དྲ

ng

era.

nife

103

général aussi dans cette ville, et ils regardent comme assez justifiée leur prière que le Magistrat et le Conseil Communal veuille déclarer publiquement au nom de la ville de Husum, et porter à la connaissance de la Diète de Francfort, que la ville de Husum ne reconnaît plus le Roi Fréderic VII pour Duc de SlesvigHolstein, et qu'elle désire que l'union personnelle avec le Danemarc soit dissoute à jamais.'

Grâce à l'amnistie générale accordée par le Roi, cette adresse n'a pas été fait l'objet de poursuite criminelle; mais, vis-à-vis des tendances manifestées des signataires, l'Administration a cru devoir retrancher ces individus des listes.

Par une Résolution Spéciale du 11 de ce mois le Roi a daigné spontanément leur rendre le droit électoral.

Voilà, Monsieur, des faits qui parlent plus haut par eux-mêmes que tous les raisonnements. Je ne doute pas que, lorsque vous aurez communiqué confidentiellement dans l'occasion ces données authentiques à Lord John Russell, ce Ministre ne reconnaisse pleinement que des personnes qui avaient proclamé la déchéance du Roi ne pourraient prétendre au droit de coopérer avec lui dans le gouvernement du pays, et que le Roi, en fermant les yeux sur une telle conduite, a prouvé combien il aime à couvrir par sa clémence les fautes de ses sujets. Ceci est un exemple parmi beaucoup, mais que l'un serve à apprécier les autres!

J'ai, &c.

Larec

egler

pres

ле

Sir,

Copenhagen, November 20, 1860.

THE Minister for Foreign Affairs has alluded several times, in his despatches to Mr. Paget, to the proceedings of the local authorities of Schleswig, particularly in electoral matters.

According to Article 19, No. 3, of the Constitution of the Duchy of Schleswig, one of the conditions on which depends the right of being inscribed on the electoral lists is that the individual should have an unblemished reputation :-" The person against whom a criminal prosecution has been instituted, without his having been completely acquitted of it, shall, therefore, be erased from the lists. The same shall be the case with those whom the King has pardoned by suppressing the conviction and punishment of the crimes committed by them, unless it please His Majesty, by a special act of grace, to reinstate them in their electoral rights."

To believe the German newspapers, which, according to their custom, declaim with the greatest indignation against Schleswig, without slightly moderating their animadversion against that which they see every day in their own countries, the Administration, on the one side, makes use of this Regulation as an arm to strike those whose political opinions may not be in perfect harmony with the principles which guide the Government, and, on the other, the King only grants with great difficulty that grace on which the political reinstatement of the culprit depends.

I know by experience how difficult it is to oppose such ideas, which, by being incessantly repeated, end by obtaining the consistency of invincible prejudices. The press is a tribunal ever open, which commands public opinion, and, thanks to the more universal use and knowledge of her language, Germany uses it at her convenience, whilst the voice of our press has scarcely an echo beyond our frontiers. But I count on the enlightened spirit of Englishmen, and I trust to your zeal, Sir, to prevent this contest between an aggressor who has so many arms at his disposal, and a defender who has only right on his side, being too unequal. order to enable you, Sir, to prove to Lord John Russell how much exaggeration and injustice there is in the censure which it has been endeavoured on the Government of the King as to electoral affairs, I will inform you

In

to throw

of the most recent resolution which the King has taken on the subject of the

town of Husum.

On the 21st of May, 1849, the following Address was presented to the Magistrate of that town:

The citizens and inhabitants of the town of Husum, following their

intimate conviction, and listening to the voice of their hearts, declare as their fixed opinion and their sincere wish

That the King of Denmark, Frederick VII, seeing that he has already,

for the second time, invaded the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein in an unjust war, is thereby deprived of his Ducal Crown; and

"That personal union with the adverse Danish nation is and shall always remain abolished.

"The Undersigned are fully convinced that the Magistrate and the Communal Council have the same views on these questions. But they have wished by their signatures to give to their Representatives the certainty that the wish expressed has become general in this town also, and they consider as sufficiently justified their prayer that the Magistrate and Communal Council will declare publicly, in the name of the town of Husum, and will inform the Diet of Frankfort, that the town of Husum no longer recognises King Frederick VII as Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, and that it desires that personal union with Denmark may be for ever dissolved."

Thanks to the general amnesty granted by the King, this Address has not been made the subject of a criminal prosecution; but in view of the tendencies manifested by the signers of it, the Administration thought right to erase the names of these individuals from the lists.

By a special Resolution of the 11th of this month, the King has deigned of his own accord to restore electoral rights to them.

These, Sir, are facts which of themselves speak louder than any arguments. I doubt not that when you have taken an opportunity confidentially to communicate this information to Lord John Russell, that Minister will fully recognize that persons who had proclaimed the deposition of the King could not pretend to the right of co-operating with him in the Government of the country, and that the King, by shutting his eyes to such conduct, has proved how much he loves to cover with his clemency the faults of his subjects. This is one example among many, but let one serve for the appreciation of the others!

