The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-21 00:00:00

England, Pruszia, and Denmark.

The following following is an authentic copy of the corres•
pondence betweea M. von Bismark and Lord Rus-
sell which has been so frequently discussed in the
French and German press :

(Translation.)
Gastein, Ang. 9, 1864,

Your Excellency will have alreadyreceivedtheprelimi-
naries ci peace which were concluded in Vienna on the Ist
of this month, together with the convention for the suspen-
sion of hostilities, since they were despatched from Berlin
some days ago. Both documents are now published with
the mutual agreement of the three contracting Powers, and
I respectfully request your Excellency to present to the
British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs the accompa-
nying official note of the same.
Your Excellency will at the same time express to Lord
Russell the hope that the British Government will not refuse
to recognise the moderation and placability which have been
displayed by the two German Powers. During my presence
in Vienna Lord Bloomfield expressed to me the wish of his
Government that Prussia and Austria should not impose
upon the Danish Crown conditions too hard and unbearable.
I answered him that nothing was farther from our inten-
tions than an unjust severity, and that we should only make
those demands which were the necessary result of the situa-
tion, In complete understanding with the Imperial Aus-
trian Government we have remained true to this purpose ;
and while on the one hand we were obliged to insist upon
the entire cession of the three Duchies as an indispensable
demand, without which neither the national feeling would
be satisfied nor the sacrificesjustified to which the obstinacy
of the Danish Government forced us, so on the other hand
we have in all other points beyond this been as compliant
as possible with the Danish Government, Even now we only
maintain the demand which we ' had already had to make
at the Conference after the Danes themselves had de-
clared that the relation of a personal union were impossible.
That now, after the renewal of the war, there could no
longer be any question of the cession of a part of the duchy
of Schleswig which we had formerly regarded as admis-
sible, was not even doubted in Denmark. But we did not:go
before our original demand. We demanded no portions of
the kingdom of Denmark, although we held completely in
our hands a large and important province, and without any
possibility for the Danes to deprive us of it. The exchange
of the Jutland enclaves was, under such altered circum-
stances, suggested by the nature of the things ; the continu-
ance of these enclaves would have been for both sides a
great and hardly bearable inconvenience, and, in truth, it
could not have been considered as an unreasonable demand
if this little direct sacrifice had been demanded from the
kingdom of Denmark, which was only indirectly affected by
the cession of the Duchies, and in which, in fact, the real
cause of the war lay. We preferred to allow an exchange
to take place, and to give for the enclaves a complete com-
pensation in territory; we have even left to Jutland one
enclave, Ripen, to which the Danish Plenipotentiaries
ascribed especial importance, and by an arrangement of the
frontier we have made possible its complete union—a con-
cession which was dictated by the wish of sparing the na-
tional feeling, which spoke out particularly strong in re-
spect to this ancient Danish possession. Finally, we
allowed the perfectly justifiable demand for war expenses,
which had been mentioned at the Conference, to drop, in
order not to impose so heavy a burden upon a land which,
notwithstanding this, must necessarily go through a finan-
cial crisis, which we would wish to lighten for it and help
it to get over.

In the above the objects are pointed out which we had
in view at the establishment of the preliminaries of peace.

We did not wish to dismember the ancient and venerable

Danish Monarchy, but to bring about a separation from it
of parts with which a fura..;r union had become impossible
through the force of circumstances ana events, and we
must not pass it over in silence through the fault of the
Danish Government. The Danish Monarchy is not im-
perilled in its existence ; not a single condition of its existence
is damaged, it has received no wounds which cannot be
healed. It now depends upon the Danish Government and the
Danish people whether the natural end peaceful relations
with its southern neighbour shall be re-established, and
whether unrestrained intercourse shall become a source o'
wellbeing and prosperity on both sides.
I respectfully request you to lay these considerations be,
fore Lord Russell, and to that end I empower you to coin,
inunicate to him this despatch.
Count Bernstorff.

