The Sun.
London, England, 1837-08-02 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS

The Times, which at first professed to be stariled
at the proceedings of the King of Hanover, has at
length god rid of its shyness and now joins the rest of
the Tory pack. The defence of King Ernest is, to
be sure, not yet professedly editorial ; but it appears
with all the advantage of large print and favourable
position, and after this feeler the apostate will embark
without subterfuge on the defence of King Ernest.
The following is the defence which, after mature de-
liberation, has been set up for his Hanoverian Nla-

jesty :
" Any man at all acquainted with the laws and prescrip-
tive usages of the kingdom of Hanover, must know that
the Constitution given by his late Majesty could not be
binding on the successor to the throne, his formal consent
being essential to its validity. Not only was this not ac-
corded, but a protest was entered by the Duke of Cumber-
land against the act, affecting as it did the administration
not only of the kingdom, but of the private and family interests
and relations of the future Sovereign of Hanover. Such
an act his Majesty King William IV. was not empowered
to impose without the consent -of the claimants in remain-
der to the Hanoverian Crown. By the anal act of the
Congress of Vienna of the I.sth of May 1820, it is pro-
vided, Article .56, that a Constitution established and ac-
knowledged cannot be altered by other than by constitu-
tional means—that is to say, by the consent of the existing
authorities. Now the States did not give their consent to
all the articles of the new Constitution, which was never-
theless promulgated in a manner directly contrary to the
56th Article of the final act of Congress."
So much for the legal justification—And now for
the policy of the measures of King Ernest.
" Happy and prosperous in a degree known to few na-
tions—having no complicated or conflicting interests to con-
sult—the Hanoverian', almost to a man, laugh at the at-
tempt to encumber them with the machinery of a Constitu-
tion, for no assignable purpose but that of enabling a few
talkers to talk their fill for nine months in the year, at the
rate of three dollars a day each, that being the charge for
senatorial services under the Constitution."
The first question that suggests itself here is—who
is the individual who issues the revolutionary patent?
There is no King of Hanover at this time ; for what-
ever the claims of the Duke of Cumberland to the
throne may be, they hare not yet been established
according to the laws of that country. The inhabi-
tants of Hanover, under the existing institutions, yet
know nothing of any King ; and there is none. If
article 56 of the final act of the Congress of Vienna
provide
that a Constitution established and acknow-
ledged cannot be altered by other than by constitu-
tional means, the Duke of Cumberland's first act is,
on the very face of it, illegal. The persou, M. Von
Schele, whose signature appears to the patent, had no
more authority to act than any other inhabitant of
Hanover. Thisisubject is ably handled in a memorial
on the patent which appears in an appendix, accom-
panying Nos. 202, 203, and 204 of the Allgemeine
Zeitung:—
" The Minister who steps forward to execute this task,
it is well observed, could only have been qualified by the
decree of his appointment having been executed in due
form, that is, by the King and a responsible Councillor or
Minister. 'The appointment, however, could not have been
executed in the legal form, for no councillor who had sworn
to the Constitution could subscribe the decree of appoint-
ment of a person who had not taken the oath to the Con-
stitution, without rendering himself guilty of a violation of
it ; and in fact there is no appointment elothin him with
hit( di,rnity countersigned by a Minister, and the patent
cliadares that M. Von Schele was specially sworn for that
net. Was he, therefore, in a condition to subscribe mai
eiaily a patent of any descriptice, and more especially a
docinnent of such importance, arid to bestow on it the
le ral validity connected with a signature responsible for
contents and form, when he himself doe 3 not appear
authorised to give such a guarantee to the royal
name ? And is the publication to be considered as legally
executed, when it want, the signature of a Minister
1,..2a11y appointed to his office according to the existing
law ?"

