The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-05 00:00:00

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most extreme and violent :in his views in favour c f eh
Danish people, whit h viev 's were hardly consistent with
justice to the King's Germ: in subjects. On the adv ice of
this Minister the King ref 'used ;the proposition, ant I dis-
solved the Parliament ; but a L few days after he changed his
Minister and appointed M., .I‘l:onrad, who was able to find a
colleague in the person w h 0 had formerly been envoy at
Berlin. From that time tha whole course of Dani sh policy
was changed, and the Danish Ministers showed their )readi-
ness to make any concession that was compatible with the
integrity of the Danish monarchy. Unfortunately,h.owever,
this was not to be done very s tuickly. The King of :Den-
mark was bound by the obligt diens of a constitutional I iing
and could not take any course which was inconsistent with
the constitution of the country.. He could only ask for a
revocation of the constitution it' a constitutional Nana er—
namely, by summoning the Rigs deg, and thus postpoi ling
the question for some weeks. 44t the same time the new
Minister told the Rigsdag that if a, ey expected the integrity
of the Danish monarchy to be maintained these new a ob-
serve all the engagements which the late King had left
unsatisfied. But the more willing the Dines were to give
way, the less Austria and Prussia were disposed to give
time ; and I may say that when we proposal that six we eks
should be given to the Danish Government the proposit ion
was peremptorily rejected both at Berlin and Vienna. We
then, in order to give security to Austria and .Prussia, ere-
posed that a protocol should be prepared in the names of
France. Great Britain, Russia, and Sweden, recording
the intention of the Danish Government with re-
spect to the revocation of the constitution, so that if that
constitution was not immediately revoked Denmark vrould
no longer have any excuse. Both these steps had the con-
currence of France, Russia, and Sweden as to the timef7o be
given, although not as to the revocation of the constitu lion.
The first proposal, to grant six weeks, was made byFri ince,
the next was made by Great Britain, and the third by Ru s,sia
and each and every one was met by a peremptory refusal on
the part of Austria and Prussia. Now, I must say, ce.n.
sidering what has followed—considering especially how
Austria has hitherto valued the peace of Europe—considi cr-
ing that she has always been the conservative power in t he
centre of Europe, I am surprised that she did not hesie tte
before rejecting the propositions made by France and Rus-
sia, and that her readiness to rush into this war has some-
thing in it as unintelligible as it is melancholy. (Hear, hear.)
Austria and Prussia now declare that is too late to main-,
tain peace, and their excuses are, I confess, such as to give
(me extreme pain. But there is a point in all the despatch an
upon which both Austria and Prussia emphatically deretl,
and that is their own position in Germany. They represeiet
that if,having prepared to invadeSehleswig,they had stopped
in their course,there would have been such a commotion. in
Germany, such a marching of volunteer armies in Holste in
as would have exposed them to the risk of civil war. This
may be true, but one cannot help thinking it hard that
Denmark, not for refusing conciliatory propositions, not:for
any misconduct on her own part, not because there was a ny
reason to suppose that in six weeks or in three moat hs
she would sot give satisfaction to all the German dement is,
but because there were fears of German disaffection, must
be invaded, and must bear the brunt of an assault which
was intended to prevent commotion elsewhere. (Hoer,
hear.) The statements made by the Germans are that ftt ey
are for Germany becoming one great empire ; but sue ely,
if that be their object, why, in God's name, cannot f arty
millions of people effect that object without attael ring
Denmark and invading Schleswig ? (Hear, hear.) I say that
the fate of Denmark is an unhappy one, between these two
parties. One party says, "We wish to be a united Ge r.
many, therefore, let us attack Denmark ;" the other say s,
"We wish to stop democratic agitation in Germany, ax d
therefore let us go and attack Denmark." (Hear.) Whether
by democrats or conservatives, the destruction of Denmark
seems to be equally determined on. I certainly cannot ad-
mire those feelings, and when it was at last proposed that
there should be an invasion of Schleswig, I thought it ne-
cessary to ask whether those two powers—more especially
the more conservative of the two—whether they acknow-
ledged the Treaty of London of 1852, or whether they were
about to march into Schleswig for some purpose inconsistent
with it. I had a right to ask this question, for those two
great Powers had in no way repudiated the Treaty of Lon-
' don, and, on the other hand, they had consented that tb e
question of the succession in Denmark should be kept in
abeyance. I have received to-day the answer to that ques-
tion, and I shall take the liberty of reading both the ques-
tion we asked and the answer we received, leaving it to
your lordships and to future events to decipher and inter-
pret the fair meaning of that answer. The question put by
Sir A. Buchanan was as follows:—" The undersigned ant-
bassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of her Britannic
Majesty has the honour to acquaint his excellency M. de.
Bismarck Schonhausen, the minister resident and Minister
for Foreign Affairs of his Majesty the King of Prussia, that
the Government of the Queen his august sovereign, having
been informed that the Governments of Austria and Prussia
have addressed a threatening summons to Denmark, he hies
been instructed to ask for a formal declaration on the pa.. rt
of the Prussian Government that it adheres to tt to
principle of the integrity of the Danish monarchy.' An A
to it we received the following answer :
t, Berlin, January 31, 1864...
