The Sun.
London, England, 1861-02-02 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY ' EVENING, FEBRUARY 2, 1861,

DENMARK AND PRUSSIA.

Th' following is the diplomatic correspondence
relating to the dispute between Denmark and Ger-
man y which has lately passed between the British
Ane , Prussian Governments :

LORD BLOOMFIELD TO BARON SCHLEINITZ.
October, 1860.
The Danish Government being sincerely desirous
g if putting an end to the controversy which has un-
*o rtun ately so long existed between Denmark and
t he German Confederation relative to the Duchy of
tolstein, has determined on making an effort to
bt ing about this desirable result.
The Danish Government is convinced that it
wot ild be useless to endeavour, under present cir-
cumx lances, and with the agitation which exists in
the public mind in Holstein, to settle at once and
definaively the constitutional position which that
Duchy is to hold in the monarchy, and that it is
theref ore necessary to prepare the way for a defini-
tive a rrangement by one of a temporary nature,
which would give time for calm reflection and dis-
cussion between the two parties more immediately
intereeted—viz., the provincial States of Holstein
and Ow Danish Government.
For this purpose the Danish Government is pre-
pared t o adopt the following modifications in the
existing state of things.
The consultative vote accorded to the Holstein
States by the second paragraph of the Royal patent
of the 23d of Sept., 1859, to be changed to a delibe-
rative one, so that no law shall have force in Hol-
stein, either in regard to persons or property, with-
out the approbation of the States of this duchy. It
is to be hoped that the common interests of the
Rigsraad and the States of Holstein may produce
an understanding between them on matters sub-
mitted to their deliberation ; but if, notwithstand-
ing the repeated efforts of the Government, dis-
agreements should still continue to prevail between
the two assemblies on matters of two much import-
ance to be postponed to a subsequent period, the
Danish Government engages not to give effect to
the measure, in that part of the monarchy the
assembly of which shall have rejected it, and to
confine its operation to the part of the monarchy
whose assembly has accepted it.
In order to bring about an understanding be-
tween the contending opinions of the two assem-
blies it might be necessary, perhaps, to adopt
measures of a special character (such, for instance,
as the nomination of a commission of equal numbers
from both assemblies); but, without entering at
present into details on this point, it may observed
that the Danish Government will do nothing which
will interfere with the liberty of decision accorded
to each assembly.
With reference to financial arrangements, the
amount which the special finances of Holstein will
have to contribute to the common expenses of the
monarchy will be fixed, once for all, at 850,000
rigs dollars, which is the average sum paid by that
duchy on a calculation of the last six years. As
long as no augmentation of this sum is necessary,
the Holstein States will exercise no control over
its employment; but, should the exigencies of the
State require any additional resources, the aug-
mentation of the sum fixed can only be imposed on
the finances of Holstein by Royal ordinance, after
the free consent of the States has been given.
The Prussian Government will doubtless recog-
nize in the above proposals the spirit of conciliation
by which that of Denmark is animated. If these
arrangements are carried into effect the States of
Holstein will, in point of fact, exercise the same
control over measures affecting their duchy as the
Rigsraad possesses over those intended for the other
parts of the monarchy, and it is therefore hoped
that when the plan is submitted to the Diet by the
Danish representative at Frankfort, it may receive
the support of Prussia. But the Danish Govern-
ment is prepared to go still further in the way of
conciliation. They cannot, indeed, nor will they,
admit any right on the part of Germany to inter-
fere in the affairs of Schleswig, and whatever con-
sessions are made to this duchy, must be understood
as emanating solely from the free will of the
Danish Government, and not construed into an ad-
mission of the authority of the Confederation of
Schleswig.
As a proof of the friendly sentiments by which
they are animated, and of their desire to remedy
some of the evils complained of, the Danish Govern-
ment would be prepared, on the consent of the Diet
being given to the temporary arrangement for Hol-
Wein above alluded to, to adopt the following modi-
fications in the laws at present existing in Schleswig:
1. The religious ceremony of confirmation to be
performed in the language selected by the individual.
2. Freedom of private instruction conditional on
passing the usual public examinations.
3. Complete amnesty for political offences and
re-establishment of attainted individuals in their
political rights.
4. Freedom of meeting and association between
Schleswigers and -Holsteiners for non-political pur-
poses, and provided no such designation as" Schles-
wig-Holstein" is attached to the society.
Such are some of the measures which the Danish
Government would be at once disposed to adopt, and
,more might possibly be done later. It is submitted
to the Prussian Government whether there is not
cufficient here to pave the way to a better under-
Rt between Germany and Denmark, and whe-
ther it would not be wise on the part of the former,
irr. the present critical state of Europe, to take ad-
va citage of the conciliatory sentiments prevailing
in Denmark for bringing these long-pending dis-
put elf to a termination.

