The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-26 00:00:00

DENMARK,

(ir,7?i the Times Special Correspondent lately at the Danish
Head-quarters.)
COPENHAGEN, May 20.
Colonel Lunbye leaves the War-office, and we shall never
know how teeny of the sad blunders committed by the
Danish Government must rest upon his personal responsi-
bility. The proud attitude taken by the army at the Dan•
newerke ; its hasty withdral from it; the position of Dybbol
hold against the advice and remonstrance of its defenders ;
and the stronghold of Fredericia abandoned before the enemy
had even made up his mind to attack it ;—all these must be
laid at the door of the War Minister. Poss bly they were all
measures adopted in obedience to high political considera-
tions; but the man at the head of the military dep +rtment
cught to have, at least in time of war, a will and an
honour of his own, and ought to make neither him-
self nor his army the scapegoat for the sins of wavering
politicians. The immediate cause of Col. Lundbye's retire-
ment is said to be a potty squabble he had with the Finance
Department with respect to the salaries of some of the offi-
cials under his immediate control. It has thoreftre, as I
said on a former occasion, at the time of the resignation of
the Minister of the Interior, no political significance what-
ever. The whole weight of public affairs in this country
rests upon Bishop Monrad, who, like the Osiers in the old
Roman world, is invested with all the dignity cf supreme
pontiff and supreme ruler, goes by the name of " The Pope,"
and lays perhaps claim to Papal infallibility. He is a large
breined man, dexterous, plausible. A large party in this
country evince the most unshaken faith in his abilities.
The fine regiment of the Grenadier Guards has been re-
called from Funen. Yesterday or the day before a fine
Hussar regiment also came home horn their northern can-
tonments in Jutland. The reserved of three years are being
dismissed, and the troops actually in the field are dwindling
to very moderate proportions.
It is hardly to be supposed that Government would seri-
ously think of putting the army on a peace footing, after
refusing to accede to the terms of a permanent armistice,
and only with the utmost reluitance submitting to a bare
temporary suspension of hostilities. The dismissal of the
reserves may be defended as a provident measure ; weeding
the army of middle-aged, family men, whom it was a mis •
take to summons to the standards; but one might ques-
tion the wisdom of the removal of some of the best corps
of foot and horse from the seat of war. The Guards came
late into action at Alsen ; they did little, and grumbled
much. A month of idleness in the favourite haunts of
the capital is not calculated to engender among these
gallant household troops a taste for the hardships of a
campaign. This is the season of the year when even nations
in a state of the most profound peace deem it expedient to
remove their troops from the ease of garrison life, and send
them into the open air, to accustom them to the discipline
of encampments—the English to Aldershot, the French to
Chalons, the Italians to Cirie, St. Maurice, or Somme.
Without detracting a tittle from their bravery, we may be
allowed to say that the Danish troops showed themselves
during the last three months somewhat deficient in drill
and efficiency as to the use of their weapons. The four
weeks' truce might certainly have been turned to the best
purpose by training men and officers to incessant infantry
and artillery practice. At all events, there seemed no occa-
sion to show before the world and before the enemy so in-
discreet a hurry about quitting the field, Unquestionably,
should the Conference break down, as it is too likely to do,
without coming to satisfactory results, Denmark is not in a
condition to retake the field, single-handed, against the
whole host of two colossal Powers—at least on the main-
land. The stronger the reason for concentrating her forces
in Funen, arid prepare for a desperate defence, where the
ground can still be held against all odds.
We are told that the presence of troops in the capital was
a matter of necessity—that for the dignity of the Crown, in
the interests of public order, it was not deemed expedient
to leave the posts in this large city in the keeping of a citi-
zen militia for an indefinite length of time. Yet we are
not allowed to throw out, even a hint about the Government
being haunted by its fears of a Copenhagen mob. Possibly
no such fears exist. For my own part, lam perfectly scep-
tical as to the existence of a mob in this city. lam con-
vinced that the municipal police have not only an easy
task, but a perfect sinecure in their charge of keeping the
peace ; and I firmly believe the Government would best con-
sult its safety, ne less than its honour, by showing the most
perfect confidence in a people who fully deserve it, and
sending as many bayonets and sabres as they can muster
where they may be most advantageously employed. I
should not be surprised if the new Minister at the head of
the War-office, Colonel Reich, were to act as if he were of
the same way of thinking.
Upon the retirement of Col. Lundbye, the War-office has
published some particulars as to the correspondence which
took place between the Minister of War and the Commander -
in-Chief, in the early days of April, with a view to deter-
mine, if possible, on whom should rest the blame of the un-
toward mismanagement which led to the fall of Dybbol.

