The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-27 00:00:00

WEST INDIA, PACIFIC, AND MEXICAN
MAILS,

[REUTER'S TELEGRAM

SOUTHAMPTON, JUNE 27.

The Royal Mail steamship Shannon has arrived
here with the above mails, 300 passengers, and
£345,363 in specie. She left St. Thomas's on the
13th inst.

Jamaica was flooded in some parts by the rains,
causing damage and stopping the traffic with the
interior.

Things were quiet at Hayti. The President had
pardoned all the ccnspirators except three, who
were to be shot.

Beyond the bombardment of Monte Cristi, the
Spaniards were making no progreEs at Santo
Domingo. .
_ _

The Emperor and Empress of Mexico arrived at
Vera Cruz on the 28th ult., and proceeded to
Soledad the next day, where they were met by
Generals Almonte, Soles, and Well. Their
Majesties arrived at Cordova late on the 291 b, and
reached Orizabe on the 301 h.

EDIPEEIAL P.ARLIAIIENT

HOUSE OF LORDS—This Evening,

The appearance of thelubbies leading to the House of Peers
presented a very animated scene this evening, in consequence
of the importance attached to the statement to be made by
'the Secretary for Foreign Affairs relative to the position
of matters with respect to the Dano-German war. Per sms
who had been fortunate enough to secure members' orders
attended in large numbers, and on the opening of the
strangers' gallery the rush was terrific. The interior of the
house presented a very unusaal appearance from the large
number ot elegantly dressed ladies who filled the galleries
extending the entire length of either side or the magnificent
chamber. The space in front of the throne was also crowded,
and altogether the scene ot animation presented was one
not often seen within the walls of Parliament. The attend-
ance of peers was very large.

The LORD' CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack at
4 o'clock.

TEE DANA-GERMAN WAR.
THE MINISTERIAL STATEMENT.

Earl RUSSELL, having laid the papers upon the table,
then proceeded to address their lordships, but for
some time, owing to the buzz of excitement, the
voice of the noble earl was entirely inaudible in the reporters'
gallery. He said, before commenting upon the proceedings
of the Conference, ho would speak of what had gone before.
[Here the Prince of Wales entered•the house, and took his
accustomed seat on the cross benches. 1 The treaty of
1862, in reference to Denmark, and the engagements
then made in that and the former year with respect
to the arrangements between Germany and Denmark were
in their operations extremely unsatisfactory. The, conse-
quence of the irritation which arose out of the differences
between Germany and Denmark in reference to the govern:-
ment of the Duchies was a kind of increasing irritation, and
as Germany was immensely more powerful than Denmark,
it was but too probable that Denmark was destined to suffer
one day on account of the Duchies. The death of the King
of Denmark produced an entire change of the existing state
of affairs. Upon the question of succession to the Duchies
was immediately raised, by theGovsrnmenta of Prussia and
Austria,a somewhat singular and not very defensible course.
They declared their intention of making the King of Den-
mark responsible for the actions of the late King, and in
the beginning they declared to proceed to Federal execu-
tion, and the result was war. The struggle went
on for some time when, in the interests of peace,
it was thought a Conference with the Powers might put an
end to such a terrible state of affairs. Her Majesty's Go-
vernment accordingly proposed a Conference, the arrange.
went was agreed to, and the plenipotentiaries attended in
due course. On the 12ds. of May, after the suspension of
arms, he asked the Austrian and Prussian Governments
what it was they asked in the interests of their subjects.
Be it observed, that although Prussia and Austria
had, continually declared that they had certain ar-
rangements they insisted upon which had not
been forfeited, they Ivid agreed to specify what
those engagements were. When Lor`•d Wode-
house want to Berlin on his way to Copenhagen he endea-
voured, according to his instructions, to have an explana-
tion upon this point. The reply he received was that she
DanishGovernmeint refused to repeal the cons titution ofNov.,
and we shall afterwards say what arrangements they proposed
We will then judge of those arrangements and pronounce
our opinion upon them. Nothing could justify the course
which they were pursuing, because at the same time they
were ready to carry their war measures to an extremity.
Afterwards, at a later sitting of the Conference, the position
took this form. The Diet, it was affirmed by Austria and
Prussia, had declared that it would recognise the King of
Denmark as the legitimate heir to the Duchies. The pleni.
potentiary of Germany, who, in fact, had greater power
than either of the plenipotentiaries of Austria or Prussia,
declared that Germany would never consent to the re-con-
nection of the Duchies with Denmark. On the 17th May
there was a more positive declaration on the part of Austria
and Prussia in the Conference, which was that they could
legally recognise the King of Denmark as Sovereign of the
Duchies, but 'that they ought to be placed under the
septre of the Prince of Auguatenberg, and that he
should be the possessor of these for the future. This
declaration they felt would be held throughout Ger-
many to be the wish of the German people.
The proposal made by her Majesty's Government was that
Germany should have the Duchies of Holstein and the
southern part of Schleswig, that the German powers
should not interfere in the internal affairs of Den-
mark, and that a , general guarantee should be given
by the European powers to maintain Denmark as to the
rest of her possessions. The Danish Government made a
declaration of this, which he thought did them the
highest credit, which was that the King of Denmark
had accepted the crown, and stipulating that the treaty of
1852 would be carried out. This proposition led to further
deliberations, during which there appeared to be no desire
on the part of the Austrian, Prussian, And German powers
to prevent the great calamity of war.
(LEFT SPEAKING.)

