The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-31 00:00:00

31, 1864.
LONDON, IIiESDAY, MAN

It would seem as if all fresh intelligence that
reached us was but confirmatory of the previous
accounts relating to the intolerant demeanour of the
Prussians. They are tow so bent on effecting their
purpose of despoiling Denmark, and so wrapt up
in their own selfish plans, that they cannot spare a
ttought for the effect that their conduct may leave
on other nations. Before this war commenced few
would have believed •that any soldiers of an Euro-
pean army would have so committed themselves
and cast to the winds the restraining power of the
bienseances of civilisation, which are no less to be
observed in camps than in courts, and which dis-
tinguish and separate the men of refinement from
the savage and the uncultivated. It is very painful

ti peruse these details, for we cannot but feel that
for many the doom is sealed, and ruin has overtaken
them, or will speedily do so. What if things turn
out in the sequel better than the most sanguine
anticipations can now anticipate, the happy issue
to deplorable events, and the fortunate termination
to disastrous occurrences will not rebuild the shat-
tered homestead, and recall to life the dead who
have fallen victims to tyranny and rage. It is
perfectly inexcusable, to say the least of it, for the
Prussians to perpetrate such outrages and to pillage
and plunder to such an illimitable extent the towns
and villages of the places they invade. The Duke
of WELLINGTON, admirable in so many respects as
a general, left no example more worthy of imitation
than his practice of making his t:oops pay for what
they received from the inhabitants of the countries
which they occupied or through which they passed.
It would almost appear as if these modern aggres-
sors had gone to war for the purpose of extermina-
tion ; and, in carrying out that policy, had deter■
mined upon amusing themselves with inflicting all
imaginable evils, and causing the greatest possible
loss and misery among the unhappy population,
whose evil stars have given them into such unscru-
pulous hands. The Austrians set a more worthy ex-
ample, and appear to carry out in a great degree those
principles of justice and sentiments of honour that
should ever appertain to the ranks of a well-trained
army belonging to a great nation. There must be
great culpability attaching itself to all in command,
from the highest to the lowest, for such enormities
to take place as constantly occur in Jutland. The
subordinates of any position are always ready to
re-enact the tone of their superiors, and the chief
has but to use the signal for the followers to com-
prehend its meaning. Sometimes the non-bestowal
of a command to abstain gives a tacit consent, or at
all events manifests indifference to what may take
place. Such hesitation and lukewarmness have
often prove detrimental to the reputation, and
fatal to the fortunes of invader and invaded. This
has unhappily been the case in Jutland, and indeed
wherever the troops of King WILLIAM have marched
in their viptorious career to gain glory by the
triumph of the many over the few, and acquire
territory at the cost of a sacrifice which all the
kingdoms of the world cannot compensate for. A
fame once tarnished cannot be restored to its pris-
tine lustre, and an influence once weakened will be
long before it regains the ascendancy, if indeed it
ever succeed in doing so. Among the reports that
have been circulated respecting the occurrences that
nave annoyed and exasperated the Danes, there is
mention made of a controversy that has taken place
about the statue at Fredericia which is greatly
prized by the Danes. This monument had been
treated by the Austrians with great respect, but
Marshal von WRANGEL, it is said, took upon him-
self to offer it to the CROWN PRINCE. His Royal
Highness sent to tie Austrian General to announce
his wish to transmit the statue to the city of Berlin.
Manilla' von GOBLENTZ did not feel bound, how-
ever, to accede to the request, and gave a very
proper reply. He repudiated the notion that the
Prussian General had a right to make such an offer
in the first instance, and that he intended to respect
the Danish monument. The story may not be true, but
it is very likely to be so in its leading characteristics.

It is typical of the difference that exists between the
Prussian and Austrian mode of carrying on warfare.
The Austrian commander has made it his charge to
protect the monuments and works of art. It he is
not sure that they will be respected he intends to
take them down and send them to the Danes until
the war is over. Such a course does more honour

to a military chief than the eclat which attends the
victory of his troops. Proofs of magnanimity and
acts of consideration are always among the redeem-
ing features of the stern reig❑ of iron warfare. The
campaign may be an arduous one, and the carnage
great on the day of engagement, but a brightening
gleam may soften the scene and subdue the tints of
the picture if we can trace some instance of genero-
sity and mark some affecting trait of benevolence.
SCOTT has declared—

" Oh, War, thou hut thy fierce delight,
Thy gleams of joy intensely bright."

