The Sun.
London, England, 1824-09-01 00:00:00

'GERRMA•NIC I/I FA'.

'(Prom the Journal deg Debar qt,qpinday. )
FRANKFORT, A ties. 25.
`[EXTRACT Or TIIE PItOCEEI)INGS AT VIE 221)
MEETING Of TUE DIET, MELD AUG. 161
44 l'he Minister of Austria, Baron de Munch-
'' X3ellinghausen, President, declares at the opening
of the Meeting, that he is charged by 14% Court
to cause to be put on the protocol, degtitied to be
rendered public, the following proposals, which
he has heforl communicated to the Members at
a confidential Meeting :

" PROPOSITION OF THE PRESIDENT IIELATIVE TO THE
.. DECREES or THE DIET OF SEPT. 20, 1819.
" When the Emperor, in the Session of §eptc.riber 20, IEII9,
;thought It right to call the attention of this Assembly to the
' fermentation which then manifested itself In a great part of
Germany, invited it to occupy itself with these alarming move.
ments, and to take Into serious consideration the means of pre.
serving order and tranquillity, of maintaining respect for the
laws, of securing confidence in the Governments, and re.esta-
* Wishing general satisfaction in the public mind, lie at the SAMS
time pointed out the principal causes of the evil, as the circum.
-.-..!bmcas which most deserved to'be subjected to a profound exa-
-I:lo4t''''''''To:4T f 0 Id not learn, without the most
" his caret were appreciated, and that
Jari,t4riCn were both wise and salutary, bad
erritive principles which, in the great
reivAistantly directed the conduct of his
Mex. • iHilo*—principles which, in the Go-
vertni Oita f:',onfuderatiort, have been recognised
as kle poly Ones ; It) 14-"tarantee to the common country all
these benefits ..svhicas .
not, however, con.
'
from ourselves,, a great part of the hostile elements
which
then ,x10,41.,.„0,44,.. elements from which have arisen
pit Eltatke ealamities at t<. angers which have affected so many
exist in tkrtnany. If it ht true, that on the
_4o.4e.baul pt,ltuttos, Eauderation, and fidelity which have

always characterised the Germans have preserved us from'
tkieelkient Tlynlutions to which other States have fallen
tarns, it is not the less true that those who are disposed
tit conduct aut .by, the same road to the same miseries, are
:leave and numerous amongst us, and that their inftuence Ist
sufficiently—great - than--we cannot ace their guilty intrigues
With IndifFerence. If they are now not powerful enough to
disturb the public peace, they do not the lesi ,wise a" very
serious evil by devoting themselves, with indefivigable per-
severance, to degrade all authority, weaken all principles, to
pervert truth, and to disturb the sense of happiness and se-
Malty, without which political repose cannot shed the whole
of its benefits on nations.. The Dulter?ris penetrated by the
Conviction, that the, sentiments and wishes of the Germans,
•
irleft to their own impulies„ are full of uttachment to their
Princes, and that &cry contrary appearance is the work of
• I.
guilty demagogit#. The last Report of the Central Commis.:
sionof Mayenceithits supplied irresistible proof of the activity
of these perturbators of the public repose. That a number of
intrigues, such aft the Commission has exptiseiktilaY now be
going on in Germany in 11124, that they may be kept up at a
period when external tranquillity is complete, that by means of
numerous secret associations, which ate constantly reproduced
under ei variety of names and
pretexts,
that they may gain ground that an inextinguishable faction
sceips certain, and even
,
works, though in darkness, to ovetthrow all which is legiti.
mate, and regard this deed of crimp etsethf constant„object of
its exertions,
imposes en the Itmparor theduty of recalling to
this Assembly the decisions of 1811). It is a question whether
the Decrees then adopted by the Diet in favour of the con.
