His Excellency told me that he considered the mode of procedure designated by that expression as being so clearly defined by the recorded Acts of the Diet that it is not liable to extension or modification by any one State within the Confederation. According to his Excellency's statement, when the Diet has decreed in reference to any State or Province within its jurisdiction "Federal Execution," it appoints Commissioners, one or more, to whom it delegates powers to investigate on the spot the matters which have given rise to the Commission, and they are authorized, if necessary, to publish such regulations regarding the same as may have issued from the Diet: if those regulations are resisted by the State in question, then it is competent to the Diet to proceed to the second stage of Federal Execution, by sending thither a corps of occupation, but this cannot be done without taking a separate vote on the subject, and going through other formula prescribed by the existing laws of the Confederation. His Excellency further informed me that all these laws and regulations are embodied in the official publication called "Corpus Juris Confederationis Germanice," or "State Papers regarding the History and Public Rights of the German Confederation." The work in question is compiled by A. G. von Meyer, with a supplement by Ziegl, and is published at Frankfort. I have not been able to procure a copy of it here, but I have ordered one to be sent hither for the archives of this Mission, which will, I hope, meet with your Lordship's approbation; the work is neither voluminous nor expensive; but it may frequently be required for reference in cases regarding the rights and relations of the Confederated States.

(Extract.)

No. 123.

Mr. Fane to Lord J. Russell.-(Received February 4.)

Vienna, January 29, 1861.

IN obedience to the instructions conveyed to me in your Lordship's despatch of the 22nd instant, I asked Count Rechberg what would be the precise object of a Federal Execution in Holstein, supposing Denmark should not yield to the demands of the German Confederation.

His Excellency replied that the object would be to occupy Holstein with Federal troops, in order to establish and maintain there a Provisional Government under a Commissary appointed by the Diet, until such time as Denmark should agree to make those administrative changes in regard to the Duchy which were deemed equitable by the German Confederation.

His Excellency dwelt incidentally on the formalities to be gone through and on the period of time (which he computed at nearly three months) that must elapse before the Execution, if it were decided upon, could be carried into effect.

No. 124.

(Extract.)

Mr. Paget to Lord J. Russell.-(Received February 4.)

Copenhagen, January 28, 1861.

I HAD an interview with M. Hall on the 24th instant. It was the first time I had seen his Excellency since he had received the text of the Report of the Combined Committee on Holstein Affairs and for Execution, presented to the Diet on the 17th instant.

I began by expressing my satisfaction that the terms of the Report appeared to be moderate, and that so far from the subsequent proceedings of the Diet being characterized by any undue precipitation, as we had at first been led to suppose, the fact of the voting being deferred till the 7th of February would seem to indicate that there was every desire to evince consideration towards the Danish Government. I was glad also to see, I said, that instead of the Report embracing, as his Excellency had appeared to anticipate, the last time I saw him, it might, matters of a more general character, it was confined to the one question of the Budget.

M. Hall did not deny that the case was simplified by the latter fact, but instead of stating, as I had hoped he would, in consequence of what had passed at our previous interviews, that the Danish Government would, under these

circumstances, be prepared to yield to the demands of the Diet, M. Hall proceeded to discuss the grounds on which the Resolution of the 8th of March was based. He said that the Diet acted in defence of no Federal law or compact, for he contended the Danish Government had violated neither one nor the other by the Royal Patent of 25th September, 1859, or by the publication of the Financial Law in 1860.

His Excellency then went on to state that if the Danish Government conformed to the Decree of the Diet in the present instance, which he was personally inclined to think perhaps the best course, it was absolutely necessary that the position between Holstein and the Monarchy should be so regulated that the Danish Government should not be subject at every instant, on a motion brought forward at the Diet by Oldenburg, Lippe, or some such member, to the menace which was now held over them. This state of things his Excellency said was perfectly unendurable, and he was glad to see that other people who were at first opposed to any further separation between Holstein and the Kingdom, were now coming round to the opinion that this was the only solution for the difficulties with which the relations between Denmark and the Confederation were beset. No decision of the Cabinet had however, M. Hall said, yet been taken on these matters.

