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bursts forth as a flood-forbearance reaches its utmost limitsthe framework of government is shivered into fragments, and popular violence becomes the only law. But why the discontent? And why the attack upon existing institutions? The answer is furnished in very few words; and it is this-Because the rights of industry are invaded, and there is thus presented a perpetual provocative to discontent; but whenever that discontent bursts forth in popular commotion, are not those, without doubt, the most guilty parties, who have administered the provocation?

We have been led into these observations by the work now before us, which is one among a large number of proofs, that an increasing consciousness exists of the neglected condition of our working population. Remedies are not usually proposed until disorders are thought to be alarming; and since the violent throes of the European Continent proclaimed the hazard to the civilized world of trifling with the condition of the people; and aroused from their slumbers those who never before had opened their eyes; moralists, reformers, and legislators, have suddenly sprang to their feet, to descry the danger created by their own supineness. "The interests of our common humanity," remarks our author, "demand that we investigate, as we have ability and opportunity, the present frightful condition of vast numbers of our humbler classes of society." We cordially concur with him in this opinion, both of duty and danger; for if society is unsound and depraved at its foundations, the case is too alarming not to render it a binding duty on every philanthropist and patriot, to exert himself to the uttermost to remove the cause of the evil. If the base be weak or defective, the pyramid will, sooner or later, totter to its fall.

But what are the evils that specially affect the workingclasses? What are the distinct and peculiar elements of disorder that pollute and endanger their social condition? Our author has adduced a mass of important facts and testimonies to prove that the giant evil, the leader of the deadly host, is intemperance; and sure we are that none can read this portion of his valuable work without coming to the conclusion, that of all the vices and sufferings to which the industrious classes become a prey, this is the most despotic, the most pitiless, the most universal. From this monster crime springs the serpent-curse that poisons the purity of domestic life, while it spreads its venom through all society. It fills the home with poverty, and the streets with immodesty and crime; it converts the woman and the wife into an agent of habitual inhumanity; it trains the confiding, the tender heart of innocent youth to a callous familiarity with scenes the most revolting, and it reduces the father and the husband to a beggar and a beast.

But while we agree in all the testimony collected by Mr. Russom in condemnation of this vice, and thank him for having presented it so attractively before the public, we cannot but ask the question, Is the State wholly free from blame in this very serious particular? Has there been no guilty participation in the commission of this crime, for the purposes of revenue? Not, for a moment, would we impute the guilt to the motives of the originators of the "Beer Bill;" but we do unhesitatingly charge upon the measure itself a vast proportion of the drunkenness that curses the workingman. For if, as it has been frequently asserted (but with what degree of truth we do not affirm), the humbler classes in England are more addicted to the vice of intoxication than those of any other nation, is not this a very sufficient reason for removing to the greatest possible distance the temptations to its indulgence? Should not the State, charged as it is with the care of public morals, have lessened to the lowest degree the facilities for drunkenness, and have diligently studied to keep out of the way of the working-man

the means of cheapening his own destruction, and of becoming a public curse? But what has the State done? Why, the reverse of all this; for it has almost presented a boon to traffickers in intemperance; placed a "beer-shop" in every street, and nearly at every corner; and virtually converted the increased drunkenness of the land into a part and parcel of the means of increasing the public revenue. Oh! it is a matter for profound lamentation, that these temptations to crime, these sinks of social infamy, must continue to swallow their victims, that the exchequer may be supplied; and to draw down to death their succeeding thousands, that the Minister may present to "the house" a good-looking Budget.

But Mr. Russom notices a number of other evils as afflicting the working-classes, and describes, with clearness and force, their disastrous consequences. As we hope that our readers will possess themselves of the work, we deem it sufficient simply to recommend to their earnest perusal the description given in the author's own words.

We should not have extended our observations thus far, especially on a subject that some of our readers may regard as foreign to our province, had we not felt fully convinced of the close connexion there is between the elevation of the working-classes, and the promotion of peaceful habits among them. For as there is a consanguinity between the vices— a sort of family connexion among the crimes-equally so is there among the virtues. Depress the working-man, debase his character, or blunt his moral sensibilities, and you make him the easy prey of every corrupt influence, the ready victim of the Recruiting Sergeant. Having lost all selfrespect, he soon becomes careless of personal liberty; and when once this point is reached, it requires no foreknowledge to predict his destiny. On the first opportunity he will exchange home (if one he has) for a barrack, and sell his life and limbs to do the work of the War-God in any part of the earth. But raise him in the scale of social being, teach him to respect himself, make him familiar with moral considerations, and, above all, train him to set a just value on his own existence, then he becomes a man; and, carrying about with him the considerations proper to his own humanity, he insensibly learns to estimate another even as he estimates himself, and to care for the life of another as he would care for his own.