nervation of the internal security and of 'public order in (kr-
many, can be put out of force without endangering the gene-
ral good ; or if it is not rather necessary to maintain ahem. or
prolong the duration of those which were passed for a limited
period. The objects which his Majesty had principally in view
in 1819, as particularly worthy of the attention of this Assem-
bly, were the following :
" I. The uncertainty as to the meaning of the 13th Article of
the Act of Federation, and the false interpretations which hid
been put on it.—The Princes of the Germanic Confederation
felt the difficulty there was in subjecting this important ob-
ject to a general form, according to which the Assemblies of
the States should be uniformly constituted. They would not
encroach on the rights of each individual State of the Con-
federation to make its internal regulations according to its
own views, according to the localities and relations legally
existing. But it is evident that in respecting this right they
cannot admit absolutely, either in the constitutions or in the
transactions of the Assemblies of States, forms directly con-
teary to their primitive character ;—forms incompatible with
the rights and essential attributes of monarchical govern.
ments, such as those, which, with the exception of some free
cities, constitute the Germanic Confederation,—forms which,
placing in manifest contradiction the representative with
the monarchical principle, will end in giving a predomi-
nance to democratic elements, and will thus produce a change
which, sooner; or, later, would bring on a dissolution of
the Confederation. Agreeing that nothing. should be decid-
ed, on this iniportant point before examining the matter
Under every,polet of view, the Diet, in 1019, only declared in
general,, That at the re-commencement of the Sessions,
the States of adiu/my, conforming to the monarchical prim,
ciple, and ter the conditions indispensable fOr the preservation
of the 6)4:iteration, will declare in what sense they have tin.
derstood And interpreted the 13th Art. of the Act of Federation.'
The result of these'deliberetione was consigned in the final
'Act, drawn up in the Ministerial conferences openedat Vienna
to complete and consolidate the Federal Legislation ; an Act
which has eine., been sanctioned as a fundamental law of the
Confederation. The Monarchical principle is there expressly
established with relation to the Constitution of the Assemblies
of Estates. This Article. is as follows :-4 Considering that,
with the exception of the free towns, the Confederation is only
composed ofSitvareign Princes, it la necessary, agreeably to this
fundamentel character, that all the public power should remain
united in the head of the. Government, and that the Sovereign is
not Molted but in the exercise of certain particulars determined by
the 11ecting of the A sseinldies of Estates.' Art. 511 is a corollary on
this. It says,' The Sovereigns composing the Confederation can-
not he prevented by any iliepoaition of the constitutive acts ache
Assemblies Of the Estatee from entirely fulfilling the obligations
imposed on them by tile Confederation.' From these articles
it follows,—"fhat the Estates can never deprive the Sovereign of
the necessary means fits the regular course orate public mind-
nietration.'" In the' same spirit, and to point'out to the Alen).
here of these Assemblies the limits which they ought not to
page, it is said in Art. 59, ' Where the Constitution of the
Estates admits of publicity to their proceedings, the tegulation
serving as the guide of these Assemblies will provide that
neither in the discussions, nor in the publication by printing,
shell the necessary freedom of speech lead to abuses which
will compromise public tranquillity, either in the country
where the debates take place, or in other parts of Ger.
many.' By this Article, the limits are marked, within
which the transactions of the Assemblies of the Estates must
be restrained; and after this disposition it cannot he permit.
ted that principles or doctrines should be advanced which
might endanger the rights and essential attributes of Moser.
oari
clitcal Governments, and weaken progressively the power
the Sovereign. If, therefore, in any one of the countries of
Germany, where publicity of the deliberations is allowed,
no regulation of this kind has been introduced, or if
the one which exists does not answer the end „pro-
posed, the Governaient would not only have the right,
but it would be bound to_provide a sufficient one. Art. 68 of
the final Act enjoins the Diet to watch over the execution of
this measure. "fhe independence of each of the States form.
ing the confederation being recognised and guaranteed by the
Act of Federation, the interference of the Diet in die internal
administration of these States cannot, as a general
.principle,
take place. The Members of the Confederation having, how.
ever, agreed to certain particular regulations, cortunon to all
(and among there the one in question evidently belongs), it is
the duty of the Diet to watch over their execution.' Ilia Ma-
jeety, though persuaded that the uncertainty which prevailed
in 1819, as to the meaning of the 13th Article of the Act of
Federation has now ceased by the regulations of the final Act
of 1820 ; and that the false interpretations of this article are
now at an end, nevertheless believes, that in the spirit of these
dispositions, and in the interest of public order anti tranquil.