HOUSE OF COMMONS—This Evening,
The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock.
PRIVATE BUSINESS.
The following bills were read a third time and passed :
The Belfast Central Railway, and the KilkennyJunction
Railway.
OPEN SPACES FOR PUBLIC RECREATION, &c.
Sir J. SHELLEY presented petitions from different
parts of the metropolis, praying that the space already
occupied for the enjoyment and recreation of the comtnu-
ni y should not be infringed by the ground of the same
being let for building or other purposes. (Hear, liter.)
THE ACCIDENT AT EGII&H,
Sir R. BULKELEY asked the President of the Board
of Trade whether his attention bad bAen drawn to the evi-
dence given at thetinque4 on the sufferers by the late rail-
way accident at Eghana, by Mr. Robert A. Scott, traffic
manager of the South Western Railway, in which he says
" ordinarily, I think, there would not be the eliglotest
d.leger in starting them (the trains) at an interval of five
minutes, allowing the first train to make a first stoppage at a
distance of eight miles. It is quite an ordinary working
of the trains. Some lines allow only three minutes :" also
to the evidence of
whose duty was to note the arrival and departure of the
Th"mss Gibbard, office-porter at Egharn,
trains, and who stated "That the Royal train (containing
their Royal
of Pales) passed through Egham in the morning
Highneases the Prince and Princess
at 12.51, and that Lee passed through at 12.47:"
Whether the President of the Board of Trade would in-
form the house on what lines trains were started at intervals
of three minutes only : whether starting trains on the same
line at intervals of three minutes was done with the know-
ledge and sanction of the Board of Trade : and, whether he
considered the safety of their Royal Highnesses was suffi •
ciently protected in allowing a heavy passenger train to
precede them by fourminutes only ?
Mr. M. GIBSON explained that the Board of Trade
had no power in the matter.
THE CONFERENCE.
APPEARANCE OF THE HOUSE. _

From an early hour both the floor of the house and the
galleries were crowded to excess, and the proceedings
were invested with that animation which only arises
from great political excitement. The strangers' gallery
was full to overflowing, and that portion of it reserved
for distinguished foreigners was occupied by the leading
diplomatic representatives of the principal European states.
Lord PALMERSTON rose a few minutes before five
o'clock, and said—lf ever there was a question that excited
the feelfng of this country in an unanimous manner,
it was that of Denmark. (Sear, hear.) The greatest
sympathy was felt throughout the country in the affairs
of that kingdom, and the greatest desire was expressed
that some arrangement should be made to termi-
nate the hostilities that were going on. He would
limit his observations merely to an explanation of the docu-
ments that wouldbe in the hands of hon. members to-morrow.
In order, however, to make the house fully acquainted with
all the facts it would be necessary to enter into some:-
tails. (Hear, hear.) With reference to the treaty of 1 9
upon which so much cf this queticn turned, it Nfas