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 SLESWICKHOLSTEIN 
 
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 BY PROFESSOR PAUL 
 
 OP COPENHAGEN, DENMAR: 
 COR. MEM. OP QUEBEC LIT. ANP 
 
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 the JIfel"gi"i| ^r|D Jflgfoi-Ic^l Socletij, Qiiebec. 
 
 QUEBEC: 
 PRINTED BY HUNTER, ROSE & CO., ST. URSULE STREET. 
 
 1865. 
 
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 <tl 
 
 THE SLESWICK-HOLSTEIN QUESTION. 
 
 Bv PROFESSOR PAUL C. SINDING, op Copenhaqen, Denmar 
 
 "# COR. MBM. OF QCEBKO LIT. AND HIST. SOC. 
 
 {Read he/ore the Socieiy, 19<A April, 1865.) 
 
 iV 
 
 The Sleswiok-Holstein question — the term " Sleswick-Holstein," 
 "however, being a combination of words falsely devised by the 
 ringleaders of the first insurrection of 1848, unheard of before, 
 and just as unjustifiable by any existing relations as a Oanada- 
 Holstein would be, — has of late assumed such an importance in the 
 great events of the present age, and in the European politics, as 
 to lead your humble servant, who is addressing you, to believe that 
 an impartial elucidation of this somewhat intricate controversial 
 point, based upon incontrovertible historical facts, would not be 
 altogether unprofitable. However, before entering upon the sur- 
 vey of the merits of the question, let it be clearly understood, that 
 I will not attempt to give eyen a sketch of these two disputed 
 provinces before the dawn of authentic history, as I would then be 
 obliged to examine a number of hypotheses, that, after all, would 
 prove inconclusive. Nevertheless, the impo|/iance, and at the 
 same time, the complication of this subject, make it incumbent on 
 me to treat it with some extent, and to bring together, with the 
 utmost care, all the feeble and scattered rays which may throw 
 any light upon it, serve to bring order out of confusion, and view 
 the whole question in its naked reality. 
 
 The history of the two dukedoms — Sleswick and Holstein — is 
 like the history of human achievements, — a history of great results 
 from small beginnings. For centuries Sleswick has been subject 
 to the rule of the Danish kings. Sleswick was anciently called 
 Anglia, held as a Danish Province of the Danish Crown, ruled 
 according to the code of the Jutland law-book, given by the 
 Danish king, Waldemar the Second, in the year 1289, up to this very 
 
 # 
 
 f 
 
THE SLESWiOK-HOLSTBtN QUESTION. 
 
 » 
 
 day an almost entire Danish-speaking Province, with the exoeption 
 of the sonthern districts, where only Qerman is spoken, and 
 considered by all European powers and treaties an inseparable part 
 of the Danish body. Sohtein, anciently called Northalbingia, 
 being, it is true, a male fief of the German Empire, was at times 
 subject to the Danish kings as Counts of Holstein, at other times 
 as Counts independent of Denmark, until the year 1459, A.D., 
 when the Danish king and his successors' male descendants were 
 elected Dukes of Holstein, an election ratified by the Germau 
 Emperor, Frederick the Third, who then, upon the request of the 
 Danish king, Christian the Third, elevated Holstein from an 
 Earldom to a Dukedom. Violently to wrest these two provinces 
 from '^the crown of Denmark, to annex the entire Danish province 
 Sleswick, to the German Confederacy, to which it has never 
 belonged, and by its close annexation to Holstein, to create a large 
 BO-oalled Sleswick-Holstein Dukedom, which was to be entirely 
 severed from the Danish crown for all time to come, wrs the 
 object of the scandalous crusade waged against Denmark in 1848, 
 and the two subsequent years, by the treacherous Duke of Augus- 
 tenburg, the ringleader of the rebellion, and supported well nigh 
 by all Germany, —the knavish duke, though nearly related to the 
 Koyal Danish house, and having sworn allegiance to the Danish 
 king, having alrea^ long, through a host of periodicals, secretly 
 sown that seed of discord which now commenced to break out into 
 acts of violence, — a crusade, however, then crushed by the un- 
 daunted bravery and perseverance of the Danes, and resulting in 
 the maintenance of Denmark's independence, nationality and 
 ancient territories, the result thus proving that the Danes, only a 
 handful of people when compared with all Germany, had not 
 degenerated from the well-known bravery, constancy and intrepid 
 spirit of their fearless ancestors, the grim-visaged Seakings and 
 bearded Vikings, the result at the same time confirming the truth 
 of the words of the royal sage of Israel, that the battle is not 
 always to the strong, but to whomsoever the Lord willeth to exalt. 
 But a new crusade from Germany, based upon the same villainous 
 
