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ART. VIII.-1. Staatsrechtliche Bedenken | secured them the consent and support of über das Patent Seiner Majestät des their subjects. This fact opened, however, Königs Ernst August von Hannover for diplomatic activity, a path so entirely vom 5 Julius, 1837. Cotta: Stuttgart. new, to changes so possibly hazardous in the 1837. excited state of German feeling, that all the 2. Der dreizehnte Artikel der Deutschen contracting parties without exception soon Bundes Akte und die Hannoverische afterwards abandoned the principle thus laid Verfassungsfrage. Von E. Burckhardt, down; and, while some applied means of Dr. Juris. Weber: Leipzig. 1837. coercion to silence all demands for the fulfil. 3. Staatsrechtliche Würdigung des Pa- ment of the given promise, others seemed to tents Sr. Maj. des Königs von Hannover regard its breach with the most supine indifvom 1 Nov. Hamburg: 1837. ference. 4. Die Gründe des Patents vom 1 Nov. Nachtrag, &c. Von Dr. C. F. Wurm, Professor. Hamburg: 1837.

One consequence of the excitement left by the last war in Germany has been, that the peace so long desired, and so much needed, has never been fully enjoyed there. The THE proclamation issued by the King of lands so much exhausted by that war have Hanover on his accession to the government been burdened almost ever since with armies of that country has attracted the attention of upon a war footing, which consumed what all Europe, and has excited the feelings of ought to have been the accumulating capital men of all parties in a higher degree than of those countries, while they withdrew from could have been expected, considering the industrious pursuits numbers of the ablest insmall importance of the States he is called to habitants. Nursed by vellement demago. govern. But it is because the step taken by this monarch is thought by some to probe most deeply the wound under which the repose of Europe has long been suffering, that the question is looked upon as of general interest; and in all the states of central Europe the cause of the king, or that of his people, is adopted as their own by the professors of monarchical or of democratic principles. For Englishmen it cannot be altogether a matter of indifference, were it only on account of the near position of the principal actor to the British throne.

rope.

gues, a state of things has arisen directly opposed to that which was desirable, inasmuch as the inhabitants of several German states look upon their interests as diametrically opposite to those of their sovereigns: a conse. quence of which is, that no German court at the present day can make any alliance whatever without rendering half its subjects discontented, while the gradual co-approximation of the greater states of Europe, by means of an improved system of commerce, and reciprocal ties of hospitality, has not yet made any progress. How much has thus Looking upon the system of government been neglected, or left undone, must present in the German states as one of paramount itself forcibly to the mind, when we consider importance. upon which the duration of the present state of so large a part of Eupeace in Europe mainly depends, we confess that we do not regret to see it stated in so That Great Britain is, to a high degree, decided a manner; as we think that in this interested in the establishment of constituway a satisfactory solution of its difficulties tional forms of government in neighboring is most likely to be obtained. That the true nations, cannot be denied by any who have strength of a nation consists in the cordial maturely considered the development of the co-operation between the ruler and the peo- social state of Europe. In lands where the ple was a principle clearly seen and acknow- people take a proper part in the government, ledged by the German courts in 1813, and the whole force of the nation is directed to broadly stated in the Act of the Congress of promote its internal improvement, to the adVienna. The desire felt by all to have the vancement of agriculture, to the facilitating Germanic governments placed on a firmer and encouraging of commerce, to the imbasis, and enabled to maintain their inde- provement of the physical and moral condi. pendence against foreign attacks, dictated tion of the people at large. And this for the no doubt the introduction of a clause to that very simple reason, that the advantages aceffect into the Act of Confederation, which, cruing from such a direction of the energies as an integral part of the treaty of Vienna, of the state are visible and tangible to every was solemnly ratified by the eight contract- individual: the agriculturist, the merchant, ing powers. A new element was here, for the citizen, laboring, each in his vocation, to the first time, avowedly introduced into the improve their several conditions. The object sphere of politics, and the alliances of sove each strives to attain is at no remote disreigns were indirectly admitted to be inse- tance, and his satisfaction at every progres. cure, unless based upon institutions which sive advantage gained, is the strongest sti.

