The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-04 00:00:00

PRUSSIA,

A letter from Berlin, dated June 2, says :—M.
von Bismark and his friends and agents point with
exultation to the present tranquillity of Prussia as
proof how contented the nation is with its Govern-
ment, how indifferent to the resultless nature of
the Session, and to the premature dismissal of
its representatives. The existing calm is availed
of to invite foreign diplomatists and govern-
ments to believe that the recent crisis concerned
merely a restless faction, having no root or ex-
tensive influence in the country, and consisting
in reality only of a handful of demagogues and
adventurers—of a very limited revolutionary party
—and of a degraded and mischievous portion of
the press. Since the majority of the nation has not
risen or caused disturbances, it is clear that the
majority approves the present system and supports
the present men; since there have been no barri-
cades, it is plain that there is no discontent. In
order, as far as possible, to give an air of truth to
these false assumptions, it is supposed by some that
Government may yet for a while abstain from mea-
sures that would seem to imply the existence of a
restless or dissatisfied spirit in the country,and may
keep in reserve the mach talked of ordinances, even
though they may have succeeded in obtaining to
them the Royal signature. Such abstinence, now
ever, will deceive nobody. It were waste of
time to confute the assertions above alluded to, and
which are expected to impose only upon foreigners
—certainly not upon any who have been able and
willing to form a correct idea of the state of bff3irs
in Prussia during the last 12 months. It is unneces-
sary to retrace the events of that deplorable period
to show the temper and desire of the Prussian na-
tion ; we have but to look at matters as they have
presented themselves during the last four weeks, and
we then must wonder at the brazen audacity which
can turn to Europe and say—is Behold a contented
people, devoted to its king, and well satisfied with
his advisers !" It is true that those advisers are
supported, in the Legislative Assembly, only by
a minority of II ; that not one of them—although
there was a general election a year ago, and although
there have been numerous seats since vacated—has
been able to get returned to Parliament ; that the
Kreuz Zeitung alone (which belongs to the feudal
party) sad an insignificant number of the meanest
Journals uphold, in the press, their policy and acts
As regards the Sovereign himself, one would gladly
attribute only to a passing irritation the terms in
which one hears him spoken of by persons who a year
or two ago—befare all this wretched work had come
to pass, before a Von der Heydt was inflicted upon
Prussia, to be followed by the yet worse infliction of
Bismark—never named him but in terms of the
Most loyal respect. One has but to mix with any
class of the people, one has but to observe his recep-
tion on his daily drives, to hear and see the sad
change that has taken place. One who fain would
be deluded into a contrary belief, needs but to fre-
quent certain military and courtier-like circles,
where rose-coloured
glasses are used, and the most
unbounded contempt is displayed for all that does
not in some way pertain to or depend on the palace
and the army, There you shall hear the proper de-
gree of contempt expressed for the Chamber and
the press, and for modern and pernicious ideas 'et
Political progress and constitutionalism, There you
shall find fossil old officers and politicians ready
to boast of their imperturbable attachment to the
instituions of the past, and to declare that, in
respect
of newspapers, the Kreuz Zettung is the
only one they have ever read ; while pert aide-de-
camps and loud-voiced junkers will tell you that
It is essential to the salvation of Prussia not
only to muzzle the vile democratic press and to
stop meetings and associations for the advancement
of so-called Liberal (but de facto revolutionary)
principles, but also to gag the Chamber of Deputies,
and put an
end to its want of reverence for the
ministers of the Crown, What these gentry would
have is a Lower House such as Kladderadatseh lately
sketched—rows
of docile Deputies voting all the
taxes proposed, and bowing to the ground before
M. von Bismark,
who stands erect before them and
taps the Ministerial table with the mien of a drill
sergeant and the energy of an auctioneer, while the
President wears
uni.Doiffe, offend in the matter of
his hat. a cap, in order that he may not
again, like Bock

Meanwhile, the Ring
has resumed his usual
routine, interrupted by his recent indisposition. He
inspects recruits and detachments,, and receives re-
ports from commanders of regiments,
and even, so
the papers announce, from captains of companies.
Yesterday he presided at a council of Ministers, and
the supposition is
measures to be takenwith respect to the press, &c.This belief is confirmed by the language of the semi-
official journals that there was discussion of the
, Which speak plainly enough of
coming octroyirun-en,
,v and declare that the country
will joyfully greet every step tending to show that
the authority of the
" Royal regimen" is success-
fully opposed to revolutionary pressure, and that
the king's Government once more in reality will
and does govern. That Government is resolved, the
Journal of the Cross believes, to avail of Art. 63 of
the Constitution to curb and eventually put an end
to the excesses of the press.
The visit to Carlsbad, said to have been urged by
the King's physicians, is not yet known to be
that his Majesty will proceed thither,
decided upon ; and, at any rate, it is not believed
as it was re-
ported he would do, within a week from this date.
to
Hie appearance cannot be said .indicate ill-healtb,

