The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-18 00:00:00

-DEIsiN47liK AND GERMANY.

Theijgis a translation of a despatch from
Count Be, iastorff to M. de Milan, Prussian Minister
at Coperlhagen, dated Berlin, Feb. 8, 1862 :
" Ye du are already acquainted with the despatch
wine' a Minister Hall addressed on the 26th Decem-
ber last to M. Anade. As an answer to the inquiry
Nv" a had made for the purpose of obtaining a sure
rkoundation for judging the Danish proposals, this
reply had been looked forward to in the hope that
an open and unrese,•rved declaration of its intentions
on the part of tlya Danish Government would greatly
promote the bringing about of an understanding.
`" This exrjectation has not been realised.
" The Danish Cabinet wants to limit the negotia-
tions to regulating provisionally the position of Hol-
stein, As an answer to our inquiry the despatch of
Dec. 26 refers to the past, and gives, at the same
tirae, an account of the course events have hitherto
taken, with the object of bringing an accusation
against the Germanic Confederation of having ren-
dered impossible the establishment of a common
constitution for the whole Danish monarchy. Minis-
ter Hall declines every explanation concerning the
affairs of the Duchy of Schleswig and avoids any
definitive declaration as to the sense in which the
Danish Government understands the negotiations
and transactions of 1851-52.

"It is plain that the present negotiations are
thereby deprived of their only sure foundation. Led
by the wish of coming to an understanding, we
will, nevertheless, once more try to replace the ne-
gotiations on that foundation. In order to do so it
is, however, absolutely necessary to keep distinctly
in mind the character and object of the present ne-
grtiations.

For when the Danish Minister grants the nego-
tiations to be directed towards a provisional solu-
tion of the question, in what manner the Federal
.resolution of March 8, 1860, can be carried out,' this
neither responds to the clear and simple meaning
of that resolution, nor to the relation in which the
two German Powers stand to it. The resolution of
March 8, 1860—in which the Federal Diet for the
first time, and in consequence of a communication
made by the Royal Ducal Government in reference
to certain provisional measures that had been
adopted, took into consideration the question of a
provisional state of things—established the condi-
tions under which such a provisorium could be al-
lowed to the Royal Ducal Government. The reso-
lution insisted at the same time anew, however, on
steps being speedily taken for the bringing about
of the definitive regulation prescribed by the reso-
lution of Feb. 11, 1858. Means were thus offered
the Royal Ducal Government for staying the carry-
:4lg out of the Federal measures which had already
been initiated. How, then, can these conditions
be now made the subject of the present negotia-
tions ? These conditions are simple ;to comply
with them is in the power of the Danish Govern-
ment, and no new negotiations are necessary for
that -purpose. We need not, therefore, concern
ourselves further with the remark made in the
Danish despatch, that the present negotiations
must be terminated with a fixed period.' We should
otherwise be obliged to retort to this remark, that
if, on the expiration of the period indicated by Mi-
nister Hall, the Danish Government should take
upon itself to transgress the beforesaid conditions,
-and interfere with the present provisional state of
things, the Confederation would, of course, be placed
in the position of letting those Federal proceedings
take their course which were initiated for the pur-
pose of carrying out the resolution of Feb. 11, 1858.
" If the Danish Government, instead of simply
complying with the conditions of the aforesaid Fe-
deral resolution, would negotiate on the subject of
another provlsorium, it would thereby call in ques-
tion the premises on which that resolution was
based. To those premises belonged, as Minister
Hall in another part of his despatch remarks, the
maintenance of the Reichsrath. The Federal Diet
could, in anticipation of a speedy definitive regula-
tion, and under certain conditions, allow the Reichs-
rath to exist ; but as legally existing the Diet
could not acknowledge it, being in contradiction
with the agreements of 1851-52, which stipulated a
uniform connection of all the different parts of the
monarchy and the avoidance of any steps tending
to an incorporation of Schleswig. If the Danish
Government had, in its propositions of October 26,
1861, placed as co-ordinate with the Holstein Es-
tates, instead of the Reichsrath, the separate repre-
sentations of the other parts of the monarchy—
that is to say, the Parliament of the kingdom and
the Estates of Schleswig—and endowed them with
the same attributes as those which have been con-
ceded to the Estates of Holstein, the two im-
portant and integral parts of the agreements
of . 1851 and 1852 would, at any rate, have
been carried out, and there would have been a pos-
sibility of negociating on the subject of the pro-
posals submitted for a provisional organisation cal-
culated to last for a longer period, and leaving to
future developments the bringing about of an un-
derstanding as to the definitive organisation of the
union of the different parts of the monarchy.

