The Sleswick-Holstein Question

 

By Paul C. Sinding

 

[Originally published by the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec in Transactions, New Series, No. 3 (1865)]

 

(Read before the Society, 19th April, 1865.)

 

The Sleswick-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 Canada-

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 survey of the merits of the question, let it be clearly understood, that I will not attempt to give even 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 importance 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 1239, up to this very day an almost entire Danish-speaking Province, with the exception of the southern districts, where only Gorman is spoken, and considered by all European powers and treaties an inseparable part, of the Danish body. Holstein, 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 German 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 so-called Sleswick-Holstein Dukedom, which was to be entirely severed from the Danish crown for all time to come, was the object of the scandalous crusade waged against Denmark in 1848, and the two subsequent years, by the treacherous Duke of Augustenburg, the ringleader of the rebellion, and supported well nigh by all Germany,—the knavish duke, though nearly related to the Royal Danish house, and having sworn allegiance to the Danish king, having already 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 undaunted 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 principles as the former one, began in the beginning of last year —1864—again to threaten Denmark's independence, integrity and nationality, and consummated, I grieve to say, its nefarious designs.; Little Denmark being rendered no assistance from her allies, and; although wont to defend herself bravely against two, and not yield to three, as the old sagas tell, could, however, not withstand, the innumerable company of Prussians inundating the Danish dominion, 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. Charlomagne 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 Godfred, King of Denmark, protected Holstein and commenced war. Making large progress, and even threatening to visit Charlemagne in his residence, Aix-la-Chapelle, the Emperor was happy enough to get | rid of that intelligent and brave enemy—Godfred, unfortunately, being treacherously killed by one of his own people. His successor, Hemming, made peace with Charlemagne in the year 811, A.D., by which peace the River Eider, which separates Sleswick 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 against inroads of the Germans. Already Godfred, recently mentioned, had erected a similar fortification, called Kurvirke, but the irruption of the German Emperor, Henry the Fowler, had proved that the country needed a stronger bulwark, wherefore the queen, Thyra, founded the famous Dannevirke. 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 the 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 of Sleswick, as it then was called. In the 12th century the Margraviate pf Sleswick was mercilessly dealt with by the Venders | (Venders or Vandalians, a rapacious set of pirates occupying the j coast of the Baltic right from Denmark up to the Gulf of Finland), | till at length the warlike and able Danish prince, Canute Lavard, a son of the Danish king Eric the Good, conquered the Venders, and not only secured the Margraviate of Sleswick to the crown of Denmark, but prevailed upon the German Emperor, who by virtue of his dignity as Roman Emperor, was acknowledged the secular. f head of the whole Christian world, to elevate Sleswick to a Dukedom, 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 Sleswiek, 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, pregnant 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 consequences, 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 circumstances, Abel soon assumed a hostile 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 he had committed, chose him king to avoid a civil war. By these means they also indisputably reunited the Dukedom of Sleswick to the Crown. If the royalty had remained in Abel's family, Sleswick would, of course, have been reunited with the kingdom, and all future contests prevented; but Christopher 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 Erie. Both parties exerted all their power to gain the ascendancy. The king encompassed Sleswick with his army and claimed as uncle, the guardianship 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, Eric Glipping, would not comply with giving him Sleswick as an hereditary fief, but only as a personal, joined the Counts of Holstein, 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 dissension, the king reentered the dukedom with a powerful army, and seizing upon the fortress of Tônder, 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 Eric, was, according to the aforesaid ruinous system of division, invested with Sleswick as a fief. But not content with it, he now also laid claim to Arô, 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 sovereign. 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 a good prospect of again getting the dukedom of Sleswick reunited with the kingdom, as Henry, the then duke of Sleswick, 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 deferred to the following reign. The great Queen Margaretha, the daughter of Waldemar IV., styled the Semiramis of the North, and regina sine exemplo maxima, now ascended the throne and aimed all her efforts at regaining the Dukedom of Sleswick, which circumstances had compelled her in the beginning of her reign to. resign to Gerhard IV., Count of Holstein. For such a reunion of Sleswick a favorable opportunity appeared when Gerhard was killed in an expedition against the Friesers, leaving behind three sons in minority. Elizabeth, Gerhard's widow, fled to Margaretha for assistance against her violent brother-in-law, Bishop Henry, of Osnabrück. Margaretha, very fond of fishing in foul water, was very willing to help her, but availed herself of the opportunity to annex successfully different parts of Sleswick to the crown. The prosecution of her plan for the perfect reunion of Sleswick was unfortunately interrupted by her death, 1412 A. D., her imprudent and weak successor, Eric of Pomerania, having no vigour of mind to restrain the turbulent spirit of the three sons of the deceased duke, who took advantage of his inability, endeavoring to withdraw themselves from his authority, and to be enfeoffed with the Dukedom of Sleswiok. At the diet of Nyburg the king summoned the young dukes to appear, and opened the Assembly I himself with a full explanation of the circumstances of the dispute. When he had finished his speech the Archbishop, in a fulminating harangue, declared that the duchess-dowager, Elizabeth, and her I 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 Sleswick should therefore be annexed to the Crown of Denmark. No sooner had