.ft appears, then, on the very face of the patent,
tltat it is illegal. There is no Bing of Hanover and
no Minister of Hanover. The -individual Ernest,
calling himself King of Hanover, tramples on the
existing laws, and assumes a right to declare that the
state of things which existed seven years ago ought to
he the law. But who made filial judge ? The writer
in the Allgemeine Zeitung observes, with reference to
the reasons for the change adduced in the patent, that
" It is true Hanover, down to the tia-L, of the French
oc-,:ipation, had another Constitution ; and that it is tree
as is observed in the patent, the people were satisfied with
it. It was founded on great privileges of the nobility, who
alone filled the high places, on the honourable conduct and

prosperous circumstances of those entrusted with adminis-
trative and judicial functions, who had the management
cf the public lands, and imposed moderate burdens while
they also decided causes and conducted the affairs of
the Sovereign. Finally, on the municipal rights of the
towns ; but, above all, on the general welfare of the higher
classes. This Constitution was annihilated—the prospe-
rity of the nobility destroyed—the condition of the admi-
nistrators of justice changed by the Westphalian Govern-
ment. The country became impoverished—everything was
altered, and assumed a new form ; and, after the termi-
nation of the foreign rule, it became impossible to re-
store the old order of things in anything but
form. The strength, spirit, and happiness of the olden
time was lost without recovery. Hence the strong discon-
tent which in the trying year 1830, when all real and ima-
ginary complaints found an utterance, burst forth into in-
surrection. The movement was, however, suppressed,
tranquillity restored and maintained, and the constitutional
changes were thenceforward effected without interruption
and without external pressure ! The wants of the country
had in the meantime been more definitively discussed ; and
it became evident to every impartial observer that, after
all that had conduced to the former satisfaction had been
annihilated, it would be impossible under the old constitu-
tional forms to recover the previous tranquillity, and King
and Estates, voluntarily and without constraint, met each
other amicably, and united in adopting an arrangement on
the basis of the Constitution which has since been in-
troduced, to which oaths have been taken, and which as
now a legal and political existence. Did anything take
place on the part of the Estates or on the part of the
King which was unauthorised ? On this hangs the answer
to the other question—whether the new Ruler is en-
titled to pronounce a Constitution which he found thus
established as not formally and materially binding on
him ? The first question can only be answered to the ad-
vantage of the existing state of things. In no compacts of
sovereign houses, in no political edict, is there any regulation
which prohibits a ruler from introducing alteration in the
existing Constitution when demanded by public necessity
or the public welfare, if with the sanction of the estates ;
and all Constitutions of all times and states (except in cases

of violence) have been developed in this way ; and it has
never been understood that their successors had a right, in
virtue of any hereditary claim, to consider what they found
thus founded and legally existing as a nonentity, and to make
the state to begin of new with themselves, or to call its laws

into question ''''

In the Courier of last night there is an account, said
to be authentic, of the proceedings which took place
before the issuing of this patent, and we extract from
it the following particulars illustrative of the, illegal
character of the act of Ernest and Schele :
" It was the safeguard of each Hanoverian subject, that
every civil officer should swear to maintain faithfully the
Constitution, which right was violated by the following
act :—Herr Hoppenstedt, one of the first members of the
Ministry, was called to appear before the King, who told
him to administer the oath of to Herr von Schele,
whom he had just made Minister ; the formulary of this
oath having been handed to the King, he instantly took a
pen and cancelled those words which had respect to the
Constitution, and observed that he did not like these
words ; when Herr Hoppenstedt, with noble intrepidity,
declined to act in contradiction to his own oath, and beg-
ged the King, upon these grounds, to administer the oath
himself. To this the King acceded, and Her Iloppenstedt
retired. Thus the first illegal act was performed by the
King himself, and personally."

The advocate of the Kin(' in the Times assumes,
without the least countenance from facts, that the Con-
stitution is not acceptable to the people of Hanover.
But, if this were the case, why not establish this by
constitutional means ? If the people of Hanover disliked
the Constitution as much as the Kim, evidently does,
they had the opportunity of manifesting their dis-
like by contitutional means. But the person calling
himself King Ernest commences his reign by a revolu-
tion. The presumption is, that he tells a falsehood in
his patent, because, if the people were with him, their
sense could- have been constitutionally taken. No
tyrant ever yet pretended to act from other motives
than the happiness and welfare of the people. But
who constituted Ernest the interpreter of the people's
wishes ? It would not at all surprise us if the rough
procedure of the King were to meet with a rough re-
quital. The Journal des Debats, which is a Conser-
vative Paper, is greatly scandalised at the revolu-
tionary conduct of Ernest, and in an able and spirited

