The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-05 00:00:00

which I can only describe in one see atence as one of menaces
which were never accomplished, an d of promises which were
never fulfilled. (Cheers.) With All their difficulties, they
never hesitated in their line. I west do them the justice to
say, that as far as the semblance of menace was concerned,
there never were more spirited and independent Ministers.
(Opposition cheers and laughter.) Let us indulge them, at
least for a moment, with the enjoyment of the phantom of
proud courage. (LaUghter.) What did they do? They sent
a special envoy to Denmark to explain and enforce their
policy, and to arrange everything. He was sent there
ostensibly to congratulate the new King upon his accession,
but it was avowed that his mission went further than this,
and was of far greater importance. I will not read all the
instructions which were given to him, but win merely read
the concluding sentence, which arenas up the whole. It is
this : " The result you are to arrive at is the fulfilment of
the treaty of 1852, and of the engagements entered into by
Prussia, Austi ia, and Denmark." Lcrd Wodehouse, there-
fore, could not be at fault with respect to what he was to do.
He was a man of some experience; he held a subordinate
but still important pusilion in the administration of foreign
affairs; he had been ambassador to a foreign court, and
before he went to Den mark be made a speech of a very de-
cided character in fuvour of that country. I have nothing
thereforept t to
on y
against the appoint ment, which was a very
or What was the conduct of the Secretary of
imansea.
State while Lerd Wodehouse was going to carry out his
instructions? Did the Secretary of State falter in his
tone ° It was about this time that the famous letter,
the great diplomatic reprimand, was sent to Sir A.
Mallet for hailer: talked of the protocol of 1852, instead
of the treaty of 1852. This was the time when all the
ambassadors of Europe who talked of the protocol of
1852 were to be stopped short, and who, however ale-
vated their position, and however great their powers of
logic, were to be pulled down directly for this great diplo-
matic lapsus. (Laughter and cheers.) On the 17th of
December the noble lord, in a letter to Sir A. Buchanan,
said that any departure from the treaty of 1852 would be
inconsistent with good faith ; and on the 22d the Govern-
ments of Wurtemburg,Hanover, and Saxony were told that
if they carried out the Federal execution the most serious
consequences would ensue. (Hear, hear, from the Ministerial
side.) I want to know what lion, gentleman mean by
cheering the language of that despatch ! Why, the smallest
power in Europe would feel itself obliged to resist a demand
made in each language. When you employed language of
that kind in despatches which were usually mild in their
tone, what interpretation was to be put upon it but that you
meant to go to war? (Opposition cheers.) This was the
state of things after the King's death, atter we became ac-
quainted with the policy of France, after the FrencleMinister
informed Denmark that if she became involved in war with
Germany, France would not come to her assistance. Not-
withstanding these threats and repeated menaces, the Fede-
ral execution took place. (Hear, hear.) That is not evidence
of just influence in the councils of Europe. (Cheers.) Bat
what course did the Government pursue under these cir-
cumstances? Why they went again to France, and after
all that happened they tried the expedient of supplicating
her for assistance. Oa the 27th of December Federal exe-
cution took place, and on the 28th they made application
to the French Gdvernment, on which occasion Lord Cowley
in humble accents said that her Majesty's Government were
sincerely anxious to act with the Imperial Government in
this question. (Hear, hear.) To be sure they were sincerely •
anxious to do so. (Laughter.) To this lowly supplication a
curt reply was given by the French Government; but not-
' withstanding this, the Secretary of State in 24 hours
after wrote the most furious despatch he had ever written.
It is necessary to call attention to the contrast between
the menaces directed against Germany, and those held
towards Denmark. The first great object after the King's
death was to induce Denmark to revoke the patent of
November relative to the constitution of Holstein. Her
Majesty's Government instructed Sir A. Paget to comma-
nicate with M. Hall, the Danish Prime Minister, on the
subject. In the course of the interview Sir A. Paget
warned the Minister of the dangers which would ensue if
the patent of November was not withdrawn. In conse-
quence of that warning he gave up his opinions and the
patent. What is the interpretation which, in private life,
we would put on language like that ? You would suppose
that if you acted upon it you would be involved in respon-
sibility. (Hear, hear.) We come now to this execution in
Holstein, and, literally speaking, the Federal execution was
a legal act, and Denmark could not resist it. But, from the
manner in which it was announced to be carried into effect,
and in consequence of the pretensions connected with it, the
Danes were of opinion that it would have been better at
once to resist the execution. Well, her Majesty's M;nis-
ters, actuated by the best motives, wanted the Danish Go-
vernment to submit. What was their language? Sir
Alexander Paget replied to the Danish Minister "that
Denmark would at all events have a better chance of secur-
ing the assistance of the Powers if the execution were not
resisted." (Hear. bear.) 1 ask any candid man what
would be his interpretation of that language? (Hear.