But on these points we refer to the second part of Mr. Russom's work, where, in a series of chapters on "A Soldier's Sufferings," the author has dealt with them in an able and an interesting manner; and in the third part of his work, he has shown with equal ability the nature and importance of " Woman's Protection." In this portion of the book the author has evinced great diligence and skill, and produced a happy finish to a well-timed and valuable little volume, which we hope will obtain an extensive circulation.

In conclusion, we can only add, that the improvement of the working-classes is an undertaking of imperative necessity. They have claims that we are bound to respect, and rights which should ever be held sacred. We are to remember that they are our brethren, that they toil for our welfare, and labour hard for our daily bread. We should constantly remind ourselves that they are our fellow-immortals, and that, equally with the noble and the monarch, they were made "in the image of God." As men, they are superior to all wealth, and more valuable far than all worldly property. And while deploring their comparative debasement, we should apply ourselves vigorously to the work of their improvement, and so fit them for that period that must inevitably come, when all legislation shall centre in MAN, and all human institutions shall exist for his sole welfare.

"Pleasant Pages." A Journal of Home Education on the Infant-School System. By SAMUEL PROUT NEWCOMBE. Parts 1, 2, 3, for July, August, and September. Houlston and Stoneman.

SURELY there is a "good time coming," we could not help exclaiming, as we rose from the perusal of these "Pleasant Pages," and our mind pictured to itself that future condition of society which a discipline such as the one here recommended, must, sooner or later, bring about. "Surely," we thought, "if any plan of domestic training can be better adapted to the solid improvement of our rising families than any other, this is the one." Nor are we disposed, on graver reflection, to recal this opinion; for, after having carefully examined the purpose of the author, with the plan he adopts to accomplish that purpose, tracing, as we have gone along, the adaptedness of the day's lesson to the end professedly sought in the combined instruction, we declare it to be our deep conviction, that no parent of ordinary diligence could miss the end intended, if persevering in the exercise of the lesson for the day.

For each day of the week, the work supplies an appropiate lesson, besides the occasional introduction of beautiful poetic pieces: and our readers will best understand the author's intention by our giving the range of subjects for one week, each of which is renewed on the same day of succeeding weeks, until (we suppose) the series shall be complete. -Monday, Moral Lesson.-Tuesday, Natural History.-Wednesday, History. Thursday, Object Lesson (as butter, milk, sugar, &c.).—Friday, Physical Geography.-Saturday, Drawing. Each lesson is arranged to occupy not more than half-an-hour; and we assure our readers, that we know of no work where so much really valuable matter is presented in such suitable terms, and in a method so interesting and engaging to the youthful mind. As a specimen of these qualities, as well as to show the pure morality and elevated Christian sentiment which the author constantly intermingles with his historic and scientific dialogues, we quote the following from page 55, the Wednesday's lesson on History. The speakers are a parent and his children :

"L. I think that nations kill each other, because they are Heathens. Only such nations as the Romans, who have not learned about God, would do such things.

"W. But the English are not Heathens. They are Christians, and have murdered natives in America, Africa, Australia, and India, on purpose to get their lands.

"P. That is true, Willie; but you must not say they murdered them. People call this "murder "-where one man goes up to another, and kills him; but when one nation of men march to another to kill them, that is called War.'

"L. And the men are not called 'murderers,'-they are called 'warriors.'

"Ion. How curious, that the men should be called by a different name, because they all happen to be together-by the side of each other-when they are killing! Suppose a man was sixty yards away from the others, and was to kill one of his enemies, would he be a warrior or a murderer ? "W. That would depend upon which name he liked best. You may call the action what you please; but I think that the thing which is doneI mean the killing-is just the same. There are not two killings-and there is no difference in the thing itself because it is done by several people.

"Ion. So I think! To kill a man means to make him die;' and unless there is any other killing, it is the same, whether it is done by a man or a nation.