mulus to further exertion. Any proposal them, seems to have been felt by the differmade to a nation thus occupied in the pursuit ent sovereigns in full force during the period of the true aim of humanity, and that ap- of their calamities; and to have dictated the pears likely to divert their endeavors into a promises held out by them to the people in less profitable channel, for the sake of attain. 1813, when an endeavor was made to rouse ing some remote or problematical good, is all the national energies to a grand united sure to be rejected, if the class thus encou- effort.

raged to exertion be allowed influence The manner in which the Germans an. enough in the conduct of the government swered the summons, accompanied by these to command attention to its wishes; such is assurances, showed sufficiently the value set at least the avowed principle of the political upon them by those to whom they were adalliance between England and France: and dressed. How could it be otherwise? Had it is possible to lay aside much jealousy of not the only country in which the people our French neighbors, when they have a go- were admitted to a share in the government, vernment that sets more value upon a system proved itself equal to a contest single-handed of rail-roads throughout the country than with all the rest of Europe? And did not upon the extension of its frontier to the Rhine. our neighbors feel that we possessed none Even the conquests made by such a govern- but moral superiority, arising from this ment may be looked upon with less alarm, in source, over them? The internal resources one sense, than they would otherwise inspire. of Great Britain are not equal to those of The arms of a free country spread civiliza- any of the other great powers; and her tion, and, by awakening the subdued people colonies were not called upon to contribute to a sense of their true interests, gradually in any manner to her support. An impaneutralize the brute force which, in its uncul- tience of ancient forms, and a thirst for no. tivated state, was only a source of constant vel principles, had gradually sprung from the apprehension; and thus, in the end, limit revolution and diffused itself into the theo. their own power to wield it in a bad cause. retical activity of the German mind-so that The surest guarantee for the preservation of even the arbitrary changes introduced into peace in Europe is the progressive advance.. many German states by the French, and by ment of every nation in civilization, in the French influence, were often received and knowledge of its true interests, and in the power to enforce their inviolability.

clung to as benefits; and those powers which had possessions on the Rhine were obliged to Had Great Britain been able, or, perhaps, leave their subjects in these provinces in the been more willing, to establish such a form undisturbed enjoyment of their newly ac of government in Spain and Portugal, the quired institutions, lest they should prefer a Quadruple Alliance might, probably, attain sacrifice of their nationality to that of the its aim. The strength of four such nations laws, which, however incomplete, were someunited for the attainment of so grand an ob- times preferred to the ancient institutions of ject as mutual assistance in the promotion of Germany. This has been the case with the the true interests of their subjects, and this Rhenish provinces of Prussia; Bavaria, in by legitimate means alone, could not fail to which the trial by jury is still maintained; achieve a mighty moral conquest; and to and partly in the Grand Dutchies of Hesse force, though at long intervals, those govern- and of Baden; in all, the Code Napoleon is ments whose leaders still adhere to an anti- still in force. But what security could there quated line of policy, to follow in their track. be for the other states, where these forms of The attempt has unfortunately miscarried administration had not been introduced, or from every kind of miscalculation; and, in- had been abolished in the fever of reaction, stead of powerful allies, we are threatened that others, not less desirable, should be from that quarter with a dangerous dissolu- granted to them, unless the people were al tion of all ties of order and morality, by the lowed to make their wishes known through protracted and exterminating civil wars: it the medium of representatives? may, therefore, be worth while to view with some attention the state of other countries of Europe, if we are to hope that a similar course of policy may be pursued amongst them with more success.