I venture to observe on this subject, that whatever may be the merits of the plan itself, the moment has hardly yet arrived for discussing it. The first object with the Danish Government, as it appears to me, ought to be to avert the Execution, and there is obviously only one way of doing this, namely, by conforming to the Resolution of the 8th of March last. This Resolution bears exclusively on the competency of the Holstein States during the provisional period, and, until that competency is recognized by Denmark, it is evident that no proposal as to a definitive arrangement will be entertained at Frankfort.

Having mentioned to M. Hall that I had seen articles in some of the newspapers suggesting that Denmark should oppose the Federal Execution in force, I am happy to be able to inform your Lordship that his Excellency replied that this course was not contemplated by the Danish Government.

The armaments for the defence of Schleswig and the other parts of the monarchy are proceeding, and every preparation for resistance is being made both in the naval and military departments, in the event (should the Execution take place in Holstein) of the forces of the Confederation overstepping their legal bounds.

No. 125.

Sir J. Milbanke to Lord J. Russell. Received February 4.)

(Extract.) Munich, January 30, 1861. IN obedience to the instructions contained in your Lordship's despatch of the 22nd instant, I asked the Bavarian Minister for Foreign Affairs what would be the precise object of the Federal Execution in Holstein, supposing Denmark should not yield to the demands of the German Confederation. Baron de Schrenk replied, without hesitation, that the end in view by the Diet was a strict fulfilment, on the part of the King of Denmark, of the engagements taken by His Majesty in regard to the Duchies in the year 1852; adding, that if all other means failed, compliance must be compelled by a military occupation of Holstein, which in all probability would be continued until the required changes were effected in the present system of administration.

I observed, in reply to this explanation of the course to be followed, that it might be feasible enough, if the Diet could foresee that the King of Denmark would be likely to yield to compulsion within a reasonable time; but that as it had no security that this would be the case, it seemed to me that a step which involved the seizure and appropriation of the revenues of the Duchies, and the exercise of other acts of authority in them, would, if prolonged too far, amount to something very much like taking possession of a portion of territory which had been allotted and guaranteed to the King of Denmark by the same solemn European Treaties to which the Confederation itself alone owed its origin, and to which an appeal might, under such circumstances, be made with propriety by any one of the Powers who signed them.

It was impossible, I said, to overrate the gravity of the consequences that might result from a procedure which, besides renewing the agitation of 1848 in the public mind in Germany, had already created alarm among all the Governments of Europe. It is useless, I said, for German Statesmen to pretend to deceive themselves by asserting that the contemplated measures of coercion are not intended to be carried beyond the frontiers of the purely German Duchies, for there is not one of them who is not quite as thoroughly persuaded as I am myself, that were a Federal army once to take the field in this cause, public opinion in Germany would exercise so much pressure on the Governments that they would have the greatest difficulty in avoiding an intervention in the Duchy of Schleswig, which your Lordship may be assured is what all Germany is driving at, openly or covertly.

My Lord,

No. 126.

Sir A. Malet to Lord J. Russell.-(Received February 4.)

Frankfort, January 31, 1861.

WITH reference to your Lordship's despatch of the 22nd instant, instructing me to ascertain what would be the precise object of a Federal Execution in Holstein supposing Denmark should not yield to the demands of the Germanic Confederation, I have the honour to state that the ostensible and avowed object of such Execution would be that the Commissaries of the Diet should take in hand the government of the two Duchies of Holstein and Lauenburg in correspondence with the Provincial States or Elective Chambers of the Duchies.

The military force accompanying the Commissaries would have orders to secure them against all interference from the Danish Government, and the military occupation and functions of the Commissaries would be prolonged until the latter could report to the Diet that the demands contained in the conclusions of M. von der Pfordten's Report, inclosed in my despatch of the 23rd instant, had been complied with by the Danish Government.

