The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-19 00:00:00

THE WEATHER.—SUN OFFICE, OcronEß 19, 1861.
THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE.
57—highest since noon yesterday.
43—lowest this morning and during the night.
57—this_day at noon.
BAROMETER-30.02.
WlND—Easterly—light, with fine weather. Heavy fogs
in the mornings.

Every now and then, one meets with a pedant
who, in conversation, pulls you up for using a word
inconsistently with its etymology—" atonement"
must mean at-one-ment, and merchantman a man
who is a merchant—and for both these asser-
tions he will appeal to the infallible authority of
our "venerable translation of the Scriptures."
All we can do is to get away to another part
of the room as soon as we decently can, and
pity those who cannot manage to escape. Since
the time, however, of the English SOLOMON, we
have not been bored with a pedant on the throne;
that nuisance seems to be reserved for that great
maritime Power of the future, Prussia. A
Prussian SOLOMON has at last ascended the
throne—unhappily, like the English SOLOMON,
only in his antiquated pedantry, not in his aversion
to bloodshed. It was the same WILLIAM 1., who,
as Crown Prince, after joining the despots in 1849
in putting down the German Parliament, shot by
the score, in cold blood, the officers and soldiers of
the garrison of Rastadt, which had surrendered
trusting unhesitatirgly to his honour. That honour
was satisfied by awarding them a soldier's death ;
an honour conferred not only on soldiers, but on
Professors and Mathematicians who preferred a
German Parliament to the unqualified absurdity of
government by right divine.

We have little doubt his Majesty would repeat
the same process with,great pleasure if opportunity
offered, which, however, is not very likely ; nations
having learned a quieter way of puzzling their
despotic masters, and saving them the pleasure of
shooting their patriots. So, this KING by the
grace of bullets, takes to lecturing the country on
his " Kingship by the grace of GOD." The two are
no doubt perfectly compatible. The bullet is Xing
WILLIA➢I'S God. He holds his throne by virtue of
it. But for the bullet, he would never have deli-
vered his lecture yesterday on Grace. He would
have had, at least, to have given quite anotherr turn
to his homily Royal. He would have had the re-
presentatives of a really constitutional kingdom to
address, and the interpretation of the old formula
must have been the same which constitutional
countries put upon it. We, in England, retnin the
formula, but we know what we understand
by it, and so do our monarchs ; and since
JAMES 11. bid farewell to the shores of
our island, no sovereign has challenged
his subjects by explaining to them that the
crown was GOD'S gift to him, not theirs. Woe
to the Ministry that dared to advise such a
speech, perhaps to the monarch who dazed to
deliver it.

How the old formula first came into vogue
we are not antiquarians enough to know with
certainty. 'We only know that it is quite :a per-
version of the famous passage of the Apostle
PAUL which has been the stock quotation of all
the Divine Right school from the time when
that miserable dogma began. The Apostle, guile-
less of any design beyond that of wishing the few
Christians of the time to bear with patience the
rule of such heathen governors as might anywhere
exist, merely pointed out that like earthquakes.
and storms, they were ordained by GOD, and. that,
at the worst, the ordination of Government dis-
couraged evil doers and encouraged the good. It
was no part of PAUL'S doctrine, however, that the
CALIGULAS and lei Enos of the Roman Empire ruled
by the " Grace of GoD." He, like all sensible
men of his time, must have regarded them as the
scourge of GOD rather; as the indications of his
anger rather than of his favour; of the grace or
favour he certainly said, as he certainly thought,
nothing.

We confess, therefore, to something like a shock
at
comsubeinher
of niu
as that
public profanity and Pharisaism
the
inspired?aKing of PRUSSIA. Who
told him that he is
gift of GOD'SHisde factofavoicrsutocctehse
Prussip.ns ? Is he.
sion to the crown, we may believe to be of Divine
ordination, in the same sense as that of Louis
NAPOLEON'S to the throne of France, or that of the
"King of the Cannibal Islands" to his honours ;
but we must be excused from taking the word of
the man who murdered, by the mummery at courts
martial, the patriots of 1849, that he is any special
Divine blesf,ing to the loyal Prussians, lie is as
good a king as they deserve we doubt not. A
people who have none of the habits of
self-goverament, who seem to case for no
freedom, but that of their tongues, and
not much for that, are as well off as they need
be with a King whose formal announcement to
their representatives is that they may "advise
him, and he will listen to their advice"—as to

following it, that is, of course, quite another
question.
The first King of PRUSSIA and the first NAPO-
LEON acted, no doubt, like sensible men in
putting the crown on their own heads ; so far,
every despotic monarch would make his actions
and the facts agree. King WILLIAM crowned
himself, and rightly enough, since, at the head of
a large army, his "right there was none to dis-
pute." But, to our thinking, had he taken the
crown from a drumhead, it would have been more
in keeping than to have taken it from the altar,
and then proceeding to expound his humility in so
doing. A really strange kind of humility this !
The humility of first declaring himself Heaven's
favourite, and then, for that reason, a despot !
a man whom his people might advise, but who
was responsible to GOD, not to them ! Those
religious sects who believe themselves Heaven's
special favourites, have, in the eyes of others, not
been remarkable for " humility," but rather for
intolerable and profane self-conceit; and why
Kings who hold the same notion should not be
remarkable for the same vice, it is hard to say.
In the present case there can be little room for
doubt. The humble King who thanks GOD that
he is not as other men are, but a special Heavenly
favour to his kingdom, makes it the ground of the
most selfish and worldly ambition—that of being an
absolute monarch.

