The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-06 00:00:00

?-.A. MODERN HENRY the EIGHTH.
BRESLAU, APRIL 22.—The Prince Archbishop of
Breslau has launched the thunders of the church against
one of the German princes. He has excommunicated
the Prince of Hatzfeld de Trachambourg and de Jasch-
kowitz, member of the order of nobles in the General
Diet of Prussia, at present assembled in Berlin, and ene
of the richest and most influential princes in Prussia.
The following are the circumstances which have led
to an act of rigour on the part of the church so uncom-
mon in the present century:—
About five years ago Prince Germain de Hatzfeld,
who is a Roman Catholic, fell in love with the Duchess
de Reichembach, a married lady, and a Protestant. For
some reason, of which we do not know the particulars,
the Duchess de Reichembach got herself divorced. Soon
afterwards, in virtue of a royal decree, abridging the
delay which, according to our laws, must take place be-
tween the divorce and the re-marriage of any of the
divorced parties, the Prince of Hatzfeld got the Lutheran
pastor of Breslau to give him the marriage blessing.
Thereafter the Prince of Hatzfeld was anxious to have
his marriage made valid according to the rites of the
Catholic Church, and for that purpose he applied to
several ecclesiastics to perform the marriage ceremony,
but they all refused, on the ground that they were for-
bidden to do so by the decisions of the Council of Trent,
and more especially by a brief addressed, in 1843, by
the late Pope Gregory XVI. to the bishops of Bavaria,
and in which the Sovereign Pontiff designates a marriage
between a Catholic and a divorced Protestant as con-
nubium adulterinum. The Prince of Hatzfeld did not
lose his courage. He went to Rome, threw himself at
the Pope's feet, and supplicated his Holiness to confirm
his marriage with the Duchess de Reichembach. Gre-
gory XVI, was moved; and after having received from
the Prince of Hatzfeld a solemn promise that he would
support the interests of the Catholic Church, his Holi-
ness validated the marriage of the Prince and Princess
of Hatzfeld, and gave orders to the Prince-Archhishop
of Breslau to give them the nuptial benediction, accord-
ing to the rites of the Catholic Church, which was ac-
cordingly done. For some time the Prince of Hatzfeld
kept his word to the Pope. He placed himself at the
head of the Catholic aristocracy of the province, and he
constituted himself the protector of the clergy, who, in
consequence of his intercession, obtained in a short
time great privileges and considerable immunities. In
consequence of this zeal, Pope Gregory XVI. conferred
upon the Prince of Hatzfeld numerous decorations and
other marks of distinction. After two years of marriage,
the love of the Prince of Hatzfeld for his wife began
gradually to cool, and this coolness increased to such a
degree that at last he drove her out of his house, and
obtained a divoice. At the same time he formed an in-
timate connexion with another Protestant lady, Madame
de Bach, who had also the mishap- to be divorced, and
on the 6th of the present month of April he married
her Publicly in the Ltitheran Cathedral of 'Breslau. On
the following day the Prince Archbishop of. Breslau
pronounced a sentence of the greater excommunication
against the Prince of Hatzfeld, in which, after reciting
the above facts, he says—" Considering ,that his Serene
Highness the Prince Germain of Hatzteld de Trachem-
bourg and de Jaschkowitz has rendered himself guilty
of polygamy, since, during the life of his wife, he has
married another woman; that such an act should be
punished the more severely from its being committed by
a person so highly placed as the said Prince of Hatzfeld
by birth, rank, and fortune, and whose example must
necessarily have a great effect upon the people; that the
Prince of Hatzfeld has shown a supreme degree of in-
gratitude to the late Pope Gregory XVI., who loaded
him with favours and honouts; that the Prince of Hatz-
feld, who was at the head of the Catholics of Silesia, has
by his conduct covered his co-religionists with shame;
that it is notorious that he has stated everywhere
that he had no uneasiness about what he had
done, and that by means of money he would obtain from
the clergy the validation of his second marriage as he
had the first: that it is necessary to prove to the public
in a striking manner that it is an erroneous impression
which is current in our country, that the clergy are
always indulgent to the powerful of the earth:—We,
Melchoir, by the graze of God, &c., Prince Archbishop
of Breslau, in virtue of our archiepiscopal functions,
and in conformity with the holy canons, but to our regret
and with a profound grief, excommunicate the said Most
Serene Prince Germain of Hatzfeld, as a public and obsti•
nate contemner a,nd transgressor of the laws and doctrines
of the church; and we strike him with the anathema of the
church, and with all the legal consequences of that measure,
and that in the name of the Father, of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." The Breslau
papers state that the Prince of Hatzfeld, on learn-
ing that sentence of excommunication had been pro-
nounced against him, intimated his intention of
joining the Lutheran Church, but that by the advice
of his friends he abstained from doing so, because
the consequence would be that he would lose two of his
richest and most valuable lordships. The Prince of
Hatzfeld above spoken of is brother of the Prince of
Hatz'eld Schoenberg, whose liaison with the Countess of
Meyendorff gave rise to a celebrated trial at Cologne in
December last.

