The Sun.
London, England, 1848-03-23 00:00:00

ebining .71•11 t

LONDON, THURSDAY. MARCH 23, 1848

Germany has now an opportunity of achieving its
perfect emancipation—its emancipation from the last
gyves of feudality—those clumsy and broken mana-
cles of irresponsible power, which were riven asunder
in England in 1688, and in France in 1792. Ger-
many has now this opportunity, and FREDERICK
WILHELM of Prussia may prove her Liberator. The
proclamation issued by that vigorous and patriotic
Prince on the 18th instant, is among the most re-
markable documents ever given to the world with a
royal signature. It is the Evangel of Freedom to
Allemania. If it be only regarded in a correct light,
it will consolidate the hopes of many millions into a
compact and democratic nationality. It may be the
scroll flung upon the waters of the storm, to
still the waves of sedition, and to evoke
from the chaos of recent events, the Genius of
Allemania! GOD grant this may be its sequence,
and that after an epoch of unparalleled turmoil and
darkness may dawn the calm and refulgent morning of
universal brotherhood, of peace, of liberty, of equality,
of fraternity ! Let tie children of Fatherland, let
the vine-dressers who wander along the banks of the
beautiful Rhine ; let the fishermen on the Baltic,
and the shepherds on the Carpathian Alps take pat-
tern by the Parisians ; by that heroic and accom-
plished race of democrats, which has acquired a new
glory from the very gloom of a Revolution. If
there has been one evil in the destiny of FREDERICK
WILHELM, which must be regarded as paramount to
all others, it is unquestionably the mishap of
his royal origin ; his greatest misfortune is the
misfortune of his diadem. It is a misfortune
however, which may be effectually overcome, it is
an accidental crime which may be expiated. The
KING himself sees that such a conquest over circum-
stances is possible ; he is evidently striving to re.
deem in his own person the injurious coincidence of
his ancestry. Hitherto he has only divulged a por-
tion of the reforms long projected in his own judg-
ment. Suddenly, however, they have been wrested
from his bosom by the catastrophe which has just
befallen Absolutism in Vienna. Prince METTERNICH
has fallen, and with the overthrow of that puissant
but malign statesman, Austrian despotism has
been annihilated. Throughout the complexities
of the Germanic system the current of
liberal ideas has flowed as freely and almost as
rapidly as electricity. It has acted, moreover, with
more than the vivifying influence of electricity—it
has not agitated into a grim semblance of vitality the
obscene corpse of Feudalism—it has invigorated
with immortal life the institutions of the populace.
Beholding the passage of this august stream of intel-
ligence in the vicinity of his dominions, on the fron-
tiers of Prussia Proper, and among the densely inha-
bited quarters of Posen FREDERICK WIL-
HELM IY. recognises the imminent necessities
of his own position, and of the general position
of Allemania —he sees the arrival of that
propitious moment for which he has long waited, the
moment in which he can reveal with safety his
project of an alliance of German nationalities, and the
complete consolidation of its disjointed and deterio-
rated sovereignties. Allemania has been as much the
dream of the whole life of FREDERICK WILHELM, as
ever was Atalanta the vision of PLATO. He has had
his Utopia as well as Sir THOMAS MORE, his Flying
Islands as well as Dean JONATHAN SWIFT, and his
Arcadia as well as Sir Pamir SIDNEY. The King of
PRUSSIA. is, nevertheless, somewhat more fortunate that►
his literary prototypes—he attains the hour in which
his daydreams may be realises. He looks again over
the distracted divisions of his fatherland, and he be-
holds the simultaneous ebullition of the popular en-
thusiasm. Then he speaks to his people through his
proclamation, and not only to them, but to the whole
of that glorious portion of the European continent of
which the kingdom of Prussia is a part. Then, says
he :

