St. Mary's beacon., 1857-02-05
MISCELLANEOUS.
PRUSSIA AND SWITZERLAND.

war clouds bave again showed them
selves in Europe; and there are Indica.
ticns Of bloody conflict between Prus-
STA and Switzerland, in which other ma.
tions may Become involved. To show
the origin OF the difficulty between the
two powers. we subjoin the following ar
tlcle written by . correspondent of the
New York Commercial afew weeks ago.
Wllst awful thing has been done by
our sister republic of Switzerland. 10 sur
llp the wrath az Ahe desposisrr. -
compas herr How hapk-.sea
little strip Of territory called NeufchateI,
territory thirty miles long by nine or
ten miles broad, has become an apple Of
discord among the great powers OF Eu-
rop"' What is there about this little
community OF seventy thousand watch
makers. that should render il an object
Ofso much importance in the eyes OF
politicians and eiplomatists /? The geo.
graPhies set down Neufchatel as q can
ton Of Switzerland, and on maps Il !.
marked end cclored as one OF the Swiss
csntcns. II is bounded on one side by
France and on three others by Swiss can
tons.
The parties Immediately interested in
this controversy are the Swiss Confeder-
ation and the King Of Prussia. But what
has Prussia TO do with Neufchatel In
a geographical point of view, not a whit
more than the State Of New York has TO
do with The Stale If Kentucky. The
kingdomsof Prussia ID not contiguous 10
Neufchatel. or 10 any part lofihe Swiss
territories. in = single point And vet
Fredericks William The Fourth claims 10
be the rghtful sovereign of Neufchatel f;
and on The thRd day Of September last I'm
instiFFectinn was raised sgainst the fede-
ral authorities in fuihesance Of HE pre-
tensions. The insurrection Was prompt
" suppressed. Several Of the conspira.
tors were arrested. and are now awaiting
their trial. The king. through his am
bassador ID Berne. has demanded the IN.
conditional liberty Of the prisoners. win.
out . trial, and In this demand he is sup-
ported by the governments Of Aus.Fsa
and Baden. The last steamer from E1
rope brought the news Of the unanilnou
refusal Of the Federal Council (whick
answers 10 our Presidentl 10 accede 10 tn
demand. % - generally understood th1
the Council viii NOT release the psisonerA
excepG upon the condition that the Kim
Tenounce, once and forever, his preted
sions 20 the sovereignty Of Neufchatdl. |.
Thus L seems that The little cloud which,
short time ago. seemed no bsgge, thAn
snsn's hand. has grown 90 large as 10
overshndow temporarily other subjects
Of controversy. and seriously threaten the
peace Of Europe.
In history only can be found the origin
and character Of these prefensions of The
King Of Prussia. The county OF princi.
pally Of Neufchaeel was q ief Of the
old Kingdom Of Bungundy. Tn the year
1883 Il passed t. the house of Chalons,
and still later 10 shat Of Lcngueville.-
Henfy III. OF LongueyiiIe was the hus-
hand "a The celebrated lady whose me-
nsoir has recently been written by m.
Cousin. On his decease, and that ofhis
sons and daughter. The last OF whom died
in the year 1907. the house vf Tongue.
vile became extinct. Several Dre;en-
deFs 10 TIE sovereignty Of Nenfchatel
then appeared. and q Is important 10 bear
10 mind that The decision upon the claims
Of these prslenders was moi len 10 . Con.
gress 0! European powers. but to Neuf-
slialeI Itself. 1he righi Of the Neafcha.
tel.ls % clloose their own rulers, Is we'll
- their oiwn farm Of government, d.
mot seem g thai time tO hare been d.ss