[Prussian Invasion of Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, and Saxony.]

No. 378.-PRUSSIAN DECLARATION of the Necessity for the Invasion of Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, and Saxony. Berlin, 16th June, 1866.

(Translation.)

THE Confederation having been dissolved by the Resolution of the 14th (No. 376), and Prussia finding herself threatened with War, the duty of self-preservation required that the Country was secured against neighbouring States. Prussia on the 15th. June proposed to Saxony, Hanover, and Hesse-Cassel an Alliance founded on Unarmed Neutrality, with the condition of the Convocation of a German Parliament with the object of securing Peace. At the same time Prussia promised to those States the Guarantee of the state of Possession and their Sovereignty.

The 3 above-mentioned States have declined the offer.

The Geographical position of Prussia not admitting that it should tolerate in those Countries either an open or concerted Hostility during a War carried on elsewhere, the Royal Troops have this morning passed the Frontier in the 3 directions in order to prevent their being attacked behind whilst they are defending themselves against Austria.

It is reported that the Hesse-Cassel and Hanoverian Governments have stopped the Railways and Telegraph Lines in their States. On the Express Train which passed this night through Hanover was a detachment of Pioneers to execute, it is said, the order to destroy the Hanoverian Railroad on the Frontiers of Brunswick.

Those proceedings show more clearly than any other how impossible it is for Prussia, at the time of being threatened with War by Austria, to allow at its rear as doubtful neighbours, those Countries which separate the two parts of the Monarchy, and who Arm in conformity with the Federal Resolution voted by the enemies of Prussia.

After the Hanoverian Government had offered, in its Note of the 14th May, 1866, to conclude a Treaty of Neutrality with Prussia, after Prussia had officially accepted that offer, but that Hanover had not kept her promise and had pronounced against Prussia by her Vote relative to the Mobilisation of the German

[16 June, 1866. [Prussian Invasion of Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, and Saxony.]

Contingents, it was impossible for Prussia to act otherwise than she has done.

The Hanoverian Government will be responsible towards their Country, for having rejected the means of an Arrangement so amicably offered of concluding a Treaty of Neutrality with Prussia, who would at the same time have guaranteed the Possessions and Sovereignty of Hanover, and of preferring the Austrian Alliance.

His Majesty's Government have instructed the Royal Legations to state, in the first instance, by Notes to the Powers which signed the Act of Congress of 9th June, 1815 (No. 27), the breaking up of the Federal Act (No. 26), and consequently of Articles LIV and LXIII of those European Treaties, in which that Act has been reproduced, and afterwards to communicate that Act to all the other Powers.

Public Organs announce that His Highness Duke Ernest of Coburg holds an eminent position among the Princes who intend to defend the Rights of Prussia. We fulfil our duty in announcing that fact, and in stating that Duke Ernest expressed himself with as much decision as firmness against the Austrian proposal of Mobilisation.

Many Ratepayers offer to the Government to pay their Contributions for one year and more in advance, and to place at their disposal Capital without Interest so long as the War lasts. His Majesty has gratefully appreciated these proofs of devotion and patriotic feelings. It would not be in conformity with the interests of the State to reject such patriotic offers, and the Tax Officers have received the necessary orders to receive the Contributions and the Capital offered without interest.

[War. Austria against Prussia and Italy.]

No. 379.-AUSTRIAN MANIFESTO of War with Prussia and Italy. Vienna, 17th June, 1866.

(Translation.)

WHILE engaged in a work of Peace, which was undertaken for the purpose of laying the foundation for a Constitution which should augment the unity and Power of the Empire, and at the same time secure to my several Countries and Peoples free internal development, my duties as a Sovereign have obliged me to place my whole Army under arms.

On the Frontiers of my Empire, in the south and in the north, stand the Armies of two enemies who have allied with the intention of breaking the power of Austria as a great European State.

To neither of those enemies have I given cause for War. I call on an Omniscient God to bear witness that I have always considered it my first, my most sacred duty, to do all in my power to secure for my Peoples the blessings of Peace.

One of the Hostile Powers requires no excuse. Having a longing to deprive me of parts of my Empire, a favourable opportunity is for him a sufficient cause for going to War, which nothing justifies.

As for the Prussian Arms, which now threaten to invade our Northern Frontier, hardly two years have elapsed since a part of my faithful and heroic Army undertook with them, as Allies, a campaign on the borders of the Black Sea.