RARON SCHLEINITZ TO COUNT BERNSTORFF.
Nov. 8, 1860.

I lia:ve the honour to forward herewith to your
Excell•lncy copy of a memorandum which Lord
Bloomffield, by the instructions of his Government,
has con dentially communicated to me, in order to
make known to us the stens which the Danish Go-
vernment intends to take for arranging the differ-
ences in the matter of the constitution of Holstein.
Accord Eng to that memorandum the Danish Cabi-
net now wishes to make it understood that under
present circumstances, and with the excited state of
feeling prevailing in Holstein, it is at the present
time impossible to settle definitively the position
to be given to the duchy in regard to the whole
constitution of the monarchy. A mere provisional
arrangement rather is to be made, which may
leave the necessary room for a peaceable transac-
tion bet wosn the Governments and the States.
Your Eroolleney will readily understand how
painfully we must have been surprised by this in.
formation.

Nine years have already passed away without
result since the promise of a Constitution made in
1851-52. When a year ago the Federal Assembly
wottldrlaave at length proceeded to measures of
execution, the Royal Ducal Government could not
ward off this menacing step but by the promise
that negotiations should forthwith be opened with
the representatives of the country. This year also
is gone by without anything being done, and now
at the close it is plainly asserted that the settle-
ment of the affair is made impossible by the ex-
cited state of public opinion.
If such excitement really exists, the cause of it
is the fact that the promises made still await their
fulfilment; on the other hand, the most urgent
necessity is that this matter should be brought to
a final issue as speedily as possible.
In what Way does the Government propose to
arrange matters in the interim ? Its propositions
in this respect are not leas unsatisfactory.
It is well known that the Confederation, by its
resolution of the Bth of March last, declared it to
be indispensably necessary that in the interval tak-
ing place till the position of the constitution should
be definitively re-este.blished, all proposed laws for
the common affairs of the monarchy, which are
brought before the Council of the kingdom (Reichs-
may be of validity in
rath) .in Bp far as they
Holstein, be also laid before the States of Holstein,
and that no laws relative to common affair; %peel_
ally financial affairs, may be made current in Hol-
stein, until it has received the assent of the states
of the duchy.
The present propositions of Denmark, are very_
far from coming up to the above resolution.
It is true that in the case of laws affecting the

rights of persons and property the right of with-
holding assent is to be granted to the States; but in
financial matters—and it is these particul .rly that
are most important—they will have no vs)'ce. The
Government will of its own full power determine
the aversum which would be contribrt ble by the
duchy in a certain degree as a tribute for the com-
mon wants of the monarchy. It will fix the amount
of this aversum in proportion to the sums which it
has levied in the last 6 years; in this case, also, with-
out the assent of the States, and to an amount which
has already been the subject of many complaints.
No voice is to be allowed to the States of Holstein
in regard to the appropriation of this aversum. It
is only in the case of an increase thereof being de-
manded that their assent will be asked for.