"We demand that Germany be transformed from
a confederation of states into one federal state.
We demand a general military system of de-
fence for Germany. We demand a German
federal banner. We demand a German federal
tribunal, to settle all political differences be-
tween the Princes and States, as also between the
different German Governments. We demand a com-
mon right to all natives of Germany, and a complete
liberty to establish in the German countries. We
demand that, for the future, there shall be no barrier
raised against commerce and industry in Germany.
We demand a general Zollverein, in which the same
measures, the same weights, the same commercial
rights shall draw still closer the material union of
the country. We propose the liberty of the press,
with the same guarantees against abuses for every
part of Germany. Such are our propositions and
our wishes, the realisation of which we shall use our
utmost efforts to obtain. We rely with the
fullest confidence on the cooperation of our
German confederates, and all the German people ;
we shall fortify, by their incorporation into our
states, provinces which do not form part of them,
when, as we suppose, the representatives of those pro-
vinces will partake of those wishes, and that the con-
federation will be disposed to agree to them. We
hope that the realisation of our intentions will put an
end to the anxiety which, to our great regret, at this
moment agitates Germany, paralyses commerce and
industry, divides the country, and threatens to deliver
it over to anarchy. We hope that these measures
will strengthen Germany in itself, and make her re-
spected abroad, in order that in her united strength
Europe will find the firmest guarantee for a durable
and prosperous peace. But, in order that the accom-
plishment of our intentions may experience no delay,
and that we may develop the propositions which we
judge necessary for the internal constitution, we
have resolved to hasten the convocation of the United
Diet, and we charge the Minister of State to make
that convocation for Sunday the 2d of April."
Such is the quintessence of this memorable mani-
festo from Berlin. If it be welcomed with the ap-
probation it merits, it must lead to a re-organisa-
tion of Germany—a re-organisation calculated to
impart to that country a distinct and magni-
ficent nationality, to afford Prussia a promi-
nence even over the hitherto superior authority of
Austria, and to lay the foundation of a durable
and dignified peace. It must be a phenomenon hence-
forth in the history of that land of wonders that the
liberalism which first woke to life in the council-
chambers of Bei lin received its last and most irre-
,istible impulse from the Palace of Vienna.
in truth, the lion has fondled the lamb, according to
the Book of Revelations—democracy and despotism
have fraternized.

Accounts from Ireland are not encouraging. St.
Patrick's Day, as we have already remarked, passed
off without any of those violent demonstrations which
had been apprehended, nevertheless, the spirit of dis-
affection, though its ebullitions have been partially
repressed, is by no means quellod. Its existence is
manifested, if not by actions, at least by most unmis-