The insufficiency of the ancient forms of government in the Germanic states to cope with the attacks from within and from without, to which the new order of things, introduced by the French revolution, exposed

There can be no more unfounded supposition than that advanced by some English journals in their strictures upon the proceedings in Hanover, and which represents the mass of the people as indifferent to the form of government under which they live. shall enter later into a detail of the reasons why even the lowest classes are deeply interested in the forms of legislation; and it will at the same time appear, that the landholders

We

are no less so. We shall here first insert | so long in practice in England. The mass the opinion of a living German lawyer,* of of the privileged aristocracy was thus divided highest repute, as to what was understood at in Baden into two classes; the lesser nobilithe period of the Congress of Vienna, by the ty, or knights, who formerly claimed equal term ESTATES (Landstände) at the time their privileges with the nobility, that is to say, establishment was fixed by treaty.

with princes, counts, and barons, were reduced to representation in the lower house by presentative constitution by Estates (Land-landed proprietors and of the towns. deputies, who sat with the deputies of other The

"In every state was to be introduced a re

ständische Verfassung). The meaning of the expression was, to be sure, not more pre- chambers were acknowledged to possess the cisely fixed in the Act of Federation, but no undisputed right of joint legislation with the doubt could exist as to the scope of the clause sovereign, and of controlling the revenue. thus inserted, for, in the negotiations about In Wirtemberg and Bavaria, where the this article, all were agreed that the Estates sovereigns came forward with the dangerous were to enjoy the right of granting taxes and precedent of originating constitutions to be of joint control over their appropriation; of participating in the legislative functions; of granted to the people, they reserved more petitioning; and of having their constitution undisguisedly the right of limiting and definrepresented in the German diet, as far as the ing the powers thus supposed to be concedconstruction of this latter body admitted of ed. The desire of having something like a

it."

solid basis upon which to erect the superstructure of an administration, improvable, the part of the representatives of the people, as it was trusted, by unwearied attention on rendered these countries grateful for the preaided by the influence of an enlightenedage,

reigns no small share of popularity at the

time. In both countries the same division Baden. In all, the governments trusted to of the privileged aristocracy took place as in the influence left them in the power of appointing and promoting the officers of jus

Could the article in question have been acted upon by the German sovereigns in this sense, we have no hesitation in saying that their position would now be no less advantageous than the condition of the people would be powerful and flourishing. But cir- sent, and procured for the respective sovecumstances and even prejudices prevented this, and drove the former to brave the chances of suppressed discontent and the attacks of revolutionizing emissaries, rather than submit to the undisguised control and imperious remonstrances of their subjects on matters of administration; incurring, per haps, even the risk of losing their power altogether rather than submit to the proposed di. rection as to their manner of wielding it. In those lands where no direct refusal to act up to the obligations imposed by the sovereigns upon themselves and on each other was giv en, as was the case in Prussia and Austria, still so much hesitation, doubt, and difficulty have hitherto interposed, that the monarchs have nearly lost the popularity thus, in the first instance, acquired for them, and Ger. many now affords scarcely an instance of a cordial feeling existing between a prince and his entire people.

In those countries where local circum

stances, or respect for public opinion, deter. mined the rulers to establish a form of government answering in some degree the conditions prescribed by the Act of Congress, three modes of proceeding were adopted. Where the French rule had entirely supplanted the ancient form of administration, and the new institutions had taken root, there could be no difficulty in establishing the esher conformable to a theory ovel for Germany, although

tates i of les

1 Fried. Eichhorn, Deutsche Staats und entsgeschichte, 1836, p. 697, Vol. iv.

raged, which prevails in the higher and mid.
tice; and to the ambition, carefully encou-
dle classes, of serving the state in the army
or in the numerous bureaux, as a means of
of the estates.
directing, or, at least, controlling the power

commended by the ablest lawyers, although
The third form of proceeding is that re-
avowedly attended with the greatest difficul
ties, and was acted upon in Hanover and

some other states.

