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    ¦ ¦ . i .. . . ' . . . ¦ . ¦ . ¦. Ho. 46...

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    task these many years to curr y favour w...

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    HAMBURG-. (JFrom a Special Correspondent...

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    The Epidemic of Dipthkhia.—Tho Lancet is...

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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. (From Our< Own Correspondent.) ...

    Address was presented to the Regent , and answered 8 S " I receive this Address -with peculiar satisfaction and sincere thanks . Not alone on account of the contents , but also of the unanimity with which the House have agreed to it . This is the second occasion since the establishment of the Regency that such unanimity has been displayed towards The . It is a Worthy counterpart to that which the representatives evinced when they bthe

    acknowled ged the Regency established y King . Now as then , this rare occurrence in the representative system will resound through our country and Europe , because it proves the Government and the representatives to be of one mind . I rejoice to see a repetition of the Words which I addressed to the country from the throne . Let us hold fast to these principles , then we shall see the fulfilment of the assertion that our country will remain strong and mighty in the present and the future aa it has been in the past . "

    The members of the deputation were hereupon presented individually to the Prince , who , after some flattering observations to a Mr . Siinson , touching a speech which he made in support of the Address , dismissed the deputation with these words : " And now , gentlemen , proceed to your duties , always bearing in mind that I merely stand in your King ' s stead ; and although he has charged me to act according to my own conscientious convictions , yet we must never forget that he has not ceased to be our King and master , arid that . he may at any moment return to hjs high office . Therefore , it must be our task to act in such wise that he may then say , ' My brother has done well . I therefore repeat what I said on a former occasion , ' We will only improve the King ' s work , and nothing further /"

    I have made little or no mention of the Prussian Eerrm , or Upper House , in 1113 ' letters , but , indeed , up to the present , it has given hardly aiiy signs of existence . It Will , however , probably make itself heard byand-by , and rather plainly , too , if the Government is to be carried on with the liberal tendencies that are anticipated , for most Germans appear inclined to believe that the Prince of Prussia is a Liberal at heart . They have forgot 1848 and 1849 . What I take to be sheer political cunning they regard as bluff straightforwardness . They have been deceived often enough since 1813 , and will be deceived a little while longer . The Prince may be liberal , and so may the House of Representatives , but the Upper House is known to be thoroughly absolutist ,

    and the question is , will it go hand in hand with the House of Representatives ? Nobody thinks that , it will . This has given rise to the" report that new peers were about to be created by the Prince for the purpose of iriproducirig a liberal element , or of swamping the absolutists . The wish , most unlikely to be fulfilled , was father to that thought . The Upper House was constituted with the professed object of acting as a dam against the democratic torrent of the future . It has hitherto proved to be more than a dam ; it has been , and will be , a rock upon which all popular measures will _ be shattered and dispersed , and that , too , most constitutionally , for the Upper House is as constitutional and as

    entitled to be respected as the Lower House ; and lias not the Regent declared to keep strictly within the limits of the Constitution ? The right of the Lords to reject is as sacred as that of the Commons to propose . People were becoming oblivious to the Herren house , but some characteristic committee elections have lately attracted attention to it , and reminded Prussia that the " Cross" party 19 not only alive still , but beginning to kick in a somewhat well directed and unpleasant way . The adherents of the Ministry will , it 19 plain , have great difficulty in holding their own against the tactics of " the small but powerful" party to oust them out of the committees gently and by degrees .

    With a systematically oppoajtional Upper House , at the same time a thoroughly constitutional one , the Prince may be exceedingly liberal without the slightest fear of hia liberality leading to dangerous consequences . Mrs . Primrose never liked her girls to bo without money , bo she had put a guinea into the purse of each , but with , Btriot injunctions noyer to change it . Every one knows to what end this Upper Houso was created , and none knows bettor than the House itself . With this knowledge , and stupid over-zealousnoss , measures have formerly been rejected which oven the Court wished to pass . Therefore the complaint of the Prince , that if the taxes had been granted in 1867 the wanta of the nation would have been supplied . This was directed nt the Lords who refused the increase . Their opposition at that period ,

    ttowovor , was only spasmodic and displayed in a stray measure , but now , in the affected belief that upon them depends the salvation of Royalty by ' tho Graco of God , their opposition will bo regular and tending to ono given object . This bold opposition must not bo looked upon as the pfftprlng of patriotic and sincere conviotions , inspiring thorn with courage to spurn tho favour of Prince & nd people \ they are resolute boeauso they feol convinced that thoy have tho sympathy of the most powers * wl Jn tho land , whoso command four hundrpu thousand drilled men involuntarily oboy . Uolidvlng that Prussia is what s « o is solely through tho Hohen « ollorna And tho nobles , and regarding men in gonorul as so Wany boobies , incapable of governing thomaolvos or their families , tUey will never voluntarily surrender their

