The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-20 00:00:00

squadron that Other people were working while
they were considering. Mr. EYRE will have no
reason to deplore a change in the Colonial-
office, though, in truth, the injustice with which he
has been treated was due rather to Mr. CARDWELL'S
chief than to the Colonial Secretary himself. India
has not much to thank the Whig Government for,
and had her affairs been in wiser hands during the
last six years. she might have made much greater
progress on the road to civilisation and internal
prosperity. Nearer home we have little reason to
felicitate ourselves on the part we have played in
Europe, and the Danes will waste no lamentations
on the discomfiture of their quondam friends and

very timorous allies.
It is possible that the Ministry may seek to extri-
cate themselves from their dilemma by a dissolution
of Parliament, and this we shall learn in a few days.
The more probable conclusion is, however, that they
have placed their resignations unreservedly in the
hands of her MAJESTY. Whether she will accept
them is another matter for speculation. She will
probably be unwilling to have any change in her
Government during the present crisis in Continental
affairs, but at the same time she is too constitutional
a monarch to expect a Ministry to carry on the
public business in the face of an adverse House of
Commons. Reform, which has been the standing
difficulty with our statesmen of all parties during
the last ten years, has thus " upset the coach"
again, and it blocks the way to further progress.

It is a question which must be settled, and yet
which no one can settle ; which every one pro-
fesses to be extremely anxious about, yet, which
no one cares to touch ; which every one approves
in generalities and quarrels with in details.
So long as Reform is a vision, au idea,
it is very easy to applaud, but so soon
as it assumes a tangible shape it is just as easy to
criticise and to condemn. What is to be done
upon that point is uncertain. The Liberals, as we
have seen of old, are no more willing to help the
Conservatives to pass a moderate measure than the
Conservatives are to allow the Liberals to do so.
Every scheme of redistribution arrays the repre-
sentatives of the disfranchised or dismembered
boroughs against the bill ; every proposal to
increase the number of voters brings into
active hostility those who anticipate increased
expenses or diminished influence at the next
election. There is more than indifference on the
subject in too many corners of the House of Com-
mons—there is absolute antagonism ; and Mr.
GLADSTONE may have the consolation of knowing
that a much better bill would probably have shared

the same fate, unless the Ministry had been per-
sonally strong enough to push it through the Com-
mons.

By a strange coincidence the eighteenth of June
was the day on which Prussia and Italy declared
war against Austria. Prussia is prosecuting the
war with vigour in all directions, so far as getting
possession of various places is concerned. No at-

tempt is being made of a hostile character against
the inhabitants of Saxony, and, indeed, it is said
by the aggressors that they are not to be regarded
as enemies. General MANTEUFFEL is commander
of the Prussian troops in Hanover, and has issued
a proclamation, in which he declares that the King
of HANOVER will be considered " belligerent'
until she or the llanoverian troops shall have been,
placed upon a peace-footing. Private property is
to be respected, which is a good thing at all events,

but how far can we trust these assurances, plau-
sible though they appear to bey It will need very
little provocation'on the part of Hanover or Saxony
to give the Prussians a handle against them, and
then they need expect no quarter, for the
Prussian soldiers are the most cruel in
Europe, and they have made little improve-

meat of late, as was unfortunately testified in the
Danish war two years ago. It is difficult to under-

stand the policy of Austria, and, judging from ap-
pearances, we naturally come to the conclusion
that she is most mistaken iu her present course of
inaction. It is so strange that she should thus de-

sert her allies in the hour of need, and recklessly
cast away the advantages she might have gained
from their support and assistance. If the resources
of these States are monopolised, if their powers are
crippled, if their youths are dragged off to serve
in the ranks of the Prussian army, what use will
their adhesion be to that of Austria ? No doubt she
has some grand scheme iu view, but how can its
success compensate for this immediate and apparent
loss in Saxony, Hanover, and elsewhere? The
Prussians have effected the object of removing the
seat of war from their own soil, and will, doubtless,
plume themselves upon this achievement. Some
decided movement may be expected before Frank-
fort, as the Federal troops are assembled before the
city, from thirty to forty thousand strong.

The Austrians commenced hostilities on Monday
by crossing the Silesian frontier, and firing upon a
Prussian patrol. It seems from this that the object
of the Austrian Government is to get possession of
Silesia, and very likely they may do so eventually,
but still at the same time it would be far wiser on

their part to make sure of the present than to b©

thus scheming for the future. Let them be certain
of the safety and security of their allies before
they attempt aggrandisement of territory. This
is the manner of all German statesmen at
present, and until it be put a stop to there is no
real chance or sure prospect of an amelioration in
their fortunes. It keeps the people under their
care in a perpetual state of distraction, it para-
lyses all plans at home and abroad, and in a hun-
dred ways it interferes with domestic prosperity
and foreign relations. All the loss and trouble
that -will fall upon Germany might have been
prevented if the two great Powers had not
been so bent on gaining possession of Schleswig-
liolstein. There was quite enough for them to
do at home in all directions without their rushing
headlong into_ new difficulties. The more the
antecedents of this war are studied the
better in all respects ; it may teach statesmen and
people to think more of public morality, and give
less heed to the passions of the moment. Of course
Prussia can always see where others have violated
international law, and accordingly they have pro-
tested against the seizure of the Frankfort telegraph
office by the Bavarians. Count BISMARCK has for-
warded a despatch to the Prussian representatives
abroad, in which he states that European law will
be essentially altered. How absurd it is for one
Government thus to arrogate to itself the right of
dictation to the other members of a Confederation.
The German Diet has given Count BISMARCK such a
cause for provocation that he knows no bounds to
his indignation. At the same time the Prussian
Government. despatched a protest to the several
German Courts, declaring that the proceedings th
might take in accordance with the orders of the so
called Federal Diet were null and void. A mani
festo of the KING to the Prussian people was issued
which declares that those hopes have been disap.
pointed which looked for an alliance between Aus.
tria and Prussia of a lasting and beneficial kind.
It concludes with the extraordinary declaration
that they are obliged to fight for existence.
We must go forth to battle for life or death
against those who wish to humiliate the Prussia
of the great Elector, FREDERICK, and the War o