The Sun.
London, England, 1848-09-29 00:00:00

PRUSSIA.

The following circular has been issued to the com-
manding Generals of the army by General Vox

PFUEL, President of the Council and Minister of
War :

" In consequence of my appointment as the President
of the Ministry, and the Minister of War, I have the
honour to transmit to you the address of the new Ministry.
His Majesty the King has already stated in a proclama-
tion to the army, issued on the Ist of May, his views with
regard to the position which the army was to occupy after
a change in the affairs of the State had taken place. In
the same manner my predecessor, General Von
Schreckenstein, had repeatedly, and finally in a decree
of the 13th instant, declared that the Government of his
Majesty would not support reactionary tendencies, but
continue in the constitutional course it had entered upon.
At the same time the necessity of acting, so as to pro-
mote a constitutional spirit among all classes of the
people, was pointed out by him. I hold the same views,
and have determined to oppose all reactionary ten-
dencies. I request you will promote in every manner
possible a good understanding between the civil classes
and the military, and resist the reactionary spirit
among the troops under your command. You will com-
municate this decree to the officers, and direct their
attention to the circumstance that according to the
draft of the Constitution which has been pro-
posed by his Majesty to the National Assembly, the
t officersthe C on sotf the
it u army
i n w
in
nt
hei Ist a bme obliged
ne r t
ao takethe vni ooaffit hon e
ers
are obliged to do, and that 110 reactionary tendencies will
clash with the duties of an officer in the army. The
present situation of Prussia and of the whole German
fatherland is a most difficult one, and the co-operation
of all legal authorities will be necessary to prevent dis-
union, of which the enemies of the country might avail
themselves, and to convince every one that the con-
stitutional liberty granted by our King will not be
endangered, but protected by the armies of our country.
" I am aware of the difficulties connected with the du-
ties of the office with which his Majesty has intrusted
me, but I feel certain that you, as well as the officers
under your command, who have proved their affection
for their King and fatherland, will unite with me to pro-
mote one and the same object.
" VON PFUEL, Minister of War.
" Berlin, Sept. 23, 1848."
Some serious disturbances occurred at Cologne on
the 25th instant. The Koller Zeitung says—
" On the day in question large meetings were got up
on the Altenmarkt, and inflammatory speeches were de-
livered by the editors of the Neue kheinische Zeitung, an
ultra-Radical Cologne paper. A lieutenant of the police
was insulted and ill-treated by the mob, the wooden in-
closare of the market, painted in the Prussian colours of
black and white, was torn up and burnt. The construc-
tion of barricades was then earnestly recommended by
the speakers, and barricades were conse3aently erveted_
Up cv 51115 Lluie inc iioo rs naa not been interfered with,
for the Civic Guards pretended they were not under
competent orders. At five o'clock their leaders were
summoned before the Commander of the town and for-
tress, who asked them whether they thought their
corps of sufficient strength for the re-establish-
ment of order. They answered in the negative, where-
upon the military were ordered out and artillery
stationed on the Neumarkt and is front of the Govern-
ment Palace. The gates of the town were closed to
prevent the entrance of riotous mobs from the environs
of the city. Great progress had meanwhile been made
in the construction of the barricades, for here, too, the
Republicans acted upon a preconcerted plan, and the
town was full of agents from Southern Germany.
Hackney-coaches, boats, the timber from the scaffolding
round the cathedral, hearses, and heavy stones were
employed in the construction of the barricades. Several
attempts at sounding the tocsin were made, and the
sturmglocke' of the cathedral was actually put in
motion, when the military entered the town, and arrested
the malefactors. A red flag was planted on an immense
barricade in the Schildergasse, the gas was turned off from
the street lamps, and shops were plundered. The military,
however, took all the barricades, above eighteen in nun7t
ber, without meeting with any resistance, and though
the riots continued all night, there was no occasion fur
the soldiers to make use of their arms, for the mob dis-
persed on the approach of the troops, left the latter to
destroy their barricades, and immediately set about
building fresh ones in another quarter. Numerous ar-
rests were made. Early in the morning the pavement
was replaced, and the city of Cologne is now compara-
tively tranquil. The military commander has never-
theless thought it necessary to declare the town in a
state of siege, to prohibit public meetings of more than
twenty persons, to disarm the Civic Guards, and to sus-
pend the publication of the Neue Rheinische Zeitung,
and of three more Cologne papers.
The commander of the Burgher Guard addressed
on the 21st a dispatch to General WRANGRL, calling
upon him to explain categorically the following pas-
sage in his general order :—" My mission is to re-
store public tranquillity wherever it may be disturbed
in these districts, when the strength of good citizens
may be insufficient for that purpose ;" and further
requiring to know whether the troops would act
without being required so to to do by the Burgher
Guard commander, as required by recent laws re-
specting this institution, or whether the passage re-
ferred to was intended to imply that the intervention
would only take place upon the requisition of the
communal authorities and committee of public safety.
To this General WRANGEL returned the following
reply : _ _ _

"Head-quarters, Charlottenburg, Sept. 23.
"In reply to the communication which the Burgher
Guard commander of Berlin did me the honour to ad
dress to me, under the date of the 21st, I beg to reply,
that as my General Order of the 17th instant has been
discussed and set at rest by the Chamber, I no longer
feel myself authorised to enter into explanations upon
the question addressed to me on this subject, but must
request that reference may be made to the explanations
given and openly published by the Minister President.
Had the communication of the honourable commander
been received at an earlier period, I should have felt
sincere pleasure in seizing that opportunity to have re-
turned special answers to all questions addressed
to me, and this with the same candour that has been
exhibited towards me by the most honourable com-
mander. For candour awakens confidence, and never
did I stand so much in need of confidence as in my pre-
sent position. Let the honourable Burgher Guard of
Berlin, which has furnished so many proofs of its zeal
under difficult circumstances, rest assured that I shall
keep strictly within that legal rule, which is a duty that
no one who loves and respects his country should over-
step, and which, after the parade of the 20th at Berlin,
I openly declared in the presence of many officers of the
Burgher Guard.
(Signed) " VON WRANGEL."
In publishing this dispatch yesterday, the Burgher
Guard commander added the following note:—
" The Burgher Guard commander cannot discover in
the above communication the required categorical reply
to his questions, and has consequently adopted the
requisite measures to proceed further in the matter at
issue."

In the sitting of the National Assembly on the
25th, the Ministers, in reply to several questions,
stated that they were prepared to carry out the reso-
lutions of the,7th Sept , by issuing a monition to the
army to abstain from all demonstrations of a political
character; and declared themselves prepared not only
to resist reaction as well as anarchy, but to consider
themselves bound upon all occasions to adhere to the
resolutions of the majority. These explanations
satisfied all parties in the Assembly.
There was a slight disturbance in the evening
between some soldiers and the people, but the Burgher
Guard interfered, and restored tranquillity before any
serious injuries had been inflicted on either side.