~,1 
 
 THB 8LB8WIOK-HOL8TEIN QUBSTION. 
 
 s 
 
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 priaoiples as the former one, began in the beginning of last year 
 -^1864 — again to threaten Denmark's independence; integrity an^ 
 nationality, and oonaummated, I grieve to say, its nefarious designs. 
 Little Denmark being rendered no assistance from her allies, and 
 although wont to defend herself butvely against two, and not yield 
 to three, as the old sagas tellf could, however, not withstand 
 the innumerable company of Prussians inundating the Danish do- 
 minion, and committing the most remorseless crimes and cruelties. 
 But I now propose to let history speak somewhat in detail, 
 and an intelligent audience may then judge for itself. Charle- 
 magne had with violence compelled the Holsteiners, then called 
 Saxons, to embrace Christianity, and thus deprived the people of 
 its independence. But the daring and efficient Godfredy King of 
 Denmark, protected Holstein and commenced war. Making large 
 progress, and even threatening, to visit Charlemagne in his resi- 
 dence, Aiz-la-Chapelle, the Emperor was happy enough to get 
 rid of that intelligent and bravo enemy — Godfred, uul/ortunately, 
 being treacherously killed by one of his own people. His suocesr 
 sor, ^emmtn^,'made peace with Charlemagne in the year 811, A.D., 
 by which peace the River Eider, which separates Sleswiok from 
 Holstein, was appointed the limit between Denmark and Germany, 
 and in the year 920, A.D., Thyra Dannebod, the queen of the 
 Danish king, Gorm the Old, founded the celebrated Dannevirke, 
 a fortified wall of earth and stones across Sleswick, strengthened 
 by moats and tower bastions, to protect Denmark agains: iiroads 
 of the Germans. Already Godfred, recently mentioned, had 
 erected a similar fortification, called Kurvirke, but the irruption of 
 the Grerman Emperor, Henry the Fowler, had proved that the country 
 needed a stronger bulwark, wherefore . the queen, Thyra, foundcfd 
 the famous DanLw«rirke. But Sleswick bordering on Germany, 
 the German Emperors were continually eager of getting possession 
 of this fertile province, when finally in the^year 1026, A.D., 
 Canute tlie Great, King of Denmark and England, visited the 
 German Emperor, Conrad the Second, whom he induced to renounce 
 for himself and his successors all future claim to the Margraviate 
 
6 
 
 THE SLESWICK-HOLSTBIN QUESTION. 
 
 V 
 
 of Sleswick, as it then was called. In the 12th century the Mar- 
 ^aviate of Sleswick was mercilessly dealt with by the Venders 
 (Venders or Vandalians, a rapacious set of pirates occupying the 
 coast of the Baltic right from Denmark up to the Gulf of Finland), 
 till at length the warlike and aljfe Danish prince, Canute Lavard, 
 a son of the Danish king Eric tlfc Good, conquered the Venders, 
 and not only secured the Margraviatc of Sloswick to the ciown of 
 Denmark, but prevailed up&n the German Emperor, who by virtue 
 of his dignity as Aoman Emperor, was acknowledged the secular 
 head of the whole Christian worid, to elevate Bleswick to a Duke- 
 dom, and procured for himself the dignity of a duke; and 
 the ducal dignity of Sleswick has since invariably been invested, 
 either in the Danish king himself, or in whomsoever of his 
 relatives he was pleased to invest it, the dukes, of course, always 
 taking the oath of allegiance to .the Danish Crown. Thus the 
 Danish King, Canute the VI., made his brother Waldemar Duke 
 of Sleswick ; Eric Ploughpenning made his brother Abel Duke 
 of Sleswick, and so forth. Nevertheless this system of dividing 
 Sleswick amongst the king's brethren or relatives, a system adopted 
 and adhered to for a long series of years, was, of course, preg- 
 nant of the most ruinous consequences to the solid interests of the 
 Danish body, contributing very much to the declension of the 
 kingdom and to the diminishing of the royal power; and especially 
 in reference to Sleswick this system of division had disastrous con- 
 sequences, for Abel, recently mentioned, and his successors, tried 
 now to make Sleswick an hereditary and independent possession in 
 their family, all of which resulted in a series of destructive internal 
 wars, Sleswick thereby more and more being alienated from the 
 Kingdom. Under these o'rcumstances, Abel soon assumed a hos- 
 tile position to his brother- Eric, the king, the more as he claimed 
 the Dukedom of Sleswick as an independent sovereignty. Abel 
 assasinated his brother, the king, who left no male issue, and the 
 states, though detesting Abel on account of the unnatural crime ho 
 had committed, chose him king to avoid a civil war. By these 
 means they also indisputably reunited the Dukedom of Sleswick 
 
