TOPICS OF THE DAY.
THE DIPLOMATIC OPIATE FOR DENMARK. DENMARK has, it is said, yielded to the proposal for conference without armistice, and it now only remains to secure the assent of the German Band. That body must be represented ; first, because England and France agreed that it should be ; secondly, because, if it is not, it may carry on the war as it began it, alone ; and thirdly, because, unless it signs the ultimate agreement, it may at any moment declare the Treaty of 1864 as worthless, as it has already declared the Treaty of 1852. It is just possible that this body—in the Treaty of 1852. It is just possible that this body—in which the incompatible qualities of rashness and indecision are united in their highest degree—may, after a few weeks of unintelligible debate and contradictory votes, arrive at the conclusion that, as Germans are to kill Danes uninterruptedly, Danes and Germans may talk over the reasons for killing without much injury to the cause of the Fatherland. The bleating of the sheep does not hurt the wolf much while he is feeding, and if it keeps the watch-dogs from interfering, it is a positive good to the wolf. It is, therefore, just possible, though in our judgment still very improbable, that England, who made the Treaty of 1852, and would enforce it if it were not so costly, and France who helped to make it, but thinks it useless when made, and Austria who first signed and then broke it, and Prussia who signed and then disregarded and waited the "opportune moment" for breaking it, and Denmark who endured it, and the Diet who rejected it, may all meet together to settle amicably how much importance they ought to attach to their written compact. It is, therefore, a fitting moment for pointing out the real effect of the proposition which, unfortunately for Denmark, for the honour of Great Britain, and for the security of all little States, is growing in public favour. That proposition is defined by diplomatists as the "personal union" between the kingdom and the duchies, and really means this. Schleswig, which under whatever conditions belongs to Denmark, is to be torn from the kingdom and united to Holstein, which under whatever conditions belongs to Ger- many. The two States being then fused into one as a purely German duchy, King Christian of Denmark is to be declared Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, the two realms to be absolutely separated, the German customs line to be extended to Jut- land, and the Danes to be left independent and powerless in their two small islands and petty peninsula. Under this arrangement Denmark is despoiled, but King Christian will be ruler of Denmark proper, of Schleswig and of Holstein, and the object of diplomacy being the security of Kings and not of nations, or peoples, or principles, it is held that the Treaty of 1852, signed "in order to secure the integrity and independence of Denmark," not of a Glucksburg, will be main- tained, and statesmen will doubtless congratulate themselves on the cleverness with which they have enforced its provisions. The war will for the present end, the pretensions of Russia to Kiel—an important though undiscussed element in the whole affair—will be put aside, the Germans will be contented, the English and French funds will rise, and everybody will be comfortable, except the Danes who have been spoiled, the Germans whose relatives have been " expended " in a spolia- tion, and such Englishmen as think it, on the whole, expedient that English friendship should be almost as trustworthy as a lawyer's bond. The three last classes are powerless, and so pleasant will the arrangement be to the powerful, that we despair of seeing any other seriously discussed.
The patent objections to it are, nevertheless, somewhat for- midable. By adopting it Europe will formally sanction the plundering of a little State by a very great one, that plunder being taken in defiance of a written contract not to take it. Whatever the Treaty of 1852 really meant, it seems certain that its object was to keep Denmark as powerful as she had ever been, that the Powers who signed it knew that quite well, and that they have defeated by violence the ends of their own agreement. The precedent is not a satisfactory one at all, for it would justify a French seizure of Belgium, which is protected only by documents, or a German seizure of Holland, which also is incompetent to resist. It is the death- warrant of every little State which cannot by subservience to a great one obtain the support of a large army, that is of the true independence, and, therefore, true use of every little State whatever. Their use in the world is not to be extra limbs to bigger bodies, but to keep up many varieties of vitality, and preserve Europe from that monotonous uniformity which day by day threatens its civilization. The patent jection, however, strong as it is, and bitterly as it disgraces us, whose duty is to protect the weak, is feeble compared with the special objections alleged by the sufferers themselves. They say, and say truly, that for them the " personal union" is worse than the total conquest of the Duchies. It may be pleasant for the King, who will have two civil lists ; but they do not feel any par- ticular interest in the pecuniary prosperity of a gentleman who is not a Dane, who is no descendant of their old kings, and who, with every will, has had no opportunity of doing them any visible good. As to themselves personal union would yield them nothing, not even theright of dispensing with a customs line between Christian's royal and ducal dominions, not even free trade with Germany. On the other hand, it would leave them with just half a king, and that the inferior half ; for King-Duke Christian is sure to gravitate towards the Duchies, first because he is a German himself, and secondly because Germans are much pleasanter people to rule than those self-opinionated democratic Danes, who are actually understood to believe that a Parliament may be wiser than a King. It was a grand promotion for the Elector of Hanover to be made King of England, but the two first Georges loved the little State where their signatures could im- prison an impertinent, where mistresses were not too openly ridiculed, and where nobody dare ask where the last supply had gone. King Christian, though without the same vices, will have just the same motives for preferring the Duchies, and the Danes will be governed for half the year by a King whose heart during that half year will be in Clucks- burg. And be it remembered for all this they get no price, no right to appointments in the Duchies, no right of raising recruits there, no mercantile advantage, nothing, in fact, save the privilege of being governed by a King who is a reigning Duke somewhere else. Again, if they lose Schleswig and Holstein utterly many new courses are open to them; they may follow out King Frederick's plan and declare themselves a neutral republic, and so lead a happy, enjoyable life, which if without excitements will also be without taxes, and with a form of society singularly suited to their circumstances. Or, resolving to retain political life, they may annex themselves on the Norwegian footing to the Swedish crown, and so descend, from a little kingdom into the second province of a very con- siderable one. There is a large party in Copenhagen which even now advises that course, and that party is actively fostered by Charles the Fifteenth, an active man, who thinks that he might be a Gustavus, perhaps recover Finland or Pomerania. Both these courses are closed to the Danes if they accept the per- sonal union, and nobody offers them anything of any sort in re- turn. They are to submit to spoliation, to be robbed by the high hand, if not of a province, at least of a dependency, in order that their King may be somewhat a greater man, and conse- quently less dependent upon themselves. They are to change a monarchy into a duality of States not united by a federal bond, of which one-half will stand alone in the world, while the other half have the permanent sympathy and support of a nation of forty millions, which nation intends very speedily to declare itself, Schleswig and Holstein included, one and indivisible. And they are to discuss and accept this proposition while Prussia is thundering against their works at Diippel, while Austrian generals send the mayors of Jutland to fortresses in the interior, and while Copenhagen itself is menaced by a coming Dalmatian fleet. Can we wonder that Danes should think Earl Russell a worse counsellor than despair?
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