over Denmark-Proper and Schleswig, but she ceded her rights to her husband. As regards Holstein, or, at all events, HolsteinGottorp, the legal heir to that Duchy, after the Sovereigns of Denmark, is the Emperor of Russia, as the head of the house of Holstein-Gottorp; but by the protocol of Warsaw in June, 1851, he ceded his rights of inheritance to the present dynasty. The Treaty of London provided that Prince Christian of Schleswig-HolsteinSönderburg-Glücksburg, married to Louise, only daughter of the Landgravine of Hesse-Cassel, and named by King Frederick VII. as his successor, should be recognized by them, on the decease of Frederick, as King of Denmark. The first article declared his right "to succeed to the totality of the States actually united under the sceptre of His Majesty the King of Denmark." And by the third article the rights and reciprocal obligations of the King of Denmark and the Germanic Confederation concerning the Duchies of Holstein and Lauenburg established by the Federal Act of 1815 and the Federal right existing at the time of the treaty, were declared not to be altered by the treaty.

To this treaty, Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, France, Russia, Sweden, and Denmark, were all parties; and it was afterwards acceded to by Hanover, Saxony, Wurtemburg, Oldenburg, and Hesse-Cassel. It was not submitted to the Federal Diet, as that was thought unnecessary and inexpedient after the assent of the chief Powers represented in that body had been separately obtained.

The new King issued on the 6th of December the following proclamation, addressed to the inhabitants of Holstein:

"The order of succession to the Danish Monarchy was intended to be a labour of peace, undertaken by us without personal ambition, in the sole hope of serving the country. It has been accepted as public European law, because the integrity of the Danish Monarchy was recognized as being a necessity to European peace. Opposition, under the mask of unfounded hereditary claims, has, however, been raised against the measure, purposing the dismemberment of the Danish Monarchy. This opposition has also gained ground in Holstein, calling forth excitement and doubt. The maintenance of the Monarchy is one of our most important duties as a ruler. We cannot suffer officials to foster opposition, and are resolved to put down insurrectionary movements with armed force. "The endeavours of many years to bring about an understanding upon the constitutional relations of the entire Monarchy have not been attended with success. While, however, we intend to give to the territories belonging to the German Confederacy an independent position in the kingdom, as has already been accomplished with the remaining portions of the Monarchy, we hope that when Holstein finds herself contented in constitutional freedom, and the pretext for foreign interference is thus removed, she will voluntarily incline to nearer connexion with the remainder of the country."

The question now discussed in the Frankfort Diet was whether there should be Execution (that is, administration of the Government) in the Duchies of Holstein and Lauenburg without reference to the disputed right of succession, or whether the Diet should enter into hostile Occupation of them, and hold them until it had itself decided to whom they rightfully belonged. Austria and Prussia declared in favour of the first view, and the Committee of the Diet, of which the Bavarian Minister was the reporter, in favour of the last. In the result, the Austro-Prussian demand was carried by a very small majority, which was due to the votes of the lesser German States, for Bavaria, Saxony, Wurtemburg, the Grand Duchy of Hesse and Baden, together with Nassau and Brunswick, voted for what was called Occupation, which was to give the Diet the right of determining the succession.

Federal Commissioners were appointed by the Diet to see that the Execution was carried out, and the Danish Government was summoned to withdraw its troops from the Duchies of Holstein and Lauenburg within seven days. The Saxon troops were put in march for Hamburg, in order to be the first to enter Holstein, and Austria and Prussia not only supplied soldiers to take part in the actual invasion, but held in readiness a large body as a reserve, in case resistance should be made by the Danes and hostilities begin.

The Prince of Augustenburg addressed a long letter on the subject of his claims to the Emperor of the French, who sent the following cautious reply:

"My Cousin, I have read your letter with a lively interest, and hasten to reply to it. I know of nothing more honourable than to be the representative of a cause which rests upon the independence and nationality of a people, and in that respect you may rely upon my sympathy, for I shall always be consistent in my conduct. If I have fought for Italian independence, if I have raised my voice for Polish nationality, I cannot, in Germany, entertain other sentiments nor obey other principles. But the Great Powers are bound by the Convention of London, and their assembling (réunion) could alone solve without difficulty the question which interests you. I, therefore, sincerely regret on this, as well as on many other accounts, that England has declined to attend the Congress which I proposed.

"It is a pity that the Diet has not been consulted respecting the rights of a Duchy which forms part of the German Confederation; Denmark may also have acted in some part wrongly towards Germany; but, on the one hand, I deplore that the Confederation has thought fit to intervene in Holstein before the question of succession has been decided, for the intervention, which may lead to the most serious complications, does not decide that question; and, should Denmark be oppressed by powerful neighbours, public opinion in France would turn in her favour.

"I therefore most sincerely hope that your claims may be investigated by the German Diet, that the result of its deliberations may be submitted to the Powers that signed the Convention of London, so that the national sentiment, which so energetically pronounces itself in Germany, may receive legitimate satisfaction by common consent.

"I have pleasure in taking advantage of this opportunity to offer you the assurances of my esteem and constant good will; whereupon, my Cousin, I pray God to have you in His holy keeping. "NAPOLEON.

"Compiègne, Dec. 10, 1863."