"Should the Danish Government however not be
able to make up his mind to do so, the German
Powers would the more imperatively be bound to
endeavour to bring about an understanding as to a
definite regulation of the constitution question in
all its bearings and on its international basis, The
German Powers having already declared themselves
ready
to do so, and having openly explained their
position in reference to that basis, the next step re-
quired is a decided declaration of the Danish Go-
vernment as to its own intentions in this respect,
and as to its , own position to the aforesaid basis
from the years 1851-52. The German Powers, un-
fortunately, cannot conceal from themselves that to
insist on this requirement, which had already been
set forth in their first reply, has now, in view of
the contents of the despatch of Dec. 26, become
even a still more imperative and unavoidable duty
on their part.

" At this point must be specially noticed the his-
torical retrospect of the course of events, in which,
according to a remark of Minister Hall, we are to
find the explanation to our inquiry. To submit in
its details this retrospect to criticism, or to defend
the Confederation against the imputation con-
tained in it, that the Confederation had ren-
dered a definitive re-establishment of a common
constitution impossible, would not comport with
the dignity of the two German Powers. It
is notorious from what quarter the separation of
Holstein from the bonds of a common union is
pressed. But the German Powers must protest
against the moderation and patience with which
the Confederation has acted being perverted into an
accusation against it. We must remind the Copen-
hagen Cabinet that as early as June, 1856—that is
to say, shortly after the promulgation of the com-
moil constitution,—the Cabinets of Berlin and
Vienna did not fail in the friendliest manner to call
the attention of the Danish Government to the cir-
cumstance that this common constitution did not,
either in form or execution, conform to the princi
pies established in 1851.52. They expressed at the
time the hope that the Danish Government would
in the constitution itself find the means of correct-
ing,te its faults by a
quiethideve,lopment of the provi-
sions it contained; while v,e
on the other hand, did
not conceal from the Danish Government that if
this were not done the German Confederation
would be placed in the necessity of insisting on the
accomplishment of the
i engagements that had been
contracted. Now tis brought as an accusation
against the Confederation that it has
Postponed so
long making those demands, that it has had the
pA
tience to wait for years in the hope of EP •
-eing the
Copenhagen Cabinet acting upon the friendly advice

given it.
" But wo will not follow the example of the
Danish despatch by entering into recriminationK
and a .fruitless polemic on the f.4ubject of the past.
We will riot, for that reason, recur to what w3e
rz-Inirked in our first communica.tiun on the c,,pndfiet
of offjoi-d! :4 in the Duchy of Schleswig. Minister
Hall Vi ill be able to tell himself, that statements
made on facts that are notorious and accredited
by public documents cannot be controverted by a
merely general appeal to impartial justness and
mildness of rule. We will not at present, by any
further reference to this gaping wound, increase the
difficulties of the negotiations. We will rather at
vnce declare what we at present must expect from

the Danish Government in order to be able to
maintain that foundation for the negotiations
which the despatch of December 26 ha 3 placed in
question.
The despatch of December 26 admits in a mea-
sure that the (on the Danish side) ontemplated
separate position of the Duchy of Ho'. tein, which is
to be made the foundation of ulterior developments,
would not accord with the basis of 1851-52. This
fact is not disputed, it is only attempted to be ea•
plained ; nor is it denied that the transactions of
1851.52 essentially turned upon the Duchy of
Schleswig, and particularly on the position of that
duchy in the collective Danish Monarchy as well as
on the relation of the nationalities comprised with-
in the country. Nevertheless, the despatch declines
all discussion as to Schleswig in the present nego-
tiations, and declares the introduction of this sub-
ject in the discussion to be something new and un-
justifiable. Tha despatch further eludes the decla-
ration by us as to how the definitive regulation
should be brought into unison with the basis of
1852. It avoids reference to the negotiations of
1851-52, and where these are mentioned it refers to
a correspondence which took place in 1860, which
in truth bore very closely upon the gist of the pend-
ing differences, and consequently, also, on the nego-
tiations having for object the solution of those
differences.

" On our part we did not intend to refer to that
correspondence, because we did not wish to treat
views expressed on an incidental question as em-
bodying the well reflected and decisive opinion of
the Danish Government. Besides, the assertion of
the Copenhagen Cabinet had encountered at once
a decided protest on the part of both German
Powers, and we might hope that our detailed and
thorough refutation of those assertions would not
have been without effect. We could not, therefore,
believe that the Copenhagen Cabinet would again
renew assertions having for object to deny the
existence of any binding engagement whatever
concerning the Duchy of Schleswig. It might for
a moment have been overlooked at Copenhagen that
not only the evacuation of Holstein and full resto-
ration of the authority of the Sovereign in that
duchy, but also the participation of the German
Powers in European transactions on which the
Danish Government laid a great weight, were
made to depend on the binding form of a ' decla-
ration made by order of hie Majesty the King of
Denmark,' as stated in the despatch of the Aus-
trian Cabinet, dated December 26, 1851 ; and that
the Danish Minister at the time, in his reply of
January 29, 1852, stated that he communicated by
authority of his Majesty the declaration, which
both generally as also specially, in so far as the non-
incorporation of Schleswig into the kingdom was
concerned, agreed with the views of the German
Powers.'

