GERMANY. 



453 



tions concerning the position of the duchies of 

 Holstein and Lauenburg were not sufficiently 

 advanced to enable her to judge if so important 

 a modification of the Federal Constitution would 

 be compatible with the interest of the duchies. 

 The representative of Holland declared that 

 Luxemburg and Limburg would never consent 

 to a modification of the Federal Constitution 

 which would in any way interfere with their 

 independence and legislative powers ; that as to 

 Limburg it was altogether foreign to Germany 

 by its language, manners and nationality, and 

 if the public opinion of the country were con- 

 sulted, it would suggest rather its complete sep- 

 aration from the Confederation than proposi- 

 tions which would bind it more closely to Ger- 

 many. After this vote, the representatives of 

 Austria declared, that the imperial government 

 reserved to itself the right to carry out the 

 project of an assembly of delegates by means 

 of private arrangements ; that it hoped that 

 the Diet would yet be able to take the subject 

 up again, under more favorable circumstances ; 

 and that it was always ready to enter into de- 

 liberations upon the creation of a more effect- 

 ive Federal executive power and a national rep- 

 resentation proceeding from the particular le- 

 gislatures of the several states. Bavaria, Sax- 

 ony, Hanover, "Wiirtemberg, Hesse-Darmstadt, 

 and Nassau declared their concurrence in the 

 opinion of Austria. 



On July 31st, 1863, the Emperor of Austria, 

 in an autograph letter, invited all the sovereigns 

 of the German Confederation and the senates of 

 the free cities to meet in an assembly at Frank- 

 fort-on-the-Main at which all should personally 

 attend, with the object of discussing the ques- 

 tion of a reorganization of the German Confed- 

 eration suitable to the requirements of the age. 

 Most of the governments accepted the invita- 

 tion, and the sitting of the congress was accord- 

 ingly opened on August 17th, at eleven o'clock 

 in the morning, under the presidency of the 

 Emperor. The Emperor in his opening speech 

 spoke at great length of the proposed reform 

 and the King of Bavaria replied. The following 

 is a complete list of the princes and represent- 

 atives of the free cities who took part in the pro- 

 ceedings of this Congress. The Emperor of Aus- 



ia, the Kings of Bavaria, Saxony, and Hano- 

 er, the Crown Prince of Wtirtemberg, Grand 



uke of Baden, Elector of Hesse, Grand Duke 

 of Hesse, Prince Henry of Holland, the Duke 

 of Brunswick, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg- 

 Schwerin, Duke of Nassau, Grand Duke of 

 Saxe, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, Duke of 

 Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Grand Duke of Meck- 

 lenburg-Strelitz, Grand Duke of Oldenburg, 

 the Hereditary Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, the 

 Prince of Schwartzburg-Sondershausen, the 

 Prince of Schwartzburg-Rudolstadt, Prince of 

 Lichtenstein, Prince of Waldeck, Prince of 

 Reuss (younger branch), the Prince of Schaum- 

 burg-Lippe, the Burgomaster of Lubeck (Herr 

 Bremer), the Burgomaster of Frankfort (Dr. 

 Miiller), the Burgomaster of Bremen (Dr. Duck- 



witz), the Burgomaster of Hamburg (Dr. Hal- 

 ler), making altogether twenty-four princes and 

 four representatives of free towns. The Kings 

 of Prussia and Denmark, the Princes of Anhalt- 

 Bernburg,Saxe-Altenburg, Reus (elder branch), 

 Hesse-Homburg, and Lippe, who constitute the 

 remaining members of the German Confedei- 

 ation, were neither present themselves nor rep- 

 resented by deputy. 



On August 19th the King of Saxony left 

 Frankfort for Baden, where the King of Prus- 

 sia was staying, with a joint written invitation 

 from the assembled princes to the king, to 

 take part in the Congress, but the king per- 

 sisted in declining. The session of the Con- 

 gress terminated on Sept. 1st. The Emperor 

 of Austria, at the closing sitting, expressed his 

 satisfaction at the complete fulfilment of his 

 hopes of a direct cooperation on the part of the 

 German sovereigns. He hoped that this first 

 Congress of German Princes would soon be fol- 

 lowed by a second, that all the members might 

 be united into one great body, and that their 

 endeavors would be crowned with success. 

 The " Reform Act," as finally agreed upon by 

 all the states except six (Baden, Luxem- 

 burg, Saxe-Weimar, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 

 Waldeck, and Reuss, younger branch), bears 

 the date of Sept. 1st, 1863, and is entitled as 

 follows : " Reform of the German Bund as pro- 

 posed by the Congress of Princes held at Frank- 

 fort." Its provisions, briefly stated, are as fol- 

 lows : 



1. The objects of the German Confederation 

 are declared to be the maintenance of the se- 

 curity and power of Germany in regard to for- 

 eign countries ; the maintenance of public order 

 at home, and the furtherance of the interests 

 of the German nation. 



2. A Directory is established for the man- 

 agement of the affairs of the Confederation ; a 

 Federal Council is organized from among the 

 plenipotentiaries of the governments ; an assem- 

 bly of Federal delegates is to be convoked peri- 

 odically, and a Federal court of justice is estab- 

 lished. 



3. The Directory is to consist of six votes, 

 namely : 1. Austria ; 2. Prussia ; 3. Bavaria ; 

 4. Saxony, Hanover, and Wiirtemberg, alter- 

 natively ; 5. A member elected by Baden, the 

 two Hesse, Holstein, Luxemburg, Brunswick, 

 the two Mecklenburg, Nassau ; 6. A member 

 elected by all the other states; the Federal 

 Council of seventeen members nominally, but 

 twenty-three actually, as Austria and Prussia 

 are to have three votes each. 



4. The Assembly of Delegates is to consist 

 of three hundred and two members elected, 

 not by the people, but " by the representative 

 bodies of the several German states," Austria 

 is to have seventy-five members, and Prussia (if 

 she pleases) the same number. The four free 

 cities are entitled to send two representatives 

 (the original proposition was for one^ only, but 

 this was amended). This Assembly is to meet 

 once in three years, in the month of May, and 