"P. Well, Ion, that is quite true. It is just what any boy's common sense will teach him. Christian people are now beginning to believe that it is wrong to make wars, or to call them 'glory.'

"

"L. Are they only beginning to believe, papa? How strange! There is much scientific and historic information running through the whole of these lessons, with which every family circle should be wellacquainted. Indeed, we think that the family will prove singularly defective who shall continue strange to the teachings of "Pleasant Pages."

"The Christian Lady's Library." A Quarterly Journal. Stoneman.

Houlston and

THIS is a new work of no ordinary pretensions, whether its style, or the character of its articles, is considered. As a publication professing to provide instruction for the ladies, it was to be expected that it should appear in as attractive a form as possible, and that, by the variety and utility of its contents, it should become an agreeable and edifying companion to the fair sex in those moments of leisure which it is their right to enjoy. These conditions it has completely fulfilled, and we hail with pleasure this valuable addition to our quarterly literature, and hope that the ladies will afford it that generous and enlarged support which the undertaking requires and deserves. The contents of the present Number are of a superior nature; but we specially recommend to repeated perusal the articles entitled "Private Life versus Public Life," and "On the Cultivation of the Mind." These pieces should be studied by every lady in the land.

"The British Controversialist." Nos. 4 and 5, for August and September. Houlston and Stoneman.

In this work the lovers of discussion and debate may meet with ample gratification, either as spectators of the strife, or as practitioners in the arena of contention. Here the leading popular questions of the day are analysed, and supported or opposed, with a skill that does no mean honour to some of the antagonists. Many of the papers evince great talent, others display an extensive reading,-while a few are evidently strained and affected. To profit by such a work, however, requires the calm control of fixed principles, to keep in check any tendency to vacil lation in which minds not grounded in the truth, may be inclined to in dulge. Of all mental infirmities, the disposition to cavil and to doubt is the most to be pitied and avoided, for it does more to prevent conviction than any other conceivable process. To "prove all things" is a sacred duty, but its importance arises from its being a means to that greatest of all ends, confirmation in the truth. While employing controversy in the pursuit of this important object, we should always bear in mind that, abstractedly considered, contention is an evil, and that only when used in the exposure of error should it be tolerated or indulged. As we would fain hope that the work before us will contribute to this end, we wish for it complete success.

OUR INDIAN WARS.

Liverpool, June 10, 1850. MY DEAR SIR,-Having been furnished by the brother of the writer with the following extract from a letter written during the Sikh war, I forward it for the next HERALD, in the hope that we may be prompted to persevering action by the testimony of one who was almost an eye-witness of that dreadful conflict. It may be proper to remark, that the writer was in the Military service of the East India Company about seven years, he married the daughter of a Colonel in the Indian army; since leaving the service he has been in the employ of the Church Missionary Society, and he is now engaged, under the patronage of the Rajah of Travancore, in establishing schools, and promoting the extension of European literature in that Presidency. He has extensive acquaintance with Indian affairs, and his testimony is, therefore, the more valuable; but his views on War are not yet clear and consistent, as the following extract will show; this, however, affects but little the character of his evidence.

I remain, dear Sir, yours very sincerely,

(Extract.)

WILLIAM STOKES.

"This is sad unchristian work (referring to the Sutledge), and it is the duty of every Christian to protest against it. I hope to hear that Peace Societies in England and elsewhere, and all the disciples of the Prince of Peace, will be more and more earnest and united in their efforts to put a stop to this Satanic rage. Shameful and distressing is it that such butcheries should be styled Glorious Victories, the chief actors in them called Heroes, and honoured with peerages, and other marks of high approbation, and subordinates, down to the lowest drummer or fifer, taught to aspire to glory by wading through blood and slaughter. Shameful and awful is it that mitred Bishops, and surpliced Priests, and others claiming to be the only duly authorised ministers of religion, and successors of the apostles, should consecrate the banners of war, and instead of proclaiming 'Blessed are the Peace makers,' and that no murderer hath eternal life in him,' persuade whole regiments of public murderers that they pursue their bloody work under the protection and blessing of Jehovah. How will these answer for this in the day of judgment?

