The Express.
London, England, 1861-10-19 00:00:00

TO 0111 ALDERS.

RroitTnto nrriLuomicß.

A !etc 1411tIon al the Awes is published every
evenisq diinis the miss menu, eoutainin the
results of thc day's taiga

of is now • crowned King.
That is more than his ancestor FaEUEait g, called
the thirst, could boast. That rude and turbulent
personage seems not to have known the use of
mantle, orb, and sceptre ; perhaps never saw
them. But his successor lacks no attribute of a
perfect h tog. FaEOEsu•a, again, although an
author, was sadly wanting in idea'. He knew
how provinces were won and lost, and in a rough
way managed to be obeyed ; but of the high mo-
narchical theory he appears to have been grossly
and deplorably ignorant. No such charge can be
brought against the K :No who was crowned
yesterday. It has been commonly supposed that
his MAJESTY is a mere soldier, a man of force, great
at reviews or in the streets where insurgents were to
bo smitten down. This is a mistake, and indeed
an injustice. The KING is a man of reflection,
eloquent, and not unwilling to impart his wisdom
—a Prussian Sowirow. England once had •
royal Sohiiisue ; not • native, however, it must
be confessed. Our SoionoN was willing at times
to make extemporary speeches from the throne,
some of which are recorded, and are still read
with curiosity. The Prussian Sotomier has made
a speech, which seems wonderfully like those of
his British prototype.
The Kix.: of Pacsas♦ has been explaining his
theory of the Prussian monarchy to • number of
his subjects. " The rulers of Prussia," said his
MAJESTY, addressing the members of the legis-
lature, "receive their crown from Gin)." We
have no means of denying the fact, which seems
to follow on any theory of the Divine government
of the world, and to be true alike of the police-
man's staff and the monarch's sceptre. But if the
Kiss meant more than that, then, however true it
may be, he should have been careful, abrres all things,
to keep his secret. For, explain it how we will, it impre-
cisely crowns of this kind, held by a mystical title,
that now-a-days oftenest tumble off. HENRY of
Fusses, Faancni of Nartra, and his namesake of
Moues*, could tell each his experience on this
head. Unless the KING was thinking of the epoch
of the Treaty of Vienna, the Holy Alliance, and
Madame KRUDINes, he would have done
better to say nothing about the origin
of his crown. If ho had given thanks
to the God of Spoil, there might, indeed, be
some grins propriety in the swaggering vaunt : at
least, the inhabitants of Silesia, Posen, and
Eastern Saxony may be forgiven if they thus in-
terpret the claim to govern by the title of the
sword. But the descendant of the great FRME-
RICE would probably like to forget the means
by which his house has come to kingshi;i.
The royalty of yesterday apes the rank and
prestige of the old sovereignties of Europe ;
and in • realm the seams of whose patchwork an
still new and obvious he raves of indefeasible tide
and mound= about Right Divine ! Perhaps the
most repulsive feature of the proceeding is the attempt
to import into it the solemnity of religious sanction.
Such pitiful mummery would be deplorable
at a coronation in Austria or Spain; bat
bow would Leraza laugh to scorn such hypo-
critical words, could he but hear them ! The
thing becomes still more ineffably ridiculous and
repalsive when we recollect that Prussia is not even
noninaily Lutheran, and that the bulk of her
people--variously composed of Jews, Calvinists.
Catholics, and a hundred shades of speculative
batista—no more believe in the mystery-mongiring
of King WILLIAM at Konigsberg than the mem-
bers of the Embassy at Jeddo believe in the au-
thority of Ituceea. What means, then, this
wretched attempt to steal a few poor drops of
holy oil for the anointing of the regal brow 1 Or
what infatuation has possessed a man who, if be
were but simply true to himself and to his
country, might play a great and useful part in the
affairs of Europe 1 Was it for this that sympathy
and alliance with Constitutional England has so'
long been insisted on, or that intimacy with the
" enlightened despotism" of Francs has hula
urged, ea some thought, not in vain ? Represen-
tative Government in Prussia has certainly been
at the slowest growth ; but the apologists for its
slowness have always argued that it was an esti•
matile movement to detach Northern Germany
from the principles of the Holy Alliance, and to
obliterate all traces of legitimacy in the Court and
Administration of Berlin. While the late KING
reigned, prejudiced men despaired of this, because
they had to deal with one whose mind was so
bewildered with mysticism, religious and political,
that be never could be made thoroughly to untie,:.
stand what his best friends meant, and they never
were able to understand him. But his SUCCOURr
has no such excuse. Bred a soldier, unversed in the
Jesuitic ways of bureaucratic life, be got the credit
with many of being • man of common sense, who,
if he did not en fast and did not go far, would at
least avoid the absurdities and solecisms of his
pusaled-pated brother. ilia leanings were believed
to ho reactionary in some respects, though it was
hoped he wool.' prove himself liberal in others. On
the whol.-, however, men looked with satisfaction
on his accession to the throne, because they felt