Mr. Wood to Mr. Seward.
Sir: On the 21st instant I had an audience of his Majesty, to deliver the President’s letter of condolence on the occasion of the death of the Landgravine princess royal of Denmark, Louise of Hesse. He received me with his [Page 341] usual cordiality, thanked the President for his letter, and wished me to convey to him his compliments. He is, of course, much tried. At the time of this interview the Russian government was pressing the union of Schleswig and Holstein, and a mere personal sovereignty. It was rejected. Its acceptance by the King would have led to the resignation of the ministry. Denmark may be crushed and divided up, but she will not be a voluntary party to her own annihilation, and the proposition of Russia discloses the fact that she is acting with Prussia. In my late interview with the King, he said that Denmark could not accept the proposition to divide Schleswig on the line of Flensborg and Tondern and which Prussia has proposed. Of course it is expected that hostilities will be resumed after the 26th instant, to-morrow, and to present appearances England is becoming more warlike. In a conversation with my colleague, the British minister, Sir A. Paget, I incidentally referred to our line of action in this war, as indicated by the President, in sanctioning the assurances I gave the minister Mourad, and communicated in my despatch No. 149, of the 7th of March last. He immediately caught at this, and requested leave to communicate it to his government. You will readily see the bearing of this, to what it may help lead, and the division it may create. Repugnant and unwilling as England is to engage in war, we must not make the mistake of supposing she will not, under certain circumstances, go to war.
I remain, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State.
P. S.—I have just received from the minister Mourad, the enclosed, addressed by the King to the Rigsraad on its opening to-day. I shall keep this de-patch open to the latest moment I can to-morrow, though 1 expect nothing favorable to peace.
I have just parted with the minister Mourad. The conference is adjourned. Of course the war goes on. The papers here have told the King that in these days kings rule for the people. The people are not for kings.