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    960 THE LEADER. [fro. 443, September 18,...

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    CO N T IN ENT AL NOT E S..fhance. Notwit...

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    Germany. (Fro»I Our Own Correspondent." ...

    this country at present is to prostitute a vrord of noble significance , because the Prussian ukases of 1851 , served as the model for the ukase of the Federal Diet , which agrees with the Prussian ukases in every important particular . On the other hand , in the Bavarian press regulations are omitted , three vital points of the Federal edict , viz .- — " That the license of a printing and" publishing office may be -withdrawn , not only as a consequence of a juidicial sentence , but even after written warnings , that is to say . without any legal proceedings at all .

    Secondly , that misdemeanours of the press ( Press-vergehen ) are not questions for the jury (!) but are to be determined by the police authorities . Thirdly , that for every periodical work bail must be given . In 1852 the Bavarian Government made ah attempt to add these restrictions to their press regulations , but the Chamber of Representatives of that day evinced so much determination to oppose them that the authorities considered it prudent to wait till a more favourable opportunity , which has now arrived : and the reform (?) will be

    effected this session . The King of Saxony and his ministers have been legislating for public amusements and the fair sex ; the result Is ,- the promulgation of a fresh edict , by the police authorities in conjunction with the Town Council of Dresden . This ukase relates to dramatic , musical , and other representations , as likewise to dancing and other public amusements , and actors are warned to abstain from extemporising on the stage , and to confine themselves strictly to their parts as written ; further , all songs , harangues , and so forth , the tendency of which may appear improper , either politically , morally , or in any other respect ( sonstiger Beziehung ) are absolutely schlechterdings ) prohibited . By this your readers will perceive that actors , and even persons speaking in public ,

    are placed at the mercy of the police and their spies , who are , of course , to be the judges as to what is or is not improper , politically , morally , or otherwise . Another ukase has been issued by the Royal Kreis Direction ( District Authorities of Budisscn ) to the effect that " gefallene Braiite "—i . e . women who have disposed of their persons without , permission of the police— -are ; forbidden to wear either bridal wreaths or floral ornaments of any iind at their eventual wedding ; and those who dare to disobey are to be punished according to the ukase of 1812 . I have not succeeded in procuring the document , which would doubtless be a curiosity in its way , but I dare say the- penalties threatened are either fine or imprisonment . This ukase is not limited to the circle of Budissen or Xausitz , but the aforesaid Kreis Direction have received instructions to extend it over all the

    pther districts . The absurdity of this edict is equal to its contemptible tyranny . The sole effect it can have is to make many children illegitimate , and save a young couple the . expense of a regular wedding- -L * S £ your readers . ^ n ^^ pj- ^ ~ ' ^ fta * tue men are not perjPAfted t 0 marrv till they have reached a certain ^ gS ^ nve-and-twenty ) and can prove tha t they have pecuniary means which , in the opinion of the authorities , will enable them to maintain a wife and family . Sometimes a couple are betrothed for years and years , and are refused a license till wrinkles begin to furrow their brows . Here is tyranny hard to be conceived . Is it not time that the English press should turn from Naples and France to Germany ?

    Last week , the Hamburg weekly paper The Age { " Das Jahrhundert" ) was stopped at the Prussian post , and the Vienna press generally received a warning no to criticise the acts of the local authorities , but to confine their remarks to foreign affairs . One paper was confiscated , for having presumed to call public attention to the bad pavement of a street ; another for having ventured to touch upon the question of metallic payment , now resumed by the National Bank . Spirit of Guttenberg ! if , like that of the Royal Dane , you are permitted during a portion of the twenty-four hours to revisit the scene of your famous labours , it is to be hoped that you are not doomed to fast fires , during the other portion , to burn and purge awiiy the sins committed in your days of nature , for methinks it would be quite sufficient punishment to your soul to see its offspring reduced to such a base condition in the land of its birth . I can on ly exclaim with Hamlet ; " Alas , poor ghost !" " Printing hero ' is only meant '

    TiVwr mirinnit . v nnil nrnramnnt . " For curiosity and ornament . " But it may be asked how these arbitrary acts become known unless through t ] jc press , and how can it bo so gagged ? It is natural that the act of publishing by ft newspaper and , criticising should be twin conceptions in an Englishman ' s mind ; but hero criticism upon local subjects is entirely impossible , and the utmost the reader - ^ ai ^ bbtain from the newspaper ia a bare atatomont . A Prussian paper may , perhaps , noW ' an'Utnon "crltlcfiKT

