The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-18 00:00:00

HEALTH OF THE METROPOLIS,

(From the Reyistrar-GeneraN Weekly Report.)
In the last three weeks the mortality has undergone
hardly any fluctuation; and in that which ended last Sa.
turday the deaths were 1,30 G. The deaths of persons under
20 years of age were 636 in the second week in May, which
is 129 less than they were in the second week of April ;
and those of persons at sixty years and upwards were 240,
and showed a decrease of 65.

The average number of deaths in the nineteenth week of
ten years 1854.63 is, with a correction for increase of popu-
lation, 1,283; and the present return is therefore rather in
excess of the number estimated for the second week iu
May.

Both bronchitis and pneumonia continue to decline; 105
deaths are referred to the former, and 61 to the latter. The
corrected averages for those diseases are respectively 99 and
80. Fhthisis, from which 170 deaths are returned, exhibits
an average rate of mortality.
Fifty children died of measles, 5 of whom were in the
sub-district of Hackney. Measles, scarlatina, whooping-
cough, and typhus produced nearly equal amounts of mor-
tality, and no zym9tic disease predominated in the week.
Scarlatina was fatal in 51 cases, and 4 of these occurred in
llaggerstone East, and 4 in Limehouoe.
Six deaths were caused by horses or vehicles in the
streets. A boy was suffocated by the fumes of a briok-kiln•
A man died, after 12 days' illness, of idiopathic tetanus.
A charwoman, aged 73 years, died on the 27th ult,, at
14, New-street, Bethnal-green, from bronchitis, accelerated
by want of food.

Last work the births of 963 boys and 973 girls, in all
1,936 children, were registered in London. In the ten
corresponding weeks of the years 1854-63 the average
number (corrected) was 1,964.

Persons who have been in the habit of paying weekly as
borrowers of Sewing Machines will do well to apply at once
and become members of Messrs. Watts and Co.'s Sewing
Machine Clubs. so doing they will not only save the
money they now foolishly throw away, but at the same time
secure to themselves the possession of one of thew best and
most celebrated sewing machines in the world. Every in-
formation given on application; or by letter addressed, with
a stamped envelope, to Messrs. Watts and Co., 12, Beaufort-
buildings, Strand, London, W.C., where mem rs are en-
i•9lled daily between 10 and 4; Saturdays, 10 anc,t

SPIRIT OF ff.

PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES4—The strange events of the Danish war

are reviving acme of the oldest questions of history.
Every schoolboy learns, or used to learn, that when
Saxon England was invaded by the Danes, Danes
and Saxons could understand each other's speech
and talk together as if they had been one people.
If, again, the young pupil had the precocity to con-
sult a map and see where these people came from,
he would find that the country from which the Saxons
came was that which is now called Denmark, and
that Angles and Jutes derived their descent from
Schleswig and Jutland. So, when our correspondent
now writes that the Danes, after ages of antagonism
consummated by a cruel war, are regarding the Ger-
mans with little and are, indeed, attracted
towards them rather than towards Sweden and

Norway, we can understand the sentiment, unex-
pected though it be. Still, though there may be no
irreconcilable enmity betwcua these races, the
division has been so long and so well established
that " Denmark for the Danes" is a natural cry,
and it is the cry which now prevails at Copenhagen.
The Dines demand a kingdom and country of their
own, be it small or large. Europe in Conference
may "rectify" the frontiers of their territory, but
they claim that the line of demarcation, wherever it
may run, shall be clear, distinct, and impassable. It
must be a line beyond which no German can claim a
footing. If the ancient landmark of the empire is to
be moved northwards, let the movement be final.
Such are the views now prevailing in the Danish
capital, and they certainly express a justifiable po-
licy even if they rest upon doubtful speculations.
This position of the case shows the almost incon-
ceivable insignificance of the alleged cause of war.
The ancient frontier of Denmark was the river Eider,
one of the clearest and most natural boundaries
that could be well imagined. North of this stream
the soil was Danish, south of it German. Bat the
province immediately south of the Eider, though a
German Duchy, pertained to the Kings of Den-
mark, who were Dukes of Holstein. The footing
thus possessed by Denmark in Germany was not
much calculated to benefit the former State, but it
might have produced little disadvantage had it not
been for an extraordinary and unaccountable de-
vice adopted some centuries ago. Somebody con-
ceived the idea that Schleswig, which was a
Duchy, though Danish, should be joined in poli-
tical wedlock with the German Duchy of Holstein,
and that the union should be declared indis-
soluble to the end of time. That preposterous
claim on behalf of an obscure transaction of conve-
nience has been made the foundation of a great
European difficulty. It lies at the bottom of the
Danish war, and of the intrigues which led to it. It
enabled German professors to compile a case for
enriching Germany at the expense of Denmark.
If the question had only concerned the disposal of
Holstein, we should never have heard of the present
embarrassments. Denmark would have let Holstein
go, and Germany would have hardly cared to pick
it up. But the addition of Schleswig to Holstein
made the whole worth having, and so the Germans,
knowing that Holstein was their own, elaborately
paraded its union with Schleswig as a sacred work
which no human power could undo. In reality the
transactio❑ was just, as reversible as any other politi-
cal arrangement. Scores of "unions" have been simi-
larly invested with "perpetuity," to be dissolved at
the next peace or the next treaty ; but the learned
professors of Germany have loudly maintained that,
though the whole face of Europe might be changed,
the union of Danish Schleswig with German Holstein
mustremain intact. So the Germanic Confederation
took under its care not only the Germans of Hol-
stein, but the Germanised Danes of the Schleswig
border, and when it was found that some of these
had been sent to school to learn, not German, but

