THE PRUSSIAN OFFICERS AT SKAGEN: AN EPISODE OF 1864.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—Had things turned out in Belgium as the Germans hoped—viz., an occupation of the country, Antwerp and the Belgian sea coast included, without any interference on the part of Great Britain—an historical episode of fifty years ago might have been repeated. One day towards the end of July, 1864, a Danish fisherman found a bottle at Skagen, the northern point of the Jutland Peninsula, where the Baltic and North Sea waters meet, which contained a record of the visit of some Prussian officers to the spot. The document was addressed to Lord Palmerston and ran as follows: "The fortunate finder is requested to forward this document to Lord Palmerston, the Prime Minister of England, in memory of the honourable and effective protection which be granted the noble Danish nation." Some fifteen officers had affixed their names to this paper. An even more scathing letter to Sir Edward Grey might have been found in a bottle of
Ostend in August, 1914 !—I am, Sir, &c., W. R. PRIOR.
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