The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-26 00:00:00

ration. His arguments have much reason on their
side, yet the French will be wise to weigh well the
consequences before they begin an innovation in
their law. It was a theory laid down by the great
NAPOLEON in his early days of speculative govern-
ment that the best source of social prosperity was
the avoidance of extreme poverty. He
admitted the necessity of social distinc-
tions, but denied the necessary existence of
the extreme of destitution. This theory of the
youthful reformer was practically carried out in his
great Code, and even an apparently plausible in-
fringement of which should be viewed with extreme
caution.

The news from Berlin, though unexpected, can
hardly create much surprise. It is, unfortunately,

only too much in consonance with the arbitrary
temper and despotic opinions of the KING, whose
faults as a ruler are doubled by the shortsighted

and obstinate men who compose his Cabinet. The
Prussian Chamber of Deputies, yesterday, ordered
the committee on the Budget to report immediately
upon the vote on the Budget, given on Saturday

by the Upper House. The report proposing that
the vote of the Upper House should be declared

null and void, was accordingly made, and at once
adopted by the House. Upon this Count EIITEN-

BURG read a Royal Message, stating that the Diet
would be closed that very day by the President of

the Council. This arbitrary step was accorlingly
takea, and the President read a speech from the

Throne reproving the Deputies in no measured

terms. The " head and front of its offending" is
that it has " maintained the ground which led to

the dissolution of the previous Chamber." This is

possibly intended as a warning for the future, as
well as an eszuse for the present ; a hint that dis-

solution will be the neat step should the Deputies

continue refractory. The Budgets are o
course the primary cause of complaint

The House has not discussed the Badge
of 1863, and has struck out items in the current

year which are indispensable for the public ser-
vice, according to the views of Herr VON Bis-
MARK and his Royal Master. It has renewed the

resolution of the former Chamber on the military

budget, without first discussing the bill establishing
the obligation of military service. The refusal of
the loan is another subject of offence, and the house
is charged with having passed resolutions, which,

in the event of war, pledge it to take part against
the Prussian fatherland. The Government, there-
fore, renounces for the present the hope of coming
to terms with the Chamber, and " considers it its
duty to act for the maintenance of the State."

What these conveniently ambiguous words may

signify remains to be seen. The announcement o'

the intentions of the Cabinet are couched after the
manner of Herr VON BISMARK, in pompous general

terms, but we know the general character of what
the Prussian Premier styles "the struggle between
the House of Hohenzollern and the House of
Representatives." Last year this same conflict
absorbed a large uhare of European attention.

It was then a matter pur et simple, a
resolute stand in favour of constitutional
right on the part of the Chamber—an obstinate and
tyrannical effort on the part of the KING and his
Government to trample down the liberties of his
people. This year the question is complicated by
the Schleswig-Holstein dispute. Last year our
sympathies, in common with all free nations, were
wholly with the Deputies. This year the com-
batants have a fresh subject of dispute. They
agree in their desire to dispossess the Danes of the
sovereignty of the Duchies, but they differ in the
manner of doing it. The Chamber wishes to estab-
lish them as an independent State, under the sway
of the Duke of AUGUSTENBURG. The KING and
his advisers wish to join Holstein at least to the
Prussian province& In neithar of these projects
can the English people take part. The Prussian
deputies and the Prussian people have forfeited the
warm interest felt in this country in their proceed-
ings by their conduct in this matter. It ill became
the representatives who were resisting oppression—
it was little fitting for the people who supported
them in the struggle to invade the rights
of their neighbours. Apart from the moral wrong,
this enthusiasm for Danish conquests is a grave
political error on the part of the Prussians. By
their headstrong prosecution of the aggression
on the rights of Denmark they are weakening their
own position towards the Crown, towards France,
towards Europe generally. The infatuation which
urges them on reminds one of the old saying,
Quern Deus vult perdere, prius dementat. The
Prussians are themselves applying the torch to a
bonfire that they themselves may have the bitterest
cause to regret. Neither of the two great German
Powers are in a position to court war. Prussia,
with her Rhenish provinces lying temptingly
within the reach of France, may look in vain for
English support against the trouble she is bringing
on herself. This country will not suffer itself to be
entangled in her affairs, if she chooses to disregard
warning and remonstrance, and to break her former
obligations. The English Ministry that attempted
such a course would surely rue it. Even the young
Crown Prince has already lost much of his popu-
larity in this country from the countenance he has
afforded to the pretensions of the Duke of MMUS-
TENBURG. The English public may not be able to
follow all the intricacies of Almanach de Gotha, but
they clan very clearly comprehend that the Prussian
King, Ministers, and people are actuated by the
greed of power in their eagerness on behalf of the
political rights of the Holsteiners. It remains to
be seen whether a nation divided against itself can
succeed in accomplishing its wishes; but should the
Prussians persist, as appears but too probable, in
their present course, they can certainly hope for
little sympathy or assistance in the misfortunes the 3
will inevitably bring down upon "anemselves and
their country.

There are
,fevv things more reprehensible than
practical jr;sing, and it will be a good thing for
society, when some more Effective check is put upon
it; It is not at all expedient that the present f ys-
tern should continue, as many sad instances con-
stantly prove that a mere censure does not deter the
idle, ignorant, and careless from the perpetration of
1 jokes that often produce most serious results, and
I not unfrequently leave fatal terminations. A de-
kplorable death through fright was recorded yester-
day, and an inquest was herd upon the body of the
victim. A young woman, who was engaged es a
dress-maker in the house of a gentleman in Hyde-
park-gardens, was coming upstairs when she saw a
figure in white in a doorway, and the sudden shock
so completely overpowered her that she was carried
away insensible. Shenever entirely recovered, and
after lingering for four months expired. A more
lamentable case of the sad effects of this detestable
habit of practical joking has seldom been heard of,
since the death of this poor young woman was evi-
dently occasioned by the startling effects of the fearful
apparition. It may be suggested that the verdicts
of
in h
the jury in these cases are not strong enough,
and
particular instance just cited it is very
strange they should nave separated without at least
passing a severe censure upon the unhappy indis
vidual who caused the calamity. It is not enough
to declare that the death was occasioned by a mis-
fortune. It is not to be expected tr at the passing