It consisted in taking the old forms for a basis, and endeavoring to model and develop them according to the demands of the times. The temporary restoration of the ancient order of things, which took place in the fullest manner after the expulsion of the French, and which was so German Legion were embodied in the new thorough-going, that even the officers of the old Hanoverian army, gave the government regiments according to their standing in the the advantage of conceding, or appearing to concede, the abolition of various abuses; some of these had been done away, others introduced, by the Prussian and French occient system in general, and which was unacupants. But in the restoration of the anvoidable until modifications and improve. ments could be safely introduced,-for the system of the recent hostile occupants was

necessarily foreign and not native; and some immediate form of government was indispensable; this was not the only advantage tak. en by the monarch and ruling party of the position in which they were thus suddenly placed. In order, however, clearly to explain the proceedings in Hanover during the last years, some description of the old state of things must be given.

since 1688. In Lüneburg, on the other hand, the freedom of the knight's estates from all contributions existed in the fullest sense. The same was the case in the county of Hoya, and former state of things had been so changed, in the Duchy of Bremen. In Hildesheim the and rendered so complicated by a contract agreed to by the estates in 1798, relative to the debts and contributions of that district, as to render it impossible to bring about any The princes of Germany to whom the assimilation to other provinces, even if rerank and rights of sovereigns were granted gard were had to the measures adopted by by the treaty of Vienna, were in former times In Osnabrück the relative position of the esthe Prussian and Westphalian governments. only the great vassals of the emperor, stand-tates to the weak government of a bishop ening in the same relation to him which the tirely dependent upon them for grants, had barons of England did to the first kings of enabled them to acquire a greater exemption the House of Plantagenet. They represent- from taxes than was to be found any where ed the nation in conjunction with the prelates else. The knights contributed nothing from and deputies of the towns, which were sum- their own possessions even to the Charichamoned as early as the reign of Rudolph of livum, which they used to vote yearly to their Hapsburg to the diet (Reichstag.) But Prince; and this circumstance had, so early two circumstances tended to give the deve- as 1803, when the land had come under Hanoverian sovereignty in consequence of its lopment of this form of constitution a very secularisation, given occasion to very disadifferent course from that of England; viz. greeable discussions." the power and extent of possessions of some of the nobles, and the uninfringed right of the only privilege of the lower nobility reBut this exemption from taxation was not administering justice in their baronial courts. stored in 1813. The after vassals of the great lords were Professor Luden, in a work bound to do military service; and the indi- the privileges of the noblesse in a list filling on Hanover, published in 1818,* enumerated viduals who cultivated the grounds, the pea- two closely printed large octavo pages. We sants, or Bauern, whom the refinement of may select the following as most remarkable: the laws of chivalry prevented from bearing knightly arms, either followed in their train, they, or their households, were concerned, -The right of having all causes in which or purchased exemption from this duty by tried exclusively in the chanceries (a higher contributions for the support of the army court of justice): exemption from all quareven the clergy furnished their quota. No tering of troops during peace; and in warone had dreamed that out of this order of time the liability only to such extra_requisithings, natural in a barbarous age, would tions as exceeded the usual demands of the grow a constitution, according to which the peace-establishment finally, the exclusive nobles and knights, long after their service right of being appointed to certain offices: became unnecessary, or obtainable only for for instance, no other than a knight or a nomoney, could claim exemption from the pay-bleman (in most cases taken as synonimous ment of taxes, and throw the whole burden titles, although by no means so originally) of contributing to the wants of the state upon the peasants and citizens. Yet such was the constitution of the greater part of the states governed by the elector of Hanover previous to the year 1803.

can be appointed abbot or ausreiter of St Michael's in Lüneberg; counsellor or deputy of the knights; president, vice-president, or counsellor on the nobles' bench of the court A semi-official work† published in 1826, missary of licenses in Calenberg; president of appeals at Celle; chief justice and comas a kind of justification of the measures of the royal court at Celle; land commissary adopted by the Hanoverian government part-in Lüneberg and Haya, &c. &c. In the ly with and partly without the consent of the Georgianum at Hanover, and in the Noestates up to that time, has the following ble-academy at Lüneberg, no other than sons statement of the privilege thus claimed by the of the nobility, and in the greater number of knights and lower nobility. convents, none but daughters of noble houses, could be admitted. The abbesses were required to be of unspotted noble descent.

"The extent of the freedom from taxes enjoyed by the knights was different in every province. In the principalities of Calenberg and Grubenhagen it had been very limited *Eichhorn, Staats und Rechtsgeschichte, iv.

330.

Zur Geschichte des Königreichs Hannover, 1826, p. 180.

