The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-04 00:00:00

ME SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 4, lEEE'.

LONDON, SATURDAY, NOV. 4, 1865.

It seems as if we were never to hear the last of
the tyrannies and persecutions of the two great
German Powers. The last news is that the Duke
Of AUGUSTENBUEG is to be the victim. According
to the accounts received General GABLENZ had an
interview with the Prince ani informed him that
should any further demonstration take place in
consequence of his stay in Holstein, he would be
either placed under arrest or compelled to leave the
Duchies. It is true that such an intimation is only
what has been expected for some time by those who
have watched the turn affairs were taking, but the
injustice of the proceeding is none the less ap-
parent. In some respects the conduct of the
allied Powers towards this Prince is the worst
thing they have done, because it is now evident that
it has been premeditated treachery throughout. He
was to be their excuse for seizing the spoil, but
when the prey was secure then he was to be cast off.
It world hardly have done for even the brazen as-
surance of Prussia to have laid claim to the posses-
sion of the Duchies in the first instance but with
the skilful managempt adverted to, it was possible

to effect the desired end. If anything could increase
the evil opinion which the nations of Europe enter-
tain concerning the Schleswig-Holstein affair, it
would be the treatment which the Prince
of AUGUSTENBURG is now receiving. It
stamps the actors in it with perfidy, and
shows that every one of their fine-sounding
pretensions put forth at the outset, and which re-
ceived such implicit credence from Earl RUSSELL
and some others, was false. Surely some compunc-
tion must now be felt by those who persisted in
maintaining that the Dano-German war was not
one of aggression, but undertaken in the cause of
nationality, and with theobject of settling the vexed
question of the Duchies in the most satisfactory and
independent manner. The reverse of this picture
is so plainly seen, that the most perverse must
acknowledge it, and the most ignorant understand
it. In fact, the Prince of AUGUSTENBURG has
been made as complete a dupe as any one we ever
heard of, and although his claims may not be authen-
tic even according to German traditions, and he
certainly lent his aid in perpetrating a great wrong
to Denmark, still one cannot help feeling sorry for
him on account of the unfair treatment he has re-
ceived. At any rate, he had more right to the
possession of the coveted places than his so-called
allies, but virtual enemies, and under his sway the
Duchies would have enjoyed a freedom which they
will never possess in the present state of things. It
is some sort of satisfaction to find that these artful
dodgers have in a measure overreached themselves,
and there is quite a panic among the people of the
Duchies to put down the excitement they them-
selves aroused in favour of the Prince. Of course,
it is quite immaterial to such rulers as these what
opinions those under their rule entertain of their
consistency, or else it might appear strange to some
that it was extraordinary to say one thing and do
another.

Any one who reads the circular of Baron VON ZED-
LITZ to the chief officials in reference to the recent
reception of the Duke of AUGUSTENBURG at Ecken-
forde, may well conceive that the Cabinet of Berlin
is equal to any effrontery and perversion of facts.
It would appear that great indignation has been
felt by the authorities in consequence of the favour
in which the PRINCE has been held, and they are
determined to put down all manifestations of the
sort at once and for ever in a determined manner.
The fact is, that the Prussian Civil Commissioner
in Schleswig acts very much on the principle of
the wolf and the lamb in the fable; he is
resolved to find out some cause of offence, and
although he is compelled to admit that the accounts
at first given of the occurrences which took place
upon the arrival of the Prince were greatly exag-
gerated, still he goes on in a manner which could
only be justified if they had fallen far short of the
reality instead of exceeding it. The conduct of the
tribunals and of the officials must be governed by
fixed laws, and only regarded in a particular point
of view, and the Baron VON ZEDLITZ is at great
pains to inform those he addresses of the nature of
their duties ; he states that the Duchies of Schles-
wig and Holstein now belong to the Sovereigns of
Prussia and Austria, and it must not be permitted
that any one else should assume to himself
" titles and honours." Furthermore, we find
that act containing the recognition of a third party
as a legitimate Sovereign, or " according even a
mark of honour appertaining only to the rule, will
be stamped as an attempt at rebellion against the
legal condition of the country." This is plain
speaking with a vengeance, and affords proof posi-
tive, if such were wanting, of the consummate
assurance with which Prussia can comport her-
self. Here is the man, to further whose cause all
Europe was set astir, and by whose side the Crown
Prince of PRUSSIA went forth to fight, almost pro-
scribed as an adventurer by the functionaries of the
Monarch who undertook the war on his behalf.

