The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-11 00:00:00

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It seems beyond a doubt. that the,
Regency has been, or will be wit a
time conferred on the Prince of Priisiii:Xl..Lsit4ri
King has.at length been_perSuaded tit ti
the heir of the throne that\isaWer can
no longer exercise himself is assailed caavadently,
and, though the intelligence is as-yet not official,
it may be taken as possessing strong claims to
belief. At all events, the matter is only a question
of days. The state of the King is such that he
can never hope to govern again in person, and, in
spite of the intrigues of a camarilla, the devolution
of his authority on, the next heir must take place
ivheneVer the patience of the people is exhausted.
We may assume, then, that King Frederick Wil-
liam has quitted for ever the political stage, and
that Prussia is now about to change its sovereign.
Such an event is of some importance even in a
country like ours,; what, then, must it not involve
in that laud of drill and routine, of parade-grounds
and public officesOf army; civil service, church, law,
literature, and art, all centralised in the pigeon-
holes of the Royal bureau' A King must always
be a great man r the personage whom millions re-
gard Vcith admiration, respect, or curiosity must
end by instilling something of his own temper into
his subjects and his, age. Servants catch the tricks
of their masters, wives get the look and voice and
turns of expression which belong to their husbands,
young ensigns become duplicates of the major in
command, and barristers of one year's standing
have already unconsciously assumed the tone and
diction of the silk gown. Although the English-
man is of a stubborn and impassive nature, and may
live 20 years in a foreign country without losing
much-of what he brought with him or acquiring
much from the people he is among, yet hardly
monarch has reigned in England who has not moulded
society into something like his own image. Those
who come into contact with Royalty have been
gallant cavaliers, tasteful in dress and decoration,
but bigoted and insolent withal under Charles I.
reckless and profligate under his son, wavering in
their faith under James, with a return to Protestant
and patriotic sentiments when William and Mary
were. installed. The four georges in succession
'might have.seen their very various characters re-
flected in the mirror of contemporary English life.
Happy it is for this country that the power has gone
no further, and that Royal personages have been
limited to an influence on the prevailing manners
of the day. But in Prussia it has been and is
widely different. There the King has almost a
right to be the State, for he has made it. The
British Isles, or France, or Spain may claim to be
nations independent of any Government or dynasty.
They are marked out by the hand of nature as sepa-
rate portions of the globe, and their geographical
formation has tended more and more to give them
unity in themselves and dissimilarity from their
neighbours. No individual, or family, or class can
say that he or they keep England together, and
that without such help there would be no longer a
country or a position in Europe for the inhabitants
of these islands. The nation remains one by its
own coherence and vitality ; its institutions may
have done much ; but now the work is complete,
and the nation is independent of any such el-
traneous aid. But Prussia must from the nature
of things be deeply influenced by the personal
character of its King. It does not present the
type of a race more or less homogeneous like the
French, nor of two 'or three nationalities welded
together by long intercourse like the English,
Scotch, and Irish. Prussia has been made by
clever, ambitious Kings, by means of well-drilled
armies. A fragment of old Catholic Rhenish Ger-
manys a portion of Silesia; Pomerania, and a share
of Poland have been added by war to the heredi-
tary dominions of the House of Brandenburg, and
as they have been added, there is no reason why
they should not be subtracted. Unity there canhe
none between populations so widely sundered,
each of which, also, is
.closely related to some other
in its neighbourhood which does- not acknowledge
the Prussian sceptre. All that connects Dantsic
with Cologne is the individual Frederick or
Frederick William who is enthroned at Berlin, and
the positive infantry, cavalry, and artillery, inspec-
tors; accountants, and copying clerks who obey his
commands. Orders of knighthood, due patronage
of celebrities encouragement to genius, and in some
degree to ambition, a strict system of licensing, a
national apparatus of education, and a- Royal
Prussian Church, tend to give something more of
solidity to this fabric. But still it requires no
little skill and watchfulness to keep together such
a kingdom, and prevent it from being separated
into its original elements.
Hence the character of the ruler is of the last
importance to the Prussian people, said the members
of the Royal familY are:. the objects of a scrutiny
which would be unnecessary in a less artificial
state, Of the-King whose authority is now passing
away we have already spoken, and our estimate
agrees with that wlikiftlif Most enlightened Ger-
mans have long formed of a well-intentioned bat
feeble and visionary Monarch. The Prince of
Prussia has a more hopeful reputation. It is not •
only the vague expectation which always looks to
a demise of the Crown as the dawning of a better
day, but there is a well-grounded belief that the
Prince, both from his own judgment and his con-
nexion with our own Royal family, will govern on
more liberal and manly principles. That this is
felt has been proved by the struggle which not
only the Queen, who might be supposed personally
interested,: but the 'whole of the Absolutist party,
have waged ,against the abdication of supreme
power by the King. Now that the Regency is
placed beyond a dmibt, we shall soon learn how far
a real change in the policy of the State is to be
anticipated.
Every friend of the independence and progress of
Prussia will wish the Prince success. The democratic
tendencies. attributed to him we do not believe in ;
but we think that he is likely to govern more
sensibly, liberally, and constitutionally than the
present monarch. That the country expects this,
and nothing more, is, perhaps, the most satisfactory
feature of the case. We hear nothing of the rights
of man, or the unity of Germany, or the fraternity
of nations. The Prince of Prussia has shown his
dislike of such vagaries by his conduct ten years
sinee, and every one believes that if he succeeds to
the throne he will be in all these respects as Con-
servative as the most antiquated official could wish.
But, if he is not overrated, ho sees that Prussia
requires some kind of national representation and
some freedom of speaking and writing ; that the
constitution is possible, nay, necessary, and that its
working will make the Cabinet of Berlin strong in
its dealings with other States. All these are mat-
ters which, though not unimportant to us, belong
principally to the Prussians themselves. But there
is one point which concerns Europe generally, and
that is the attitude of Prussia in her relations with
foreign countries. It is reasonably expected that
the new ruler will show himself less obedient to
the Court of St. Petersburg, and more anxious to
give his country a high place in Europern concerns.
If the change of Sovereigns brings about nothing
but the revolt of Prussia against Muscovite domi-
nation it will have effected much. The Prince of
Prussia will without difficulty find men to carry
out a wiser and more courageous policy ; perhaps,
indeed, he may discover his readiest instruments
among those who are now wavering. between the
desire to worship the rising sun and their fidelity
to an antiquated and spiritless system.—Tinzes.

