Star.
London, England, 1820-01-14 00:00:00

PRUSSIA.,

DICEMBRE as.

By an Order, of the 26th of the month, the Lag
has,- on the repeated request of Lieutenant-General
Boyen,•Minister of, War, accepted his resignation of
that laborious office; and has, as a testimony of his
satisfaction, granted him a pension of 6,000 crowns.
Lieutenant-General Von Haake, commanding the
Prussian Provinces of the Rhine, is appointed Mi-
nister of War. Until his arrival, General Schoeler,
Chief of the First Department of the War Ministry,
will occupy his place.
We mentioned, at the time, the dismissal of M.-
Watts, Professor of Theology. This event was then
made the subject of reproach. The Liberals said it
was shameful to dismiss a Functionary, for having
written a mere letter of consolation to the mother of
Sandt. The Public is now enabled to form an accu-
rate judgment of this affair, for M. Wette's Letter
has been published. This Letter, remarkable for the
most dangerous principles, is as follows:
" You have, u a mother, been struck with so severe a blow,
that I consider myself obliged, from the friendship you have
ohms me, to send you a few lines of consolation. Had you to
weep merely-the loss of your excellent son, I should be silent,
and leave it to your pious heart and to time to calm your sorrow.
But the opinion of the multitude will, with an appearance of
justice, stigmatize your son as a criminal. This is what induces
me to be his advocate with you, and to defend his memory from
dishonour, at least in his own family.

" The action which he has committed is not only illegal, and
punishable by temporal justice; but, considered abstractedly, is
immoral, and contrary to social law. Artifice and violence can-
not establish a right, and the goodness of the end is no justifica-
tion of the injustice of the means. As a moralist, I cannot al-
prove of such actions; it is by good, and not by evil, that evil
must be resisted. However, when an action already committed
is to be judged, it is proper to adopt, for the basis of the judg-
ment, not general law, but the conviction and motivei of the actor.
It is according to his own faith that every one is to be judged-
" I admit that the resolution of your son proceeded from
error, and was not exempt from passion ; but what man can
Batter himself to be exempt from passion and error? Certainly,
no one. The error is, however, excused, and in some measure
destroyed, by the firmness and purity of the conviction; and the
passion is sanctified by the source whence it sprung. lam per-
guided, that your pious and virtuous son was in this situation;
he was assured within himself ; he regarded this resolution as
just, and therefore, in this view, he has acted well. May every
one act according to his conviction, and thus also act well !
" If I do not absolve his resolution from every passion, I do
not thereby ascribe to him a gloomy intoxication, or a fiery agi-
tation ; for Sandt, as far as I knew him, was a man of calm and
reflecting character. The purest enthusiasm inspired him, and
that enthusiasm came from the best source; but it received from
the youth of Sandt a violence which impelled it beyond de
bounds of life. Without this sort of passion, it is almost impos-
sible to perform a great action. The fire of enthusiasm must
necessarily burst forth. I assure you, that your son, far from
diruinishing the love that I had vowed to him from the first
moment that I knew him, has augmented it.
" The act, as it has been committed by a virtuous and pious
young man, with faith and with an internal conviction, is a noble
Phenomenon of the present age. Whatever be the fate which
await; your son, he has lived enough, since he has resolved
to die for the noblest wish of his heart. Whoever• is capable of
thus risking his life, proves that he is fully sensible of its value,
and that he estimates it, not by its duration, but by its intrinsic
beauty. Unfortunately, we are, in Germany, accustomed to
prefer a noble death to a life passed in baseness and indolence.—
Do not say it is enctressing that all men do not acknowledge the
sublimity of their death. •
" The conduct otSandt la the mark of a noble tine of think.
ing, which may serve to rouse mankind from their lethargy. A
young man sacrifices his life to exterminate an individual who
was idolized by so many of his fellow-creatures. And will this
action produce no effect? But to judge of an action we need not
look to its results, as we do not judge of a man's life by the lustre
be may throw around him t the most obscure is frequently the
most virtuous. Respected friend, may you be convinced of the
truth of these reflections, and maintain this mode of viewing the
subject, in spite of all objections! You brought forth and edu-
cated this extraordinary young man ; you also knew how to un-
der-stand and to value him ; you will be able to support with
courage and resignation the tate which he has chosen for himself.
Goo, who is powerful in the weak, will aford you his support.
I am, with respect, etc.”

This letter appears evidently to have been written
with the view of being circulated among the friends
and partisans of Sandi; it did indeed obtain this snit
of clandestine publicity, and it therefore in time fixed
the attention of the Government.
The following is the text of the King's Rescript, ad-
dressed on this subject to the Minister of Public In-
struction : Berlin, September 30, 1819.
" Professor Wette bas authentically acknowledged the copy
presented to him, of a letter which he addreued on the 31st of
March, of the present year, to Madame Sandi, the wife of the
Cousellor of Justice, and he has endeavoured to defend the jus-
tiScat:on of the murder committed by young Saudi; the im-
portant duties of Professor of Theology and Morality are incom-
patible with such conduct. I should wound sy own conscience
were Ito intrust the education of youth to a an who regards
assassination as justifiable under certain conditions and pre-
emptions ; and I charge you, by these presents, to divest Pro-
fessor Wette of his functions of instructor.
(Signed) " FREDERICK WILLIAM."

MOUNT VESUVIUS.—A private letter from Naples
says—" On the Ist ult. snow fell here, accompanied
with much thunder. About the middle of the night
the inhabitants were awakened by a subterraneous
noise, and soon afterwards one of the most dreadful
eruptions commenced that has been• witnessed for
twenty years. The inhabitants of Torre del Greco,
of l'Aumenaiata, and even of Partici, experienced
the greatest disquietude, apprehending the fate of
Herculaneum and Pompeii. The lava, however, for-
tunately divided itself into five torrents, and flowed
to the foot of the mountain for the space of a league.
The crater is much enlarged, a part of its brink
having fallen into the gulph. On the 7th the lava
still continued to low."

LIVERPOOL, JANUARY 12, The Uxbridge (Holy-
head packet), Captain &runtime, arrived here this
day, from Dubin'' with the remains of the epoch-la-
mented Countess TALBOT. All the vessels in the
harbour immediately hoisted their colours half-mast
high, and the bells tolled a solemn dirge. The body
will be landed to-morrow, and will proceed imme-
diately to Staffordshire. Every respect has been paid,
which was due, to the amiable character oldie late
Coots's.

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