The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-15 00:00:00

4
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LONDON, TUESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1865.

Another attempt is being made to patch up the
Schleswig-Holstein question, but it is as yet quite
impossible to decide whether it will be successful or
not, so diverse are the views of the disputants, and
so different are their desires and expectations. The
strenuous exertions of the Ministers of the great
Powers seem, however, for the present, to have
gained their point, and to have so far settled the
preliminaries, that the meeting is expected to take
place between the Sovereigns which has been so
long talked of, but still indefinitely and unaccount-
ably postponed. According to appearances, this
chance of a rencontre augurs well for the further-
ance of the schemes of Herr Von BISMARCK. Cer-
tainly he has shown a zeal and determination that
were worthy of a better cause, throughout the
whole of this dispute on the Duchies, which has
dragged its weary length along apparently alike
interminable and incomprehensible. The declara-
tion of opinion lately given by the Prussian Crown
lawyers was sufficiently significant to any one who
was well versed in the matter ; and it would have
been amusing, had not the issue of the affair been
so serious, to notice how ingenious were the con-
trivances by which the desired end was reached.
Thus, to the surprise of the uninitiated, King
CHRISTIAN was declared to have been the rightful
owner of the Duchies when the war had been inau-
gurated to dispossess him of them. The real object
of this was to secure the coveted prize as the right of
conquest, the unfortunate King of DENMARK having
been compelled to yield them up to the German
Powers at the conclusion of the war.
Straightforward persons who follow a consistent
course are no doubt puzzled at, the tortuous devices
of such crafty politicians ; but the end sanctions
the means, according to their doctrines, and the
wondering world may look onwhile vows are broken,
promises unfulfilled, pledges forgotten, and engage-
in ents disregarded. All is pushed aside in order that
the one great object may be carried out in its
entirety, and thus the Duke of A
_UGUSTENBERG, once
a favoured aspirant, finds himself put out of the
way in the most cool and unconcerned manner.
The Duke of OLDENBURG receives no more respect,
and so on it will be with all the other claimants, if
they stretched on in endless succession, and threat-
ened, like the shadows in MACBETH'S vision, to last
till the crack of doom. Count I3LostE's skill in
diplomacy promises to secure an interview between
the EMPEROR and the KING, and thus fulfil in some
degree the desires of the horde of schemers, small
and great, who are on the tiptoe of expectation
now that the culminating point is so nearly reached.
If the Government of Vienna deem it advisable to
prevent all chance of a rupture of the friendly rela-
tions between the great Powers, and recognise any
plan whereby they may save their character, if they
do not absolutely gain their plans, no doubt this
proposed meeting may take place, and some com-
promise be agreed upon. Austria still remains firm
upon some points, doubtless considered as vital
ones by her sapient Ministers, and the opinion is
expressed that the Duke oi AUGUSTENBEIP 1:110Uld

not be ordered to quit the Duchies so long as
he does not act contrary to the laws and govern-
ment of the country. How true this may be, and
how strictly adhered to if proposed, remain to be
seen, but there is every reason to suppose that such
will be the attitude assumed at the approaching
conference, and insisted on by the bearers of secret
missions and special injunctions.
It is curious to reflect upon the events which have
occurred since the last meeting of the Sovereigns
of the allied powers of Germany. Last year they
met after the honourable peace that terminated
their glorious war, and now, after so many months
have passed away, they are apparently no nearer a
settlement of affairs or a solution of their difficulty.
The nations of Europe have looked on from afar
and made no effort to interpose their protests nor
exert their influence, hence the pqrties so unwilling
or unable to come to terms cannot say that it is the
fault of any one but themselv es. We have all heard a
great deal of the wonders that would be wrought
when once the united German Powers took this
matter of the Duchies up with vigour, and over and
over again was it triumphantly asserted that the
inhabitants of Schleswig-Holstein would reap great
and permanent benefits if they were rescued from
the grasp of their Danish oppressors and restored
to the sway of their rightful owners. On the con-
trary, what has been the reality since time has put
these professions to the proof? Anarchy, discord, and
misrule are rampant in the Duchies, and the agents
of the protecting powers protest against each other's
cuts, and mimic their masters in strife and bicker-
ing after a fashion highly edifying to their foes,
but not very reassuring to their friends or very
creditable to their cause. Claimants have been put
forward by one side, and were denounced as pre-
tenders by the other. The Ministers of this Power
have declared a certain thing to be indispensable
to the maintenance of their rights, and straight-
way the Government of that Power have decided
that to recognise such a plea would be quite incom-
patible with their duties, would militate against their
projects, and mar their policy. All these remi-
niscences cannot render an interview between the
two Sovereigns very pleasant or profitable. No
doubt more might be done if the interviews could
take place free from the shadow behind the throne,
which casts a baneful influence over Prussian pro-
spects, and at home or abroad is alike so potent in
mischief and so paramount in misdeeds. If we
could for a moment fancy the KING without this
Minister Statesman, something might be looked for
or expected; but the tonjours perdrix of the affair
effectually precludes all hope of improvement, and
prevents all chance of a beneficial turn being given
to the negotiations. All are too well aware of the
ideas of Herr BISMARK not to feel assured that if
the deliberations end amicably it will be because the
modern representative of the Medes and Persians has
convinced his opponents, and not because he has
yielded an iota of his prejudices, or swerved one
hairbreadth from his pre-conceived notions or pre-
determined plans. The minor States of Germany
have certainly been completely hoodwinked
in this affair ; but no one pities them who
has followed their tortuous course and dwelt
on their subservient course of last year. A general
mania seemed to take possession of all Germany,
and because Prussia, to suit her own selfish pur-
poses, chose to come forward with might and main
to prosecute the cause of tyranny, and spread the
reign of desolation, all the other Powers, great and
small, allowed her to go on, and were too glad to
follow in her wake. The day of retribution has
speedily arrived, so far as concerns any gain or glory
on the part of the censpirators, great and small.
So far as the aspect of affairs at present allows us to
judge, failure and discomfiture have waited, and
still wait, on the hopes of all except Prussia ; and in
the plenitude of her fulfilled desires what ills may
not be foreshadowed, and what incipient dangers
lurk. If the Duchies are annexed to the possessions
of the Heaven-sent Sovereign, what profit wi 11 there
be in the victory when the price is paid ? It will be
hard to satisfy a discontented people at home and
disgusted and betrayed allies abroad. The smaller
States will watch for their opportunity of revenge,
and Prussia will not then have gained her crown-
ing aim and object to be the head of Germany, the
bond of union to the several divisions of the great
Fatherland, the pride of her own people, and the
envy and admiration of others. No one can regret
the failure, but still the result is not to be dis

