The Schleswig-Holstein affair has advanced a step during the week,
the Prussian Government having explained its ground. In the debate on the resolution moved by Herr Virchow, Herr Bis- mark stated that his Government held themselves bound to observe the treaty of May 8th, 1852, provided Denmark fulfilled "those preceding engagements which stand in inseparable mutual con- nection with the Treaty of London." This means that if Denmark recalls the patent uniting Schleswig to the monarchy, Prussia will keep the treaty ; if not, not. The condition is perfectly unjusti- fiable, for the treaty contains no condition of any sort. Prussia has the right, of course, if she chooses, to make the absorption of Schleswig ground of war, as tending to make Danish power danger- ously great ; but she must either recognize King Christian as Duke of Holstein, or stand convicted of a departure from her own explicit engagement only eleven years old. The Western Powers, we suspect, will not be content with any subterfuge. It is just possible that Herr Bismark may have stood in awe of the Chamber, which has voted a resolution declaring the rights of Duke Frederick by 231 to 63 ; but his words read as if they expressed his own ardent desire to break the treaty engagement.
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