takeable language. On Monday last, on either bank
of the Liffe, meetings were held by the two adverse
parties—the advocates of moral force and the advo-
cates of physical force. The former was an ordi-
nary repeal meeting, and passed off quietly enough,
the latter was a far more, pretentious affair.
The avowed object of this meeting was to facilitate
the " fraternisation" of Ireland with France. A
congratulatory and fraternal address was accordingly
drawn up and agreed to, v,hich
_address is to be for-
warded to Paris, and presented to the Provisional
Government by Mr. Slain O'BRIEN and a select
deputation. Such were the avowed objects of the
assembly held in front of the North-wall on Monday
last, which object was, for the time being, very
satisfactorily fulfilled. How far the principal parties
concerned may be enabled to carry it out remains
hereafter to be seen. But, however, satisfactory this
meeting may have been to Messrs. MeaGuess and
S. O'BRIEN, and their colleagues, to us it is invested
with a most melancholy aspect. In whatever light
we regard it, it is sorrowful end disheartening in the
extreme. If, for example, we were disposed (which
we are not) to credit the asvertionsnf the malcontents,
their position is suffused with gloom. " We meet here,"
exclaimed one of the speakers, "as strangers in our own
homes, under the guns of a foreign garrison, by the
sufferance of a military governor, who holds our
country for another nation." Again, in their fra-
ternal address to the French, they commence in the
following mournful terms—" As slaves should ad-
dress freemen, &c., we address you, Citizens."
Viewed in this light the picture is assuredly suffi-
ciently grievous, yet regarded in its true character it
is infinitely worse. Worse than an assemblage of
ill-used wretches, of slaves even as they would
represent themselves to be, we can only
recognise in the meeting of Monday a con•
gregation of disaffected, desperate men, regard-
less of their own duties as citizens and patriots, and
desirous of stimulating others to a similar disregard
—men, we will not say, inspired by the worst of mo-
tives, for they may perchance be themselves mistaken
or deceived ; but if not inspired by bad motives them-
selves, ready by their inflammatory language
to instigate others to the commission of
the worst of crimes. A body of men who could pro-
claim by the lips of one of their members such an
iniquitous sentiment as that pronounced by Mr.
REILLY, when he said "he knew no franchise, muni-
cipal or Parliamentary, like the possession of a gun.
He would rather give a peasant a gun and
teach him how to use it, than give him
a right to elect a poor-law guardian, for an
armed people might defy all poor-law guardians
and other officers who conducted themselves badly?'
A body of men, we repeat, which could listen to such
an assertion, and receive it with cheers, can only elicit
from every right-thinking man, from every true
friend of Ireland and the Irish people, one
universal sentiment of indignation and dis-
gust. After the above sample, it is unne-
cessary to particularise further the enlightening
arguments put forth by these promoters of civiliza-
tion. Now, for example, one individual advised that
a deputation should proceed straight to the QuEnst,
and demand Repeal—Yes or No ! "If the latter,
they would be prepared to get it themselves, without
spilling one drop of blood; yet, if necessary, they
would wade through rivers of blood to pro-
cure it." Neither need we allude to such
hopeful predictions as that which suggested
that before the harvest moon grew pale deliverance
might be at hand. The best advice that was given
on the occasion, we are inclined to think, was that of
a Mr. M'GIIEE, who suggested that "they should
wait a little longer, till Great Britain should be en-
gaged in foreign war. That they should wait till
French steamers were letting of the steam in Fal-
mouth and Portsmouth !" With this suggestion we
perfectly coincide. Yes, let the movement in Ireland
be made then—and not till then. But these dis
courses are not worth the trouble of recapitula-
tion. The whole aflair, indeed, does not merit
a moment's attention ; it is only interesting
and important, on account of the consequences to
which it might lead the way. We have not now to
learn from ho'w insignificant or despicable a com-
ment the most momentous results may not arise. A
casual spark falling amid inflammable materials may
kindle a universal conflagration. And so it
might have been been in this case. Who shall
attempt to say what effect such violent harangues
as those pronounced on Monday, enforced with all
the earnestness of declamation and the eloquence of
indignant passion, might not have produced on a mul-
titude of ignorant and impetuous men, irritated and
exasperated by lopg-continued sufferings, and goaded
on to violence and madness at the thought of being
insulted and made slaves of. Happily these
incendiary harangues have as yet been produc-
tive of little mischief. A better spirit, we
would fain hope, animates the hearts of the Irish
peasantry, a spirit whose fruits have been already
evident in the marvellous patience and fortitude with
which they were supported in every protracted
trouble. Nevertheless, it is not fitting that they
should be further tempted by the plausible rhetoric of
Mr. MBAGHER and his worthy companions. The
Lord-Lieutenant has resolved to put a forcible stop
to these gentlemen's oratory, a proceeding which
may possibly defer Mr. O'Busee's visit to Paris, and
postpone to an indefinite period his purposed consul-
tation with the Provisional Government of France as
to the best means of establishing a National Guard
in Ireland. However much the latter unfortunate
circumstance may be to be lamented, there is little
opportunity to question the advisability of the Go-
vernment interference. It is an interference cer-
tainly justified and sanctioned by the necessity of the
case. One only objection to such a proceeding is,
that it invests the offenders with too much import-
ance, and confers on them a notoriety almost
approaching to celebrity. If there be the least
shadow of injustice in a Government prose-
cution the offence is forgotten (in public esti-
mation), and the accused is elevated into a war-
ty r. So it was in the prosecution of DANIEL
O'Coesieee ; but so it certainly cannot be in the
prosecution of Messrs. MEAGHER, MITCHELL, and
O'BRIEN. Nevertheless, even if it do cut a shadow
of celebrity upon their names, even if it do cause a tran-
sient exultation in their pseudo patriotic hearts, and add
a little to their self-esteem, and increase the eloquence
of their future denunciations, such a course is infi.
nitely more desirable than to have suffered them, by
diffusing their violent and un-Christian sentiments,
to have added to the sorrows of an afflicted people.