The Prussians would exemplify the dark and gloomy
view alone to our gaze, and it is well that all mar-
tial manoeuvres are not conducted in a spirit kindred
to theirs, or the peace-mongers would certainly have
the best of it in their slehement denunciations of
the whole concern as a trade of butchery, which
carries devastation in its track, and has extermina-
tion for its motto. The prevailing sentiment of the
English public was pretty plainly seen on Saturday

last at the review in Hyde Park. If Prussia had
any emissaries or envoys present they could not
return with very glad tidings, or despatch very
flattering intelligence to the Fatherland. In many
ways the feeling for Denmark was manifested, and
there must have been many there who learned a

lesson that they did not relish. If there is one thing
more than another contrary to the sentiments
of the people of this country, and capable of arous-
ing their indignation, it is opposition, wrong, and
injustice. Notwithstanding the poor account our
rulers can give of our national spirit and courage
as allies, it has yet to be proved if Prussia has not
realised the fable of grasping the shadow and losing
the substance. The whole of the Danish territory,
were it ten times the size and double the value, may
not bear comparison with the respect and sympathy
of England. That feeling, which would have out-
lived change and losses, cannot be expected to ear.
vive the shock which the recital of the transactions
in this Warfare has occasioned.

Althono of late years some advance has been
made in the right direction, the English Govern-
ment is conspicuous above all other Governments
for the niggardly
Support and inefficacious en-
couragement which it vouchsafes to men of litera-
ture and science. -When success has been achieved
it may come forward to tender the tardy and
valueless tribute of its approval to the man who is
then independent of its aid.
the hour of diffi-
culty, however, when a helping hand is invaluable,
it is vain for the man of genial or enterprise
ex-
pect it from the Court patron or the Circumlocution
official. Perhaps it may be s
urged
thatc to
the test of merit, that " truth is great and will
prevail." Undoubtedly! The truth will prevail,
but the pioneers of that truth are too often the
sacrifice before the day of triumph ultimately
arrives. Examples of this lamentable fact are
only too eaaily numbered. We are reminded of
them at the present moment by a glance at Cap-
RAVERTY's valuable labours,* in a cause far
more important than that of either literature or
science—namely, the good government of our Indian
dependencies. Capt. RAVERTY is an Indian officer
who has distinguished himself in a very remark.
able manner as a linguist. For many years he
has devoted himself to the study of the language of
Affghanistan, and he has, with incredible difficulty
and praiseworthy perseverance, published a dic-
tionary of that language the knowledge of which is
so important among the Government officials in the
Punjaub. The accuracy and correctness of Cap-
tain RAVERTY'S works are attested by many able
scholars of Oriental tongues. Among others
Dr. ALOIS SPENGER, the late Oriental translator
to the Government of India,bears the following testi-

• Dictionary, " Poshto•English." By Captain u. G,
Itavarty, 341 itegiment 134usal Ist, I, Longman and co,

mony to the value of his labours and the inathquate
support which he has received :—" Orientalists
know how difficult it is, in consequence of
the little interest taken by the public in such
works, to find means of publishing Oriental
texts. One would have thought that the English
Government, which rules over 20,000,000 Affghan
subjects, would from the first have taken it up, and
supported his work with pleasure. One would
also have thought that the civil officers would
have found the need of this means of help, so that
it would have been a profitable speculation for a
publisher, But whoever thinks so, knows little of
the condition of Indian affairs. It is enough to
say, that the Pay-bill is written in English, and
not in the Affghan language! Captain RAYERTY
had great difficulties to contend with in getting his
Grammar published, the first edition of which ap-
peared at Calcutta in 1856. After he had in vain
addressed himself to the Government, he sent the
MSS. to the Asiatic Society of Bengal. The Coun-
cil of the society made a report thereupon, and highly
commended the work in the name of the society
to the Government; but it persisted in its refusal."
Although the Government would not aid in the pub-
lication of these works they have condescended to
take a few copies. The Russian Government, how-
ever, have taken a far greater number, and as yet
have bestowed upon the gallant lexicographer a far
greater degree of practical encouragement than he
has received in his own country, It is said that
the majority of Russian officers and diplomatists are
required to pass an examination in the Pashto
language, a system which our own administrators
are also beginning to adopt. Captain RAYERTY
has as yet issued only one half of his dictionary, the
Pashto-English. The other and equally important
portion is now awaiting funds to facilitate its pub-
lication, and it is earnestly to be hoped that such
assistance will not long be wanting to enable the
indefatigable Captain to complete his very valuable
task.