article, in the number for Saturday last, with ghat
force of argument, demonstrates the wickedness of his
proceedings :
" The Constitution of Hanover, established on a good
understanding between William IV. and the two Cham-
bers of Hanover, sanctioned by the German Confederation,
carried into effect during three years, surrounded by
all the guarantees which protect the other German nations,
as sacred as they are, though now violated—that Consti-
tution has clearly defined on what conditions the King
shall receive the oath of his fidelity from his subjects. Thus
we find in paragraph 13 :—' The King shall make his
accession known by letters patent. When once these
letters patent have been published, the subjects are hound
to obey the new King. In these letters patent, signed
by the hand of the King, and marked by his Royal
seal, the King gives his Royal word to maintain and ob-
serve faithfully the Constitution of the country.' Thus
everything is defined. There must be letters patent, and
letters patent containing the oath to observe the Consti-
tution. It is on these conditions that. the King is King ;
it is on these conditions that the subjects owe him obe-
dience. Suppress the letters patent, or change their sacra-
mental form, you suppress also the duty of obedience.
And this was remarked by th• deputy Stum, burghermas-
ter of Osnabruck, in the last sitting of the Chamber of
Hanover, on the 29th June. The Royal rescript dissolving
the Chamber had been read—M. Stum rose to remark
that the King, not having yet published the letters patent
of his accession, such as the Constitution requires, he
could not On this the President termi-

nated the sitting, which decided nothing as to the ques-
tion ; and the language of M. Stnm, abruptly interrupted,
remains and protests against whatever has taken place :
the King cannot No, the King can-
not enforce obedience where he violates the Constitution.
No, there is no power independent of the law. The lan-
guage of M. Stum must, no doubt, appear strange to the
ears of the King of Hanover : the King cannot. But it
is the language of constitutional politics ; it-is the language
of modern Europe. It came from England to France ;
from France it spread into Germany."