It is evident that the position of Holstein accord-
ing to this arrangement would relatively be very
unequal to that of the other parts of the monarchy
which are represented in the council of the king-
dom. For the council would consider and would
have a deciding vote both on the tax and its appro-
priation, and it is clear that there is an imminent
and justifiable apprehension that under such cir-
cumstances the wealth of the duchy would have to
subserve not so much its own interests as those of
the other part of the territory.
Hence it appears evident that, in assuming that
the proposals would confer upon the States of Hol-
stein, in respect of the affairs appertaining to their
Duchy, practically the exercise of the same control
over them as that which belongs to the Reichsrath
(council) over the affairs of the other portions of
the Monarchy, the memorandum of the London
Cabinet, in its hope that the propositions of Den-
mark may find approval, is building upon as un-
founded hypothesis.
We have already frequently pointed out how con-
trary to justice it is altogether that the Danish Go-
vernment should continue to retain in force the
whole constitution of the State, especially the
council of the kingdom, which it has itself origi-
nated after it has been compelled to admit that by
right this does not subsist as regards Holstein. The
council should constitute a common representation
for common interests. It has ceased to be a common
representation since Holstein had been separated
from it; nevertheless, it decides upon matters cora-
-1 mon to all, and therefore upon the weightiest inte-
rests of the Duchy of Holstein, which is not repre-
sented by it. How irregular this is, how necessarily
the abolition of the Reichsrath was altogether im-
plied in the separation of Holstein, is at once evi-
dent to•an unprejudiced eye. But the adoption of
the present propositions of Denmark would impli-
citly include, at the same time, an approval of the
continuance of the Reichsrath, and it is not easy to
foresee when the interim state, founded in this way,
will be brought to a close.

But, however the propositions of Denmark may
be considered, the Confederation, at all events,
cannot, as the London Cabinet appears to assume,
feel itself empowered to covenant with Denmark on
the settlement of affairs upon this basis, and
Prussia also is therefore not in a position to act
in this sense at Frankfort in accordance with the
wish of Lord John Russell. The question here is
that of the rights of the States, which it is not
in the province of the Confederation to settle ;
upon. this the Danish Government may enter
into negotiations with the States. If it have their
assent, there will not be anything to say against
it on the part of the Confederation. But the
propositions do not appear to be of a nature such
that the Confederation could use its influence with
the States for their assent, and it could not ad-
mit the validity of any arrangement which the
Government might make in accordance with these
propositions so long as the assent of the States
should be withheld from them.

As your Excellency will' see by the conclusion
of the memorandum, the Copenhagen Cabinet thinks
it may further an understanding upon the question
of Holstein by the offer of certain concessions in
respect of Schleswig.
We may abstain from going into a detailed consi-
deration of the value of the measures put forward
because the hypothesis with which they were,
as an essextial condition, connected is, we are con-
vinced, entirely unacceptable by the Confederation.

No right of intervention in the affairs of Schleswig
is thereby granted to the German Confederation.
All concessions to be made to that Duchy are exclu-
sively understood as emanating from the free will of
the Government of Denmark, and are not inter-
preted as an admission of the authority of the Con-
federation in reference to Schleswig. To this the
Confederation will never agree.
It is certainly quite just, and this we have always
admitted, that the Duchy of Schleswig dies not'ap-
pertain to the body of the German Confederation,
and thus it is so far not subject to the authority of
the Confederation. But it is nevertheless quite in
consistency with this that the King of Denmark, as
Duke of Schleswig, has contracted, in behalf of the
equalisation of the debated claims of Holstein, cer-
tain international obligations towards the German
Confederation in respect of Schleswig, and is bound
to fulfil them.

In regard to this I may refer to our detailed me-
morandum of last June, which at the time your
Excellency also brought to the knowledge of the
English Cabinet.

The spirit in which England has so frequently
in other places laid its weight in the scale, where
it was available in obtaining for people liberties
against their Governments, which until then did
not belong to them according to law, and the
principle respecting national rights which recently
dictated the despatch of Lord J. Russell on the
27th of last October to Sir J. Hudson, at Turin,
will not permit us to doubt that in the case
between Denmark and Germany, in which the
question now is to defend the well grounded and
documented liberties of the States, Great Britain
will have no hesitation to use its whole influence
with the Cabinet of Copenhagen for obtaining what
is right.

Your Excellency is authorised to acquaint Lord
J. Russell with the contents of this despatch in re-
ply to the memorandum communicated to us.

S CHLEIN ITZ.

His Excellency Count Bernstorff.

LORD J. RUSSELL TO MR. LOWTHER.
London, Dec. 8, 1860.

