Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 9th October 1858, Edition 1 of 2, Page 1066, Untitled Article

Page 1066
Page 18
18 of 32

On this page

  • Text (7)
  • Transcript

    • 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.

      Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

      Untitled Article

      the political ideas of youn ^ Frederick William , tlie husband of the Princess Royal , it will perhaps be better not to dilate . It may be that he has scarcely any as yet , except the few dogmas indoctrinated by the professors of the Haller and De Maistre school , to whom his father has entrusted his political education . . . . •• ' . '• Thus , with a view to internal administration ,

      there is probably little to be gained for Prussia by any change the succession to the throne may undergo . It remains now to be seen what influence the preponderance of any of the coteries above aiamed would have on the foreign policy of Prussia —on her alliances with Russia , Austria , France , or England . This latter point is an important one , as it may react on European policy in general .

      eagerness of the Prince to supplant the King has become more and more apparent . It was as if the mind of the Prince grew more . exasperated day by day at thus continually finding his brother keeping ahead of him by a neck , without his ever being able to overtake him . The secret jealousy between the two waxed fierce from the moment when Frederick William IV . received at Konigsberg the oath of fidelity from his subjects . From that day the Prince placed himself at the head of a faction which , often unseen to public eyes , intrigued for personal interests , and sometimes brought about violent scenes in the royal palace . In those early days of the King ' s

      reign , the Prince was leader of an ultra-Russian clique at Berlin—a clique in constant relation with the Czar and Ambassador , M . Von Budberg . It may seem difficult , considering the Russian leanings of the King himself , that the Priuee should be able to outbid him in his Muscovite policy . Yet such was the fact . The monarchic ultras , in whose society the Prince delighted , were chiefly " Grandees of the TJkermark , " French Legitimists , Spanish Carlists , and others of the same mould , all of them in high favour at the Winter Palace . To this coterie . King Frederick William appeared " too German" in his leanings . They . opposed to him the Prince , as being a more perfect representative of the Cossack type .

      Among men . of this stamp the Prince soon became a model of absolutism , lie strenuously resisted all attempts at the introduction of i-epresentative government . When the King , at last , found himself compelled by the financial difficulties of the country to assemble , in 1 S 47 , the famous " Vereinigte Landtag" the Prince refused to take the oath of allegiance to the constitution , if the word constitution can be employed at all to designate that , miserable - Landtag affair . . The Prince declared that the royal prerogative had been encroached upon by

      the grant of a charter . He denied his brother's right to-thus dispose of prerogatives which were not his exclusively , but equally the property of all his successors . It was only when the King , as Commander-in-Chief of the arniy , ordered the Prince to take the oath , thjit the latter obeyed . Placing his clenched hand on his helmet ,, he complied with the prescribed form , muttering the while with ill-concealed anger , " I bow to your Majesty ' s command !" Among his friends , the Prince afterwards did not scruple to declare that , though he had taken the oath in his quality as a soldier , he had not sworn in his quality as heir to the throne !

      It niay be conceived that these absolutistic freaks were not calculated to enhance the popularity of Prince William . At the outbreak of the popular movement in 184 S , his person was consequently the object of the fiercest attack . But of this we will speak in a subsequent article , when we have to treat of the influence the Prince has exercised in destroying the last vestiges of German liberty .

      During the reign of the King , it is well known Prussian policy was always steadily directed to-Trards the maintenance of good relations both with * he Government of St . Petersburg and that of Tienna . At the same time , a civil understanding was kept up with the Court of St . James . In fact , the King ' s favourite crotchet was to preserve ilie " Holy Alliance , " and to this Moloch he sacrificed not only the liberties of his people , but also iris own personal dignity . He adored the Czar Nicholas almost as the preserver of the political

      universe , and the Emperor of Austria he hardly refrained from styling " his august master / 5 In this way the three itforthern Courts , as the French call "them , were bound together in friendship during the . greater portion of Frederick William ' s reign . The Queen , on Jier part , followed the same course of ideas in foreign policy as the King . However , herself a Catholic Princess of Southern Germany , she is even more ardent in remaining on friendly

      < terms with Austria . If any difference , in fact , is to be found between her and the King in this respect , we might perhaps say that , whilst the King -strove principally to maintain the Holy Alliance , -Queen , Elizabeth leaned more particularly to the alliance with Austria , irrespective of all and every consequence . The Queen , therefore , properly speaking , is the exponent of the Austrian element " at Berlin .

