The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-14 00:00:00

att

LONDON, TUESDAY, JULY 14, 1863.

Mr. ROEBUCK has consented to withdraw his

propositim ! The momentous question is postponed
sine die. At the eleventh hour, at the critical mo-
ment of the encounter, the once determined assail-
ant holds his hand,
"And back recoils he knows not why,
Scared at the sound himself has made,"

We must confess that we are disappointed in Mr.
BOEBTICK. It was not in this pusillanimous, vaseil-
lating spirit that he orginated and perseveringly
carried out the famous Crimean investigation. No
cause should be undertaken unless we are persuaded
of its justice. But if, so persuaded, we have once
"put our hand to the plough,'' nothing should in-
duce us to turn from our enterprise—nothing but a
conviction that we were mistaken, and that we have
embraced an unworthy cause. Such a conviction

can justify and even ennoble a change of opinion,
as was remarkably evidenced in the career of Sir
ROBERT PEEL; but we have no reason to suppose
that Mr. ROEBUCK is shaken in his belief as io the
justice of the cause he had so gallantly espoused.
He is in his heart as convinced of the rights of
Southern Independence as he was some three days
back. Why then does he shrink from the self-

imposed responsibility of advocating those rights

at the very moment of trial ? He draws back in
consideration of the PREMIER'S assurance that the
motion proposed would " interfere with the good
government of the country." On that assurance,
Mr. ROEBUCK withdraws, after having raised the
hopes of the lovers of Peace and the advocates of
Southern Independence, and Lord PALMERSTON
assumes the responsibility of the situation. What
his course will be, may be very easily imagined.
Following that very safe and prudent counsel which
assures us that—

" Success is virtue and misfortune shame,"

our Government will reserve their decision. They
will wait yet awhile until new telegrams again and
again announce new victories to the South, and at
last they will come forward with their tardy and
then valueless recognition of an Independence that
will then stand in need of no acknowledgment.
That such will be the case ultimately we do not
doubt. The instinct of the People, which is generally
far in advance of the actions of the Government, has
already long since aroused the popular sympathies.
Those sympathies found, as they have often found
before, a worthy exponent in Mr. ROEBUCK, but
he has abandoned his cause and neglected his op-
portunity. Lord PALMERSTON, of course, com-
mends him for so doing; but, while approving that
portion of the hon. member's conduct, the noble
Premier took occasion to administer to him a very
severe and well-deserved rebuke for his recent diplo-
matic interference. "I hope,"said LOrdPALMERSTON,
and the cheers of the House ratified his assertion" that
this will be the last time when any member of this
House will think it to be his duty to communicate
to the British House of Commons that which may
have passed between himself and the Sovereign of
a foreign country." " The British Parliament,',
added the noble lord, " is accustomed to receive mes-
sages from the SOVEREIGN of the United Kingdom,
but we are in no relation to, we have no intercourse
with, no official knowledge of, any Sovereign o
any foreign country." The advisability of such a
rule is sufficiently obvious, and it might have been
supposed that Mr. ROEBUCK would have been the
very last person likely to infringe it. But as " some
failings lean to virtue's side," so do some virtues lead
their possessor into error. Thus it is with the
learned but impetuous member for Sheffield—
" Prone to the rash, revolting from the mean,"
his gallantry occasionally places him in a dilemma.
Proud of his position as a Tribune of the People, I e
allows himself to appear in Paliaw.nt as the envoy
of a foreign sovereign ! The resolute advocate of
the recognition of the Soutb, an untimely prudence
arrests him in his career, end carries disappoint-
ment to all who had relied upon him.. As Lord
PALMERSTON admitted with regard to Mr. ROE-
BUCK, we are persuaded that he " acted with the
very best intentions," but these intentions have
proved singularly fallacious in their result.

The correspondence between the King of PRUSSIA
end his son, which has been recently published, is
of a significant character. If all that is reported
be true, this will not be the last altercation of the
kind, either verbal or epistolary. The first come

