tention of these districts. The
law was enacted on November 13, 1863, and Frederick VII died two days
later. His successor, Christian IX, promptly declared his intention to
hold the duchies in spite of their supposed desire to separate from
Denmark and to have their own Prince in the German Confederation. The
Federal Diet of the Confederation had early protested the purpose of
Denmark and Russell had at first upheld the German arguments but had
given no pledges of support to anyone[1169]. But Palmerston on various
occasions had gone out of his way to express in Parliament his favour
for the Danish cause and had used incautious language even to the point
of virtually threatening British aid against German ambitions[1170]. A
distinct crisis was thus gradually created, coming to a head when
Prussia, under Bismarck's guiding hand, dragging Austria in with her,
thrust the Federal Diet of the Confederation to one side, and assumed
command of the movement to wrest Schleswig-Holstein from Denmark.

This occurred in February, 1864, and by this time Palmerston's
utterances, made against the wish of the majority of his Cabinet
colleagues (though this was not known), had so far aroused the British
public as to have created a feeling, widely voiced, that Great Britain
could not sit idly by while Prussia and Austria worked their will on
Denmark. There was excellent ground for a party attack to unseat the
Ministry on the score of a humiliating "Danish policy," at one time
threatening vigorous British action, then resorting to weak and
unsuccessful diplomatic manoeuvres. For three months the Government
laboured to bring about through a European council some solution that
should both save something for Denmark and save its own prestige.
Repeatedly Palmerston, in the many parliamentary debates on Denmark,
broke loose from his Cabinet colleagues and indulged in threats which
could not fail to give an excellent handle to opponents when once it
became clear that the Ministry had no intention of coming in arms to the
defence of the Danish King.

From February to June, 1864, this issue was to the fore. In its earlier
stages it did not appear to Southern sympathizers to have any essential
bearing on the American question, though they were soon to believe that
in it lay a great hope. Having set the Southern Independence Association
on its feet in London and hoping much from its planned activities,
Lindsay, in March, was momentarily excited ove