The Sun.
London, England, 1850-11-13 00:00:00

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British Gove .— , ees is., sts,e.,-41etiete 0
the cavalier manner in which .bi4lhh,hi.V.6.l '''d --'
N.l by the now hyper-insolent 'eaSiilsrefs ,-§tsf..) et;',
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srsburgh and Vienna. Here havothe tecerdetssAtt
congresses been held, the most graveialevjutiksis_see
come to, of alliance, of offensive and niilitaiptitom-
ments, of the putting down of this system of govern-
ment and the setting up of that, without England
having been once consulted in the affair. There was
a congress of kings and ministers, not exclusively
German, at Bregenz, early in October, its which all
the movements that we now see ' were planned azd
pre-ordained. Yet not one word of these intentions
or resolutions was communicated to the British Go-
vernment until, we believe, the other day. Such a
slight was the more outrageous, since the chief of
these resolutions regarded the settlerneot of the effeirs
of Schleswig-Holstein, in which England bad taken
a most active part, both in mediating cod in coerc-
ing, at least as far as moral coercion goes. It
could not even be said that England showed a hostile
spirit to these absolutist powers. For Lord Pal-
merston signed the London protocol, when even
Austria hesitated to put its signature to so anti-
German a document. Yet this sin real adherence to
Russian policy on the part of England brought with it
no return in the shape of either politeness or con-
sideration. And Count Nesselrode at Bregenz, and
the Emperor Nicholas at 'Warsaw, proceeded to ordain
in their own way, how not merely the Hessians but
the Heleteinere, were to he coerced, without deignieg
to commit England in the matter. We must say that
the British Government, if not the British nation, de-
served more respect than this at the hands of Russia.
We will not deny, however, that the British Govern-
ment has some reason for complaint agziinst id. russia
for being so impolitic as to keep open the Schleswig
sore, which has united so many powers against her,
and at last given a handle for the united absolutisms
of Russia end of Austria-to overwhelm her. The only
excuse of Prussia lies in her real inability to settle the
question unless Denmark could be persuaded to grsut
concessions. It was the vital interest of Prussia
during the last months to have settled it. And we
firmly believe that if she did not do so it was from
sheer inability to persuade the Holeteinsrs to submit,
and in the impossibility for her to force them. Now,
however, pressed by circumstences and by a million
of armed foes, which necessitates in her the junction
of prudence with valour, the Prussian Government,
that is Radowitz himself, :advised—nay, insisted
on the Stadtholderate withdrawing its troops
from Schleswig. Lord Palmerston insisted on this
the first. This his Lordship said, would be the fair
fulfilment by Prussia of the fourth article of the
treaty with Denmark. Accordiugly, in order to place
itself in accord with England, as the inediatieg
power, Prussia has insisted on the withdrawal of the
troops of the Duchies behind the Eyder. And the
Stadholderate has, we understand, consented to it.
But how is Holstein to be subdued or pacified ? At
Bregenz the absolutist alliance determined that this
should be done_ by force; that the Frankfort Diet
should at first attempt it; and that, if it failed, Rus-
sia would take the matter in ham). It was first, we
believe, begged of Hanover to undertake the task, and
send its army of 20,000 men into Holstein. But the
King of Hanover was aware that his army would
not execute such a mission. and that soldiers and po-
pulation would rise against him, were he to. attempt
it. The Austrians and Bavarians therefore undertook
it; and the armies .of these powers have not only
marched through Ilansu to the occupation of
Hesse, but have actually occupied Coburg,
With the intention of senarchirg through Prussia
into Holstein. The Austrians and Bavarians, how-
ever, very well know that Prussia will not, and can-
not allow them to pass. They will present; theme
selves at the frontier, however, be refused passage,
and then they will appeal to Russia to grant then'
' that materia, aid in the reduction cf Holstein which
was agreed upon at Bregenz amongst the absolutists
themselves, and formally threatened at Warsaw. Now
Russia's mode of granting this aid in the reduction
of Holstein is neither more nor less than marching an
army of 150,000 men through Prussia, and even
through Berlin ; whilst nn Austro-Bavarian army ad-
%macs from the south. .Will Prussia, can Pruskia,
resist this double invasion ? The arguments of those
who dissuaded the calling out the landwehr were, that
if the landtrehr be called forth, the Prussians, as a
military nation, will never suffer the march of the
Russians through their territories ; and that the call-
ing out of the landwelzr would thus be tantamount to
war: The landwehr has been called out, amidst - the .
acclamations of all classes of the people. The march of
the first corps from Berlin was accompanied by a burst
of popular exultation, of w hick the Prince of Prussia
received his share. The excitement is general. Still
if the Prussians are exuberant in military spirit and
indignant at the outrageous insolence of their foes,
these foes are confident in their numbers. Tile Aus-
trians are brave, having at their hack the same Rus-
sians which enabled them to subdue Hungary. A
conflie, therefore, may ensue—a conflict of fearful
odds, and Prussia would be invaded by a million of
foes, which it would require the spirit of the Great
Frederick .to meet, and his military talent to baffle.
Iv aeroleon used to say, that if he were England be
would not allow a cinnon-slot to be fired in Europe
without his permission. We believe that England,
without being Napoleon, has still the power to
forbid cannon-shots. We believe that it does lie in
England's power to forbid the Emperor of Russia
to march his hordes acmes Prussia under the pretext
of reducing the Holsteiners, but really for the pur-
pose of crushing all constitutional liberalism or anti-
Russianism in Germany. We believe that our
English ffnister cotill settle the question of Holstein
wittniut this huge and menacing march and conflict
of armies,—first, by persuading the King of nen-
mark to offer fair conditions to the Holstainers, end
then representing to them, not as a foe but as a
friend, the jeopardy in which they are placing the
entire German race, with whom, if not victorious,
they inevitably fall into unmitigated thraldom. If
the King of Denmark wit! make no concession, and
grant no rights or conditions, then let him try to
conquer Holstein with his forces. . If he cannot, let
them grant him terms. The consequence of any
other line of conduct with regard to Holstein mint
be'either the annihilation of Prussia, or, thl awaken-
ing of a revolutionary war. Neither of these alter-
nativea ought ever to have loomed in the dietacce,
or been amongst the possibilities of the time, had
France and England done their duty. Why they
have not done so, there is scarcely time to inquire.
But if thsy do not now exert themselves, Na-
poleoti's prophecy will be fulfilled to the letter, and
Europe will be either republican or Cossack.