 # 
 
 X 
 
 X. 
 
THB SLSSWIOK-HOLSTEIN QUESTION. 
 
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 to the Crown. If the royalty had remained in Abcrs family, 
 Sleswiok would, of course, have been reunited with tbe kingdom, 
 and all future contests prevented; but Ghristopber I., the third 
 son of Waldemar the Conqueror, was happy enough after Abel's 
 death immediately to be acknowledged king, although the throne 
 was promised to Abel's sons, Waldemar and Eric. Both parties 
 exerted all their power to gain the ascendancy. The kiqg encom- 
 passed Sleswick with his army and claimed as uncle, the guardian- 
 ship of Abel's children, but these were supported by the Counts 
 of Holstein. Seasonably for the king, some of the German 
 princes offered their mediation, a peace being concluded on these 
 terms, that Christopher, the king, should have the guardianship, 
 but restore the Dukedom of Sleswick as a fief to Weldemar, the 
 eldest son of Abel, when he had attained his majority. After the 
 death of this Waldemar the kingdom was soon after alarmed by a 
 dangerous irruption of Eric, the second son of Abel, because the 
 then King of Denmark, Erie Glipping, would not comply with 
 giving him Sleswick as an hereditary fief, but only as a personal, 
 joined the Counts of Molstein, and commenced a war in which the 
 royal troops were totally defeated at Loheath, 1261 A. D., close by 
 the city of Sleswick. Eric continuing to sow the seeds of dissen- 
 sion, the king reentered the dukedom with a powerful army, and 
 seizing tipon the fortress of TOndir, which he razed, the rebellious 
 duke was constrained to submit, and lost his dukedom a short time 
 before his death, after which Sleswick for thirteen years remained 
 united with the kingdom, until unfortunately again Waldemar, a 
 son of the rebellious Eilo, was, accciding to the aforesaid ruinous 
 system of division, invested with Sleswick as a fief. But not con- 
 tent with it, he now also laid claim to Ar6, Alsen and Femern^ 
 three islands in the Baltic. He fell, however, into the hands of 
 the king, had humbly to throw himself at his feet, resign his 
 brazen-faced claim, and make a confession in writing of his 
 want of loyalty to his sovereigo. Thus Denmark had for a 
 number of years been the theatre of continual domestic wars 
 with the rebellious dukes. In the year 1372 A.D., there was 
 2 
 
8 
 
 THE SLEflWICK-HOLSTBTN QUESTION. 
 
