The Sun.
London, England, 1838-04-19 00:00:00

EVENTS AT GOTTINGEN, IN NO-

VEMBER and DECEMBER, 1337.

(BY ONE OF THE PARTIES.)
It is not the province of history to sit in judgment upon
the occurrences of the past ; its office is truly to represent
the developement and the connexion of events as they hap-
pened, and this true account proves, in most cases, the se-
verest judgment, as the attempt to pervert the opinion of
posterity by deceptive appearances and artful misrepresen-
tations has never yet succeeded.
Our own days will also, and perhaps sooner than other
past times, be weighed ; truth will be male known ; the
connexion of events will be understood ; and in the events

themselves- their judgment will be found.
We might quietly await this judgment, and the wonder-
ful change which the course of events will produce in pub-
lic opinion concerning those circumstances of which we
have been eye-witnesses.
It may, however, be useful to give our contemporaries at
once a correct account—at least of the principal and most
important circumstances, particularly as many incorrect,
deficient, and even false rumours have been spread abroad,
and great difficulties are opposed to a knowledge of the
truth.
It seems worth while to give an: account of those circum-
stances which we know to be true. We may err in trifles,
but for the truth of the principalevents e will be answerable.
It is not our intention to trace the course of events, the
very last of which we have to deal with, to their first be-
ginning. We will say but little of the condition of Hanover
under the reign of the late King, which condition, though
it might not be called perfect (and what country's condition
can be called perfect ?), was yet happy, and satisfac-
tory. The claims of the present and the institutions
of the past were respected in the gradual development
of new organisations ; reciprocal confidence between the
King and the people, and a desire for intellectual and
moral improvement prevailed.
There existed, it is true, some few discontented persons ;
Ministers were accused of weakness and want of activity ;
several demands were made in the Chambers which were
refused by the Crown ; several new laws were objected to.
A few took the part of the working classes ; but the oppo-
sition of those who relied on the old privileges and the in-
fluence of the Nobility, and who strove to .resist every at-
tempt to infringe them, was most violent.
There is not another part of Germany in which the Nobility
maintains such great and long-standing privileges; and these
are rarely united to personal efficiency. Superior mental culti-
vation was wanting in the upper classes, and the few who
formed in this an honourable exception might easily be named.
Indeed what they did not possess, they appeared to despise,
or rather to hate. It is said that in one of the sittings of the
Chamber the hope was expressed that " a time would soon
return when, not knowledge, which every one might
acquire, but name and family would be the sole passports to
office." The watchword of the Opposition was " The rights
of the Nobility, as in the olden time—and even more con-
tempt of the middle ranks and of their road to distinction,
mental cultivation, and knowledge."
It is well known that the leaders of this party, excluded
from the offices of Government during the late reign,
looked forward to the present one with hope, and did not
hesitate to express these hopes even before the time. The
news of the King's illness came ; the country mourned, but
the Tories of Hanover gained courage, and prepared for
coming events. The King died, and the whole existing
state of things was threatened. In the first sittings of the
Chambers the determined opposition of Herr von Scheele
to the address to the Viceroy, the Duke of Cambridge,
created a sad presentiment of the things that were to come.
Herr von Scheele became a Cabinet Minister without
taking the oath to the Constitution. The first patent of
the sth of June appeared, and a boundless sea of fear lay
before us ; yet there remained one chance of avoiding the
conflict. The peaceful development of our energies was
interrupted, the quiet of the country disturbed—but still
other advantages might be obtained ; at least we might hope
forjustice and prudence from our rulers. They themselves
seemed for a moment doubtful ; they were but few ; no one
joined them ; powerful voices were heard from all sides de-
manding protection for the law of the land and the Consti-
tution. But Government proceeded. After a long period
of uncertainty the royal patent was signed on the Ist and
published on the 4th of November ; it annihilated the
Constitution of 1833, abolished the oath, demanded quiet
submission, and threatened severe punishment for every
opposition.
The judgment men passed on this Act need not be con-
cealed. With the exception of a few, who were guided by
passion or self-interest—all to whom justice and the Con-
stitution were dear and well known—all who had hitherto
taken a part in the public business, were hurt, shocked,
and revolted, and looked forward with the most mournful

