The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-16 00:00:00

dream, and after spurring up each other for some
time, Ministers and Deputies have come to a better
understanding, and concession and compromise are
the order of the day. Count BISMARCK has devoted
all his energies to the accomplishment of the task,
and has lately made an impressive speech, in
which he declared that, if the Opposition prevented
him from completing the work which had been
begun, he " should request the KING to relieve him
from his post." No doubt this was a very safe
threat; but at any rate the House listened favour-
ably to the proposition 3 of the Ministers, to the
effect that a sort of compromise should be effected.
All the new amendments that appeared were re-
jected, and the article referring to the payment of
the Deputies was struck out. Hence, the House
has rescinded i`J3 former resolution in favour
of such payment. This is a satisfactory
arrangement at any rate, and we are very glad of
it, because nothing but confusion could possibly
have arisen had the plan of payment been carried
out. The scenes that are constantly taking place
across the Atlantic surely furnish specimens that he
who runs may read as to the folly of pursuing
such a course, and the success of the North Ger-
man Parliament is already so problematical that it
needs the imposition of no additional drawback.
It is now believed that an entente cordiale may
be considered to exist between the authorities on
one hand, and the members on the other ; but of
course this cannot altogether be relied on as cer-
tain, for there is no knowing what a day may
bring forth in such a complicated state of things,
and with the requirements of BISMARCK and the
suspicions of the House it is very improbable that
no more contentions should occur. We have no
great faith in the working of this scheme of a
general Parliament, but since matters have gone so
far it will be as well to get things settled as
speedily as possible. Many interests are involved
in the arrangements now pending, and the state
of uncertainty and suspense in which people are
being kept is injurious.
Count BISMARCK has an anxious time of it just
now, and no doubt would be delighted to see the
end of his labours a little nearer, for it is one thing
to make plans and another to carry them out. There
has not been any alacrity displayed by those who
have settled the preliminaries of this German Par-
liament to do the bidding of the Berlin Government,
nor have they testified the willingness which was so
much anticipated ; on the contrary, there have been
news of strife and contention, such as were only
equalled by the sittings of the Prussian Chambers.
The secret lies in the fact that when the war was
over men began to ask themselves what they had
been fighting for, and foresaw more danger in giving
unlimited confidence to Count BISMARCK, and
allowing him to act as he liked.
It is almost amusing to notice the excitement
which prevails in certain quarters in Prussia to put
a stop to the rumours in circulation about Luxemburg.
The New Prussian Gazette of yesterday publishes a
telegram fromLuxemburg statingthat in the German
Duchy there are numerous addresses in circulation,
which petition the King of HOLLAND to maintain
the independence of Luxemburg, which addresses
are receiving thousands of signatures. It must be
remarked en passant that we did not see such
anxiety testified on the part of Prussian journals to
make known the desire for independence
and the dislike of annexation which were
deeply felt and frequently expressed in
many quarters at the time when Count
BISMARCK was maturing his plans with so much
celerity a few months ago. Then it was quite a
different story, but jealousy of France and suspicion
of Holland have sharpened the wits and cleared the
vision of these political investigators. Perhaps it
is censurable to make the remark, now that some
time has elapsed since the war with Austria, that as
yet we have no proof of the great benefits that have
accrued from the new regime. The Prussians are not
happier, they are not more contented, and they are
not certainly more respected than they were before
Europe was aroused from its dream of peace to wit-
ness the horrors of civil war. Of the two there is
positive disunion prevailing among the Prussians
themselves, and already many similar prophecies
are in circulation as to the duration of the peace
and prosperity of BISMARCK. The real tug of war
will not commence, however, until the completion
of the arrangement of the Constitution. Then
it will be seen if the intellect of collective Germany
will submit to be crushed down at the dictation of
Prussia, and if the several States which have been
forced into compliance will yield that assistance
without which the success of the scheme is impos-
sible. It is one thing to win the day in a fight, and
another to maintain supremacy in the affairs of
home policy. We shall not be surprised if the star
of Count BISMARCK, which has so long been in the
ascendant, now begins to wane, and finally disap-
pear from the horizon ; a result which will put a stay
to the present comprehensive schemes and changes.