VOL. XX.

28

:

The exemption from quartering of troops in a kingdom where barracks are not abundant,. was no inconsiderable privilege and perhaps Hanover is the only country in which * Das Königreich Hannover, &e.

reader with an account of the projected improvement in the shape of a general assembly, formed provisionally by the government.

Under the old system, each of the nine provinces or districts of the land had, as we have hinted, their several estates, in which the prelates and nobles appeared personally, and the towns by their deputies. These several estates were now called upon to send deputies to the General Assembly, representing the different classes, in proportions fixed by the Government, and whose num. bers were as follows:

noble descent has ever been regarded as an modified form reads a political lesson, which indispensable requisite for a lawyer. The other and more sanguine temperaments retention of the revenues of some convents, elsewhere have, unfortunately for themselves, secularized at the period of the reformation, been slow to take. We shall furnish the for the benefit of unmarried daughters of the nobility, is a striking proof of the influence that class exerted in legislation in Germany. But the restoration of the old state of things in 1814 had by no means the exclusive benefit of the nobles for its object. The provincial states, existing generally from an early pe. riod, were, notwithstanding their mutual discrepancies and defects, endeared to the memories of the nation by long habit and by their influence, both in taxation and the suggestion of local measures. On the expulsion of the French they were, to the great joy of the nation, consequently restored at the time, but with a view to future modifications according to the improvement of the age. In this return to a former order of things, the re-appropriation of the royal do. mains, which are very extensive, formed naturally a conspicuous object; and in order to effect this completely, it was attempted in the first instance, to invalidate even private contracts made under the French and Westphalian governments. From this, however, it was soon found advisable to desist.

The Prelates were represented by 3
abbots and 7 deputies from (secu-
larized) Monasteries

The Nobles and Knights sent depu-
ties from different provinces
The towns deputed

Districts in which the landed pro-
prietors not of noble birth, were
privileged

In all

10

43

29

3

85

A gradual change however, was so little In restoring the national institutions, concessions had, necessarily, to be made on both satisfactory to the awakened spirit of innovasides, and an arrangement hastened, in order tion, that alluding to the great majority here to get the start of a third party which could allowed to the privileged classes, the work not be excluded altogether from an eventual which we above quoted, published by Professor Luden, declares this assembly to stand interference in the matter. In order to in the same relation to the nation at large, as facilitate the compromise, and save what was possible out of the wreck of the shattered the provincial states formerly did, of whom vessel, a general landstände, or meeting of it is said, p. 54, the estates, took place, under the unqalified assurance of the prince regent,' "that he acknowledged the bounds which the Lord of Heaven and Earth had set to his power," and that "considering their advice as indispensable to point out the means by which he can achieve his wish of promoting the welfare of the land," he requires them to be to him "what in the sister kingdom the parlia. ment of Great Britain is, the high council of the nation."+

*

How well-intentioned this project of assimilation to the British constitution might have been, experience early showed the fallacy of attempting to transplant the growth and native production of one country to a wholly different soil. The statesmen concerned did not, in truth, commit the error of a transfer in integrity; but the ill success of even their

* Speech of the Duke of Cambridge at the opening of the estates, 15th Dec. 1814.

Duke of Cambridge's Second Speech to the

Estates, 16th Dec, 1814.

"From the nature of their privileges, it is very apparent that they had their origin at a time when nobody, and least of all the estates estates as representatives of the people at themselves, dreamt of looking upon these large, as they were afterwards made to appear. These privileges do not proclaim them to be the advocates, they shew them to be the enemies of the people. They are undoubted infringements of the rights of the people, since the prelates have ceased to be the ministers of religious instruction, and the nobles to be the sole and ever ready defenders of the country."

The first steps taken by this Assembly, and the treatment they received from the Government, effectually extinguished any exaggerated hopes that the sanguine may have entertained from their deliberations. The re-establishment of the old order of things, the organization of the military force, and the issue of different decrees regulating the taxation of the various provinces in which the French and Westphalian financial sys tem were abolished, were measures taken

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