The Sun.
London, England, 1816-04-19 00:00:00

Rhine

"With regard to 'the prohibition (if the Rhenish
Mercury, and the Prosecution in which M. Goerres
was engaged on that occasion, the PO)lie papers,
haVt for. same time propagated Much nntruth.—•
As the affair in itself is interesting to a cousitleot-
hie portion of the public, a circumstantial and cor-
rect account of It will not lie misplaced iil the Ali
geinelne Zeitung. I3y a roYal cabinet order of the
3d Jan. the Continuance of the Rhenish igercitry bras
prohibited:, for the reasons, as it appeals, officially
assigned in the Iterlin`Ga. fete. To the general go-
vernment commissioner of the Rhine and Moselle
departMent, the 'State Contisullor Sack in Crib.
Lentz (who is out to be costfotioded with the Ge-
neral Governor Sack iii Aix-la-Chapelle), was in-
trusted the execution of his order. He diSchaigea
this controisttion by commtinieating to Mr. Goerres
the contents of the Royal Order, upon which the
Paper immediately ceased ; but, besides this, he
placed all the remaining copies of the Mercoq ,
even the old ones; Under seal and threw the
printer Heriot into prison for eight days, be-
cause he had printed passages through which..
Professor Breuning, the Censor, had drawn hit
pen. Upon this Goerres wrote to Suck the letter
which has elready appeared in all 1116 Journals,.
Mr. Sack thought the dignity and authority of his
office impeached 'by this epistle, and applied to the
correctional tribunal of Coblentz for the severe
punishnseut of Mr. Goerres. He at the saute time .
supported his plea by the production of another
letter, which •Mr. Goerres bad written Id hint
some mouths previously on a matter of trifling
importance, and of which he bad hitherto made
no complaint. According to the French laws
still in force in the territories on the Ithinq, the
trial Was appointed to take place in public,
before the Correctional Tribunal of Coblenti,
on the- 17th of February. As the ',flair had
excited universal interest, the number of people as-
sembled to hear the proceedings was so great,
that only a small part of them could he necommo-
dated in court ; the rest were either under the
necessity of remaining about the awns, or of yet
turning home without having their curiosity satis-
fied. Goerres appeared in petson with his cowl:.
sel, of the name of Corbach. The latter opened
the business, and defended his client, not without
eloquence. lie remarked, that he hoped it would
not be necessary to investigate the merits ut tke
cause, because, by an express law, and in confue.
mity to the opinions of all French lawyers, no epis-
tohiry calumnies ennte within the jurisdiction
court of criminal justire, but at the most could be
brought forward in the -shape of a police or civil
action; it was necessary, therefore, that thew-dim-
ities should have been designedly published and
propagated by their author. This, however, was by
tio means the case ; and even if the letters of Mr.
Guerres '(Which in fact contained nothing but very
cordial reminiscences and admonitions, 'which.
should he very welcome toevcry administrator) ac-
tually did any thing injurious to the Authority of
Mr. Sack, then Mr. Si!ck had himself to blante,by
giving publicity to these letters. On these grrintols,
lie ctintended, that the Court should either dis-
tuiss the complaint as unfounded, to;, declare itself
incompetent. The State-Attorney . declared, on
.the other hand, that lie had received orders trout
the Chief President, Sack, to prosecute' he business,
and he must insist upon the competence of the
Court, The Court postponed its decision to its
next sitting,' which took place on the 23d of Fe,.
bruary, when it declared its competence, and en-
tirely acquitted Mr. Goerres. Mr. Seek, not .sa.
tisfied with_ this decision, is •now prosecuting his
complaint before the Appeal Court at Trevei, front
whence the affair will probably he brought before
the Court of Revision ut Coblentr, the place of
last resott. Mr. Goerres has repaired to Treves,
to, defend his cause before the Court there.--;.
This is a true and correct representation of the
affair. As was naturally to be expected, both e
circumstances which gave occasion,to the fetter atf
Mr. Goerres, the prosecution, itself, havis

math: no tinfni•ourable impression in the provinces
on ..the Rhine; but the definitive organittition of
these provinces, to-which we may now look fur kkrtl
with tolerable certainty, and the batisfaci ion nf ock.
the final cessation ot our provisional state into.“.,
it is to be hoped, soon do away this itnpreSion,
and filk_t he Rhenish people with that confidence in
their Government, without which time tan be
no attachment or affect ion."

The .411gemeine Zeitung ills° starts froth Berii'3,
under (Wet)! the 16th of March,.that the %Val -
Counsellor, Alueliker, and Dr. John ate now :tifider
prosecution before a criminal tribunal, on aceilunt
of an anonymous pamphlet which has appeart of iit
Saxonyy attacking the Prusso-Saxon administra-
tion.