and persons who have been in the habit of seeing
him do not find him looking any worse than he did
a year ago; bat some who were near him during
his recent attacks,report his st.fferings to have been
severe. Mentally, he must have endured much dur-
ing the last few months, for he cannot be blind to
his loss of popularity, and, indeed, it is quite
certain that he feels he is running counter to the
wishes of the great majority of his subjects, and to
those of many of his old friends and even of his rela-
tions, although he suffers himself to be confirmed by
a clique in the obstinate delusion that the course he
pursues is the only one that can ensure the future
of Prussia. An objection to Carlsbad is said to be
found in the irritated and excited moral state of
his Majesty. Those waters are very potent and
may work for evil as well as for good. It was sug-
gested that he might drink Carlsbad waters at
Baden, a place which he likes, and where he would
have found the Queen, and have enjoyed the
society of his daughter, to whom he is fondly
attached. But the doctors are said to prefer
for him the greater quiet of Carlsbad. These pro-
fessional gentlemen, the King's physicians in ordi-
nary, Messrs. Grimm, Bger, and Lauer, have
rather a delicate part to play. On good authority
I hear that their reputation places them above us-
picion of corruption, but, at the same time, if they
find it necessary to recommend to the King to
avoid, for a term, the harass of State affairs, and
to pass the summer in foreign travel or at some
distant bathing place, they most assuredly will be
suspected by many of playing into the hands of the
plotters who cherish the idea of the Stellvertretung,
and desire to see the reins of power pass for a time
—with prohibition of any change in the present
Ministers and policy—into the hands of the Prince
Royal, or better still perhaps, to see them by him
refused and by Prince Charles cf Prussia accepted.

6 P.M.

Since the above was written the Gazette has ap-
peared, containing a long decree, with a yet longer
preamble, completely doing away with what re-
mained of the liberty of the press in Prussia, and
thus disappointing the expectations of those who
were sanguine enough to believe that a Bismark
Government could show even a semblance of mode-
ration, and could refrain from arbitrary and oppres-
sive measures, even when there was no present
occasion for them. Having got rid of the Chamber,
they could have no rest till they had crushed the
press, cancelling a constitutionally enacted law,
that of December, 1860, by an act of tyranny for
which Art. 63, by which they claim to be authorised,
affords, in reality, not the slightest justification.
The decree, which is dated yesterday, and counter-
signed by all the Ministers, authorises the suppres-
sion of newspapers which persistently exhibit ten-
dencies dangerous to the welfare of the State. The
prohibition must be preceded by two warnings,
given by the president of the Bezirk or district. In
Berlin the President of Police is the chief of the
district council of Government, and it is he who
will issue warnings and suspend journals, the only
appeal from his acts being to the Council of Minis-
ters. The proceedings with respect to the prohibi-
tion itself need not necessarily be terminated, when
the case is considered urgent, before the suspension
takes place. Foreign journals," says Art. 9of
the decree or royal order, " may be prohibited by
the Ministry on account of a persistent tendency
dangerous to the welfare of the Prussian State."
The decree came into force yesterday.

The Celebrities of the House of Commons

As Painted by Mr. Phillip, R.A., and Described by a

London Reviewer.

LORD PALMERSTON.
His is perhaps the least successful likeness in the paint-
ing, approaching indeed so near to the comic and to carica-
ture, that the first impulse of his fi lends is to laugh, and the
next to be angry. The Palmerston in the picture is a
funny and humorous old gentleman, entirely wanting in
dignity, which is certainly not the appearance of the
original when he is addressing the House of Commons.
An attempt has been made to indicate an arch twinkle of
the eye, but the satiric sparkle which so often gleams there,
and which heralds the ready retort and happy witticism,
will be looked for in vain. The noble lord's nose is small,
but regular. In the picture it is a small, pinched, and red
organ, entirely deficient in dignity, and giving a mean
expression to the features. We do not envy the
Prime Minister his feelings when he discovered at
the Royal Academy dinner, the "counterfeit present-
ment " under which he, the " Cupid" of the War and
Foreign-office, was to go down to posterity. A friend en-
deavoured to ascertain what he thought of his likeness.
He fought off the question by saying, with a good..
humoured laugh, " Ah I it's very difficult to look one's
best in a picture." He has small reason to congratulate
himself upon his portraits in the Exhibition. There are
two likenesses of him; one painted for the Cinque Ports,
and the other for his Tiverton constituents. Neither is
very successful ; but assuming that they are good in the
points in which they resemble each other, their dissimi-
larity to Mr. Phillip's portrait may be taken as the measure
of the failure of that artist.