The Emperor of RUSSIA has issued the fallowing
ukase to the Minister of War :

" In the west of Europe events have transpired which
manifest the sinful design of subverting legal authori-
ties. The alliance of friendship and the treaties by
which Russia is connected to the neighbouring Powers,
impose upon us as a sacred duty to take timely measures
for placing a portion of our troops upon a war footing,
that, in case circumstances should demand it, a firm
front may be imposed to the direful spread of anarchy.
" In pursuance of this we command our Minister I-
" 1. Immediately to organise the reserves belonging
to the divistons specified in a separate order.
"2. To this end immediately to call into active ser-
vice those privates who are bound to form the reserve
corps, but who are on furlough for a given or for an in-
definite period, in Governments to be hereafter named.
"3. The assembling of these troops shall take place
immediately after this ukase shall have been published
in the circles, and shall terminate, without fail, on the
Ist (13th) of April next.
"NICHOLAS."

The intelligence from Belgium is important. On
the afternoon of Monday the Government presented
a Bill, empowering the great banks of Belgium, the
"Banque de Belgique," and the "Societe Generale,"
to suspend cash payment for bills above twenty-five
francs. The Bill gives legal currency to notes of
the former bank to the amount of tem millions of
francs, and of the latter (the most important in this
country) to the amount of twenty millions, in all
thirty millions of francs.
The suspension of cash payments in France has
thus been soon followed by a similar suspension in
Belgium.

We have news from Rome to the Bth instant.
Cardinal FERRETTI, the legate of Rovenna, having
interfered to prevent a demonstration at Imola in
honour of the new French Republic, in which the
people carried a tri-colour banner, was pursued with
hisses and even with showers of stones. He has
been recalled to Rome. The Jesuits have been
driven out of Faro. The Bolognese have sent a
deputation to Rome to demand an immediate and

liberal constitution from the Pore if he wished to
have any support in the Romagna. The Senate also
had addressed Pope Pius on the same topic. The
Pore replied that he devoted himself with all his
powers to the consideration of the great work, ren-
dered so difficult by the junction of the spiritual and
temporal power in his person. " The line of demar-
cation between these powers presents a great diffi-
culty," says a letter from Rome, in the Cuurrier of
Marseilles, " and the people are, in the meanwhile, in
a ferment, and the Porn much afflicted. It is even
rumoured that he intends to resign. GOD preserve
us from such a misfortune."

According to advices (dated Naples, the 10th
instant), the French steamer Vauban had arrived at
that port with news from Sicily, to the effect that the
citidel of Messina was, at the date of departure,
already reduced to extremities, a part of the
fortress having been consumed by fire, whilst the
fort of San Salvador had wholly fallen into the
power of the Messinese, after an immense breach had
been opened. All parts of the city were " vomiting
fire" upon the citadel, and the wretched garrison was
ready to surrender at discretion. The news, of the
Constitution had not arrived.

A letter from Turin of the 15th, states that the
following very liberal programme of the policy of the
new Ministry was generally aoeredited
1. General amnesty in favour of all the Liberals, of all
shades of opinion. 2. Suppression of the non.
mendicant religious order; and sequestration of
their property for the benefit of the State.
3, Suppression of all the clerical corporations affiliated
to Jesuitism, or believed to be so. Sequestration of all
the ecclesiastical property, in consideralion of the as-
signment of an annual pension to the titulars by way of
indemnity, proportioned to their dignity and charge.
5. Entire emancipation of the students, and liberty of
instruction. 6. Competition for public offices through
the medium of public examination. 7. Request
to Austria to evacuate- Modena and Parma, and,
in case of refusal, the cessation of friendly re-
lations with that power. 8. Prompt, universal,
and serious armament. 9. Modifications of the sta-
tute according to the vote of the Chambers. 10. A.
liberal electoral law and speedy convocation of the Par-
liament. 11. A political Italian league. 12. Suppres-
sion of the Governors of Division.
The Concordia of the 15th says—
-

"We know that the Government has resolved to
fortify the passage of the Po at Casale with a tete depont,
and that the work will be commenced as soon as pos-
sible."

A letter from Munich of the 17th says—" An
order of the day has just been published, decreeing
aS follows :-1. The Countess DB LANDSFELD is
deprived of all her rights as a naturalised Bavarian.-
2. The Director of the Police, M. MARL, is dis-
missed, and replaced by M. DB PECRMANN.-
3. Considering that the Countess of LANDSFELD has
not renounced her criminal projects for disturbing
the capital and the country, the authorities
have received orders to pursue, arrest her, and con-
duct her to the nearest fortress, so that she may be
brought to trial. It is this day decided that Baron
DE VERGER shall go to Dresden and Berlin, with the
mission of obtaining as promptly as possible a na-
tional representation at the Germanic Confederation,
and to discuss other measures for promoting the
union of Germany."

