The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-09 00:00:00

OUJening

LONDON, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1847.

THE COURT.

The QUEEN and Prince ALBERT, and the Ladies and
Gentlemen of the Royal Household, are expected to ar-
rive at Buckingham Palace at four o'clock this after-
-noon from Windsor Castle. A special train was ordered
at three o'clock at the Slough station, to convey the
royal party.

Prussia must ever regard as one of her most me-
morable anniversaries the 3d of February, 1847.
On that day a constitution was given to the Prussian
people by FREDERICK WILHELM IV., and by the royal
ordinance in which that glorious announcement was
made the representative system of government was
formally incorporated in the Legislature of the king-
dom. It is with joy and exultation that we publish
the twenty-three articles of this constitution—joy in
the conviction that it is, perhaps, the most certain
means of ensuring the everlasting prosperity of the
kingdom—and exultation in this new testimony of
the progress of the great civilizing spirit of the age,
and of the indomitable advance of the principles of
popu!ar liberation. The knowledge of the magnifi-
cent and substantial boons conferred upon them by
their monarch—and conferred upon them, too, not
grudgingly in the constraint of an insurrectionary
movement, but spontaneously, and even unexpectedly
—must impart a generous and beneficent enthusiasm
to the patriots of Germany. We confess that
the concessions proclaimed in the royal or-
dinances are wanting in that completeness of applica-
tion to every social exigency which so peculiarly
characterises the constitutions of Western Europe ;
we confess that the catalogue of legislative innova-
tions contained in those royal ordinances are particu-
larised by many extraordinary deficiencies, and that,
beside our own matured and now venerable system of
popular representation, that bestowed upon his sub-
jects by FREDERICK WILHELM is mar►ellously
crude and insufficient ; but, convinced that this
unparalleled act of royal generosity is only the
starting point of a grand and systematic in-
provement, we are satisfied with the constitution just
created at Berlin, and the Prussian population will
assuredly be satisfied in like manner. They will be
more than satisfied ; they will imbibe from this testi-
mony of confidence in themselves an increased
affection and an enduring loyalty for a SOVEREIGN, who
has himself evinced such loyalty to their inalienable,
butlitherto unacknowledged rights. By this noble
declaration in the cause of freedom and civilization
the King of PRUSSII has seized a talisman more
potent than that of MERLIN and a wand more
magical than that of PROSPERO : he has transformed
the enemies of his dynasty into its upholders and
its guardians : he has solidified the unstable founda-
tions of his throne into the adamant of national love.

Monarchs have heretofore endeavoured, with a few
illustrious exceptions, to perpetuate their power and
grandeur in hereditary succession by riveting afresh
the chains of their authority, and iky extending the
bounds of their several dominions. In the
increased dimensions of their territory, and the
profounder exercise of their despotism, they have
seemed to recognise the only means of ensuring the
reverence of the million, and of rendering their
empire perpetual. Heretofore the nations of the
earth have only emancipated themselves by the most
terrible .exhibitions oftheir wrath and of their strength.
Hitherto, in all ages, and in all countries, liberty
has been baptised with blood. Before the genius
of freedom could be appeased the people have
invariably been compelled to pour out the libations of
battle. The republic of America was only raised
under the protection of the sword of WASHINGTON.
The thraldom of the Bourbons was only dissipated by
the storms of a revolution such as the earth had never
seen before. The petty dictatorship of Holland was
only destroyed by the revolt against the Stadtholder.
The liberal constitution now enjoyed by the, Grecians
has been bought by butchery and insurrection.
BouvAß had to maintain the independence of his
country by the fullness of his bodily courage and
the excellence of his strategy. SANTA ANNA is
compelled to guide his fellow•countrymen through a
similar ordeal. And England herself, the favourite
of fortune, was necessitated to realise her
own emancipation by the subjugation of JoHsr,
by the decapitation of CHARLES, and by
the expulsion of JAMES. It is because history tells
us that these bloody and horrible catastrophes have
been hitherto inseparable from the progress of
liberal opinions, that we conceive Prussia is entitled
to such deep and cordial felicitations. In the con-
stitution granted to Prussia by the reigning SOVE-
REIGN a representative legislature is per-
manently establishment. The people are hence-
forth to have a voice in the fabrication
and administration of the laws by which they are
governed. All the members of the eight provincial
Diets are to be assembled at the option of the
Monarch in one grand United Diet of the kingdom.
An upper house, entitled the Chamber of the Herren-
stand, will consist of all the Princes of the blood
royal and of all the nobility of the empire. A lower
house, entitled the Chamber of the Ritterstand, will
comprise the delegates, or rather the representatives,
of the various classes and provinces of Prussia. To
their wisdom demomerwgeinlleyb,ethsuebpmroipttreidet,yexocfeapntyin
of taxes, and
n the
f
that impo-
sitiongnoivnelcaseso
of the regulation of the national
exchequer. By this mean
of the people. It is
more than a consolation t
s the sceptre will here-
after be virtually i keeping
asteethine
leverthese oofrdeiinvaniliscaetsioon
is already aeting upon
FREDERICK WILRFLM,
Pon the absolute monarchies of
Northern Europe.
i

To reflect that France possesses a Legislature
which fails to represent the sentiments, the honour,