 a good prospect of again getting the dukedom of Sleswiok 
 reunited with the kingdom, as Henry, the then duke of Sleswiok, 
 was old and childless, upon which important point the efficient 
 and energetic king, Waldemar IV., in his last days directed all 
 his attention ; but unfortunately he only survived Henry so short 
 a time, that the question could not be decided, but was . .ferrod 
 to the following reign. The great Queen Marjaretha, the d& ..ghter 
 of Waldemar IV., styled the Semiramis of the North, and regina 
 sine cxemplo maximaf now ascended the throne and aimed all her 
 efforts at regaining the Dukedom of Sleswiok, which circumstances 
 had compelled her in the beginning of her reign to resign to 
 Gerhard IV., Count of Holstein. For such a reunion of Slcswick 
 a favorable opportunity appeared when Gerhard was killed in an 
 expedition against the Friescrs, leaving behind three sons in 
 minority. Elizabeth, Gerhard's widow, fled to Margaretha for 
 assistance against her violent brother*in-law, Bishop Henry, of 
 Osnabriick. Margaretha, very fond of fishing in foul water, waS very 
 willing to help her, but availed herself of the opportuuity to 
 annex successfully different parts of Sleswttk to the crown. The 
 prosecution of her plan for the perfect reunion of Sloswick 
 was unfortunately interrupted by her death, 1412 A. D., her im- 
 prudent and weak successor, Erie of Pomerania, having no vigour 
 of mind to restrain the tnrbuloMfc spirit of the three sous of tho 
 deceased duke, who took advantage of his inability, endeavoring 
 to withdraw themselves from his authority, and to be enfeoffed 
 with the Dukedom of Slcswick. At the diet of Nyburg the king 
 summoned the young dukes to appear, and opened the Assembly 
 himself with a full explanation of the circumstances of the dispute. 
 .^ When ho had finished his speech tho Archbishop, in a fulminating 
 harangue, declared that the duchess-dowager, Elizabeth, and her 
 brother-in-law, Henry of Osnabriick, as tutors and counsellors to 
 Gerhard's children, had forfeited all right to the Dukedom of 
 Sleswickin consequence of having, before Margaretha's death, taken 
 arms against their lawful sovereign, and that Slcswick should 
 therefore be annexed to the Grown of Denmark, ho sooner had 
 
im- 
 
 TUB 8LESWI0K-H0LSXIIIK QUSSTXON. § 
 
 the arohbiHhop pronounood this sentenoe than the eldest son of 
 the deoeasod duke, Gerhard, throw himself at the king's feet and 
 besought liim to grant the inyestiture of the dukedom as a fief ; 
 but the king replied in the negative. The threo young dukos now 
 began to oonoert measures ^r shaking off his yoke ; and although 
 Eric of Pomerania had the military power of three large kingdoms 
 at command, and marched an army of one hundred thousand men 
 against them, he was defeated near Immcrvad in Sleswiok, with 
 great loss, insomuch that his flight became a proverb — " At Im- 
 mervad the Danes wore driven to the devil." Although this 
 defeat did not terminate the war, it produced a truce in order 
 to settle preliminaries for a peace. Arbitrators were chosen, 
 and the whole affair of the Dukedom of Sleswick was again can* 
 vassed. Nevertheless the young dukes embraced every oppor- 
 tunity to frustrate the inrtention of the truce, and chose to decide 
 the difference by the sword. The king perceiving their aim, no^ 
 took the course of appealing to the German Emperor, Sigismund, 
 and repaired to Ofen, in Hungary, where the Emperor then 
 resided. Construing the. appeal in favor of the king, the Emperor 
 declared that all Sleswiok should henceforward be annexed in full 
 right to the Crown of Denmark, and that the dukes Henry 
 Adolphus and Gerhard had, by their rebellious conduct, divested 
 themselves of their rights to Sleswick. The king now believing 
 the whole dispute to be settled, reiolved upon a pilgrimage to 
 Palestine. But after returning ho found the ancient leaven of 
 contest revived and violently fermenting in the minds of the 
 dukes, who making alliance with the Hanse-towns, a mighty 
 league in the northern part of Germany, continued the war ; and 
 although king Eric collected all his strength to oppose . the dukes, 
 and even gained a complete victory over the Hanse fleet, yet at 
 last they got the better, of him, ond weakened the kingdom by the 
 most destructive ravages. However, their attempts to seize upon 
 Copenhagen failed, the city being saved by the bravery and iatel- 
 ligent preparations of his queen Philippa, a daughter of Henry V. 
 of England. At length the unlucky war with the dukes was 
 
10 
 
 THB SLBSWICK-HOLSlTBIlSr QUESTION. 
 