The view taken by the British Government was indicated in a note addressed by Sir Alexander Malet, our Minister at Frankfort, to the Federal Diet. He said :—

"In consequence of instructions from the Government of Her Britannic Majesty, the undersigned has the honour to communicate to his Excellency Baron Von Kubeck, President of the Federal Diet, a copy of the London Treaty of May 8, 1852. The undersigned has the honour to request his Excellency to lay this treaty before the Assembly of the Federal Diet. The undersigned is at the same time instructed to remark that the High Federal Assembly will observe that by the treaty France, Great Britain, Russia, and Sweden agreed to recognize King Christian IX. as the successor to all the possessions held by His Majesty the late King of Denmark. This recognition has already taken place by all these Powers. The undersigned is, therefore, instructed to point out that if the Federal Assembly by any over-hasty steps enters upon a course opposed to the London Treaty serious complications might result.

"The undersigned is further instructed to notify to his Excellency the President of the Federal Assembly that the Government of Her Britannic Majesty is ready to discuss these subjects in a conference which should assemble at any place that might be agreed upon, and in which all the subscribers of the London Treaty, and a representative of the German Confederation should take part."

At the close of the Session of the Danish Rigsraad, on the 21st of December, a message from the King was read by the MinisterPresident, in which His Majesty stated:

:

"At the time when this Assembly met in 1855 it was hoped that the Constitutional relations of the Monarchy were settled. Such would have been the case had the Federal Diet confined itself to its competency. The Constitution of the 18th of November rested upon the same basis as that of the present Constitution for the whole Monarchy. That Constitution also separated the common affairs of the Monarchy from those appertaining specially to the respective provinces composing it. It conferred

no competence upon the Rigsraad to interfere in matters hitherto concerning the provinces alone.

"A desire to dismember the Danish Monarchy has arisen in Germany. We hope, however, that Europe will, nevertheless, maintain our right to the hereditary succession. We have fulfilled every resolution of the Federal Diet concerning the Federal provinces. German troops have occupied Holstein and Lauenburg, although the latter has recently testified its satisfaction and loyalty to Denmark.

"Although we do not recognize the Execution on the part of the German Confederation as justifiable, we withdraw our troops to this side of the Eyder in order to avoid a collision."

The Federal Commissioners entered Altona, which is close to Hamburg, about the same time as the Saxon troops, and proceeded to administer the Government. They were received with the greatest enthusiasm by the inhabitants, with whom the Danish rule was beyond all doubt intensely unpopular. Demonstrations in favour of Prince Frederic of Augustenburg as Duke of Schleswig-Holstein took place every where, and he himself made his appearance at Kiel, where he was welcomed by deputations, and greeted as the rightful Duke.

The most violent opponents of the Danish right of succession to the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein were the smaller German States, many of which had expressly acceded to the Treaty of London. We need not comment on this flagrant disregard of good faith and treaty rights. In the mean time the Danish Government had withdrawn the Proclamation of the 30th of March, which had been the only pretext for the Federal interference; and efforts were made by the British Government to induce the King to procure the repeal of the Constitution of November, by which the Germans alleged Schleswig had, contrary to good faith, been incorporated with Denmark-Proper. Lord Wodehouse was sent from England on a special mission to Copenhagen, but his errand proved abortive. The feeling in Denmark against such a concession as was demanded was too strong, and the Ministry, rather than propose such a measure to the Rigsraad, resigned office. Bishop Monrad was commissioned by the King to form another Ministry, which he succeeded in doing, but at the close of the year the Constitution of November remained in full force, and the Danish and German troops confronted each other on the opposite banks of the Eyder, where a single shot fired may bring about a hostile collision, and light up the flames of a general war in Europe.

CHAPTER IV.

GERMANIC CONFEDERATION-RUSSIA AND POLAND.

GERMANIC CONFEDERATION.-Proposal of the Emperor of Austria for a Congress of German Sovereigns-They meet at Frankfort-Speech of the Emperor at Opening of the Congress-Collective Answer of the other Sovereigns and Princes-Invitation to the King of Prussia to attend-His Refusal-M. Bismark's Despatch on the subject-Analysis of the "Reform Act" arrived at by the Congress-Close of the Congress, and parting Address of the Emperor of Austria.

RUSSIA AND POLAND.-Outbreak of Insurrection in Poland-Cause of this the Conscription-The Central Committee-General View of the Revolt-Its progress under Langiewicz and other Leaders-Manifesto to Europe of the Polish Chiefs-Interference of the British Government-The Emperor of Russia's offer of an Amnesty rejected by the Poles-Earl Russell proposes the Six Points-The Russian View of the struggle-Despatches of Prince Gortschakoff-The Six Points rejected by Russia -Strong feeling in Russia against Poland-Attempt to assassinate General BergDestruction of the Zamoyski Palace-The Grand Duke Constantine resigns the government of Poland-Russian mode of putting down the Rebellion.

GERMANIC CONFEDERATION.

THE chief interest in the proceedings of this unwieldy body in the present year-if we except the resolutions come to by the Federal Diet on the Schleswig-Holstein question, of which an account has been given under the head of Denmark-consists in the meeting of a Congress of German Sovereigns and Princes at Frankfort, in the month of August, to discuss a project for the reformation of the Bund. The idea emanated from the Emperor of Austria, who has certainly shown himself an enlightened monarch, anxious to secure to his own country the blessings of constitutional Government and representative institutions; and he invited the Potentates of Germany to meet him at Frankfort and deliberate upon a scheme of reform. The Emperor had a personal interview with the King of Prussia, and tried to induce him to attend, but the King

declined.

The heads, however, of almost the whole of the other Kingdoms, Principalities, and Free Towns of Germany, accepted the invitation, and in the beginning of August Frankfort was the scene of a gathering of Kings and Princes such as perhaps has never before been witnessed in Europe.

A great banquet was given by the Senate of Frankfort to their illustrious guests, and at it the Emperor of Austria proposed the following toast:

"I speak in the names of the Sovereigns here present, and thank