The Sun.
London, England, 1842-09-08 00:00:00

PRUSSIA.

(From the Gazette d'Etat de Prasse.)
BERLIN, AUG. 31.—The following is the order
upon the formation of Commissions of the Provincial
States :
" We, Frederick William, by the grace of God
King of Prussia, have resolved to choose a Commis-
sion of members of the Provincial Diet, invested with
its confidence, in order to their convocation in the in-
terval of the sessions in certain circumstances, and in
order to consult them upon the affairs of the country.
In consequence, and after having taken the advice of
our faithful States, we ordain the following:—
" 1. There shall be formed in the kingdom of
Prussia, as well as in all other provinces of the mo-
narchy, a Commission chosen from the Provincial
States, to assemble, in consequence of an order given
by us, in order to furnish an occasion to us for con-
sulting the organs of the States, even in the interval
of the sessions.

" 2. The constitutional rights of the Provincial
States, such as they were established by the third
article of the general law of the sth of June, 1823,
shall be in no wise modified by the formation of Com-
missions.

" 3. The Commission will exercise its functions, when
the views of the Diets of the different provinces
shall differ upon the projects of law submitted to
them; or, when in the ulterior consideration of laws
by the higher authorities, new and important circum-
stances occur, and that we may judge fit to conciliate
these different views by the organs of the States.
" 4. The Commission will offer us, besides, an organ
of the States, with which we may discuss subjects
which, up to the present time, did not enter into the
attributions of the provincial States. We reserve to
ourselves the right of demanding the advice of the
Commission upon any preparatory works for import-
ant and general laws, with regard either to their ne-
cessity or tenor, if the drawing up of these laws de-
mand local knowledge, and a practical experience of
affairs.

"5. The number of the members of the States
Commission is fixed at twelve. It will be composed
in the following manner :—Six members of the
Equestrian Order, four of the citizens, and two of the
rural parishes.
"G. The Marshal of the Diet is to be President of
the Commission, of which he is a member; his
functions will last until the opening of the followino.
Diet. He will be reckoned among the members a
the Commission of the Equestrian Order, so that while
his functions last, one member less will be chosen
from this order for the Commission.
7. The elections to le made by the assembled
Diet, and in each State by a majority of votes.
[Here follow several details.]
" 8. The functions of the members of the Commis-
sion are not to be prolonge 1 beyond the interval of
the sessions.

"9. The provincial States may employ the Com-
mission, or certain mmbers, member of it,
to examine the affairs present(d after the sessioa ;
but their decisions must be presmted for our ap-
probation.

:Signed) " FREDERICK WILLIAM."

SWEDEN, NORWAY, AND
DENMARK.
Our attention has for some time past been attracted
by rumours of certain projects said to be entertained
by secret societies and political agents in the domi-
nions of the King of Denmark, for the purpose of
availing themselves of the first opportunity, such as
the death of the reigning Sovereign, or a political
convulsion in Europe, to effect a material alteration in
the balance of power among the Northern States.
These rumours have recently assumed a greater de-
gree of importance from the official publication of a
circular dispatch which appears to have been framed
more than four years ago by the Swedish Govern-
ment,
for the purpose of discountenancing schemes
which certainly tend to the aggrandisement of Swe-
den. The publicity which has now been given to this
paper is at least a sufficient proof that the projects
which were supposed to be afloat in 1837 have not
been abandoned.
COPY OF A CIRCULAR ADDRESSED BY COUNT WETTER^
STEDT TO THE AMBASSADORS OF SWEDEN AND
NORWAY.

" Stockholm, April 14, 1837.
" We have learned that a society of young German
literati has proposed to publish a weekly journal to be
called the Nordisk Ugeschrift, for the purpose of
inducing the inhabitants of Sweden, Denmark, and
Norway to renew, under the pretext of their common
origin, the ancient Union of Calmar. As a Swedish
journal has emitted the same idea, and hinted that it
had supporters in Sweden, it has appeared useful to
acquaint you with the Kin's opinion on this subject.
" The principles of the Ring's policy are of no re-
cent date. From 1814 to the present hour th.vu,,,ve

