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Leader (1850-1860), 30th October 1858, Edition 2 of 2, Page 20, PORTRAITURES OP THE ROYAIi FAMILY jruj^x...

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      1164j The Leader. [No. 449, October 30, ...

      1164 j THE LEADER . [ No . 449 , October 30 , 1858 .

      Portraitures Op The Royaii Family Jruj^X...

      PORTRAITURES OP THE ROYAIi FAMILY jruj ^ xxv o : p pBUSSIA THE PBTNCE AND HIS INTEUNAX "POIICY . In P russia , as in Germany at large , there are three chief parfcifes , with two of whom , at least , the Prince Re ^ eiit will have to measure strength before long . They are respectively : —the Feudalist Junker party , or the high aristocratic element ; the moderate Constitutionalists , who recruit their ranks from a portion of the middle class , with an infusion from the discontented nobility ; and , thirdly , the Democratic party , which latter , for the nonce , is kept in the deepest subjection , and condemned to almost total silence by the repressive measures of the prevailing system . Of these three parties , the first has been estranged from the Prince through the opposition it has offered to the establishment of his regency . The second — the moderate Constitutionalists- —have ^ sought to take advantage of tliis feud between the heir-presumptive and the Junkers for the furtherance of their own political interests ; we fear , however , they will find themselves sadly deceived in their speculation . As to the third party , the Democrats , we have already depicted in former articles how undying is the hatred with which the Prince regards them . The streets of Berlin running

      red with blood in 1848 , the battle-fields of Southwestern Germany , and the fosses of Rastadt bear ample , evidence of the sanguinary energy with which Prince ' William , is prepared to beat down the cause of democracy . It may therefore be seen from the few hints given above that , properly speaking , the Regent does entertain no particular affection for any o £ the chief political parties . If he could follow out his own desires , he would , unquestionably , carry on government exclusively by the means of the military and the bureaucratic element , making front at once against the Feudalist faction , and against the ideas of nooular 'liberty in however

      moderate a form they may _ appear . Nor _ have we any doubt but that this will be the chief aim of liis forthcoming administration . We must , however , keep in mind that , to some extent , he will have to struggle with many difficulties in carryin g out such a line of policy . We are sure , for instance , that in , spite of the jealousy with which he considers the Kreuz-clitjue , he will not be able to act entirely without it . In a monarchic state , such as Prussia still is , and as the Prince wishes to preserve it , the landed aristocracy will always necessarily play an , impor tant part . It is possessed of too many faciits influence felt to be

      lifcies for making easily removed from the contact with all governmental affairs . The sway the aristocracy holds over the soil of the kingdom , the prominent position many of its members occupy in the army and the diplomatic branch , and the privileges it enjoys at a Court where royal etiquette is so strictly observed , all tend to confer upon the mediaeval coterie a material advantage that it would be a matter of difficulty to dispossess them of . Whatever , therefore , may be the personal leanings of the Regent , he will , in some degree , be rostrained bthis state of societ It js trueif

      y y . , he could make up his mind to throw himself upon the Constitutionalists , if he resolved to establish , a sort of " citizen-kingship , " he could easily neutralise all the efforts of his antagonists , the Junkers . But no sane man can expect such n course from any Hohenzollern—from a royal race all the members of which have ever entertained such a sovereign contempt for the middle-class canaille . Not even the very founder of modern Prussia , although he built up the fortunes of his house with the aid of generals and statesmen that had sprung from the loins of the people , even he did not scruple to say " that honour was only to bo

      found with those of noble blood , and never among the burgher rabble . " If these were the sentiments of the enlightened despot Frederick II ., what can be expected from a , man of such narrow martinet notions as the present Regent P We do not think , consequently , that a resolute Constitutionalist policy Svul be the characteristic of the Regent ' s administration . The ill-favour with which he is regarded by the coteries of the King and Queen might naturally induce one to suppose that He would find the necessity of seeking sonle counterbalancing' aid among the Constitutionalists- But , on t'ho other hand , his haughty notions and royal prerogative will assuredly prevent him from doing what polioy would eooni to point out as the only course for him to pursue . At tho mixture age q ! sixty-two , tho Prince is but little