Nothing can be stronger than the terms which are
employed in this circular to show that no tolera-
tion will be afforded to those who, directly or indi-
rectly, countenance the Prince. On the contrary,
we find that the officials are bound " to proceed in
the most energetic manner, with all possible means
at their command, against every act" whereby
the Prince, or any other claimant, shall
be characterised as Sovereign. Authority that
is based upon such acts of subterfuge as
these cannot be very permanent or very strong, but
for the time there is no doubt that the evil influ-
ences will prevail, and that the sovereign sway of
Prussia and Austria will reign paramount in the
Duchies. It is long since we have had such a speci-
men of deceit exhibited to us, and most vexatious
is it to contemplate. If the Duke of ALTMSTENBURG
be wise he will lose no time in taking himself off to
some place out of reach of the mandates of the
German Powers, for his prospects will not be very
bright if those ruthless and covetous aggressors take
offence, and deem it advisable to proceed to extremi-
ties in the furtherance of their schemes. The Vienna
Treaty was made under compulsion by the then
necessities of war ; it was no recognition of the
claims of the Emperor of AUSTRIA or the King of
PRUSSIA to the Duchies, but these territories were
ceded to them as the conquerors in the con-
test. They had constituted themselves the
arbitrators of the rights of the Duchies, and the up-
holders of the claims of the Prince of AUGUSTEN-
BURG. There is neither sense nor reason in any of
the explanations so prolifically furnished to us
from all quarters respecting the circumstances of
the case. The nations and individuals who are
independent of these despotic Powers cannot
change their convictions and unsay what they have
said all in an instant because it suits the conve-
nience of the Sovereigns of Austria and Prussia
that they should do so.

The National Temperance League has not relaxed
its efforts, and shows energy and determination
enough, worthy, we will not say of a better cause,
but of better means of serving it. The object
which its members set before them is the supression
of a great vice, and the removal of a powerful in-
centive to crime, as well as a fruitful source of
misery, disease, and death. The poverty and
wretchedness which owe their origin to the potent
spirit of drink are probably far from being over-
stated by the eloquent advocates of total abstinence,
but we are not sanguine enough to believe that the
numbers of convictions in England would fall from
16,000 in one year to 2,000 if their peculiar
theories were carried out. It is no wonder
then that such a large number of earnest and
philanthropic men should devote themselves se-
riously to the consideration how best to deal with
this great evil, which all who have studied the sub-
ject charge with so large a share of the crime and
pauperism of the country. He who could by any
means permanently diminish the drunkenness of
the lower orders would be conferring an incalculable
boon on the country ; be would do more towards
the elevation of the working man than a thousand
political reformers. It is because the objects of the
League are so praiseworthy, and commend them-
selves so forcibly to the approval of every right-
thinking man, that we regret to see its mem-
bers setting out on a hopeless track. To
endeavour to enforce total abstinence on a
and
whole country at the present day is a perfectly use-
less unprofitable task. It woull be a complete