In spite of the famous motto of 'Rest and be
thankful," which our ex-reformer has lately chosen
for his crest, it is very seldom that a Parliamentary
session is suffered to pass over without some discus-
sion of the important question of representative re-
form. It is very easy for those who have nothing
to gain and perhaps much t o lose by further legisla-
tion in the matter, to contend that the country is
perfectly satisfied with what has been already
achieved, and to declare that is quite unnecessary
to move in the affair until there is some degree of
popular agitation respecting it. It is true that the
fervent enthusiasm of 1832 finds no parallel in the
tranquil remonstrances of the present day; that in-
stead of flaming castles and endless processions, an
occasional motion in the Commons, frequently ne-
gatived without a division, and a moderate profes-
sion of liberal views in a hustings speech, ere the
most we hear of it. Bat there is a strong feeling
on the subject nevertheless, and if we have no longer
the vehement and even riotous advocacy of thirty
years since, it is because the feeling is known to be
so strong and so general that no politicians will
openly run counter to it. Individuals may object
to individual questions; the extension of the fran-
chise may give rise to fifty different opinions, while
the Ballot, unfortunately, too commonly sees all
ranks and shades of politics united against its dan-
gerous efficacy, but no statesman will now•a-days
attempt to put himself at the head of a party with
the rallying cry of "No Reform." He would know
that if he did so his chances of power would be but
slight, and his political influence still slighter. It
is one of the singular features of the present day
that all parties have nominally agreed in the exist-
ing creed of a measure which yet never comes to
pass. When four different Reform Bills have been
brought forward within nine years it certainly
looks as though the representation of the country
were in an unsatisfactory state. This argument is
used by the author of a"very moderate and sensible
proposal for amending our parliamentary repre-
sentation. Sir FRANCIS KNOWLES, in a letter* to
the Electors of the United Kingdom, reminds them
that in the years from 1852 to 1860 inclusive, they
had the Whig bill of 1852, the bill of Sir R. PEEL'S
followers; the bill of Lord DERBY in 1859, and
the bill of Lord PALMERSTON in 1860—all sub-
mitted to their consideration. Such being the
case, and Parliamentary Reform having been re-
peatedly
recommended in the Speech from the
Throne, Sir FRA.NCIS KNOWLES thinks it a fitting
time for bringing forward his suggestion for getting
the political machinery out of the dead-lock at which
it appears to have arrived, between the liberality of
all parties, professions, and their secret unwilling. I
ness for real reform. Sir FRANCIS is well qualified
to give an opinion on the matter, having, he tells
us, been a Reformer and a Free-trader when neither
was the fashion, so far back as 1830, and declaring
that even now he entertains no fears of the result,
either of a prudent extension of the suffrage or of
the ballot itself. He does not, indeed, take part in
the Chartist advocacy of the rights of universal suf-
frage, and very simply and clearly sets forward his
views on the matter. It might just as welt, he
contends, be said that every man has a right to be
Lord Chief Justice, as that he has a right to the
franchise, for he has both rights upon one condition
—that he be dilly appointed to the office, according
to law. " A man has a right to the franchise
when the law of the land gives it to him, and not
otherwise; and this, indeed, he admits himself by
his very act of agitating, in order to obtain the
enactment of such a law in his favour." It will be
seen, therefore, that notwithstanding his holding
what he terms advanced liberal opinions, Sir F.
KNOWLES possesses that good sense and modera-
ration which form so valuable a counterbalance to
the fervour of political agitation. He does not
question the beneficial results of extreme liberal
measures after a time, but he especially dreads the
transition state which is inevitably to be gone
through first. We cannot, as he says, awake one
morning to find such measures, laws, safely in
action, and the violent agitation too often attend-
ing a comprehensive change is so justly dreaded
and disliked that the very prospect of it, as he
justly observes, drives all the timid and prudent to
cling to any imperfection in oar institutions rather
than incur the risks of a change. Being thus a
believer in. the principle of an extended reform, and
yet shrinking from the social convulsion necessary
to put it into practice, Sir FRANCIS KNOWLES sug-
gests a medium course by which some of the exist.
ingeeils might be remedied, while those other
dangers
he dreads might be averted. He proposes
to extend the representation without lowering the
franchise, by adding to the present boroughs the
population of all the unrepresented towns, or in his
own words—" To extend the area of the present
borough franchise, by including in it all the non-
or euptresented lowering t towns
:e £
certain(dloownciufictaoliaationitself." T
linait) with-
out
would certainly be a good half-way measure, and
might servo to prepare the ground for a more en•
larged reform. Added to our present representa-
Lion, it would raise the electors to about the same
number as Mr. BAINES proposes to add to
it. It is difficult to see what possible
objection the anti-Reformers can have to such