To Englishmen the country which has to put up
with all this mingled charlatanry, mediasvalism,
royal arrogance, and profane mockery of the Deity,
itself, to sanction their p olitical enslavement, is a
humbled country. The better, however, they like
it, so much the lower do they sink in the scale of
nations. Ask any Englishman at this day which
stands highest in his regard—Hungary or Prussia
—he will give three cheers for the Hungarians,
at the mention of Prussia he will be unable to
restrain a sneer. Think of Hungarians allowing
a King to lecture them in. the style assumed by the
Prussian King ! Even the Emperor of AUSTRIA
himself would hardly venture on that, he would be
sure enough of receiving another of those un-
manageable missives from the pen of M. DEAR, of
which he desires, to receive as few as possible. We
quite expect to see the Prussians take it all as
meekly as possible. Whet care they, so long as
they can smoke, and drink, and speculate, and
philosophise, and sing their national air, "I am a
Prussian !" on which, after the Coronation, an
Englishman's or Hungaria.n's remark would cer-
tainly be—" And rather you than I."

A few useful hints may be taken from Mr.
EWART'S retrospect of the last Parliamentary
session, in his recent speech to his constituents.
The honourable gentleman is one of the most prac-
tical and laborious and steady-going among our
representatives. He is not often idle himself during
session, nor is he ready in any way to connive at
the idleness of others. Whenever he speaks in the
House of Commons—not always the case this with
those who take part in its discussions—he has some-
thing to say ! Generally he has some very useful or
thoughtful proposition to make in regard to what
is just then before the House—a suggestion always,
whatever may be its particular advisability under
the circumstances—at any rate worth looking into.
He labours assiduously whenever he has the chance
of doing so upon committees. He is almost invariably,
we may say—we are tempted even to say he is in-
variably in favour of the most liberal and enlight-
ened views, whether in reference to details or in
respect to generalities. All things considered,
therefore! it is by no means likely to prove waste of
time to note what Mr. EWART has to say about a
dead and gone session of Parliament—knowing
well that his design is to derive as much as possible
from the retrospect in the way of light that may
guide us onwards judiciously into the future,' ena-
bling us to pick our steps, so to speak, wisely and
well among the pitfalls prepared, according to
il
wont, for the next session of Parliament.

Now, for example : might not the Irish members
wisely take a very useful hint, indeed, from one
passingremark made by the member for Dumfries to
his constituents, as to a habit there is in vogue
among the Scotch members, of which group of
" canny " representatives Mr. EWART is one. He had
just enumerated some of the lost and won Scotch mea-
sures of last session when this suggestive intimation
Was quite casually thrown out. He reminded his
hearers that to many of the bills introduced by
the Lord-Advocate he had given his cordial sup-
port, some of those bills not, however, being sue- ,
cessful : the Road Bill fell by the wayside," said
Mr. EWART, "and the Salmon Fisheries Bill was
lost in the troubled waters of legislature ; but some
did survive—for instance, the School Bill, the
County Registration Bill, and others. To the
School Bill," the honourable gentleman observed,
" he had rejoiced to give his support, wishing to bet-
ter the condition of the schoolmasters of Scotland,
but he did not think the bill went far enough. The
County Registration Bills were also supported by
him." Now came that casual intimation which we.
cannot but regard as suggestive of a very useful
hint to the Irish Representatives. Mr. EWART
remarking, in effect, that "The Scotch members
had a very practical way of settling their subjects of
legislation," and then adding, " The Irish mem-
bers were very fond of making long speeches, and
sometimes, he might say, not very quiet or com-
posed or collected; but the Scotch members assem-
bled and held a kind of Scotch Parliament; they
discussed their measures before they were introduced
into the House of Commons, and then they were
generally passed unanimously." Might not the
Irish members act henceforth upon this hint ? Or,
do they shrink from the mere experiment, that
Happy Family !—fearful, it may be, of the tragical
fate of the Kilkenny cats ?
Another and a totally different theme touched
upon by Mr. EWART, in his recent address to his
Dumfries constituency, is, we conceive, especially
entitled to consideration. Reference is here made
to hie comments upon that important Committee of
last session upon which the hon. gentleman was
himself engaged, the Committee which it was
hoped might have done so much towards the facili-
tation of the business of the country in the Com-
mons House of Parliament. The member for Dum-
fries reminded his hearers that, in regard to the
labours entrusted to that Committee, he had himself
ventured to make a " proposition which he hoped
would be acceded to, and he thought it would—
that one night in the week of the time of the House
of Commons might be devoted to the serious busi-
ness of the country—that is, that one night in the
week might be given to the public estimates, which
was perhaps the most important public business they
had to transact. Ho hoped," he said, " that they
might see more rational hours in the House of Com-
mons, and, as with other labouring men there are
tihnetihr
el aibieounis, se,
ohfechoompme dont hs
asnadm
\ fixed hours in which they begin and terminate
tehmatigthhetybwe
no more of that • " othueldesaesee
irrational midnight, or indeed early
morning legislation to whi •
ch they had been too long
accustomed." Aspirations
the manes of poor Mr. 13RoTIIERTON ! It is beyond
any doubt a most ludicrous anomaly in the sessional
habits of our Legislature that the benches of the
British House of Commons are chosen lounges for

.
ri:,.lV, ..-V.t.\
'l4el ''''
0' CU I. 04
' • ,",
.. , pi, ~... ' ---.'7.r , , I•)( 0 , ' .
„6-Fair ,‘,
vez..r.‘
... t ,
--.0 -••••

THE SUN.
LONDON, SATURDAY, OCT. 19, 1861.