I have, &c.

My Lord, Foreign Office, December 12, 1860. I INCLOSE to your Excellency herewith, copies of despatches which I have addressed to Mr. Paget and to Mr. Lowther,* respecting the question of the Danish Duchies referred to in a letter from Baron Schleinitz to Count Bernstorff, a translation of which is likewise inclosed for your Excellency's information.t Your Excellency will state to M. Thouvenel the substance of my instructions to Mr. Paget and to Mr. Lowther.

I am, &c.

My Lord,

Mr. Lowther to Lord J. Russell.-(Received December 17.)

Berlin, December 15, 1860.

I COMMUNICATED to Baron Schleinitz this morning the views of Her Majesty's Government on the question of the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, as contained in your Lordship's despatch to me of the 8th instant.

Baron Schleinitz made but few remarks on this communication, and disclaimed any desire on the part of Austria and Prussia on behalf of the German Confederation to extend the Federal Law over Schleswig, but he said German nationality was not respected in Schleswig, and as things at present exist Schleswig is incorporated with Denmark. The King of Denmark entered into an engagement which he is bound to fulfil, for he promised that no such incorporation should take place, and therefore that Prussia and Germany could not be satisfied with the present state of things.

With reference to that part of your Lordship's despatch in which your Lordship remarks, that if the regulations of each church and each school in Schleswig was to be the subject of interference by the German Confederation, it is clear that the sovereign rights of the King of Denmark would exist only in name, Baron Schleinitz expressed himself of your Lordship's opinion, for it would be impossible to interferewith such details. His Excellency also entirely agreed with the concluding part of your Lordship's despatch, in which your Lordship states that there never was a question which more imperatively demanded a temperate consideration, or on which a beginning of strife would be more injurious to all the interests concerned; and on that account, Baron Schleinitz expressed his earnest hope that it would not eventually be necessary t have recourse to force in this affair.

His Excellency asked me whether I could leave with him a copy of your Lordship's despatch. I replied I had no authorization to do so, but that I would bring the request to your Lordship's knowledge.

I have, &c.

ALL

Sir,

No. 86.

Lord J. Russell to Mr. Lowther.

Foreign Office, December 19, 1860.

IN reply to your despatch of the 15th instant, I have to state to you that you are at liberty to give to Baron Schleinitz a copy of the despatch which I addressed to you on the 8th instant on the question of the Danish Duchies.

(Extract.)

Mr. Howard to Lord J. Russell.-(Received December 24.)

Hanover, December 21, 1860.

THE Address of the Brunswick Chamber to the Duke, in answer to the Speech of the Minister of the Interior on opening the Session, contains the following passage with reference to the affairs of Hesse Cassel and of Holstein; "If, on this occasion, we express the confident expectation that your Highness will likewise use your endeavours in order that the German countries in which at present the legal order of things is disturbed, may recover their just rights, it is because we entertain the conviction that should dangers threaten our common German Fatherland, a common and energetic course of action, and a general disposition to make sacrifices, can only then be expected, when every German brotherly race can, like ourselves, rejoice in the possession of its legal rights.”

The feelings conveyed in this Address are, no doubt, those of the immense majority of the German people; but it would appear that the agitation of the German National League has had something to do with that simultaneous expression of them by so many public bodies which has lately taken place in different parts of Germany.

My Lord,

No. 88.

Mr. Howard to Lord J. Russell.-(Received December 24.)

Hanover, December 22, 1860.

IT will be known to your Lordship that the Prussian and Austrian Governments, in communicating to the United Committees of the German Diet, to which the motion of the Grand Ducal Government of Oldenburg on the affairs of Holstein had been referred, the answer which they had received from the Danish Government to their demand for explanations concerning the publi

P

cation of the Danish Budget regulating the contribution to be paid by Holstein towards the common expenses of the Danish Monarchy, did not make any formal proposal of their own on that subject, and that the members of the Committees referred to their several Governments for instructions for their guidance.

In the meantime, however, as I have already had the honour of reporting to your Lordship, the view of the Prussian Government, with which the Austrian Government concur, that the publication in question of the Danish Budget is, as regards Holstein, in contravention with the Resolution of the Diet of the 8th of March last, and that the Diet should call upon the Danish Government to declare, within four weeks, that they will not promulgate any new laws for Holstein without the consent of the States of that Duchy, has been confidentially communicated to the different German Governments, with a view to their instructing their Representatives at Frankfort in this sense; and to the Committees of the Diet, proposing a Resolution in harmony with it in their Report on the Motion of the Oldenburg Government.

The course thus recommended by the Prussian Government agreeing with the view which Count Plater. has always taken of the question, and being indeed identical with that which he had himself suggested on a previous occasion, but which was not then adopted, will receive the support of the Hanoverian Representative at Frankfort, who is a member of the Committees, and will, no doubt, likewise be advocated by a majority of the Representatives of the other German Powers. I have, &c.

My Lord,

No. 89.

Mr. Paget to Lord J. Russell.-(Received December 24.)

