The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-15 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC 'JOURNALS.

TIMES.—The news of the day is that the German Diet
has decided in favour of the mobilization of the Federal
forces by a majority of 9to 6. This is the most important
event since the outset of these disputes. It is a declara-
tion against Prussia on the part of Germany, so far as Ihe
country is represented by its Governments, and a threat to
bring the Prussian monarchy to submission by force. The
deed just done in Holstein has evidently resounded through
the land. The minor States have seen one of their num-
ber annexed by a powerful neighbour with every circum-
stance of violence and tyranny. The people may reflect
that the will of a population which only two years ago was
said to have gained nationality and liberty has been made
of no account, that its representatives have been imprisoned
and dispersed, and those who hold office compelled :to
make a declaration of submission to an invading Power.
Events now move quickly. Only last week General Man-
teuffel made his advance ; on Monday last the Holstein
estates were dispersed ; on Tuesday General Gablenz finally
abandoned the territory and Austria made her proposal to
the Diet; and yesterday the representatives of Germany
formally condemned the act of Prussia and took sides with
her adversary. We know not whether military operations
will follow directly on this resolution, but it is difficult to
avoid the conclusion that the German Confederation is now
no more. The declaration of Prussia, made known two
days since, was that if the Confederation decided against
her she would consider its rights as no longer to be re-
garded, and would take such measures as she should judge
to be expedient in a military sense. The decision has been
taken, and Count Bismarck is not likely to shrink from
carrying out his threat. He will hold the States which
have declared against him to be foreign enemies, and
will deal with their people and territory as the fortune
of war may allow him. Those that have sided with
him he will no doubt expect to support him with men,
money, and materials of war, in a strict alliance. We see,
then, no other prospect than that Germany should be com-
pletely divided against itself, and in such a case the Confe-
deration must come to an end as completely as any other
compact or alliance between States ceases by war. It can
hardly be supposed that the States which voted against the
Austrian proposition will support Prussia by force of arms.
Perhaps there is no State where the ruling power is really
friendly to Prussia ; but in more than one quarter the ab-
sorbing desire is to keep out of the fray, if possible. The
Northern States, for instance, know that, whether as allies
or enemies of Prussia, they can only lose. Should they
venture to follow their own instincts, obey the decision of
the Diet, and allow their contingents to be arrayed against
the Prussians in the Elbe Duchies, their doom is sealed.
Prussia may lose elsewhere, Benedek may burst into Silesia,
an Austrian army may threaten Berlin ; but, whether vic-
torious or beaten, Prussia would be strong enough to take
vengeance on her weaker opponents. The States of North
Germany may well have the fate of Holstein before their
eyes, and shrink from encountering a Power so strong, so
energetic, and so crafty as that enthroned at Berlin. On
the other hand, alliance would be so near subjection as to

leave little choice between the two. To find its troops ab-
sorbed in the Prussian armies and its resources placed at
the disposal of the Prussian Commissariat, with the proba-
bility that the influence gained during war would be main-
tained, and perhaps increased, when it was over, is not a
pleasant prospect for a small State. But between the'se

two difficulties every German State must choose, for if this
war is to go on we cannot see how any of them can preserve
their neutrality. Thie is no petty contest on an unimpor-
tant matter of interest or honour, but a war for the supre-
macy of Germany—a war which one, at least, of the com-
batants intends shall not be brought to a close without a
radical change in the political condition of the country. The
States of Germany, however much they may declare and
protest, however strictly they may proclaim their neutrality
and their pacific intentions towards either:party, must soon
be ranged on one side or the other in this fratricidal strife.
The prospect is a sad one, but we may hope that, what-
ever the effect on the existing Governments, the cause of
nationalty and free institutions may gain eventually. If
anything comes to the ground, it will be the thirty Courts,
or some of them. They are the weakest institutions in
the country, and when once they fall they are not likely to
rise again. The people may suffer, but they cannot be de-
stroyed; whatever political wrecks may strew the country
when war is at an end, the people will be preserved.
Whether under Prussian or Austrian hegemony, the
country must emerge more consolidated than at present,
more capable of preserving peace within its limits and re-
pelling aggression from abroad. If, then, events shall
prove that the Confederation is now a thing of the past,
there may be no reason to regret the change. It was a
great conception, and on the whole has worked well.
Though clumsy in its constitution and slow in its action,
though never strong enough to treat the two Great Powers
with courage and dignity, the Diet has done much to
keep the peace in Germany and to encourage a sentiment
of nationality. If the Confederation in its present form
should pass away, we may fairly say that it is because its
work is done and the national tendencies demand that it
shall bo succeeded by an organisation more suited to pre-
sent wants. While some of the States are still in per-
plexity, others have drawn close to Austria, and are likely
to aid her with all their strength. It is stated that an
arrangement has been concluded by the Austrian and
Bavarian Governments, and that the Bavarian General,
Tann, is in Vienna negotiating a Convention in the pro-
spect of Bavaria being compelled to take part in the war.
Should this be effected, the largest of the States, with
a population of nearly five millions and an army capable
of being raised to 100,000 men, would be added to the
resources of Austria. The sympathies of the Bavarians and
Austrians have long made this course of action highly
probable, and the proposals of Federal reform by which
Prussia has endeavoured to conciliate the Bavarian Go-