the archbishop pronounced this sentence than the eldest son of the deceased duke, Gerhard, threw himself at the king's feet and besought him to grant the investiture of the dukedom as a fief; but the king replied in the negative. The three young dukes now began to concert measures for 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 Lagainst them, he was defeated near Immervad in Sleswick, with great loss, insomuch that his flight became a proverb—"At Immervad the Danes were 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 canvassed. Nevertheless the young dukes embraced every opportunity to frustrate the intention of the truce, and chose to decide the difference by the sword. The king perceiving their aim, now took the course of appealing to the German Emperor, Sigismuud, I and repaired to Ofen, in Hungary, where the Emperor then resided. Construing the appeal in favor of the king, the Emperor declared that all Sleswick 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, resolved upon a pilgrimage to Palestine. But after returning he 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, and weakened the kingdom by the most destructive ravages. However, their attempts to seize upon Copenhagen failed, the city being saved by the bravery and intelligent preparations of his queen Philippa, a daughter of Henry V. of England. At length the unlucky war with the dukes was 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 Sleswick, Denmark thus again being dispossessed of Sleswick. Finally a surer prospect than ever before of reuniting Sleswick permanently with the kingdom, and thus « terminating the incessant quarrels and contests, presented itself it? the death of this Adolphus, called Adolphus VIII., who die without issue in the year 1459, A.D., but instead of incorporating it as an escheated fief, Christian I., then King of Denmark, the first king of the House of Oldenburg, very unwisely engaged himself 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 Adolphus, 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 binding themselves to choose their following dukes amongst the Danish kings and their successors (male heirs), according to the Salic law. This year, 1459 A.D., is therefore an essential year in the history of the Dukedom of Holstein, the stipulation showing I 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 following kings a lesson, but no, they all seem to have been blindfolded and deaf to the lessons of experience, for Christian III., 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 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 Frederick II, and so it went on. It is easy to see of what vast detriment these divisions were to the solid interests of the Danish body.

 