A Constitution may appear to the King an incum-
brance ; but we hare no evidence but that of the Ti»zes,
which would be equally ready to pronounce a Consti-
tution an incumbance to the English, that the Hano-
verians arc desirous of substituting for a Constitution
a dependence on the good pleasure of such a well-con-
ditioned individual as Ernest. We knew that it would
not be long ere the Tories applauded the conduct of
the Duke of Cumberland. The people of England
may depend on it that there is no want of will on
the part of the Tories to treat the Reform Bill
as Ernest has treated the Hanoverian Constitu-
tion. We are accused with having endeavoured,
for the purposes of faction, to give "an English
interest " to this question. We have already
shown the interest which England must possess
in it, in consequence of the alliance that exists
between the King of Hanover and the Tory party
in this country. But, exclusive of this, we have
another and scarcely less inferior interest in the
effect it may produce upon the Constitution of
Germany, and through Germany to Europe. It is
truly remarked by a French writer, that thrown as
Germany is between the despotism of Russia and the
liberal:sin of England and France, every thing that
takes place in that country assumes an European im-
portance. Upon the part which Germany may take
depends the triumph in the contest of principles which
is waged throughout Europe. " From its geogra-
phical ..ituation," says a writer in the. Journal de.;
Debats, " from the mass of its population—from its
intellectual activity—from its moral force, Germany
must give the ascendancy to the side to which it gives
its alliance. That alliance is the guarantee of .success.
There is no doubt that the people of the German
States incline towards the principles which predominate
in Western Europe, but as yet there has been no de-
cided alliance. Shall Germany, then, be Liberal ? or
shall it be Absolutist ? At this moment all is in
suspense." Is it a :were trick of faction, then, that
gives " an English interest" to as event that is likely
to decide so important a question ?—Morn. Chronicle.
Compared with the rampant Liberalism which pre-
vailed in the Scotch burgle, at the first election under
the Reform Bill, it appears that in such of these
burghs as arc now contested, the strong manifestation
of Conservative principle, even where Radicals have
retained their seats, affords unequivocal evidence of
advancing triumph. In the Cupar district, where the
influential friends of the Whig Attorney-Generel
would of course support the Ministry of which their
learned townsman is an adjunct, the Conservatives
polled no fewer than 261 votes against 290, Mr. El-
lice beating Mr. Arackgill by a majority of only 29.
Had these gentlemen been fairly left to stand or fail
by the unbiassed and spontaneous suffrages of the
electors, it is admitted on all hands that thet Radical
candidate must have gone to the wall. So well was
this understood, that on the day of nomination Mr. A.
Johnston was induced, even at the eleventh hour,
to withdraw his pretensions ; while, so formidable
was the demonstration made by the friends of the
Church against Andrew's. Parliamentary treachery,
that in order to revenge himself for the loss of
their support, the little spiteful creature, though
professing to be a Church Conservative, actually
presented Mr. Ellice with his Kilrenny votes, which
were just sufficient, and no more, to determine the
election. If these votes had been left at the free
disposal of their possessors, Mr. Maitland Mackgill
would have been the sitting Member. Never mind :
it is something to show that the sapient Andrew has
shared the fate of his worthy father-in-law, Mr. Fowell
Buxton. We exult in the thought that Parliament is
rid of them. On a former occasion the Whig-Radical
majority at St. Andrew's was 131. In the absence of
absolute success, the state of matters in the Hadding-
ton burghs is equally satisfactory. A t the last contest
in that district Mr. Steuart's majority was nearly 150,
whereas at present it is only 31. Formerly he had a
superiority of numbers at each of the polling-places ;
but last week Sir Thomas Hepburn, while neck and
neck with him at Jedburgh, defeated him in gallant
style both at Lauder and Dunbar. Indeed, the tem-
porary retention of Mr. Steuart's seat and salary is
attributable almost exclusively to the profligate use he
has made of his Treasury patronage in the bestowal
and promise of Government situations : although, in
regard to North Berwick, where the Conservative can-
didate had not a single vote, something must also be
allowed for the circumstance that the parish clergyman
of that town is a fawning toady to the Whig families of
Dalrymple and Beal. The fright, however, which has just
been given to Mr. Steuart, is the sure presage of his
approaching quietus. Sir Andrew Agnew, it is true,
has also failed by about 40 votes in ousting Mr.
M‘Taggart from the burghs in Wigton and Galloway ;
but, though we had entertained a sanguine hope that
the high character of the Hon. Baronet might possibly
insure a different result, yet, considering that he en-
tered the field only a few days prior to the election
under the twofold disadvantage of short notice, and
of having retired from another contest (a circumstance
which is always prejudicial to a candidate), our chief
wonder is that he should have polled one half of the
votes which so honourably grace his minority. Can
any person doubt that if instead of three days' pre-
paration Sir Andrew had had the' benefit of a fort-
' night's canvass, Mr. M'Taggart must inevitably
have returned home minus the capitals which now
accidentally flank his name ? The city of Yeah,
no doubt, has likewise gone wrong by a larger
majority still. But though we are quite certain
that the county will make up for this by the
triumphant return of Lord Stormont, the numbers
polled by Sir P.M. Thriepland in this seat andstrong-
hold of voluntary agitation give a better promise of
success on a future occasion than we had ventured to
count upon. Bannerman has got Aberdeen solely in
consequence of the Conservatives having fixed upon a
candidate (Mr. Horatio Ross), who, being on the
Continent, was unable to prosecute a personal canvass,
or even to be present at the election. But even were
there no alleviating and encouraging accompaniments
connected with the cases which we have now detailed,
the glorious triumph achieved in the Kilmarnock dis-
trict is an ample atonement for them all. Dr. Bow-
ring has been thrown out by a majority of 71. We
rejoice at this unfeignedly. Among other gratifying
circumstances attending the new returns, it is pleasing
to observe, that even where constituencies have not
been able to shake themselves entirely free from
Whig-Radical domination, they have, with very
few exceptions, rejected all the classes who are
fitly termed adventurers. This pro tazzto is a
testimony against democracy. But the Bowring de-
feat is, perhaps, the most signal of any ; at least it