Copenhagen, December 15, 1860. I HAD an interview with M. Hall the day after my return to Copenhagen, and again on the 13th instant.

His Excellency expressed much anxiety to possess the answer of the Prussian Government to the Memorandum containing the Danish proposals, and much disappointment at what he had heard of it, which appeared, he said, to be a complete rejection of the basis offered.

I asked M. Hall if, under these circumstances, the Danish Government had decided on any new course of proceeding. His Excellency replied that he did not see what could now be done but to await events; that it would be almost useless to negotiate directly with the Holstein States, who, aware of the rejection by Prussia of the bases proposed, and consequently assured of the support of the Diet, would of course not come to an agreement.

M. Hall said, however, that he had had some conversation with Baron Charles Plessen (President of the last Holstein Diet, and perhaps the most important member of it) during his stay in Copenhagen, which was more or less satisfactory, but it was now a question whether Baron Plessen would have influence sufficient to carry his views in the new Holstein Assembly, which, as far as was known of the elections which had taken place, was likely to contain a large majority of the ultra-German party.

I replied that, nevertheless, I thought there could be no doubt every effort ought to be made to come to an understanding with the States. If Baron Plessen would support the Danish views there certainly was a chance of success, and supposing the negotiations to fail the position of the Danish Government would only be what it is now.

I also urged M. Hall very strongly to make the necessary reforms in Schleswig at once, and without any reference whatever to the affairs of Holstein. I said I thought it would be far more dignified of the Danish Government to carry out their intentions with regard to this Duchy spontaneously than to make them conditional upon other arrangements; and I pointed out to M. Hall, as I have so frequently done before, how obviously it was both the duty and for the interest of the Danish Government to fulfil their engagements.

M. Hall did not make me any promise on this subject, but he spoke in a

*See No. 77.

manner which leads me to hope that he may perhaps act on the advice I gave

him.

I have, &c.

(Signed)

A. PAGET.

No. 90.

My Lord,

Mr. Paget to Lord J. Russell.-(Received December 24.)

Copenhagen, December 19, 1860.

I HAD the honour to receive on the 16th instant your Lordship's despatch of the 8th instant, inclosing a copy of a despatch from Baron Schleinitz to Count Bernstorff, and a copy of your Lordship's answer to it, addressed to Mr. Lowther.

On the following day I had an interview with M. Hall for the purpose, in compliance with your Lordship's instructions, of reading to his Excellency your despatch to me and your despatch to Mr. Lowther, and giving him copies of them.

Before I proceeded to read the despatch to Mr. Lowther, M. Hall informed me that he had not yet any knowledge of the Prussian despatch beyond that which he had gathered in the German newspapers; that he had understood from M. Bille he was to receive a copy of it through Her Majesty's Legation here, and he therefore requested me to read it to him, and to furnish him with the copy now. I could see no objection to this course, and I, therefore, complied with his Excellency's request.

M. Hall made no observation until I had finished reading the three documents. His Excellency then expressed his grateful acknowledgments to your Lordship for the interest you manifestly took in this question, and for the masterly manner in which you had handled it. He said that he certainly would not deny or attempt to diminish the importance of the engagements which had been taken by His Danish Majesty at the period alluded to in your Lordship's despatches; but it was his duty to remark that, although the engagement not to incorporate Schleswig with the kingdom, and to maintain in Schleswig representative States, from having been mentioned in the correspondence between Denmark and Austria and Prussia might perhaps have the value of an international obligation, the same could not be said with regard to the promise of equality to the two nationalities, which was to be found nowhere but in the Royal Patent of January 1852. He did not mean, he said; to imply that for this reason it should not be fulfilled, but only to assert the principle that Austria and Prussia had no right of interference in this case, as it might be said they had in the other two.

M. Hall then reverted again to the question of direct negotiation with the Holstein States, and repeated his fears of the little chance of success which such a course of proceeding, under present circumstances, appeared to offer. I replied that I thought the Danish Government would commit a great fault if they did not at all events have recourse to it. It was the only chance now, I said, of avoiding a Federal execution. The great difficulty, I continued, evidently lay in the fixed sum to be contributed by Holstein towards the common expenses, and the control which the States might be able to exercise over its appropriation, and I could not but think that this was a matter on which, by negotiation, an arrangement might be made. I said I could not share his Excellency's opinion that the present circumstances were unfavourable for negotiating on the subject. The Danish Government would do well to reflect on the serious consequences which a Federal Execution would bring with it, the first of which would be that the Monarchy would be at once deprived of all the resources which they now received from Holstein. A Federal army once in possession of that Duchy would, his Excellency might be assured, never leave it until the Danish Government had complied to the very utmost with what the Diet chose to interpret as the obligations they had taken, not only in respect of Holstein, but of Schleswig also. The peace of Europe might be endangered, and a very possible result might be a total separation of Holstein from the Monarchy. On the other hand, the prospect of having their country occupied by a foreign army would probably produce a conciliatory effect upon the Holsteiners themselves, who, as his Excellency appeared to think, and as my own information led me to believe,