ong them
were such men as Arndt, the poet, Gervinus and Dahlberg, the historians,
with others of like note. A promising unity of ideals seemed to prevail.
Heinrich von Gagern, a man of high character and parliamentary experience,
was elected chairman by a majority of 305 out of 397 votes. It was his
proposal to create a central executive in the person of a _Reichsverweser_.
Archduke John of Austria, one of the most popular of German princes, was
elected to this office by an overwhelming majority of 436 votes. The
Archduke, who was then presiding over the new Austrian Assembly at Vienna,
accepted the honor. By the time the German Bundestag adjourned, on July 13,
everything seemed full of promise. The minor German States formally
acknowledged the new Reichsverweser. King Frederick William of Prussia
invited him, together with many members of the Frankfort Parliament, to the
Cologne Cathedral festival on August 14. There the King pledged the
Archduke at a public banquet: "May he give us," declared the King, "united
and free German peoples; may he give us united and free sovereigns." A few
days later an event occurred which opened the eyes of the Germans to
Prussia's real part in the destinies of Germany. This was the armistice of
Malmoe, concluded on August 26, between Denmark and Prussia. The early
German victories at Dannewirk and Oversee had borne no fruit. The Danes
were masters of the sea, and mercilessly ravaged the German coasts,
unprotected by any navy. As King Frederick William remarked, it was like a
fight between a hound and a fish. The Danes took innumerable prizes and
crippled the commerce of the Hanseatic cities. General Wrangel thereupon
exacted a contribution of 2,000,000 thalers in Jutland. For every
fisherman's hut that the Danish fleet might injure on the German coast, he
threatened to lay a Danish village in ashes. The foreign Powers objected to
such ruthless campaigning. The Scandinavian States intervened on behalf of
Denmark. Emperor Nicholas of Russia, who regarded the Schleswig-Holstein
movement as an unjustifiable rebellion, came to their support. Lord
Palmerston, who had once proposed to end the quarrel by simply cutting the
disputed territory in two, according to the preferences of the inhabitants,
now threw in the weight of England with the other Powers. Prussia was
constrained to withdraw her army. According to the provisions of the seven
months' truce forced upon Prussia at Malmoe in Sweden, all