At length all controversy concerning Sleswick was brought to a close by the treaty of 1720, A.D., when Sweden, who had sided with the then rebellious duke Frederick, pledged himself no more to assist the duke, and England and France guaranteed to Denmark the Dukedom of Sleswick, binding themselves to defend Denmark'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 Prance, to which Russia acceded, binding themselves 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 never 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, according 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 different branches, and the subsequent extinction of collateral lines, and it was not before the year 1750, A.D., that the whole came permanently under the Danish sway, when Adolphus Frederick, the elected successor to the Swedish throne, and the head of the younger line of the Dukes of Holstein, engaged himself to exchange the ducal part of Holstein for the two counties of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst, Denmark thereby coming into an undivided possession of Holstein. Some years after, about the year 1779 A.D., also, the Glücksburg possessions of Sleswick at the death of the last duke, by inheritance devolved to the Danish crown, and all the small parcels Sleswick, which by earlier division had been separated from the crown, were reunited to it, except the possession of the Duke Augustenburg. As Duke of Holstein, the King of Denmark has a seat in the German diet, but on the dissolution of the Germany Empire, 1806, that feudal obligation, in which Holstein had be to the German Emperor ceased, KS no such personage then existed and Holstein 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 VI., was present himself, and subscribed there to the re-incorporation of Holstein into the German Confederation, upon condition that he himself, and his lineal male heirs continue to be Dukes of Holstein, and as such be members of the Confederacy, having three votes in the full Council, and binding himself, if need be, to furnish a contingent of 3,600 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 spoken of Sleswick, it being considered 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 lie called it, and erect for himself an independent Sleswick-Holstein Stale. That victory which in the beginning of 1848 had followed the popular commotions of France and Germany, was 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, Frederick VII., is hostile to their privileges"; all, at least at that time, entire moonshine. In the the 24th of March, 1848, he wrote a message to Copenhagen, "Sleswiek-Holstein, twenty-four hours ago, became an dependent State, shook off the Danish yoke, and appointed a provisional government." On the 25th of March the Duke of Augustenburg arrived in Rendsburg, and the insurgents assembled under the command of his brother, Prince Frederick. A sanguinary three years' war was now waged against Denmark, the insurgents being assisted by more than 0,000 Prussians and Hanoverians. What did England now do? Did she act according to the great covenants of 1720 and 1727? No, she did not. All the time it was said: England is negotiating! Mirabile dictu! What was there to negotiate about? Negotiating! while she was pound by sacred treaties to protect the dukedom of Sleswick from all invasion. France acted no better. Russia was the only power I which, in accordance with the great covenant, did something, and; little enough, to vindicate 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, Düppel, 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, a treaty was concluded in London, between Denmark, 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 Deumark, and to the Dukedoms of Sleswick and Holstein upon the loyal Prince Christian of the Glücksburg line, 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 Denmark was conferred, his civil list being fixed to the amount of 50,000 rix-dollars annually. On the 15th of November, 1863, the King of Denmark died without issue, the throne, according to the treaty of 1852, recently mentioned, devolving to Prince Christian, the father of the Princess of Wales, who immediately f was proclaimed King of Denmark and Duke of Sleswiek and Holstein, 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 Augustenburg, and my words concerning them I quote from the Edinburgh Quarterly Review: "The Prince Christian, of Glücksburg, stood as a descendant of Christian III, high in the male succession, and most of them who stood before him, had been guilty of treason 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:—'We 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 organization of His monarchy.'" And now the Edinburgh Quarterly Review continues: "In the vocabulary of the Duke of Augustenburg, it is, of course, to be presumed, that the word, 'family' does not include 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 deed had been signed, and the enormous sum of money paid. Pretty smart piece of business!" Thus far the Quarterly Review. But what did now the perfidious Duke do? After having pocketed a the enormous sum of money, and after having given that sublime and affecting declaration, you recently have been listening to, he made it his business to travel round in Germany, and by fulminating 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 former schemes for establishing for himself and family a large and independent Sleswick-Holstein Dukedom, Such an opportunity offered itself, when the King, Frederick the Seventh, had breathed his last. Instantly the perfidious duke, 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 of the nefarious duke their duke, but secretly intending, after the conquest 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 Austrians, confiding in the overwhelming forces they could bring to bear upon the conflict, and in their superior artillery, entertained a glorious anticipation 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 Sleswick. Perhaps Denmark is somewhat to be blamed in this respect, but having been absent now for a .number of years, I am unable to decide this question with any certainty. At all events; 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, with all good reason considering themselves most 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 meet the Prussian and Austrian legions and the fleet was launched into the Baltic, and the defence of the Danes all the time, of course, I against superior nunbers, ranges high, 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 and bravery as may he ought for in vain oven in the annals of the Romans and Carthagenians; the innumerable multitude of Prussians and Austrians, says the English press, stormed, and stormed, and stormed, again, and again, and again, 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 the less, 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 Russell held out the most glorious promises, issued threatening notes against Germany; the English papers wrote, "Take heed to yourselves, believe, we are in earnest," and so on. However, nothing was done for the assistance of Denmark, or for redressing the enormous wrongs S inflicted upon her. She was left alone, was overmatched, brutally F treated, and had to give up. The Prussians even went so far as I 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 indivisible 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," said 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 received blessings upon blessings, and the ingrafted divine word, which is able to save souls, and I shall allow myself to conclude 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 destruction and annihilation. Vivat Dania! Vivat! ! Vivat! ! ! "