Sir,—Her Majesty's Government have carefully
considered the despatch of Baron Schleinitz to
Count Bernstorff of the Bth ult., of which a copy is
herewith enclosed for your information.
The first remark I would make upon that de-
spatch is, that the Prussian Government appear to
misunderstand the position of her Niajestrs Go-
vernment in respect to the memorandum delivered
to the Court, of Berlin. The propositions therein
contained are the propositions, of the Government
of Denmark. Her Majesty's Government have not
recommended them for acceptance ; they have not
even said that they might form the basis of a set-
tlement ; all that they have said is that they hoped
an opening for negotiations might be found in them.
A further remark I have to make is, that her
Majesty's Government by no means understood that
the Holstein contribution proposed by Denmark
was to be taken from Holstein without any power
of inquiry as to its appropriationap,neOdunmo
ntahrtekheetoonp tagrreatnr yoe
Prussiaf
they w o
thatuld
thavehe thoughtontr
contribution
iao
nd eomf
ral and common expenses
oistshouldoitt shouldbealsoaenfijkoeyd,
sum, and that the States of i
et to
aa
oin equal
iniodegree
g thoop pwr
oi with
itaht
oRn e ioc
fh s
this
ha
it
sh , a power
sum,
om, of
and
t o
remonstrate against any malversation, wouldbo
a
demand quite in conformity'with the Danish memo-
randum.

It is obvious that Denmark, being an independent
State, must maintain its monarchy, its army, and
its navy, in a manner befitting► its rank and position
as such. Nor can it be in principle unreasonable
to ask that the States of Holstein and Lauenberg
should contribute to maintain the monarchy, the
army, and navy of the kingdom.
Having endeavoured to remove this misappre-
hension, I will proceed to define the position of
Denmark and that of her Majesty's Government in
relation to this correspondence.
It has been the desire of Denmark to show a
willingness to conciliate, without admitting a right

of intervention in the affairi of Schleswig on the
part of the German Confederation.
The Danish Government having argued that, as
Great Britain could not be suspected of claiming
any such right, it was More consistent with the
position of Denmark to convey to Prussia their
intentions in regard to Schleswig through the
official medium of Great Britain, and if possible
with her support, than to make concessions directly
to the German Confederation.

The British Government on their part have not
adopted the Danish propositions as their own, nor
recommended them to the naked acceptance of the
Prince Regent of Prussia and the German Confe-
deration. But they confess that they take an in-
terest in the integrity of the Danish monarchy, and
should be sorry to see the force of Denmark, which
is not considerable, weakened or impaired.
With this view her Majesty's Government would
have been glad to see all parts of the Danish mo-
narchy fairly represented in a Parliament at Co-
penhagen. If that is unattainable; they would have
been glad to see Denmark and Holstein assume an
equitable portion of the burdensnecessary to be borne
for the maintenance of Danish independence.
The despatch of Baron Schleinitz of the Bth of
November appears to reject this scheme of settle-
ment, just as the former scheme of equal represen-
tation had been before thrown aside.

There remains to be considered the position o
Denmark as regards the German Confederation.

The Duchies of Holstein and Lauenberg are
German duchies, and form part of the German
Confederation. The laws of the German Confede-
ration are applicable to them, and it will be for the
Diet and the Duke of Holstein Lauenburg to de-
cide together what those laws require, and what
should be their future destiny.
But with regard to the Duchy of Schleswig it is
a Danish duchy. The memorandum of the Court
of Berlin communicated to her Majesty's Govern-
ment on the Bth of July last, in giving the sub-
stance of an annex to the Vienna despatch of the
26th of December, 1851, says :
" The Imperial Government folly acknowledges
the competence of the King to annul the former
union between Schleswig and Holstein as relates
to administration and justice, and also this prin-
ciple that the mithority of the federal law, and
therefore also the competence of the Confederation
which arises from that alone, cannot have any
force over a land not appertaining to the Confede-
ration, and consequently not over Schleswig."
There appears here a distinct renunciation on the
part of Austria and Prussia on behalf of the Ger-
man Confederation of any competence to extend the
Federal laws over Schleswig.
Nevertheless, ;the Prussian Government now
claims a right to interfere in Schleswig, in virtue
of certain promises made by the King of Denmark
in 1851.

Let us first remark the form of these promises
and then their nature.

