The Express.
London, England, 1849-05-30 00:00:00

GERMANY.

FRANKFORT.—Our cor
FRANKFORT,
writes :
MAT 25.

•
The muse-gui-pout principle of the Gagern party is
dericed to lead to results, which it is as yet lao easy
task to foresee. There are scarcely two opinions
respecting the last act of Gsgern ; even the good
citizens cal it a pis ce of cowardice. If we compare
the fine words of the noble leader of the citizen party
with Ois act of despair; if we remember that in one
of the late discussions Gagern said :—" If civil war
breaks out I will cast myself on the points of the
bayonstAs ;" if, again, we call to mind that M.
Masser, the second leader of his phalanx, and who
saved himself b4ore the fight, said " The graver
the danger the fuller shall be these benches" (turning
to the right), and yet he has fled like the
rest—it would be difficult to explain all
these contradictions, and behind the scenes there are
assuredly bearings and influences which no common
eye can see. A portion of the Right was from the
beginning sold body and soul to Prussia. Another
party behaved from the first that the sole vocation cf
the National Assembly was to make a constitrion, as
a body of caveats might be summoned by a prince
or a people to make one. These two parties of the
Right would desire nothing better than to fly before
the first resistance they encountored. But Gagern
belonged to neither of these parties. He was the skil-
ful leader who would move on directly towards the
aim in view—to wit, a German empire united (with-
out Austria) under the imperial crown of Prussia. On
the first show of re•istance he got himself summoned to
Prussic It was one of his adjutants who organised the
civic resistance at Cologne. But when the movement
became serious Osgern became frightened. He dr sired
agitation ; but he foresaw a revoluuon, and drew back.
Throughout Germany there are two parties in the
movement—the Gagern-constitutional-citizen party,
on the one hand; and on the other, the republican
party. The Gagern party at first made no distinction
between its own friends and the republicans; but ere
long the latter progressed somewhat more rapidly
than the friends of Gsgern. When the King of
Prussia declared that he would aid all the princes in
their resistance to the Constitution of Frank-
fort, he at that moment declared war
sgainst the National Assembly. When the
King of Saxony, on the strength of that declaration,
'summoned Ptirran troops to fight against his peo-
ple, who wished to force him to adopt the Frankfort
constitution, then the Kings of Prussia and &zesty
openly made war against the German people, as re-
prevented by the National Assembly of Frankfort.
The duty of Gsgern and his party was clearly indi-
cated. All Germany awaited the word of commend
from Frankfort, and Frankfort was silent, and drew
back. They had succeeded in making the leaders of
the bourgeoisie fear the movement in which they had
engaged. At Dresden a republein was a member of
the provisional government. At Leipsic the bourgeoisie
declared itself against the movement in Dresden, and
from hat time the entire bourgeoisie of almost the whole
of Germany has been 1 sing conVenco in its power;
imagining that there remain but two alternatives to