The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-11 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS,

TIMES.—Among the many troubles incident to
the present position of Denmark, perhaps the least
evil is that everybody considers that he has a right
to offer her advice. There is something gratifying
to our natural love of superiority in lecturing our
neighbours; it costs so little, and it does us so
much credit. If we advise them to be brave, we
feel so valiant ourselves; if we advise them to be
prudent, we feel such thorough confidence in our
own wisdom and foresight. We do not pretend to
be more free from these foibles than our neighbours,
and therefore shall presume in our turn to offer a
word of counsel to a nation which many persons
are endeavouring to lead astray in this the supreme
moment of her destiny. There are not wanting
those who tender to Danmark the advice usually
given to the smaller boy in a street fight to " go
and overthrow his gigantic antagonist. The advice
is easily given, the whole difficulty is in the execu-
tion, with Which the bystanders have no concern.
There is something very agreeable in watching the
process of a gallant defence against superior power,
" How can a man die better," says nicaulay," than
in facing fearful odds?" The question we wish to
raise with Denmark is, not what is the best method
of dying, but whether
it is absolutely necessary to
die at all. Before she accepts the advice o! these
fire-eating counsellors, Denmark w 011.... do vsiiste lyhter
o
consider what aid they are willing to extent,. _o
in the struggle for life and death in which she is
involved. Will they risk their lives, will they
stake their money, will they so much as wet their
feet, for the sake of a cause for which they urge
Denmark to sacrifice her last dollar and her last
man? If her cause is so good, and the sympathy
of other countries is so warm, why is it that she
stands alone among such unexampled perils P Why
is it that even Sweden, whose very exikence is
threatened by the events that are now passing in
the Cimbric Peninsula, makes no effort for her
assistance ? Let Denmark take a calm review of
her present position. Like the Southern States of
America, she doubtless at one time entertained a
hope that some Power would come to her aid.
But time wears on, and the expected aid comes not.
She is alone in the world, confronted by two great
military Powers, before either of whom it would be
no disgrace for her to yield. It is quite clear that
France, for whom she did and suffered so much in
the wars of the Great Napoleon, has no intention
of doing or suffering anything for her. It is
equally clear that England does not understand
the violation of a Treaty to which no guarantee
was attached, or a matrimonial alliance which
forms a link between two Royal families, as
calling upon her to come to the rescue. Denmark
is alone in the world, and all that we have been
able to obtain for her is the offer of a Conference to
be carried on without any cessation of hostilities.
Let her pause before she rejects that offer, let her
consider how she is for any long time to encounter
the attack of Powers able to put ten men into the
field against her one. Enough, and far more than
enough, has been done for honour. Before the statue
of that insatiable Moloch blood has been already
poured forth in reckless and over-abundant sacri-
fice. Denmark has confirmed for herself the ena-
racter which she long ago won in the face of Europe
for steady and stubborn bravery, which adverse
fortune can neither daunt nor depress. A further
prolongation of hostilities cannot add materially to
her renown, but may inflict such injury on her
resources as centuries may not redeem. To push
the struggle any further is to risk the destruction
in battle of the flower and manhood of a scanty
population without the possibility of inflicting a
corresponding loss on her invaders, and to cripple
the finances of a Monarchy by incurring a debt
which every day of continued war renders her less
able to pay. The struggle may doubtless be pro-
tracted, but success—such success as may enable
Denmark to come out of the war in the condition
which she desires—is scarcely within the range of
possibility. Hope may suggest ieisurrections, re-
volutions, and civil wars; but all these belong to
the domain of speculation, upon which no prudent
man or wise kingdom presumes to build. If the
Danish people will only look back to the last 12
years, they will see that it is from the very obsti-
nate and unbinding temper which we are now depre-
cating the present unfortunate position of the coun-
try has arisen. If Denmark would have listened
during the last twelve years to such demands of
Germany as were founded in reason and good faith,
she would have averted that invasion which has
been effected with such brutal and lawless violence.
The sovereign people, who have so recently obtained
absolute power, have yet to learn how necessary it
is to control the popular will, and how easy it is for
that will to encounter other wills as overbearing
and headstrong as itself. After all, what is Den-
mark called upon to yield ? At the present moment
she may, we believe, obtain peace on terms which
leave not only her honour untarnished, but her ma-
terial interests prejudiced in a very slight degree.