    Austrian affairs , and an Austrian paper Prussian affairs , but the papers so much depend upon the neighbouring states for their subscribers , that a stoppugo at tho postoffice is nearly tuo same as a confiscation . Thus , If a Hamburg paper wore to make any observations disagreeable to Hanover , Prussia , or Oldenburg , It would be immediately stopped at the post , and lose the greater number of its subscribers , who aro more numerous In the largo states around than In Hamburg itself . A newspaper , therefore , that would attempt to enlighten the people would only bo destroying itsojf , without the

    slightest chance of benefiting any one , for whatever it might say would not be seen , or only by very few . Stoppage at the post in this country is such an effectual means of crushing a newspaper , that every paper quietly submits to the yoke , and teaches , by its silence , the people to do the same . But , as your readers may ima-r gine , England and the United States are discussed to heart ' s content ; and all the vices and . the crimes , the railway accidents , boiler explosions , criminal processes , & C . & C , that are published by the newspapers of those free nations , are shown up with a fulness of criticism and sanctimonious horror at the shocking condition of people living . in a state of political freedom , that is positively quite depressing to one ' s feelings , and impresses

    one with the truth and wisdom of the remark that " free institutions are now upon their trial . " The newspapers and people would be glad to see them upon their trial here . It may -seem wonderful that such a system of oppression can be exercised over thirty or forty millions of comparatively intelligent people , and possibly a feeling of contempt : towards the people who endure this tyranny may arise in the reader ' s mind ; but a perusal of the Federal Compact ( Bundesact ) will , soon dispel such a sentiment by showing the barefaced and cunning method that the framers of that compact adopted to render opposition impossible ; more especially I refer your readers to the twenty-sixth article , and as some , perhaps , may not have an opportunitv of meeting

    with the document , I will here translate the article : " If , in any state of the Confederation , the internal peace should be endangered by any opposition to the Government on the part of the subject ;? , and the disturbance appear likely-to spread , or if an insurrection have really occurred , and if the Government , i . e . Prince , having tried ineffectually to suppress by the means at his command , shall call upon the Bund ( Confederated Princes ) for assistance , it will be the duty of the Bund to grant instant help to re-establish the ( obnoxious ) government . Should it appear evident that tile ( obnoxious ) government of the insurgent state is unable to suppress the revolt by its own means , and at the same time be prevented bv circumstances from

    claiming , ( or not feel disposed to claim ) the aid of the Bund , nevertheless , and without being called upon , the Bund 13 bound to put down the insurrection . But in no case ( concludes this precious article ) shall the measures considered necessary to reinstate the authorities be continued longer than is . thought necessary by the prince who received Federal aid . " One would suppose that after " But in no case , " the following words would occur , " shall ' the authorities thus assisted be permitted to inflict any kind of punishment upon their subjects without the consent of the Bund , " " shall be allowed to pursue a course obnoxious to the majority of the subjects . " iut nothing . of the Sort , the subjects are bound band

    aud foot and delivered over to their tormentors . This article shows the total inability of the Germans to help themselves without an impulse from abroad . Your readers perceive by this one extract that the princes have taken every precaution against their people . They have entered into a family compact , and are playing a game which they must lose , no matter how chances at present stand in their favour ; and when the hour comes , it is to be hoped that the free people of England will allow no family ties to interfere with the just retribution of outraged humanity . England has of late years ovinopd no sympathy fyr the throes of civil liberty on the Continent : let her stand by indifferent as she is now when the hour of delivery shall arrive .

    The Prussian Parliament la expected to be opened next month , when the question of the Reguncy will be thoroughly discussed , and , as all the Prussians fervently trust , result in the deposition Of the present King and in the elevation of the Crown Prince to the throne . The acts of the Prince will bo carefully watched , but the people are not so sanguine in their expectations of him as they were of the present King , and will consequently not bo disappointed to the same extent . Ho ia , however , expected to be liberal . To bo liberal truly , ho must grant freedom of the press ; freedom of election , which he has hitherto very energetically insisted upon from hU opponents , and which it is hoped ho will continue to insist upon from those who will become his supporters j and finally , freedom of discussion . Many hope for all this ; I , for my part , have not the slightestfuith that their anticipations will be fulfilled . It will be as it has that

    always boon ; the people are happy iu the thought when tlie Crown Prince is King " es soil ganz andoru wordon , " there will be a change of measures and men , which is tantamount to saying , " When the lion on the top of Northumberland House hoar * the clock of St . Martin ' s church Btrike twelve | ho wags his tall and roars . " The National ( Prussian ) Zeitung insists upon * flro ~ ft ' ccegglty ^ f ^^ tlon to its army—not its commercial interests at sea , or Us seafaring population , but its army—< which , it assorts , is undoubtedly the best disciplined , best armod , and , In . comparison with the mass of the population , tlio most numerous in the world . What then must Us navy bo i At present tlioro is little prospect of so grand a consummation , for of the two arsenals which have beon aooidou upon , tho one at the mouth of the Jade , between the ISms and the Wesor , upon the land lately purchased from Oldenburg , Is progressing At ft more 3 nail ' s pace , and the other , which wafc projected , on tho island of

    Riigen , is likely to be given up altogether , at least no one ever hears it mentioned . The arsenal in the Jade will no doubt be completed some day , though whether it Will be of any use t 6 Prussia is a question . Reports from the Rhine state that in Coblentz , and within the bounds of Ehrenbreitstein , the vintage has begun with the early Burgundy grape , which had ripened very rapidly during the warm temperature of the last week or two , and upon which birds and insects had commenced their ray ? ge 3 . The result of an examination lately made at Honningen , to determine the body of the red grape , showed that . the grapes taken from two vines of the second class contained already 85 dcg . or