(Extract.)

Sir A. Malet to Lord J. Russell.-(Received February 4.)

Frankfort, January 31, 1861.

IT is natural that the Holstein people, united as they were with the Schleswig for 400 years, and still connected with them by ties of consanguinity and interest, should resent treatment of the nature referred to, and it is doubtful whether any measures which the Copenhagen Government may be induced to take to satisfy the special grievances of Holstein will be effectual, unless something more is conceded to the Germans of Schleswig, and their intercourse with Holstein permitted with fewer restrictions than is the case at present.

I do not venture to suggest specific points on which the Danish Government should relax its present policy, but it would appear that the complaint made by the Danes against agricultural and other similar associations in Holstein and Schleswig being converted into political clubs rests on some foundation, but is only a natural consequence of the rigorous police and other regulations of the Danish Government.

As the object of Her Majesty's Government in interfering in this question at Copenhagen will be directed to induce the Danish Government to make such concessions to German demands as may obviate the menaced military occupation of Holstein, I have thought it my duty to lay these considerations before your Lordship in the opinion that the only way of effecting a permanent reconciliation between Denmark and the Duchies must comprise concessions to Holstein in reference to Schleswig which shall induce the members of the Holstein StatesGeneral to disarm the action of the Diet by expressing themselves satisfied.

My Lord,

No. 128.

Mr. Gordon to Lord J. Russell.-(Received February 4.)

Stuttgardt, January 28, 1861. I HAD the honour to receive your Lordship's despatch of the 22nd instant by extra messenger Bridge on the 26th, and I have to-day fulfilled the instructions it contained, by asking Baron Hügel what would be the precise object of a Federal Execution in Holstein, supposing Denmark should not yield to the demands of the German Confederation.

Baron Hügel informed me, in reply, that the precise object of an occupation by Federal forces of Holstein, in such an event as that supposed, would be to force Denmark, by doing it as much harm as possible, to concede to the demands of the Confederation what it has refused for the last ten years (which refusal, if persisted in, would be the cause which would determine the Execution), and especially to compel Denmark to account to Holstein for the employment of the public taxes and burthens, which are levied by the Danish Government in the Grand Duchy, and are spent by the former without furnishing any account of their expenditure to the latter.

Baron Hügel mentioned that a fortnight would elapse before the vote would take place in the Diet at Frankfort on the proposal of Austria and Prussia to make the above demand on Denmark, under the penalty of a Federal Execution if refused; and that if, as was probable, this proposal passed the Diet, six weeks of deliberation would be accorded to Denmark before the Execution would be ordered. His Excellency also informed me that the vote of Wurtemberg would support the Austrian and Prussian motion.

I may be permitted to add to the above, that the chief Liberal newspaper here, the "Schwäbischer Merkur," published a few days back a communication from Schleswig, showing that, in the event of a Federal Execution in Holstein, the Danes would confine themselves to occupying Schleswig, which would thus be the chief sufferer, and concluding, therefore, by the desire," Therefore, rather no Execution than that it should be limited by the Eider."

I have, &c.

(Signed) G. J. R. GORDON.

No. 129.

(Extract.)

Mr. Paget to Lord J. Russell.—(Received February 11.)

Copenhagen, January 31, 1861.

I HAVE just had a conversation with M. Hall, at the outset of which I informed his Excellency that, in the opinion of Her Majesty's Government, "the Danish Government would do well to forestall an Execution by convoking the Holstein States, and by conforming to the Decree of the Diet."

M. Hall observed, that it was always his desire to avert an Execution, if possible; but, even if it took place, he should not regard it as the greatest of all evils ("le dernier des maux "). It would not be as great a one, for instance, his Excellency said, as constituting the Holstein States into a sort of Tribunal of Censure over the Danish Monarchy, which would be the practical effect of conforming to the demands of the Diet.