In their form the promises of the King of Den-
mark were made in the first instance to his own
subjects ; but the despatch of the Court of Vienna
of December 6, 1851, and the reply of the Danish
Minister for Foreign Affairs, together with the
nearly simultaneous proclamation to the King of
Denmark, tend to invest these promises with the
value, though not the exact form of an engagement.
The Imperial Minister defines the meaning of the
programme of the King of Denmark, asks for " the
binding form of a declaration made at the command
of his Majesty the King," and:ends with a volun-
tary offer upon those terms to lay aside the man-
date of Austria and Prussia as representing the
German Confederation, and to provide for the
evacuation of Holstein.

On the 29th of January, 1852, the Danish Fo-
reign Minister made, in furtherance of the autho-
rity conferred upon me from the highest quarter,
the declaration that the King, our master, acknow-
ledges, as being in coincidence with his own, the
interpretation of the supreme intention 4 communi-
cated to the Courts of Berlin and Vienna, which is
given in the despatch of the Imperial Court of
Vienna of the 26th of December of last year and
the annex thereto, &c:

Next, as to the nature of the promises made
These are :

First. The King of Denmark promises that there
should be no incorporation of the Duchy of
Schleswig with the kingdom, nor should any mea-
sure tending thereto be adopted.
Secondly. The proclamation of the 28th of
January, 1852, promises a constitutional develop-
ment of the State of Schleswig, and that the law to
be framed for that object will especially contain
the necessary provisions for procuring a perfectly
equal settlement and effectual protection to the
Danish and German nationalities in the said Duchy.
There can be no doubt, in the opinion of her
Majesty's Government, that these promises consti-
tute an engagement which his Danish Majesty is
bound in honour to fulfil. He is bound not to in-
corporate Schleswig with Denmark; to maintain
in Schleswig representative States, and to protect
the Danish and German nationalities in the Duchy
of Schleswig.

But neither in form nor in substance, as it ap-
pears to her Majesty's Goternment, do these pro-
mises give a right to Austria and Prussia,
or to the 'German Confederation collectively, to
interefere in all the details of administration is the
Danish Duchy of Schleswig. If Schleswig were
incorporated with Denmark, if Schleswig were
deprived of its separate constitution, Germany
might claim a right to interfere. But if the regu-
lation of each church and each school in Schleswig
were to be subject of interference by the German
Confederation, it is clear that the sovereign rights
of the King of Denmark would exist only in name.
Her Majesty's Government will always, on their
part, use any influence they may possess with the
Court of Denmark to secure the protection of the
German inhabitants of Schleswig.
But when the Prussian Government refers to the
sentiments recently expressed by her Majesty's
Government in behalf of Italian nationality, the
Prussian Government must be reminded that there
are in the Duchy of Schleswig 140,000 Danes, and
that the remaining population is not purely Ger-
man; while neither in the States of the Church nor
in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was there any
mixed population of any other race with Italians.
In fine, whether we regard the form of the en-
gagements taken by the King of Denmark towards
Austria, Prussia, and the German Confederation,
or whether we regard the susceptibilities of the
Danish Government, the mixture of races in Sch-
leswig, and the just regards due to Germans and
Danes alike, her Majesty's Government are per-
suaded that there never was a question which more
imperatively demanded a temperate consideration,
or on which a beginning of strife would be more
injurious to all the interests concerned.
I am, &c., J. RUSSELL.
Mr. W. Lowther.

LORD JOHN RUSSELL TO MR. PAGET.
Foreign-office, Dec. 8, 1860.

Sir,--I send you a copy of a despatch from Baron
Schleinitz to Count Bernstorff, and a copy of the
answer I have given to it in a despatch to Mr.
Lowther.
You will observe that I have stated in this de-
spatch the engagements which, in the opinion of
her Majesty's Government, his Danish Majesty is
bound in honour to fulfil. " Ho is bound," I have
stated, " not to incorporate Schleswig with Den-
mark, to maintain in Schleswig representativ©
tSiteantaelsi,t
iaene di
atothperopt encet the
Duchy
y of Gseerhml
easnw
gn.du anish na-
whlatteavpepreamrsayth%lhre Abliauideisntgy'sforGovernment
gtahgaet
•
ments entered into with Austria and Prussia,
, the King of Denmark is bound in honour to fulfil
these conditions. He proclaimed them publicly;
he made them known not only to his subjects, but
to the representatives of foreign powers ; nor is
their fulfilment less his interest than his obliga-
tion, His German subjects in Schleswig ought to
feel that they enjoy under his rule equality of
rights with their Danish fellow-subjects. They
will then feel a loyal attachment to the Danish
monarchy, and a sincere desire to preserve it un-
impaired. If, on the contrary, the education of
their children at the common schools and their
worship at their parish church is trammelled

