DE WITT, THOMAS. 



DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 203 



An appalling incident occurred in 



e. nine, -I;.- n with this visit. Tho Kiriu', on l.uid- 

 iiu', wa- received on tho pier by the governor 

 ut' th.' t.iwn. M. Finson, and the local officials, 

 \vh<. iloliveiv.l to his Majesty a loyal address in 

 t'l.- ii-iiu <>f the people of tho Faroe Islands. 

 'I'll.- r.iyal party then proceeded up the pier, a 

 li-Miiee hey.md which a triumphal (,'uto- 

 was erected, whore the president of tho 

 muuu-ipality received his Majesty, and present- 

 ed an address on tho part of tho townspeople 

 if Thorshavn. The concluding words of tho 

 address had hardly been spoken when the great- 

 est consternation was caused among those pres- 

 ent !>y tho president dropping down dead on the 

 spot. It was ascertained that he had been in 

 feeble health for a long time, and a fatal termi- 

 nation was hastened by the excitement of tho 

 occasion. This untoward event cast a gloom 

 over tho King's visit to tho Faroe Islands, and 

 created a painful impression. 



Immense enthusiasm welcomed the King 

 when he landed, on July 30th, in Iceland, where 

 the celebration of tho anniversary was a grand 

 success (see ICELAND). On August 10th the King 

 reembarked to return home by way of England, 

 where, on his landing at Leith, in Scotland, on 

 August 16th, he was received by his daughter, 

 the Princess of "Wales, who accompanied him 

 to Edinburgh. 



The President of the Folkething, J. A. Han- 

 sen, received; on his sixty-eighth birthday, 

 from his many friends, a villa near Copenha- 

 gen, called " The People's Gift," as a recogni- 

 tion of his great merits in behalf of ameliorat- 

 ing the condition of the peasantry. 



Tho aggregate national wealth of Denmark 

 is estimated at 2,000,000,000 rigsdalers. 



In Januavy, the socialist Pihl, who in No- 

 vember, 1873, had avowed an intention to 

 inarch at the head of the socialistic laborers 

 to the royal palace, and to extort from the King 

 an amnesty for three imprisoned socialists, was 

 sentenced to eight months of forced labor. 



In February, the Supreme Court of Den- 

 mark suppressed the International "Working- 

 men's Union throughout the kingdom. 



On August 15th, the new port of Esbjerg, in 

 Jutland, was opened to commerce. 



DE WITT, Rev. THOMAS, D. D., a venerable, 

 accomplished, and eloquent clergyman of the 

 Reformed (Dutch) Church, born in Kingston, 

 Ulster County, N. Y., September 13, 1791 ; 

 died in New York City, May 18, 1874. He 

 was of pure Dutch and Huguenot stock, and of 

 the best blood in New York. He was a cousin 

 of the late Governor De Witt Clinton. He 

 graduated from Union College in 1808, before 

 he completed his seventeenth year ; studied 

 theology with Rev. Dr. Freligh, of Schraalen- 

 burgh, N. J., and Rev. Dr. Brodhead, of Rhine- 

 beck, and entered the first class of the Theologi- 

 cal Seminary at New Brunswick in 1810, grad- 

 uating there in 1812. The same year he was 

 ordainod as pastor of tho combined congrega- 

 tions of Hackensack and Hopewell, Dutchess 



County, N. Y., where he remained until 1827, 

 when he accepted a second call (having re- 

 jected the first) to the Collegiate Dutch Church 

 of New York City, of which he was the - 

 clergyman for nearly forty-seven years. Ho 

 was a man of faith, of learning, and of power ; 

 thoroughly indoctrinated in the, theology of his 

 Church, and believing it with his whole soul ; 

 yet having no trace of bigotry or exclusiveness 

 in his nature; possessing a fluent and eloquent 

 delivery, great clearness in argument, an un- 

 blemished purity of life, and a gentle, modest, 

 and genial manner, which won all hearts. He 

 was for many years a zealous student, espe- 

 cially in historical matters, was Vice-President 

 and President for many years of the New 

 York Historical Society, and an active director 

 of the Bible, Colonization, Tract, and Sunday- 

 school Societies, as well as the boards of his 

 own church. He had published very little, 

 even his sermons being generally unwritten, 

 yet he wrote with great vigor, force, and ele- 

 gance. 



DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE AND 

 FOREIGN RELATIONS. The relations of 

 the United States with other nations have been 

 peaceful during the year, and the correspond- 

 ence with their representatives contains few 

 points of importance. 



The rights of naturalized citizens of tho 

 United States when returning to their native 

 country are subject to some conditions, as ap- 

 pears by the following letter, dated October 

 5th, from Acting-Secretary J. L. Cadwalader to 

 Mr. Jay, at the capital of Austro-IIungary: 



The right to enjoy such privileges as may attach 

 to a citizen of the United States is properly proved 

 by the production of a passport legally issued. 



In every case where the action of a diplomatic or 

 consular officer of the United States is invoked, on 

 behalf of a person claiming to be a citizen of the 

 United States, it is incumbent on such officer not 

 only to carefully and zealously guard and protect the 

 rights of all bona-fide citizens, out also to carefully 

 abstain from committing this Government to a de- 

 mand for protection on behalf of a person presenting 

 a false or fraudulent claim to citizenship. 



Naturalized citizens, who have become such solely 

 to avoid the duties and burdens attached to a resi- 

 dence in and allegiance to their own country, and 

 who have returned to their native country without 

 intention to reside in the United States, or to assume 

 the duties or burdens common to its citizens, who, 

 in other words, are desirous of enjoying all the bene- 

 fits and immunities common to citizens of each coun- 

 try, and of avoiding all corresponding duties in each, 

 may be held to have forfeited all right to the protec- 

 tion of tho United States. Particular instructions 

 will bo found on these questions in section 30 of the 

 personal instructions lately issued. 



The attention of the Department has also been 

 colled, on several occasions, to applications for pass- 

 ports in foreign countries, founded on certificates of 

 naturalization, which, upon their face, bear conclu- 

 sive evidence that they nave been illegally or fraud- 

 ulently obtained. In such cases a passport should 

 be refused and the fraudulent certificate forwarded 

 to this Department. 



Relative to American citizens enlisting in 

 the military service of foreign nations, Mr. 

 Williams, at Peking, writes to Secretary Fish, 