 ended by the treaty of Wordingburg, 1435 A.D., by which 
 Adolphus, the only one yet alive, and his heirs, should be invested 
 with the Dukedom of Sleswiok, Denmark thus again Wng dis- 
 possessed of Sleswiok. Finally a surer prospect than ever before 
 of reuniting Sleswiok permanently witl^the kingdom, and thus of 
 terminating the incessant quarrels and contests, presented itself at 
 the death of this Adolphus, ..called Adolphus VIII., who died 
 without issue in the year 1459, A.D., but instead of incorporating 
 it as an escheated fief, Christian /., then King of Denmark, the 
 first king of the House of Oldenburg, very unwisely engaged him- 
 self in negotiations with the nobility and the clergy to be elected 
 Duke of Sleswick and Count of Holstein, to which latter, however, 
 Otho of Schaumburg was more entitled; wherefore he had to 
 purchase Holstein for the sum of 43,000 florins, and to buy off the 
 pretensions of Gerhard and Maurice, nephews of the late Adol- 
 phus, for an equivalent of 40,000 florins. ' Thus Christian I. 
 became Duke of Sleswick and Count of Holstein, which now, as 
 above mentioned, was elevated from an earldom to a dukedom, 
 the representatives of the political body of Holstein bind- 
 ing themselves to choose their following dukes amongst the 
 Danish kings and their successors (maltt heirs'), according to the 
 Salic law. This year, 1459 A.D., is therefore an essential year 
 in the hi^tory of the Dukedom of Holstein, the stipulation showing 
 that the kings of Denmark should be dukes of Holstein, as long as 
 they left male issue. Of Sleswick not one word was spoken in this 
 stipulation, it being regarded for centuries back as pertaining to 
 the Danish kingdom. One should now think that the ruinous 
 consequences which the system of dividing Sleswick among the 
 king's brethren and relatives had had, would have taught the fol- 
 lowing kings a lesson, but no, they all seem to have been blind- 
 folded and deaf to the lessons of experience, for Christian IIL, in 
 many respects an excellent ruler, undertook, about 1547, a new 
 division amongst his brethren, although the old and expert general 
 John Ranzau, strongly advised against this imprudent step. 
 Owing to these divisions and parties the affairs in Sleswick and 
 
THE SLESWIOK-HOLSTEIN QUESTION. 
 
 11 
 
 Holstein continued to take a disastrous turn for Denmark, and 
 occasioned sanguinary national wars, the kings often not knowing 
 how to keep the rebellious dukes within due bounds. The fatal 
 division of the two dukedoms was again continued under FredericJe 
 IL, and so it went on. It is onsy to sec of what vast detriment 
 these divisions were to the solid iutcrests of the Danish body. 
 
 At length all controversy (^ncerning Sleswick was brought to a 
 close by the treaty of 1720, A.D., when Sweden, who ha^ sided 
 with the then rebellious duke Frederick, pledged himself no more 
 to assist the duke, and England and France guaranteed to Den< 
 mark the Dukedom of Sleswick, binding themselves to defend Den* 
 mark's right to it against all who directly or indirectly should dare 
 to invade it. And seven years after, 1727 A.D., a special treaty 
 was signed by the two powers, England and France, to which 
 Russia accecj^d, binding thembclves to oppose by an armed force, 
 by sea and by land, all and sundry the powers who should dare 
 attack the Danish Dukedom of Sleswick. As to Holstein, being a 
 male fief of the German Empire, it had, of course, its final court 
 of Appeal in Germany, while Sleswick held of the Danish crown 
 as a Danish province, was nevei^i called to a German diet, and in 
 law questions the appeal has invariably been to its own Supreme 
 Court. Hence it follows that Holstein is a German Province, 
 whose duke is the King of Denmark, and his male heirs, accord- 
 ing to the stipulation of 1459, A.D., above stated. Various 
 changes, however, took place in the sequel, in consequence of the 
 division of the ducal families into difierent branches, and the 
 subsequent extinction of collateral lines, and it was not before the 
 year 1750, A.©., that the whole came permanently under tho 
 Danish sway, when Adolphus Frederick, the elected 
 the Swedish throne, and the head of the youngc 
 Dukes of Holstein, engaged himself to exchange the^ucal part ol, 
 Holstein for the two counties of Oldenburg and DQlii]^|^|^i|6ifet, 
 Denmark thereby coming into an undivided possdbsion of H^L^n 
 Some years after, about the yfcr 1779 A.D., also^ytKe Gliioksburjs 
 possessions of Sleswick at the death of the last 
 
12 
 
 THE SLESWIOK-HOLSIEIN QUESTION. 
 