Danish, there arose the clamour which, owing to
the opportunities of a disputed succession, has now
culminated in war. The sole charge against Den-
m trk is that in a portion of her territories where
two races touched she was disposed to favour the
establiihmcnt of her own. There is not a State in
Europe where the same instinct of Government has
not operated in precisely the same way. But now,
to complete the hollowness and absurdity of the
whole cause, it is probable enough that a war based
upon the eternal union of Schleswig and Holstein
may be finished by separating one from the other.
If the claims of nationality are to regulate terri-
torial adjustments, these claims must at length
put an end to the connection worshipped as
indissoluble, for though it is quite certain
that " Schleswig-Holstein " is not purely Danish,
it ;s no less so that it is not purely German.
Somewhere or other, at some point of your journey
as you advance northwards from the banks of the
Elbe towards the borders of Jutland, you will come
to a country where the people are thorough Danes,
and where everything is Danish. To bring this conn-
try under the sway of a German Power would be to
practice for the benefit of Germany the same policy
which has been st,;matised as so intolerable when
practised for the benefit: of Denmark. The grievances
of the people of Holstein, wt, cla Germans have com-
bined to denounce, would then bet;,' me the grievances
of the people of Schleswig. Here the C: aramns will be
in a dilemma. Their case, such as it is, rats on two
claims—first, that Schleswig and Holstein frazn one
State, indivisible by mortal authority ; and, n,axt,
treat a German population must be protected from
the Government of an alien race. But, as a Danish
population is Equally entitled to protection of
the same kind, it will become absolutely im-
possible to maintain the indivisibility of a State

inhabited by two distinct races. One of the two
things must be given up. If the old decree of ter-
ritorial union is to govern, the theory of nationali-
ties must be surrendered; if nationality is to have

the preference, the Duchies must be cut in two by
a line dividing Danes from Germans, and, as the re-
sult of a war for Schleswig-Holstein, Schleswig-
Holstein will cease to b 3. No doubt, the (ermans,
who would never hear of such a thing as &Nes-
wig's carrying Holstein with it despite its popula-
tion of Germans, would be perfectly ready to see
Holstein carry Schleswig with it despite its popu-
lation of Danes. That is a natural view to be taken
by a nation of 40 millions when contending with a
nation of two millions, but it will be hard to sus-
tain such an argument in a conference of Powers
charged with impartial mediation. Hitherto Den-
mark has eked out a somewhat scanty dominion
by a footing o❑ Germanic territory, but she now
appears convinced of the error of the system.
It has cost her the present war. True, she
did no more than has naturally and necessarily been
done everywhere and by all Governments alike under
similar conditions. She only tried to perfect the
tenure of an outlying domain by assimilating it to
the body of the monarchy ; but this process, which
has gone on everywhere, went on in this case under
the eyes of the populous and powerful nation from
which the debatable fragment had been clipped, and
the Germans not only took it to heart, but turned
the attempt against their rivals. Denmark now sees
that this chance of aggrandisement was dearly pur-
chased by the hold it gave to Germany on Danish
affairs. The Danes in losing the outlying domain
would fain be rid of the danger it induced,
All they now say is, "Draw the line beyond
which Germany shall not step. Draw it where
you will, or where you must, but draw it so
that all within the line is ours." Denmark for
the Danes, and the Danes for Denmark—those
are the claims now advanced at Copenhagen.
Twelve months ago the Danes wanted a little more
than this, but the game, though played safely enough
elsewhere, is dangerous when played against an over-
powering neighbour, They must forego their chance
of getting a bit of Germany ; it remains to be seen
what Germany foregoes in dealing with Germany.
PosT.—The shipowners of Liverpool, alarmed ap-
parently at the success and impunity with which the
Alabama has destroyed the commerce of the Federals
are desirous of preventing other vessels from leaving
our ports for the purpose of taking part in contests
in which this country is not engaged. Nearly a
twelvemonth ago they presented a memorial to
Earl Russell on the subject, and they have very
recently addressed themselves in nearly the same
terms to the House of Commons. The Liverpool
shipowners state in their petition that " they
view with dismay the probable future con-
', sequences of a state of affairs which permits a
foreign belligerent to construct and send to sea
from British ports vessels of war, in contraven-
tion of the provisions of the existing law." They
add further, " That the immediate effect of placing
at the disposal of that foreign belligerent a very
small number of steam cruisers has been to para-
lyse the mercantile marine of a powerful mari-
time and naval nation, inflicting within a few
months losses, direct and indirect, on its ship-owning
and mercantile interests which years of peace may
prove inadequate to retrieve." They furtbor state
that they cannot suut their eyes to the fact that
the precedent thus unhappily established may be
turned against ourselves even by the most insigni-
ficant naval Power with which we may in future
happen to be at war. Finally, with the view of
putting a stop to these evils, both present and
contingent, they urge upon the Legislature the
expediency of rendering the Foreign Enlistment
Act more stringent than it now is. Since this
recommendation of the Liverpool shipowners was
first made to Earl Russell a twelvemonth ago, the
trial of the Alexandria has taken place. The re.
stilt of the multifarious proceedings in that much
litigated case has been to render the constrution of
the Foreign Enlistment Act more doubtful than
ever. But the controversy as to its true meaning
and intent will be speedily revived. Ie the case of
the steam rams seized in the Mersey, and in the
case of the Rappahannock, the construction of the
Act in question will agian afford boundless field
for discussion. We sincerely trust that in these

