The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-28 00:00:00

PREPARATIONS FOR WAR.

The truth cannot be blinked—nay, for that
matter, there is no disposition whatever amongst
us to blink it—that Preparations for War
a7e making as appreciably on this side
of the Channel as upon the frontiers of
Denmark. The Austrian and Prussian troops have

received the order to advance. The Danish Army of
Defence is being martialled in battle array in readi-
ness for any emergency. And meanwhile, here, in
England the note of warlike preparation is also
audible, very distinctly. Our Channel Fleet—
recalled some days since—is now almost hourly
expected to arrive at Spithead. Between 20,000
and 30,000 troops, at the same time, are, accord-

ing to the significant phrase, are already put upon
a war footing—prepared, that is, to march any day
down to our shores for embarkation. And while
the German soldiery are already marching, and our
Cwn troops are in readiness to march for the Danish
seat of war, the like activity is being yet more
conspicuously manifested—and no marvel, in truth,
that it should bo so, under the circumstances—by
Denmark.

The truth is that the wise maxim that the
best way to preserve peace is to be prepared
for war is the very on,
which the Danes
are prudently obeying at the present moment.
While the Rigsraad are assembling for debate, and
diplomacy is aspiring to unravel with dexterous but
hitherto ineffectual efforts the more than Gordian
intricacies of the Schleswig-Holstein difficulty,
6,000. soldiers are Gaily at work, zealously. employed
in the fortification of the Dannewerk. Intrench-
meats are being farmed that may command
the Haddebyer and , Movenberge Road,

and batteries have been erected in the
intrenchments. It would therefore appear that
in the event of the extreme pressure from the Ger-
man Powers being persevered in, King
CHRISTIAN is not disposed tamely to submit to
all demands, and surrender the internal
honour in order to retain quiet possession of
the throne. There is an old formula in which
some ancient Sings on their instalment in the royal
dignity were addressed by their very independent
subjects in these haughty words—" We, who are
as good as you, make you our King to protect our
rights if not—not." Some such understanding, not
avowed in words perhaps, but tacitly and deliber-
' ately acknowledged on both sides, was believed to
exist between King CHRISTIAN and his people when
he was chosen from the ranks of German royalty to
assume the high post of Danish Sovereign, The
integrity of the Danish monarchy, and the inviola-
bility of the union with Schleswig, was assuredly
understood to form a part of the solemn contract
undertaken by King CHRISTIAN when he received
the Crown. This conviction must have due weight in
the deliberations of the KING. He is placed obviously
in a dilemma on either hand, his difficulties are
bewildering. He naturally and justly shrinks
from war, but he still more naturally and more
justly shrinks from any falsification of his former
pledges. By a weak concession to an arbitrary de-
mand, the difficulties of the hour may be tided over,
but only at a later day to overwhelm the vacillating
councillors with perhaps irretrievable disas-
ters. If the KING, by an unnecessary act, in these
first days of power, alienate the sympathies and
weaken the confidence of his subjects, he will sustain
a loss for which no accession of German influence can
compensate him, and for which, perhaps, no future
changes can indemnify him. These hard truths are
not unrecognised by the new Danish Sovereign;
hence his pertinacious endeavours to protract the
day of decision. Meanwhile the Rigsraad are
assembling to deliberate; and, at the same time,
fortunately for the honour and reputation of Den-
mark, the sounds of warlike preparation are heard
upon her frontiers, and her defences are being in-
trenched against German innovation.