 ance devolved to tbe Panish crowo, and all the small parcels of 
 Sleswick, whioh by earlier division had been separated from tbe 
 crowD; were reunited to it, except the possession of the Duke of 
 Augustenburg. As Duke of Holstein, the King of Denmark had 
 a seat in the German diet, but on the dissolution of the German 
 Empire, 1.806, that feudal obligation, in which Holstci n had been 
 to the German Emperor ceased, {\s nq^such personage then existed, 
 and ^pIstcin was incorporated as a part of the Danish monarchy. 
 However, on the formation of the German Confederacy in the 
 year 1815, at the General Congress of the allied powers at Vienna, 
 the Danish king, Frederick YI., was present himself, and subscribed 
 there to the re-inoorporation of Holatein into the German Confed- 
 eration, upon condition that he himself, and his lineal male heirs 
 continue to be Dakes of Holstein, and as such be members of the 
 Confederacy, having three votes in the full Council,^nd binding 
 himself, if need be, to furnish a contingent of 8,600 men, and 
 to rule Holstein, being a male fief of Germany, according to its 
 peculiar German laws, all of which that noble and simple-hearted 
 monarch faithfully fulfilled. At the above-mentioned Congress at 
 Vienna, no single syllable was sppken of Sleswick, it being con- 
 sidered an entire Danish Province, and an inseparable part of the 
 Danish monarchy. 
 
 Since the Congress of 1815, the peace of Denmark was not 
 interrupted till 1848, when the treacherous Duke of Augustenburg 
 — the only surviving lineal descendant of the Dukes of Sleswick — 
 revolutionized the two dukedoms, Sleswick and Holstein, and tried 
 to shake off the Danish yoke, as he called it, and erect for himself 
 an independent Sleswick- Holstein State. That victory which in 
 the beginning of 1848 had followed the popular commotions of 
 France and Germany, w|is an inducement for him to make the two 
 dukedoms revolt. The language in which he clothed his hellish 
 machinations was, '• The Danish Government has oppressed the 
 dukedoms, treated them step-motherly, and the new ministry 
 appointed by the new king, Ftederick VII., is hostile to 
 their privileges"; all, at least at that time, entire moonshine. 
 
THE SLESWICK-HOLSTEIN QUESTION. 
 
 13 
 
 Od the tlu ih of Mafch, 1848, he wrote a message to 
 Copenhagen, 'S.leswick-Holstein, twenty-four hours ago, became an 
 independent State, shook off the Danish yoke, and appointed a 
 provisional government." On the 25th of March the Duke of 
 Augustenburg arrived in Bendsburg, and the insurgente assembled 
 under the command of his brother. Prince FredericK. A san- 
 guinary three years' war was now waged against Denmark, the 
 insurgents being assisted by more than 20,000 Prussians and 
 Hanoverians. What did England now do ? Did she act accord- 
 ing to the great covenants of 1720 and 1727 ? No, she did not. 
 All the time it was said : England is negotiating ! Mirahile dictu ! 
 What was there to negotiate about ? Negotiating ! while she was 
 bound by sacred treaties to protect the dukedom of Sleswick from 
 all invasion. France acted no better. Eussia was the only power 
 which, in accordance with the great covenant, did something, and 
 little enough, to vindicktc Denmark's right. Little Denmark had 
 to do the business alone, and struggled hard, but successfully, to 
 maintain her integrity against the rebellious dukedoms, and the 
 legions of Germany. England and France remained quiet 
 beholders of all the innocent blood that manured the fields of 
 Fredericia, Diippel, Idsted, and so forth. Denmark had, I regret 
 it, to do it alone ; did it, defeated the insurgents^and the German 
 troops almost in every engagement of any consequence, crushed 
 the rebellion, regained the authority over the rebellious dukedoms ; 
 and May 8, 1852, ft treaty was concluded in London, between Den- 
 mark, Norway, Sweden, England, .France, Russia, Austria and 
 Prussia, guaranteeing the integrity of the Danish monarchy, 
 setting aside the line of Augustenburg, because of the duke's 
 treacherous conduct, and settling the succession to the Crown of 
 Denmark, and to the Dukedoms 'of Sleswick and Holstein upon 
 the loyal Prince Christian of the Glucksburg Hue, and his male 
 heirs, upon whom in the next year, 1853, according to a law passed 
 in the diet, and subscribed to by the king himself, the title of 
 Prince of Bmmarlc was conferred, his civil list being fixed to the 
 amount of 50,000 rix-dollars annually. On the 15th of November, 
 
 » 
 
14 
 
 THE SLESWIOE-HOLSTEIN QUESTION. 
 
