The Press.
London, England, 1856-06-21 00:00:00

JUNE 21, 1856.

able appearance, the orderly conduct, and becoming de-
meanour of these people, with the drunkenness which
'lists on the Sabbath in the large towns of England and
Scotland, where such extraordivary efforts are made to
prevent any departure on that day from rules which
piper-the most rigid restrictions on every species of amuse-
ment.

We do not pretend that the lower class of Danes are
generally sober, while numbers of English and Scotch in
the same station of life are drunken, merely because the
former have amusements on the Sunday, and the latter
have none ; for the difference of character probably de
pends upon a variety of causes. Neither should we re.
commend a Sunday ride on the " merry-go.round," or
down the " Russian mountain," as a specific for inebriety,
nor put forward such a description of amusements as
suitable for the Sunday recreation of the lower orders in
London ; and for this reason, that although such pastimes
are innocent enough in themselves, yet they lead to no
higher re3ults.

• • • • • • •
Is there no medium point between utter degradation
and exalted piety, to which the vicious may be led by
means that, without being in themselves religious, still do
not violate the principle of religion ? Is there no channel
whereby those who are not thoroughly debased may be
induced to quit, on the day of greatest danger, that society
which exercises such pernicious influence over them ?
Can no rational public attractions be allowed on the Sun-
day—although their tendency be to draw out the finer
qualities of the mind, and, through them, to act upon the
moral feelings—because they fall short of the highest
standard fixed by a religious test? Is it morally and re-
ligiously more correct on the part of a nation to permit
—nay, by their enactments, directly to promote,—this
Sabbath immorality, than to throw open such institutions
and establishments as would attract the masses, and,
while interesting them, convey a certain amount of in-
struction ? These are grave—they axe even solemn—
questions !

Mr. Scott's short sketch of the rise and pro-
gress of the Sound dues, which now forin
twenty per cent. of the annual income of the
country, will repay perusal. We subjoin a
brief extract:—

The origin of the Sound dues goes back to those days
when it was the custom in many countries of Europe to
levy a tax on all vessels or property passing by certain
channels or roads ; which toll was supposed to guarantee
the payer from farther pillage while traversing the domi-
nions or districts under the control of the receiver. This
tax was call id in the north of England " black mail," and
was originally instituted there by the moss troopers. The
system was, in fact, but a compromise between the mariner
or traveller an 1 the pirate or robber, the latter permitting
the former to pass without farther molestation on paying a
certain amount, in money, goods, corn, or cattle. The
custom in Denmark doubtless originated with the sea
rovers, who so long held possession of the neighbouring
channels ; but when law and order gained an ascendancy,
and the Government became more regular, the kings
claimed, as a legal right, the collection of a toll that had
taken its rise from so unworthy a source.
At first, the lax consisted of a simple sum for each
vessel, including the cargo, but the trade being then small,
the animal amount received was quite insignificant. No
sooner, however, did the traffic increase, through the exer-
tions of Christian 11. and his immediate successors, who
extendel the commerce of the kingdom, than complaints
were made, and senors contentions arose between Den-
mirkeand other countries concerning this obnoxious toll.
These disputes early commenced with Holland, which
canted on a considerable trade in the Baltic. In order
to establish the commercial relations of these two countries
on a fixed basis, and to settle the vexed question of the
Sound dues, Christian 111. and Charles V. of Spain, to
whom the Low Courtries then belonged, had an interview
i 11544 at Spejer, where they signed the earliest treaty,
now in existence, on the subject. Charles therein re•
cognised the right of Denmark to levy the Sound dues,
and agreed that Dutch vessels should pay the same toll
as they had previously done, although the tax had been
exorbitantly raised by Christian only a short time before.
But the Dutch merchants did not complain less because
their royal master bad legalised this arbitrary tribute.
Notwithstanding the galling nature of this
exaction, Denmark has hitherto made good
her claims against all questioners, and they
were formally guaranteed to her by the Con-
gress of Vienna. A new ohjector, however,
has lately started up in the shape of America;
but Mr. Scott is entirely against the abolition
of the dues without compensation to Den-
mark :

The United States not only demur to this tax per se,
bat they complain that by an unjust scale of charges a
decided advantage is given to England over them; that
while an ad valorem duty of about three per cent. is put
upon their chief staple, raw cotton, in its transit through
the Sound, white cotton twist—of which Great Britain is
said to ship from thirty to fifty millions of pounds anau•
ally to the Baltic ports—is only charged one per cent. ad
valorem.

We do not uphold the Sound dues, for they are objet•
tionable in principle, and unsound in policy; but as the
strong natims of Europe perpetuated them to suit their
own purposes in 1815—when a favorable opportunity
presented itself of getting rid of them altogether without
inflicting one half of the injury on Denmark that was
done by depriving her of Norway—they are bound by all
the ties of honour and good faith to see that she is pro-
perly remunerated should they decide on abolishing the
objectionable toll.