les coutumes qui régissent en France l'éducation de la jeunesse : là, les jeunes gens sont gardés, nuit et jour, dans des écoles où les principes qu'on leur inculque, les soins qu'on leur prodigue en font des hommes qui sont la force et la gloire de leur pays.

Et puisque nous voulons que la France soit à tout jamais notre modèle, exigeons que nos enfants se consacrent à l'étude de la langue Française, qu'ils seront un jour fiers de connaître, car ils y puiseront honneur et richesse.

Songez-y! si vous laissez vos enfants s'énerver dans le vagabondage et dans la paresse, croyez-vous que vos terres, qui ne demandent qu'un travail quotidien pour le récompenser largement, resteront éternellement sans culture? Craignez que des étrangers laborieux ne viennent au milieu de vous, vous donner le spectacle de la richesse et de l'abondance, fruits du travail, tandis que de votre côté on ne verrait que pauvreté et pénurie, fruits de l'insouciance.

MM. les Députés, vous n'oublierez pas, non plus, que la tâche du législateur ne se borne pas à conduire l'enfance jusqu'à la virilité, elle consiste encore à tenir l'homme en garde contre les écueils du jeune âge, à le diriger avec discernement jusqu'à ce que le mariage en fasse le directeur et le chef d'une famille. Vous aurez donc à réprimer sévèrement toute union non légitime, afin que le mariage soit en honneur parmi mon peuple; le mariage est une institution divine qui fait la puissance d'une nation en lui donnant des bras pour fouiller dans les richesses de la terre, en lui donnant des bras pour la défendre.

J'ai la ferme espérance, MM. les Députés, que vous comprendrez toute ma sollicitude pour la prospérité de notre patrie et que vous la partagerez en suivant mes Conseils et surtout en vous confiant dans la sagesse, la générosité et la grandeur de la France, notre éternelle protectrice.

Je me félicite devant vous de mes rapports avec M. le Commissaire Imperiale, p.i, et je fais des voeux pour qu'il reste longtemps au milieu de nous; car sa vigilance pour nos intérêts et ses lumières, nous seraient une assurance de voir s'accomplir promptement les désirs que je viens de vous exprimer pour le bien de notre pays.

SPEECH of the Prince Regent of Prussia, on the Opening of the Landtag.-Berlin, January 12, 1860.

(Translation.)
ILLUSTRIOUS, NOBLE, AND HONOURABLE SIRS

OF THE TWO HOUSES OF THE LANDTAG!

WHEN I dismissed you last year to your homes, we prayed to God to restore the health of our beloved King and Lord. To the

deep sorrow of myself and of the country it has not pleased the Almighty to alleviate the heavy affliction of His Majesty.

Important events have been accomplished in Europe.

The war that had already broken out in Italy was approaching the frontiers of Germany in its rapid development. The seriousness of the situation required a corresponding earnestness in our attitude. I ordered 6 divisions of the army to be mobilized. These had already began to take their positions in combination with the troops of the German Confederates who were not concerned in the conflict, when the war came to a sudden close.

The preliminaries signed at Villa Franca were followed by the conclusion of peace. At the joint invitation of Austria and France my Government has declared its readiness to take part in an European Congress which is to take into consideration the best means for the pacification of Italy, and the lasting consolidation of its political position.

The desire for a reform of the German Federal Constitution has of late made itself again very generally felt. Prussia will ever consider herself as the natural representative of the endeavour, by means of institutions adapted to that end, to heighten and concentrate the forces of the nation, as well as generally by measures of real practical importance efficiently to promote the common interests of Germany.

My Government is desirous of seeing the action of the German Federal Assembly, in its relations with the Constitutions of the separate States, strictly limited within the exact bounds of its sphere of competency. And, consequently, in the question of the Hesse Constitution, which has been already pending for years before the Diet, it has deemed itself bound to indicate a return to the Constitution of 1831, setting aside the clauses in that Constitution which are contrary to Federal provisions, as the course most in accordance with the above principle.

In conjunction with my German Confederates I have been continuously endeavouring to obtain for the German territories. united under the Danish sceptre a Constitution answering to the existing Conventions and to the recognized rights of the countries in question.

My exertions in the German Diet will be no less directed towards the satisfactory arrangement of affairs during the interval which must unavoidably elapse before the definitive arrangement of this matter.

The events of the past year could not pass by without derangements in commercial affairs. My Government has endeavoured to obviate their consequences as much as possible. The Public Works have been continued with hardly any limitation, and the railway

works undertaken from private means have been protected from interruption as far as practicable. Industry and commerce are beginning to rally from the deep-felt consequences of those disturbances. A mission to Eastern Asia will, I hope, tend to the encouragement of industry and navigation, its object will be to establish Treaty relations with those countries of which portions only have lately been opened to commerce.

A squadron of our Navy, which has received a not unimportant addition owing to the extraordinary supplies voted by you, will accompany this mission.

An additional Convention to the Treaty of Navigation and Commerce with Sardinia of the 23rd of June, 1845,* was concluded on the 28th of October of last year,† and will be submitted for your Constitutional approval.

