The Sun.
London, England, 1848-05-19 00:00:00

timing UAL

LONDON, FRIDAY, MAY 19, 1848.

Notwithstanding the mediation of the English
Government between the belligerent forces in Jut-
land, the war of dismemberment is still continued
against Denmark. An implacable resolution is visible
on the part of the Germanic League, and a no less
determined front is presented by the outraged fol-
lowers of King FREDERICK. Every day shows only
with greater vividness how sweet and palatable is
revenge. Reprisals are the rage of both armies ;
vengeance and retaliation, however inglorious, seem
to be the ambition of both, an ambition, too, of a
more attractive and irresistible character than either a
uccessful bombardment or a triumphant pitched battle.
In this manner a detachment of Schleswig-Holstein
troops, under Major ZASTROW,hasjust returned
into from a foraging excursion Silkeborg and
Skanderborg, bringing back sufficient provisions
for supplying seven thousand m
en with rations
a similar
for a fortnight. Upon ?rinciple of
debilitating the energies of their antagonistst as much
as possible, by frequency of assault, the Danes are
Confederation
incessantly harassing the forces of theeastern
by maritime attacks directed against the ern
shores of Schleswig from the impregnable retreatast of
the archipelago. In their labyrinth of islands, the
men of Denmark possess a guarantee of their ulterior
superiority, and not only in their islands, but
in the vigour of their naval power, in the courage and
experience of their mariners, in the justice and sanc-
tity of their cause, and in their certainty of being
soon aided by an enormous accession of auxiliaries.
Denmark in this latter respect it now beyond our
commiseration. Overwhelming as have hitherto
been the successes of the federative army, those suc-
cesses sink into insignificance when contrasted with
the ftupendous amount of assistance which is pre-
paring to carry back the glory of triumph to the
banners of the Cimbri and the Scandinavians. What
though General HAMLETT has established his
head- quarters at Ulderup--King FREDERICK of
Denca RIC is establishing a counterpoise in
his diplomatic Cabinet at Copenhagen. 'What
though the invading Germans have comfortably estab-
lished themselves at Kolding and Fredericia—there
areengines
powerful enough to effect their expulsion
Stockholm.
beyond the Eider in the harbour and arsenal of
What though the assailants have pene-
trated as far northwards as Horsens and Aarhuus—
the signal for their precipitate and disastrous retreat
has been already sounded, in the dockyards of Chris-
tiania. Of this throe
Sweden has pledgedeno longer remains a question.
herselff to participate in the
perils of Denmark
the vindication of
the integrity of her "d
pronounced herself definitiverrilryete
dominions. She bas
ahnsdiondseoteremprinuesidilay,
as inimical to the shameless
and has resolved to preveonfPt
the
ey
distinct
warlike inter-
ference, the amalgamation
of tinct duchies
and the incongruous racesSchleswig. and
Holstein. OSCAR has arrived at this
we mays observewediAeho f
thath is,
to afford an adequate idea of the importance
; and
decision to the Danish cause,
exclusive of the landwehr, the
exceeds 140,000 in number, while the Norw:"..my
muster as many as 24,000 fighting men. thiegniaar
of Sweden may be enumerated as many as 28,0i1
assmou, and upwards of 2,290 guns and carronades.

From these circumstances it will be perceived the , 1
enormous influence which may be exercised over an ;
unmaritime power like Prussia by such maritime
powers as Sweden and Denmark combined, and par-
ticularly in a region so admirably adapted for
harassing land forces from the sea as the long and
intersected peninsula of Jutland. When it is re-
membered, moreover, that there is every probability of
additional aid coming from St. Petersburgh by the
alliance of Russia with Sweden and Denmark, it will
be perceived how desperate the cause of the Ger-
manic Confederation is becoming even in the hour
when their victory appears to be on the eve of
its consummation. That the likelihood of Swedish
intervention is by no means chimerical, may be seen
from the mere coincidence of such volunteers as
Lieut. LBYONHIIFOUD and the Poet Ai-m..lns having
recently arrived at Zeeland, while a credit of 2,000,000
banco dollars has been agreed to by the Government
at Stockholm for the expense of the auxiliary troops
under Lieutenant-General CEDE&STROM. among the
other significant signs of the intentions of Sweden
and Norway towards the belligerents, may be men-
tioned the rapid fitting out of the steam-boat Thor,
the frigate Najade, the corvette Jararnas, and the
brig Nordenskj old—movements indicative of more
than the activity of precaution. That Sweden and
Russia should be equally jealous of the approxima-
tion of Prussia, and the other German sovereignties
to the Baltic, is but natural, since that approach
would be one step towards the creation. of a future
competitor in the mercantile enterprise on that
second Mediterranean. As yet the harvests, and the
vintages, and the timber, and the manufac-
tures of the interior of Germany, are shut up
within their principalities, or have to .be
filtered through the custom-houses. of the king-
doms contiguous to the Baltic. By that
means a sort of commercial monopoly is secured to
the northern triumvirate of Denmark, Sweden, and
Russia, a monopoly which has helped to render them
severally powerful and prosperous, and one which
would be seriously compromised, if not altogether de-
stroyed, by the incorporation of Schleswig in the
toansedalmthige Lhtjoumsticoef
GermaniciCtyo,nwfeidlle
zitrenc. 0
mßbiignhet
and
cupid
Prussia and its accomplices, and to determine the date
of their expulsion from the frontiers of southern
Jutland.

