The Express.
London, England, 1862-03-12 00:00:00

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LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12.

Tam Constitutional Crisis in Prussia has entered
into a new phase. When we fact noticed it, the
Ministers of King Wiw*Y, baring interpreted •
vote of the Chamber of Deputies as a declaration
of want of confidence, bad placed their resignation
in the hands of their Sovereign. It was difficult
to believe that this was an act of voluntary deference
to the principle of Parliamentary responsibility on
the part of a Cabinet which had just accused the
Chamber of Deputies of encroaching on the rights
of the Crown. The event dispels any such notion.
The Kiss was not strongly attached to his con-
fidential advisers, but he could not bear the
thought of having to dismiss them and ap-
point others with primary reference to
the opinions of the Chamber. He con-
mended them, therefore, to retain their offices and
give him their best advice. As a result of three
days' deliberations, they—with one honourable
eaception have counselled him to dissolve
the Parliament. Accordingly, when the Chamber
of Deputies met yesterday, after a brief ad-
journment, • Royal decree was read which in-
formed the members that their functions were at
an end.

The Chamber thus summarily dismissed met for
the first time on the 13th of January, having been I
elected at the close of last year. From the hour i
of its election it has been an object not only of 1
suspiciou but of denunciation by the KING. I
Although anti-feudal, and vowed to economy I
and the develvment of constitutional liberty, :
it was moderate and it was loyal. Its cha- ,
racter was too strongly marked to leave any doubt
about the mind of the country ; but together
with a decided tendency towards liberal mea-
sures, it combined varieties of opinions and inte-
rests which rendered it capable of becoming under
good leaders a most useful deliberative assembly.
Since its meeting it has shown no disposition to
push things to extremes; it has rather disappointed
the expectations of the constituencies by its de-
ference to the Government. But the jealousy of
the KING has not permitted the Ministers to give
it a fair trial. The strong revulsion of his mind
towards theocratic ideas which was noticeable in
the Kunigsberg speeches has blinded him to the
indispensable conditions of constitutional govern-
ment. In dissolving this Chamber his MAJESTY
gratifies feelings which he has indulged ever
since its election. It is extremely disagreeable
to dwell upon the personal conduct of
the K Ise, but we shall do so only
so far as is necessary to render passing
events intelligible. On the 11th of De-
cember, just as the general results of the elections
became known, his MAJESTY attended the opening
of a new church at Letzingen, and subsequently
received a deputation of the clergy, to whom he
addressed the following words :—" I have received
" during the last summer the warmest teetimonies
" of love and faith of my people on my life having
" been endangered by a murderous hand ; 1
" have, also, held a triumphal procession through
" the country from one end to the other, attended
"by incessant homages of the populations. Bu:
" what have been the deeds of faith succeeding
" the sublime solemnities of coronation 1 The
" people have answered this question by their eleo-
" tient, the roust that ever could be imagined, and
"which could not fail to my Royal heart with
" the deepest grief. They have sent to Berlin
" individuals that have been convicted of political
" crimes, and who would not have been permitted
"to return from exile hut for the amnesty.
" I du not throw a stone on my people, but cer-
" tainly on the inisleaders of the people. I, too,
" and for progress, certainly, but not as those
" people will. It is, indeed, difficult to find out
" the good middle path, but GOO will give me
" power to proceed on it. I have taken my
" erowu from the alter and from the hoods of
" Goo. I thank thin that I know for certain I
" have the crown by the grace of Goo ; I have
" inherited it by a series of glorified ancestors ;
"and I will preserve it. It ought not to be
" trifled with as it has been done in France and
" Italy, to the greatest detriment of the nations.
" This 'by the gram of Goo' is no mere phrase
"to me, no fancy ; I am too old for that, being
" past sixty-four. I have felt this, too, on the
" day of coronation most vividly ; it has bee],
" the most stirring moment of my life, when
" taking the crown from the table of
" our Loan." The publication of those words
by the journalists of the feudal party, delighted
to chronicle so strong a declaration against an
Assembly which they feared, caused the Ministers'
some anxious deliberations. The Kixii was in-
formed of the great embarrassment hie words
would create, and of the necessity of doing some-
thing to mitigate their effect. His MAJESTY was
troubled, and at length said that he had spoken
without premeditation, from strong feeling, WE
knowing that his words would be reported, and
really could not remember certainly what he had
said. .tilvantage was taken of this last circumstance
to publish in the official Trussian Gaulle a denial
of the accuracy of the report, but no corrected ver-
sion of the speech was supplied. Hereupon the
clergy, who had accompanied the deputation, took
the report in hand, and published in the local
paper the version we have given above as approxi-
"natively correct and textual.

The K►su's gloomy and mistrustful speech at
the reception on New Year's Day, and Lis de-
meanour and language when he opened Parlia-
ment, showed that ho still nourished sentiments
unpropitious to the harmonious co-operation of
his Government with the Chamber. His MAJesrv,
WI

rearing his helmet, said with emphasis and
vigour : " The development of our institu-
" tions must be subservient to the strength and
" greatness of our Fatherland. Never can I par-
" mit the progressive development of our inner
" political life to question or to endanger the tight
"of the Crown, the power and security of
" But it is superfluous to multiply
evidences of an unhappy state of mind, which is
only too notorious.

It will now be interesting to observe the acts of
the Prussian ➢finistry, in order to learn with
what intentions and expectations they have dis-
solved the Chamber. Although no decree appoints
new elections, it is to be presumed that the Govern.
went means to convoke another Chamber
without unnecessary delay. The Budget has
not yet been voted, although the KING told the
two Houses in January that the efficiency of the
Army and the security of the country depended
on their liberal supplies. It is difficult to see with
what story Count BERNWIVRFF is to go to the
country. The Chamber cannot be accused of any
grave fault, least of all of faults calculated to
excite the constituencies against it. The Prussian
people are not resentful, and if new elections were
appointed they would undoubtedly take place,
like the dissolution of the Chamber, amidst shouts
for the KING. But the Prunians are very per-
sistent, and • Chamber elected after the recent
demonatastiona of the temper of the Court would

probably be quite as liberal as that just dissolved.
The fact is that the nation is pursuing, not a fancy
or a theory, but a clear political necessity in de-
manding to participate more and more
by its representatives in the control and direction
of its own affairs. A well-advised Government
would have treated the motion of M. HAoEN,
the one which has proved immediately fatal to the
Assembly, from a practical rather than a constitu-
tional point of view, and favoured some compro-
mise. The susceptibilities of the KING, however,
prevented this, and tho result is to be regrettcd.
For a week put letters from Berlin have made men-
tion of extraordinary military precautions taken in
that capital. These measures may be an index to
what is passing in the minds of courtiers, but they
cannot prejudice the character of the inhabitants of
Berlin, who are too confident of obtaining what
they seek by legal and constitutional means to be
betrayed into futile insurrections.