The Warsaw Gazette of the Nth states, that a levy
of recruits was to take place on that day in all the
kingdom of Poland.

By the Levant Mail, which arrived yesterday, we
have received the Constantinople journals to the 6th,
and Athens journals to the 10th inst., both inclu-
sively. They are, however, destitute of political in-
telligence of interest.
No new case of cholera had declared itself at Con-
stantinople.
On the 20th ult., the Minister of Finances at Athens
informed the Ambassadors of the powers who have
guaranteed the Greek loan that the amount due on
the Ist inst. was ready for payment.

The Madrid journals of the 16th inst. bring no
news.

The Three per Cents. were done at 231 for cash ;
the Five per Cents. at 14* for paper ; and the
Coupons at 10.

GERMANY.

AUSTRIA.
PROGRESS OF THE REVOLUTION.

The following proclamation of the Emperor of
AtiiTRIA is published in the Austrian Observer of the
16th inst. :

" We, Ferdinand 1., by the grace of God Emperor of
Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia, &c., have now
made such arrangements as we recognised to be requi-
site for fulfilling the wishes of our faithful people.
" By virtue of our declaration abolishing the censor-
ship, liberty of the press is allowed in the form under
which it exists in those countries which have hitherto
enjoyed it. A National Guard, established on the basis
of property and intelligence, already performs the most
beneficial service. _ _

with the least possible loss of time, the deputies from
" The necessary steps have been taken for convoking,
all our Provincial States, and from the Central Congre-
gations of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom (the repre-
sentation of the class of burghers being strengthened,
and due regard being paid to the existing provincial
constitutions), in order that they may deliberate on the
constitution which we have resolved to grant to our
people.
" We, therefore, confidently expect that excited tem-
pers will become composed, that study will resume its
wonted course, and that industry and peaceful inter-
course will spring into new life.
" We rely on this with so much the greater hope be-
cause we have this day, in the midst of you, convinced
ourselves with deep emotion that the same loyalty and
attachment which you have uninterruptedly for hun-
dreds of years manifested to our ancestors and to our-
selves on every occasion still fills your minds.
" Given in our capital and residence at Vienna,
March 15, 1848.
" FERDINAND.
"Count von INZAGHI, Supreme-Chancellor.
"Baron von PILLERSDORF, Court-Chancellor.
"Baron von WEINGARTEN, Court-Chancellor."

The Austrian Observer also announces the return
of the Archduke Palatine STEPHEN from Pressburg,
on the morning of the 16th. The people tools the
horses from his carriage, and drew it themselves into
the Palace at Vienna.

According to advices from Vienna of the 17th, the
city was resuming its wonted appearance. The shops
and the counting-houses were open, business was
done on the Exchange, and friendly intercourse
again took place. Towards noon nearly all the
National Guard, which was already very numerous
and well-disciplined, were drawn up near the Uni-
versity. The Dimwit. frequently appeared among
his enthusiastic people, and was received in the
densely-crowded streets with thundering applause.
His MAJESTY even went to the University and
addressed some gracious words to the academic
youths, who were armed, and presented a fine and
manly appearance.

A torchlight procession was to take place in the
evening.

Advices from Prague of the 15th inst. state that a
telegraphic dispatch received in that city, announcing
the fall of Prince METrERNICEI and the concessions
of the EMPBROI, had produced the happiest effect.
A general enthusiasm prevailed, and the air was filled
with shouts of " Long live the Emperor FERDINAND."
The Vienna Gazette o f the 15th of March pub-
lishes the following account of the events which took
place at Vienna :