THE AWFUL COLLIERY EXPLOSION.

LATEST PAR'T'ICULARS.
DURHAM, TUESDAY.—A melancholy catastrophe oc-
curred yesterday at the Houghton Pit, near Newbottle,
in this county, by an e xplosion of firedamp, whereby
twenty-six men and boys were hurried into eternity.
The pit is the property of the Earl of Durham, and is
ventilated by means of two .:.hafts, an upcast and down-
cast one. Mr. Rutherford is the viewer, and the general
condition of the mine was considered geed. At the
time of the explosion there were 150 men and boys in.
the pit, engaged in the various workings. The explo-
sion was sudden. A loud report was heard, which re-
verberated through all the workings, and was soon indi-
cated at " bank' (a term applied to the entrance of the
shaft). The air courses were in many places completely
destroyed, and the direction of the current changed.
This occurred between five and six o'clock, but it was
part eleven before it was possible to penetrate the work-
ings, when the noise of voices was heard in a direction
about 400 yards from the bottom of the sht.fc, which
clearly showed there were some survivors of the melan-
choly cceurrence. The men employed in the arduous
and dangerous duty of exploration on learning this re-
doubled their exertions, nutwithetandin their compara-
tively exhausted strength, and atter many deeds of Ine-
roism end personal daring, they succeeded in reaching a
patt of the mine where the atmospheric air circulated,
and there .120 men sad boys were found alive, and res-
cued from a fate which had seemed inevitable. From
the statement of one of these survivors it appears that
the men were engaged at their work when they heard
the noise, and they rushed simultaneously towards the
shalt, but they had not proceeded far when they met
with the chuke-damp, on entering which many of them
fell, some to rise no more. On observing this those not
eo tar in advance became stationary, or retreated for a
few yards, where they found the air good. They soon
discovered that they were hemmed in by a body of
choke-damp, to pass through which would have been im-
possible; for any of them, on attempting to enter it but a
few yards, were overcome, and would have fallen had
they not hastily retreated. On consulting together it
was considered the safest plan to remain whore they
were, and trust to the exertions that would be made to
reach them from the shaft by carry ing in the air; and
they did so remain for between five sad six hours, until
their delivery was effected. Before that time bad ex-
pired many a stout heart quailed in prospect of
certain death. A dread solemnity pervaded the mind
of every one, impenetrable darkness increased the
agony of feeling, and the silence of this tomb of the
living was only broken by wild ejaculations of despair,
fervent prayers and supplicatious to the Almighty for
deliverance, or at ii.tervals by signal shouts, intended to
guide any exploring party to the sepulchral abode. It
impossible to portray the condition of these poor men
during this long and harfel period, or convey any ade-
quate conception of their joy and gratitude on being
rescued from Euch extreme peril and restored to their
anxious and mourning friend:, who gath-errd round the
pit month, awaiting,"
each exhausted piney from 'the poisonous atmosphere
of silence and retignation the return
o
of the workings.
It is bad to relate, however, that twenty-six persons
hed
peps . most of them by attempting to get through
the choke damp towards the shaft. Several were
burnt. Some were found without heads, others
without legs or artns ; portions of the same body were
found in different and distant places, showing the
violence cl the fire. It is impossible to tell with,
certainty where the fire criginet,,d, $o g 'Oil is th
havoc made in its vicinity, slid the men v.urking near
it were blown to a great distance. The principal por-
tion ,of the aufferera are relly•beye and waggon-urea,