hoped to be able to negotiate such an arrangement with the Holstein States, respecting the "Provisorium," as would, at all events, exclude any further interference on the part of Germany. M. Hall then entered into a further explanation of the Resolutions of the 8th of March to show that it was perfectly impossible for the Danish Government to comply with them. He said there was one paragraph which had hitherto escaped much notice, but which was of the highest importance. It required the Danish Government to make an express declaration that during the "Provisorium" no change whatever should be made in what are now classed "Private Affairs" of each part of the Monarchy, and those which are considered common to the whole. Thus, he said, if a law intended for the whole Monarchy was agreed to by the Rigsraad, and was rejected by the States of Holstein, the result would be not only that the law should not have effect in Holstein and be carried out in Denmark and Schleswig, because this would be to change its denomination and character from "Common" to "Private " affairs, but the veto of the Holstein States would prevent its execution in Denmark and Schleswig also, so that in point of fact, said M. Hall, the Danish Monarchy would be governed by the Holstein States. I have, &c. (Signed) A. PAGET. No. 131. My Lord, Mr. Paget to Lord J. Russell.-(Received February 11.) Copenhagen, February 6, 1861. I HEAR that the Danish Government has made a contract with the Railway Company for the transport of the heavy material from the fortress of Rensburg to Flensburg, and that a large number of horses have been sent to Rensburg to bring away the guns. This information would appear to confirm what M. Hall told me, and which I reported in my despatch of the 28th of January, namely, that the Danish Government do not contemplate making any resistance in Holstein. I hope to be able to furnish your Lordship, on an early occasion, with an exact account of the number of troops which, in case of necessity, Denmark would be able to bring into the field. They may be roughly stated, I think, at about 50,000 men. I have, &c. Sir A. Malet to Lord J. Russell.-(Received February 11.) My Lord, The Danish Envoy, Baron Bülow, made observations which, though not put in the form of a protest, are, as I learn, so considered, and the Diet decided that they should not only be inserted in the Protocol, but transmitted verbatim to the several Governments of the Confederation for consideration. I am informed that his Excellency's memorandum appeared to make considerable impression on the members of the Diet. The tenour of the document is reported to me as dwelling strongly on the point that the whole of the proceedings of the Diet towards the Execution must at all events be held to have commenced de novo from yesterday's vote, as the warning given to Denmark on the 8th March, 1860, related to a totally different posture of affairs, his Government having partially complied with the summons then made by the Diet, as acknowledged by the Assembly itself. His Excellency abstained from participating in the vote. The vote of Baron Scherff, the Netherlands Minister, was the only one given against the Report I learn that his Excellency made a special objection to the inopportunity of a comminatory vote at a moment when the Danish Government had convoked the Provincial Assemblies of the Duchies, with the view of seeking a direct arrangement, and drew attention at the same time to the great risk of adding to already existing European complications, by any proceeding calculated to stir up strife in a new quarter. I could not learn these particulars, in consequence of the Diet's sitting being unusually prolonged, till after post hours yesterday, and having had to attend a Court Ball held at Wiesbaden, have only just returned to Frankfort in time to report them to your Lordship to-day. I have, &c. My Lord, Mr. Howard to Lord J. Russell.(Received February 12.) Hanover, February 9, 1861. IT will be known to your Lordship that the Diet of the German Confederation adopted in its sitting of the 7th instant, the proposals of its united Committees on the affairs of Holstein and Lauenburg referred to in my despatch of the 19th ultimo, the only dissentient votes being those of Denmark and Luxemburg. Count Platen informs me that, agreeably to his instructions, the Hanoverian Representative at Frankfort had voted purely and simply for the proposed Resolution, without any explanatory remarks. Count Platen has been anxious to avoid irritating Denmark by any special statement of the views of Hanover on the pending question. (Extract.) (Signed) No. 134. I have, &c. HENRY F. HOWARD. Mr. Jerningham to Lord J. Russell.-(Received February 13.) Stockholm, February 5, 1861. COUNT MANDERSTROEM informed me yesterday, that he had addressed a circular despatch to the Swedish Representatives, stating that his Government concurred in the position adopted, regarding Schleswig, by your Lordship's despatch to Mr. Lowther of the 8th of December last, and that every effort had been made to promote moderation and conciliation in the Danish Councils. Sir, No. 135. Lord J. Russell to Mr. Paget. Foreign Office, February 13, 1861. I HAVE received your despatch of the 28th ultimo, reporting the substance of a conversation which you had held with M. Hall on the present state of the question of the Danish Duchies, and in reply I have to state to you that Her Majesty's Government trust that Denmark will show a conciliatory disposition. With regard to Holstein and Lauenburg, the German Diet appears to be unanimous, and Denmark would improve her position by adopting the views of M. Hall. The Diet, after having obtained so much of concession, might become more easy, and a sum might be recommended to Holstein as her contribution to general expenses, to meet other proportionate sums from Denmark. Even the Constitution of Hungary of 1848 provides a sum to be contri buted by Hungary towards the expenses of Austria, and Austria could hardly contend that Holstein should not contribute to Danish expenditure. I am, &c. I HAVE received your despatch of the 31st ultimo, reporting the conversation you had with M. Hall upon the subject of the probable Federal Execution in the Holstein States, and I have to observe to you, in reply, that the Danish Government should lose no time in deciding on the course they intend to pursue. My Lord, Lord A. Loftus to Lord J. Russell.