The Sun.
London, England, 1835-10-21 00:00:00

"'march of intellect " :,mong his subject's that has in-
dueed him to give them, emasked, a Constitution, which
we verily believe he would not have withheld if they
had evinced the smallest desire to obtain it. His
Majesty is now in that stage of life when mortals loSe
the hope of being much longer numbered among the
living. The young Prince, his grand-nephew, who
is to succeed to the Throne in the course of time, has
l)cen guilty of acts of eccentricity, to use the mildest
term, which have given his Majesty a good deal of
uneasiness. It may be remembered that at one time
he was exiled by el-der of the King, and it was
even believed that he would be formally e, clar ed in-
competent ever to fill the Throne. Family considera-
tions, however, and perhaps the hope that the follies
of the young Prince might turn out to have been mere
ebullitions of youth, determined the King not to pro-
ceed to so harsh a measure as the act of expulsion
which was spoken of as being contelnplated. His
Majesty has, therefore, adopted the wise course, under
the still existing uncertainty of circumstances, of tying
the of his successor by means or a proper con-
trol. The coa.l7titution fixed upon for this purpose
has, therefore, been But it consists
merely in the institution of legislative assemblies. On
the Ist instant the session was opened at Copenhagen.
We give below a condensed extract from the opening
address of the King's Commissioner. It explains the
electoral system in as few words as we could put it.
The whole address is too long to be admitted into our
columns :
" Most honourable fellow-citizens—You who have been
honoured with the confidence of the King and of the coun-
try arc convoked here on an important occasion. Our be-
loved Monarch has always been aware that it is not on his
own account, but for the sake of the happiness of the people,
whose destinies have been intrusted to him, that he enjoys
the power which he has inherited from his fathers. His
Majesty has felt anxious to give to his people a new gua-
rantee of the benevolent spirit which animates his Govern-
ment by establishing a durable institution. The King did
not conceive it necessary to make any alteration in the con-
stitution under which Denmark has prospered (luring the
last 175 years ; but in reserving to himself and his descend-
ants the powers placed by our ancestors in the hands of
Frederick 111., it was the King's wish at the same time to
add to that constitution certain regulations by which both
himself and his descendants should be constantly reminded
that all their efforts ought to be directed towards the ac-
complishment of the people's happiness, which is insepa-
rable from that of the reigning King.
" His Majesty has therefore ordained that certain men,
freely chosen by their fellow-subjects, should assemble at
stated periods, in order to deliberate on the interests of the
country preparatory to the framing of Royal decrees re-
specting those interests. Such an assembly ought to be
qualified to judge of the strongest. wishes and opinions on
matters which relate to the prosperity of the country.
The preparatory labours of the Assembly will enable the
Sovereign to examine and will govern his choice. Being
desirous that his people should participate in deliberations
of general interest, his Majesty has conceived a plan which
will reconcile the wants of the country with the rights of
the citizens. The propriety of calling to the deliberations
none but men of independent circumstances, and whose in-
terests unquestionably attach them to the principles of
public order, has induced his Majesty to make landed pro-
perty the basis of eligibility. It has been far from his
thoughts, in thus qualifying men possessed of landed pro-
perty, to establish exclusions in regard to men belonging to
other classes. It is not intended that an assembly should
be formed on conditions which should exclude all but landed
proprietors as the representatives of the people. The
necessary qualification has, therefore, been so fixed as to
enable as great a number of citizens as possible to be-
come eligible. If the electoral system of this kingdom
were to be compared to that of many other States, it
would be seen that with us it rests on a broader basis
than than anywhere else. The holders of leasehold pro-
perty are included among the voters for members of the
council, though they may not be possessed of the least pro-
perty of their own. They may even become members of
the assembly, if returned by their fellow-citizens.
" It is to be observed that in our new constitution there
is no' class enjoying privileges at the expense of other classes.
The right has been granted to certain proprietors to name
representatives to the Assembly ; but that right is not to
be held in virtue of such a qualification. It has been merely
sought that there should be a country representation which
might counterbalance the strength and influence of the re-
presentatives of cities. It is with this view that the Go-
vernment has incorporated a certain number of the great
proprietors in the new Royal Council, all the members of
which possess an equality of rights and privileges. Another
peculiar feature of our new legislative forms will be found
in the power of the electors immediately to return the man
of their choice, while in other States called constitutional,
the primitive electors name other electors, who ultimately
elect the deputies." [The speaker, it seems, forgot to ex-
cept England and France when he spoke of. the " other
States call constitutional," where such an electoral system
prevails.] " The Government has taken care not to reserve
to itself any right whatever of interference in the manage-
ment of elections, and, in short, very few elective assemblies
can be compared with ours. Even your president is to
be freely elected by the members of the Chamber. This
entire and absolute confidence that the King has placed
in the excellence of the national institutions is entirely
an inspiration of his own. It is a special favour origi-
nating with himself, and which the people have therefore set
a double value upon.—Times.

Every act of the high Government confirms the oft-
repeated assertions of the enthraldom in which it is
held by the factious demagogue, who, if not actually
a member of the Privy Council, is unquestionably the
prime mover of the disgraceful proceedings against the
loyal subjects of his Majesty in Ireland. The inves-
tigation at Carlow into certain alleged acts of abuse
on the part of the military stationed in that city is one
of the most recent proofs of the shameful influence of
O'Connell. Father Maher, a Priest, having, in con-
junction with some rabid Popish adherents, sent in a
memorial to Lord Mulgrave, complaining of the con-
duct of the troops in Carlow, a rigid inquiry was at
the instigation of his Lordship entered into ; and the
result, as may be easily conceived, was the total exone-
ration of the military from the charges brought against
them. This result, however, did not suit the views. of
the disaffected Radicals, and another remonstrance was
forwarded to the Lord Lieutenant. Here the influ-
ence of O'Connell came into operation, and a Staff
Officer was actually despatched to commence a fresh
examination of all the witnesses whom the -Rornish
Priesthood could bring together through bigotry and
intimidation. On Thursday last this mockery of jus-
tice was enacted again, and, so far as the testimony of
various parties has gone up to Saturday, there can be
little doubt of the malignancy of the foul accusation
brought against the soldiers.—Morning Post.