, 1865-09-12
From the London Times, august 49,

can understand. That unfathonIable. CON
troyerSy who's it is said that one man
oniv ever succreeed IN comprehending,
and he at the cost of his reason, has now
been made tran>p rentIy clear. II meant
simr!v this-'hat Germany coveted ii bit
Of Denmark without knowing exactly
how 10 get it or into whose hands 1t
should be lodged. For years together
German Professors lahnured hard to prove
that the title of the Danish SuterelgnS 10
a certain portion Of their dominlons was
not entirely perfect, and at the last de-
mise of the Danish Grown the minor
States Of Germany assembled in Congress
declared that The Duchies devoived by
right, not on the present King of Dem
M k, but on the Duke Di A~ugustenburg.
TO this resolution they prepared TO give
eff CT by force OF arms, when they found
themselves rudelv eIboweh off the scene,
by Austria aud Prussia, which Powers
adopting the German cause in principle,
took The execution of the work upon
themselves. How they accomplished it
we need not describe. The Danes were
driven not DULY ont Of Holsleln, which
was German, but out Of Schleswig, which
was Danish, and the first result was that
the %couQuerOrS established III their own
favour exactly that state of things which
they had declared to be uncomfortable while
it prevailed in favour of Denmark. A
mixed population of Danes and Germans
had been subjected TO a Danish Govern
ment it was now sub rctrd to 4 German
Government, and with at least as much
dissatisfaction on the part OF the comnu-
nifty.
Then arose the critical question-Who
is the heir The crusade was originally
undertaken in the interests OF the Duke
Of Augustenburg, whose claims had "eFn
acknowledged and supported by the pro-
moters of the first agitation. These claims
have now been utterly discarded by Pfus-
STA, and Prussia has also rejected with
equal decision the pretenSiOns advanced
IT, favour Of other claimants. 1t results
therefore, that after the King OF Den
mark has been forcibly disposseSsed' those
who dispossessed him Can produce no
title to the property in any way SuNP'l"f
to his; in fact, the very latest proposition
in the matter was this-that, whereas the
rieh,ful heir for whom the Duch'es had
bepn coDuuerors was found TO have no eX-
isterce, the conquerors should divide the
conquest between them by ProIo"gins IN
definitely the %"joint ~occupatiou' which
had suhsisted since the war. Now, If we
consider for a moment that the King of
Denmark, against whose claims il is thus
found impossible 10 produce any others,
had at any rate been previously rtcog-
nized by the Powers of Europe as the
most desirable successor to the Duchies,
we shall! be able TO estimate the value Of
the preteusions on which Germany pro-
fessrd to rely in this famous q%narrel.
King Christian derived al undouhted title
10 the Duchies from the consecutive
might almost say The guarantee-ot En-
rope, and his title by inheritance is now
proved to be so good thai amy rate no
better can be shown. So much for the
Justice of the war.
Prussia scarcely condescends to dis
grise the fact that she invaded and con-
Qupred the southern provinces of Den
mark, not for Germany, nor for any Ger
man pretender, nor for anybody, in fact,
but herself alone. And she would have
appropriated this spoil without shame or