Denmark, we are told, has only to make up her
mind to a personal union between herself and the
two Duchies—to a union such as existed for a hun-
dred years between England and Scotland—and
she will be redeemed at once from the midst of the
deadly perils which surround her. If such terms
can be obtained, let Denmark compare her own de-
mands with that which it is in her power at once
to secure, and duly estimate how much she may
gain by how small a concession. The real difficulty
of her position lies in the feeling of the populations
towards her. If the people in Schleswig are well
disposed, they will be, a valuable accession to the
strength of the Monarchy under a personal union; if
their feelings are alienated, they will add little to her
power though they be grappled to her with links of
steel. We do not write as apologists of Germany.
Were the question one to be decided before a judicial
tribunal, we should have every confidence that the
cause of Denmark would succeed. But the ques-
tion is not one of justice, but of expediency. It
would be little consolation to Denmark that she
were ruined even in defence of her just rights. The
injured do not necessarily succeed because they feel
themselves entitled to revenge, and an appeal to
force is scarcely ever made in the interest of the
weaker party. If the present opportunity be
glected, no one can say that it will ever recur. Tne
torrent of war once set loose sweeps before it all
landmarks, and Denmark may neglect to negotiate
for peace till nothing is left for negotiation. The
Power that will not seize the opportunities of Dres-
den and Chatillon must look for a Fontainebleau,
when no terms will be accepted. Denmark has
had ample experience of the harsh and cruel spirit
in which Germany is disposed to treat her. What
mercy will she have to expect when her force is
beaten down, and her kingdom lies at the feet of
arrogant and imperious conquerors, who have found,
for the first time, a point of union in their com-
mon desire for her humiliation, if not for her de-
struction ? Let not the Danish nation suppose that
we offer this counsel under the influence of any in-
terested motives whatever. We are thoroughly
persuaded, notwithstending the warlike eloquence
of the House of Peers, that Denmark has no ma•
terial assistance to expect from England. The re-
jection of our counsels will not alienate us. Their
acceptance will not bring us the least nearer to
war. We have cautioned the Danes against the
advice of those who urge them to their extreme
peril without the slightest intention of partaking
it. We may with consistency recommend them
advice which presses upon them the adoption of
that peace which those who give it are determined
to observe.
POST.—Although the House of Commons refused
to demand the production of the correspondence
which passed between our Government and that of
the United States on the subject of the detention of
the steam-rams, the public are not left altogether
ignorant of the circumstances under which that de-
tention took place. A blue-book has now been pre-
sented to Parliament which contains much impor-
tant correspondence upon the subbject. It includes
despatches either addressed to, or written by, the
English Foreign Secretary, the American Minister,
our Ambassador at Washington, and Mr. Stewart,
respectively. The only point on which the public
were desirous of being enlightened is made abun-
dantly clear by the papers which are now published.
Whether the Government were strictly justified in
ordering the seizure of the rams, or whether they
could subsequently establish the truth of their as-
sumption that they were intended for the service of
the Confederate Government, were matters on
which, of necessity, great diversity of opinion pre
visited. But it was suggested—and the suggestion
was not devoid of plausibility—that the Governs
ment had seized the rams, not because they believed
that they bad satisfactory grounds for adopting
such a course, but for the mere sake of acceding to
certain requirements, made in no very courteous
tone by the American Government. However will-
ing the people of this country may be that their
laws should be strictly enforced, even though
they may press with increased weight on
the weaker of the two American federations,
still they not unnaturally resented what ap-
peared a compliance with foreign dictation.
The Foreign Enlistment Act may have been (though
some of the highest legal authorities doubt it) in-
tended for the protection of belligerent States at
amity with this country; but even assuming such
to be the case, the English Government must be
the sole judges of the expediency of putting it in
operation. If a belligerent possessed the right of
demanding the sequestration of every vessel which
by any possibility might be enlisted in the service
of his opponent, shipbuilding in a neutral State
would practically cease in time of war. A belli-
gerent is entitled through his ambassador to acquaint
a neutral Government of circumstances leading to
the conclusion that certain vessels are intended to
be employed against him, and to request that any