successive sovereigns at Copenhagen on their accession to the throne. The German Confederation, which occupied the little country in 1863, and the Austro-Prussian Commissioners by which it was afterwards administered, had been unable to provide any remedy for these evils. Their time had been too short, and the difficulties of the situation too great, as it was still uncertain to whom the territory would eventually fall. Therefore up to the final occupation of the Duchy by Prussia, apart from the chaotic condition of laws which no attempt had ever been made to codify, it was the custom to fill the numerous overpaid official positions with members of certain “fine families,” of course for the most part aristocratic, who farm out the extensive domains amongst themselves, naturally at a rent far below their real value, thus monopolising a great part of the wealth of the country. On the 25th of September, 1865, King William went to Ratzeburg, the chief town of the Duchy, in order to receive the oath of homage and allegiance of his new subjects. He was met at Buchen, on the frontier, by a deputation of the Estates, who delivered an address, in which they said, _inter alia_: “We have your Majesty’s word that you will rule over us justly, according to the customs and laws of the country.” By this they unquestionably meant the preservation of their feudal privileges rather than reasonable justice. In his reply the King made no reference whatever to that passage. This was in itself enough to cause uneasiness, and a change was indeed at hand. On the afternoon of the 25th, the day preceding the ceremony of homage, which was to take place at the Church of St. Peter at Ratzeburg, Bismarck, who had accompanied the monarch, was enjoying the freshness of the evening on the banks of the beautiful little lake near the town, in company with a Herr von Bülow, Hereditary Marshal of the Duchy, a typical Junker of those parts. As the latter had as yet heard nothing to show that the new ruler of the country intended to confirm the privileges, and was much concerned at this uncertainty, he at length took heart and said:-- “_À propos_, Excellency, how is it with our Compact? I hope his Majesty will confirm it before he demands our homage.” “I imagine that the King will not do so,” observed Bismarck. “In that case,” replied the Junker von Bülow, “we shall refuse to take the oath to-morrow in the church.” “In that case,” retorted the Minister, coolly, “you shall hear to-morrow in the church that you have been incorporated in the nearest Prussian province.”