‘. We propose to give our readers an account of the
events which a few days since kept our capital in an
extraordinary state of excitement. The meeting of the
States Assembly of Ne ther Austria, which was to take
place on the 13th of March, had, it is said, for its prin-
cipal object to take into consideration an address to the
Emperor, asking specially the abolition of censorship of
the press and a regular legislation for its publication.
A petition containing mar.v thousands of signatures from
persons belonging to this bourgeoisie, and which ex-
pressed the wishes of the part of the Viennese population
who profess patriotic sentiments, was presented
on the 11th to the Committee of the States,
and received by them with kindness. On Sunday
morning all the students, joined by the pupil/ of the
polytechnic Institution, 1;1 thered in the great ball of
the University, and prepared an address expressing
similar wishes as the citi.z. Its. The academic authori-
ties succeeded in calming :the students, and a deputation
of professors offered to present the address to the Em-
peror himself. This was odone the same day at six in
the afternoon. On the 1 a th, in the morning, the stu
dents gathered again in t b e great hall of the University,
and went processionally, but with great order, and in
the midst of an immense. assemblage of people to the
States Palace, where a deputation was called before the
Assembly for the purpv . of expressing their wishes.
In the mean time the inner court-yard of the
Palace was thronged by e. _mob. Numerous gatherings
formed upon several public- places, and popular orators
recommended a rallyie e. itround the beloved Imperial
Family; but at the 'same time pointed out several
changes in the system of administration which the pro
i gross of events demak led. To' calm the popular ex-
citetnent, the States decided to
wait on the Emperor,
to submit to his Majesty N the popu
demand. During

the absence of the States, it happened unfortunately
that, in consequence of some misunderstanding, the
mob in the palace court-yards was induced to break
some doors, and to destroy the furniture in some
of the apartments. The Government had taken
military prec.,utions; the town gates were closed fur
coaches; the bastions were occupied with artillery, and
cannons were stationed, also on several public places.
The streets were occupied with numerous detachments.
Unfortunately a collision took place in the afternoon, by
which several persons lost their lives. But it is neces-
sary to add, that the soldiers did nowhere make use of
their weapons until they had been provoked by positive
attacks. At five o'clock the great hall of the University
was again thronged with students ; and a new deputa-
tion, beaded by the Rector Magnificus, was ordered to
the Imperial Palace, to explain the situation of the
town, and prevent new bloodshed at night. A
proclamation of the President of Nether Austria,
T. Jalatzko, Baron of Gestictiez, was published, and
soon afterwards it was known that the Prince of
Metternich had resigned. In the evening the whole
town was illuminated, The night passed quietly.
and wherever patrols of the National Guard
appeared in the presence of the studints • they were
greeted by immense cheering. In the Faubourge it
is said some deplorable disorders took place. On Tues-
day morning the students and the burgesses began to
arm. The unanimous wishes of the population are for
abolition of censorship, a satisfactory constitution for
towns and commons, publicity in the administration and
judicial courts, a national guard, representation of the
states of the burgesses and of the peasants in the as-
semblies of states, convocation of the general states
from all the provinces of the empire—Hungary and her
secondary provinces excepted. They hope with these
measures to give Austria the unity and the power which
are necessary in order that she may occupy among the
other states of Europe her proper position. The
realisation of these wishes cannot fail to strengthen
more and more the affection which binds the Austrians
to their King."

The following address was presented to the Ex-
PBROR by the magistrates and burghers of the ca-
pital :

"LONG LIVE OUR CONSTITUTIONAL KING

" May our thanks reach the heavens, and the Al-
Mighty, who governs the fate of nations, hear our heart-
felt prayer; long may he preserve our good father, bless
his government; supported by. the lore of his faithful
people, who will give their life's blood for their noble-
hearted Emperor, for their liberty, and bid defiance to
all the storms of time.
"Your Majesty—We Austrians will prove that we
are worthy of liberty. We will prove it in the firmer
union with all our brethren, whatever be their race or
language. We will prove it in the face of all Europe,
a hich shall now behold in us a rock against every enemy
of intelligence and self- dependence.
" Your Majesty—We faithful burghers bend our knee
before our Emperor Ferdinand, now enthroned in reno-
vated splendour.
" The Magistrates and Burgher Committee.
of Vienna."
--Wiener Zeitung, March 16 and 17.

The Cologne Gazette of the 21st inst. has the fol-
lowing, dated Prague, 15th, at midnight :
" The following dispatch has just been published:—
The Constitution is proclaimed for all the provinces. The
greatest enthusiasm prevails at Vienna. (Signed) Ro-
dolphe Count de Stadion. M. de Stadion is very popular
in our city. We are without news of Metternich. His
son-in-law Count Szandoz declares that he will not admit
his father-in-law under his roof."