THE MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.
Tr HE first day of the Session has not disappointed expecte- ' - tion quite so much as usual. The Queen's Speech was, indeed, bald, indecisive, and ungrammatical, but then it is only from defect of memory that any one expects it to be anything else, and the debate was excellent. It cleared up the single paradox in the speech, the " unremitting efforts to maintain peace" which Her Majesty is to make after war has already broken out, and explained to politicians, if not to the country at large, the course which the Cabinet has pursued, and that which under certain contingencies it will be com- pelled to advise. Lord Palmerston, Earl Russell, Lord Granville, all spoke, and their speeches were marked by that reticent force and carefully veiled decision which befits the Ministry of a great country, when speaking of a possible and a tremendous war. The explanation was heard with deep attention, and though days may elapse before the country fully catches the meaning of a most painful and complicated situa- tion, there will, we believe, when it does thoroughly under- stand, be but little hesitation in approving.
The Ministerial statement, when once the speeches have been collated, amounts, in our apprehension, to this :—On the death of Frederic VII. of Denmark the British Government hoped, and at first, perhaps, believed, that the succession would be settled in accordance with the Treaty of 1852, and that Ger- many, even if dissatisfied, would, in presence of the union of the Five Powers, content itself with grumbling. As soon as the baselessness of this hope became clear, the Government resolved on two policies—to maintain the integrity of Denmark as a necessity of European order, and to secure this object peace- fully by "settling the differences which had arisen between" Llermany and Denmark. In pursuit of this second and more im- mediate end no exertions were considered too great, and scarcely any concessions too ample. They first of all informed the King of Denmark that in their judgment the patent of March, which applied to Holstein, violated the laws of Germany, and urged him, as Holstein was German, to recall it. This, the patent being an act of prerogative, King Christian did, and Austria and Prussia then persuaded the Diet to enter Holstein for execution, instead of for occupation, and execution in their own dominions being, whether wise or foolish, always legal, lord Palmerston held that the matter, as far as regarded Holstein, had been settled. The Germans then raised the question of the common Constitution, and again the British -.Government warned King Christian that his predecessor's -pledge not to incorporate Schleswig must be kept, and advised him to withdraw that Constitution. Again King Christian yielded, only asking time to consult the Parliament which had passed an Act it was not within his prerogative to abolish. Austria and Prussia, afraid, says Earl Russell, that if they kept their troops inactive on the Eider Germany would raise volunteers, and so precipitate revolution, peremptorily refused the time required, that is, demanded the immediate performance of an impossibility. Even then the .British Cabinet did not give up its efforts to secure the peace it felt to be so beneficial. With a courage worthy of the highest praise the Ministry threw aside their traditions, braved the national dislike to guarantees, placed irresistible pressure upon Denmark, and made the offer which Lord Palmerston thus describes :—" We offer you a diplo- matic security. We propose that a protocol, which is ,equivalent to a treaty, should be signed in London by the representatives of England, France, Austria, Prussia, Russia, Sweden, and Denmark, and that by that pro- tocol Denmark should promise to take the earliest steps for revoking the Constitution of November ; that time should be .given. her ; that England, France, Russia, and Sweden should be, as it were, pledges to Austria and Prussia for the fulfil- ment of that condition, find that Austria and Prussia should accept that treaty guarantee in lieu of the territorial guarantee which they demand.' (Hear, hear.) Well, they told us that it was too late; that military arrangements had been made ; that troops could not be kept waiting on the frontiers of Schleswig until the Danish Parliament should assemble, and perhaps it would not revoke the Constitution after all, and therefore they must go on. We said, We cannot believe that the Parliament, when assembled—considering the state of danger in which the country is, and how the Danish Monarch is pledged—will refuse. All we can say is, if you agree to that and Denmark fails, Denmark will be entirely in the wrong, and you can get assistance, moral and material, from any Power whatever.' (Hear, hear)." In other words, the British Government guaranteed that Denmark should make the concessions demanded, and promised if she did not to allow her to be compelled. Indeed, we are not quite certain that his remark does not imply a British intention of coercing Denmark, although the speaker, when questioned by Mr. Disraeli, repudiated that extreme interpretation. The military monarchies were now, however, quite determined on action, they rejected even this offer, and " unjustifiably " entered Denmark in order to secure by force terms already fully secured to them by diplomacy.
We cannot but believe that this statement, so clear and so free from passion, or menace, or insult will receive the warm approbation of the country. Up to this point every step taken by Her Majesty's Ministers has been directed to the single end of securing a peace which could not be secured by simple non-interference, and the single reason for failure has been the deliberate preference of the two German Powers for war instead of negotiation, a preference which, says Earl Russell, "is to me as inexplicable as it is melancholy," but which is explicable enough to those who remember that Hohenzollerns and Hapsburgs have for sixty years subjected their policy, their interests, and their principles to the hope of one day presiding over an united German empire. For peace Earl Russell recommended to the Danes to evacuate Holstein ; for peace he counselled King Christian to submit to internal interference ; for peace he pledged the honour of England to the vote of a Danish Parliament. He and his colleagues have done for peace all that diplomatic skill, or practised ex- perience, or statesmanlike audacity could suggest, and it remains only to define the course which, now that all has been tried and failed, beseems the honour of Great Britain. The Ministry wisely enough refuse to define that future, but unless we misread the speeches they have, in spite of the vexatious complications -abroad and the pain- ful difficulties at home, resolved that there is a point beyond which the German Powers cannot be suffered to advance. The Government insists evidently that the Danish Parliament shall put their country in the right by executing the pledges given by the deceased Sovereign, and so depriving Austria and Prussia of their only just ground for coercion ; but when once full right has been done they are equally determined not to permit the wilful dismemberment of Denmark. That determination is not, of course, clearly or emphatically ex- pressed. There are immense difficulties, geographical, mili- tary, and climatic, in the way of immediate action, and to menace when circumstances may render menace unnecessary is not the policy of moderate statesmen. There are still questions of right to be cleared up, and the claim of King Christian to rule in Holstein has to be separated more distinctly from the claim of the Danes to rule up to the Eider. There is, moreover, the country to be informed, by its responsible rulers, and not merely by newspapers, of the true me rite of the affair, and to signify clearly and finally what it will and what it will not do. But unless we misread the debate, if when the rights of the Schleswigcrs have been guaran- teed and the Constitution repealed, Austria and Prussia do not at once retire, then Her Majesty's Government will submit to Parliament that the nationality of Denmark is suffering violent oppression from the nationality of Ger- many, in violation of public law, and will, we trust and believe, stand or fall by the response they may receive. They have exhausted ingenuity in their efforts to preserve the peace, and the responsibility of breaking it rests not with them, but with the Governments who are putting Danes to death because they could not perform now that which both they and England agreed to perform a few weeks hence. The debate has not removed all the haze, but it has enabled men to see the broad outlines of the position; that England does not interfere for Holstein; that she has not interfered for Schleswig until all promised rights have been granted to that Duchy ; that her single object is to maintain the right of a small nationality to be exempt from causeless menace; and that for that object she is prepared to support her advice by arms.
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