"I do not mean by my remarks in the letter that this war is so iniquitous and censurable as that of Affghanistan, or that in China; the Sikhs in this case were certainly the aggressors,* and the British could not, as circumstances were, help fighting in defence of themselves and their territory. But all wars are unchristian, and if Christian principles were prevalent, wars would cease, but while Christians (or rather people misnamed Christians) feed, and fatten, and enrich, and ennoble themselves and all their kith and kin on war, the evil must be perpetuated."

*This is very questionable; and the entire paragraph betrays some confusion of thought, with an approach to self-contradiction. This, howver, leaves untouched the writer's powerful testimony against the wickedness of war.-W. S.

THE HERALD OF
OF PEACE.

"Put up thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword."-MATT. xxvi. 52. "They shall beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."-ISAIAH ii. 4.

No. V. NEW SERIES.]

DENMARK AND THE DUCHIES.

NOVEMBER, 1850.

IN our last HERALD we gave an extended account of the proceedings of our valued friends, Messrs. Sturge, Burritt, and Wheeler, in their praiseworthy and self-denying efforts to induce the Danes and the Holsteiners to refer their dispute to Arbitration. Soon after that number was printed, Mr. Sturge and Mr. Wheeler returned to England, having accomplished, as far as in them lay, the object they had so much at heart. Immediately on their arrival they adopted the prudent course of explaining their true position in the mission they had undertaken; and to remove all misconceptions on this score, they issued the following judicious address, which, though many of our readers may have seen it already, we judge worthy of a permanent record on our pages.

TO THE MEMBERS OF THE LATE PEACE CONGRESS AT FRANKFORT. You are, perhaps, generally aware, that on the morning of the last sitting of the Congress, a gentleman of high respectability from Berlin, applied to the Bureau for permission to present a memorial, signed by several distinguished individuals of that city. This memorial requested the Congress to investigate the merits of the controversy now pending between Denmark and the Duchies of Schleswig-Holstein. On consideration, it was decided that such an investigation could not be entered upon without violating one of the rules which had been adopted for the regulation of the proceedings, and which proscribed any direct allusion to the political events of the day. Nevertheless, many of the members of the Congress were inspired with an earnest desire that no favourable opportunity should be lost for interposing pacific counsels, with the hope of preventing the further effusion of blood, and of promoting an amicable adjustment of the difference.

Entertaining this hope, and disclaiming all intention of entering on the merits of the case, we ventured, solely on our own reponsibility, to proceed to the theatre of the contest, for the purpose of entreating the contending parties to refer the whole question at issue to the decision of enlightened and impartial arbitrators, and thus to spare themselves the further infliction of the calamities and horrors of a war which could never satisfactorily settle the matter in dispute, and which is contemplated with pain and sorrow by the friends of religion and humanity throughout the world.

In order to prevent any misapprehension in regard to the object of our voluntary mission, we embodied the views expressed in the preceding paragraphs in a written statement, intended to be presented in the first place to the authorities of Schleswig-Holstein. We arrived at Kiel in the evening of the 2nd of September, and the next day waited upon the President of the Representative Assembly, and several members of that body, upon the Burgomaster, persons connected with the University, and other influential individuals, representing different classes of the community, and explained to them the object of our visit. Although a fixed determination was manifest to resist force by force to the last extremity, yet, without a single exception, they expressed their willingness to leave the whole question at issue to impartial arbitration.

On the following day, we proceeded to Rendsburg, the principal fortress in Holstein, and then the seat of the Schleswig-Holstein Government; and waited upon the Stadtholders and other members of the Government. They received us with great courtesy, and listened with serious attention to our written statement, and to the considerations and arguments which we urged in favour of arbitration, as an equitable and practicable mode of settling the existing difficulty. They replied that it was quite impossible for the Government of the Duchies to make any

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proposition, and that we must distinctly understand, that we had no mission from them to the Danish Government. But they added,

That they should be willing to refer the claims of the Duchies to the decision of enlightened and impartial arbitrators, provided Denmark would also submit its claims to the same tribunal, reserving for eventual arrangement the appointment, composition, and jurisdiction of the Court. We reduced this reply to writing, and afterwards submitted it to their examination, when they assented to its accuracy.

Having obtained this declaration from the Government of the Duchies, we left the next morning for Copenhagen, where we arrived on the 10th instant, after having been detained several days in quarantine.