puted, although the pride that goes before a fall
is still urging on the politicians of Berlin to their

ruin.

Few of the benevolent institutions of our day
have seen their meritorious exertions crowned with
more success, or produce more substantial results,
than the National Lifeboat Institution. The emer-
gencies with which it deals, the sufferings which it

alleviates, are of a nature to impress themselves

visibly upon the mind. The results are immediately
perceptible, and are of a character which is par-
ticularly gratifying to the kind-hearted promoters
of the Institution. Our hospitals and asylums are
often only able to smooth the sufferer's passage to
the grave, or to alleviate the weary hours of hope-

less pain, but the friend of the shipwrecked mariner
is usually able to raise him from one extreme of
fortune to the other, to change the scene from
death and desolation to safety, health, and cheer-
fulness. Valuable lives are preserved to their fami-
lies, and many a household hearth which would be
cold and vacant rejoices over the presence of the
rescued member—thanks to the Agency of the Life-
boat Institution. There is not much hope or fear

that human benevolence will find no work to do for
the present at all events: Some dangers and evils
may indeed be extirpated by the progress of time
and execution, but there are many forms of distress
which are inseparable from the most ordinary and
reputable avocations of life. With all possible
improvements in mechanical science, with all pos-
sible extension of meteorological knowledge, human
skill or wisdom can never avert all risk from life
at sea.

On the contrary, year by year, as our
commerce increases, and the facilities for travel
encourage frequent communications with the Con-
tinent, we may expect that the aggregate amount of
risk incurred will augment rather than diminish.
Certainly from the records of the Lifeboat Institu-
tion there does not appear to be much reduction in
the number of vessels imperilled, since during the
seventeen months from January, 1864, to May,
1865, inclusive, the total number of lives saved by
lifeboats was 614 in addition to 390 saved by shore
boats and other means for which the Institution has
granted rewards. The primary, object of the asso-
ciation is to provide a suitable number of efficient
lifeboats on all the dangerous and exposed parts of
our coasts ; but it has always endeavoured to en-
courage'nears of rescuing life, and has there-
fore
establishede the system of giving rewards and
tokens of approval to those who have been fortunate
enough to save life by any means not connected
with their own institution and it has encouraged
the use of the rocket and mortar apparatus, which
has often proved valuable in saving life. Thanks to
its efforts, too, the importance of providing efficient
lifeboats for the Royal navy has been impressed
upon the authorities, but the energetic and conscien-
tous managers still feel that something is left un-
done, and accordingly they have addressed them-
selves to a
__new sphere of action. C ur shores are I

nearly everywhere provided with lifeboats or the
r ockel6 apparatus, and our navy, as we have said,
is properly cared for, but the importance of pro-
viding some simple and inexpensive means of safety
,on board our merchant ships is now very apparent.
The difficulty in this case is that the merchant
vessels are private property, and therefore no action
can be taken in the matter without the consent and
co-operation of the owners. At the same time our
merchant navy is of such immense and increasing
extent, and the men engaged in it are exposed to i
so many risks, that very many lives are at stake on
the question. The Committee Ir ve therefore de-
cided upon introducing a cheaper belt than the one
hitherto in use, and to supply it to the shipowners
without profit, making, at the same time, an appeal
to them to ciao their duty towards their men. The
Committee, in their interesting report on this,*
remind the shipowners that the general community
has come forward most liberally in the work, while
the boatmen, fishermen, and pilots risk their lives
cheerfully. It is surely, then, not too much to ask
that those who derive so much profit from the
marine traffic will exert themselves on behalf of the
men imperilled in their employ. The information
obtained from various sources, and the consideration
of tie subject in all its forms, have led to the con-
clusion that a large proportion of the seamen yearly
lost from our merchant ships might have been saved
if they had worn really good life-belts. With a
view, therefore, of getting them extensively used
on board our merchant ships, the Committee of
management have decided, as we have said, on
supplying them for a time cost price, and of for-
warding them in chests, suited for every description
of vessel, through the custom-houses, shipping
offices, and sailors' homes at the principal ports.
It is suggested that the shipowner might, if he chose,
require each man to pay 6d. annually, or ld. each on
short voyages for the use of the belts. As the ori-
ginal cost of the belts is only ss. each, or 4s. when
bought in any number, the expense can hardly be
demurred to. Should this new kind of belt prove

really efficacious in saving life, it will be advisable
to consider whether it would not be well to render
the supply of such a chest compulsory on the ship-
owner. It is manifestly the duty of the owner,
who pays, perhaps, a large amount to insure his
cargo, to insure the lives of his men, humanely

speaking, by such a trifling outlay, and no one who
can afford to send a ship to soa can excuse himself
from adopting a precaution which costs him five
shillings a man ! The Committee have shown their
usual good sense in not taking upon themselves a