The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-31 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 31, 1866.

upon the acts of a foreign Power acting with full
independence, and he stated that he could only re-1
ceive any communication as simple information. At
any rate, we may congratulate the French Govern-
ment upon the wise decision it has come to upon
this difficult subject ; and it is a question of general
as well as of particular interest, for it would have
been very disastrous if a war had broken out at
this period between France and the United States,
and all the nations of Europe would have found
themselves in very awkward positions.

Prussia seems determined to lose no opportunity
of manifesting its utter indifference to the good
opinion of the rest of Europe, and its supreme con-
tempt for all the rights and usages of constitutional
Governments. The last news from Berlin is, that
the proposal of the State-Procurator to institute

proceedings against D eputiesTwEsTENiand FRE UGE
for their speeches in the Diet, whieh was rejected
by the Courts of First Instance, upon the ground
that "by the Constitution members cannot be called
to account for their speeches in the Chamber," has
been acceded to by the Supreme Court. That
tribunal has decided that such a charge can be en-
tertained. Can anything be more subversive of
popular rights than this, and does not such a deci-
sion accord with the most extreme principles of
absolutism ? What will be the use of the Chambers
meeting at all, if all that is done and said by inde-
pendent members must be subjected to the scrutiny
of a legal tribunal ? And how can the people expect
that their representatives will speak out if
they are to be pounced upon by the emis-
saries of the law, and called upon to account
for their honest expressions of opinion as if they were
guilty of crimes, or, at all events, of grave offences,
against the peace and welfare of their country ?

The fact is, that the time is fast approaching
when it will be necessary for the Prussians to de-
cide if they intend to remain an independent nation,
or if they are willing to fall back some generations,
and to return to the old days of absolute will and
blighted prospects. The consequence of the war
with Denmark has been that Herr VON BISMARCK
has proceeded with giant strides in his mis-
chievous course, and has all but subverted the
constitution of the country over which he has ruled
with such discredit to himself and such injury to
those under him. If some decided stand be not made
during this session, the Prussian representatives will
find themselves completely stultified, and perhaps by
next year the sapient and sinister Director of Public
Affairs may discover that it is idle to call the Cham-
bers together at all, and that it is an antiquated
ceremony which may be very well done away with
altogether.
Another most shameful act of the Prussian autho-
rities has been that they have commenced new pro-
ceedings against Dr. MAY, and although the Lower
Court acquitted him on the charge of having pub-
lished articles against the King of PRUSSIA in the
Schleswig-Holstein Gazette of Altona, the Superior
Criminal Court, on the appeal of the public prose-
cutor against this decision, has resolved that
" General GABLENZ, Austrian Governor of Hol-
stein, be requested to order the arrest of Dr. MAY,
and have him transported to Berlin." This is a
test of the Austrian Government, and it is greatly
to be desired that they should stand firm and hold
their own against the subtle encroachments and
overbearing insolence of the Berlin authorities. If
the Emperor of AUSTRIA permit the General
to deliver up Dr. MAY to the tender
mercies and lucus non lucendo justice of Prussian
Courts, he will expose himself to the scorn and
contempt of all the independent nations of the
world, besides doing a great injustice to the indi-
vidual in question. In every respect the delivering
up of Dr. MAY to the Superior Criminal Court of
Berlin will be a most suicidal policy, and one uni-
versally to be deplored. It seems as if Herr VON
BISMARCK'S notion now was to vent his rage and
disappointment at the failure of his Schleswig-
Holstein plot upon all against whom he can find a
pretext for dispute, according to the fashion of the
wolf and the lamb in the fable.