      The Prince , as far as can yet be seen , follows a different track in these matters . He cultivates the Russian alliance at the expense of the Austrian pretensions . During 1849 , this " ¦ specific Prussian " tendency of his appeared clearly enough : and on this point we are able to bring forward curious do-¦ cumentary evidence . Perhaps it is not saying too

      much to assort that the Prince ' s antipathy to the House of Hapsburg would even induce him to court the friendship of Louis Napoleon , however great might be his disrelish for any connexion wifch the . parvenu . We need not add that his animosity to Austria does nob spring from the possession of any Liberal tendencies on his part . Nothing could be further from his character . It is simply a question of hate between royal families , —a jealousy of ¦ Court with Court . But be that as it may , in any ¦ case the pursuance by him of a consistent anti-Austriau policy might lead to many important

      European consequences . Among those who already speculate on the future kingship of the son of the Prince of Prussia , the idea of . an alliance between Prussia and Great Britain is of course a prominent feature in the prospect . But here again it would be more prudent not to indulge in any chdteau en JSspagne—the accession of Prince Frederick William being as yet but a distant contingency * Altogether the situation of the Continent is such that it would be well ; to confine speculations to the probabilities of the immediate future .

      After these introductory remarks , we give an abridged biography of some of the dramatis persona at present moving on the Berlin stage . We begin 'with the most prominent figure , the one which now -rivets public attention , the heir-presumptive and brother of the King .

      THE PttlNCE 07 MU 78 SIA . In age , the Prince follows very closely upon the heels or his brother ; the latter being within a few days of his sixty-third year , whilst the former counts well-nigh sixty-two summers . This similarity ftx / ears is' noteworthy , Tor it has contributed in no small degree to render the jealousy between the two prinece more violent and irreconcilable from day to day . The heir-presumptive , being a man of naturally resolute and ambitious disposition , has borne with a chafing spirit the prooedonoo of a weak , and vacillating brother , his senior but by a acore of months . With the course of time , the

      Untitled Article

      TRIFLES LIGHT AS AIR . Nonsense . —It makes one doubt of the utility of Mechanics' Institutions , when one finds that the picked men of that of Leeds could draw up such a ?« sentiment" as the following , which was placed in . the hands of a scholar , Mr . Monckton Milnes , to be recommended to a public meeting lust week : —" ¦ The extension of the Schools of Art , as they impart a taste for artistic beauty , anU give familiarity with the principles of which it rests . " Let us translate whether

      the " sentiment" into English , and then so © it be possible to make sense of it . " Wo wish for the extension of the schools of Art , because they impart a taste for artistic beauty , and make persons familiar with the principles on which it rests . " The sentiment is now grammatically intelligible , but still wo ore in the dark as to its meaning . What is " artistic beauty ? " and what are the " principles " on which the undeflnablo thing rests ? It is a pity that the Leeds Institution does not " impart a taste " for common sense and " give familiarity" with Lindley Murray .

      Untitled Article

      A Pjeep behind Tine Curtain . —It appears from a . speech wljioh Sir G . C Lewis , tholnto Chancellor of the Exchequer , has made at an agricultural meeting in ltadnorshiro , that ho , at loast , thinks no reform of Parliament necessury . Ho holds the House of Commons to bo " a very faithful exponent of tho general sentiments of the country . " Unless Sir G . C . Lewis be a hypocrite—which wo do not boHovo—H is evident that the question of Reform was not oven mooted in Lord Palmorston ' s oabinot . Whon Mr . Bernal Osborno , after he had quitted office , asked

      Lord Pulmerston to lay his Reform Bill on the table his Lordship said that it had not been prepared—he should have added " nor thought of . "

      Untitled Article

      Hpw John Boti / is Gulled . —It was supposed that one good , at least , had resulted fro m th e miserable Russian War , fallowed by the more mi . serable treaty of peace , iind that was the proclamation by the Sultan of tlie Hatti Humayoun which was supposed to confer important advantage s on the Christian population of Turkey . Our newspaper writers at the time fell into ecstasies on the subject . On Tuesday last the Times Constantinople correspondent devoted a column to proving- categorically that this boasted charter not only con- , ferred no right upon the Christians which they did not before possess , but actually deprived them of one , namely , their exemption from military service . The writer thinks it possible that the Uritish publi c may be " rather astonished" to hear all this . "We think so too .