POSTAL ARRANGEMENTS WITH

CHINA.
(From the China Mail.)
The ignorance and inattention of the good folks at
home regarding the postal arrangements with China, is
a never-failing source .of annoyance to residents here.
We have repeatedly essayed our possible to enlighten the
select portion of the British public who enjoy the oppor-
tunity of perusing tilt. China Mail, but hitherto, we r,gret
to find, to very little purpose, if the annoyingly amusing
instances which have just come to our knowledge afford
a fair criterion. We select two of them :
A friend in London, wishing to, give the latest infor-
mation on private affairs, frets and bustles to have a
letter on the 4th of the month, because, some ten years
ago, in the infancy of steam communication with the
east, he had learnt that a mail was made up via Mar-
seilles on that day, and being evithntly a disciple of the
Finality School, had no faith in subsequent improve-
ment; and so this effusion becomes a dead letter, and is
mercilessly entombed in a pigeon hole of the London Post-
office for three weeks. Another intelligent correspondent
living within a stone's throw of the Edinburgh Post -office,
to make, sure work, writes a letter on the 18th, in
ample time for the Southampton dispatches, but having
by over study of Directories and Almanacs, acquired
some confused notions about the greater expedition used
with Marseilles letters, marks his via that route, and
posts it on the 21st, but neglects to pay the postage,
no doubt because he had discovered that such a preli-
minary step was not necessary in the case of letters
sent by the English packets. The consequence was that
his letter was detained in London a month, less a couple
of days, when, after all, it was sent via Southampton, the
only route for unpaid letters. Tile accident which befel
the Ripon steamer deprived us of the October mail in
due course, and so this 'letter, written on the 18th Sep-
tember, and inclosing a bill of lading, which ought to
have been here in the middle of November, did not ar-
rive till the end of January, a few days after the vessel
containing the goods. Such are the consequences of
neglecting a five minutes' study of a very simple ar-
rangement.
The mails for India of the 4th and 7th of the month
are, however, the most fruitful source of the blunders
we Celestial sojourners have to complain of ; and,
strange to say, they are encouraged by the Post-office
itself, which from time to time issues notices that
" Mails for China, India, &c., are to be made up in
London on the 4th and 7th," while, according to its own
regulations, all letters for China direct are dispatched
only on the 20th and 24th. None are more readily
caught in this trap than news-agents, and nothing is
more common than to see bundles of .papers addressed
and paid for " via. Marseilles, and Bombay 1" We,
therefore, with the most profound respect, beg to assure
the ingenuous,. but, we are compelled to add, remarkably
stupid home public, that letters for China direct never
visit India at all, unless addressed to the care of some
one there, in which case the chances are they are never
more heard of, except as lumber to the Bombay or
Calcutta Post-office. The mails of the 4th and 7th,
therefore, carry letters for India, and not for China ;
those of the 20th and 24th bring letters for both India
and China.

But as our readers at home are proof against all that
has appeared in our journal upon the subject, we hare
printed the following notice at the head of a ream of
letter paper, in order that at least our own correspon-
dents may not plead ignorance:—
" There is only one mail for China made up in Lon-
don, via Southampton on the 20th, and via Marseilles
on the 24th of each month. It is not necessary to
pre-pay letters sent by to former route; by the
latter pre-payment is imperative, otherwise letters
though marked via Marseilles by the sender will be
detained in London for the next Southampton dispatch.
The mails of the 4th and 7th are for INDIA and not for
CHINA, though the contrary is erroneously stated in
the Notices issued by the London Post-office. p?sta,t-j'ers..
via Southampton charged by the / °linee IX route
seilles by the i ounce. All letters bandl
ssphoonugldy be invariably written on good,et never on
Adopting the admirable system_
Mrs. Barbauld, and others
fr idea, we here
selves to teaching the understood -
who ha
idea,
Idlervso. t eTdr i them m e
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when
nth
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fn°And our crowning
with the nip cheese mean-
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half ounces
contrasted:nhter:a
neighbours, who double their charge
ness of our Gallic
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on letters when they
when
conzeuet t toi s theexcesepdetedi.fied Bat weight,
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while we only d)
(
aobusrtrnuesoeprhdyisquisitions are kept in reserve, to instigate
tes in postal science to a diligent study of
the present rudimental Gradus.

HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.—The concluding sin ing
meeting was held yesterday afternoon, at the rooms in
Regent—street, whey' the chair was taken by R. Govan, Esq.
The prizes awarded were, silver Banksian medals to Messrs.
Weeks and Wickham for specimen plants, and certificates of
merit to I\lr. Ayre for strawberries, and Mr. Donald for two
plants. From Sir 'l'. Dyke Acland was a dish of new pota-
toes, grown without heat, and which did not appear to be
affected with the prevalent disease. From Mr. Cuthill was a
drain tile, made entirely of novel materials, being made of
compressed peat moss, a substance considered to be particu-
larly eligible where clay or other material was with difficulty
to be obtained. The extract from the Meteorologicalltegist
kept at the gardens since the last meeting, en the 20th April,
gave, barometer, highest, 22d April, 30.064 inch—lowest,
April 29, 29.528 inch ; thermometer, highest, April 25, 62
deg. F.—lowest, April 26, 20 deg. F.; and quantity of rain,
0.40 inch.
packets
A line of sailing between Antwerp and
the ports of Galatz and
des.
passed os an
the
aboutsth u, t
to. bebe
tewsteaebnl
ee dB,
eiln
execution of a treaty.
gian Minister of Foreign
frond the
and M. Frederic Hai:kort.
T
The engagement is made out the present year up to 1831
in-
cll