 1863, the King of Denmark died without issue, the throne, accord- 
 ing to the treaty of 1852, recently mentioned, devolving to Prince 
 Christian, the father of the Princess of Wales, who immediately 
 was proclaimed King of Denmark and Duke of Sleswick and Hol- 
 stein, under the name of Christian IX. But I must bestow a few 
 words more upon Prince Christian, the present king, the father of 
 the Princess of Wales, and upon the scandalous Duke of Augus- 
 tenburg, and my words concorninc them I quote from the Edin- 
 burgh Quarterly Review : " The Prince Christian, of. Gliicksburg, 
 stood as a descendant of Christian III, high in the male succession, 
 and most of them who stood before him, had been guilty of trea- 
 son in 1848, and had rendered themselves liable to forfeiture of all 
 their rights. The treasonous Duke of Augustenburg, who also 
 stood nearer to the succession to the throne than Prince Christian, 
 had of course fled the country, and had to renounce all claims to 
 his estates. Nevertheless, for the cession of all his claims, he 
 received from the liberal Danish Government a sum of rather 
 more than £400,000 sterling. In consideration of this for a 
 traitor, guilty of high-treason, enormous indemnity, the knavish 
 duke made the following promise in writing: — *Wc promise 
 for us and our family, by our princely word and honor, not to 
 undertake anything, whereby the tranquillity of His Danish 
 Majesty's dominion and lands might be disturbed, nor in any 
 way .to counteract the resolutions, which His Danish Majesty 
 might have taken or in future might take, in reference to the 
 arrangement of the succession of all the lands now united 
 under His Danish Majesty's sceptre, or to the eventual organi- 
 zation of His monarchy.' '' And now the Edinburgh Quarterly 
 Revieio continues : " In the vocabulary of the Duke of August- 
 enburg, it is, of course, to be presumed, that the word, ' family* 
 does not incluie sons, since it is just his son, who is now, 
 
 1864, revolutionizing Holstein. It is, however, right to state 
 that said son has protested against the above renunciation ; 
 but it is also right to add, that this illustrious offspring of a 
 glorious father kept his protest to himself till six years after the 
 
 # 
 
THJB SLBSWICK-HOLSTBIN QUESTION. 
 
 15 
 
 deed had been signed, dpd the enormous sum of money paid. 
 Pretty smart piece of business !' Thus ^ar the Quarterly Eeview. 
 But what did now the perfidious Duke do ? After having pocketed 
 the enormous sim of money, and after having given that sublime 
 and affecting deokyrfttion, you recently have been listening to, he 
 made it his business to travel round in Germany, and by fulminat- 
 ing speeches and periodicals to fan the flame of rebellion against 
 his fatherland that had nurtured him, intending to grasp the very 
 first opportunity to recommence his foimer schemes for establish- 
 ing for himself and family a large and independent ^foswick- 
 Holstein Dukedom. Such an opportunity offered itself, when the 
 King, Frederick the Seventh, had breathed his last. Instantly the 
 perfidious duko, in spite of the money paid him for the cession 
 of all his claims, and in spite of his solemn declaration, put in 
 claims in favor of his son, Frederick, in order to dislodge the new 
 king, the father of the Princess of Wales, from his position as 
 duke of the two fertile dukedoms ; and alas ! he was this time too 
 successful. The horsemen and all the host of the Prussians and 
 Austrians rushed upon old Denmark, under pretence of vindicating 
 the rights of the dukedoms, of incorporating them into the 
 Germanic Confederation, and then of making the son o^ the 
 nefarious duke their duke, but secretly intending, after the con- 
 quest hoped for, to overlook both the son and the duke and the 
 Germanic Confederation in the division of the spoil. Hoping 
 that also this time no foreign aid would be rendered to little 
 Denmark, the , Prussians and Austiians, confiding in the 
 oveiwhelming forces they could bring to bear upon the (sonfiict, 
 and in their superior artillery, entertained a glorious anticipa- 
 tion of a complete victory. Certainly, the proportion between the 
 military power of Prussia and Austria and that of little Denmark, 
 was as one to fifty. As the cause of their attack upon Denmark 
 was given that the Danish Government had treated the dukedoms 
 as conquered provinces, and had forced the Danish language upon 
 Sleswiok. Perhaps Denmark is somewhat to be blamed in this 
 respect, but having been absent now for a number of years, I am 
 3 
 
16 
 
 THB SLESWICK-HOLSTBIN QUESTION. 
 