Teese revelations may have some historical interest for the
Danes, and may eventually help us to get at the truth.
The whole truth, however, may never be known. As it
happened on the occurrence of the loss of the Dannewerk,
the transactions of the responsible authorities are enve

loped in a mystery which time only may tear asunder.
There is no doubt but Government attached the
utmost importance to remaining in possession of the Dybbol
position until, on the first meeting of the Conference, an
armistice should not only remove the danger of its fall, but
even conceal from the world the dire extremities to which

the stronghold had been reduced. On the 13th the War-
office sent word that Dybbol should be defended to the ut-
most. They seemed, soon afterwards, to become aware of
the impracticability of the undertaking ; they asked
" whether the withdrawal had begun ?" " whether the
exhaustion of the troops was very great ?" " whether, in
the event of the abandonment of the forts on the main land,
opportune measures had been taken for the security of the

island of Alsen ?" The answers were that " the troops
were not worn out or dispirited ;" that " the retreat could
not be safely effected at once ;" that " all provisions had not
yet been taken to put Als in a state of defence."

For all that, I must insist upon the intelligence I sent
from the spot at the time. Nearly all the officers, with

hardly one exception, made no mystery of their conviction
that the place was untenable, They theught it practicable,
as well as desirable, to steal out of the position in the night.
They were aware that the troops were not only half dead
with incessant exertion, but also greatly disheartened—that
two regiments, on the 14th, flatly refused to go out to the
front—that they were ready enough to brave danger against

all odds, provided only they could be brought face to face
with the enemy—but that they had been too long sent forth
to an unavailing butchery. The incipient mutiny of those
two regiments yielded to the gentle and firm remonstrances
of their officers, and the soldiers followed their leaders
across the bridges, for nothing could equal the docility and
resignation of these good Danes to the last—but the demo-
ralization of the troops was no less evident to all men in
command. Picket duty was discontinued, the rifle pits
were abandoned to the enemy, and the men could even no
longer be induced to keep a look out from the embrasures:,
so utterly overpowered were they by the terrific fire of the
Prussian artillery. There is nothing disparaging to
the bravery of the Danish soldiers in all this. They
had done all that could be expected from mere men, and I
have the authority of a competent French officer, Colonel
Fevrier, that "no troops in the world could have behave.:
with greater fortitude." But still there is an end to human
endurance; more had been demanded of these troops than
mere flesh and blood could achieve. The soldiers were at
the end of their strength; the officers SAW it and acknow-
ledged it, and all of them, those at headquarters at their
head, were convinced that further resistance would lead io
some disastrous catastrophe. They said so ; they aseured
us that they had said so to the War-office, that they had
repeatedly applied to Copenhagen for leave to withdraw
from the position, but that their instructions did not allow
them to think of their safety. All this I deemed myself in
duty bound to repeat for truth's sake. That the prolonged
stand at Dybbol, under such circumstances, was a fatal
and capital blunder, from a military point of view, there
cannot be the least shade of a doubt. That the officers who
were most unanimously of that opinion should have con-
spired to mislead the Government by false representations,
and dig their own graves from a false point of honour, is
far less credible than that the Government, actuated by
mere political motives, anxious to appear before the Con-
ference with all honour of an unbroken strength, and still,
perhaps, disturbed by the outcry occasioned by the aban-
donment of the Dannewelk, blinded itself to the real posi-
tion of affairs, resolved upon a chance which might appear
doubtful, and chose the sacrifice of a part of the army as the
least evil. The conduct of the Government may yet be
accounted for on political grounds; that of the army, as it
would result from the pieces now given to the light, would
appear sheer madness, deliberate suicide.
It seems that the German troops in Jutland are no longer
to be fed at the expense of the inhabitants, but to apply for
their support to the stores cf the Commissariat. They are
not, however, to fare at the expense of their Government
as:sumptuously as Gen. Falkenstein had decreed they should
live at the cost of the poor Danes. Not only are the wine,
liquor, beer, and the famous 10 cigars altogether out of
be
to
question; but even meat, bread, &c., will be reducedsell
to
half the rations that had been originally deemed es
""
the welfare of these valiant troops.
a
Tide

Foreign Mail Packet

-,_____
MAILS DUE.
Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton. June 18.
_ via Marseilles
drazil and Cape Verdes, by "I
pride!). packet.
Cape of Good Ilope, ASCOIIBIOB, STA St. lieleua.lllav '2 9.
Cluna, Penang, and Singapore, via ~outl.Luiipton.Juile 9 •
via Marseilles ...May 27.-

....
Falkland Islands ...............
Gibraltar, via Southampton .. , , May 27.
India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, vii Southampton June 2
viz Marseilles May 27.
India (Bombay), vi, SouthamptonptoSouthamptonMay 27.
via Marseilles June 5.
Portugal... • June 5.
Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton May 27,
via Marseilles May 27,
Newfoundland
Oporto and Vigo
U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. packet.... May 25,
by U.S. packet....
by Canadian packet. May 27.
All parts of West Indies, including Chili, Peru, i May 30
California. and British Columbia,.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE---This Day,

EPSOM RACES-THIS DAY.
BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.

