The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-23 00:00:00

gifted LONGSTREET. There is unhappily but
little room left for hope that the reported
deaths of the two Federal Generals, that
is WARREN and SEDGEWICK, may be found to have
bee❑ wrongly so reported as killed. But to the
last we shall continue to hope that the wounding of
LONGSTREET may prove to have been nothing
serious. His loss, in effect, would, for the:cause of
the South, be second only to the yet lamented loss
of the famous ".STONEWALL" JACKSON. The
new position taken up by LEE since his retreat—
that retreat of the Confederates being in truth,
strictly a :t7ategic movement—the Federal assail.
ants having been repulsed at all points on the
8:h, the 9th, and the 10 h instant—is
undets' ood to be further south than Spottsyl-
vannia, on the road to Richmond. The upshot of it
lall being that in traversing merely 20 miles on their
way towards the Southern capital,the northern army
has lost two Generals as well as 40,000 men in
killed and wounded. With only too fearful reason,
it must be said that the sensation headers of the
deadly news from the Seat of War, in the New
York newspapers, included among them in flaming
capitals, AWFUL FIGIITING IN VIRGINIA. The
fighting being doubly awful thus in truth—first,
because the war is a civil war; and, secondly,
because the fighting, even thus frightfully, has led
to no decisive result.

Herr TON BIsMARK seems determined to let
:here be no mistake regarding his notions on the

chief topics of the important concerns now occu•

pying the Conference. It would appear as if the
Prussians had resolved to try how much they could

do to outrage public opinion and to exhibit their

utter indifference to the restraints which compacts

and obligations impose. The London Treaty ib

now, it is alleged, to be looked upon as nil, and the

astute and active brain of the Berlin iNlinistEr is

employed in twisting phrases and distorting facts

until he makes cut a very specious show, and de-
monstrates how right and proper it is to ignore the
terms of the treaty altogether. It is true that

many persons of experience were sage enough to
prophecy that this would b 3 the next move; but
notwithstanding it is most likely that the authentic

announcement of the determination will astonish

and annoy many. There are always some infatuated
individuals who will persuade themselves that
things will go right in the end, and however per-

verse the authorities may be at present, that they

will shortly hear reason. These sanguine expec-
tations have not assuredly been fulfilled in the
smallest degree since the commetc-ment of the late
war, and far from any hope of seeing its fulfilment
we may rather say that our fears have been more

than realised. This last move of Herr VON Bis-

MARK'S is to do away wits the least chance of the
Conference interfering with his cherished plans,

and to destroy the only hope that remains of a
satisfactory adjustment being arrived at. It is all
very fine for him to go back so far, and try to make

out a case for himself, bat it does not need a very
sharp-sighted politician to detect the inccnsistence
of his arguments. If the Danish Government had
gone too far in its attempts to frame the constitu•
tion of Schleswig, was that a reason why such in-
tolerable conduct should be exhibited by the Pills,.

sians in particular, and. the allied armies in general.
The whole of the despatch is a contradiction in
terms, and explains very accurately the disin-
genuous form adopted by the Prussians when ex-
plaining a difficult question of their foreign
policy. All through the retrospective glance
we meet with a series of encroachments on
the part of the Danes, and of wise forbearance and
finally slow resort to arms for the restitution oi
their rights. A stranger who studied BISMARK.S
letter attentively would never have imagined that
the.issues of the contest thus begun had attracted
the earnest attention of all Europe, and that all
sympathy was on the side of the people so denounced
and stigmatised by the official' narrator of events in
this epistle. It must be borne in mind that this is

all written for a purpose, and that in some respects
it is almost useless to discuss it too particularly and
to analyse its bearings too closely, for it is the ex-
pression of opinion on the part of those who have
made up their minds beforehand what to do, and
afterwards invent a plausible reason for their ma-
r ceevres. It makes very little difference to the
Prussians whether the terms of the London Treaty
are complied with or not, bat it is a very conve-
nient excuse for violence and oppression to assert
that the Danes have violated the solemn engage-
ments entered into, and that the honour and in-
terests of Prussia alike call for their fulfilment, or
for some new proposal being entered upon. In his
statement about the Danes not fulfilling their con-
tract, Herr von BISMARK seems totally to forget
that ho is insulting the Powers that were parties to
the Treaty of 1852, and that he is virtually telling
them to let him alone, for they cannot or else dare
not interfere with him to prevent the execution of
his design. After perusing the communication of
the Prussian Minister to the Ambassador in Lon-
don we may well ask what is the use of having
agreed to a Conference at all if the ground is to be
cut away from under the feet of those who delibe-
rate. The members of the conclave meet to impress
the necessity or urge the advisability, of Prussia
adhering to some fixed regulations, and maintain
log her engagements with Denmark, and also with
the other countries that were parties to the Treaty.
Instead of agreeing readily the Cabinet of Berlin
have, from the outset of the deliberations, inter-
posed as many obstacles as they can to the fulfilment
of the purpose of the meeting. First there was a
series of delays before beginning the deliberations;
then upon one protest or another a perpetual put-
ting off when the business had actually commenced.
Now we meet with a more serious check than any
previously encountered in this abjuration by Herr
BISMARK, of the vital
principles of the rights of
n
more arrogant piece of assumption than
thisiristl declaration has seldom been perused. First of
all there is a recapitulation of the assertions of the
Government of King WILLIAM, and then from
these it is deduced that the Prussians have a right
to act upoa the threats and menaces which have
been so plentifully hurled against the Danes. This
is strange reasoning, and indicates a total want of
respect for the opinion of others, and a complete
disregard for the observance of solemn obligations
that alternately amazes and exasperates one. We
are fallen upon evil days indeed if the spirit of
England is to submit to this indignity, and the
intelligence of her people to stoop to such a level
as that to which M. Buell/ate.. seeks to degrade us.
If it is to go faith to the world that we are unable
or unwilling to protect our allies from the rupture
of treaties to le hick we were parties, and to interpose
any check to the attempts of invaders against their
privileges,we had better not mix up in foreign affairs
at all. If it amounts to this that we must not vin-
dicate our rights or avenge the wrongs of others,
if we are powerless to support our integrity and
assist their independence, it stands to reason that
it will very soon cease to concern the aggressive
States, whether England approves of their conduct
or not, and that all she does is to send despatches
that give encouragement, and then to disavow them
by standing still when no heed is paid to our warn-
ing. Much has been seid and written regarding
our mismanagement of the Danish question, but no
witness has yet Food forth with such condemnatory