vernmont have apparently produced no impression. A
hardly less important member- of the Confederation is
Saxony. Though with but a small population, this king-
dom is able to produce a powerful effect on the war by
merely placing its territory at the service of Austria.
From a most advantageous base of operation a General
might march over the Prussian plains towards Berlin,
with the knowledge that he left a safe retreat behind him.
Should Saxony, though with only 25,000 mon on foot, de-
clare for Austria, the Emperor will have gained something
to compensate him for the forced retirement of his troops
before the enemy in Holstein. As yet there is no news
of actual hostilities, though the Emperor is reported to
have addressed a Viennese deputation as if the war had
begun. When the first shot is fired events will move fast
enough. The Continental Powers pay too much attention
to military matters for their armies to be in other than
an efficient condition. The Austrians are said to be in
high spirits and their adversaries moody and discontented ;
but the eve of war often differs greatly from war itself.
The military spirit soon breaks forth, and soldiers learn to
care little for the cause in which they fight. In the mean-
time, while this great conflict is threatened in the heart of
Germany, other regions begin to feel the commotion. The
war may possibly bring forth events in the south-east of
Europe which have not entered into the calculations even
of those who have planned it. All the discontent of the
Continent is new stirred, and the quarrel which began on
the shore of the Baltic may agitate populations to which
Denmark and its Duchies are merely names.
HERALD.-By this time one or other of the various ru-
mours which were afloat yesterday may have assumed the
shape and consistence of authentic fact. Austria may
have declared war against Prussia, or Prussia against
Austria. The opposing forces which clash together within
the ill-sorted pale of the Germanic Confederation may ere
this have divided themselves into hostile camps. The
Austrians may have entered Saxony, the Prussians may
have commenced their threatened flank march, or the two
armies may be ranged in order of battle within the frontier
of Silesia. If such events have not yet occurred they are
not likely to be very long postponed. Like watchers in a
still close night, with a black cloud hanging over them,
and overshadowing all the heavens, we wait only for
the first flash of lightning as the signal, expecting the
the thunder to roll and the torrents to come down. The
longer the storm is in preparing the more terrible will be
its outburst. The clouds from hour to hour are being
charged with electricity of exterior tension. The pent-up
passions of men will be the more fearful in the collision
for having been so long restrained. The armies have been
gathering and growing until they have reached such a
point that their meeting will make nations quake and
monarchs tremble. While awaiting a catastrophe from
which now there seems no chance of escape, we can
scarcely be at a loss in deciding whom we are to blame for
this break-up of Germany—this civil war in Europe. :The
contention began with Prussia and her arrogant preten-
sions have kept alive the flame of discos d. She claimed the
right to appropriate to herself the conquest which was won
by her arms conjointly with those of Austria. Austria
objected, and the convention of Gastein made a truce
between them for a while. Count Bismarck, notwithstand-
ing, did not cease to agitate the question, until the im-
possibility of reconciling his pretensions with the
claims of his ally became so apparent that it caused
at first a coldness, then an open divergence between
the Courts, which led to a simultaneous armament
of Austria and Prussia. It was then that Italy stopped in,
with her claim for Venetia, put forth at the very moment
when Austria seemed to be in difficulties with the Power
which at one time was anxious to maintain her in the
possession of that province. So contradictory are the state-
ments made on either side that it is impassible to say posi-
tively whether Prussia or Austria was the first to set her
armies in motion, whether Italy preceded or followed
Austria in making her threatening demonstrations on the
Venetian frontier. Austria certainly had no object in pro-
voking either of her enemies to war. Her only interest is
in the maintenance of the status quo. The provocation came
from Prussia which first roused her to action. It would
thus have been much to her advantage to have remained
on good terms with Italy. The defiance which came from
Florence rendered that impossible, and she was constrained
to put herself, on the south as well as on the north, in a
posture of defence. It does not matter from which Court
comes the first explicit declaration of war; it does not matter
which army is the first to march. The war is a crusade of
Italy and Prussia against Austria, in which the latter
stands on the defensive, and contends for the rights which
have been guaranteed to her by treaties. If the solemnly
signed treaties of Vienna and Zurich are not to be regarded

