The Sun.
London, England, 1820-09-07 00:00:00

POLITICAL grrafig O 1 GERMANY. .

•
rtorzt:rim. LETTER, OF.PRINCE METTERNICH,
PRIME MINISTER or AUSTRIA, TO BARON DER-

STET; TIIE GRIEF MINISTER OF THE 'GR.I.Nb
LUKE OF BADEN.
[llls Letter, we belietre, is a Circular sent to
the whole of the German Princes.]
Your Excellency has expressed the desire of
hi' Royal Highness the Grand Duke to know in a general but
l'lreciett manner, the ideas of the Imperial Cabinet on the po-,
-cal state of Germany. This invitation on the part ota
Pti
incit.ncnea.:.:oht° gives daily the most laudable proofs of his firm
to protect -its welfare, and his profound sense of
the elements which compose it, honours me as much as it
Poses on me the duty of communicating to your Excel-
en without reserve, the point of view under which we
eva,ider the actual state of things. -Time advances in the
/4hlst of storms; to endeavour to arrest its impetuosity would
eain attempt. Firmness, moderation, prudence, and a
11-ni°° of accurately ascertained forces,- are still left in the
I"er of the protectors and the friends of wafer. This at
Present constitutes the duty of all Sovereigns, and of all well-
-14446011yd States Men ; and he alone shall merit that title
In the day of danger, who, after examining what is possible,
'nt' what is equitable, will not allow himself to be turned
from the noble object to which his efforts should tend, either
b ineffectual wishes, or by dejection of spirit.
This object is easily detzramined. In our days it is nothing
is•re nor less than to maintain that which exists ; to attain
4.,4 the only means of preserving present advantages, perhaps
en the best calculated to recover that which has been al-
- aZIT lost. --To this end the efforts and the measures of all
° are united by a common principle. and a common inte!.+
Ij.tt ought to be directed. The combustible elements which
9albeen.long prepared were enflamed between the years
t;' and 18.'0. The false course which the' French - Mi-
nll pursued during that.- epoch—the toleration allowed irs
sil(e,"°anY to the most dangerous doctrines—the indulgence
I,‘l,'.`r to audaciCus reformers—,weakness in repressing the
Zes of the press; fin-ally, the precipitation with which re-
t
riesentatsve constitutions were given to the Southern States
y all these causes have impressed the most fatal
`l"Z:ctian on parties whom uothing can satisfy.
Peothing, proves better the impossibility of satisfying these
hPatties than the observation, that their most active operations
4
!alien place in the State -where the greatest indulgence
rtsoo
lwn to their pretended views. •
Carl Zesil had reached such a pitch before the Congress-of
bee:"", that a trifling political -consplication would have
of thesnffleient tO overthroW entirely social order. line wisdom
,sYstem which the great Courts -adopted has preserved
thetae, r'citts the daneers Which still might be fatal. What.
such a case ought to be the march of an enlightened
lb,ln proposing this question, we pre ,suppose
uthPassibility of salvation, and We thinl, ourselves perfectly
utiz4d in such a hope. In examining the means by which
hiteekan attain so elevated an end, we see ourselves brought
to the point whence we set out. To repair by little and
•t„il e an edifice which threatens to,fall, we must have a sure
ano.Matl°a Thus, to secure a happier futurity, we must be
eat least of the present. The maintenance of that which
rakoijirclttasuottl,gotp, therefore, to be the first, as well as the most Mr'
our cares. By this we do not understand only the
tijtient order of things. which has been respected its some
‘4tries, hot likewise all the new institutions legally created.
to The importance of maintaining them with firmness and.
ItZtaneY may •be seen by the attacks which have. been made
ak;, !' them, with a fury perhaps greater than against our
fricrent institutions. In the present times, the transition
xl'al what is ancient to what is new, is accompanied with as
men
danger as the return from what is new to what has
44-7 n abolished, Bothlnay equally lead to an explosion of the
-sk.4r°h'iea which it is essential to avoid at any price.
things, to deviate in any manner iron) the existing' order of
ings, f
.rom whatever on igin it mad have sprung; not to at-
ttulpt changes, though they•
shothid. he thought absolutely mme-
ki-tl).4rY, except with eptir.e liberty, .and after a resolution
chefi. trio suc the first uy of a Government
inclid to reh d sist the evils oft
the age. Douhtless
resolution, however just or natural,.would excite obsti-
Ce opposition ; but the advantage of being placed upon a
strong
and acknowledged basis is evident, because from this
dir°e"g ground it would be easy to stop or to anticipate in all
