The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-10 00:00:00

would be preferred by Denmark to personal union,
which would render the maintenance of the in-
tegrity possible. With regard to the London
treaty, Prince Gortschakoff declared that he, for
his part, could not accept any reproach ; that he
had warned us of the dangers our policy was pre-
paring for us, and that he had neither notified
before the war, nor at the present time, that we
attached great value to the integrity of the mo-
narchy. . . It is my impression that if the
King's Government endeavoured to obtain the per-
sonal union unreservedly and complete, Russia
would support this combination without going to
war. Russia would consider this the only means,
under existing circumstances, of maintaining the
integrity of the monarchy: . . Your excellency
will be already aware that the idea has at last oc-
curred to the Cabinet of Vienna to propose to Den.
mark to enter into an alliance with Germany. By
this means the integrity of the monarchy would be
preserved. To judge by the prevalent opinion
among us (the Danes) this idea would unquestion-
ably be rejected ; but provided we could lay aside
a feeling which, perhaps, may not outlive the pre-
sent generation, it must be admitted that the
plan might bring forth good fruits without neces-
sarily injuring the Danish nationality. It would
not cut us off from future development ; it would
give us a prominent place on account of our naval
strength ; it would permit us to keep on the most
friendly footing with our Scandinavian neighbours;
it would possibly place Sweden in the same relation
to Germany as previous to 1848. Of all the great
Powers it would only be distasteful to France, but
the part played by that Power at the present crisis
does not seem such as to require one to take into
consideration what she may think convenient. The
ambaesador goes on to state that in case the
monarchy should be dissolved, the Russian Empe.
ror would probably declare for the Grand Duke of
Oldenburg, and that his claims would also be advice,
cated by Prussia. •

" Upon the fat June the ambassador reports :
' Now that England has abandoned the Treaty of
London—a course at which France is not displeased
—Russia cannot stand alone in its maintenance.
The Russian Emperor has, under these circums
stances, determined to make over his rights to the
Grand Duke of Oldenburg, who, according to the
opinion of the Imperial Cabinet, would be a less uns
pleasant neighbour than the Duke of Augustenburg,
the latter being to a certain extent a rebellious sub-
ject, and having taken up an unquestionably hostile
position towards Denmark. . . The sudden and un-
foreseen attitude of England with regard to the
London Treaty, it is assumed here, results from the
English statesmen having found no inclination
among us to consent to personal union with the two
Duchies, by which, in their opinion, as in that of
the Russian Government, considering the situation
brought about by the war, the integrity of the
monarchy could only be preserved. It is considered
here that the integrity of the monarchy has been
sacrificed to considerations of internal policy.
Considerations of foreign policy would not
have brought it about with absolute certainty.'
The ambassador then refers to the line of separation,
and continues :—‘ Provided the settlement of the
frontier produces difficulties, the opportunity would
not then present itself for returning to a basis, which
unreservedly accepted, might still maintain the
monarchy in its integrity.'
" A despatch of the 9:11 June says :
" ' Prince Gortschakoff assumes that the Holstein
Estates will be convoked as to the future of the
severed portions of the country, and that there are
influential men in Holstein who have not declared
in favour of the Prince of Augustenberg. With
these he considers negotiations might be carried on,
so that the autonomy of the separated portions might
be secured while the integrity of the monarchy was
preserved, as an expression of opinion of these men
might be made use of by the Cabinets.'"