The Sun.
London, England, 1848-08-15 00:00:00

PROTEST OF THE POLISH

DEPUTIES.
The following is a copy of the protest presented by the
Posen Deputies, at the Diet of Berlin, to the French Na-
tional Assembly, and the Diet at Frankfort,-Berlin, and
Vienna :

" The German National Parliament at Frankfort has,
in its sitting of July 27, come to a decision in the Posen
question, by which it has recognised in principle the
partition .of the Grand Duchy of Posen, and incorpora-
ted the larger portion of it with Germany. Surprising
as must appear the mode and manner of such an arbi-
trary measure, which is founded neither in the principle
of nationality, nor in any other fundamental law of
state or international right whatsoever, this conduct
becomes still more astonishing and deplorable when we
consider this is done by the representatives of the united
German people, who have thus begun the great work
of their union and national resurrection by recklessly
trampling on the rights of an oppressed and disarmed
nation, sanctioned as well by treaties as by solemn royal
promises, a conduct which can by no means draw a
blessing on that arduous undertaking.
Considering, therefore, that the Grand Duchy of
Posen, in virtue of the treaties of 1815, as well as the
royal proclamation of May 15, of the same year, could
never discontinue, owing to its distinct nationality, to
form a separate Polish province, which was placed under
the Prussian reigning house, but by no means incorpo-
rated with the German Confederation;
" That the German Parliament at Frankfort has been
convened for the purpose of discussing and deciding
questions connected with the states belonging to the
German Confederation, and by no means to
take one-
sidedly any decisions on subjects of international policy,
and that especially it has no right to determine es to the
fate of a country which does not belong to the German
Confederation, and whose inhabitants have by over-
whelming majorities? and layem,tumerous petitions and
protestations, declared that they do not wish to, belong
to Germany;
" That any legal change in the national relations of
the Grand Duchy of Posen could only be accomplished
by a representative body, lawfully elected by the general
suffrage of the inhabitants, jointly with the Government
of his Majesty the King as Grand Duke of Posen; and
that, therefore, the petition% for the incorporation with
Germany presented by single individuals in the name of
whole parishes, circles, and even districts, as well as
the separate votes of the minority of the provincial
states, in opposition to the solemn and irrevocable de-
cision made by a strong majority of the same, possess
no legal character, and cannot be otherwise considered
but as individual declarations, on the ground of which
no national or state relations could be either repealed or
modified;

" That no other legal organ for the Grand Duchy of
Posen is at present in existence, or has in any way been
authorised or asked to pronounce with regard to the in-
corporation or the partition of the Grand Duchy; which
makes it evident that, according to the law of the sth
of June, 1823, the Cabinet Orders of the 14th and the
26th of April, 1848, with regard to this measure, have
no force whatever, and hence the election of repre-
sentatives from any part of the Grand Duchy for the
Frankfort Parliament, as well as the proposition pre-
sented by the former Ministry to the then existing Diet
of the German Confederation, with the same view of
carrying into effect the incorporation of the Grand
Duchy, are null, as devoid of all legality.
"That accordingly the Cabinet order of the 24th of
March, which promises the national reorganisation of
the whole Grand Duchy, without otherwise changing in
the least its former position, and providing only for the
restitution of rights, stipulated to the Poles by the trea-
ties of 1815, but afterwards so constantly and so grossly
violated, is alone a legal act; and that this Cabinet order
s hou
were
d be
stronglyexecuted s
ion
simuchst
ed
umorepon
b y strictly,tb e second united as its provi-
sions Diet of Prussia, in its address to his Majesty the
King, and hailed with joy throughout the empire as
an act of justice rendered to the Poles in the name of ,
Germany;
" That, finally, any political or administrative parti-
tion of the Grand Duchy of Posen, must of necessity
forcibly break asunder the social, religious, financial,
and commercial bonds which have existed for centuries
between the two nationalities, blended and living toge-
ther, and hence, instead of healing the wounds and the
injury done to this connexion, cannot but bring us
misery, discord, and innumerable misfortune,- both in the
moral and the material position of our country;
" Considering all these circumstances, the deputies of
the Grand Duchy of Posen, at the National Diet of
Prussia, feel bound and justified iolemnly to: protest
against the decision taken in the Posen question by the
Frankfort Parliament, whose incompetency in the tran-
saction is manifest, to vindicate before all natp3ris their
inalienable rights in the name of their constituents and
to guard most scrupulously against any proceedings
which might be taken in virtue of the above decision.

" That the German Parliament has at the same time
declared the p-rtition of Poland to be no glaring in-
justice, and decided against it being their duty in
assisting in the restoration of Poland, is only a na-
tural result of its whola proceedings; but it does not
escape the less the severe judgment which history
will pass o❑ the first German popular
went, which recogni-es, as heretofore, the right or
the stronger against the weaker, sanctions the poli-
tical murder of a whole nation, and that it should not
rise again, presses on its giant tombstone with the whole
,veight of a representation of 40,000,000 of Germans.
We will not, we cannot belive, that in the lamentable
decision of the Frankfort Parliament, the deputies elected
by the German people have really represented the views,
the moral precepts, the politics, and, above all, the tem-
per and spirit of that people.
" Berlin, August 4th, 184 S.
" (Signed),
" Abb6 BAZISKI. Count A. CzEsKowsztr.
Abl 6 STRYBEL. Count J. POTWOROWSKI.
TRAPEZYNSKI. Count M. ZoLTovvsitt.
ALBERT LIPSILL
iIUSZKIEWICZ. PANTALEON SCHUMAN.
PIEGZA. Abbe TASZARSKI.
Count TACZANOWSKI. Abb6 STEFANOWICZ.
Dr. KRASZEWSKI. BRWIOWSKI."