—(Received February 18.). Berlin, February 16, 1861. IN the course of conversation with Baron Schleinitz this morning I inquired whether he had received any intelligence from Copenhagen since the late decision of the Diet had been made known, and from what time would the limit of six weeks date, which had been fixed for the answer of the Danish Government. His Excellency stated in reply that in consequence of the communication · having been interrupted, he had received no late intelligence from Copenhagen : he could not consequently say what effect had been produced by the late Decree of the Diet. He informed me that the six weeks' delay accorded to the Danish Cabinet for their reply would date from the 7th instant, and that on the expiration of that time a further delay of six weeks would occur before active measures could be taken; consequently there could be no question of any movement of troops before the summer. My Lord, Mr. Ward to Lord J. Russell.-(Received February 18.) Hamburgh, February 15, 1861. SINCE I had the honour of addressing your Lordship on the 23rd ultimo in reference to Holstein, the course of events would seem to have had a more pacific tendency, and if it were not for the very violent and menacing language used by the Copenhagen newspapers, there would be little reason for apprehending any immediate interruption of the peace of this part of Europe. Nothing is heard of any unusual military preparations in the German States, nor do the ⚫ German Governments as yet appear willing to believe that Denmark has any serious intention to resist the impending Execution. The text of the Resolution passed by the Federal Diet at Frankfort on the 7th instant, ordering an Execution into Holstein in default of receiving a satisfactory answer from Denmark within six weeks, has been published, together with the Report of the Committee on which the Resolution was founded, and it is satisfactory to observe that the Resolution is strictly confined to the German Duchies of Holstein and Lauenburg, and does not contemplate any interference whatever in the affairs of Schleswig. The Prussian Minister, Baron de Schleinitz, has explained to the Committee on the Address, that the phrase "German Duchies" in the King's Speech, was intended to mean Holstein and Lauenburg only, and the foremost advocates of the rights of Schleswig in the Prussian Lower House have contented themselves with demanding the reservation ("Wahrung ") of those rights, without insisting upon any immediate steps being taken by Germany for their enforcement. The feeling of the more moderate friends of the Duchies is evidently that it would be best first to place Holstein on a Constitutional footing, and, when that is done, then to take the requisite steps for compelling the King-Duke to fulfil the promises made by him as regards Schleswig in 1851 and 1852. In these circumstances, it is not yet believed that the menaces of those Danish journals which threaten war whenever a German army shall cross the Elbe into Holstein, can have any serious meaning. Much less do the merchants at Hamburgh give any credence to the rumoured design of the Danish Government to institute a blockade of the Elbe by way of an answer to the Execution, since they feel assured that such a proceeding on the part of Denmark would be the signal for the advance of the Federal forces into Schleswig and Jutland, and would place the Danish Monarchy at the mercy of the Germanic body. The protest recorded by Denmark in the sitting of the Diet of the 7th instant has also been made public, and is doubtless known to your Lordship. This protest disputes the competency of the Diet, and endeavonrs to show that the impending Execution would be irregular in point of form. It is, however, difficult to believe that the Diet should have been so inadvertent as to commit any formal error in so important a matter, the less so as the Report of the Committee was drawn up by one of the most learned jurists in Germany, viz., the Bavarian Envoy at the Diet, Dr. von der Pfordten. Your Lordship is aware that the Corporate Constitution of the Monarchy, dated October 2, 1855, was abolished, as regarded Holstein and Lauenburg, by Royal Patent dated November 6, 1858, and that the future relations of those Duchies to the rest of the Monarchy remain to be settled. As regards Schleswig, the German party cannot deny that, in agitating for a revival of the ancient connexion between that Duchy and Holstein, they aim at an object at once unconstitutional, and contrary to the conditions of the Peace of 1850. They complain, however, that while the Danish Government threatens and prosecutes those who work for a re-united Schleswig-Holstein, it does not scruple itself to try to violate the Constitution of the Monarchy, and the conditions of the peace, by constantly labouring to bring about an eventual