The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-05 00:00:00

AUSTRIA.

VIENNA, April 5.
The establishment of a special Ministry for Agri.
culture is stated to have been decided upon.

BELGRADE, April 4.
In consequence of orders received here from Con-
stantinople, the evacuation of the citadel of Bel-
grade by the Turkish troops will commence on
Monday next.

PRUSSIA.

The Berlin correspondent of the Times states
that in to-day's sitting of the Federal Parliament
(April 1) Herr von Bennigsen, the well-known
Liberal member from Hanover, and President of
the Unity and Liberty League, rose to direct the
attention of the House and Cabinet to the question
of Luxembourg. He said :--
"Disquietingrumours have been lately afloat with
regard to the future of a German State. The Grand
Duke of Luxemburg, it is asserted, is mediating
the cession of his sovereign rights to a foreign mo-
narch. Luxemburg is German, and has given em-
perors and margraves to the nation ; it is a border
country, the defence and preservation of which is a
demand of honour; it is a fortress of extreme military
importance, the loss of which would not a little im-
pair our strength. Such being the case, the Luzern-
burgers are naturally of opinion that the Prussian
Cabinet has some interest in protecting them, and
that the Government, as well as the nation, should
not suffer them to be estranged from Fatherland.
They are surprised at finding the matter mooted,
day after day, in the papers of a neighbouring coun-
try, without any fitting reply on the part of the
press or the people of Germany. Surprise has en-
gendered despondency. As the house will see from
a letter from Luxemburg, which I am going to read,
the Luxewburgers begin to doubt the policy of this
Government. (Reads the letter.) I have undertaken
to claim your attention for this deplorable affair,
because I think it our duty to speak out upon a
matter of national import, and to encourage the
Luxemburgerr3 to hold out in this critical junc-
ture, and rely upon the succour of their
countrymen. I have brought forward the mat-
ter in the name of the Liberal party, but I
trust that in so doing I have the approval of all
parties alike. (Cheers.) The temptation to inter-
fere before our new institutions have been consoli-
dated by time and practice is evidently too great for
a certain Power contiguous to our frontiers. We
want peace. But if France does not hesitate to in-
sult us, the earlier we say that we are all for war
the better. It would be sullying our honour were
we to act otherwise ; it would be an indelible stain
on the national escutcheon were we to submit to
arrogance and cupidity combined. We must call
upon Count Bismarck to prove that energy is the
best policy under certain circumstances. We must
expect that the King, whose promise that 6, not
a single village should be separated from Ger-
many," found a responsive echo in our hearts,
will call the nation to arms if the necessity arises.
All party dissension will di,appear in such a
case, and the, new Federal Constitution, which
we are discussing here, be completed in a few days.
We wish for nothing better than to live in peace
and amity with all our neighbours, and more espe-
cially with France. France is large enough to be
able to dispense with conquest, and if she would con-
sider her real interests, would waive all idea of war.
The exigencies of industry, culture, and freedom
would cause her to refrain from an enterprise which,
if persisted in, will inflict innumerable evils upon
either nation. Let France pause and consider her
course before she acts. Germany seeks no war ;
but if France will not allow us to become a united
country we are ready to give her the most indubit-
able proof that the time of our domestic division is
past, and that her attempts will be henceforth resisted
by the nation as a whole. (Tremendous cheering.)
I now take the liberty to put the following questions
to the Cabinet :--Firstly, .is there any foundation
for the rumours daily growing upon us that ne-
gotiations have been entered upon between the
French and Dutch Governments respecting the ces
SiOil of Luxemburg? Secondly, is his Majesty's
Government in a position to inform the Federal
Parliament, in which all parties are alike determined
to prevent a German country being torn off the body
politic of the nation, that Prussia, in conjunction
svithher allies, will vindicate at all risks the ancient
connexion of Luxemburg with the rest of Germany,
and the right of this Government to garrison the
fortress of the same name ?"
To this energetic address Count Bismarck replied
as follows :
" I deem it my duty to satisfy the natural curio-
sity of the preceding speaker with reference to a
question of such great importance at the present mo-
ment. Upon the dissolution of the old Bund, the
members of the Confederacy recovered their inde.
pendenee which had so long been limited by the
Federal institutions. One of them was the Grand
Duke of Luxemburg, who, separating himself from
the rest of the Northern potentates, did not choose
to enter the new Confederacy subsequently estab-
lished. His Majesty's Government, b&ng greatly
displeased with our successes, did not think it con-
ducive to their interests to join the North German
Bund ; while the people of LuxeMburg had no wish
to bear the burden which would have been imposed
by the Federal institutions. In October last the
dissatisfaction prevailing in official circles was ex-
pressed in a note to this Government, in which
it was asserted that Prussia had no right to
garrison Luxemburg after the dissolution of the
old Build. Prussia had to ask herself whether
it would be advisable to use her influence to
compel the entry of Luxemburg, which is a Ger-
man country and a member of the Zollverein,
into the North German Confederacy. Taking into
consideration that the Grand Duke of Luxembourg
is also King of Holland, and remembering the com-
plications that had arisen from similar arrangements
in former times, his Majesty's Government did not
insist upon the Duchy entering the new Bund. I
will admit that due regard for the geographical
situation of the Duchy and the entanglements it
might possibly involve us in was one of the motives
which seemed to recommend a cautious course. It
is only doing Us justice to say that our policy has
been dictated by the double wish to spare the sus-
ceptibilities of our neighbours and to maintain
peace. I shall therefore return no answer to your
second question. It is a question such as it may
befit a member of a national Representative As-
sembly to put, but the wording is hardly in accord-
ance with the language used by diplomatists, so
long as peace has not been superseded by war.
What I am at liberty to communicate to the House is
this. His Majesty's Government has no reason to
suppose that a settlement has been already effected,
nor do we know whether a settlement is imminent.
Indeed, all that has come to my cognisance is that
a few days ago the King of the Netherlands orally
inquired of the Prussian Envoy at the Hague
whether he was in a position to tell him what the
Prussian Government would think of his parting
with the sovereign rights he owned as Grand. Duke
of Luxemburg. The envoy has been instructed to
declare that the Prussian Government and its allies
did not now think it incumbent on them to give any
opinion on the matter ; that in the event of theig