The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-20 00:00:00

THE NEW GERMAN EMPEROR:

The Times; in commenting on the acceptance of the
Imperial Crown by the King of Prussia, says :—We
come to the conclusion that the new Empire of Germany
will not be a primatial dignity, as it has been,
and as the princes who proclaim it probably consider
it still to be, but a direct sovereign Power, ever
growing in extent and authority, and tending to become
supreme in war and peace. The machinery which has
been conserved from the past or devised anew is likely to
be merely transitional ; it will prove too cumbersome for
the needs of the new generation, and will be gradually
superseded by that simple system of a single national an-,
thority which both inonatchies and republics must accept
if they wish for a vigorous life. Let, then, the Emperor-
King indulge his Princes and their subjects with as much
antiquarianism as they please; the resemblance between
the power he has grasped and that which the oldest of our
Princes may remember is but small. Conflicting claims
arise of cities to be the scene of the solemnities of a corona-
tion. But the real political import of the new dignity would
be best expressed if he were to place the Crown on his
own head among his soldier 4 and his people in his own
Berlin. This Empire is the fruit of the policy which the
House of his fathers has pursued for generations ; it
represents the triunaph of elements which the old rule
resolutely repressed, and it is in itself, not the restoration
of that which has passed away, but a new power destined
to an unexampled career.
The Standard observes :—The King of Prussia has
assumed the title of Emperor of Germany without waiting
for the establishment of the German Empire. The
Confederation Which it is intended should bear
that name is still in the process of parturition.
The German Empire has to wait for a two-
thirds vote of the Bavarian Chamber of Deputies ap-
proving the treaties which were to constitute a new German
Confederation before it can claim to exist. William the
First and his advisers seem to hale tired of waiting for
that vote, which has been delayed as much by the
-voluminous eloquence of its supporters as by the resist-
ance of its opponents ; and, except as a matter of form,
there was little reason for waiting, although why, having
waited so Jong, the King could not be content with his
old title a few days longer, it is difficult to discover,
Germany had it in her power to enter upon this new
phase of her history amidst the congratulations and en-
joying the hearty esteem of the world. All men would
have looked with admiration on a nation which, having
signally repelled invasion, overturned the throne of the
Sovereign who had declared the war, and demonstrated
to France and to Europe its practical invincibility,
had offered moderate and generous terms to the vanquished
enemy, and turned its main efforts to secure and develop
the national unity which was among the chiefest of its
Conquests. Europe would have hailed with delight the
appearance upon the stage of a Great Power which had
given such ptattical proofs at once of its moderation as
its power, of itt concern for its own liberty, of its
freedom from the spirit of aggression and conquest.
Germany would have taken then, without contest or
regret, the position of the first Continental Power. The
preservation of peace and the rapid and general develop-
ment of well-being would, humanly speaking, have been
assured, But Germany has chosen the other course ;
and whilst no one contests her power, she has sown
seeds of which she will one day reap a bitter
harvest. She has created implacable enmities ; she has
forfeited the goodwill and esteem she formerly enjoyed.
The inauguration of the German Empire might have been
the inauguration of a long reign of peace for Europe ;
but it marks only a point in the game of war. Can any-
body honestly congratulate the new Emperor or his
people upon the reign commenced on Wednesday by a
gala at Versailles, and to the accompaniment of an in-
human bombardment of a city of two millions and a half
of people ?