The two circulars lately issued by the leaders o
the Ministerial and Opposition sides of the House
naturally suggest subjects of reflection, and remind
us that the day of trial draws near. Mere words
of course as these official communications contain,
they nevertheless possess a significance not to be
overlooked, and mean more than they express. This
session it may be that the would-be-wise, and the
all-sufficient will be taken by surprise and stand
amazed to see something really important brought
forward on one side, and something of consequence
interposed by the other. Those members who
regret to leave their country quarters and exchange
the delights of home and the enjoyment of leisure,
to pass monotonous hours in listening to dreary
debates which may be dismissed from the memory
afterwardswith the comprehensive descriptive phrase
vox et pnterea, may chance discover that they are
called upon to take part in stormy scenes, and to
discuss momentous occurrences. It is long since a
session dawned upon the political world so rife with
events to take note of, and policy to be determined,
as the forthcoming one. Since the year 1846,
when the celebrated contention took place on the
subject of Free Trade, no similar crisis of such
magnitude has occurred. There is really therefore
some excuse for speculation, some scope for theory,
and some reason for cogitation. One thing may be
considered certain at all events ; the frame of mind
which has distinguished the Cabinet during the
last few years must be altered, that is a sine qua
non in this universal dilemma and difficulty into
which we are plunged regarding everything abroad
and many affairs of moment at home. Either the
Ministers must come forward in a determined
manner, cr else they must make way for others
more zealous and proficient. All foretells a change,
and heralds a reaction. It is high time indeed that
a new state of things should supervene, and the old,
effete, languid, and dilatory policy be banished, or
at least put aside for a more fitting opportunity and
a more convenient season. The well-wishers of the
Ministers should counsel them to look ahead and not
to fancy they can drift among the breakers with the
same coolness and carelessness with which they
passed through the calm and smooth waters of the
previous years. Neither let them be too secure of
their majority : if they have one, it must now be
of very slender propartions, and altogether too
scanty to trifle with or boast about. The actual
possession of a large one cannot always secure
safety or bestow security. The present Premier
has tested this fact pretty accurately, and his
memory may recall some strange scenes full of
truth and meaning, rich in warning, and prophetic
of doom to the unwary. Not many years ago, he
met Parliament with an immense majority, proud
of his strength, and confident in his numerical
superiority ; and in that House he called his own
he could not obtain a hearing. He now again in -
augurates a session with none of this eclat and
prestige, and he may yet find a parallel in 1864 ts
the defeats and mortification of 1858. Since then
a change has come over the component parts of
the legislative assembly, and wherever strength
has accrued in numbers, or force been added by de-
bate, it has been on the side of the Opposition.
They now hold a position, exercise an authority,
and impart an influence to debates which they have
not possessed since they were -so shaken by the
changes of Sir ROBERT PEEL many years ago.
Step by step, session after session, have they perse-
vered, and the handful of men whose triumphant
and numerous opponents would scarcely condescend
to own as an Opposition are now the chief party
in the State, and decide at their pleasure if the
Minister shall be victorious against his recusant
followers, or if a large majority shall decide a ques-
tion, of course not a Government one, against them.
People have gone on so long reciting the anoma-
lies and recapitulating the absurdities of such a
course until they are apt to believe it is to last till
the crack of doom. Perhaps the Government have
relied too much in this fancied security, and
supposed it did not much matter what
little they did, since there was no one
else to do more. They had better take
heed lest the fable of the hare and the tortoise be
enacted in the arena of political strife and the field
of Parliamentary encounters. When it has hap-
pened on two occasions that the Conservatives have
held the reins of office, the taunts and jeers of their
adversaries have been beyond bounds, and the
special charge against them was that they were in
a minority. It was convenient to forget that there
was more skill displayed by an opposition in a
minority who came into power, than by a Govern-
ment with a majority who lost their places. There
is a French proverb which is very illustrative, it
says Rira Bien qui rira le dernier, and this time
there may not be so much cause for revolt as on
previous occasions. It is in the time of danger and
the period of trial that we can best appreciate our
advantages, and recognise our good gifts. At this
critical juncture the lull benefits and blessings of
our Constitution may be perceived, and should be
thankfully acknowledged. Whatever differences
may,exist or disseiasious arise in the course ,of the
struggle before us, there will be no cause foj us to
fear'the occurrence of those wild asts,, and