surrender of the individual liberty which has been
so long•fought for and so hardly won were such a
system to be adopted, and practical experience has
proved, moreover, that it would entirely fail in its
object. Whether we accept the general maxims of
philosophy, or the more searching test of actual
experiment, we shall always find that an enforced
abstinence produces a corresponding violent re-
action. It is a hundred times told tale, and cer-
tainly, if total abstinence could by any possibility
be enforced upon this country in the present day,
the result would be something very unsatisfactory
to the Teetotallers. The meeting held yesterday
evening at the Mansion-house by the National
Temperance League, under the presidency of the
Lord Mayor, was fully and respectably attended.
A large number of gentlemen, members of different
professions, members of Parliament, and others,
were present, not necessarily implying their accept-
ance of total abstience principles by their presence,
but merely their wish to hear what was to be said
on the subject. The National Temperance League,
though kindred in its views to the United King-
dom Alliance, does not set about realising them in
the same manner. It does not advocate a Permis-
sive Bill, but it
.adopts the more suitable and
effectual means of argument persuasion and
moral influence. The object of the meeting last
night was to enable a deputation from the Tem-
perance League to lay before the audience facts and
statements relating to the movement, and to elicit
from those assembled a frank interchange of opinion
as to the means to be most effectually employed for
the removal of national intemperance. The tone of
this invitation, it will be seen, was fair and candid,
and far more likely to enlist a mixed audience in its
favour than the advocacy of a Permissive Bill. The
statistics given by Mr. GURNEY indicated very great
efforts on the part of the society, which have been
accompanied in many instances by very great sue -
eels. There are various channels employed to gain
an influence over the rising generation, and the
efforts of the society extend even to India and the
Colonies. ' Still we cannot believe that such doc-
trines will ever find universal acceptance, and if it
were possible that they should do so, human
nature would be no nearer perfection than
it is now. It is not by the removal
of temptation, but by learning to resist
it that the wise man hopes to raise his kind ; and in
the same way that we have seen this great evil so
much diminished in the upper and middle classes,
we may hope that education, enlightenment, better
homes, and more accessible rational pleasures will
lessen it in the lower ranks. As the most popular
poetess of our day has well put it in her powerful
" Temperance Song :"

" God sent all things for our using,
Meat and malt, and oil and wine,
Woe attends the rash abusing
Heaven's merciful design.
Prize the boon ye are possessing,
But mark well the holy verse ;
Take enough, it is a blessing—
Take too much it proves a curse."
This is the true principle on which education and
reformation should be based, and, if less demon-
strative, it will be found far more powerful in its
general effects than extreme theories, which can
only enlist a few supporters, leaving the great mass
to the old evil ways.

Those who are interested—and who is not ?—in
the continued pre-eminence of our manufactures
should turn their attention to the remarks made a
few days since by Sir STAFFORD NORTIICOTE at
Exeter. The hon. baronct was present at the
ceremony of laying the foundation stone of the
Albert Memorial Museum, and took the opportu-
nity of making some remarks on the commercial im-
portance of scientific and artistic education. Many
persons occupied in business are inclined to under-
rate the advantages of such mental training and
extended information for their children. They are
apt to think that a sound knowledge of the mere
rudiments of education is quite sufficient
to enable them to be successful merchants and ma-
nufacturers. But the world has moved on too fast
for that, and, as Sir STAFFORD NORTIICOTE clearly
showed, English manufacturers have now a great
battle to fight against foreign competition, and the
superiority of our trade and commerce cannot be
lightly maintained. Fifty years ago England had such
great advantages in capital and machinery that no
one could compete with her ; but now that other
countries have accumulated capital, and are improv-
ing their machinery as well as profiting by the
extension of free trade, the pressure of com-
petition is becoming more and more felt. It
is, therefore, as Sir STAFFORD NORTIICOTE
pointed out, absolutely necessary that England
should not fall behind in the cultivation of science
and art, " the application of which by her rivals
would render them more formidable, but which, if
England used them, would render her irresistible."
The artistic superiority of our continental rivals was
long accepted as a matter of course, but thanks to
the institution of schools of Art and Design, and
other efforts of the kind, Englishmen are rapidly
retrieving themselves. For many years it was
the fashion to declare that the fine arts would
never be popular in England, but at the present
day crowds flock to hear the standard pro-
ductions of the great masters of music ; and in
the same way the national taste for the sister art is
being slowly but surely developed. If the education
of the eye and ear is accepted as being as much a
part of instruction as the cultivation of the memory,
we shall soon see rapid progress. The more our
middle classes, our manufacturers and merchants,
encourage such institutions as these, the better it
will be for English trade and commerce, there being
no lack of taste or ability among us, but only the
want of opportunity for its cultivation and develop-
ment.

SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS FOR THE ENSUING WEEK.—
Monday : Entomological, at 7. Tuesday : Horticultural,
at 3, Scientific Meeting and Election of Fellows; Ethnolo-
gical, at 8, "Report on Papers at Birmingham ; "Manners
and Customs of Little Popo, Bight of Benin," Capt. Wild-
man ; "Darien Indian," Dr. Cullen. Wednesday : Royal,
at 4f; Microscopical, at 8, " Vegetable Parasites on Hu-
man Skin," Mr. Jabez Hogg ; Geological, at 8, " Subma-
rine Forest Beds, Porlock Bay," Mr. Goodwin-Austen;
"Marine Origin of Parallel Roads of Glenroy, Rev. R. B.
Watson. Friday : Astronomical, at 8. Saturday : Horti-
cultural, at 2.—Athen,znim.
The ships now afloat on their voyage from India
to the Mersey with cotton number 47, with a total of
168,388 bales. Twenty-four vessels have also recently
cleared from American ports and are now bound to Liver-
pool, with 26,633 bales of cotton.
LORD PALMERSTON AND HARROW.—We have said
that he was a public schoolman, and an Harrovian to the
last. The very last time that he was present at his old
school was on the occasion of the visit of the Prince and
Princess of Wales in 1864, for the "speeches." On that
occasion, when Dr. Butler was showing the Royal party
round, he referred the Princess to Lord Palmerston to
be the showman of his own name, a task which he
immediately undertook with his usual good nature.
He also laid the foundation stone of the Vaughan Library
on July 4, 1861, at the request of the present head-master,
and the old Harrovians who had subscribed to it, with an
evident readiness to pay that compliment to Dr. Vaughan's
successful administration of the school. It was a pouring
day, pouring during the process itself, which had to beper-
formed under umbrellas ; and Lord Palmerston, with his
usual facetiousness, managed in his speech, to bring in some
funny comparison between education and the "fertilising
showers," which refreshed and improved the soil, though
they were not always exactly to the taste of those who
were exposed to their influence. On these occasions, he
generally got jauntily on horseback again, and rode back
to London in time for the afternoon debate, without stop-
ping to trouble himself about the "spread," to which all
the rest of the guests were repairing, at the Head Master's
)1011§0.-000 a Week,

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

THE SANITARY CONFERENCE.
MADRID, Nov. 3 (Evening.)

The Spanish Government has accepted the invi-
tation of France to the Sanitary Conference at
Constantinople.

port of his claims ; and to-day even the bandits
into which the partisans of the cause have degene-
rated have been abandoned by the departure of their
chief from his native soil.

" The National Government was for a long time
indulgent, extending clemency to those misguided
men to enable them to join the majority of the
nation, and once more pursue the path of duty. In
this the Government was successful, and honourable
men ranged themselves under its banners with confi-
dence in its just and liberal policy. The cause of
disorder was sustained only by a few leaders whose
passions stifled their patriotism, by the most
demoralised of the lower classes, and.by a lawless
soldiery, such as always remains the last sad vestige
of civil war.

" From henceforth the contest will be solely be-
tween the respectable men of the nation and bands
of criminals and highwaymen. There can be no
more leniency, as it will benefit only bands of men
who burn villages and rob and assassinate peaceful
citizens, decrepit old men, and defenceless women.
The Government, strong in its power, will from this
day forth administer punishment inflexibly, as
called for by the laws of civilisation, the rights of
humanity, and the requirements of morality."
A decree accompanying the proclamation an-
nounces that all who in arms oppose the Govern-
ment are to be tried by court-martial, and, if con-
victed, to be executed within 24 hours there-
after.

The Estafette, of Mexico, states that Juarez has
proposed to give in his adhesion to the Imperial
Government, on condition that all foreign troops
are to be withdrawn from the community.

The Ministerial Crisis in Greece.

40.
(REUTER'S EXPRESS.)
ATHENS, OCt. 26.