GRAND STAND STAKES.

Welbeck
Alabama

Ten ran,
ARRIVED.—Tippler and Teneriffe.

RACING FIXTU:

Wye
Maidstone 2
Ascot ..
7
Hampton l5
Newton
Odiharu
Bibury .. 22

Newmark-et July
Car .. 5
Pontefract .
Abingdon
Cambridge
Liverpool July
14
Stamford

Bright on .. 2
Brighton Club
Lewes
Huntingdon .. 9
Wolverhampton
Reading
Egham
Oxford .. 18

SEPT]

Weymouth 1
Warwick September 6
Leicester 8
Bridgwater
Doncaster

OCT,

Bedford 4
Northallerton 6
Newmarket Second Oct lO

NOTIE

Worcester Autumn .... 1
Shrewsbury Autumn .. 14

Dover ................ 18
York August,.., 2E
Yarmouth ............ 23
Plymouth
Lichfield ........
Stockton •
Devon and Exeter .• •
Derby ........
1MBBR•

Brecon .. 19
Richmond
Monmouth 22
Manchester Autumn
Newmarket First October 27

Lincoln
Gloucester
Icsismarket Houghton 24.

IMBIR.

Leamington kWar. Hunt 22

IRISH.
TUNE.

Curragh 2B, 29, 30

SEPTEMR3R.

Curragh 6, 7, 8

OCTOBER.

Curragh
STEEPLECHASING FIXTURES FOR 1864.

NOVEMBER. ,
Leamington and Warwickshire Hunt 22

Railway Traffic Returns.

The last week's raitway receipts, ascertained up
to this day, are, in round figures, as under :-
1864. 1863.
Great Western
North-Western 110,926 95,226
South-Western
Brighton
Midland
South Eastern 24,029 19,594
Great Northern
Lancashire and Yorkshire..
North .Eastern 64,154 53,562
Bristol and Exeter
Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincoln 20,111 15,443
These returns, with one or two exceptions, are of
a very favourable character compared with those of
the same period of last year. On the Great
Western the increase is £3,313; North Western,
X 15,700 ; Midland, £8,105 ; South Eastern, £4,435;
Lancashire and Yorkshire, £18,872 ; North Eastern,
£10,592; Bristol and Exeter, £818; Manchester,
Sheffield, and Lincoln, £4,668. The South Western,
however, shows a decrease of £2,014; Brighton,
£503; and the Great Northern, 1268.

SKIPPING INTELLIGENCE—(This Dan

LONDON, May 23.—Wind this day at noon—North-
West; moderate breeze and fine weather, but a little
cloudy.
PLYMOUTH, May 25.—Wind S,E.—Sailed—Zehorer
for Singapore.
SWANSEA, May 24.—Wind N,E.—Sailed—Samson, for
Rio 3 aneiro.

NEWPORT, May 25.—Wind N.—Sailed—Henry Clark,
for New York.
BRISTOL, May 25.—Wind N.W.—Arrived—Queen
of the Sea, from Pernumbuco.
SHIELDs,'iMay 25.—Wind N.W.—Sailed—Melanothon,
for Jamaica.

CARDIFF, May 26.—Wind S.W.—Sailed—Charles De-
vontosh, for Rio Grande.

The Price of Gold.

By advices from Hamburg the price of gold is 426 per mark
and the short exchange on London is 13.61 per £1 stcrlinz.
Standard gold at the English Mint price is, therefore, about
3-10ths per cent. dearer in London than in Hamburg.
_ _

The course of exchange at New York on London for bills a
60 days' sight is about 200 per cent., and the premium on
gold is about 62 per cent. At these rates there is a profit
on the importation of gold from the United States.
The quotation of gold at Paris is about 1 per mine pm., and
the short exchange on London is 25.17} per £1 sterling. On
comparing these rates with the English Mint price of £3
17s. 100. per ounce for standard gold, it appears that gold is
nearly 1-10th per cent. dearer in Paris than London.