hear.) On the 12th Earl Russell himself tells the Danish
Minister in London that there is no connection between the
engagements of Denmark and Germany and the engage-
ments with the German Powers in 1852. Of course, such
a declaration by the English Minister in the metropolis
must have had the greatest effect upon the Federal policy,
and so the Danes submitted. But having revoked the
patent—having submitted to the execution—there a as then
a new demand upon them—a demand for the repeal of the
whole constitution. I want to place clearly before the house
the position of Denmark with respect to the mach-talked-of
constitution. There had been in the preceding year a par-
liamentary reform bill carried in Denmark, but the King
had died before giving his assent to it, although he would
have most willingly done so. The instant the new king ac-
ceded to the throne this parliamentaryreforni bill was brought
to him. Great excitement prevailed upon the subject,
and the King was placed in a most difficult position. Now,
observe this—England, who was intrusive and pragmatical
in the counsels she gave—who never allowed Denmark to
do anything without her advice, and who was always sug-
gesting and prompting, hung back when the question came
to be whether the new King should give his assent to the
reform Englaod was selfishly silent—she would not
incur responsibility—the excitement was great, and the
King gave his assent to the bill. Bat understand, at that
moment it was not at all impossible, if her Majesty's Go-
vernment had written a despatch to Copenhagen, which
the King might have put before his council, and had ex-
pressed the wish of an ally who was then looked upon by
Denmark with the utmost feeling of confidence and with
the utmost hope, especially after France had declared she
would not assist her—if England had put forward this de-
spatch, begging as a favour that the King would not give
his assent to the new;constitutien for a brief space—say for
six weeks—in order to assist England to carry on her nego-
tiations with the German Powers, I cannot doubt but that
the King would have avoided that act, which was most in-
jurious to his fortunes. However, the instant he assented
to the bill, the English Government began to write de-
spatches, calling upon him to revoke it. Bat could he
revoke it ? The King of Denmark was a really constitu-
tional king ; he could have only put an end to the constitu-
tion by force, by a coup d'etat, and he was not in a position
to do that. But I sincerely believe that, even if he were in
the position, he would have had no inclination to perpetrate
such an act of enormity. (Hear, hear.) Well, what was the
other course open to him ? Tee only other constitutional
course he could have had recourse to was to call together a
new Parliament and propose that they should revoke the
constitution. Now see what would have been the state of
affairs if, after our Reform Bill had passed in 1832 and
the new elections had taken place, Lord Althorp came
down to this;house and called upon the new Parliament
to revoke the Reform Bill and to give him leave to in-
troduce a bill for that purpose. It would be asking for
that which was utterly impossible. And let me call
attention to the manner in which this request was made.
First of all, the Secretary of state writes to Lord Wode-
house, who was then at Copenhagen formally arranging the
repeal of the constitution. The right hon. gentleman then
quoted the despatches of Lord Wodehouse, and of Sir A.
Paget, describing the efforts which they had made with M.
Hall, the Danish Minister, to induce the Danish Govern-
ment
to listen to the advice of the English Government,
and not to put forward extreme pretensions and drive mat-
ters to extremities. Now what are the conclusions to be
drawn from this language ? (Hear.) The
M
y
special envo
t if
thed writes, "It was my duty to declare to
. Hall
Danish Government rejected our advice her tha
Majesty's Gc-
vernment must leave Denmark to encounter Germany on
her own responsibility." (Cheers) I ask, are there two
bservati
interpretations to be put upon thosse.!
.0
for
lons ? (Hear.)
See what happened. It was imp° I. Hall, who
was the author of the constitution, to put an end to it ; he
resigned, and a new Government was formed, and a Parlia-
ment was called under the new constitution in order to pass
an Act to terminate its own existence. In January Sir A.
Paget says, and there is some naivete in the observation,
that
the consolation of knowing that they
h " they had
ad acted on the advice of their best friend, and that the
responsibility of war now rests entirely with Germany."
(Laughter -)
Now I have given three of the great subjects
in which the representations of England induced Denmark
to take a course against her convictions, and. as the Danes
believed, against their policy. The plot begins to thicken.
set eithstanding the termination of the patent of Holstein
_notwithstanding the Federal execution--notwithstanding
the repeal of the constitution, more is wanted, and Schles-
wig is about to be invaded. Affairs become now most cri-
tical. Ne sooner was this known then a very haughty
menace was sent to Austria. Austria was threatened that
if Schleswig was invaded the consequences would be seri-
ous—(a laugh)—the question would cease to be purely' o
German, and would become of European importance. n
the 4th January Lord Russell writes to Mr Murray at the
Court of Saxony, that the most serious consequences are to
be apprehended if Germany invaded Schleswig—and on the
9th he writes again to Dresden that the line taken by Saxony
destroys all confidence in the diplomatic relations with
S ixeny. (Hoar, hear.) Oa the 13th he writes to Lord
Sloorafiell in the same tone, and, referring to the experience
of Russia in regard to the Crimean war, pants out how the
consequences of demanding material guarantees from Dens
mark may recoil upon Germany. Well, notwithstanding
these solemn warnings, the invasion of Schleswig takes
place, and whet is the conduct of the Government ? They
hurry again to Pc rie—(cheers and laughter on the Opposi-
non benches)—then propose a jointdeclaration of the non-
Merman Powers. "Wen, that despatch was answered the