The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-09 00:00:00

THE KING OF PRUSSIA

(ENE.

COLOGNE, Oct. 4.—The incidents of yesterday
will be long remembered in this ancient and famous
city. The King's visit was accompanied by events
of appropriate significance, and the manner in
which he has been received, here as elsewhere in
the :vicinity of the Rhine, may have some influence
in dispelling an illusion that prevails with a certain
domineering party atthe seat of Government. The
tour in the Rhenish provinces, crowned, as it was,
by the demonstrations at Cologne, can hardly fail,
indeed, to produce an impression. It is patent to
every one that the reactionary Russian clique at
Berlin—which, unhappily, exerts an influence out
of all proportion with• its number and importance
—has no particular affection for the populations of
the Rhine towns. Their liberal opinions are con-
demned as " revolutionary," and their liberal ten-
dency, which springs from the prodigious impulse
given to commerce and industry, is considered dan-
gerous in the extreme. It is the conviction of in-
telligent people here that the party alluded to is
sufficiently stupid and unpatriotic to wish that
Prussia may lose the Rhenish provinces altogether
sooner than conciliate their love of constitutional
freedom. Every possible means are used to bring
about suspicion, mistrust, and even hatred, and
not seldom with success enough to create a little
bad humour on both sides. Happily, the King
has had a good opportunity of judging for himself
what credit should be attached to insinuations
levelled against his faithful subjects on the Rhine.
Great dissatisfaction has, Vowever, arisen from the
nomination of a gentleman from Tomerani—Herr
Kleist-Retzow—to the Government of the Rhenish
provinces. Although-a well-meaning man, he is
accused of narrow views, puritanical pettiness, and
ignorance both of men and manners in these parts.
Herr Kleist-Retzow is anxious, according to all
accounts, to change the spirit, sentiments, cus-
toms, and what not, of the inhabitants ; but it
would appear he has only succeeded in shackling
and tormenting the press in a style that a Russian
administrator would not disavow. It is the general
belief that matters would go on much better if there
was an authority at Coblentz enjoying only half the
amount of popularity which is wanting to Herr
Kleist ; and the visit of the King has not passed
away without leading many to a secret hope that
some change may take place shortly, to satisfy not
only the majority of the inhabitants, but the other
Government presidents of the provinces, who are
for the greater part, up to a certain point, en-
lightened and inclined to liberalism.