      Untitled Article

      Weeds . —The Standard quoted the following- passage from the Irish Registrar-General ' s Annual liepo rt the other day .: ;— " As regards tlie condition of Irish agriculture , I beg- to state that I continue to receive communications from various quarters relative to the pernicious , growth of weeds , which is unfortunately so prevalent throughout the country , and an anxious desire is generally expressed for some legislative measure to protect the improving-farmer who cleans his laud from the injury done to his crops by the winged seeds of noxious weed * carried by the wind from the field of some negligent neighbour . Such a protection is afforded to the cultivator tit' the soil in some of her Majesty ' s colonies , and in

      parts " of Kurope . " ' Neither the Standard nor the Irish official seems to be aware that our law provides a remedy for the grievance pointed . out . Actions for damage caused by the neglect to weed are occasionally , but happily rarely , tried at assizes . The last instance of tlie kind we remember was about fifteen years ago . We are not lawyers enough to speak positively on the point : but we apprehend that the remedy is given not hy statute , hut by common law , founded on the maxim , " Ho use your own that you do not hurt others . " Seeing , however , that the holdings in Ireland are generally small , and the tenants not over rich , it may be ¦ vlvsSnible to give them a more summary remedy than that by action .

      Untitled Article

      A Shot Besipe thk Mark . —In reviewing Mr . Salass book , called A Journey Pue North , the Other day , the Times gave an extract in which tho author is at considerable pains to convey to the English reader a notion of the complexion of a Russian peasant girl . The passage we particularly refer to is a 3 follows : —" Nay ; there is a wood , or rather prcr paration of a wood , used by upholsterers—not rosewood , ebony , mahogany , walnut , oak , but a fictitiously browned , ligneous substance , called Pembroke . I have seen it , at sales , go in the guise of a round table for 1 / . 9 s . I mind it in catalogues : Pembroke chest of drawers—pembroke work-table , I know its unwholesome colour , and dully , blinking

      sheen , which no beeswax , no household-stuff , no wash-leather can raise to a generous polish . l ' ° » 1-broke is the Russian peasant complexion . " Tlie writer has fallen into a ludicrous blunder here by mistaking form for substance . There is no wood called " Pembroko ; " but there is a table of that name , having u 11 ap at each end . This table , though seldom seen now , was much in vogue half a century ago , and , probably , took its name from some J-ord or Lady Pembroke who designed it , as other pieces ; ot furniture are called by tho names of their distinguished inventors . Thus , all tho pains which tur . withll

      Sala has taken to establish n comparison ; ° Russian peasant girl ' s complexion are thrown away , and wo know no more about tho matter thim »'» " ° had not written his minute * description of what lifts no existence . The Russjun peasant girl ' s s'uii - may bo of , any of tho colours of the wood of whirl' n X embroke-table may bo made—red , black , white , brown , or yellow , &c . By-the-by , is Mr . Sala a 8 cotclmuui r The question is asked because the passage { , ' »«> above contains a decided Scotticism , " I uiiiul it , in catalogues . " The English of this is , " I rcinomocr it , " So .

      Untitled Article

      Save mk from my Fiuisnds . — When Lord Cunning ' s Oudo proclamation was under consideration , his friends in Parliament contended that tliu woru " confiscation" had not the sumo siguim .-i'tw ' " India as in ICnglaml—they said it was Iiiiiiobbiuio that , his Lordship could havo intended anything « o bad—one of ihum used tho word " atrocious . i » his despatches to tho Court of l ^ iruotorw , i ; r ' , V . ^ published , Lord Canning statics explicitly in » i »« did moan confiscation in thu ordinary and I ' j i B » f » sense , and therefore his Lordalilp » UuuU 'j l" « anomalous position of being condemned by His ow » defenders .

      Untitled Article

      1006 . THE LE A I > EL ____ L - 446 , October 9 , 1858 .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 9, 1858, page 1066, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2263/page/18/