with vexatious regulations, and the Government
appears to be animated by a desire to depress the
nationality of subjects, of German origin, unhappy
consequences may follow. Should the German
Diet proceed to enforce its resolutions of March
last, the neighbouring Duchy of Schleswig is sure
-to be the scene of agitation, perhaps of tumult and
riot. In such an emergency the King of Denmark
will feel the value of having made such concessions
to the German inhabitants of Schleswig as shall
raise him above all suspicion of bad faith and all
charges of placing an intelligent and industrious
portion of his subjects in a position of odious in-
feriority.
Yon will read this despatch, together with that
to Mr. Lowther, to M. Hall, and give him copies
of them.—l am, &c.,

Aug. B. Paget, Esq., &c.

J. RUSSELL.

In a second dispatch, Baron Schleinitz transmits
to Count Bernstorff a copy of Lord John Russell's
despatch to Mr. Lowther. He writes :
To our great satisfaction we have been allowed
to gather from the latest despatch of Lord John
Russell, that the Royal Government of Great
Britain did not intend to recommend the pro-
posals of the Copenhagen Cabinet for acceptance ;
nay, that it did not even wish to tender those pro-
posals as a fit basis for the settlement of the affair.

The Danish Government has offered to deter-
mine, in the fulness of its own power, a certain
sum of money annually to be paid by Holstein as a
contribution to the common expenditure of the
monarchy—that sum to be estimated according to
the rate which the duchy has been compelled to
pay during the last six years. The offer was
coupled with the condition that, as long as the
Government did not demand an increase of the
sum in question, no right should be allowed to
the Representative Assembly of Holstein
to exercise a control over the disposal of the
money. It was obvious at once that the posi-
tion of Holstein would thus become much
more unfavourable than that of the countries repre-
sented in the general Riksrath at Copenhagen, the
latter enjoying the privilege of voting each item of
the budget, and watching the rightful application
of the expenditure in every single instance.
Your Excellency will now perceive from the en-
closure that "t.he British Government are desir-
ous of securing for the Representative Assembly of
Holstein a right of control over the employment of
their contribution.

The British Government (Lord John Russell pro-
ceeds to say in his last despatch) would be gratified
to see every portion of the Danish monarchy ade-
quately represented in a general Parliament at
Copenhagen; or, should this be unattainable, the
kingdom, as well as the duchies, ought to be made
to contribute a proportionate share in the common
expenditure. On our part, we have not the slightest
objection to such an arrangement ; and if a contrary
inference has been drawn by Lord John Russell from
my despatch of the Bth) this can only proceed from a
misinterpretation of my views. Nor did we, as Lord
John Russell supposes, ever reject the plan of an
equal representation for the different countries. On
the contrary, we have always urged the Danish
Government to fulfil the promise that the monarchy
should be granted a constitution, bestowing an
equal amount of rights upon each of the various
countries constituting it.
We have derived particular gratification from the
concluding portion of the despatch of the Bth inst.,
in which the British Government does not hesitate
expressly to recognise the existing international
obligations of Denmark with respect to Schleswig
—obligations entered into towards the German
Confederacy, but the very existence of which has
been persistently denied by the Copenhagen Cabi-
net. It is a matter of course that these obligations
cannot be made the cause of Federal interference
with the details of the administration, and we have
never as yet claimed the right of adopting such a
course.