" M. Le Comte,—The government of the King, by basing
on the stipulations of 1851-2 the rights which, in concert w ith
Austria, it is proceeding to enforce upon Denmark, has by
this very set recognised the principle of the integrity of the
Danish monarchy as established by the transactions of
1851-52. The Government of the King, in proceeding to tb e
occupation of Schleswig, does not intend to depart from this
principle. If, however, in consequence of complications
which may be brought about by the persistence of the
Danish Government in its refusal to accomplish its promiaes
of 1852, or by the armed intervention of other Powers in
the Dane-German conflict, the King's Government was to
find itself compelled to renounce combinations which would
no longer offer a result proportionate to the sacrifices which
events might impose upon the German Powers, no definitiv e
arrangements could be made without the concurrence csf
the Powers who signed the treaty of London. Th e
British Government would then find the King's Govern-
ment
ready to come to an agreement with them as to tile
definitive arrangement of the Dano-German questicee.
Your Excellency is requested to read and give a copy
of this despatch to Earl Russell,—(Signed) BISMARCK."
I have already said it would depend on events to give an
interpretation to that answer. It may be that, having
occupied Schleswig, or only part of Schleswig, Austria and
Prussia would be ready to consider with other Powers what
may be fairly demanded of Denmark consistently with the
integrity of the Danish monarchy. If they should be mode-
rate in their proposals, and if the other powers of Europe
be anxious for peace, as I believe them to be, it may be pos-
sible to arrive at a permanent and advantageous arrange-
ment of this difficult affair; and her Majesty's Government;
would greatly rejoice at such an issue, We have made many
—some will say too many—efforts towards the preservation
of peace in the way of advising the various parties to make
concessions, whilst at the same time we have not advised
anything which does not put Denmark in a better position
by putting her in the right. " Thrice is he armed who
hath his quarrel just." We advised no concession to Den-
mark which it was not right for her to yield, and at no
time have we given any assistance, nor even hopes of mae
terial assistance. The Danish minister has repeatedly said
to me, " 'We expect no material assistance from this coun-
try, all we expect is sympathy." That is the state of our
engagements as regards Denmark, but what the future may
bring forth it would be rash for me to predict. It would be
rash even to attempt an outline of what may happen withd
the troops actually fighting in the disputed territory.
givloerdshi s
papers that have passed, Ido ask that your lordships
may taken place, to-night,
havingnd intending
aas n
soon ae
faasr
as events may arise, what shall be beet
pause
eli b
lceo
tuul d
may agree to decide, ac-
tual-whtahtelhasadfourpethuedepueat peace of
dEeumro,upued, faoirsothfoerwtheelfraeraelof
welfareDenm earfkGaesrmaneuiny:
I:say I think there is great danger for Germany and for
Europe in the present transactions which are taking place
in those different countries. It is obvious that for some
years—perhaps not for many years—but for some 30 or AO
years—the people of Europe has not chosen to sit down with
despotism and not wished to adopt republican forms of go-
vernment. They have fallen back upon that which, if wisely
framed and conducted with moderation, is the best form of
government, and is the most consistent with true liberty,
and the best interests of man—the form of constitutional
government. But at the same time it is a difficult form of
government, and especially so if not conducted with modera-
tion, for it is apt to break out with violent acts of authority
upon one side, and violent acts of rebellion upon the other.
Happily for the interests of this country, for the past two
centuries moderation has been the distinguishing charac-
teristic of our conflicts, and the issue to these realms has
been a constitutional and peaceful solution. But to speak of
other countries, let us turn to Greece. There it was thought
necessary to change the monarch, because the people were
not satisfied he was following a constitutional course. Then,
again, look at Spain, there the friends of liberty have taken
a course which they think favourable to liberty, but it is not
consistent with our ideas, for they have adopted the course
of not presenting the budget to the Cortes. There is evi-
dently the greatest confusion in that country upon the sub-
ject. Then, again, turn to Prussia. It is said that if the
budget be adopted by two out of the bodies which compose
the state, it is complete. But that is not quite con-
sistent with the power allowed in England to the House of
Commons. But in Prussia the House of Commons is as
extravagant on the other side. It is the constitutional
right of the monarch to make treaties ; but the House of
Commons of Prussia think they ought to throw aside the
treats, made by the King and thus deprive him of his con-
stitutional powers. I mention these things as being incon-
sistencies existing in reference to constitutional government
in— aGn
edt
tuthese , a rueuqdu est
theyion
ms
awyb
lich ead a rt
oe no o w being
happy
a 0
idui stoieofuusl
as
oesrdt
year the Emperor of Austria proposed some
leadleadto a bloody and a long conflict. In the courseefrtn 13,
and
.rwaoi
aotf
gthe suggestions
made will not fall to the ground.
the King of Prussia declared for constitueveornmegnor:ern-
ment, and also proposed another form and
your lordships may depend upon it
Thereth will before long
arise a great demand for German
to become be seen whether Germany is
These arc the ques -
t terror to all Europe.
E
herself, or a great
future of Europe. The m-
tions which really affect the
with great sagacity and vt is-
upmarelittam;rnetas,t anal it
plague to
dom, d a handful of truth, and could only
the philosopher who had tohis people, but he is like
peror of the French, I
rbepliDewvee,r
has given greater