Seldom, indeed, has it fallen to the lot of a jour•
nalist to direct the public attention to a meeting o
greater importance, or one which afforded more
favourable auguries for the future, than that of "The
Society for the Improvement of the Labouring
Classes," held yesterday at the Freemasons' Tavern,
Great Queen-street. It was not merely that the
crowded assemblage consisted of the most exalted
and dignified in the land—that it was presided over
by the illustrious Consort of our beloved SOVEREIGN—
and that the objects for which they had met together
were of the most benevolent and praiseworthy
character ; there was something still more cheering
and auspicious in the assurance it afforded that
in this happy land the interests of all classes
and grades in society are intimately connected one
with another, that anything by which the condition
of the great body of the people is ameliorated and
their comforts increased, is of importance, not merely
to those more immediately benefited, but that its
moral influence will extend to others apparently
farthest removed from its operation. The improve-
ment of the condition of the great body of the people,
of those who earn their daily bread by the sweat of
their brow—who are willing to toil, provided they
can obtain a fair remuneration for their labour,
should (as the Bishop of ST. DAVID'S truly re-
marked), "be the great end of all our social
institutions, the great business of the Government
and the Legislature of the country." No-
thing could Lead more powerfully to fortify
and strengthen our time-honoured institutions than
convincing the minds of our industrious operatives
that there is a sincere and anxious desire among the
wealthier classes to increase their enjoyments, to watch
over and protect their interests, to remove those
causes that have been found prejudicially to affect
their health, morality, or happiness, and to promote
those undertakings by which they may be increased
and rendered less precarious or transitory. Such
exhibitions of sympathy and friendliness of feeling
must produce the most valuable results, and draw
more closely together the bonds by which all from
the highest to the lowest are united.
The speech of the Illustrious Chairman on opening
the proceedings is not more remarkable for the
kindly and benevolent spirit in which it was
conceived, than for the sound judgment and practical
sense which it inculcates. His Royal Highness, in-
deed, afforded an example which will, we trust, be
extensively followed by all whose rank or wealth
may enable them to aid in carrying out the objects
contemplated. It is not what the society may itself
be enabled to achieve, however ample its resources or
magnificent the contributions that may be subscribed,
that will show the full amount of the benefits conferred
on the country by its salutary exertions ; it is the
example set—the direction of the energies and exer-
tions of the people themselves into proper channels—
the teaching them how much may be attained by a
judicious application of their own scanty means and
limited resources. It will show them that real com-
forts are within their reach, that the sums too fre-
quently wasted and squandered in idle and demo-
ralising pursuits pursuits which are followed
perhaps more from the wretchedness and discomfort
of their homes than from any real pleasure they
afford—may enable them to procure cheerful and
respectable dwellings, where they may enjoy them-
selves in the centre of their families, and
see their children growing about them in health and
strength, happy and contented, in place of wallowing
in filth and misery, and deeply injured both morally
and physically. The experiments that have been
tried will also show that profit may be combined
with humanity, and that a capitalist, while obtaining
a fair and ample return for the amount of his invest-
ments, may greatly contribute to the welfare, and
promote the happiness, of his less-favoured brethren.
It is impessible not to yield an immediate assent to
the sound and practical views detailed, in the fol-
lowing extract :
"Depend upon it it is for the advantage of those
classes who are so often contrasted, but whose interests
are identical, to unite, and it is only ignorance which
prevents them uniting for each other's benefit. To dis •
pel that ignorance, and to show the means how man can
help man, notwithstanding the complicated state of
civilised society, ought to be the aim of every philanthropic
person. But it is most peculiarly the duty ot those who,
under the blessing of Divine Providence, enjoy station,
wealth, and education. Let them be careful how to avoid
any dictatorial interference with labour and employment,
which frightens away capital, destroys that freedom ot
tothoughtevery
and independence of action which must remain
of manokninwdhircehstsalonGe
Y one if he is to work out his own happiness—
(Loudother cheers),—and to repose that confidence in each
tdh e
has enjoyment .
created
manar. and mutualperfe e benefit
n andefi
left him with many wants, as it were to stimulate each
individual to exertion,y and to make them all feel that it
is only by united
satisfied—(Hear, hear)n
those imperfections exertionsca and combined action that
he supplied, and those wants
each other. It is to show the
and confidence in
how these individual
twhayh!rheat benefit, and
exertions can be directed toe
. the readiness to
csocTiheety considers as
to foster that confidence upon, we
assist each other depends, that this society
has been no
of
estations—
its most sacred aim.—(Hear, hear.
ostentatious display of charity or of its
Out
of the fate of
nut a protestation to become the arbiter
thousands, but to aid the working
schemes of public improvement for whichthispsloaseciteictyal,
as I said before, has been established ; but it h
as yet established examples for the country at large to
follow."
The principal objects of the society have been the
establishment of loan funds, of small allotments of
land, and of model lodging• houses of various descrip.
tions. Nothing
has yet been done with respect tu
the first of these projects, but considerable success
has attended the allotment system and the model
lodging-houses. In consequence of the beneficial
results of the experiments instituted by the society,
the allotment system had been carried out in more than
2,000 parishes—and, as we are told by the Noble
"
Chairman of the committee (Lord ASHLEY),, with
the greatest possible benefit—the best proof of which
was the statement he was enabled to make,
that with great contentment, great in-
dustry, and great desire to improve their
condition, not one of those to whom allotments had
been given owed a single farthing of debt." With
respect to lodging, it has been found that less than is
paid for a dirty and miserable shelter, where num-
bers of persons, of
different families, are huddled to-
gether without regard to comfort, health, or de-
A (galley, will be, sufficient to yield a considerable