The Sun.
London, England, 1857-11-03 00:00:00

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THE HEIRS TO TLIE PRUSSIAN THBONII

(From the Morning Advertiser.)
The heir-direct to the Prussian crown is the bro-
ther of the actual ruler, and known under the name
of the Prince of Prussia. In years he is almost as
far advanced as the King himself, the age of the two
being respectively 62 and nearly 61. But as regards
physical health and firmness of purpose, there is a
striking difference between them, the Prince of
Prussia being by far the more vigorous. In dispo-
sition, also, there could not well be a wider dissimi-
larity than that presented by Frederick William IV.
and his brother William—the one leaning to artis-
tic, and even literary tastes, a lover of art, and
friend of the choice spirits of the chisel and the pa-
lette, giving his despotism a Maecenas-like colour-
ing ; while the ideas and intelligence of the other
have never soared beyond the confines of the bar-
rack-yard. However, apart from this difference and
predilections, the political views of the two relatives
are the same. The liberty of the people has found an
equal enemy in both. Frederick William, in carry-
ing out his notions of " right divine," has chosen
to adopt a mediaeval type, and has sought to pre-
sent himself before the world as a crowned St.
George, doing battle with that terrible dragon, the
revolutionary sentiment. The Prince of Prussia,
en his part, has not taken the trouble to idealise
his hatred to free institutions in such poetical garb.
He does not care to don the romantic armour of
the Templar, but contents himself with the more
practieal uniform of a Russian General. Yet,
though thus differently arrayed, the King and
Prince as we have before said, still are in perfect
accord on the great point of trampling down the
liberties of the people. Whether the one carry out
this fell purpose with the " rods," and the other
with the "scorpions," cau be of but little import
to the victims themselves.
There are some politicians, pinning their faith on
the protestations of Crown Princes, who allege that
the Prince of Prussia has become a convert to con-
stitutionalism ! The whole life of Prince Wiliam,
however, speaks in language most unmistakeable
against any such assumption ; for, if there is any
oue being in Prussia more intensely Royalist
than the King, . it is unquestionably the
Prince of Prussia. No reactionary design was
ever concocted in the Castle at Berlin, but in it the
Crown-Prince took a leading part. No liberal
movement was to be overthrown, but he urged the
most violent measures against the defenders of free-
dom. When, in 1847, the King was forced by pub-
lic opinion to grant at least some shadow of consti-
tution the only person that refused to swear to it
was the Prince of Prussia. It required a special
order of the King, in his capacity as Commander-
in-Chief of the army, to overcome the Prince's
stubborn resistance. In 1848, at the outbreak of
the popular rising, the Prince advised the adoption
of a sanguinary terrorism against the insurgents
for liberty. To his evil council is it to be attri-
buted that Berlin was converted into a slaughter-
house. And had his opinions prevailed to the end,
the Court would have withdrawn from the capital
to the east of the kingdom, there to call in the aid
of a Russian army ! These, we opine, are but sorry
indications of " constitutional predilections."
During his subsequent exile in this country,
courtly intrigues at Berlin were to some extent
held in abeyance. But no sooner had he been
allowed to return than the coup d'etat of Nov.,
1848, came closely on his heels. In the following
yofeacro,mthmeanPdreitricoefotfhPerusarsmiay, nopomeriantaintegdaaitgotnh4et posttlie
popular movemen in B aden, dislad in that
auspices acts of cruelty were committed against
re ea cpeanc itt y
timesa byferocity
eedosnloyf theecirleplpoeydsye . Uinndmerohries
helpless prisoners which find fitting counterparts
in the mo=t horrible scenes of the Indian mutiny.
At his orders shooting, flogging, and torturing
went on till the soil of south-western Germany was
saturated with blood and tears, and Baden re-
sembled the Netherlands after the reaction of the
Duke of Alba. Such were, but a few years ago,
the " constitutional practices" of the Prince of
Prussia.
Since then he has continued playing the part of
an evil spirit in the councils of the King, little as
that arch-despot was in want of Macchiavallistio
advice. In the Neufchatel question, to take a
more recent example, it was again the Prince who
urged, both in the Royal cabinet and in public, the
immediate commencement of a war against Switzer-
land? Thus, on every great occasion, we behold
him the leader of reaction. It requires an infatua-
tion bordering on imbecility to believe that an ab-
solutist character of this obduracy would at the age
of 61, suddenly become a convert to the idea he has
steadily striven during a long lifetime to root out
with the edge of the sword and to drown in a sea of
blood.
As for the son of the Prince of Prussia, who
would next mount the Throne after the demise or
abdication of his father, there are but few public
acts from which to draw an inference of his pro-
bable conduct. So much however is known, that
those who had the forming of his mind, the pre-
cTtors of his early education, have not failed to
impress him with the necessity of struggling against
the " demon" of liberty. His tutors—man of the
school of Haller and Stahl—have taught him to
look to the Right divine of Kings as the only peli-
Coal power having a legitimate existence. They
have imbued him with the notion that the chief
duty of a sovereign is to lead back the people to
that patriarchal creed, and to spare no effort for
erha
restoring everywhere the principle of " true mo-
narchial government." It may be, pps, that on
his accession the young Prince Frederick William
would somewhat relax the iron gripe his father and
uncle have placed upon the people. Yet in the main
he would continue the old system, just as has been
done in Austria by that " promising young Sove-
reign," Francis Joseph, whom an English courtier
once pronounced "the hope of his country." Even
as the hopeful Hapsburg Emperor continues—nay,
sometimes even exceeds—the policy of his prede-
cessors by the oppression of nationalities and the
pandering to Popish influences, so the young Prus-
sian Prince, too, would in allprobability continuethe
present despotic system, though perchance under
different colours. The fact is, the royal races of Ger-
many and the Continent ingeneral, have learqnutetsoo
re-
Bard the people over whom they rule as their natural
Dan
enemies. Whatever changes, therefore, may occur
in the personal government of Prussia, the ti
remainsy,
—s h,
we roe tporfionreei,p
loenseboe
between
which there c
never be a compromise.