PHOTOGRAPHING THE COMET.

During the months preecdinF March last great
preparations were being made in the photographic
ig
hy. But, unfortunately,
ndeed obtaining
nothingany-
thing the
world to take photograapillisimopfotnetelpipatset hat
eocrobnNovinhiychofppla2o:l9;urachp
weather prevented the p
oobspstiiaobint.iul possibility
f like a satisfactory
oefolvcasurrence of events Theselvh c
h attemptsoccur
atwot nh g perpetuatespeaking
th
intervals are important, not only to
oi et
ioos caniatemnip3soerarynaastronomers, but likewise as re-
cords, that may contemporaneous
be
of
futurehanded
adowlitrfoonromtheiess.guildtanicse,
therefore, not a little surprising, that while photo-
graphers should have been so fully alive to the im-
portanCe of taking views of the eclipse of the sun,
nothing is being done at the present moment to re-
cord the visit of the brilliant long-tailed " celestial
vagabond," which nightly attracts such an amount
of attention, both from the scientific and the mass.
To take a view of the comet by means of photo-
graphy, we are of opinion that an astronomical
telescope would not be sufficient, both because the
light would be too feeble, and because the field of
view would be so very limited, not embracing more
than about a degree, while the comet extends over
nearly 30 degrees. We think that a portrait com-
bination of as large an aperture and as long focus
as could be obtained, would answer the purpose
best, if means were taken to neutralise the move-
ment consequent upon the rotation of the earth,
by mounting it equatorially, and driving it by
clockwork, or similar power, as in many astrono-
mical telescopes. It is not to be expected that per-
sons could in any moderate time fit up a camera in
this way, but there are in England many telescopes
mounted as above, and all that would be requisite
would be to fasten the camera on to the telescopic
tube, so that it could be driven by the same ma-
chinery. At present the nucleus of the comet is as
bright as a star of the first magnitude, and would
probably produce an impression on a sensitive col-
lodion plate in the fraction of a second ; but many
' minutes exposure would, doubtless, be required to
obtain an impression of its tail.—Photograi3hic
News.