ithege:crtdl":r the oikcssarily uncertain niotions of the enemy. We
I,e• objection which may be made, namely, that among
,1-;"„stantions hitherto given to Germany, there are some
puieprme on no basis, and have consequently no point Wait-
; pig
ceder,
dl :totted.- If such had been the case, the demagogues,
ndefatigable, would not have failed to undermine them.
, legally established, contains within itself the
bitraLriP e a better system, provided it is not the work. of ar-
•ih Cortex,Y power or of frantic blindness, (like that generally of
ae
is "t. ISM) It may moreover be said, that a charter
time, of a constitution properly,so called; the latter is formed
and depends always on the knowledge and inclination
• ti,7l ernment to give to the development of the comfits'.
their: regime • such a direction as may separate the good from
vil, consolidate public authority, and preserve the re-
endatltheemliTtp.piness of the mass of the nation from every
Two great means of safety are secured now
everyail p Government, with the feeling of its dignity
ditty, has determined not to destroy.itself.
b tie
er.uf these means rests on the satisfactory conviction that
• 'aetn the European Powers there exists no misunderstand-
k•tt.
snd that, according to the invariable principles of Serve-
m none can be foreseen. This fact, which is placed be-
tar lt doubt, confirms our position and guarantees our
".
• Ti
last. lePh other means is the union formed in the course of the
sein Pine :smith's between the German • States ; an union
k n, by tire Isies6 sin of God, our firmness and, fidelity will
ender irtdiiol,•!mle.
f nThe conferences at Carlsbad, and the decrees which' issued
m theta, have acted in a more powerful and salutary malt-
ase h`uati feelings! we are awn to ourselves at a time when
late have still the of those embarrassments which *-
11(1,4", and is hen
weep can wily calculate superficially all the
Nintages which ave obtained.
, .e,asures, so important as these, can only wholecd
r,sttl.e%ir whole extent when we can know the of their
s,nt The epoch which immediately follows cannot pre.
dact.dthrtn all to its, but we can appreciate the effects pro-
eulati hy the resolutions of the 20th of September, by cal-.
cal the probable progress which the enemies of order
"are made wit hi•nt them. The results of the con,
wilfiees of Vienna, though of a more elevated order,
sir have an effect less Vrilliatsf but more profound anti de-
-
to earl I he. consolidation sit the Germanic union offers
°f the states which compose it an efficacious guarantee
o(aNi~nvalnable advantage.in present circumstances, and one
I.lsh'ell we Could not have been certainly assured, except
ratiane,.°.tirse that iris been followed. The good faith and mode.
assay ohich this important walk 6as been comlucted
preye!) the o w
ne -hand have fixed us tn certain ro:insts, and
but :led
h :led us from taking measures more bold and energetic;
the other, supposing such course possible, there would
av
bapanelee n wanting to the work one of the first conditions,
thivec(:)!',,trtah:t!tr;epcaoritsisenset ion and the sincere confidence of all
tat.eobeen could have compensated such a defect, which must
fro in every attempt toimut execution determina.
of t'ilertmade under such auspiCes'... In general the moral fence.
arid ti "nfederation wan as necessary as its legislative force ;
lie,esslie Progress which the conviction of the utility and the
intpultY of this union has made, is, in our opinion, a most
Thl ant and most happy resalt.- .
rules •which 'the' •German Governments will hence-
have to observe maybe pointed out in a few words
I,nallui onindence in the duration of European peace. and in the
of the principles which direct the high Allied
ttatiou
scrupulous attention to their own system of Adminis-
.
es3i:fre,rseyerance in tine maintenance of the legal basis of the
Ibtr:n6 constitutions and a firm determination to defend
force and P;ndence against every individual attack.
Innis;
tie,..4meliOratn o eSsen tial faults in these constmtu-
• amelioriaotiouf being made by Governments, and
codTo on sufficient reasons.
s,ttanetecase of insnfliciency of means. an appeal to time as-
nivibb,r the Confederation—an assistance which every
'"5 the most sacred right to exact ; and which,
ac-
t•ttsed to Present stipulations,'can less than ever be re-
jil.st_t„sen.ecording to us, the only truly salutary, legal, and
of 11ie
A.essin,,,anyero(r);nasn:(llc.l-1 upsrtirsii,,e,iples rests the political system
tranquil in her interior, pos-
',uno-cj's,
NNi!iiiintinosing mass of moral force and physical re-
‘ivitis( oTitl li,N,tyayusnalie use of ahem for her own preset--
he ready to dispose of them for the
la tie
their
exeirilrisee,outederates, when dusty and wisdom de-
. I have the honour to he,
(Signed) METTERNICH.