The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-03 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF

TlMES.—Probably there is not one Dane in ten
who does not hold that his country has been scan-

dalously deserted by England, and that its present
misfortunes are chiefly due to the vacillations of

English statesmen. The trials to which Denmark
is now subjected excuse any irritation, and the dis-

position of the Germans to treat recent events as a
victory over us encourages their adversaries to look

upo❑ this country as an ally who has given them evil
counsel; and then left them to 'ilia. But when after
a time the whole negotiation shall be calmly consi.
dered it will appear, we feel assured, with a very
different aspect. At present we are in the midst of
accusations and recriminations ; the voice of our own

native Opposition is scarcely hushed; the wits of
France are still busy with their caricatures ; and it
is of little use to argue with Dines or others on
matters with respect to which they have reached a
foregone conclusion. But, in justice not only to
ourselves, but to those other neutral Powers which,
though shrinking from war, still endeavoured to
shield Denmark from the worst consequences of the
quarrel, it must be pointed out how much more un-
fortunate has been the position of the Copenhagen
Government since it has chosen to stand alone, and
to face its adversaries without the advice or the sup-
port of friendly Powers. It is only a few weeks since
the Conference of London was sitting, and the
British Ministry was labouring to content the
German Powers with a part of ;Schleswig. Much
had been given up, it is true, but even at this
late period much might have been saved. The
Danes, indeed, ought not to have had any expec-
tation of a warlike interference. They knew well

that France and Russia would not dra-w the sword
for them, and they might reasonably have come to
the same conclusion as M, von Bismark or Count

