The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-30 00:00:00

rHE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY Ii.IVEMNG, JANUARY 30, 1865.

very awkward position. He is not very likely at any
rate to share the fame of him who will go down to
posterity as " the pilot who weathered the storm,"
for he has failed most egregiously in all he has
undertaken ; that is to say, there is no profit for the
Prussians to rejoice in it, and they are threatened
with doubts and difficulties that are doubly heavy to
bear, since the necessity for their occurrence is now
a generally acknowledged fact.
_

The KING'S reply to the Address of the Upper
House is characterised by his usual style, and he
does not enunciate any fresh principles as to what
will guide the policy of the CnowN in the compli-
cations that are likely to arise. His heart is re-
joiced to find that gratitude is experienced for the
exertions of the Government, and he goes on to
remark again in the unsuitable manner of which he
is so fond concerning the religious motives that in-
fluence him and his people. It seems almost pro-
fanity to hear him talk of the " fear of GOD" being
the paramount principle at work among them. This
feeling, he says, has animated his soldiers, and in-
duced the people to make sacrifices to the army. It
seems strange, indeed, to hear of such an explanation
as this when we reflect upon the manner in which
the Prussian troops waged war, and the very unne-
cessary misery that they occasioned to the inhabi-
tants of the provinces they entered. Vhen we hear
a Royal personage thus endeavouring to make poli-
tical capital out of the so-called piety and irre-
proachable conduct of those who have been the
objects of universal opprobrium on account of their
enormities and excesses, it speaks but ill for the
Cause he is endeavouring to uphold either in merit
or consistency. The KING, of course, touches upon
the important subject of his disputes with the
Chambers, or, as he emphatically terms it, " the
conflict between my Government and the re-
presentatives of the country should be brought
to an end." He seems struck at his own mag-
nanimity in having made advances to the
representatives. It has not been very apparent
to general observers in what they have consisted.
We heard an intimation that the King desired that
all altercation should cease, but not a whisper was
breathed as to any concessions that were to be
made to effect this most desirable conclusion. At
no time could the Sovereign do less than make
such a declaration, whether he intended to be in-
strumental or not in removing the difficulties that
lay in the way of agreement. The effect of his
MAJESTY'S grandiloquent assertions is entirely:spoiled
by the fact that during the sittings of the Chamber
the Ministry have done all they could to make it
generally understood that the King will not yield
one iota of his plans to the desires or coun-
sels of the Representative Assembly. It is this
which makes it seem almost a mockery for
both sides to go on in this fashion, and making
speeches that have no foundation in facts or validity
in expression, and the other vainly endeavouring to
better the interests of the country to whom they are
responsible, and advocate the cause which is dear
to them, as men of integrity and politicians of judg-
ment. How long Europe is to witness this shilly-
shallying with the principles of a free Constitution,
and this desecration of the liberties of a people,
cannot as yet be accurately defined. The page of
the future is shrouded in mystery ; but, most likely,
it will not be long before some striking change
occurs which will scatter to the winds this carefully
built-up code of administration, and make manifest
to the innovators of freedom how mistaken and mis-
chievous has been the course they have pursued.

Floating Telegraph Sta' ion and Light Ship

Company,