[p. 553]
|553| he himself, like the earlier rulers, at his accession to the government solemnly vowed and swore the maintenance of the constitution. They add that they have examined most conscientiously whether a change had occurred which according to principles of right could annul these obligations; they could find no such ground in right. That they ought to have searched still more thoroughly, they should have let themselves be called upon to do precisely by the fact that otherwise they saw themselves in the warrant to raise against their prince the accusation of perjury against his whole people, – a warrant and an act from which they ought to have recoiled.
To the address there was appended, besides two essays, chiefly a third enclosure, an essay or rather a book in small print of 162 pages (Section VIII, pp. 91-252), – namely the so-called statement of the grievances of the land. On this book the members had worked for many weeks and had dragged together from all sides all kinds of grievances. One must read in the proceedings themselves how with this labour the estates seemed to have accomplished the most important work, fulfilled their most sacred duty, justified their whole conduct towards the King most irrefutably. It is impossible, above all in this notice, to enter upon the content of this glaring picture of oppression and complaints. Besides the examination of the factual assertions, it might seem necessary to distinguish what would be real and what supposed grievances; for one sees at the first glance that a multitude of the complaints rests on the authors’ judgement about the utility or harmfulness of institutions of the state. Then one would have to distinguish what of the burden of the levies, insofar as it is well founded, would fall to the charge of the government and what to the necessity and adversity of the times. One has surely seen in all German lands, even leaving aside the manifold unreason of complaining
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