rurssiA. 



627 



Abandoned by France. (Sea FRANCS.; With the 



(Jrund Dukeof Oldenburg a treaty was conrlud- 



.onlanoo with whirh 



n-nounees liii elaim.s to the llol -t, in 



mooession, in con-ideration of the. cession to 



1 1 portion of Hoisted) territory, and 



tin in.li lity of I,nn0,oo0 thalers. With the 



.aria, Baden, and Wurf 'iii- 

 \\ ere concluded immediato- 

 \var, by virtue of which the superior 

 Hi'! of the armies of those States, in case 

 - transferred to the King of Prussia, 

 The treaties were kept secret until March, 1867, 

 when they were officially published. The fol- 

 lowing is the text of the treaty concluded be- 

 tween Pnis.-ia and Bavaria: 

 Arir. 1. By these presents a treaty of offensive and 

 vo alliance is concluded between the King of 

 ;i and the King^ of Bavaria. The two high 

 ciititructing parties reciprocally guarantee the integ- 

 rity of the territory of 'their respective countries, 

 and undertake, in case of war, to place at their 

 mutual disoosal the whole of their military forces. 



ART. 2. the King of Bavaria has transferred, for 

 the case in question, the superior command of his 

 troops to the King of Prussia. 



Aitr. 3. The high contracting parties engage to 

 keep this treaty provisionally secret. 



ART. 4. The ratification of this treaty shall take 

 place at the same time as that of the treaty of peace 

 concluded this day, that is to say, on the 3d or next 

 month at latest. 

 Done at Berlin, this 22d day of August, 1866. 



The conflict between the Government and 

 the representatives of the people remained un- 

 settled in the Legislative session which began 

 on the 15th of January. The speech from the 

 throne, which was read by Count Bismarck, an- 

 nounced that bills would be brought in settling 

 Iho budget, and asked for the supplies requi- 

 f-ito for the unchanged maintenance of the mil- 

 itary reorganization and the increase of the 

 navy. Supplies would also be asked for the 

 execution of the North Sea and Baltic Canal, 

 and various other measures affecting home ad- 

 ministration would be laid before the Chambers. 

 The confident hope was expressed that the com- 

 incrrial treaty with Italy would be ratified by 

 all the States of the Zollverein. The finances 

 of the kingdom were stated to be in a favorable 

 condition. The relations of Prussia with for- 

 eign powers were satisfactory and friendly. 

 The royal speech continued : 



By the Gastein convention Lauenburg has been 

 united to the Prussian crown. It is my desire, while 

 treating with consideration the peculiar state of 

 things in the duchy, to allow its inhabitants to enjoy 

 all the advantages of union with Prussia. The de- 

 finitive decision of the future of Schleswig-Holstcin 

 has been reserved by the Gastein convention for fur- 

 ther negotiation. By the occupation of Sdili'suiir, 

 and by Tier position inHolstein, Prussia has acquired 

 a suflicicnt guaranty that the decision can only bo 

 in a sense corresponding to the interests of Germany 

 and the claims of Prussia. Resting upon my own 

 conviction, strengthened by the opinion of the legal 

 aih isers of the crown, I am determined to hold fast 

 this pledge, under all circumstances, until the de- 

 sired end is attained. Conscious of being sustained 

 by the assent of the people, I hope that the object 

 striven for and gained will prove a point of union for 

 all parties. 



The Chamber of Deputies reflected Uerr von 

 Gruhow, President, and Hern-n von I'uruh 

 and von Bockum-Dolffs, Vlo*-PrMidtttfc al. 

 of whom were members of the Liberal 

 Opposition. The President, Herr Grabow, in 

 hi- usual opening address to the House, sharply 

 criticised the language of the reactionary press, 

 the prohibition by the Government of the Co- 

 logne banquet to the Prussian Liberal Deputies, 

 and the measures which had been taken to re- 

 strict the liberty of the press, the voting of 

 Government officials, and the meeting of po- 

 litical associations. Herr Grabow deplored the 

 conflict between the Government and the Cham- 

 ber on constitutional questions, a state of things 

 which had now become chronic and had brought 

 political legislation to a stand-still. He added 

 that liberty was the only thing which could 

 lead to moral conquests, to the solution of the 

 Schleswig-Holstein question, which the Gastein 

 convention had but complicated, and to the 

 federal unity of Germany. The majority of the 

 Chamber soon adopted several resolutions cen- 

 suring the Government. On February 3d, a 

 motion of Dr. Virchow, declaring the annex- 

 ation of Lauenburg to the Prussian crown to 

 be illegal until it had received the sanction of 

 the chamber, was adopted by 257 against 44 

 votes ; and, on February 9th, a motion of Herr 

 Hoverbeck, protesting against the decision of 

 the Supreme Court authorizing the public pro- 

 secutor to indict deputies Twesten and Freutzel, 

 for their speeches in the Chamber, by 263 

 against 35 votes. During the discussion of the 

 latter motion the minister of justice threaten- 

 ingly stated that the public prosecutor, in tak- 

 ing proceedings against deputies Twesten and 

 Freutzel had acted upon his order, that it 

 was well known how the Government had 

 determined to do in such emergencies, and 

 that, should contradictory views in the inter- 

 pretation of the constitution continue to prevail, 

 an authoritative declaration of the king would 

 afford the only means of arriving at a solution. 

 The president of the ministry of State on Feb- 

 ruary 19th addressed a letter to the president 

 of the Chamber, in which he declared the resolu- 

 tions of the Chamber relative to the Duchy of 

 Lauenburg, the Supreme Court, and the Cologne 

 banquet, to be unconstitutional ; that therefore 

 they could not be accepted by the Government, 

 and that the Government for these reasons 

 returned them to the president of the Chamber 

 of Deputies. On February 23d, the Chambers 

 were closed by a speech from the throne, read 

 by Count Bismarck. The speech stated that, in 

 view of the unconstitutional resolutions of the 

 house respecting the annexation of Lanenburg, 

 and the recent decision of the Supreme Court, 

 the Government asked itself the question 

 whether results favorable to the peace and wel- 

 fare of the country could be expected from the 

 continuation of the debates in the Diet, and had 

 finally come to the conclusion, that through the 

 course adopted by the Lower House the coun- 

 try would be exposed to more serious disunion, 