incorporation of the Duchy of Schleswig with the Kingdom (not the Monarchy) of Denmark, and by giving free scope and liberty to the organs of the ultra-Danish party, such as the "Fædrelandet," which agitate unceasingly for the extension of the Kingdom of Denmark to the Eider, and for the entire suppression of the Schleswig Constitution. The Eider-Dane party act with as little regard to the existing Constitution of the Monarchy as the Schleswig-Holsteiners, and the encouragement given by the Government to the former party operates as a perpetual excitement to the fears and apprehensions of the latter class of agitators. In all this, the struggle of the conflicting nationalities for the predominance in Schleswig is but too obvious; and the thought is constantly recurring, how desirable a plan of arrangement would be, which should draw a line of separation between the contending races, and should modify the Constitution of the Danish Monarchy upon the principle of that existing for Sweden and Norway, or of some other well-established Monarchical Confederation. I have, &c. (Signed) J. WARD. No. 139. My Lord, Sir A. Malet to Lord J. Russell.-(Received February 18.) Frankfort, February 15, 1861. WITH reference to my despatch of the 8th instant, giving an account of the proceedings in the Diet in the matter of the Danish Duchies, and referring to the declarations made by the Danish and Netherland Envoys, I have now the honour of inclosing to your Lordship, in translation, the substance of those declarations, as inserted in the Protocol of the Diet. Your Lordship will observe that these documents coincide in purport with the summary I have already had the honour to lay before your Lordship. Documents concerning the Constitution of the Duchies of Holstein and Lauenburg, laid before the German Diet at its Fifth Sitting in 1860, Denmark in re Holstein and Lauenburg. THE Ambassador, agreeably with the injunctions of his Sovereign, gave the following vote per Protocol. When the German Diet passed a Resolution conformably with the motion made by the United Committees under date 18th February, 1860, His Majesty's Government thought themselves justified in the confident anticipation, despite the tenour of the said Resolution, that it would not call forth any fresh difficulties. His Majesty's Government still maintain the conviction, that the demands made have no foundation either in history or in justice, seeing that on the one hand, the Constitution of the Provincial Estates confers upon the said Estates the right of decision only in respect of any new imposition of taxes, but no participation in, and still less a decisive vote upon, the application of even the special income and resources; whilst, on the other hand, the Royal Proclamation of 28th January, 1852, promises the right of decision to the Holstein Provincial Estates only in such matters as, agreeably with the regulations contained in the said Royal Proclamation, should be assigned to the provinces in question as their special concerns, not in affairs of common interest. Just as little could His Majesty's Government entertain a doubt that a grant to the Holstein Provincial Estates of a general determinative voice, defined by no ulterior guarantees in matters of common concern, would prove in practice a dead letter. But, on the other hand, the object desired to be attained by that Resolution appeared to be, to secure the Duchies of Holstein and Lauenburg from the influence apprehended from the Council of the Empire ("Reichsrath") existing for the other parts of the Monarchy; the demand based thereon was to the effect that any projects of law that should thenceforth be placed before the Council should also be presented to the Holstein Estates, an eventuality which could only arise when next a meeting of the Council should be convened. In exact conformity with this character of an eventual protestation or prohibition respectively, the Resolution of the Diet had not insisted upon an immediate recognition, on the part of His Majesty's Government, still less fixed any definite period within which such a declaration should be made. As meanwhile, in accordance with the existing Constitution, the Council of the Empire would be again convened only in the course of two years, His Majesty's Government considered themselves justified in entertaining the hope that their incessant efforts, free from all impediments on the part of the Diet, would succeed in the course of this interval in the definitive settlement of the relations of Holstein to the Monarchy at large, by the aid of newly-elected Estates, and thereby the great difficulties attendant upon a provisional arrangement be satisfactorily obviated: With the greater regret, therefore, have His Majesty's Government perceived by the motions in question how, departing from the course hitherto pursued, and ascribing to the Resolution of 8th March a new and unexpected scope, without the assignment of any cause, an immediate and express recognition is demanded from His Majesty Government, a Motion to which they consider themselves the less in a position to accede, seeing that the demands involved in the said Resolution have received an interpretation that would render any administration or government in accordance with existing laws and prescriptions utterly impossible. Should the United Committees seek occasion for this proceeding in the Motion once brought forward by the Government of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, His Majesty's Government are under the necessity, first, of referring back to their exposition of the actual status in their note presented on the 10th |