undergone no change. The past is on this ground the
e. -ntee of the future, for this policy is mainly
based on the respect due to the rights of others
on the condition of reciprocity. This is the keg
of our maxims, their basis, and fundamental condi-
tion. The King knows the mancevres and intrigues
which are put into play throughout Europe, in order
to revive former animosities, and thus to bring about
political catastrophes. His Majesty has resolved not
to tolerate them in his dominions, to whatever remi-
niscences they may belong, and especially to that of
the Union of Calmar, which is connected with events
so deplorable to Sweden.
" Providence has again allotted the elements of that
union as the geographical situation and the interests
of Scandinavia imperiously required. A mutual con-
tract has defined the limits of the two States, which
are calculated to insure their internal tranquillity and
prosperity, their external independence and peace.
Any other combination would be foreign to their de-
sires and to their interests. To maintain what exists,
to reject with vehemence and contempt every insinua-
tion which would lead to disturbances, to cause public
order and tranquillity to be .respected, to favour the
prosperity of his dominions by good institutions, to
keep up amicable relations with his neighbours and
allies, and, if necessary, to lend his good offices to
the cause of general peace—such are the ends to which
the solicitude, the ambition, and the efforts of the
King are directed.
" Governed by these principles, and esteeming him-
self happy to have sometimes practised them with
success, the King cannot but blame in the severest
manner the insensate enterprise of those who would
overthrow the existing order of things in the three
kingdoms of the north. The King wishes that his
intentions on this subject may be as clearly under-
stood as they are faithfully exposed, and his Majesty
begs you to seize a favourable opportunity to commu-
nicate this dispatch to the Government to which you
are accredited. "IVETTERSTEDT.'
This curious dispatch is remarkably characteristic
of the frank though cautious character of Bernadotte,
and we have no reason to doubt that it conveys a true
description of the policy of Sweden on this question.
But it is not a little remarkable that the Cabinet of
Stockhohn should have volunteered and subsequently
published so positive a declaration on a subject which
is still but a, vague project. A scheme of political
change put forward in a newspaper by a party of
young enthusiasts is not often met by so serious a
denial. But this scheme, if it exist, originated not
with Sweden, but with a certain party in Denmark.
The dominions of the King of Denmark consist of
Jutland and the islands, on the one hand, inhabited
by the true Danish people, and on the other of the
Grand Duchy of Holstein and the Duchy of Sles-
wick, which partake largely of the German character,
and indeed the former province forms part of the
German Confederation. Hence has arisen a struggle
between the Teutonic and Scandinavian elements in'
this little State, which the increased freedom of
discussion and political activity granted to the
people towards the close of the last reign has
rendered more intense. The Liberal party in the
Danish estates of Jutland and the islands, which
assemble respectively at Viborg and Roeskild, are
incited by the great improvement in the political and
social condition of Norway since that kingdom was
detached from the Crown of Denmark, and annexed
to that of Sweden. The provincial estates and the
political sympathies of Holstein and Sleswick are,
on the contrary, more attracted to the German
States ; and the policy of the great Commercial
Union, directed in this respect by the Cabinet of
Berlin, tends, if possible, to incorporate in the
League a province which commands the right bank of
the Elbe, possesses Altona and Kiel for its ports, and
might very probably enable that body to dictate its
own terms to the Hanseatic towns, Hamburgh on the
west, and Lubeck on the east. Such are the elements
which have encouraged a certain party in Denmark to
seek to revive the union of the three northern kingdoms,
relinquishing the German portion of the present Da-
nish dominions to their natural German affinities.
The Cabinet of Copenhagen is probably not endowed
with any efficient means of resisting the spread of these
opinions, which its own feebleness has encouraged.
The changes which will necessarily attend the resto-
ration of legislative assemblies in Denmark, after more
than a century and a half of absolute government, are
not yet completed. A lapse in the succession, a popu-
lar commotion, or some unforeseen event, might there-
fore bring about some such arrangement as is now so
earnestly deprecated by the Swedish Government,
were it not that the interests of the reigning House of
Denmark are most zealously supported by the
power and ability of Russia. The claims of a close
propinquity of blood, and the interests of Russian
policy in the Baltic, equally conduce to attach the
Emperor Nicholas to the interests :of Christian
VIII. ; for part of the southern provinces of the
Danish Crown were conceded and guaranteed to it at
no remote period by that branch of the House of Hol-
stein which occupies the throne of Russia, and for
obvious reasons Russia will discourage any combina-
tion in the Baltic which might give the northern king-
doms unity and strength enough to make them
formidable as maritime neighbours. The part of
Sweden in these transactions of course prescribes to
her great delicacy and forbearance, and we readily
acquit her of any intention to encourage the dismem-
berment of Denmark, although she may ultimately
be found to have promoted that result by the mere
force of the example of the judicious Government of
Norway by its present ruler.—Times.