The Brunswick Succession question, recently raised by the Diet of
the duchy, has led to an interesting correspondence between the Duke of Cumberland and the German Emperor. The Duke proposes an arrangement under which his rights and those of his eldest son should be transferred to his youngest son, Ernest Augustus. He and his eldest son would then formally renounce their claims to the throne of Bruns- wick as soon as it was made clear that no obstacles stood in the way of the assumption of the government of the duchy by his youngest son. But he further stipulates that the succession in Brunswick should remain open to him and his eldest son and to their descendants in the event of the extinction of his youngest son's line. To this proposal the Kaiser has replied declining to lend himself to a fresh arrangement so long as the actual and legal situation which led to the action of the Federal Council in 1885 remains unchanged. Prince Billow has also written regretting his inability to support the Duke's proposal. It will, of course, be noted that the Duke of Cumberland omits to say anything about renouncing his claim to the throne of Hanover. The mutual attitude of the Duke and the Kaiser is curiously illustrated by their method of addressing each other, the Duke styling the Kaiser his " well-beloved cousin and brother "—brother is the word always used by Kings in addressing each other—while the Kaiser omits the last two words.
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