cases the questions in dispute will be fairly raised
and definitively settle d. It will be a serious re-
proach to the administ ration of the law if these
eases "go off"—as the ' lawyers express it—upon
mete technical points 1 Ike that of the Alexandra.
In such an: event the Liverpool shipowners will
have o x ebl
el E ntuit
egnr:o
euusdni
0,13
sfAc. 'r co ("tending that the law
_Present, those who main.
'rt,Lie 'case of the Alexandra
Foreign En, 'lst nami.t Act is inefficient
for the pnapose for which. t Iva', passed are prema-
turn in them tont
oughtt
u thtaot t h
was exceptional. We m ust v wait in patience the
which a re n ow in progress, before
a e
fsturilatiof opinion
be pry Inc unced upon it. I'Ve
surpri cc d that the proceedings
ofthe
of Alabama,Liverpool
dof 'r sister cruisers, the
rthe trials
c ls
an
of the
andFneloedridnaot,
however,
the Georg brg' are 1 vatched by the ship-
owners
an,
both wit, interest and alarm.
o la,
appearance of those
h seas have been to
results
raiseflome immediatelrdmaob.le tta
vesselsmaterially es
uponl the
h 4
the .ra-tet of insurance upon
Federal vessels, and conscr fuen'tly to diminish the
demand for Federal shippi, lg. To avoid the risk of
capture a large portion of the carrying trade has
thus been transferred to Brilash bottoms. The
escape of the Alabama, in short, has itaminsely in,
creased the profits of tb e Liverpool shipowners.
They were never, we belly Ire, in a more prosperous
condition than at the pres ent time. But while they
are busily reaping the fru is of what they appear to
consider our fraudulent ne atrality, they tremble for
the future. War is no I anger considered by the
commercial classes as an i -impossibility. Recent
events in Europe, sit well as in America, have rudely
dispelled Mr. Cobd en's (Are, an of universal peace;
and the shipowner a of Liverpool are considering
what is to become < if th eir property should we un-
happily became ins olved in war and innumerable
Alabamas isone frc m neutral ports to prey upon
British commerce ;throughout the world. Suppose
that circumstance, s obliged us to espouse the cause
of Denmark agai oat her ruthless enemies, would
not the German St lava hasten to follow the bad ex-
ample set them by the Confederates, and at which
the inefficiency of 'tar law obliges us to connive ?
Some petty principality which boasts of a stand-
ing army of five lani I,lred men, but not of a single
foot of sea coast, miga'at fit out cruisers in neutral
ports to burn, sink, it, nd destroy the commerce of
Great Britain ; and the enormous am aunt of damage
which may be done in a very short time, even by
a single vestiel, we ku, )1v from the history of the
Alabama. Such are the contingencies which the
Liverpool shipowners sea k to prevent by inducing
the Legislature to take some more effective means
than it does at present to p resery a our neutrality.
No one can find fault with these gentlemen for the
views expressed in their petition. Their object is
a legitimate one, namely, to protoct their trade
from interruption in time of war, az d their interest
is also the interest of the nation. 1 rashington first
perceived that it would be impossible in modern
times to preserve the neutrality of S tates in time of
war without some special legislat: on respecting
shipping. He saw that France was preparing to
turn the ports of the United States into arsenals for
the equipment of her cruisers, and that if such a
state of things remained unchecked a renewal of the
war with England was inevitable. In spite, there-
fore, of much obloquy and opposition, he induced
Congress to adopt a measure prohibiting the fitting
ou,t, of armed vessels for the service of belligerent
pavers, and posterity will applaud the wisdom as
well as the courage of that great man in preferring
the permanent interests of his country to present
popularity. We have followed the wise example
of Washington in passing the Foreign Enlistment
Act; and if it can be satisfactorily shown that its
provisions are not sufficiently precise and stringent
it ought i`o be amended. It is for the interest of
this country and of all countries th,at we should
hold the latdance equally and fairly between belli-
gerent Statos ; and if this can only be done by a
further alteration of the law, the shipowners of
Liverpool are j ustified in making their present de-
mand. Before we arrive at this conclusion, how-
ea er, we must see the result of the eases under the
Foreign Eulistmen t Act which still remain to be
tried.

COUNTRY MARKETS.