The Express.
London, England, 1864-02-25 00:00:00

[Stamped, ld. Additional.)

THE DANISH QUESTION.

(►aOY OOR OWN CORkWONDUT.)
FRANKFORT, Fn. 2t

The invasion of Jutland has proved to be a mere
canard invented by the Danes, who want new
complications, in order to obtain that assistance on
which they have always relied. The fact is, that,
when it was reported to have taken place, Wrangel
was at a ball, given in his honour by the citizens of
Hadersleben. The occupation of Kolding, a fron-
tier town, half in Sleswig half in Jutland territory,
was magnified into an invasion ! That this would
be justified if the Danes carry on a regular war at
sea, and alter the character of the present contest,
is plain enough. Still it will not take place while
there in any reasonable expectation that, after the
occupation of Sleswig, the Danes will agree to an
armistice and to a conference for peace. The in-
security of the seas will tell heavily on German
and English trade to Germany if the present state
of things should continue until April, and even
now the home trade is very slack in consequence
of the uncertainty respecting coming events.
The Wurzburg conferences have ended in
nothing. The question under discussion was what
the minor States should do, if Austria and Prussia
disposed by force of Holstein • but no convention
was signed—it was only resolved to defend by all
means the right of the Diet to regulate the succes-
sion in Holstein, and should this be disputed, to
send reinforcement, there, and put the troops on a
war footing. Baden proposed au alliance under I
one leader, and the meeting of the different cham-
bers ; but the proposition was thrown out. Now as
the States represented at Wurzburg coin wand an army
of only 174,104 men, armed resistance on their part is
impossible, while civil war would certainly not be
the means to separate the Duchies from the Danish
monarchy. Public opinion in that case would be
against them. What the masses wanted was foreign
interference, and the first hint of it would unite in
one mass Austria, Prussia, the minor States, and
the people. It would be the best cure for internal
dissensions ; but as long as foreigners stand aloof,
Austria and Prussia will, to a certain extent, do
the business of Denmark far better than a French
army or au English fleet. Still nobody believes
in French interference, as the shrewd Em-
peror has already gained more by his
passive attitude than he could have gained by war.
As by the Crimean war he severed the bonds
between Austria and Russia, and by the Ita-
lian those between Austria and Prussia, so he has
severed now the bonds between Germany and Eng-
land. Ask every Englishman who has travelled
or resided in this country whether be did not feel
himself quite at home. Englishmen were welcome
guests in all clubs ; they could everywhere hold con-
, versations in their own langnage ; they met with
all kinds of civilities. A French threat against
England was looked upon as one against Ger-
many itself. All this has already began to change.
The German press has opened tire along the
whole line against the abuse of certain English
papers ; the motives of England in her various wars
are discussed.; the rottenness of her laws is exposed ;
the egotism of her policy censured. It is not to
the partiality shown to Denmark that this
angry feeling must be attributed ; it is the charac-
ter of inferiority ascribed to the Germans by cer-
tain leading English organs, which has roused
public indignation. What the French were always
blamed for, i. e., having two measures, one for
their own, the other for their neighbours' rights,
is exactly the charge brought against those papers.
Thus we find it stated, that the revolution in the
Duchies has been brought about by a German in-
vasion, but, of course, French invasion had nothing
to do with that of Italy. Germans think that in
both countries the popular feeling was violently
suppressed by foreign armies, and that it broke out
spontaneously when they were withdrawn. Again, it is
stated that the Austrians and Prussians left the
Duchies,in 181 because of the menace of Ruseia
while, it they had been united, or if they had not
acted under the pressure of the then all-
powerful reaction, Russia would not have dared to
lift a finger any more. Unfortunately, such state-
ments prove the correctness of the popular view,
that Germany will never obtain her rank among
nations until she has again shown her power in a
great war, and that brute force alone continues to
be, in these civilized times, the real standard of the
value of a nation. Should the present circum-
stances bring about a coolness between Englishmen
and Germans, then Napoleon will have carried his
ends, and the peace of Europe will be endangered
far more than by the Danish war.