The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-12 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TlarEs.—Rather less than once in five years the
British Government has to go through the process
of appointing a King. Of course, it has occasionally
to assist at the selection of a Monarch who may or
may not be the founder of a line as long as Hugh
Capet's or an empire as wide as that of Augustus.
It has also to fill a great number of small governor-
ships, for which there are generally plenty of ap-
plicants. But there remains two dignities, one
kingly, the other imperial, yet subordinate. The
difficulty in their case is not to select, but even to
find a candidate. It is true there are men of rank
and weal th,and a certain degree of ability who will
go anywhere and take any office that promises dis-
tinction and power, and that may afford them the
opportunity of attaining by one great effort a posi-
tion beyond the reach of their character or their
lives. No doubt there were others who would have
liked to find themselves Governor-General of India,
but Sir John Lawrence happened to be the only
man practically on the list. His work is one of im•
perial dimensions. The kingly state we coupled
with it is the Viceroyalty of Ireland. The holder
of that office has to perform the part of a king in a
city which communicates with the Home•office by
11 hours' posts and instantaneous telegraphs. Yet
for t►he time he has to be every inch a king, and so
much is this insisted on that an inch or two more
or less really enters into the selection. He mast
make regal appearances, and be the chief character
in pageants of royalty. He must give banquets to
guests of whom he knows nothing, and for whom
it is difficult, under the circumstances, to get up a
real and intelligent interest, He must preside at
openings and lay foundation stones; he must in-
vest with the lustre of royalty exhibitions and
bazaars; he must exercise a discriminating patron-
age in fat pigs and articles in bog oak ; he must
wear as many coats, distribute among his friends as
many poplin dresses, take as many pills, and sacri-
fice as many teeth as the State tailor, the State
draper, the State physician, the State dentist may
their due. He must exhibit himself to ad-
miring strangers in the Viceregal pew, surrounded
by carved cherubim and gentlemen in gorgeous
uniform. He must make an occasional progress for
the purpose of seeing with nis own eyes what he
finds it was wholly unnecessary to see, and what
everybody tells him he knows less for the seeing and
had better have taken upon their description. After

a time he is glad to resign the cares of State, and
nobody asks him to stay. " Welcome the coaling,
speed the parting guest," is the rale of the country.
If he has spent all his allowance, ►►nd no more, he
is fortunate; for he might certainly have done
worse, not only there, but anywhere else. But
thenceforth he forgets Ireland, and Ireland him.
The dynasty of the Viceroys is as a roll of the
Pharaohs. They who know the Peerage by heart
know also the succ. esive occupants of the Lodge in
Phoenix Park. But even in Ireland, if you asked
either the people who went in procession in O'Con-
nell's honour the other day, or the savages who
burnt his effigy at Belfast, the names of the Vice
rot's he had denounced and abused, not one in a
thousand would be able to reply. No wonder that
the office is more and more difficult to fill. If the
inevitable progress of change now and then upsets
a real throne, how much more its semblance! It is
not only the office and all its circumstances, but the
men who should fill it, and the age too, that are
changing. The taste of the day rejects idle dis-
tinctions, and pomps that are only vanities. Lord
Carlisle has been long enough at Dublin Castle. He
is in bad health, and considers himself entitled to
resign. Who can be got to take his place ? The
Duke of Devonshire and Lord Lansdowne have
been mentioned, but they are noth occupied with
real kingdoms far more important and responsible
in the management of their own estates. Real work,
too, requires the relief of real comfort and rest; and
these are not to be found in a daily course of vice.
royalty. Lord Bessborough is said to be disin-
clined, and that most perfect of all the great
officers of State, Lord St. Germans, has been once
more thought of. What is to be done when nobody
will take the place if he has anything better to do,
and is quite free to choose ? Happily, there is now
and then a good man not placed so entirely to
his liking as to shirk an untried burden. Lord
Wodehouse is an Under-Secretary, and has been
one far too long. He has been Minister in Russia,
and his mission to Denmark, if it was not work, was
not play. From a task that "no fellow" could do
to one that any fellow can, if he has common sense
and good manners, may seem a great change; but
from things impossible to be done, and things im-
possible not to be done, there is no such great in-
terval. Both are mere spectacles. The merit in
both cases consists in the tone and gesture, the so•
lemnity of the phrase, and the gravity of the de-
meanour ; not in the result, which i❑ both cases is
impalpable. But when the mimic throne is difficult
to fill, or rather, when the right people will not fill
it, and when the real work of the Irish-office is all
done by the C-,ief Secretary, sensible men ask more
and more, " Why keep up the show ?" The Scotch,
whose country and capital are practically quite as
distant, have never asked for a Viceroy, end do not
find their interests suffering from the want of one.