We are assured that the convictions so frankly
expressed by Lord John Russell concerning the
Danish obligations with reference to Schleswig
would be all the more calculated to influence the
action of the Copenhagen Cabinet if the latter had
no reason to doubt the perfectly impartial and
friendly character of the attitude of England in this
question.
I conclude with a word in reply to a remark
made by Lord John Russell towards the close of
his despatch.
If, in my despatch of the Bth of November,
reference was made to one of Lord John Russell
to Sir James Hudson, I did not in this allude to the
principles therein expressed concerning the rights
of nationalty, but rather wished to speak of the
rights of a people in opposition to those of its Go-
vernment. In these latter I could not but regard a
guarantee for England taking an interest in the
claims of the Holstein Assembly against its Go-
vernment.

Your Excellency is authorised to inform Lord
John Russell of the contents of this despatch, and
also to transmit to him the expression of our
thanks for the explanations given to us in this last
note. SCFILEINITZ.

been made for her during the absence of her hus-
band by her father. The evidence fully established
the case, and the Court made a decree nisi.

Sergeant Parry and Dr. Swabey were counsel
for the petitioner.
The remaining cases were not of a character
requiring special notice.

SECONDARIES' COURT.
(Before Mr. Potter arid a Special Jury.)

BREACH OF PROMISE.-KNIGHTSV. THISTLEWOOD.

This was a writ of inquiry sent down by one of
the superior courts, to assess the amount of damages
in an action for a breach of promise of marriage,
judgment having been allowed to go by default.
Mr. Hawkins, Q.C., and Mr. Tindal Atkinson
appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr. Digby Seymour
and Mr. Best for the defendant.
Mr. Hawkins said this was a case to recover
damages for a breach of promise to marry, and he
thought that after the jury had heard the evidence
they would consider it a case deserving their most
serious consideration. The plaintiff is Miss Cathe-
rine Elizabeth Knights, a young lady of between
22 and 23, and the only daughter of an extensive
farmer at Landon Hill Hall, near Ockendon, in
Essex, and the defendant is a gentleman, about 30
years of age, of independent fortune, amounting to
£4OO or £5OO a year, living in the neighbourhood
of Regent's-park. In the course of 1859 the de-
fendant was anxious to pass some few months of
country life, and he advertised for apartments in
an Essex paper. It appeared that Mr. Knights,
the father of the plaintiff, had been suffering from
indisposition, and was recommended company, and
seeing the advertisement, he was induced to answer
it. The parties met and came to terms, and in
September the defendant became' an inmate of
Mr. Knights' house. Shortly after he had taken up
his abode, the defendant formed an attachment
with the plaintiff, Miss Knights, and on her father
being made aware of that circumstance, he declined
giving his consent until he had made some inquiries
respecting the position in life of the defendant, and
suggested that he should not continue to reside at
the farm. The defendant accordingly left, and a
correspondence ensued between them which ended
in a proposal of marriage, which was to have taken
place on the 26th of April, 1860. The defendant
did not deny having made the overture to marry,
and by not putting a plea on record virtually ad-
mitted that he had broken the promise without the
least provocation. It had been said that the de-
fendant was a man of weak intellect, but in his
epistles to the plaintiff he evinced neither proof or
sign of this; indeed he showed an unusual amount
of forethought in worldly matters. In one letter,
of Feb. 10, he wrote to plaintiff:—
" Will your father give you £2OO, which is not an out.
of-the-way sum. Cannot do with less to provide those things
I name to you as necessary," &e.
Mr. Thistlewood was exceedingly anxious to obtain
an advaLee f;om the father for plaintiff's wedding
trousseau, and on Feb. 14 ho addressed the plaintiff
as " My very dearest Kate," and said :
" I went yesterday to meet your father at Fenchurch-
street according to your request, to hear what he had to say
on your behalf. I thought his proposition very unreason-
able, such as I should never consent to. He proposed to
me to give you 801bs down. And to pay 151bs towards the
rent for 10 years, if he should live so long. Nothing less
than £2OO will be deamed sufficient and 201bs towards the
rent for 10 years and to sign a bond to that effect that is
my views on the subject if he does not consent to that
natters may remain as they are, for I consider he has it in
his power to do so. You say your mother is going to make
you a present of a tea service. If I was asked my opinion
I should prefer the breakfast service, because I have a very
nice set of china tea service myself."
Matters proceeded, more letters passed, and both
parties looked forward to the approaching happi-
ness of a wedded life. Everything was arranged
for the nuptials, as will be seen by the subjoined
letter :