Rechberg, that England was not likely to stir
in the matter. They were told as much, in fact,
by the chief organs of English opinion, and
cannot fairly complain that at any time while the
Conference was sitting they had reason to believe
that they would be supported by British arms
should it prove unsuccessful. This, than, was their
position. They had seen the Duchies overrun by Ger-
man troops almost without resistance; Holstein had
been occupied by the troops of the Federation,Schles•
wig had been conquered by the Austro-Prussians ;
the position of Duppel had been captured with great
loss to the Danish army of men and military repu-
tation ; Alsen was, as was afterwards shown, de-
fended only by a few thousand troops incapable of
standing for a day against the German armies ;
Jutland had been invaded, the chief towns taken
and subjected to cruel and increasing military requi-
sitions, and even the great Danish islands were not
secure. Austria was bringing a powerful fleet into
the Danish waters, and no one could doubt that the
little Danish navy would be as much overmatched
as the army had been. In short, Denmark stood
before the world thoroughly beaten ; not dishonour-
ably, it is true, or by other means than the over-
whelming strength and superior military organisa-
tion of the enemy, but still beaten. No one looking
at the situation of the belligerents could doubt
that, if left unassisted, the Danes must undergo all
that the German Powers choose to inflict, and there
was not the smallest hepe of assistance. The
neutral Powers of the Continent had let it be well
understood that they would not interfere, and
there had been unmistakeable signs that England
would not depart from her usual policy. Yet this
weak and almost powerless State, with the two
Duchies in possession of the enemy, with Jutland
invaded, and with Alsen and even Funen threat-
ened, was, even in the latest days of the Con-
ference, by no means driven to extremities by the
enemy. Through the influence of England a com-
promise had been accepted by Austria and Prussia.
They did not ask for the whole of Schleswig; they
were disposed to leave Alsen to the Danes. They
proposed a boundary line which, though much
further north than was acceptable to Denmark, or
than seemed just to England, was yet many miles
south of the Jutland frontier. At the same time,
Baron Beust proposed his plan of dividing the
country into zones for the purpose of testing its
opinions and nationality. All this indicated that
even in the hour of complete military success the
Germans shrank from tearing away from Denmark
all the territory in dispute without regard to treaties
or prescription, or the moderation enjoined by
European usages, This willingness to compromise
was undoubtedly caused by the presence of the
neutral Plenipotentiaries at the Conference. Ger-
many could not even to the most peaceful of her
great neighbours assume the overbearing manner
which she has since shown towards Denmark. But
at the Conference this spectacle seems to have been
entirely lost upon the Copenhagen Government. In-
' stead of recognising that any moderation shown by
the allies was due to the influence of the neutrals,
King Christian's Cabinet appears to have been full
of the belief that it had only to break free from the
trammels of negotiation, and that then in some way
the issue would be successful. The Danes had,
probably, all heard and read that fortune favours
the bold, that war is sometimes safer than peace,
that help comes from quarters whence it is little
expected, and so on through all the proverbial
incentives to rashness. They counted, we fancy,
very much on her Majesty's Opposition, and be•
lieved that if they defied their enemy, and stood
manfully in the breach, an outburst of popular feel-
ing here m;ght compel the Government to side with
them or resign. At all events, their anxiety to be
rid of the Conference was one of the chief causes of
its failure. It was they who at the last refused to
negotiate further, and the ending of the discussions
was looked upon by them as a relief from some-
thing which kept them spell-bound and prevented
them from saving their country by their own exer-
tions, or the help of their friends, How grievously
have they been mistaken ! In the war which they
have renewed they have been unable to strike a
single blow. Alsen was taken by surprise on the
very day after the renewal of hostilities, and the
strip of country at the extreme north of Jutland,
the last piece of continental territory remaining to
them, was overrun with equal ease. In fact, their
army had been ruined long before the Conference
came to an end. It did not survive the defeat of
D ippel, and has been quite incapable of opposing
the Germans at any point. Now at last have come
the conditions of peace. This peace, be it said, has
now been sued for, instead of being received un-
bidden through the intervention of neutral Powers,
as it would have been at the Conference. The very
armistice granted by the German Powers has been
at the application of Denmark, which a few weeks
ago thought fit to resist the entreaties of all Europe
on the same point. But the peace now it has come is
far less favourable than what England could have
procured even as late as June. The King of Den-
mark cedes his rights to Schleswig, Holstein, and
Lauenburg. Even should Jutland be restored at
the conclusion of peace, the position of the monarchy
will be moat unfortunate. A Danish population
subject to Germany will be at the very, doors of the
Jutlanders. There will be no portion of Schleswig
left to the kingdom to be a barrier between the
Germans and the purely Danish territory, but Jut-
land will be exposed, unprotected, to all the influ-
ences which a frontier German province can bring
upon it. When to this it is added that by accept-
ing what was offered at the Conference the Danes
might have escaped the defeat of both army and
navy at Alsen, might have prevented the destruc-
tion of the railway in Jutland and the exhausting
contributions to which that province has been sub-
ject, there are reasons enough to make them regret
the incaution with which they plunged for a second
time into war.
POST.—The interest presently attaching to a
single election is comparatively small. It has been
discovered that the relative strength of parties is by
no means so nearly equal as was supposed; and the
House of Commons has at the most only one more
session to run. Still, the contest which commences
at Exeter this morning cannot be regarded with in-
difference. The constituency is an important one
in point of intelligence and respectability, and its
representation has always been an object of ambi-
tion to distinguished lawyers on the Western Cir-
cuit. In Sir William Follett the Conservatives
secured a member who commanded the respect of
his political opponents ; and the Liberals would
have returned the present Lord Chief Justice if he
had not been previously engaged at Southampton.
The candidates to be nominated to-day are also,
both of them, men whom the citizens might, apart
from politics, desire to elect, Their names are well
known in the county, and while one is heir to broad
lands and an hereditary title, the other stands in
the front rank of a noble profession. If Lord Cour.
tansy's chief recommendation be that he is the son
of the Earl of Devon, the Conservative burgesses
need not be ashamed to own it. The Liberals, how-
ever, have been even more fortunate in the choice
of a candidate. Mr Coleridge possesses in an emi-
nent degree all the qualifications for the office be
solicits. As an orator he is not only fluent, and
what is commonly called eloquent, but pure and
classical ; and his opinions, which have evidently
been carefully formed, are seriously entertained.
There is no time-serving, no truckling to FspF•
diency, no bending to the current of popularity in
his speeches. What he thinks he says, and his
thoughts spring from earnest conviction. Mr Cole.
ridge has been reproached with having desertedtha
faith in which he was brought up, but it can hardly
be necessary to answer an accusation which High
Tories and Low Churchmen have equally made
against the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the
Atteeney_General. His political adversaries are con-
strained to admit his private worth and high per.
sonal character, and it is acknowledged that there
are many Cowieryetiye Churchmen in the old oethe.