munication reported is one from the CROWN PRINCE,
which was forwarded at the end of May. In this
his Royal Highness alludes to what the KING had
observed on the subject of the aspect of affairs.
Yon told me," said the PRINCE, "that I was more
liberal than you." This is manifestly true, for
recent occurrences have testified to the validity of
the statement. Then follows some very plain truths,
deferentially put, but not the less telling. The
PRINCE says that while he makes no opposition, he
yet must tell the truth. He conjures his father not
to attack the laws, and warns him of the insidious
designs and dangerous machinations of the func-
tionaries. " With their art of interpreting the laws
they know how to represent the legality and neces-
sity of their measures in such a sense that they lead
the Sovereign step by step into a very different path
from that which he had proposed to himself to fol-
low." Had the KING taken this advice at
nd ha
the time,wt
what mischief might have been avoided
trouble spared. If the PRINCE wrote such
words, he has, indeed, proved himself a true pro-
phetverifi,
rt he
da
ito t
itohnes
s
niodn
willreattiesndnohisdloautbert
KING, in answer, declares that his son has not
been circumspect enough, and has made speeches of
an opposition character, and intimates that an
opportunity is offered to him to repair the mis-
chief that he has done by declaring energetically
in an opposite sense, by coolness towards the men
of progress, and by extolling the doctrine of the
Conservatives. The PRINCE protests against the
decree of the Ist of June, in a letter addressed to
M. BISMARK. He declares that be " considers
the restrictive measures against the press as
illegal, and prejudicial to the state of the Royal
house." He furthermore adds that they were taken
without his knowledge, against his will, and he
protests against them. The next day he writes to
the KING, declaring against the decree, and repre-
senting that the spirit of the constitution had been
violated by not submitting it to the Diet. The
KING had stated in his previous letter that it was
to be. On the sth the PRINCE made the celebrated
speech at Dantzic. This called forth a letter from the
KING, in which he " energetically disapproved" of
the address. In case the report was incorrect, the
KING demanded a contradiction in the journals, and
required the PRINCE to pledge himself to avoid such
declarations for the future. The PRINCE replied that
his words were not " thoughtlessly uttered. His
conscience had imposed on him for some time
past the necessity of adhering to the doctrine whose
truth he felt more and more each day. The wish to
avoid contradiction had kept him silent hitherto ;
but now the Ministry, without consulting him, had
compromised his future and that of his children.
He would retract nothing, but keep silence. As
for his position in the army and Ministry, he was
willing to give it up, and only desired to reside
where he might be a stranger to politics. The
KING'S reply was moderate ; he said that he wished
the PRINCE to express his opinion to no one but him-
self, and towards everyone else to maintain a strict
silence. M. BISMARK'S reply was not of great
purport. He said—" It depends upon your Royal
Highness to lighten or to render more difficult our
great task." The last sentence, in which he states
that he also has a conscience, is rather astonishing,
as no very visible proofs of its existence have been
apparent of late months. These reports of the cor-
respondence may not be altogether strictly correct,
but it is most probable that they are sa in substance ;
and, at all events, they faithfully represent the
spirit by which the various parties are actuated,
even if the details are not strictly accurate. The
speech of the CROWN PRINCE at Dantzic is an un-
disputed fact, and, of course, it is well
known that its utterance most have pro-
voked the KING, and incensed his Ministers
to no common degree. Some communication is
sure to have been addressed to the PRINCE, and
onse forcible representations made to him. He
would have answered these letters, and after mak-
e ing a public profession of his faith in the legitimate
rights of the state and his belief in the efficacy of
the freedom of the press, he could not abjure those
opinions in private. So far then there is every
ground for giving credence to these reports, and
granting their authenticity, it is a matter for re-
joicing that the heir to the throne of Prussia should
so comport himself at a critical juncture like the
present. It would be impossible to conceive a more
difficult position than that in which he is placed,
or to imagine a more delicate task than the one in
which he is engaged, to reconcile opposing interests,
to attend to conflicting claims, and so to adjust his
course, as, on the one hand, to give due
,respect to
his father, and on the other not to compromise the
coarse he so honestly believes in and conscientiously
advocates. This is, indeed, an awkward dilemma,
but the PRINCE appears to have steered clear of
any great collision, and to have avoided any contre-
gimps that would have been peculiarly unpleasant.
So much decision and reticence speaks
well for his after career. In his place
many would have yielded to the temptations
that surrounded them, and allowed things to take
their course, shrinking from the responsibility, and
disclaiming all idea of personal interferenc3 if
suggested to them. Again, some would have
gloried in the notoriety of standing isolated, of
abandoning their position, and coming forward in
a reckless spirit of defiance to confront the KING
and oppose the Ministers, whose counsels so
n.ili-
tated against the best interests of the country. The
PRINCE has done neither, but oho Sen and kept the
difficult medium course which so few contrive to
maintain successfully, but which in the doubtful
ways of life has often been trodden with so much
success. The CROWN PRINCE is not called upon to
make a decided stand, because ha is not invested
with direct responsibility, at the same time he is
called upon to let the nation know if he approves
or disapproves of the startling changes that have
recently been made. This be has done entirely
and emphatically, and hence he merits the respect
of all who appreciate candour and admire self
command. In the complicated affairs in which
hereafter le will be called upon to take a prominent
part, there is every reason to expect that he will
acquit -himself to the satisfaction of the country
and the benefit of the community, while he adds
lustre to his own reputation.

We are not likely soon to find a limit to the
versatile capacities of steam. We have already
seen the greater part of DARWIN'S famous prophecy
"
amply fulfilled, and though the realms of air" are
still left in undisputed possession of the man of
science and the professional aeronaut, there is no
saying what use another generation may put them
to. The advantages which we derive from the
application of steam power to machinery are, how-
ever, as great as those conferred on us by its assist.
ance in locomotion, and the mills and manufactories
of our large commercial towns offer as striking a
contrast to those of a hundred years since as an
express train does to the pack horses of the middle
ages.

The powers of this wonderful agent have now,
however, found a new field in which they are likely
to be no less beneficial, though in a less conspicuous
form. It is a sphere where we shon'd hardly have
expected to find even our übiquitous friend. The
eager traTeller, the busy manufacturer, might well
be ready to hail its assistance with eagerness and