lity in Germany, he is bound to insist on this proposition;—
' That in all the States of the Confederation, where Constitu-
dons of the Assemblies of the Estates are established, care is
taken—l at, That in the exercise of the rights granted these
Assemblies by the Constitution, the Monarchical principle is
maintained in all its Integrity. 2d, That to obviate the abuse
which may result from the publication of the deliberations of
the Chambers, or by printing their Acts, regulations shall be
adopted agreeably to the dispositions above-mentioned, and that
these regulation,' shall lie strictly observed.' fhe Emperor,
while he acknowledges that it belongs to each State to proceed
with such a regulation according to its own experience, does
not the less desire that an uniformity of principle should be
followed in this proceeding that those of such Governments
which have admitted publicity, should concert together on
drawing up such a regulation, according to the dispositions of
the Federal Legislation. His Majesty does not doubt, if the '
'Diet accedes to this wish, that tie. States concerned will be
.ready to carry it Into execution.
'4 11. The second object mentioned by his Majesty in 1019 re-
garded the erroneous ideas which hail been formed of the power
of the Diet, and the means of assuring effect to its decisions.
The Emperor, guided by his perfect conviction, has not lies',
tated to state as an indubitable principle, that the Legislative
Decrees of the Diet, when they have for their object the ex-
ternal or internal security of the whole Germanic Confederation,
the independence and the inviolability of it Members, and,
what is inseparable, the maintenance of the order legitimately
established, ought to have an obligatory force in till the coml.
tries of the Federation, and that no Individual legislation, no
separate resolution, should invalidate them. His Majesty is
convinced, at the same time, that the laws and decisions of the
Confederation would be without guarantee and efficiency, if it
did not confide to the Diet the means and force necessary to
have them executed. On this opinion his Majesty caused to
lie submitted by his presiding Minister, the plan of a Provi-
sional or Executive Regulation, which the Diet declared bind-
ing, till a definitive Regulation wax drawn up. By die Decree
of August 3, 1020, a Definitive Regulation received the sanc-
tion of the Diet, and in consequence the Provisional Regula.
.tion ceased to exist.
UNIVERSITIES AND SCIIOOI S.

MITI. It 14 with real pain that his Majesty caused to be point-
ed out in the Proposition submitted on September 20, 1819, the
numerous abuses and vices introduced in the greater part of
the establishments for public instruction, so justly celebrated,
of Germany, and which have removed them from their ori-
ginal character, and from the object proposed by their glorious
founders. Ilk Majesty WON of opinion that the Diet should
occupy itself with this oubject, of equal importance to the
public welfare and .to the sciences, to the happiness of fami-
lies and the security of States ; and that it ougl:t never to
desist till its efforts and its cares had brought about Rome satis-
factory results. It was only to check a most imminent mischief
that the Emperor caused the project of a provicional law to
be presented to the Diet. Thouglythis law, accompanied by

the mast express reserve for ample deliberation on the
part of the Diet, as to the means of a fundamental melioration
in the government of the Schools and Universities, has been
put into execution in all the States of the Confederation, and
not being limited in its duration, will exist without being re.
sewed till the deliberations of the Diet have led to a .general
and definitive law. Yet his Majesty thinkihimielf bound in
conscience, and by; his relations with the enlightened Govern-
ments of the Confederation, to dernand-the-rnest-particular!at-
tention of this Assembly to an object of such Vast importance.
It is unfortunately shewn, that in Oerniany, as in other Statei
of Europe, pains are incessa'ntly taken to sow in the minds of
youth, .suscepiibleof every impression by their first instructors,
the germ of principles calculated to make them, at some future
time, the useful 'instruments of that political sect which en.
deavoura to overthrow all which exists to govern the world ac-
cording to dreams which they call theories. The establish-
ments for gymnastics, and associations formed in the Universi.
ties as well as in a great number of private schools, were des.