The crisis foreseen for some time past has at last
come about, and the Coumoundouros Ministry has
fallen.. Harassed upon the one hand by the exorbi-
tant demands of his friends, and upon the other by
the incessant attacks of the Opposition, the late
Premier may congratulate himself upon being able
to make a respectable retreat in the face of a Par-
liamentary majority. The immediate cause of the
catastrophe was as follows :
The Ministry had brought in a series of bills for
administrative and judicial reorgnisation, reduc-
tions to be effected in the budget, and sundry new
taxes. The Opposition availed themselves of the
opportunity, and selected the bill for raising a tax to
improve and maintain the ways of communication as
the battle-ground. The Opposition speakers frankly
admitted they had no objection to the tax in itself,
but they did object to granting fresh supplies to a
Government in which they had no confidence. The
debate therefore turned solely upon the question
of confidence, and resulted in the defeat of the
Ministry by 76 to 69.
M. Coumoundouros and his colleagues imme-
diately sent in their resignations, advising that M.
Bulgaris should be entrusted with the formation
of a new Cabinet, and it is understood that states-
man is now with the King. The difficulties he
is likely to encounter may be classed as external
and internal. Among the former rank the diffe-
rences of opinion likely to exist between the King
and himself with regard to Count Sponneck and
to Court appointments. It is believed, however,
that these are not insurmountable. The first might
be got over by quietly ignoring the Danish adviser
altogether. The King is of age, his Ministers con-
sult with himself personally, and the Count has
no official position. It is thought an eminent
party chief like M. Bulgaris would best con-
sult his own dignity by not appearing to know
there was such a person as Count Sponneck
in existence. Upon the question of court appoint-
ments there is the awkward fact that, in times past,
M. Bulgaria maintained that he, as a Constitutional
Minister, had a right to be heard, while the King
declared that he would permit no interference with
the composition of his household. Nevertheless, the
opinion generally prevails that these difficulties are
by no means so serious as th 3 internal obstacles to
be overcome in the formation of a Bulgaris Cabinet.
The party is far from being united. The personal.
friends of the Opposition, the OtiToists, and the
advanced Liberals have coalesced to overthrow the
common 'enemy ; but whether they will heartily-
co-operate in establishing a strong and durable
Ministry in its place is altogether another question.
The text of the despatch forwarded by M.
Brailus-, in reply to Mr. Farqubar's note upon the
Zante affair recently alluded to, has just transpired.
It is as follows :

" Athens, Aug. 10-22, 1865.

" M. le Ministre,—The Government of his Hel-
lenic Majesty has read with regret the note Mr.
Farquhar did me the honour of addressing to me
in your name on the 23d June last. Thoroughly
convinced that the Government of her Britannic
Majesty respects the principle of non-intervention
in the internal affairs of this kingdom, it can only
attribute the origin of that communication to the
very natural interest with which a country formerly
placed under its guardianship must inspire one of
the protecting Powers of Greece. Great Britain
having, in fact, by virtue of an European treaty,
given up that protection from a feeling which does
her honour in the eyes of Europe and gives her new
rights to the gratitude of Greece, she remains with
reference to the annexed provinces in the same
position with regard to the Greek kingdom and to
any other province as every other State.
"In other respects the good faith of the Hellenic
Government could not be in any way called in
question, as it is evident that by neglecting the duty
of protection and guardianship it is bound to exer-
cise for the welfare of all its subjects, it would react
in a most inconceivable manner against its own in-
terests. Although it has neglected no precaution
to fulfil this duty in the island of Zante as well as
in the other provinces, it would not be surprising if,
notwithstanding all its efforts, the condition of that
island were not in every point satisfactory. These
difficulties are of ancient date, and it would be easy
for us to give very long explanations in demonstra-
tion of this fact.

" Confining myself, however, as I ought, to the
facts reported in the above-mentioned note of Mr.
Farquhar, I have the honour to forward you a letter
from the Nomarch of Zante, accompanied by a
report from the Chief of the Police, from which it
will be seen that the two individuals in question are
already in the hands of justice, and I can assure
you, M. le Ministre, that since the last communica-
tion of the British Legation, the state of the island
of Zante has been extremely satisfactory in point of
tranquillity and public safety.—Receive, &c.
(Signed) " BRAILAS ARMENIS."