 ^iw 
 
 nnable to decide this question with anjtBertainty. At all eventg, 
 Prussia and Austria had no business to intermeddle with His 
 Danish Majesty's rule of his own dominions, as little as Denmark 
 has any business to intermeddle with the French ^Emperor's rule 
 of his German province Elsass. The Danes, •if ith all good reason 
 considering themselves nost outrageously treated, and always 
 accustomed to stare an enemy right in the face, bravely to attack 
 two, and not yield to three, and expecting, according to the 
 treaties of 1720 and 1727, and the London treaty of 1852, 
 British and French aid, rushed into the conflict with the thrilling 
 excitement which nerves the arm and steels the heart of soldier 
 and seaman. The Danish army marched down to m«et the 
 Prussian and Austrian legions and the fleet was launched into the 
 Baltic, and the defence of the Danes all the time, of course, 
 against superior nunbers, ranges Jiigh, say the English papers, in 
 the annals of warfare. On the second day of February last year, 
 1864, they gave such evidences of old Northern valor aud 
 bravery as may he sought for in vain even in the annals of 
 the Romans and Carthagenians ; the innumerable multitude of 
 Prussians hnd Austrians, says the English press, stormed, and 
 stormed, and stormed, again, and again, and ogain, but were each 
 time received with such murderous fire from the Danes, that 
 they had to give up, eleven hundred Prussians and Austrians 
 covering the bloody battle field. But now the Austrians and 
 Prussians poured in like a host of locusts, and there was very 
 little, or better to say, no prospect of success for Denmark. Never- 
 theless, the Danes would not give up, but continued fighting 
 against vastly superior numbers, hoping confidently, when worst 
 came to worst, for British and French aid. But alas ! they were 
 greatly and bitterly disappointed. Certainly, the whole British 
 nation was greatly and deeply interested in the fate of their 
 ancient kinsmen, but how the British government felt in this 
 respect, I don't feel at liberty to say. Lord BusseU held out the 
 most glorious promises, issued threatening notes against Germany *, 
 the Enerlish papers wrote, " Take heed to yourselves, believe, 
 
THE 8LESWI0E-H0LSTEIN QUESTION. 
 
 17 
 
 ^ • 
 
 vie are ia earnest/' and so on. However, nothing was done for 
 the assistanoe of Denmark, or for redressing the enormous wrongs 
 inflicted upon h€t. She was left alone, was overmatched, brutally 
 treated, and had to give up. The Prussians even went so far as 
 to invade the peninsula of Jutland, where they committed such 
 acts of merciless ravage and depredation, even unheard of in 
 the time of the Vandals. I shall, however, pass over the details 
 of the ruthless havoc they perpetrated, a havoc which continued 
 until the peace of October 30th, last year, was concluded, in which 
 Denmark lost the two fertile provinces, which had belonged to her 
 for centuries. The peace-document, dictated by Prussia and 
 Austria, has the blasphemous superscription : " In the name of 
 the holy and indivii^le Trinity." 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen ! I will not pay you so ill a compliment 
 as to imagine that you can remain any longer in the slightest doubt 
 as to the truth, of the proposition, which it has been my main 
 object in my discussion to establish, provided you think me honest 
 enough to have stated the full historical truth. . Little Denmark 
 is deeply agonizing at this very hour, but her hopes for brighter 
 days, she will not, she cannot forego. '* On the very verge of 
 ruin,'' eaid once the great statesman, Talleyrand, " the Almighty 
 has always a miracle in His pocket to save thee, noble Denmark." 
 Acquiescing in this conviction, I look safely forward for the fate 
 of Denmark, the place of my nativity, where my cradle was rocked, 
 where I leceived blessings upon blessings, and the ingrafted divine 
 word, which is able to save souls, and I shall allow myself to con- 
 clude this speech with the language of the gifted Norwegian 
 orator and divine, the Rev. W. H. Wexels : " Live the gallant 
 warrior Danes, live the warmhearted people of the champaign 
 country, live it in spite of all direful German prophecies of des- 
 truotion and annihilation. Vivat Bania ! Yivat ! ! Yivat M ! "