tined to develope and to fructify the ideas inculcated in
yoUth. Admitting that so many mischievous projects would
be frustrated by the absurdity of the doctrines on which they
are founded, and by the vigilance of Government, they would
Still do sufficient evil in forming men discontented with every
thing around them, in contradiction with themselves, with their
situation in lira, and with the most sacred duties. If, at the
age of infancy, the instructor substitutes doubt for faith in
matters of religion; if, in place of chewing him the world as it
is, he leads him astray by some ideal picture of the destinies of
man, and his relations to society; if, instead of occupying his
pupil with subjects on a level with his capacity, he gives him
questions to discuss, which are often difficult of decision by men
accustomed to think ; it' the youth thus prepared, saturated
with false science, then enters the University, and finds only a
contempt for every positive doctrine, or a mania of reforming
social order according to chimerical systems ; if he is taught
to despise all which others have established ; if, finally, far
from acquiring; habits of salutary discipline,. lie grows familiar
with every species of insubordination and lcentiousness, and
instead of respecting the laws, regards 'himself as an excep-
tion above punishment and rewards, must we be astonished that
not only at the Universities, hot also at Schools, the most rash
opinions are heard on the subject of Religion and Government,
on all which is highest and most sacred ? Is it astonishing
that such an education only furnishes the State with had servants
and dangerous citizens ? What is there to hope for the main.
tenance of thrones, for the preservation of our institutions, for
the safety of Germany, when men thus educated shall fulfil
all public offices ? A single glance at the inquiries which a
melancholy necessity rendered indispensible in more than one
part of Germany, offers a too dark picture of what may be ex-
pected of the rising generation, to make It pleasant for his
.'Majesty longer to dwell on it. The Emperor, however, con.
shiers the search after remedies for so many weighty incon-
veniences as belonging to the most important subjects which
the Diet will have to consider. His Majesty also thinks he
should not act worthy of the place he hold* in the Confedera-
don, and which lie desires always to hold in the confidence of
the Mernbets, if be were not to recommend this object to the
particular care of the Diet. The deliberations which took place
in the 13th Session of 1817, on the propositions of the Duke of
Saxe Weimar Besenach, and the Duke of Gotha Altenbourg,
have brought to light several useful materials relative to the
Universities. The commission, then chosen in the Assembly,
made by use of its Members, on August 27,1819, a report to
time Diet, in which may be seen, with full confidence, the
fresh labour become necessary with regard to schools in gene.
tel. The proposition of the Emperor is,that not only the
Provisional law, which the Diet has passed with regard to the
Universities, shall be maintained, but, moreover, that there
shall be chosen from the Diet a Committee of five Members
charged to examine, consulting the preceding transactions,
the fresh information collected on the state of public insteuc-
tion, and to propose to the Diet the measures suggested by
that examination.

ABUSE OF THE PRESS.
minted out as
terieuseadnetosebeefsitthbe-
::teldVt.o It
the
et hpei
eotv
on
rnt usree sp
twernhile)leirt2hoedEi
,mlpo r9oir
press, particularly as to periodical works, .
the public
observations
onn)ienodl, theand moinstthlee yainlegesrota irrecsensidonftftihrenmagittt.atTrrheo
Confederation, that there was
by all the members of thewe
were
eo
asnt.rodnulyl y
appre-
ciatedmark-
mark-
ed with
lenin atdhee were
cinhatrhaectnerains'teicnitf)istlit4jhe,sntYntl
this abuse. The proposition wasic
the Diet. The 10th paragraph
any opposition, into decree of D
no difference of opinion as to the necessity of oelnpnvuettritneigt,liwmiitthseutot
of this decree says, The present titirovisuionaitise shall remain
onlye.nt day.
. Before the
expirationfive years
of
fftohricse
t, dating
ne gifenti
111.1 eneep_r.
the of fulfilling the loth
li-
berty of the press in Germany, in order toattai
sub-
ject of one uniform legislation on the legitima.tiellaimdeo(fisnifoliftivtleteanlid-
i the means
permanent decision nn this question.l 43 such a decision, how-
ever, in consequence °Numerous. din:tildes not unknown to
those who are ac:quairitet with the niatter; 'hat not !yet been
come to, and in a business's') important, in Seidel) the proceed-
; ings of the Diet depend on .a p.,...,vious'dernithil 6i-instructions,
this
as
ydeeacri:iotiniectanannao2in theaeke:ia ea berme the • 2tith of September
also, that if the present law fil)rriesoviesxiopnirleawwittkxtuirest be'irte;
by another, we should be in the same situation •in which the,
necessity for such a law was so keenly felt,; tien'to entity,- the!
chief condition of the union, the harmony between the states!