We readily obtained separate interviews with the Prime Minister and with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who received us with great cordiality and kindness. We presented to them a written statement of the object of our mission, and of what had transpired at Rendsburg. We invited their especial attention to the Treaty of Alliance between Denmark and the Duchies, bearing date 1533, which was renewed in 1623, and confirmed at Travendahl in 1700; by which "the contracting parties bound themselves mutually to assist each other; and, with respect to any differences that might arise between them, they agreed to adjust them, not by means of arms, but by means of councillors constituted as arbitrators, on the part of each, and disengaged from their oath of allegiance." We concluded our statement in these words :

"We come as private individuals, invested with no political authority. But we know that we represent the convictions and sympathies of millions, both on this and the other side of the Atlantic; and we entreat the Danish Government, in the name of our common Christianity,to arrest the further slaughter of those to whom God has united them, not only by the ties of the universal brotherhood of man, but also by close affinity and neighbourhood, and whom they even consider as their own countrymen. We earnestly appeal to them to put an end to this unnatural and deplorable war, and to accept a mode of settlement which shall recognise and establish the just rights of both parties, and heal the breach which the sword has made between them." We added a few verbal remarks; and among others, to the effect that Denmark, by this mode of settlement, would release herself from those obligations to foreign diplomacy which might obstruct the full development of her free institutions.

Both the ministers expressed their desire to effect a satisfactory and pacific arrangement. They said they were sensible of the evils of the war, and were anxious to bring it to a speedy termination, by an amicable mode of adjustment. At our last interview with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, he said, substantially, that if the Government of the Duchies would authorise a plan or basis of arbitration, the Danish Government would take it into immediate consideration. We subsequently received the declaration, that they accepted the principle of arbitration to the same extent, that it was accepted by the Schleswig-Holstein Government at Rendsburg.

Having received this reply, we returned to Kiel, to communicate it to the Government of the Duchies, and to endeavour to induce a direct negotiation on the composition, appointment, and jurisdiction of the Court of Arbitration. On the 23rd and 24th inst., we met the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who authorized a plan of arbitration prescribed by the treaty between the two countries, to which we have referred. He also appointed a gentleman to meet any one the Danish Government should be willing to commission, for the purpose of agreeing upon the measures requisite to carry this plan into effect. Steps have been taken to bring these parties together as early as possible; and one of our number (Elihu Burritt) will remain at Hamburgh for a few weeks, with a view of doing all in his power to facilitate and expedite this preliminary stage of negotiation.

Although you were in no way responsible for our voluntary mission, yet, as it originated in the Memorial addressed to the Peace Congress from Berlin, and knowing the deep interest felt on the subject, we have

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deemed it right to lay this statement before you. There may yet be difficulties in the way of a final and satisfactory settlement between the contending parties; but we have great confidence that those with whom it now rests, will be able to bring it to a speedy and successful conclusion. And, indeed, it has filled us with astonishment as well as sorrow, that this unnatural war, in which brother is arrayed against brother, and even father against son, should ever have been declared, or have continued so long, with men at the head of both Governments who appear to feel strongly those obligations of humanity, and of the religion of Christ, which impose upon them the solemn duty to settle the difference by reason and justice, and not by an appeal to brute force. If such an arrangement be not now effected, we believe that it will be mainly attri butable to the interference of the great European Powers, contrary to the wish of one of the contending parties, as indicated in the London Protocol of the 2nd of August-a document which has excited strong dissatisfaction in the minds of the inhabitants of the Duchies, and in which millions in other portions of Europe largely participate.

If the steps now in progress shall result in a pacific solution of this aggravated difficulty, we hope that the friends of Peace will be encouraged to labour, with renewed zeal and activity, to substitute, in every case of international controversy, the arbitration of reason, justice, and humanity, for the cruel and barbarous decision of the sword.

Hamburgh, September 25th, 1850.