Despite the injurious effects produced by the warlike events of the past year, we can look with satisfaction at the financial position of the country. The carrying out of last year's budget by means of the current sources of income, and without falling back upon any extraordinary means of supplying a deficit, may be expected with confidence; and for this year, likewise, it has been found possible so to calculate the estimates of income and expenditure that, besides the requirements of the public service, improvements that have been commenced may be continued and fresh pressing wants supplied.

The public loan contracted for military purposes according to your sanction, and opened to public subscription was realized without difficulty. The satisfactory result of this important operation testifies as well to the patriotism of the country as to the confidence which is reposed in our finances.

The credits which have been sanctioned by you will be accounted for without loss of time. The Exchequer has a considerable balance in its favour, and a law respecting the application thereof will be laid before you. Meanwhile, a sum of 12,000,000 thalers has been made over to the Treasury.

The common interests of the State more than ever demand a speedy settlement of the land-tax question. The law projects which remained unsettled last year will be again brought before you. I recommend them to your conscientious examination.

My Government has taken the urban and rural communal relations into consideration, as well as the state of the rural police administration and the development of the district and provincial constitution promised by the Legislature of the year 1853. Extensive preliminaries have been carried out as far as the excitement of the past year has permitted. The draft of a law for the district administration will probably be brought before you.

* Vol. XXXIV. Page 1321.

+ Vol. XLIX. Page 482.

The draft of a law prepared for carrying into execution Article LXIX of the Constitution for determining the electoral districts for the House of Representatives, is intended to remedy a variety of difficulties.

The draft of the marriage law will again be laid before you, and it is my earnest wish, that you may succeed in bringing this important and pressing measure of reform to a satisfactory termination.

Many wants which have been long experienced by individual districts are to be satisfactorily settled by a variety of laws of which the drafts will be laid before you.

My care is unremittingly directed to the mental culture of the nation. The acquisition of new sources of education, and the completion of the scientific institutions of the Universities will be seriously taken into consideration according to the means at our disposal.

Besides the grammar schools (Gymnasien), the academic schools. (Realschulen), have attained a new position to which they were entitled, as well on account of their scientific character, as of their use in inculcating the principles which should guide our daily life.

Progress has been made in raising the salaries of the teachers in the elementary schools. In order to satisfy the demand for teachers which still continues, new seminaries have been projected.

Gentlemen! A question of the highest importance demands your earnest attention and that of my Government.

When last year I was compelled to draw upon our military resources, the levies joined their standards with zeal and devotion, and I am proud to bear witness to this patriotism which has never yet failed.

Should the constitution of our Army nevertheless require a reform, this will not be on account of its want either of devotion or of warlike courage.

Our military constitution was formed under the pressure of a critical moment. It has been maintained in proportion to the population and financial resources of the country at that period, from a sense of glorious achievements.

The experience of the last 10 years during which the military strength of the people has been frequently called out, has, however, brought still more clearly to light many different and deeply felt abuses. The removal of these is my duty and my province, and I claim your constitutional co-operation in bringing forward measures which shall raise the military strength in proportion to the increased population and the development of our industrial and social cir

cumstances.

To effect this the draft of a law respecting the general liability [1860-61. LI.] 4 0.

to military service, and the necessary financial arrangements will be laid before you.

It is not my intention to fall out with the legacy of a glorious period. The Prussian army will still in future be the Prussian people in arms. The problem is to infuse, within the limits prescribed by the financial powers of the country, new powers of life into the military organization which has been handed down to us, by renovating its forms according to a maturely considered measure equally affecting both military and civil interests. Your unprejudiced examination and approval of this measure will give universal evidence of the confidence of the country in the integrity of my intentions.

Gentlemen! A measure of such immense importance for the protection, greatness, and power of our country has never yet been laid before the Representatives of the land. It is one that is to secure the destiny of our Fatherland against the vicissitudes of the future.

May God grant it! May He bless the King who had this work at heart, and may he prolong the days of our King and Lord! Long live the King!

SPEECH of the Prince Regent of Prussia, on the Closing of the Landtag.-Berlin, May 23, 1860.

(Translation.)

ILLUSTRIOUS, NOBLE, AND HONOURABLE SIRS

OF BOTH HOUSES OF THE LANDTAG!

The deliberations for this year's session have come to a close. In the questions which are occupying the attention of the Cabinets of Europe, my Government is earnestly endeavouring to bring about solutions which shall answer to the demands of the balance of political Power.

The principles by which my Government is guided with reference to the German Confederation, and to the highly important questions which have been submitted to the consideration of the Diet, have been in the course of the session made known to you, and to these principles my Government will continue to adhere, whilst I shall continue to recognize in the maintenance of the acknowledged rights of others, a pledge for the integrity of my own.

If there have been differences of opinion upon important questions, in one feeling, and I say this with the highest satisfaction, all German Governments and all German races are agreed with me, and with the people of Prussia, in the feeling, I mean, of un