composing It, Majesty doei not hesitate one 'instant to
acknowledge an urgent necessity to renew the provisional law'
aoc concerning nye ,f
:et
rei
terrelealielirnt gvtt
col tT.I ianetn
iktic,riinieleestss
of rniritnre
taokonrocnylfaitthwl4dracileitgil
owleasbat.
tehtinneat
nwfiee
07aweenilrtil definitive
ti.e;idt:)rneeai
t,n,en) e , lawstttState,._
attachmentyttshhi.ayl
re-
ferring to the particular
The intimate relations which a community of language and
literature has established among the Germans, which had .bien
confirmed by the ancient Constitution of the Empire, and
strengthened by the Confederation, does trot allow of looking at
the abuses of the Kress as a local evil, nor of considering the re-
pression of these abuses as the exclusive object of internal legi-
slation or administration. This mode.of looking at the matter
would only be admissible, by supposing that one German
country could so separate itself from the others that what
was printed in it could never pass its frontier ; but as
every thing which issues from the press in Germany is im-
mediately circulated in every country of the Confederation,
now forming only one body, expressly constituted' on the prin.
ciple of preserving the general tranquillity anti security, no
one of the Confederated States can have the right to distribute
to the great majority of the others seditious writings, which
they may judge dangerous to their security, or dangerous to
the preservation of the Federal Bond, and of which,
at the same time, the most rigorous measures can only
partially prevent the circulation. For this reason, in the an-
terior discussions on this subject, it was acknowledged that in
admitting even that, in a State subject to an indivisible regime,
penal laws against the abuse of the press were, in spite of their se-
verity, preferable to the less rigorous system ra censorship, they
will not be less inapplicable to a federative State, such as Ger-
many, in which each country has its particular lawn and forms
for the administration of justice and of police, and in which
the only means of guaranteeing the general interest, and of
maintaining peace and good order in a body thus constituted, is
that of the surveillance of the Press regulated by .a general law,
executed by competent authorities in each country, and, if'
necessary, completed by a concourse of the central authority.
Persuaded that lie can reckon on the suffrages of the other Mem-
bers oldie Confederation, his Majesty has charged me to pro-
pose "'That the provisional law on the subject of the press,
which expires on Sept. 20 of the present year, shall be main-
tained in force till a definitive law is- agreed to."

CENTRAL. COM AIISSION OF MAYENCE.
" V. The object of this Commission is to examine and care-
fully verify, in- all their extent and progress, the origin and
ramification of revolutionary intrigues directed against existing
institutions and public tranquillity—whether of an individual
State, or of the whole Confederation. This commission is not
convoked for a limited time. Its object is determined, and it
is only by the accomplishment of its task that the period of its
dissolution can be decided. The Reports already before us
prove that this period evidently is not yet arrived.—At the end
of the propositions of the President, all the Legations gave
their votes, and the Diet came to the following Resolution :.
" The Germanic Confederation hastens to acknowledge with
gratitude the new proof, which the communication made this
day by
of his Imperial and Royal Majesty, for the maintenance and
the Emperor of Austria gives of' the constant solicitude
confirmation of the internal tranquillity and order of Germany,
and the Diet decres the followi regulations:—
" 1. In all the States of the Confederation in which Consti-
tutions exist, great care must be taken that in the exercise of
the rights granted to the Assemblies by the Constitutions, the
Monarchical principle is maintained in all its integrity; and im
order to obviate the abuses which might result front the publi-
city of their discussions, or the printing of their Acts, regula-
tions shall be made agreeably to the dispositions of the final
Act, and these regulations shall be strictly observed. The Diet
shares the desire of his Imperial and Royal Majesty, that such
of the Governments as allow the publicity of the discussions,
shall concert together on drawing up a regulation of this ape-.
cies, according to the dispositions of the Federal Legislation.
" 2. The Provisional Law of September 20, 1019, passed by
the Diet, concerning the Universities of Germany, is continued
as a matter of course ; but there shall be chosen from the Diet
a Commission of five Members, charged to examine, by consult.
ing preceding transactions, the new Information collected on the'
state of education and of public instruction, and to propose
the measures which this examination may suggest.
3. The provisional law on the subject of tha Press, which'
expires on Sept. 20th of the present year, is to be maintained
in force till a definitive law on this subject is agreed to."