JOSEPH STURGE, England. ELIHU BURRITT, United States. FREDERIC WHEELER, England. Since the return of our friends and the issuing of the foregoing address, the war has been renewed with a most appalling vigour. All the remonstrances that benevolence devised and presented, appear to have been lost on both parties; and considering the somewhat desultory character of the attacks, there has seldom been exhibited a more destructive conflict. The worst passions of which our fallen nature is susceptible, have been brought into murderous display in this fierce encounter; and the temporary advantages gained by either party, have served to make the strife more furious by superadding to the original hostility a sense of defeat. In the early stages of this renewed warfare the Holsteiners obtained some slight superiority, and, flushed with victory, they stormed the town of Fredericstadt, in which unsuccessful attempt they lost 600 men, including a considerable number of officers, and had the mortification of being obliged to retire on their former entrenchments.* No sooner was this melancholy change in the position of the parties known in this country than the Peace Congress Committee resolved on issuing the following address, in the hope of inducing them,-partly from their own sense of propriety, and partly from the influence of public opinion throughout Europe, which it was one of the objects of the address to set in motion,-to desist from so sanguinary a conflict and refer the dispute to Arbitration. Copies of the address have been forwarded to a large number of the journals on the Continent, especially in the North of Europe and near the seat of the war; and the promoters of this measure are waiting with intense anxiety to learn the effect it has produced on the minds of the belligerents.

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"To see two nations engaged in a sanguinary war, entering each other's territories, and carrying with them devastation and death, is a mournful spectacle under any circumstances; but that feeling deepens into horror when the conflicting parties have hitherto been politically associated and united by a thousand ties of kindred and of friendship. That is, unhappily, your case at the present moment, and the friends of Religion and Peace in Great Britain are deeply affected by the circumstance.

"Is there no way of terminating this 'unnatural strife?' No means of stopping the further effusion of blood, and the destruction of property? Shall the War go on until your resources are dried up, and you can bring no more men into the field to be slaughtered? The war must terminate

*The destructive nature of this attack may be estimated from the following statement in the Copenhagen Berlingske-that out of 506 houses 137 were burned to the ground, and were worth 364,720 marks; that 285 were more or less damaged to the amount of 153,030 marks; and that out of the entire number only two wholly escaped injury. And such is war in the middle of the nineteenth century!

in one way or another; but will the victors in either case obtain the end they seek? That may reasonably be doubted; for, depend upon it, the points in dispute, whatever they may be, will still have to be adjusted by negotiation and arrangement; and not improbably, third parties will have ultimately to decide on your conflicting claims. The friends of Peace would, therefore, counsel you, as brethren deeply interested in your welfare, to abandon hostilities immediately, and to submit the important questions at issue to the decision of an enlightened and impartial Court of Arbitration. From such a tribunal both parties may expect justice :from the sword, never!

"The friends of Peace, however, would appeal to you on still higher grounds. You are professedly Christians; you acknowledge the authority of the Prince of Peace. They would, therefore, earnestly and solemnly appeal to you, whether the prolongation of the present War is compatible with His commands? nay, whether it is not destructive of all those sentiments and feelings which men and Christians are bound by the most sacred obligations to entertain towards each other? Thou shalt love not only thy neighbour, but thine enemy, is a plain command of the gospel; then permit your friends and brethren to exhort you, by all that is sacred in our common humanity, and by all that is holy in our common religion, to cease from strife. All that you can ever gain by fighting is loss-loss of property-loss of happiness-loss of life! How wise then to listen to the counsels of Peace! how rational to submit your differences to Arbitration! how religious to abandon the weapons of war, and submit to the decisions of justice and equity! We affectionately and urgently entreat you to abstain from further violence towards each other, and to cultivate a spirit of moderation, kindness, and goodwill. Do not pursue a merciless and savage war; and remember that every sword you draw, every musket you fire, every cannon you discharge, is directed against a brother's breast. Think of the homes already made desolate, the widows and orphans who bewail the loss of husbands and fathers, the friends who have been severed, and the moral as well as social calamities which war invariably produces and perpetuates. In view of such considerations, let men in whom you have mutual confidence be selected to consider, with all the facts before them, your conflicting claims, and let their decision be final. You will thus set a worthy example to others in similar circumstances; you will terminate a sanguinary and costly war; your soldiers will be dismissed to the peaceful occupations of husbandry and trade; your villages will be rebuilt and your cities restored; your harvests will be gathered in, your commerce flourish, and, above all, you will have vindicated your claims to be regarded as Christians by your brethren in the faith.

"We do not address you as partisans, we have no preferences, we are equally the friends of the Danes, and of the inhabitants of the Duchies. It is no business of ours to inquire into the origin of the dispute between you, or to offer an opinion whether either or both of the conflicting parties are wrong. We are opposed to all intervention in your affairs, excepting with your own consent, and for the sole purpose of promoting reconciliation and peace by pacific means. Brethren! may you be influenced by the Spirit of Peace; and may He who is "the God of Peace so counsel and guide you, that you may earnestly seek for that great blessing, and be enabled to secure it!

