtaining any
distinct or definite knowledge of the actual position
of things, even diplomatically, before the Adjourn-
ment of the Houses over the more than fortnight's
hiatus of the Easter Recess. Happily, when
Parliament does meet again, at the close of the
Easter holidays, the whole oreblem of our Foreign
Polion mere pkrtienlarly in reference to the Seilles.