* The Supplement to the 113 form Act of 1832, in a Letter
to the Electors of the -United Kingdom, by Sir F. C.
jinowlee, Bart., M,A, Ridgway, Piccadilly.

a measure since all the arguments against admit-
ing a lower class of electors fall to the ground.
It is merely an extension of the franchise to those
classes who, if they lived in Parliamentary
boroughs, would have the undisputed right to vote.
It does not, of course, go far enough to meet the
real wants of the country. 11.,..f0rm could not stop
here ; but, as we have said, the adoption of such a
scheme would be a useful stepping-stone to larger
measures, and indeed, this is the view which its
advocate, himself, takes of it. He says, " Once
make the £lO suffrage cover all the towns, and all
future reforms become a mere question of more and
less, to be well matured ani cautiously carried
into effect." The Reform Act of 1832, passed as
it was in the hurry and escitement of the time, was
necessarily incomplete. The task of selecting the
boroughs for enfranchisement and disfranchisement
were alike invidious, and the spirit of Whiggism
had undoubtedly something to do with the choice.
But it was never intended or supposed that the
Bill was to be conclusive—that the increasing
wealth and growing numbers of the unrepresented
towns were to bring about tic change in the dis-
tribution of the electoral districts. Sir F. KNOWLES
calculates that his plan would raise the smallest
constituencies to an average of 2,300, and when it
is stated that there are 120 boroughs with 1,000
and less than 1,00 electors, it must be admitted
that it is high time that the representation
of the country was a little more effectual. An author
estimates the occupiers of houses from £lO to .£5O
rental at about 240,000, end as the actual borough
constituencies number only 487,000, a fairer repre-
sentation of the opinions of the people would cer-
tainly be obtained by the change he recommends,
which would also tend to diminish the disproportion
existing between the representation of the counties
and boroughs. At present they stand thus :

Members. Electors.
Counties l6O .. 535,788
Boroughs
which he would alter to—
Boroughs . 338 727,000

The rapid extension of the railways throughout all
parts of the country remove ary obstacles that
might have arisen is ferrcc: days from an amal-
gamation of distant towns, and a further considera-
tion would probably show many other advantages
of the scheme. It is certainly high time that some.
thing was done, and the recent debate on Mr.
BAINES' measure, together with the attention ex-
cited by the admirable address of the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, has again brought the subject on
the tapir, in spite of the exciting aspect of foreign
politice. One thing is certain—to postpone legisla.
tive reform until it is wrested from a reluctant
Parliament and an irritated people, is to court that
agitation which anti-reformers profess to dread, and
wilfully to excite those angry end tumultuous pas-
sions which subvert all social order, and reader
constitutional changes dangerous and difficult.