expectations. On the part of the Crown the worst had
been done : we were silent for the moment, but we did not
believe that we were deprived of all the means properly
belonging to us for defending the Constitution. The ques-
tion was, how were we to use these means? Every attempt
at actual resistance against our hereditary Sovereign was
deprecated ; indeed, open resistance ought never to be de-
signed ; only the excess of oppression can bring it forth;
even then no one should defend it. It is an evil created
and employed by necessity, which runs its fearful course
like a dreadful disease, which, when surmounted, renovates
the Constitution. But to remonstrate appeared lawful
to every one. The Constitution was a compact between
the King and the people, established by the former, by the
advice and with the assent of the latter ; all were bound
by their oath to maintain it—no one believed himself re-
leased from this obligation—it only remained doubtful in
what words to protest. Great confidence was placed in
Ministers : they had founded and sworn to the Constitu-
tion—they had governed according to its principles—they
had themselves declared that any violation of the Consti-
tution would cause them to resign. They did not resign
now, and this blow was felt almost as severely as the patent
itself ; at least a part of the responsibility for what followed
falls hack upon them ; and the circumstance of each being
confined to the duties of his own department cannot free
them from that responsibility.
These circumstances being discussed and considered all
over the country, they could not fail to engross the atten-
tion of all in Gottingen. The teachers of law and politics
the Chambers, were dissolved ; those who
felt themselves loudly called upon to treat these important
subjects with firmness and decision. The legitimate organs
of the
trieletoP"bPele'called together according to the new order
of things were not to be recognised as legal ; every
one who adhered to the Constitution must, if in-
tending to be consistent, decline to take a part in
the elections. There remained, indeed, but one means
of escape from the existing entanglements—the inter-
ference of the German Diet. But from this interference
a favourable result could only be expected if the opinion of
the country, of the Corporations, of persons in office, and
oflight-thinking people in general, were made known to
that body. Even as far as the King himself wasconcerned,
people, abroad where nothing but
tier might give rise to most
newspapers
the expressionri ov fe omiul
itpni
gnbin
eo
b nwt
deceiveda sb nomf
bgbaryse
tai
itet
am:
and howeveroonamceeeernontnni.nreceptions,gtsTthhoeef
festive processions and solemn
erroneous opinions. My !pons were prevented from
lrsieutal
pee countryoosuiit:accounts
woef
ch
speaking their minds by the fear of losing their offices, and
their salaries : such fears were less known in Gottingen than
retlkienoanwn,
any where else. The University united the first talents of the
country ; it possessed some of the most distinguished men of
Germany. They might well be considered as called upon
to set an example to others, and to speak first on a subject
which interested all, but on which the greater number did
not venture to express their opinion. To this may be added
their position as teachers. The late events had made no
trifling impression upon the academic youths. To guide them
iu 1eg,,,1 ways of remonstrance was the duty of the teachers ;
but in that case they must first act themselves, in the way
that conscience and conviction pointed out. Those amongst
the Professors, therefore, who had been long personally ac-
quainted, and who possessed most courage, united to take
the first public step. The following declaration was drawn
up on the 17th of November, and signed and despatched
on the following day.
[The declaration here alluded to, is that which appeared
in our paper of last November 30th.]
We all know that those who signed this declaration are
me" of whom none ever laid themselves open to the least
suspicion of modern Liberalism. They are distinguished
by great learning, a knowledge of history, a strong feeling
of justice, and great conscientiousness. Dahlmann alone
among them has had a political career. He has given suf-
ficient evidence of his principles, by his actirity as secre-
tary to the Holstein Nobility (Holsteinische Rittersehaft),
by his co-operation in the drawing up of the Constitution,
and in the debates of the Second Chamber, and, lastly, by
Ids lectures. He demands a constitutional existence, founded
upon justice and history (and even the latest times belong
to history), contra-distinguished from tyranny and indivi-
dual despotism. He has shown that he is by no means in-
clined to give way to the demands of democrats, or to the
deceptive principle of the rights of the people ; it is calumny
to connect him with those who wish to agitate and to shake
the foundations of society.
The declaration was sent to the Curatorium in Hanover,
to be presented to the King. At the same time several of
those who had signed it had sent copies to friends, not
meaning to make any secret of what they had done. With
incredible rapidity several hundred copies were distributed
at Gottingen, and in all parts of the country. It was in-
serted, at the same time, in several German newspapers.
It made a deep impression everywhere, and was for many
days the sole subject of conversation. Many were excited,
and participated in the opinions expressed in the declaration ;
some praised the step unconditionally ; others admired, but
feared the consequences. The declaration had not, how-