The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-02 00:00:00

that
the preceding year. Frona this patch,d.es
it would seem that, in she
Wodehouse was simply directa'a to sound Otettio e:-
fittitUd6 • rA
man Powers, and that the definite' len
first instance,
assumed by him towards the Danish
was left to be determined by subseque:kv
Lord eventsotGov.erno_
In pursuance of his instructions,
.Lor
«0.
house went, in the first place, to Berlin, and 1,54.
had an interview with M. von Bismark. The snla
stance of the conversation which passed betweela
them is contained in a despatch from Lord Wode--.
house to Earl Russell, dated December 12, and .
important as manifesting without any affectation of
concealment the true grounds of the hostility of the
leading Powers of Germany to Denmark.. It was
not, as was generally supposed, to rescue either the
Schleswigers or the Holsteiners from a deiapotism
which was intolerable to them that Austria and
Prussia were about to take up arms against Dt.,
mark. The object of the German Powers was fa r
different. " The fact was," said M. von Bismark,
" that Germany would never be on good terms
with Dnmark so long as the present democratic
institutions of Denmark were maintained." the
the
It
was not, we are left to suppose,
common Constitution of NoveinCer tended to
bec
incorporate Schleswig with the Kieigdom Proper
that it gave umbrage to Austria 3.qd Prussita
prin-
but because it tended to disseminate the
ciples of constitutional liberty, and af.,:tsll?St SUCht
dissemination Austria and Prussia felt at to be,
their dut to protest. " Let the King of Dent:nark,,
said M. Von Bismark, "dismiss his Ministeis.; a
coup deka would be the best solution of the dip .-
culty." Such was the lenguage of the Prussian
Minister to our Envoy, and such the counsel whiet
he desired to he transmitted to a constitutional king
within a month after his accession to the throne.
As, however, the German Powers eeatld not decently
proclaim to the world that their m object
in
attacking Denmark was to crush free ;a,stitutoasa
i
the stalking-horse of Schleswig-Holsteint.9m was
once more turned to account, and the a anglsh
Minister was informed that the D Amish Goa 'ern-
ment would be required to suspend the COMM on
Constitution before the let of January, which veu4
known to be impossible, and to fulfil their engage-
ments of 1851 in such a manner that the existing•
connection between the Kingdom Proper of Den-
mark and Schleswig should be finally severed. In
communicating what passed at this interview, Lord
W. odelicuse fulfilled the first portion of his mis-
sion. The English Government were then made
perfectly acquainted with the specific nature of
German grievances and German demands, The
next despatch in the series to which it is necessary
to refer was addressed by Earl Russell to Lord
Wodehouse on the 17th of December, and conse-
quently subsequent to the receipt of Lord Wade-
house's despatches of the 12th. By this time, just
eight days after the date of the letter of instructions
above referred to, the Foreign Secretary had evi-
dently made up his mind on the merits of the chief
question iu dispute between Germany and Denmark.
The Ministers of Austria and Prussia had made
their complaints, and Ear' Russell was now in a
position to affirm that Denmark bad violated her
engagements. In the despatch of 17th December
the Foreign Secretary. unhesitatingly declares
thnt the Constitution of November virtually
effected an incorporation of Schleswig with Den-
mark, and, being consequently a violation of the
engagements entered into by the Danish Crown,
ought forthwith to be repealed. " How this is to
be done," the despatch concludes, " it belongs to the
King of Denmark, his Ministers, and his Parlia-
ment to decide. It is the wish of her Majesty's Go-
vernment that it should be done in the manner
most suitable to the dignity and character of Den-
' mark as a free and independent State." As this
brings us to the point where the Special Envoy
received definite instructions respecting the lana
gunge he was to hold to the Danish Cabinet, and as
the correspondence already published carries us no
further than the date of his arrival at Copenhagen,
we will for the present abstain from offering any
comment on those instructions. We now know
that the English Government did press upon the
Danish Cabinet the necessity of revoking the corn-
mon Constitution ; but how the latter received
those councils we have yet to learn.

COUNTRY MARKETS.

--......,j,-.

LEEDS-TUESDAY.

Having only a thin attendance of millers, and a limited
demand for wheat, the trade must be called nominally the
same as last Tuesday. Very little business was done in
barley, which brought late rates. Oats and beans rather
cheaper.