Tno Irish, it is true, want a certain amount of
pageantry, but when we begin to ask what the cm•
pire gets in exchange for an institution not only
rather expensive, but quite out of character with
the rest of our cusiotne, we must conclude it to be a
had bargain. The Irish population do not stick to
Ireland the more for it. Toe Irish factions don't
make up their quarrels the more for it. They don't
worship demagogues, or burn them the less for it.
The Irish members don't support the present Go-
vernment or any other the better for it; they don't
keep their promises the better for it. The Irish pro-
prietors do not and cannot live in Ireland the more
for it. lndeed,it is impossible tonameeny substantial
return for a pageantry which has neither reason nor
looks in its favour. It is not only a sham, but to some
extent an imposition. A presentation at Dublin Castle
is not a presentation at St. James's, and whatever
is done on the Irish stage begins and ends there.
If men of great wealth and consideration in this
country could be induced to reside a few years at
Dubiin, and give Ireland the benefit of their money,
their interest, and whatever goes vti,h a high per-
sonal position, that would be so far a benefit to the
island. But there is a growing difficulty in finding
the men, and Ireland has to thank herself for a large
share in the difficulty. She does nothing to justify
the wisdom of the institution, and a good deal to
make it ridiculous. The Irish are poor, not very
helpful, and much divided in their religious allegi•
ante, a circumstance that unfortunately weakens
also the civil tie. They want somebody to do them
good, They must have an idol, but it must be one
that hears their prayers, however unreasonable, or
may be imagined to do so. The Viceregal fettsh,
much as we may respect it in this country, is a very
dumb idol there, paint it, and gild it, and feed it,
and clothe it as we may. So the natives do not
really respect it. So is it worth keeping up ? and
if it be, for whose sake is it kept up ? A few
Dublin tradesmen may answer as they please; but
we doubt if they will get one Irishman in twenty
to jain them.

HERALD.—It is not on account of their intrinsic
importance that the affairs of small duchies, situated
in the north of Europe, have for a long period at
tracted public attention. Deplorable as is the policy
of despoiling Denmark, we might, after having
witnessed previously so many instances in which
the might of the strong has overpowered the right
of the weak, have been disposed to drop the subject
for ever, were no fresh complications likely to arise
from an accession of territory to a powerful military
state. What has happened, we know, might have
been prevented by a prompter and more generous
interchange of sentiment amongst the neutral
Powers; by a display of greater firmness, accom-
panied by an absence of braggadocio, upon the
part of our Foreign Minister ; by a less obvious
manifestation of pique and of contempt for the
English Government upon the side of France; by
an adoption of wiser diplomatic language towards
Russia by both the Western monarchies, and by
a nobler chivalry upon the part of the Swedish
Cabinet. What is to come may be less at the
disposal of these countries. The interest bound
np in the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein,
which have hitherto monopolised our notice, may
for awhile be dormant ; Lauenburg is likely to
arrest the immediate consideration of Europe. Not
that the cause of the provinces which formed the
original pretext for war is now played out, but that
it will probably receive some temporary aejustment
which for a time may stop the mouth of hostile
c-iticisen. A Duke of Augustenburg or even of
Oldenburg, may goaern the duchies of Schleswig
and Holstein, as the virtual satrap of Prussia,
without provoking the open animosity of the minor
states which profess to listen to the authority of
that mysterious body the Germanic Confederation.
If any German Power has anything in reality to lose
by the setting-up of a new ducal house in strict
vassalage to Prussia, it is Austria. Looking at the
matter dispassionately, it would be almost better
for Austria that her rival should at once annex the
duchies boldly to her growing empire, rather than
rule them by means of a substitute. As the Court
of Vienna now stands, it might reasonably demand
some compensation, should Prussia act as in the way
supposed; but if the latter Power be content to
bide her time Austria will behold the substance
though not the shadow, grasped by the Cabinet of
Berlin, and will be all the parer, from a claim to
compensation being got rid of by a dexterous delay.