      matter of history how he kept , even for a few months , those sacred obligations entered into . Besides , a sovereign of the most rigid despotic principles may well take the oath to observe a constitution so emasculated by repeated coiips d ' etat as the one at present prevailing in Prussia . Do we not know that all the guarantees of representative government are there destroyed ? Is that palladium and all other popular rights , a free press , to be found in Prussia ? The daily seizures of the most moderate prints give a lamentable answer . Is ministerial responsibility—is the right of meeting —is personal liberty—is the inviolability of the

      likely to change the opinions or conduct of las past life . He has ever been the consistent enemy , by turns openly and covertly , of representative government . We cannot , therefore , assume that he will henceforth become its ardent friend and admirer . That he should take the oath to the Constitution we never doubted for a nioment . He has accustomed us to beholding him perform such acts of -hypocrisy whenever he has found the occasion compulsory . In 1 S 47 , for instance , be bound himself by oath to the Constitution , at the bidding of the King . In 1 S 4 S , he also recognised the then state of affairs , but it is a

      renown for erudition may have been exaggerated still , in scientific attainments , he certainly surpassed his fellow-monarchs . Now , the case is very dif . ferent with Prince William . Little claim has lie to the title of savant . His imagination seldom soars above the details of the barrack-yard and pipeclay regulations ; and in the society of the learned he must content himself .. with the unpretending r 6 les William " the Taciturn . " It may be casilv imagined therefrom that he has no great relish for the companionship of men of science . He prefers that of the blunt dragoons , to be found so plentifully among the aristocratic members of the . armv . The position of Prince William , by this circumstance would become sufficiently awkward , were in not for the superior accomplishments of his ambitious and

      intriguing wife , who has proved herself an able helpmaid in political business , of which her husband reaps the tangible benefits . We conclude here the "Portraitures of thelloyal Family of Prussia . " We have zealously endeavoured to present faithful likenesses , colouring them not from the fanciful tints of hope and imagination , but from the materials already provided us by the antecedents of the personages depicted . In some of our portraits we have , perhaps , run counter to the accepted opinions at . present-in-vogue ; but our belief is a firm one , that when the deceptive haze which for the moment ¦ overhangs Prussian matters has cleared away , it , vyiil be found that our strongest descriptions were only faithful renderings of the actual position .

      citizen ' s domicile—is a guarantee for judicial independence — in short , are any of those liberties which , to our notions , are the ingredients of a constitution , to be found in that kingdom ? Assuredly not ! Well then , there can be , after all , but little reason for the Regent to object to swear to a constitution which provides nothing . These may , appear severe strictures , but , unfortunately , daily occurrences in Prussia do not allow of our speaking in any other strain . The continued persecutions against the press give a bad augury for the future constitutional policy of Prince William . No . less ominous sound the rumours

      which ascribe to the Regent the intention of appointing as Chief Ministers in his future Cabinet Baron von Bisniark-Schdnhausen and M . von Bethmann-Holhveg—the former belonging to the aristocratic party , the Litter to the creme de la creme of the most sickly portion of moderate constitutionalism . If the Prince were really to have this intention , he would be pursuing a similar course to that of his brother Frederick William IV . It was always the policy of the abdicated King to combine in his ministers the feudalist and the bureaucratic parties , so as to conciliate both , and always have two shoulders to rest upon when the road became

      difficult . Tims , Manteuitel represented the bureaucratic , sham-constitutionalist element , whilst Westphaleii stood there for the squirearchy and the KreuZ'bigots . Now , the appointment of Jiismark-Schonhausen and Bethmann-Holhveg would be a similar combination . Bismark , at present Minister Plenipotentiary of Prussia at the Frankfort . Diet , is decidedly a man of the great landed interest , though he has , on a few occasions , exhibited more courtly than Feudalist sentiments . He would serve as the connecting link between the Prince ' s Go ^ vernment and the Junkers . Herr von

      Eethmann-Hollweg , on the other hand , who is by courtesy called a constitutionalist , chiefly because the men hitherto in power were such rabid absolutists , would be the means of conciliating that very moderate portion of his party which is contented with the shadows rather than the realities of political life . In other words , tho same comedy would be played as has disgusted Prussia for the last few years . Such , at least , is the rumour that circulates m Berlin , among those who are generally -well informed . We reproduce it without guaranteeing it ; but it , nevertheless , appears to us to possess a sufficient probability in itself .