VON BISMARK.

of the preliminaries of Foreign-office, Aug. 20, 1864.
Sir—l have received from M. Kate a dispatch of M. le
Bismark to Count Bernstorff together with an official copy
Vienna. peace' signed on the Ist August at

of the peace. Challenged,
Her Majesty's Government would have preferred a total
silence instead of the task of commenting on the conditions
however, by M. de 13ismark's
invitation to admit the moderation and forbearance of the
great German Governments, her Majesty's Government feel
bound not to disguise their own sentiments on these matters.
Her Majesty's Government have indeed from time to time,
as events took place, repeatedly declared their opinion that
aggression of Austria and Prussia upon Denmark was un-
just, and that the war as waged by Germany against Den-
mark had not for its
groundwork either that justice or that
necessity which are the only bases on which war ought to
I be undertaken.

Considering the war therefore to have been wholly unne-
cessary on the part of Germany, they deeply lament that
the advantages acquired by successful hostilities should
have been used by Austria and Prussia to dismember the
Danish monarchy, which it was the object of the treaty of

German subjects
1852 to preserve entire.
Her Majesty's Government are also bound to remark,
when the satisfaction of national feelings is referred to, that
ofw pill en
be sa ur cc k
it appears certain that a considerable number, perhaps two
or three hundred thousand of the loyal Danish population,
of ao r
Danishce
are transferred to a German State, and it is to be feared
that the complaints hitherto made respecting the attempts
complaints of
the attempts to force the language of Germany upon the
Danish subjects of the German Sovereign,
1 le
ded the
by
Her Majesty's Government had hoped that at least the
to f th e language
Sovereign
districts to the north of Flensburg would, in pursuance of a
suggestion made by the Prussian Plenipotentiary in the
Conference of London, have been left under the Danish
Crown.
has decided '
If it is said that force this question, and that
the superiority of the arms of Austria and Prussia over those
of Denmark was incontestable, the assertion must be ad-
mitted. But in that case it is out of place to claim credit for
equity and moderation.
Her Majesty's Government see with satisfaction, how-
ever, that the wording of the Ist Article fully admits by 1
implication the right of Christian Ix, to rule over the
Duchies of Holstein, Schleswig, and Lauenberg,for, if they
were not his to hold, they could not be his to give away, In
considering this question her Majeat—,_
ti
.r Government have
always had in view the elements of a solid and durable
peace, Even in cases were it is justifiable to depart from
the settlement of established and recognised treaties, it is
essential that the new settlement should not partake of the
weakness of the old—that when new elements of dominion
are combined and new bonds of allegiance are required,
rations should be satisfied, and should willingly embrace as
permanent the new conditions of peace.
It is in this point of view that her llajesty,s Govern-
ment are anxious to see the destiny of the Duchies, which
are now to be separated from Denmark, speedily and satis-
factorily settled. They desire to see the wishes of the
people of these Duchies consulted on the choice of their
future Sovereign, and to see the Duchies receive free con-
stitutional institutions. In this manner alone the welfare
and peace of Europe as well as the future tranquillity of
the Duchies, will be secured, for her Majesty's Government
cannot feel at all secure of the prospects of lasting peace
until the wishes of the people of Holstein, Schleswig, and
Lauenburglhave been fairly and fully consulted. An ar-
rangement which should set aside those wishes and sup-
press free institutions would only be a new source of dis-
quiet and disturbance in Europe.
You will read this despatch to M. Bismark, and give
him a copy of it.
I am, &c.,
W. Lowther, Esq.

RUSSELL

MADAME TUSSAT.JD'S.—We are pleased to find
that Madame Tussaud's Historical Gallery, in Baker-street,
continues to be well patronised by the public generally.
Indeed, at no other place of amusement in the metropolis
will be found so extensive a collection of rare objects, pur-
chased at almost fabulous sums by the spirited proprietors,
as are to be met with in the exhibition, The relics of the
great Napoleon, Wellington, and other distinguished cha-
racters, may bo seen,