So much has the Austrian Empire gained by the
transfer of these duchies from Denmark to the army
of Prussia; for this in point of fact will be their
ruling body for several years. Pruesio, tn the other
hand, is influenced by motives of a different cha-
reeler. She has already aroused the Watchful

ass
jealousy of some of the minor German Princes 3 by
her arbitrary and self-relying course of action. For
the moment she may not venture to proceed fur then.
Provided that she can establish her deputy upon
the throne of Sclaleswig•Holstein ; that she ee°2
obtain the real, ahough not the nominal Pe" es-
sion of Kiel as a port, and other strong ple .c es
as fortresses; that she can by a show of moderation
procure the retirement of the Federal troop; ; g hat
she can avert any intimate connection in pro 4 !es"
of formation between the Court of Paris and i ;he
malcontents yof German, she will gain a BOW! id-
tial victory. The ease of Lanenburg is widely i
life
ferent from that of the other duchies. That lit as
territory may be appropriated by Prussia wit!'l°° t
exciting a similar outcry.- There would in sucl e,TI
appropriation be involved no violation of the pri nc 1.
plea of Legitimacy maintained by the whole
.ho
fy
of German Sovereigns and by Russia ; no infrilig
0e:
ment of the rights claimed by the Royal line 1
Augustenburg or Glucksbnrg, and their rivals, the
ducal house of Holstein-Gottorp. Lauenburg has
before this been made a subject of barter. 49'!ciei
governed by its own dukes incorporated with
Hanover in 1689, it was detactl, ed from that king'
dom in 1815, in exchange for a portion of Pomied'
rania. To take to herself this little duchy lc".
be consistent with the general policy of Prnss's's
without provoking the interposition of dangeouh
enemies. German Legitimists could not say Ins°
upon the subject; probably the Confederation
would murmur, but one of their members, neoler'
ark•
having previously let Lanenburg go to Danm
with the assent of the rest of Europe, Inust'
should think, confine their dislike of the procee'
ing
to simple words. Still it was not for nothings
we may be sure, that the cession of the duchies vas
made to Austria and Prussia—that they Aar:
placed at the disposal of the great German Pocc"7'
A ustr is
and not of the Confederation. Whether
will assent to a Prussian appropriation of Lane'
burg we cannot say, but our hopes can hardly eq° al
oar apprehensions. A contemporary, the 3.10 r fit'
Post, has done his duty in pointing out to his o';u1/be
trymen what the effect of this acquisition will'? a
upon the rest of Germany. The duchy itself !ell,
country. of lakes and plains, and naturally so fervt' a
that it has yielded to the Sovereigns of Denhl4r '1! -
re venue beyond what might be expected from Its
size.. Although it contains only 50,000 inhahltanteg
its geographical position would render it an impuria
be
ant addition to the power of Prussia. It would
as a wedge in the midst of the two Mecklenburg',
11 mover, Hamburgh. Lubeck, and Holstein,. be
which it is bounded. From this little provioc
Prussia could pursue her favourite policy of inter,
ference with the minor States of Germany? havialli,
an eye to their subsequent absorption--ehs co
intimidate Hamburg, the free citizens of at it;,,
same time that she exercised a pressure DP°D ld
new Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, and could h° .
out to Hanoverians the spectacle of part of th
old country, similarly to Silesia and owilthe
Saxony, having become an integral portion 0, a
Prussian dominions. We arc far from deeoll° ;
multiplication of German principalities essentit Lt.°.
the peace of Europe, or compatible with the rtylilla
tenance of good police in Germany itself. 13 "ip
few years ago, a poacher, we are aware, could c °
mit hid depredations with impunity upon the '°°
fines of Mecklenburg-Schwerin' Mecklenb °r,;
Strelitz, and Prussia, as when chased by the Pclle:
of, ore he could take refuge in either of othe! two
l
States. We are not advocates for these Pm° cetio
sanctuaries, these constant provocatives to damn bold
warfare and foreign ambition. But though we berg
this opinion, we cannot overlook the fact that '
is upon the part of Prassia a perpetual movelnella
against the independence of other German Sint%
We are the more concerned that Austria, throng
the short-sightedness of her statesmen, forfeits h";
legitimate position in the empire. But without ela
from Vienna the Confederation will do Do gc!'dwll
extending execution to Lanenburg. Th's
simply bring their follower to the dochl ir
rm
i
which they could wish to exclude him ; for 111.7:b er
ever a German Federal army can be found Oil%
the Prussian eagle will shortly afterwards wing
his flight.