THE DERBY.—The time of running the Derby,
as taken by Benson's chronograph, was as follows :-1862,
2.45 5-10; 1863, 2.52 2-10; 1664, 2.44.
GREAT NORTHERN HOSPITAL, CALEDONIAN-
ROAD, ISLINGTON, N .—The number of patients for the
week ending May 21,was 604; of which 250 were new cases.
The Dowager Countess Amherst has arrived at
the Queen's Hotel, Upper Norwood.

After much delay Meyerbeer's will has been
opened at Berlin. All that has yet transpired of its contents
is that the rumour of his having prohibited the performance
of his great unpublished work "L'Africaine" was unfounded.
The will desires that it shall be played, but subject to cer-
tain conditions which may perhaps create difficulties.
A letter from Bourgtheroulde (Eure), in the
Nouvelliste of Rouen says, " The corn crops present
a remarkable fine appearance in this neighbourhood, and if
the weather continues favourable for the earing and flower-
ing, the harvest will undoubtedly be quite as abundant as
last year's. The ears are beginning to appear, and will be
out full in a few days. The colsa crop is not so good as it
was last year. Spring corn of all kinds looks promising.

A fire broke out three days ago in the village of
Saint-011e (Nord), by which, in less than an hour, 19 cot-
tages, 14 barns, and 14 stables, were destroyed. The con-
flagration began in the dwelling of a day-labourer named
Isorez, whose wile was engaged in heating the oven, when,
having thrown in a fresh lot of fuel, the flames escaped by
some fissure and communicated to the thatched roof, and
then with peat rapidity to the adjoining houses.

A tremendous storm burst three days ago over
the town and neighbourhood of Bouchain (Pas-de-Calais).
A. torrent of rain and hail fell for nearly two hours, and
violent claps of thunder succeeded each other, almost with-
out interruption. Four persans who were at work in the
fields were knocked dowe by the lightning. One was killed
on the spot; another has been ever since suffering from a
violent nervous affection of the limbs; the other two
escaped with trifling injury.
NEW ANTIDOTES.—A few years, M.
French Consul-General at Salvador, discovered a
sort of bean, the Sinoba etch on, which is a specific against
the bites of venomous reptiles.
w of .
on an impor.
hile Herren,
taut mission across the mountains, oneone of the Indian
the mosts
of his suite • was stung by an olds,
dangerous of the snake tribe. Another Indian, how-
ever, at once administered a powder, which the paticnt
swallowed, and a perfect cure ensued. M. Flerrau
immediately purchased the secret, which was simply the
above-mentioned bean reduced to powder.
ast
antidote. thesting
A quantit} of
This acid is obtained
this beanie no ,v on its way to France. But for venom of a
of the bee of wasp,
lessphe
udiecadl
acidy i
s nature,anexecue
lichen
by the decomposition of spyroilic acid, salicine and coal, by
heat. It is solid, colourless, and crystallizable; it melts at
35 degrees centigrade, boils at 188 degrees, and has
a peculiar odour and a pungent taste. It is scarcely soluble
in water, but very much so in ether and alcohol. This
acid, applied to the place, will stop the inflammation, and
take away all Pain.—Craiignani.
ALLEGED POISONING IN FRANCE.—A letter
from Berne says :_c, At the moment when the La

Pommerais trial is still fresh in men's minds, a double
arrest in this city has caused considerable emotion. The
parties are M. Hermann Demme, a young professor of
medicine at the University of Berne, and the widow of a
banker named Trumpy, the charge against them being to
have poisoned the latter. M. Demme, as medioal atten-
dant to the Trumpy family had bean at different times
called in to effect a reconciliation between the hus-
band and wife, who did not live very happily toge-
ther. M. Demme thus became a friend of the family,
and, in 1862, accompanied them in a tour in the East. D.l.
Trumpy died some months since, and in consequence of
different rumours which became current, an inquiry was
instituted, the body of the deceased was disinterred, and on
examination death was found to have been caused by strych-
nine. No idea was at first entertained of a crime, but rather
of suicide caused by unfortunate speculations on the
Bowes. M. Demme was, however, suspected of having
furnished the poison, The judicial authorities on continu-
ing their inquiries have now formed a different opinion, and
the widow and M, Demme have both been arrested."
LIFE SATED BY A I)OG.—At the late wreck at
Saaday, a Newfoundland dog, belonging to the vessel,
seeing a poor fellow struggling among the breakers, leaped
into the sea, and having seized in his mouth the upper part
of the man's jacket bore his head up, and swam ashore with,
him,—Or4adian.