Of one thing a very short time spent on the
Rhine can leave no doubt whatever. The bourgeoisie
—and they constitute the dominant party—are anti-
Russian to a degree. The same may be asserted,
if we may believe the prevalent conviction, of the
rest of Germany. Germany, to hear them talk
here, is more disinclined to Russia than England
herself. Besides, though Russia might wish to
dispute the empire of the world with the Western
Powers, she could never be in a condition to ap-
propriate their provinces to herself. With respect
to Germany she has been able to both, while Eng-
land looked on indifferent. Prussia, therefore,
they insist, hates Russia, and has a reason for
hating her. To go to wrfr, they contend, is another
question. At the commencement of the struggle
it was unanimously the popular desire that Prussia
should arm to take part in it, but the allies spent
so much time in doing nothing (had Prussia
nothing to say to that ?) that the desire evaporated,
and to enthusiasm succeeded the cold reflection
that, after all, if Prussia were to join in the war le
jeu ne vaudrait pas la chandelle. " What have we
to gain," they ask, " on the shores of the Euxine ?
and what have we to fear for a marine that we
610 not possess ?" From another point of view,
the frontiers of Prussia, on the Russian side, are
so extended and unprotected that, with the best
chances of war in her favour, she would have to
submit inevitably to great misfortunes. The ulti-
mate advantage of an Anglc-French alliance to
Prussia is thoroughly understood ; " but we live
ten peu," they add, " from day to day, and are well
content not to lose the strength and manhood of
the nation on the field of battle, while we are able
in tranquillity to project and accomplish great
commercial and industrial works, without being
called upon to pay taxes." The old bugbear of
France and the rive gauche are, of course, fre-
quently adduced, coupled with the argument that,
although Prussia—not so much on account of the
extent of her territory and the number of her
population as of her advanced civilisation and her
admirable civil and financial administration—is en-
titled to rank among the great Powers, she could
never be strong enough to defend herself against
France and Russia at the same time, which, were
she to quarrel with the latter, might one day hap-
pen to be her fate. How much egotism and short-
sightedness exist in this reasoning, and how much
real patriotism and good sense, it is not for me to
discuss ; but I cannot help thinking that it allows
the justice of a cause to stand for nothing, while
the consequences of its issue, successful or other-
wise, to the happiness and liberty of the world
seem to be ignored as unimportant. In spite of all
this, however, the sentiment of the German people
is manifestly in favour of the allies, and even the
war against Russia, it is admitted, might easily be
rendered popular, since, " though England never
loses sight of its interests, and the ruling passion
of France must always be ambition," it is equally
true that civilisation fights on one side against bar-
baric despotism on the other. Somewhat truer, it
may be urged, if the enormous self-sacrifices which
both France and England have so generously im-
posed upon themselves count for anything.
The events of yesterday were certainly not cal-
culated to disturb the pacific disposition of his
Majesty of Prussia. He saw only works of peace,
heard only words of peace, and it may be be-
lieved that during the progress of the interesting
and animated demonstrations the Crimea and Se-
bastopol were almost forgotten. At 9 o'clock in
the morning of yesterday the King reached the
railway station from Bruhl, accompanied by the
Prince of Prussia, Prince Frederick, and the wife
and daughter of the former. The Royal party,
who were welcomed as at Aix-la-Chapelle, pro-
ceeded at once, amid the cheering of the crowd,
to the Government-house, where the President of
the district of Cologne resides. Here a reception
was given by the King to the civil and military
authorities, the heads of the great establishments
of commerce and industry, &c. A great many
ladies were present, which by no means made the
solemnity less attractive. At 11 o'clock the King
and his party assembled on the Frankenwerft,
near the banks of the river, where the cere-
mony of laying the first stone of the new bridge
was appointed to take place. The quay was ap-
propriately decorated. On the side nearest the
town was a sort of tribune, in form of an amphi-
theatre, where upwards of 1,000 ladies, the elite of
Cologne, were accommodated with seats. Oppo-
site this tribune was another for the Royal visi-
tors, where the King sat under a dais, surmounted.
by a golden crown, upon which was perched a re-
presentation of the Prussian eagle. In the midst
was the spot destined to receive the grundstein,
which could be seen close by, surrounded with
flowers and crowns. After a short address, in
which the President of the Cologne-Minden Rail-
way Company, to whose enterprise the undertaking
was originally due, endeavoured to impress upon
his Majesty the fact of its importance—not merely
to Cologne, but to the whole of Northern Germany
and the adjacent countries—Herr Lohse, the archi-
tect of the bridge, read, first, a history of the acts
and negotiations, terminating in the realisation of
the project, and then the following commemorative
document :
"To-day—Wednesday, Oct. 3, A.D., 1855—in the
16th year of the glorious reign of his Majesty Frederich
Wilhelm IV., of Prussia, his Majesty the King, her
Majesty the Queen, their Royal Highnesses the Prince
and Princess of Prussia, in presence of the high military
and civil functionaries, the burgomaster and deputies of
the Municipality of the cities of Koeln and Deutz, the
members of the Council, and of the direction of Koeln-
Minden Railway, under the benedictions of numerous
persons assembled, condescended to lay in this spot the
foundation stone of a solid stone bridge between Koeln
and Deutz, the construction of which is confided to the
Koeln-Deutz Railway Company. In eternal comme-
moration of the event this document has been made
as well as by
) and the repre-
sentativestheduplicate,
high
personagesoa
fn and signedhe ra i w
presentbayy company, their a Majesties,nwe Bde
with
the understand-
ing that one copy, annexed to the historical notice of
tsthoenaer,cahnitdectth,esohtahllerhe deposited in the hollow of the
in the archives of the railway com-
pany. May Heaven bless the newly-commenced work,
and permit it to be completed, in order that it may re-
spond to the high expectations which the country enter-
tains from the solid and lasting connection of the two
shores of the great German rivers !" (Here follow the
signatures.)
While the signatures were being affixed, a society
of amateur singers (natives of Cologne) sang an
appropriate piece, in chorus, written for the occa-
sion, in which frequent allusions were made to the
blessings of peace. The architect then addressed
the King, begging his Majesty to consecrate the
foundation of the bridge with the same hammer
which he had used at the ceremony of laying the
first stone for the continuation of the Cologne Ca-