As the government wavered in its response, the liberal movement grew and its first newspaper, Fsedrelandet, appeared in 1834.? In 1837 the crown agreed to the introduction of elected town councils, and, four years later, to elected bodies in parishes and counties. Although the franchise was restricted, many small farmers gained political awareness through their participation in the local councils. Frederik IV died in 1839 and was replaced by Christian VIII. As Crown Prince of Norway, Christian had approved a liberal constitution in that country but surprised Danish liberals by not agreeing a similar constitution at home. In 1848 he was succeeded by his son Frederik VII. Meanwhile, the liberals had organised themselves into the National Liberal Party, and the king signed a new constitution which made Denmark the most democratic country in Europe, guaranteeing freedom of speech, freedom of religious worship, and many civil liberties. Legislation was to be put in the hands of a Rigsdag elected by popular vote and consisting of two chambers the lower folketing and upper landsting. The king gave up the powers of an absolute monarch, but his signature was still required before bills approved by the Rigsdag could become law. And he could select his own ministers. Within SchleswigHolstein, however, there was little faith that the equality granted to them in the constitution would be upheld, A delegation from the duchies went to Copenhagen to call for Schleswig to be combined with Holstein within the German Confederation. A Danish compromise suggested a free constitution for Holstein with Schleswig remaining as part of Denmark, albeit with its own legislature and autonomy in its internal administration. The SchleswigHolsteiners rejected this and formed a provisional government in Kiel. The inevitable war that followed was to last for three years and, once Prussia's support was withdrawn, it ended in defeat for the duchies. The Danish Prime Minister, C.C. Hall, drew up a fresh constitution which included Schleswig as part of Denmark but totally excluded Holstein. Despite widespread misgivings within the Rigsdag, the constitution was narrowly voted through. Frederik died before he could give the royal assent and it fell to Christian IX to put his name to the document which would almost certainly trigger another war. It did, and under the peace temis Denmark ceded both Schleswig and Holstein to Germany, leaving the country smaller than it had been for centuries. The blame was laid firmly on the National Liberals, and the new government, appointed by the king and drawn from the affluent landowners, saw its initial task as replacing the constitution, drawn up to deal with the SchleswigHolstein crisis, with one far less liberal in content. The election of 1866 resulted in a narrow majority in the fl favouring a new constitution. When this came to be implemented, it retained the procedure for election to the Meting, but made the landsting franchise dependent on land and money and allowed 12 of the 64 members to be selected by the king.