" 3, Albert •street, Gloster-gate, Regent's Park.
"MY VERY DEAREST K ATE,—I should have replied yes-
terday by return of post, but had to go to London, not hear-
ing from you who was 'likely to be invited. I thought,
although the 26th of this month was named, that you had
not made any preparation, therefore I have not as yet or-
dered my clothes, &e. What do you think I should require
for the occasion ? I presume the coachman will have rosette
and white gloves, and the bridesmaids bookcays,' and also
yourself. I think you do wrong, excuse me naming it, to
ask any other clergyman if you thought of doing so than
Mr. Packman, because your father will have to pay him a
compliment for coming which does not rest with me only the
usual ' fess.' I presume you do not intend asking Captain
Simonds, for I don't want the Fishers to know all about it.
How many carriages do you intend having? Who is to be
bridesgroom man ? It is no use you rickoning of my brother
and his wife, for they have made up their minds not to be
present. The reason I thought of advertising and going
to a farmhouse again, because I met with an accident
some few years ago, and thought it would unfit me for
marriage, that is the only cause of my being so backward,
which lam sorry such is the case. It makes me ill at
times, because it comes across my mind. If you have me
I will do all in my power to render you happy. Please to
inform mo the cost of those houses you made mention of.
I shall require the proper description of tho church where
the marriage is to take place, whether it goes by any
name; I also want your Christian names and surname to
fill up the licence, for they won't do it unless I give them
full particulars.: '

Mr. Hawkins—lt had been previously arranged
that the marriage was to take place on the 26th of
April. In this letter it will be seen that he alluded
to having met with some accident which rendered
him unfit for marriage. It had even been sug-
gested in many of his previous communications,
and he would show that it was perfect rubbish and
an idle story in order to release himself from the
promise he had made. He had mentioned the
name of a Captain Symonds in the correspondence.
That gentleman was more than 70 years of age,
and therefore a person of whom the defendant
could not have been jealous. He was a friend of
the defendant's, and ho had asked him to his resi-
dence. It seems that Capt. Symonds had been
invited to the wedding, and as Mr. Thistlewood
and his wife would have left, he was asked to re-
main at Mr. Knights for a few days as society for
the father. This seemed to have given great
offence to the defendant, and on the 17th of April
he penned the following, what he (the learned
counsel) must call a cool and heartless letter:—

" 3, Albert-street, Gloster-gate, Regent's-park.
"My dearest Kate,—l receive a letter from you this
morning, and there was one also for Captain Simonds,
wherein you state, Don't say anything to Mr. Thistle-
wood about IL'

" You can ask him to come down to your house the day
before, and remain a few days, but my people must be
driven to an inn, and put to expenses. My brother and
his wife consider themselves grossly insulted, in conse-
quence of which they don't mean to come—(laughter)--
and I don't think you mean any good towards me in the
way you have acted, only for the sake of gain. Therefore
I shall decline coming also, but agree with the Fishers to
remain again.
" With kind regards to all, and love to yourself, I remain
yours affectionately, " SAMUEL THISTLEWOOD.
" Y.S.—My people are quite as respectable as Captain
Sim ond s."

The defendant was remonstrated with upon his
heartless conduct, but he persevered in his intol-
- to break off the marriage and set Mr. Knights
at defiance, so that after the licence had been
bought, the patent boots obtained, the wedding
speech prepared, the advertisement written out, to
say nothing of the wedding ring, for which he hasl
inclosed the jeweller's account to the plaintiff, upon
this paltry excuse he refused to fulfil his solemn
promise. The plaintiff had suffered in her health
from the treatment she had received, and he asked
the jury to give ample and Substantial compensa-
tion for the loss which she had sustained.

Evidence was then called in support of the
learned counsel's statement.

The case for the defendant was that he was of
weak intellect, and not fitted to perform the duties
of married life.

The learned Secondary, in summing up, re-
marked that the letters which he should hand to
the jury bore no traces of that weakness of intellect
deposed to by the defendant's witnesses.
The jury, after a short deliberation, awarded the
plaintiff £6OO damages.