"On behalf of the British Peace Congress Committee,
JOSEPH COOPER, Chairman.
ELIHU BURRITT,
Secretaries.

London, October 9th, 1850.

THE CAUSE AND OBJECTS OF THE WAR IN
HOLSTEIN.

As many of our readers may be unacquainted with the nature and intentions of the war now raging in Holstein, it will not be unacceptable to them to be presented with the leading facts of the case, that they may be able to form an opinion for themselves on the points at issue between the parties.

Since the year 1226, Schleswig (which was originally German) has existed as an independent duchy, politically separated from Denmark, and governed by its own dukes, who were the descendants of Duke Abel, the younger son of Waldemar 11., king of Denmark. The ducal house of Abel became extinct in the year 1375, and the Count of Holstein, of the house of Schauenburg, was invested with the ducal fief of Schleswig; since which period, and in consequence of the union of the sovereignty of the two states in one person, they have acquired the united appellation of SchleswigHolstein. In the year 1148, Count Christian of Oldenburg, the heir of the last Count of Holstein, was elected King of Denmark, with the express intention, on the part of the Danes, of uniting the duchies to Denmark; but so unpopular was this object among

the inhabitants of the duchies, that the elected monarch, on ascending the throne, executed an instrument by which he bound himself and his successors never to unite the Duchy of Schleswig with the Kingdom of Denmark.

In the year 1459, that is, eleven years after Christian 1. had ascended the Danish throne, the last Count of Holstein died, and, having left no direct succession, the sovereignty of the duchies fell to the King of Denmark, he being the nearest in the line. This was the foreseen and much dreaded danger of the Holsteiners; and to prevent, as far as possible, the utter loss of their own independence, they secured a convention at Ripen in 1460, between the King of Denmark and his Danish council on the one side, and the states of the two Duchies on the other. The result of this convention was the publication of the following document by the King of Denmark, in which he made most important concessions to the Duchies :-

1. That the succession of the Duchies should be limited to the

sons.

2. That the King and his successors should govern the Duchies, not as King of Denmark, but as Duke of Schleswig and Holstein. 3. That Schleswig and Holstein should for ever remain united. 4. That the King should impose no tax or contribution of any kind whatever in the Duchies without the consent of the states of the same.

5. That neither the inhabitants of Schleswig nor of Holstein should be liable to military service, on behalf of the King of Denmark, beyond the boundaries of the Duchies.

6. That all the public offices and other situations of trust should be filled by natives of Schleswig and Holstein.

These fundamental rights, secured by the solemn engagement of Christian 1, have been confirmed by every succeeding King of Denmark, and the inhabitants of the Duchies have thus an undoubted claim to their perpetuation. They were granted in the most solemn manner, they have been confirmed with undeviating regularity by every succeeding monarch, and their preservation is an implied condition of allegiance to the Kings of Denmark. If nothing will justify rebellion, much less will anything justify an attack on rights so sacredly pledged, and so tenderly cherished by the people. On the promulgation of the Lex Regia, in 1660, these concessions underwent a slight modification; but nothing was done, or attempted, to affect the political independence of the Duchies, or to annul the rights which successive ages had handed down unimpaired.

With few variations, the affairs of the Duchies continued as they were from 1660 down to 1842, when their inhabitants obtained a renewed assurance from the King, "that it was his intention to maintain unimpaired the political foundation on which the independence of Schleswig and its ancient connection with Holstein rested." At the opening of the Schleswig States assembly, in 1844, this royal assurance was repeated.

Soon after this period the Danish faction became more insolent and determined, until, in 1846, they induced King Christian VIII. to publish his famous letters patent, in which he asserted his title, and that of all his royal successors, to the sovereignty of Schleswig, and intimated his intention to remove whatever obstacles existed to such a claim in Holstein. This produced an alarming state of excitement throughout the Duchies, and led to counter-demonstrations of the most determined character. The Duke of Augustenburg and other members of the ducal house of Schleswig-Holstein, in their place at the Germanic Diet, entered their protest against the letters patent, and that august assembly delivered their verdict on the case, in the following memorable proposition;-" That they respect the rights of each and all, but especially the legitimate hereditary rights of the Agnates and the legal representation of the country, reserving to themselves the right of settling any difference that may arise."

