Mr. Yeaman to Mr. Seward.
Sir: To-day, at 1 o’clock p. m., her royal highness Princess Dagmar and suite embarked in the Danish royal yacht for St. Petersburg. She is accompanied a part of the way by the entire royal family, and the vessel in which she has embarked will be escorted to St. Petersburg by Danish and Russian men of war. After remaining in that capital for about a month, as the guest of the Emperor, the nuptials of her marriage with the heir apparent to the Russian crown will be celebrated.
The occasion of her departure was one of great interest and solemnity. Such a display of flags from shipping and from public and private buildings, and such a vast concourse of people were scarcely ever before seen in Copenhagen. Streets, squares, quays, decks, rigging, sea-shore, batteries, and the tops of houses hardly sufficed to contain the people seeking to catch a last glimpse and to wave a last adieu to the fair young girl they were giving to the throne of the greatest empire of modern times.
The pier against which the ship was moored was set apart for Danish officers and members of the diplomatic corps and their families; and as the royal family passed through that richly-attired throng to the ship’s gangway, the scene became extremely solemn and impressive. The Queen wept palpably. The King, too deeply moved to speak, passed silently along, bowing to the mute spectators, and stooping to gather from the carpet the flowers cast to his daughter. The face of the young princes showed the impress and the fresh traces of a violent spell of emotion, repressed but for a moment in the presence of the public; and without speaking a word she cordially and earnestly took leave of her friends. [Page 171] The ship moved slowly out into the harbor, the princess stood upon deck by the side of the King, waving her handkerchief to the assembled thousands on shore, and the batteries pronounced the deep farewell salute to her who goes to occupy so prominent a position in a government which may prove to be the firmest and most loyal ally of our own.
There is not here so much confidence as I would have expected to find touching the result of the proposed proceedings to determine the political relations and allegiance of north Schleswig. A large, perhaps the far greater, part of the people are devotedly attached to the Danish government. But there is a counter feeling at work—a feeling averse to any division of the duchy and the desire to keep it united, no matter under what sovereignty. Speeches have been made against a division by residents of the duchy, addressing themselves to large assemblies in the Danish language, and a deputation favoring permanent annexation to Prussia has been sent to Berlin. The opinion is entertained here that these manifestations are a part of a plan and the fruits of influences under the control and direction of the cabinet at Berlin; a matter about which I have no reliable information, and am in no condition to express any opinion. It is further believed that despatches have been received by both the Prussian and Danish governments from the French and Russian governments affecting the settlement of the duchy question, but their purport and effect have not transpired.
A government commission has now under consideration the subject of the reorganization of the Danish army, a matter that will be one of the principal subjects of discussion in the next Rigsraad. One measure strongly urged before the commissioners is to require of every able-bodied citizen capable of bearing arms a given term of military service, without the right of substitution. I learn from Count Frys, the foreign minister, that this plan is quite popular with many people, upon the idea that it equalizes all classes and fortunes, and in that regard remarking that “public sentiment here seemed to be more in favor of equality than liberty.” It is uncertain what plan will be adopted
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.