    claims to direct the whole machinery of the Government . As they created Prussia , the government of it is their due , and " suum cuiejue" is the motto of Prussia ' s kings . To attain their object , they will not be satisfied with the means ; offered to them by freedom of speech in Parliament , and a free press ^ by which , if their claims are founded upon reason and patriotism , they maybe succeeded ' by the propagation of the Truth ., & c , inscribed upon the banner which the Regent holds so proudly aloft ; they will not rest satisfied with such simple and ready means because they know that the cause they seek to uphold ,. if left to the criticism of common sense , is hopeless . To spread their ideas they require the suppression of all

    others ; they must have the power of coercing the press *—the y , must have the treasury in their hands—the disposal of places— -the police in its all-penetrating interference . With these means they imagine they will be able to make the Present a sort of steam-tug to the sinking old hulk the Past . They are , however , fortunately out of power at this moment , and every day passed without direct influence is a gain of years to the Liberals . In vain they may console themselves that they were once before out of power , and thatj notwithstanding all appearances against them , they recovered their old . position , and maintained it firmer than ever ; but the silly panic of the years 1848 and 1849 has subsided . Those years brought a fair and pleasant wind to the

    Feudal party . Which cleverly and energetically turned it to account , as it wafted their rotten old hulk into a port of safety that no one expected it would ever reach . Since then a new generation has arisen . Wind and weather have changed , and are very foill for them , and unless they quickly get aboard of the Present they will certainly sink with the Past . Still they will make a struggle which may be of long , that is , comparatively long , duration . There will be no want of loyal and patriotic asseverations , that in their constitutional opposition to the Lower House they will be guided by principles only , not by persons or appellations . At first they will proceed with caution , . accepting here and there a measure of liberal tendency , and people will be led to

    believe that Prince , Lords * and Commons are all Liberals together , and the Government of Prussia will really appear . a phenomenon of patriotic and enlightened unanimity ; but sooner or later we shall see the Lords sitting down to . a steady . arid systematic opposition , the object of which will be to oust the present Ministers one by one , and supply their places by men of their own stamp . This they will do in spite of themselves , for the mert composing the ^ Feudal party are not guided by reason , but the merest instinct . Thus we shall see the very men who have set their faces against imitation introducing what is supposed to be the secret of England ' s success in representative Government , a , systematic contention- between two sets of men for the honour

    of serving their country . They will doubtless give their involuntary plagiarism another name , but it will be a distinction without a difference . Enthusiastic Constitutionalists may regard this as a consummation devoutly to be desired , and perhaps they would rejoice at the accession of a party to power in so constitutional a manner , anticipating results similar to those obtained in England by the same means ; but they would very soon discover their error . If the Feudal or Grace-of-God party again accede to power in this generation , whether by Parliamentary tactics or by the will of the sovereign , we shall see the same system of police supervision , the same suppression of freedom of speech and writing , that the country has been subjected to during the past ten years .

    It is , however , just possible that a portion of the Upper Houso may be sufficiently clear-sighted as to perceive the drift of the ago , and may accept what they cannot prevent . They may also prevail upon some of their less far-seeing or more obstinate colleagues to go hand in hand with the progressive representatives of th « nation ; in such a case , Hohenzollorns and Junkers may have a lease of titles and power for another century . At present thoy are much loss safe thau on the 2 nd February , 1818 . Besides tho Prussian , wo have the Hanoverian , Bavarian , and Saxo Weimar constitutional Parliaments now in session , as likewise tho Provincial Diet of Schloswig and llolstqin . There was a report in circulation last week that tho Bavarian Ministry had tendored their resignation to the King , and fufther , that the King had

    threatened to remove the Court from Munioh . Both reports wero , however , positively contradicted by tho official journal of Munioh . Tho cause of this wan * of harmony between King and Parliament I mentioned in a former letter . Tho professed cauao is the olection of a JDr ; Wois , ft man personally obnoxious to tho monaroh , as Second Prosidontof tho Chamber . The real cause is , doubtless , tho thoroughly Liboral character of tho Chamber itself . At tho Diet of Sohloswig-Holstoin , now in session at Itzohoe , -situated in Holstcln , about twontyfivo miles from Hamburg , n petition was presented from some silly persons in Yorkshire , England , praying that the cauuo of tho Duchies might not bo loft entirely in tho hands of tho Gorman B und . It was read amidst shouts of merriment . This * ridicule of pur poor Ydrkshjromon was very unjust on tho part of tho Germans , or rather Holstolnors , for have thoy not made it thoir

    ¦ ¦ . I .. . . ' . . . ¦ . ¦ . ¦. Ho. 46...

