The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-14 00:00:00

wig, Holstein, and Lauenburg. We here dismiss
from consideration the small and comparatively
unimportant colonial dependencies. The entire
population might be set down at two millions and
-a he. of which about three-quarters of a million
inhabited : and and its adjacent islands. Such
were the possessions to which Christian IX. stale
ceeded by virtue of the Tree:: of 1852, and which,
territories of
though small in comparison with he L
other continental Sovereigns, eonstituten
monarchy
which held no unimportant place in the may 1:)!
Europe. No sooner, however, had he ascendea
the throne than his rights to the Duchies were
called in question, and a war with .Germany ensue'i
which has resulted up to the present time in den
preying him of all his possessions on the mainland.
Without proceeding to consider in detail the
causes which led to that war, or the ostenteibio
motives advanced by the German Powers, we may
without danger of contradiction say that hostilities
were dictated by a spirit of aggrandisement and by
a wish on the part of Germany to secure possession
of a seaboard which would enable her to become a
great naval Power. But Germany, regarded as an
aggregate, stood to Denmark in a relation very dif-
ferent from that in which France would stand to
England, or Italy to Austria, if either contemplated
the invasion of the other. Germany is a Confedera-
tion of independent States, and though she threat-
ened Denmark with invasion, her objects could be
ensured by the consent of the latter to enter into
the league of which she was composed. By such a
proceeding Denmark would not lose her indepene
dence, except in so far as she would become amen•
able to the jurisdiction of the Diet, a jurisdiction to
which Austria and Prussia nominally submit them-
selves. But it so happened the Duchies of Holstein
and Lauenburg actually formed part of the Confedee
ration, and in respect to them that the Danish King
was amenable to the decrees of the Diet at Franke
fort, and consequently he had the best means of
judging of the effect of making all his dominion sub'
ject to the jurisdiction of the Confederation. It was
under these circumstances, then, that the Deno..
German war commenced. Now, without carrying
our readers back to the year 1815, it may be suffi-
cient to state that at that time the European Powers
recognised the necessity of entrusting the islands
and the peninsula commanding the entrance of the
Baltic to a third-rate maritime Power. When the
plenipotentiaries at Vienna occupied themselves in
remapping Europa, and taking slices from this
State and from that State, they took care to leave
the Danish islands and peninsula intact. The ex.,.
pediency of maintaining the integrity of Denmark
has from that time constantly been recognised;
and in order to guard against a contingency which
threatened to dismember that monarchy, the
Treaty of 1852, establishing the right of the present
Sovereign to succeed to all the possessions of his
predecessor, was formally concluded between Dena
mark and the neutral Powers. Such being the case,
the Danish Government found themselves placed in
a position of peculiar difficulty when, on the ace+ se
sion of the present Sovereign, the German Powers
threatened to strike a blow at the integrity of the
monarchy by demanding, as they virtually did, the
cession to Germany of the Duchies. Denmark had
not only her own personal interests to regard, but
those of the neutral maritime Powers, and had to
regulate her policy according to the supposed wishes
and interests of other nations than herself. Al-
though the war with Denmark was waged by Prue'
sia and Austria in the name of United Germany the
Danish Government, as well as the Cabinets of the
neutral States, were well aware that the aggressive
Powers, and more especially Prussia, were actuated
by motives not merely distinct from, but in some
respects antagonistic to, those which prompted the
Confederation to assume a hostile attitude towards
Denmark. The Diet simply asked for the union of
the Duchies under a German prince, together with
their enrolment in the Bond, whereas the leading
Powers of the Confederation sought the subversion
of those liberal institutions which the Danish people
enjoyed, and Prussia hoped that the Duchies, if not
the entire peninsula, might become part of her own
dominions. Threatened from two quarters, but at
the same time trusting to the strong interest pos-
sessed by the great maritime Powers in the main'
tenance of their independence, the Danes accepted
a war the issue of which, if they stood alone, could
not be doubtful, and looked to England, France,
and Russia for that assistance which they considered
motives of self-interest would induce them to give'
But they looked in vain. The war proceeded—the
Duchies were occupied by the invaders—the prh-
vinCe of Jutland shared the same fate, and still
their Allies made no sign. At length the islands
and the capital were threatened, and then, and not till
then, was Denmark told that she must not loolC
abroad for material assistance. At this last moment,
with absolute extinction imminent, with a territory
reduced to a few islands and a population of three
quarters of a million, Denmark naturally casts
about to discover some means by which she cell
satisfy her foes, short of the annihilation of her na-
tional existence. That overtures for peace have been
made by the Danish Sovereign to the German
Powers there can be no doubt, although with their
precise nature we are as yet unacquainted. It would
of course he open to Denmark to propose to enter
bodily into the Germanic Confederation, but to such
a step France, if not England, would raise a decided
opposition ; otherwise, treating with Prussia alone,
Denmark might cede to her everything south of the
Schlei, and remodel her institutions in conformity
with the wishes of the Cabinet of Berlin, retaining
her political independence. Or, again, either of
these schemes might of course be variously modified,
We simply furnish these indications, as showing
how far from final settlement the Dane-German di.3"
pute is, and how serious the complications to which
it may yet give rise. But all this has been long
foreseen, and it must be confessed that the English
Cabinet endeavoured to form an alliance which
would have prevented these results. As for Den'
mark she is fully justified, when she finds herself
deserted, in taking any course which promises to
avert her destruction. It now remains to be seen in
what manner the Western Powers will regard the
last phase on which the Dano-German question has
entered.

COUNTRY MARXETS.

LYNN-TUESDAY.

A small show of wheat to-day, which meta brisk sale at
fully is per qr upon all descriptions. Oats firm in price*
Beans and peas 6d to is advance.
White wheat .....46s to 48s f Barley 36s to, 375
d • 42s to 44s I Grinding ..26s to 294
Beans
Small
Averages Wheats, 42s 2d—barley, 29s Od—beaus.,
37s 4d.