I had accepted that union of Arms with Prussia in order to preserve Rights founded on Treaties, to protect a threatened German Population, and to limit within the narrowest bounds the evils of an inevitable War.

By that Alliance of the Two Great Powers of Central Europe, to whom the task of preserving Peace had devolved, I intended to obtain Guarantees of a lasting Peace to the great advantage of my Empire, of Germany, and of Europe.

Conquests I never sought, and I have never allowed the

[War. Austria against Prussia and Italy.]

slightest doubts of my intentions to be held, either by my brothers

in Arms, or by Europe.

Disinterested on the conclusion of the Alliance with Prussia, I have remained faithful to that feeling.

When shortly after the conquest of the Elbe Duchies new preparations for War were made, even when it was no longer a secret to any one that an understanding had been come to amongst my enemies, the object of which could only be an attack on my Empire, I did not then abandon the hope of preserving Peace, and faithful to my duties as a Sovereign, I showed myself ready to make every Concession compatible with honour and the happiness of my Peoples.

I did not, however, fail to perceive that prolonged hesitation would make it difficult efficiently to repel an attack from without and would endanger the security of the Empire.

Then only did I resign myself to the cruel Sacrifices inseparable upon putting an Army on the War footing.

To the specific assurances given by my Government to the reiterated Declarations that I was ready to proceed with Prussia to a reciprocal and simultaneous Disarmament, what did the Cabinet of Berlin answer?

It made counter-propositions which, if they had been accepted, were tantamount to a total forgetfulness of the duties imposed upon me, and to the honour and safety of my Empire.

Prussia demanded a previous and complete Disarmament, not only in so far as concerned herself, but also towards Italy, whose armed forces threatened my States in the South, and for whose Pacific Intentions no Guarantee was or could be offered.

The negotiations with Prussia in respect to the Elbe Duchies clearly proved that a settlement of the question in a way compatible with the dignity of Austria, and with the rights and interests of Germany and the Duchies, could not be brought about, as Prussia was violent and intent on conquest. The negotiations were therefore broken off, the whole affair was referred to the Bund, and at the same time the Legal Representatives of Holstein were convoked.

The danger of War induced the 3 Powers-France, England, and Russia-to invite my Government to participate in General Conferences, the object of which was to be the maintenance of Peace (No. 377). My Government, in accordance with my views, and, if possible, to secure the blessing of Peace for my peoples, did

[War. Austria against Prussia and Italy.]

not refuse to share in the Conferences, but made their acceptance dependent on the confirmation of the supposition that the Public Law of Europe and the existing Treaties were to form the basis of the attempt at Mediation, and that the Powers represented would not seek to uphold special interests which could be prejudicial to the Balance of Power in Europe and to the rights of Austria. The fact that the attempt to mediate failed because these natural suppositions were made, is a proof that the Conferences could not have led to the maintenance of Peace.

The recent events clearly prove that Prussia substitutes open violence for right and justice.

The rights and the honour of Austria, the rights and the honour of the whole German Nation, are no longer a barrier against the inordinate ambition of Prussia. Prussian Troops have entered Holstein, the Estates convoked by the Imperial Stadtholder have been violently dissolved, the Government of Holstein, which the Treaty of Vienna (No. 367) gives to Austria and Prussia in common, has been claimed for Prussia alone, and the Austrian Garrison has been obliged to give way to a force ten times as strong as itself.

When the German Bund, which saw in the measure no infraction of the Federal Laws, accepted the Austrian proposition to "mobilize" the Federal Troops, Prussia, who prides herself on being the defender of the interests of Germany, resolved to complete the work she had begun. Violently severing the tie which unites the German races, Prussia announced her Secession from the Bund (No. 376), required from the German Governments the acceptance of a so-called project of Reform, which in reality is a division of Germany, and now she employs Military Force against those Sovereigns who have faithfully discharged their Federal Duties.

The most pernicious of Wars, a War of Germans against Germans, has become inevitable, and I now summon before the tribunal of History-before the tribunal of an Eternal and all-powerful God, those persons who have brought it about, and make them responsible for the misfortunes which may fall on individuals, families, districts, and countries.

I decide upon fighting, confident in the goodness of my cause and upheld by the feeling of the inherent power of a great Empire, and in which the Prince and the People are united in one