    ¦ ¦ . i .. . . ' . . . ¦ . ¦ . ¦ . Ho . 463 , February 5 , 1859 . ] THE IiEADES ^ 181 ¦ ¦ . —¦ —— ¦ - . — — ' ' * *~ ""'""" ——_ ^——— _^ _^_^_^_» .

    Task These Many Years To Curr Y Favour W...

    task these many years to curr y favour with the English and Scotch , by representing them as originating from Schleswig and Holstein ? Have they not been endeavouring to assimilate their jargon with the English tongue , that they might represent the two languages as being identical ? Did they , not introduce the system of planting hedges round their fields that they might hold it out as an evidence of a common origin ? Read Lappenberg ' s " :. History of England" for information upon this head . This Yorkshire petition is a proof how successful

    Germans and Danes Iiaye been in corrupting the ideas of the English as to the origin of the English people and their language . The Anglo-Saxon theory is a delusion and a snare ; and , instead of reading the concoctions of ignorantj conceited , or treacherous foreigners , the English , and more especially the Yorkshiretnen , would do well to go to the sources of their history themselves . AH that foreigners know about the ancient history of England is derived , from . English writings and traditions . I hope these remarks will meet the eyes of the Yorkshiremen who sent the petition to Itzehoe .

    Hamburg-. (Jfrom A Special Correspondent...

    HAMBURG-. ( JFrom a Special Correspondent . ) February 1 , 1859 . An extraordinary ; excitement has prevailed of late among the population of the free Hanseatic town of Hamburg . Louring the general continental revolution in 1848 , a Legislative Assembly was corivocated , the members of which were elected by the citizens of the town . By this Assembly was debated , and finally adopted , a Constitution , which shared the fate of all constitutions proposed during that period—it was never carried out .

    The revolution was followed by the restoration , when a new Constitution was concocted by a committee , com posed of senators and citizens , and subsequently approved and adopted by the legitimate assembly of citizens , that is to say , hbuseowners , and otherwise privileged members . Against this a constitutional body , invested with functions similar , to those of the Roman , tribunes , viz . to protect the interest of the citizens against the ruling powers , and denominated *¦ ' Oberalten , " or Ancients , protested > because it dispensed with their services ; they appealed to the German Diet , which , however , confined itself to point out two articles of that Constitution . as o bjectionable , deviating from the fundamental principles of the German Confederation .

    This partial and immaterial objection was made a pretence for putting aside that same Constitution , created and approved by the constitutional powers of the Republic , and strongly recommended to general adoption by the Senate , and for continuing comfortably to rule the state in conformity with the old system , with all its absurdities and abuses . A few years after , the Senate , beginning to feel uneasv from the general indignation of the citizens , to which a meeting of lawyers gave vent , brought forward a . patchwork of old rags and new ribbons denominated " new Constitution . " It was quietly but unanimously declined . -

    After another interval of several years , during which the general desire of the citizens was directed to a separation of the administration from the courts of justice ( which , I dare say , you wonder how they could ever be united ) , the Senate declared that this desire should be complied with , and finally offered . a new Constitution which , while . it only in appearance effected that separa , tion , in reality only tended to increase the power of the Senate , both as regards finances and police , which is directed by a senator . This created a general outcry of ineffable indignation , and for its immediate and startling consequence had tho union of tho Conservative and Democratic party , who , in two meetings that were called by the leading members of each , declared their determination not to rest till they had obtained the recognition of tho Constitution of 1850 .

    The Epidemic Of Dipthkhia.—Tho Lancet Is...

    The Epidemic of Dipthkhia . —Tho Lancet is publishing a masterly report on this alarming epidemic , drawn up by one of the ablest attache ' s of that able journal . Wo lament to gather from tlie remarks of tho learned " commissioner , " that it is unquestionably contagious in tho highest dogree , and that , although its violence is aggravated by domestic uncloanliness , certain predisposing individual conditions and faulty hygienic arrangement , it is arbitrary in tho extreme in its selection of perching spots , and erratic boyond nil calculation . It is no new disease , as sometimes supposed , having boon known in the time of Hippocrates as tho Malum . / Bgyptlacum . Wo understand that tho Registrar-General has moot ardently applied the resources of his office towards the collection of diptheria statistics . Mis inflnenco as a public officer , joined to that naturally exorcised by so important an organ ns our qontomporary ovor tho ' profession ,, ' warrant , tho anticipation that tho footsteps of our now foo will bo dogged successfully onough , before it haa taken deep root amongst us , to ensure its early eradication .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 5, 1859, page 21, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_05021859/page/21/