I asked M. Hall to explain his meaning.

His Excellency replied that, according to the Resolution of the Diet, every law presented in the Reichsrath would have to be presented to the Holstein Assembly.

Only if it concerns Holstein also, I said. The Danish Government, I continued, had offered, of their own accord, a deliberative vote to the Holstein States on all laws excepting those of finance, and even on those also if the fixed sum was exceeded, in support of which assertion I produced the Memorandum on Holstein given to me by his Excellency in August last.

I then recapitulated the substance of the first conversations which had taken place between M. Hall and myself, when the news of the recent Report of the Committee of the Diet had been received here, in which his Excellency had never made the objections he now started, and had always, I added, led me to believe he would be disposed to conform to the demands of the Confederation,

supposing those demands were confined to the Resolutions of the 8th of March last.

M. Hall replied, that he had never meant to convey the idea that the Danish Government would agree to the naked acceptance of the Resolutions of the Diet of the 8th of March, as he should consider the independence of the Danish Monarchy would be thereby compromised. There would be no expense, he said, however trifling, which, if it was to come out of the common fund, would not be said to regard Holstein; and the result of this would be to give to Holstein, and through Holstein to Germany, a power of interference in the affairs of Denmark which would make the Sovereign and the Government of this country dependent upon, or at all events subject to, the control of the Confederation.

I reminded M. Hall that it was only now a question of what should exist during the "Provisorium," which the Danish Government could always bring to an end by a definitive arrangement.

M. Hall replied, that a provisional state of things on the basis proposed would be so advantageous to Holstein that it would be sought to make it permanent, and Denmark would again be threatened by Execution. It was necessary, therefore, to bring the question to a close once for all.

I replied, that I perfectly remembered what his Excellency had said on this subject at our last interview (reported in my despatch of the 28th instant), but I much feared, as things now stood, that until the Danish Government had recognized the competence of the Holstein States, as required by the Diet, during the provisional period, no proposal for a definitive arrangement would be listened to.

M. Hall said that it was not his intention to make any new proposal to the Diet. He was not, he said, at present in a position to announce to me the course he intended to adopt, for he might not be able to carry out his views. He could only say, that the accounts received from Holstein induced him to believe that the prospect of an Execution was much dreaded in that Duchy, and that the Holsteiners themselves might consequently be less extravagant in their pretensions than the Diet.

From this and other observations of M. Hall, I arrive at the conclusion that it is intended shortly to convoke the Holstein States, and to endeavour, by direct negotiation with them, to arrive at an understanding on the points at issue. If such is the course now decided on by the Danish Government, it cannot but be a subject of regret that they did not adopt it when they were advised to do so, many weeks ago, and when they would have had the appearance, at all events, of acting in a spirit of conciliation, and from a spontaneous desire to meet the wishes of the opposite party, instead of yielding to threats and compulsion from without.

No. 130.

My Lord,

Mr. Puget to Lord J. Russell.-(Received February 11.)

Copenhagen, February 6, 1861: M. HALL'S ideas as to the course to be followed by the Danish Government with reference to the recent Report of the Committee of the Diet do not appear as yet to be at all settled.

In our last conversation, reported in my despatch of the 31st ultimo, I understood that it was his Excellency's wish to come at once to a final arrangement; and in pursuance of this object he informed one of my colleagues a few days ago that he should convoke the Holstein States, and propose to them the existing Constitution, with the addition of an Upper Chamber, selected by the King, for the affairs common to the whole Monarchy-a plan with which your Lordship is already acquainted.

To-day M. Hall has informed me that, although nothing is yet positively decided, the Holstein States will in all probability be convoked early in March for the object of concerting with the Government respecting the "Provisorium." Upon my remarking that this was not exactly what I gathered from my last conversation with his Excellency, M. Hall replied that he certainly would prefer, if possible, bringing the question once for all to a close, but that, failing this, he

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