LUX! 



b Prince of Orun.v is rhargcd by the 

 ,,!' Holland to inform tin- Kmperor 01 thu 



Kin:: to tin- region. 'I'lio amo 



til) tli>- IViii,'.- ,1,- l.:i Tonr-d'Au- 

 :---llc!i ambassador at London, relat-s 

 l\iis de Mus;ier :iu interview \vhii-Ii 

 ..1 just had with Lord Stanley. The Eng- 

 lish :nini>ter had tin.- preceding evening (Miirch 

 i tlio Prussian aml>:i--ador, who called 

 to speak with him respecting the project of 

 France to acquire the territory and fortress of 

 Luxemburg in con-ideration of a pecuniary in- 

 demnity; and lie had informed the ambassador 

 that "in his personal opinion "such an acqui- 

 hy France would be no more than legiti- 

 mate. This uneasiness of Prussia had been 

 caused by a communication from the King of 

 Holland, who, notwithstanding the desire of 

 Franco to keep the whole affair in her hand-;, 

 informed the Prussian ambassador at the Hague 

 that Franco had mode proposals for the cession 

 of Luxemburg to France: that' he (the King) 

 wished to do nothing without the knowledge 

 of Prussia, and asked the Emperor to come to 

 an understanding with France. The French 

 (lovernme-nt was greatly dissatisfied with the 

 step taken by the King of Holland, which made 

 the French project known in Germany, and 

 there produced an immense agitation. When, 

 on April 1st, in the North-German Parliament, 

 the vice-president, Herr von Bennigsen, de- 

 clared that the Government must not suffer one 

 province of Germany to bo lost, and resist the 

 annexation of Luxemburg, if necessary, by force 

 of arras, the whole Parliament declared its con- 

 currence with these views, and the South-Ger- 

 man states were equally emphatic in declaring 

 their assent. This attitude of the German peo- 

 i 'id the Prussian Government alarmed the 

 Dutch Government, and already on the 2d of 

 April the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs in- 

 formed the French envoy that the King-Grand- 

 duke withdrew his consent to the cession of 

 Luxemburg to France. In order to save Hol- 

 land, if possible, from all complications arising 

 out of the Luxemburg affair, the diplomatic 

 agents of the Netherlands were, on April 12th, 

 instructed to take henceforth no notice of mat- 

 ters belonging to Luxemburg. In the mean 

 time, the negotiations between France and 

 Prussia, on the evacuation of the fortress of 

 Luxemburg by Prussia, assumed a threatening 

 character. The French ambassador in London, 

 on the 10th of April, explained to Lord Stanley 

 the grounds upon which his government must 

 sooner or later insist upon the evacuation of 

 the fortress of Luxemburg by Prussia. Count 

 Bernstorff, on the other hand, was directed hy 

 Count Bismarck to say that " in the actual state 

 of things in Germany, Prussia is not in a posi- 

 tion to consent to the separation, under any 

 to rm, of Luxemburg from Germany, or to the 

 evacuation of the fortress." England, Russia, 

 and Austria, advised Prussia to accept a com- 

 promise based upon the withdrawal of the 

 Prussian garrison from the fortress of Luxem- 



burg, and the future neutralization of the grand- 

 duchy, and the Russian Governm. 

 m, -in led the holding of a conl'.-r.-nc.- i', !. 

 as the best solution of tin- <iii;i. .!-.. It was 

 not until the 27th of April that Prussia listened 

 to t!i On that day the Pru^aii niin- 



1 'iidon was informed that Pru-.-i.-i 

 would meet France hail' way by recognizing 

 the nc-ntralix.ation of Luxemburg as the basis of 

 a conference, and undertaking to evacuate the 

 formes upon condition of a European guar- 

 antee being given for the neutrality of the 

 duchy. On April 30th the (I rand-duke of Lux- 

 emburg invoked all the powers which had signed 

 the previous treaty of 1839, to a conference to 

 be held in London, and on May 4th a like in- 

 vitation was extended to Italy and Belgium. 

 An application from Spain, to be admitted to 

 the conference, was not granted. 



The conference met in London on the 7th of 

 May, under the presidency of Lord Stanley, the 

 representative of England. The representative 

 of the other powers were: Count Apponyi, 

 Austrian ambassador ; Baron Brunnow, Rus- 

 sian ambassador; Count Bernstorff, Prussian 

 ambassador; Prince de la Tour-d'Auvergne, 

 French ambassador; Marquis d'Azcglio, Ital- 

 ian minister ; M. Van de Weyer, Belgian min- 

 ister; Baron Bentinck, the Netherlands minis- 

 ter ; Baron de Tornaco, minister of Luxemburg. 

 The Hon. Julian Fane, of the British embassy in 

 Paris, officiated as protocolist. The project of 

 treaty prepared by Lord Stanley was examined, 

 article by article, the great majority of the pleni- 

 potentiaries supporting an amendment of the 

 Prussian plenipotentiary, placing the neutrality 

 under a collective guarantee, and Lord Stanley 

 promising to refer the matter to his cabinet. At 

 the next sitting, on May 9th, Lord Stanley an- 

 nounced that the English Government accepted 

 the amendment ; for which the Prussian plenipo- 

 tentiary said he was convinced Europe would be 

 grateful, and the other plenipotentiaries unani- 

 mously adhered to this declaration. The pleni- 

 potentiary for the grand-duchy, Baron de Tornn- 

 co, having raised the question of compensation to 

 the inhabitants of Luxemburg, Lord Stanley 

 and Count de Bernstorff expressed their opin- 

 ion that that question could not be entertained. 

 The conference brought its labors to a success- 

 ful close on May llth, by signing the following 

 Treaty of London : 



ART. 1. The Kin of Holland, Grand-duke of Lux- 

 emburg, maintains the ties which unite the said grand- 

 duchy to the house of Orange-Nassau, in virtue of 

 the treaties which have placed that state under the 

 sovereignty of the King-Grand-duke, his heirs, and 

 successors. The rights possessed by the collateral 

 branches of the house of Nassau to tne succession to 

 the grand-duchy, in virtue of the same treaties, are 

 maintained. The high contracting parties accept the 

 present declaration, and make formal note of it. 



A::r. 2. The grand-duchy in the limits determined 

 by the act appended to the treaty of the 19th April, 

 1839, under the guarantee of the courts of Austria, 

 France. Great Britain, Prussia, and Russia, will hence- 

 forth tonn a state perpetually neutral, and will be 

 bound to observe that same neutrality toward all 

 other states. The high contracting parties pledge 



