The people have achieved a great triumph; they have by their 
steady and protracted opposition forced the King* to abandon his 
pet measure, the proposed new law of divorce.” The present law 
in this respect is very liberal, and, of course, never pleased: the 
Christian King. Ever since his accession to the throne, he was big 
with an amended law, by which a divorce was to be granted in. 
very few cases only. The holiness of the marriage bond was to be 
enforced as strictly as possible, and another door to be opened to 
the parsons to meddle with the family affairs of other people. The 
spirit of the nation, however, arose against such.a law; the press 
opposed it, and when a democratic paper” succeeded in getting 
and publishing an authentic abstract of the proposed law, a 
general outcry was raised against it from one end of the country 
to the other.** Nevertheless, the King persisted in his intention. 
The bill was laid before the Privy Council, in order to be prepared 
for the provincial Parliaments,?? the advice of which is necessary, 
according to the Prussian constitution. Whether there was already 
a strong opposition in the Privy Council, or whether the King saw 
that this measure would never pass the provincial Parliaments, 
may be difficult to decide; it is enough, that an ordinance dated 
the 11th instant has been directed to the Council, withdrawing the 
bill, abandoning entirely its principle, and declaring that the King 
will be satisfied with the alteration of a few formalities of the 
present law. This most important triumph of the opposition must 
strengthen permanently the popular party, and will be received 


2 Frederick William IV.—Ed. 
> Rheinische Zeitung.— Ed. 


News from Prussia 531 


with cheers in every hamlet of the realm. It will show the people 
that they are strong, and that if united, they may defeat any 
measure they do not like; nay that by merely using their strength, 
they may frighten the government into any thing they please. In 
the manufacturing district of Silesia very serious riots have 
occurred*; the workpeople of the neighbourhood, depending 
almost entirely upon the linen-manufacture and suffering great 
distress, not being able to stand the competition against the 
English machine-made article, have for some time been in a 
condition similar to that of the English hand-loom weavers. 
Oppressed by competition, machinery, and greedy manufacturers, 
they at last arose in Peterswalden (Silesia), demolished the house 
of a manufacturer, and were only dispersed by the appearance of 
the military. In Langenbielau, outrages of a similar nature were 
committed; the military were repelled by the people, and could 
only restore the peace after having received reinforcements and 
fired on the rioters, of whom several were killed. In other districts 
tumultuous assemblages took place, and even in the capital of the 
province (Breslau), the peace was disturbed. Thus it is evident that 
the consequences of the factory system, of the progress of 
machinery, &c., for the working classes are quite the same on the 
continent as they are in England: oppression and toil for the 
many, riches and wealth for the few; insecurity of fortune, 
discontent, and riot exist among the hills of Silesia, as well as in 
the crowded cities of Lancashire and Yorkshire.”