      This much is certain that tho Prlnce { though nil adversary of tho governmental pretensions of the aristooracy , yet by natural bias leans to the aristocratic class . In this he is somewhat tho counterpart of tho King who , with all his dilettanti predilections for ineuiroval usages , frequentl y indulged his preference for the social intercourse with erudite n » en in whose veins tho blood of nobles did not circulate . Such an apparent contradiction of taste may seem strange ; but a olosor scrutiny will easily make manifest the reason of this anomaly . I ho King , alt-hough politically mad on tho subject ot Right Divino , was himself of a cultivated mind . To him , therefore , the occasional oommunion with enlightonod savana was an agreeable ohango from tho barren sphere of ty rannioalnotions that ho hnd chosen to dwell in . Ho could place himself in suoh company without fear of appearing at too great a disadvantage beside his learned associates : for , albeit his

      Mr. Sydney Herbert On Journalism. This R...

      MR . SYDNEY HERBERT ON JOURNALISM . This Right Hon . S . Herbert , M , P ., ia the course of a long and able speech delivered at Warmhister , last Thursday ^ said : —There is no question abroad or at home , no question political , and very few scientific , which is not admirably discussed in the newspaper press of this country . The articles which appear in the newspapers , compressed into a short space , are the result of much ' reading and of much thought ; and we who have not much time on our hands—we are all in this age pressed for time— get by that means great results and a vast amount of thought , elaborated into what the Lancashire manufacturers would call the iinisheJ article . Depend upon it , the man who shuts his eyes to the contemporaneous history of the newspaper is a man unfit to deal with the practical wants of society . In speaking of newspapers , it ha 3 always'appeared to me that they wight be much more useful than they are , and I have a strong belief that ultimately we shall sec in the newspapers a change which will , I think , tend to make them much safer instructors of the public , for this reason—that the public would then more easily read and accept what it now takes cum gro . no soils . At the present moment newspaper writers are anonymous . My belief is that for the mission of public instruction that is a great disadvantage . It puts on a par , in point of weight and authority , the most scrupulous and tho most unscrupulous writer—the most exact and the most inexact . If we knew who the writers were , we should know , m the case of a man whose character ia established , that everything he says might be taken for gospel , while we should also know ' in another case that the writer was neither so accurate in hia statements nor so careful in sifting nis facts . I think wo should derive great advantage I row such a state of things . Then , again , there is ^ another matter connected with anonymous writing ot newspapers . A man knows that ho cannot be answcre . i . xi tho congregation had tho right to answer , the sermon would be somewhat different from what it now is . ** man would always be more careful in , what no saw when ho know that he would bo liable to n » sw <» r-Even now his writing is occasionally answers ono liis facts disputed , but ho haa not to go through tw humiliation of being proved to bo wrong , lie is a nw entity himself . What he writes may bo criticised , but iw ia unknown . For this reason I think that "O" ' ! ' ^ ' writers do not writo with tho snmo caro ami tliu "" 1 which they would otherwise exercise , ilion , ao . thoro is something in tho lish character that uis-111 kllU

      Eng UII 3 IU IS ai > lllUl , UMI £ } . ullgMBia w ...--- - likes secrecy . Men aro ashamed , to a certain oMcni , « writing anonymously , and , if they do so , they c ° ™[ it . I have known many gentlemen take a loiiiunj , i « in public writing , but I have always found then m » willing to admit or to bo known as writers of pucii wi « suoh articles . They do not llko tho impronsion wnicu would be produced if they were known as nnonj n n » writers . In the llouso of Commons an Impression I "" vails that u man who can snoak in his own ««<» " •"' any question takes an unfair advantage if lie nays » ° ' thing under cover of an anonymous article , i ""^ ' some things which people would not bring forwaui i . eopt anonymously , and I have no doubt tlint in » oases the public morals gain from anonymous «""'»» but , taking tho balance of tho two sides of tho q » ° jU °£ I do not aay that our newspaper writing coiili ™ proved , for It could not , but the weight and » " «««»; of tho newspapers would be increased if a . loi j wioiw writing wore diminished , whore it is for tho publk tf" ° " that it should be diminished .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 30, 1858, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_30101858/page/20/