The Sun.
London, England, 1848-04-20 00:00:00

DENMARK

Mr. DISRAELI then rose to call the attention of the
House to the affairs of Denmark. He fully felt the
great inconvenience of alluding to such matters at the
present moment, and was disposed to leave their super-
intendence to the Secretary of State for the Foreign
Department; but there were cases, and Denmark
was one of them, in which it became the duty
of the House not to allow them to pass without
observation. Denmark—in the prosperity of which
this country was deeply interested—formed an excep-
tion to the general rule. It was unnecessary to remind
the House of the general character of the country. The
House knew that in population it did not rank amongst
the first of the nations of the Continent, but it was one of
those nations whose importance was to be measured by
the character of its people and its geographical position.
'Denmark had been inherited by a brave people, and,
from what he had stated, exercised a peculiar influence
on the fate of the other nations of Europe. Let them
bear in mind that the present Monarch had only
ascended the throne this year, and when he did
so he assented and accorded to the people a free
constitution, and that upon a large and liberal scale.
:He wished they would contrast his conduct with
others who had been full of promises to their subjects
'which they never intended to fulfil.—(Hear, hear.)
;This great boon was made by the King of Denmark at
7the commencement of the present year, when there was
°but little chance of the movement being made that had
taken place in Europe. The King of Denmark, too, had
shown his wish to incorporate all his dominions in the
privileges he had granted of the thorough representation
of his people and a free press. Holstein objected to this,
and the King at once consented to the adoption of any
course they might wish should be pursued. Amid all the
'unfortunate discussion that had taken place no one had
,chalked out a system of freer institutions than the King
had offered to his subjects when Europe was at peace.
•In the midst of all this the French revolution had taken
place, and what had occurred in France was endeavoured
to be imitated in Schleswig, and a Provisional Govern-
ment was attempted to be established there. At this
time a quasi revolution had already taken place at
Berlin, where the Monarch had already granted free in-
stitutions to Prussia. The King of Prussia, upon the
events he had alluded to having taken place in Schles-
I wig and Holstein, pursued a course which he must de-
signate as most unwarrantable; he had marched his sol-
soldiers to Schleswig and Holstein without
appealing to the Diet. It was, therefore, an
invasion without sanction, and without cause, and
since the Provisional Government of Schleswig had
made decrees fully confirming all that the King of
Prussia had done ; all this he considered most unwar-
rantable towards a monarch who had acted as the King
of Denmark had done. The people in his dominions
supported the King of Denmark to a man. To the
present moment not a single attempt had been made to
vindicate the course that had been pursued by
Prussia with respect to Denmark ; the only pre-
text for the invasion of Schleswig and Holstein
was the preservation of German nationality, it being
contended that where the German language was spoken
the German flag ought to wave. Such a pretext was
totally without foundation. Germany was the centre of
Europe, and ought not to complain of her territory. It
was to command the Baltic -and the mouth of the Elbe
that this plea of nationality had been put forth.
Ho would not argue the' case upon the interests
of England, but it was the interests of England
and Europe that peace should be maintained, and he
contended that peace could not be maintained if the
principles adopted by Prussia were allowed to be
carried out. He might be asked how England could
interfere in. this? Why, England was bound to Denmark
by treaties, and she ought to take care that the
stipulations she had entered into should be carried into
effect. They had awful experience in this country of the
neglect of the sHouse of 'Commons in making itself
acquainted with the stipulations that had been
entered into by this country with Foreign Powers its
the present immense National Debt, which he would
that
tt he treaty
time
i m
e wande admitted i t t
theed
in-
vasion f
o
venture to say would not have been half what it was, if
treaties had been properly attended to. England had
guaranteed the existence of the provinces which were
now sought to be taken from her by Prussia to Den-
mark, in the reign of George 1., by the treaty of Gotha
oefverl7a2eod.
eveTrhaegaliannt egue g
no doubt, and it had been recotgnised by England
ecei a lot yr a
of the :duchies were threatened by Russia.
It
had been argued by the Prussian Minister in the work
he had published on the subject, that the guarantee
only against the incursions of the Duke of Gotha,
was
;the, and
that it was a limited guarantee. In that work the
guarantee had not been faithfully
instead of its being limited it quoted, for
was astonished that a person of was general. He
the sound sense
of the Prussian Minister should have drawn up such
a document for the perusal of the, English Minister for
Foreign Aiftirs. He had now
stated the facts of what
had taken place, and he would now advert
to the results
of the course that had been or was to be adopted by this
country. There could be no doubt that England had
given this guarantee,and
England had guaranteed Saxony to Prussia, and but
for that guarantee Saxony would ere this have
thrown off the yoke of Prussia, and if such was
the case, was she not entitled to tell Prussia
that she had guaranteed Schleswig and Holstein to Den-
mark, and she could not countenance the outrageous
conduct she bad pursued?—(llear, hear.) The Hon.
Member concluded by stating that his only object
in bringing forward this motion was, in order that
the matter might be set right as far as England was
concerned, and by expressing a hope that in the occur-
rences that had taken place God would defend the. rigid,
and that peace and justice might be maintained in Europe '
by the power of England.—(Hear, hear.)