    18 g- per . cent , of saccharine matter , according to Oechle ' s mustgauge , and 9 per mille of acid , according to Marquart ' s acemetre . A lot of very heavy grapes gave 81 deg . or 17 per cent , saccharine , and 10 per mille acid . Last year the choice red grape gave at the same period only 79 deg . or 16 J per cent , saccharine , but only 8 per mille acid . The grapes are consequently richer in saccharine than the grapes of last year at the same time , while the acid is more predominant , which is to be attributed to the wet and cool weather during the latter half » f August . The seasonable rain which has fallen has contributed greatly to develop the gases necessary to impart a fine flavour . As to the quantity , the vines bear this year fully one-third more than they did last

    year . Travellers to Austria would perhaps find it advantageous to note the following remarks of the Ostdeutsche Post upon the subject of the resumption of payment in specie by the Austrian Bank : —" That the old banknotes which the . Bank is not bound , to pay in . silver will not bear the same value as the hew is self-evident , because the latter , ' being identical with ready money or sterling : silver , are accepted abroad at their full value , whereas the old bank-notes , which are still left in circulation , and cannot be exchanged for silver at . pleasure , will not possibly obtain their nominal value .

    960 The Leader. [Fro. 443, September 18,...

    960 THE LEADER . [ fro . 443 , September 18 , 1858 .

    Co N T In Ent Al Not E S..Fhance. Notwit...

    CO N T IN ENT AL NOT E S . . fhance . Notwithstanding the conclusion of the treaty of Tiension —or , perhaps it should be said , as a consequence of that treaty and to enforce its execution—the French Government proposes to maintain in China a stronger naval squadron than in times past . The division of gunboats will remain there permanently ; and a body of marine infantry will also be kept there until the conditions of the treaty have been carried out . We hear from Chalons that preparations arc l >< vmg made at the camp for the reception' of the Emperor , who is expected there about the 18 cik The anniversary of the taking of the Malakhoff was cel- ^ ratecl by the troops in the camp , who lighted bonfires along the whole line .

    Two large cotton-spinning mills in . the commune of Marommc , near Rouen , one occupied by M . Piel , and the other by M . Fleury , havo been burnt down . The fire broke out in the establishment , of M . Fleury , niul it is supposed that the machinery got hot from its rapidity of motion and sot fire to some ' of the loose cotton . The loss i 3 estimated at 3 UO , 000 fr . Tho treaty between France and China is so far on its way to Paris that it has reached Malta in tho chnrgo of M . Duehosno de Uelleeour . A letter from liaron Gros to tho French Foreign Minister says that this treaty was ratified by tho Emperor of China on the i » rd July , anil adds that tho allies aud plenipotentiaries were to quit Tien-sion on the 7 th or 8 th July .

    „ , „ A letter mentions a report that Prince Dnni . 'l of . lfoiitcnegro and his brother Mirko are coming next month to Paris , with a suite of a hundred Montenegrins . It is stated that M . irslnil Canrobert is about to enter the holy bonds of matrimony with the widow of tho late Duoa do Sottomayor , and become in right of his wife a grandee of Spain . Tlio Spanish Government hns been specially informed that tho Emperor qf l )\ a French , has made no change- in his policy towards Spain ; that the removal of tho '¦! Marquis of Turgotluul nothing to do with politic * ; and time it it * trusted that tho new ambassador , M . Fenlmnnu Barrot , will koop tho relations of tho two eountrius-on tho best terms .

    Although the weather in Paris ia oppressive , it ' * v ? 0 favourable to tho vintage , and pood judges nlhrm tiuu the via da la coikate of l § . & $ will rival that made ut tuo time of the comot of lttll . , An article in tlio Ddbatt , nsoribod to tho 1 riuoo Joinvllle , decries tho importance of Cherbourg anil considers its proximity to England us a ilisiidvnntugo w Franco . It i . . u . / iO > ftjri' « i 9 » , ¦ n ! ... Ba ? _ . ^ .. Jl ' VYg s " " otl u tronty ¦ «"' the King of Korea , ai vassal orCuina , foTtlnrestftbiw" * - mont of a French commercial sottloinont in ills coM , * a The attack upon tho Kmperor of Ava , wlio haa rum * to ylold to tho demands of Franco , Ia imminent , w orders' to attack tho Bay of Turono , noar H" * . w » vi « e already boon despatched . < : eti , Tho Olobo } « ldvo > 'twr , Leader , and Court Joidimi ^ , allsolxcd at the Paris J ' ost-oilloo on Hmuliiy . While tho Spanish telegraph assort * Hint tlio sqt ««' collected at Forrol is cloatlnoa Immediately to coav j

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 18, 1858, page 8, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_18091858/page/8/