" When now, however, the Danish Minister refers
to these assertions they certainly acquire an in-
creased importance, and, when taken in connection
with the whole of the contents of the despatch of
December 26, they place the German Powers under
the necessity of addressing in the first place to the
Danish Government the question whether it really
has expressed in the cited correspondence of 1860
its final opinion, and intends to adhere to it; or,
whether it still recognises the binding character of
the promises made in 1851-2, and also in respect to
the Duchy of Schleswig, and will make such a
recognition the basis of ulterior negotiations with
the German Powers.

" In addressing to the Danish Government this
question both the German Powers are conscious that
they thereby restore the question to its true and
simple stand point. Only by the reciprocal recog-
nition of existing obligations can a sure foundation
for an understanding be laid.
" You will please bring this communication to the
knowledge of Minister Hall, and give him a copy
of the same."

The following is a translation of a despatch from
the Prussian Minister of Foreign Affairs to the
Prussian Minister at Copenhagen, dated Berlin,
Feb. 14, 1862 :

" The projects of law submitted by the Govern-
ment of his Majesty the King of Denmark to the
Reichsrath, which met on the 25th of last month,
have been made public by the journal of the Reich-
srath, and We Lavo thub I-mt.:mutt acquainted with
them.

" These projects of law, which concerned a change
in several paragraphs of the constitution law of
October 2, 1855, in respect to the Reichsrath, could
not escape our attention.
" Far from wishing to interfere in the internal
affairs of the Danish monarchy, or to judge of the
acts of the Government, in so far as these alone
bore upon internal affairs, we have here to take into
consideration, in the first place, that through these
projects of law, and also in consequence of the com-
position of the Reichsrath being limited to only one
part of the monarchy, the relations of the Duchy of
Schleswig to the kingdom are essentially affected.
" Secondly, that the relations of the Duchy of
Schleswig to the Kingdom of Denmark were fixed
in 1851-2 by an international transaction between
Prussia and Austria, acting on behalf of the Ger-
manic Confederation on the one side, and Denmark
on the other, and which transaction was sanctioned
by the Confederation.
" These facts place us under the obligation of re-
minding that one-sided legislative acts, in whatever
form they may take place, cannot, in a legal man-
ner, alter stipulations that rest on agreements hav-
ing an international nature.

,‘ We deem it expedient in this place to cite
verbally those points of the aforesaid agreements
which come principally under consideration.
" By the communication of the 29th January,
1852, the Copenhagen Cabinet acknowledged as
binding on the Government of his Majesty the King
of Den mark the five points contained in the appen-
dix to the despatch of the Vienna Cabinet of the
26th of December, 1851.

" In this appendix it is said as to point 1,--
"' As sincerely as his Majesty the Emperor de-
sires to see soon firmly established the order and
welfare of the Danish State by means of a definitive
organisation corresponding to its wants, as confi-
thntly does his Majesty entertain the hope that the
Danish Government, in its endeavours to accomplish
this end, will not give the institutions which in the
last years have been conferred on the Kingdom of
Denmark proper an exclusive preference, but that
it will keop in view, as the only sure aim to be fol-
lowed, the permanent relations of the whole Mon-
archy and the object of strengthening the bonds
uniting it as a whole. , Once assured of this his
Majesty will not delay to take part with other
friendly Powers in securing those bonds by the
international guaranty of a common succession for
all parts of the Monarchy.
"In regard to point 2 the same document ex-
pressly stipulates,—

"In the declaration of his Majesty the King
of Denmark, that neither an incorporation of the
Duchy of Schleswig into the kingdom, nor any
steps tending to such a result will be taken, the
Imperial Court sees with satisfaction a renewed
confirmation of that promise which the late King
Christian VIII. gave to his subjects, and which the
now reigning Sovereign, immediately on the con-
clusion of the peace of July 2, 1850, repeated in the
manifest of the 11th of that month, and which also,
in conformity with the 4th Article of the said treaty
of peace, was communicated to the Germanic Con-
federation as a resolution adopted by the King with
a view to the pacification of the country.'

" In view of the state of the present pending ne-
gotiation we may regard ourselves as dispensed
from the necessity of examining in detail the bear-
ing of the projects cf law mentioned in the begin-
ning, the provisional or definitive character with
Which the Danish Government may invest them,
and the relation in which they stand to the agree-
u"".nta we have ealled'attention tn.
re" we cannot abstain from declaring already,
w that we cannot recognise the legality of the
legislative
131. constitutive acts that conflict with the
re" ions of t)'e Duchy of Schleswig to the Kingdom
of Denmark, end to the other parts of the monarchy
as established by the
agreements of 1851-2. We
protest, on the other hand, expressly against all in-
ferences which might be drawnj from such acts, and
reserve to Prussia and the n
—ertimnic Confederation
all rights founded on the aforesaid agreements.
You" are requested to read this communication