The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-19 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MORNING ADVERTISER.

SIR,—To-morrow, October the 18th, William I. of
Prussia will be clad at Konigsberg with the ermined mantle
of royalty, and place the crown on his head. On this occa•
sion it may interest the English reader to learn something
of the antecedents of that Monarch. The following page
from the history of the popular movement of 1849 will,
perhaps, serve that purpose.

The populations of Rhenish Bavaria and Baden, having
risen en masse, in 1849, in support of the German Parlia-
.

ment which was threatened by the monarchs of the Con-
federation, the then Prince (now King) of Prussia pro-
ceeded as commander-in-chief of a powerful army to stifle
the movement. Many battles were fought in the open
field, the- Baden soldiers making common cause with the
people— until at last, owing to the overwhelming
numbers of three royalist armies, acting in co-operation, the
Provisional Government of Baden was overthrown, its
Constituent Assembly dissolved, and the Grand-Duke re-
stored by Prussian bayonets.
The struggle of the population of South-Western Ger-
many had lasted from the end of May to the end of July,
1849, when the fortress of Rastadt, the ranaieing bulwark
of the popular cause, also capitulated. Its garrison had
been led to expect that a free retreat would be granted to it,
and in this belief opened the sates. But scarcely had it
done so, when, at the order of the then Prince of Prussia,
the whole garrison was disarmed and imprisoned in the
casemates ; whereupon, on the 31st of July, a series of exe-
cutions by court-martial began, which lasted until the end
of October.

The following are the names of those who were put to
death by sentence of a court-martial under the auspices of
the then Prince, now King of Prussia :
Max Dortu, officer of the popular army—shot.

Von Biedenfeld, colonel—shot.
Frederick Neff, professor—shot.

J. Tiedemaun, governor of the fortress of Rastadt—shot.
Heilig, major in the artillery—shot.
W. A. von l rutzsehler, member of the National Assem-
bly of Germany—shot.
K. Hofer, professor—shot.

H. Boning, colonel of the Legion of Exiles—shot.
G. Kromer, soldier—shot.

Ph. Zenthofer, non-commissioned officer of the Legion
of Exiles—shot.

K. Lenzinger, sergeant in the cavalry—shot.
Mniewsky, major of the Polish Legion—shot.
P. Lacher, soldier—shot.

Elsenhanns, secretary cf the Ministry of War—shot.
K. Jacobi, commander of the forts A and B of Rastadt
—shot.

Schade, soldier—shot.

H. Dietz—shot.

Cunis, carabinier—shot.

Guntard, soldier—shot.

Valentin Streuber, communal councillor, and president of
the Neo-Catholic community at Mannheim=shot.

Jager, suldier—shot.

Bauer, pioneer—shot.

Killmarx, non-commissioned officer—shot.
Kohloribecker, trumpeter—shot.
A. Bernigau, major of tho National Guard at Mannheim
—shot.

Schrader, of the artillery—shot.
Johann Jansen, geometer—shot.
rmlity is
was not
so exactlylarge
These are only the names of those who, according to offi-
cial accounts, suffered death by a formal sentence. The
number
known. ofThtheonni
anyseushboetrwoifthpooulittical a
prisonersformality
that, though all the dungeons, casemates, many school-
rooms, &c., were full, there was still not room enough. Many
of the prisoners were ill-used and beaten in Haynau fashion.
Women were imprisoned for having given comfort to the
wounded. The property of prisoners and exiles was confis-
cated. The leaders were declared to have a joint liability
for the payment of twelve million florins of "costs of
war." They were also declared to have forfeited their
civic rights; this latter sentence being issued even
against the veteran leader of the Constitutionalist party,
Adam von Itzstein, who had not taken part in the rising.
The number of those who fled from the country was larger
than had been the case in other subjected countries with
populations 30 times as large as that of Baden. The popu-
lation of Baden consequently decreased in an extraordi-
nary degree, and even to-day-12 years after those events—
it is in numbers still less than it had been before the "re-
establishment of order" by the Prince,
sio, William I.
new King of Prus-

I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,
London, Oct. 17 I• B.

Scottish noble-
manl suppose, is traditionary. In
A case of humour in ma
has been narrated, a,
Scotland, some hundred years ago, madhouses did not exist,
or wero on a very limited scale; and there Was often great
difficulty in procuring suitable accommodation for patients
who required special treatment and seclusion from the
world. The nobleman in question had been consigned to
the Canongate prison, and his position there was far from
comfortable. An old friend called to see him, and asked
"
how it happened that he was placed in so unpleasant a situa-
tion. His
replyof
my was, Sir, it was more the kind interest
friends, than my own merits tbat have
placed me here." "But have you not remonstrated or
and
patronage
complained ?" asked his visitor. "I told them," said his
lordship, ".that they were a pack of infernal villains."
"Did you r said his friend, "that was bold language ; and
what did they say to that r " Oh," said the peer, " I
ook care not to tell them till they were fairly out of the
place, and weel up the Canongate."—Reminiscences of
Scottish Life and Character.