11.*.''

as binding on those who consented to them— if they are
not to be accepted ae the bases of public law, the definitions
of the boundaries of the great States of Europe, it follows
that there are no boundaries, that all is chaos, that
the right of each monarch depends simply upon
the extent of the ground which he can occupy with his
armies and defend against all corners in- the approaching
struggle. The declaration of Napoleon 111. against the
treaties of 1815 was in itself an invitation to a new settle-
ment of this sort. Ills more recent declaration, that if the
general equilibrium were disturbed France would have a
right to territorial compensation, with the distinct refe-
rence made at the same time to the countries on the Rhine,
shows the other Powers of Europe that if they will persist
in making war they must do it on the unwelcome plan ,
"Sic vos non vobis," that there is no territorial aggrandise:
ment which they are likely to obtain which is not certain
to accrue shortly in another quarter, and with Prerr
arrears of interest, to a Power which finds its opportunity
in the jealousies of its neighbours. The indecent baste
with which the Prussian Cabinet has seized upon the
tempting opportunity which offered itself in the unp.re
tec. ted state of Holstein, has put it into a wrong position
with respect to Austria, the German Diet, and
Prussia has made an end of the hopes of peace. Whether
or not the formal declaration of war come first from her,
she has commenced the war, she stands convicted Wier?.
Europe as the wanton aggressor, who took the Ike"
chance she had of seizing forcibly on the _bone of conte.2l:
tion. The German Diet, too, is outraged in the act whlol
ignores its claim to decide upon the future of the Duchies/
which disputes its authority to mediate in a dispute he;
tween two members of the Confederation. The questil
position
of Holstein had been referred to the Diet by Austria., tor
in contempt of its verdict Prussia had seized up:m.ll°li,
stein. As for France, she may now push the claim whic''
the Emperor anticipated. The European equilibrium has
been disturbed by the aggrandisement of Prussia. Franc!:
accordingly, may seek for compensation, and will seek it
on the Rhine. The loss of Westphalia would more than.
counterbalance the gain of Schleswig-Holstein to Preeell
and the ambition of Bismarck would then have succeed.°
only in corroborating the uncomfortable precedent which
Napoleon 111. seeks to establish into a rule, that ever!
war or debate in Europe must issue sooner or
later "
some aggrandisement of the colossal power with which lr
ominous proportions already overshadows a confine"
In his intrigues with Germany Von Bismarck has over-
reached himself. He had modestly proposed that Auk
_rise
should be excluded from the Confederation. The vote of tee
Diet has excluded Prussia. Yesterday the Austrian repro"
sentative at Frankfort proposed the immediate mobilisati.e:
of the Federal army, with a view to Federal execution
against Prussia. The vote was carried by an inuuentsh
majority—Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, Wurtemburg,
the Hesses, and Nassau, voting with Austria. The rapt
en
between Prussia and the Confederation, which bad teis
clearly foreseen as the result of the Holstein outrage, "'
now immediate and complete. The Prussian rePreselltao
tive withdrew from the Diet, declaring the Confederatef
dissolved. As a parting shot he proposed a new Biemr:
coalition as a substitute for the old Constitution of (xe.
many. Prussia no longer holds any allegiance to the Dleit'l
she may act independently and pursue her own course' .th
the same time, by her defiance at Frankfort, coupled Wig
her lawless conduct towards Austria, she has macde efa
mies of the powerful Middle States, which until this 10
been undecided whether they should remain neutral, °reit
which side in the coining contest they should give
th
adhesion.