The Sun.
London, England, 1863-03-26 00:00:00

A NEW CANDIDATE FOR THE THRONE

OF GREECE.

(From the Timcs.)
The talents of the Coburgs have been conspicuous.
King Leopold, the late Prince Consort, and tht
present Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha have been mei
much above the ordinary standard. They have hoc'
great opportunities, and have known how to uet
them. Neither the Prince Consort nor the King of
Portugal could, without offence, have taken a share
in the politics of England and Portugal unless they
had been gifted with much prudence and circum
spection. No one who studies their history wit,
believe that they and their kinsmen have merely
had greatness thrust upon them. But, on the other
hand, it cannot be doubted that they owe all to the
excellent start which Prince Leopold's good fortunt
gave their houee. Had it not been for the elevation
of-the young soldier to the highest station in Eng-
land, the Coburgs, instead of planting dynasties
everywhere, might have been to more than any of
the five-and-thirty German reigning families, or the
multitude of Princely and Serene, but mecliatised
personages who are scattered through the land. But
when Leopold became an English Prince, and his
sister was the mother of the heiress presumptive to
the British Throne, the path to greatness was open
to the enterprise of the family. How much one
success leads to another in princely life has been
shown in their history, and we have adverted to it
because, if report speaks true, another
which a few years since, was of hardly more account
in Europe, is at this moment entering on a similar
career.

Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, whom
poets are fabling to be a child of the Sea Kings, is
the daughter of Prince Christian of the house of
Schleswig-Holstein Sonderburg-Glucksburg, who
was himselt but a few years ago a long way from the
succession to the Danish Crown. It was not
until after the Battle of Istedt and the reference
of the Danish question to the great Powers,
that the succession was settled on Prince Chris-
tian and his male heirs by the Treaty of May
8, 1852, and even after this there was so
much dissatisfaction at the claim of Russia to
succeed to a portion of the monarchy that the law
was not finally settled until the summer of 1853,
when Prince Christian and his family received the
' title of Royal Highness, Thus, the Royalty of our
Princess's family is less than 10 years old, and cor-
responds more to a span-new Peerage than anything
that we are accustomed to associate with continental
monarchy. But see how soon in these days a grand
posit'on may be achieved. We understand that the
first result of the late auspicious marriage is that
Prince William, brother to her Royal Highness,
will be recommended to the Greek nation for their
King. The Prince is a little younger than Prince
Alfred, having been born on the 24th Dec., 1845.
He is also a sailor, which will, no doubt, be a re-
commendation to him in the eyes of so maritime a
people. He is also a non Catholic, which is essen-
tial to the success of a ruler at Athens; and being
so young and closely connected with a Constitu-
tional Court there is every reason to believe that he
may become a prudent and serviceable King. It is
to be hoped that the Greeks will close with this
offer, which is the best they are ever likely to re-
ceive.. Toe brother of a prospective King of Den
mark and of a Queen of England is a personage
more illustrious than is likely soon to be proposed
to a country which has so little to offer in return.
Of course there is more than one personage to con-
sult. So far as we can learn, the Prince's family
and the British Government have consented to the
recommendation, and we can hardly presume that
the King of Denmark will offer any objection, un-
less it be on the ground that Prince William
stands in the same relation to the Danish monarchy
as Prince Alfred to that of England—that he is
the second brother to the heir to the Throne, and
may, perhaps, himself be called upon to govern.
But this contingency ought not to stand in the
way of Prince Witliam's fortunes, for in the
case of Prince Alfred it would certainly not have
been so strougly urged had there not been other
weighty reasons which do not exist in the case of a
Danish Prince. Nor can the other Powers of
Europe have any f ult to find with the candidate
whom the British Government will present for the
choice of the Greek people. The Danish family is
on the most friendly terms with the Czar, with
whom it is connected by relationship not very re-
mote ; and France can have no reason for objecting
to a Prince whose parent state can never be powerful
enough to exercise an inconvenient influeLce in the
East.