To this claim of the Germanic Diet to an exclusive right of settling differences in the Duchy of Schleswig, the King of Denmark, as well as the other great powers, tacitly assented. The proposition was never disputed, and the claim was never denied.

Things remained in this state for some time longer; but on the death of King Christian VIII., in 1848, they took a turn for the worse, and the liberties of the Duchies were placed in greater danger than ever. Frederick VII. had scarcely ascended the throne, when the most corrupt influences were employed to induce him to renew the attempt to destroy the independence of the

Duchies. They so far prevailed as to influence him to issue a rescript, in which the real intention was hid in the verbiage of a studied plausibility. The rescript ran thus-"That he had resolved to grant a constitution which should secure the rights of the Crown as well as of his subjects, and confirm the particular rights and claims of the various parts of the realm." To hide more completely the dark purpose of the party, it also declared, "This constitution, which we shall grant by our own free will, shall leave unaltered the connection existing between Schleswig and Holstein."

Never was there concocted a more specious deception since the day that hypocrisy first began to play its pranks. The inhabitants of the Duchies had a constitution of their own, therefore they did not solicit another; and they too clearly foresaw, that to admit of Danish interference in such a vital particular as that of dictating to them what constitution they were to have, and, moreover, to force one upon them, in the formation of which they had never been consulted, would be to surrender their liberties for ever, and to deny that they were men. On the receipt of this rescript, the alarm throughout the Duchies was universal, and the agitation set on foot to defeat it was violent and intense. The people united in the expressions of their determination not to submit to foreign dictation; and they resolved on any sacrifice rather than become a party to the surrender of their own independence, by accepting a constitution at the hands of another. A counter-agitation, in favour of the rescript, scarcely less violent and intense than the one in the Duchies, was commenced at Copenhagen. This was headed by the well-known Orla Lehmann, and supported by a number of ambitious politicians among the Danes, who managed to obtain the ear of the sovereign and some of the ministers of state. They determined on the enforcement of this rescript by the use of the sword; and, about the period of the breaking out of the French revolution, in 1848, an order was issued for the fitting out of the whole fleet for the purpose, as was clearly understood at the time, of compelling the Duchies to accept the boon of a royal constitution. This was anticipated by the Schleswig-Holsteiners, and as far as possible to prevent it, they deputed, from their united Diets, five of their influential members with a petition to the King, containing the following requests:"1. The union of the states assemblies of the two Duchies. "2. That the project of a constitution, for the two Duchies, should be laid before the said united states assembly.

"3. That permission should be given for the admission of Schleswig into the Germanic Confederation."

As soon as the intention of the united Diets of the Duchies was known at Copenhagen, the Danish faction became more than ever violent. They set at nought all attempts at conciliation, and ultimately precipitated the state of affairs to that condition of danger, that the provisional Government of the Duchies considered it expedient to forestal the attack, by seizing the fortress of Rendsburg before the hostile forces should be able to take possession of it.

Thus this disastrous war commenced, and it partakes too much of the bitter character of an old feud between rival clans to allow of a satisfactory solution except by rational and pacific means. The parties may fight until they have depopulated each other's lands, but the ancient grudge will not be gratified. If, however, they can be prevailed upon to listen to reason-if they will allow but a few honest men to mediate in the strife, the animosity will be forgotten and the quarrel will die. Nothing so soon obliterates offence as mutual concession; and if what we hear at the moment we write is correct, we have reason to believe that the recent visit of our excellent friends to the seat of war will not be without its influence in producing this desirable result.

Since the last paragraph was written, the following has appeared in the Correspondent's article of the Daily News, under the date of October 16, and written at Kiel :

"I have no doubt that you have been fully informed of the cordial reception which the members of the Peace Congress, lately assembled at Frankfort, have met in the Duchies, and of the candour with which the members of the Government entered into their proposals. The same cordial reception seemed to be given at Copenhagen, but on the first attempt of taking serious measures for appealing to Arbitration instead of war, the Danes shrunk from an impartial judgment of the case. The endeavours of the Peace party seem to be well-nigh frustrated at Copenhagen, whilst at Kiel they were supported as soon as the prospect of an impartial tribunal was held out."

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