The Express.
London, England, 1866-10-27 00:00:00

THE Mipß!

Prussian prefect. His sovereignty has dep.
those who nominally remain his subjeds wts.
longer look up to him for the supreme direction
of public- policy. He may preside over
muleumb .t tlttire galleries, and schools, and
sign bills for the regulation of fbrests and fisheries;
but as often as: any questions arise to stir the
mind of the people, they will look for a solution,
not to him or his advisers, but to Berlin. As we
all know, the Knee has not accepted these terms
before making and confirming by painful experi-
ment the discovery that he could get no better
from his ruthless conquerors. But it seems to
impartial observers that downright abdication
would have been a more eligible course than a re-
turn to a throne which will henceforth owe all its
lustre to the personal qualities of is occupant. It
is easy for those who have never been exposed to
similar trials to imagine what they would do in
like circumstances, though far frost easy to
enter into all the considerations, many of
them of an unselfish character, which must
enter into the resolution actually taken ; but it
certainly appears that King Joint makes a greater
sacrifice by accepting the only public position left
open to him by Prussia, than would be made in
laying down an office from which the virtue and
dignity have departed.
The future position of Saxony will not, how-
ever, depend wholly on the Kum's resolution ;
the people will have to consider whether the situsr
tion made fortheircountryisone which it is for their
interest to accept. Hitherto they have not been
accustomed to the sight of a foreign soldiery in
time of peace ; their own King has been their Sove-
reign ; their army, as well as their civil pervice,
has been formed of their fellow citizens, and their
laws have been made by their own Parliament.
Will they not feel that this treaty de-
prives them of their proper rank in Europe f
They have ceased to be Saxons in the old inde-
pendent sense, without having acquired a title to
share in the prerogatives of the Prussians.
" Second-class Prussians" Count Bismsace once
styled those who accepted Prussia► superiority
when they might have become Prussian► citizens.
Remembering. what the Saxons have been and
what it is in their power to become, it is im-
possible to believe that the state of relations con-
templated by this treaty will endure. It is well
known that the commercial and professional
classes in Saxony, perceiving that nothing but
the uncertainty of suspense can attend any other
arrangement, are in favour of full annexation to
Prussia. This was the feeling underlying the
proceedings at the great meeting recently held at
Leipzic, and it is one which events may ripen. 1
In the country districts of Saxony, and also I
among the upper classes, the national, as distinct
from the union, sentiment is stronger, but all the
interests of the country will be served by the closest
incorporation with Prussia ; and this conviction
must imperceptibly but surely determine the public
inclination. Personally, the KING is one of the
most estimable of European princes—a man of
highly cultivated tastes, an archwologist, a scholar,
and an author. But his political career has not
been happy. The Crown has steadily resisted
attempts to give Saxony a real Parliament, in
the modern sense of the word. The Diet, consti-
tuted on the medieval type, is composed of
" orders," and the Deputies in the Lower House
must belong to the order, class, or district which
elects them. The Chambers only meet once in
three years, and the members of the Lower House
are elected for nine years. Popular representation
was found impossible, as it was meant to be, under
such a constitution ; the consequence was that the
KINO found that a Parliament with authority so
limited was powerless to support him in the hour
of need, while the intelligence and energy of the
country, which had been left outside the constitu-
tion, were either indifferent to him, or arrayed
against him. At the great meeting held at Leipzic
the Government was roundly accused of perjury
and treason, and its title to govern was denied.
The Government of the King of Ssxoyv, irritated
by this language, ordered the prosecution of the
speakers. But the King of PRUSSIA has covered
them with his protection, by an article of the
treaty which stipulates that no person politically
compromised during the war shall be molested on
that account. King JOHN has returned to his
capital ; but his MAJESTY can hardly be congra-
tulated on the prospect which opens before hid