New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-10-28

| formation, and 20 form anything nae an n'0
penden. nollt cal opinion, united INTO one mighty
pbalanx Of opposition against the existing sys-
TEN. And IN passing judgment upon the SLOW
ness of political development IN Germany, no one
ought to omit taking into account the ciihcn.'y
/ Of obtaining correct information upon any s"O-
rect in a country, where all sources OF lniorina-
| ,ion were under control Of the Government
wbere from the Ragged School and Sunday
School, 20 the Newspaper and the ohi'eisi'y'
nothing was said, taught, printed or paohsheu'
but what had previously obtained It's approoa
ton. Look at Vienna, for instance. The people
of Vienna, in industry and manufactures, second
perhaps. to none III Germany, IN spirit courage,
and revolutionary energy, proving themselves lar
superior to all were yet more Ignorant as 10 theH
real interests and committed more blunders
during the revolutions. than any others, and ms
was due in a very great measure, to the almost
absolute ignorance with regard to the very com
monest political subjects IN which Metiernlch
Government had succeeded in keeping them
II needs no further explanation why, unher
such a system, political information was an al
most exclusive monopoly of such classes OF So
clety as could afford to pay for It's being SNUG
gled INTO the country, and more particularly OF
those whose interests were most seriously at
tackled by the existing state of thlngs-namely,
the manufacturing and commercial classes
| They therefore were the first to unite In mass
| against the continuance of more or less DIS
ouised absolutism, and from their passing into
| the ranks OF the opposition must be dated the
! beginning of the real revolutionary movement IN
| Germany.
The opposItional pronunciamento OF the Ger
man Bourgeoise may be dated from lsfO from
the death Of the late King of Prussia, the last
surviving founder of the Holy Alliance OF 1878.
The new King was known to be no supporter OF
the predomnantv bureaucratic and military
monarchy of his father. What the French Md
die classes had expected from the advent OF
Louis XVI, the German Bourgeolsle hoped, IN
some measure, from Frederic William ~. OF
Prussia. It was agreed upon all hands that the
old system was exploded, worn out, and must
be given up and what had been borne IN silence
under the old King, now was loudly proclaimed
to be intolerabIe
But if Louis XVI, LoulS-le-DesIe, had
been a plain, unpretending slmpeton, half-con'
| scious of his own nullity, without any hxed
opnons. ruled principally by the habits con-
trac,ed during his education, Frederick Wal
| bam.le. Desire was something quite different
While he certainly surpassed his French original
| in weakness of character, he was neither with
ont pretensions nor without opinions. lie had
made himself acquainted, IN an amateur sort OF
way. with the rudiments Of most Sciences and
| thought himself therefore, learned enough to
| consider final his judgment upon every subject.
He made sure he was frst-rate orator and there
was certainly no commercial traveller In Berlin
who could beat him either IN proilXlty OF
pretended WI, or III iluency OF eocullon. AND
above all. he had his opinions. He hated and
dcspised the bureaucratic element OF the Prus-
sian Monarchy, hut only because all his SYM
pathles were with the feudal element Himself
one of the founders of and chief contributors to
the Berlin political weekly paper" the so-
| called Historical School, "a school living upon
the ideas OF Bonald, De MalSre, and other winters
Of the first generation of French LegltimiSts)
| he aimed AT restoration, as complete as posi-
bic. OF the predominant social position OF The
nobility. The King, first nobleman OF has realm,
surrounded ia the first instance by splendid
court of mighty vassals, princes, dukes and
| counts III the second instance. by numerous
and wealthy lower nobility; ruling according 20
his discretion over his loyal burgesSes and peas
ants and thus being himself the chief OF com
| pletc hierarchy of social ranks or castles, each
| ofwhich was to enjoy lis particular privileges
and to be separated from the others by the al
L. ,, 40 nth # nNp
inatcrabe social position the whole OF these
castles or "cstatoS of the realm" balancing each
other. At the same time, So nicely IN power and
influence, that 3 complete independence OF action
should remain to the king-such was the beau
ideal which Frederic William ~. undertook to
realize and which he is again trying to realize
at the present moment
| II took some time before the Prusslan Bour
geolsie. not very well versed In theoretical cues
tons found cut the real purport of their Kings
tendency. But what they very soon found out,
was the fact that ne was bent upon things quite
the reverse OF what they wanted. Hardly did
the new King find his "gItt of the CAB" unie,
tered 10y his fathers death, than he set abou!
| prOclalming his intentions III speeches without
| number and every speech, every act OF his
went far to eStrange from him the sympahles of
the Middle Glass lie would not have cared
much for shat If II had not been for some stern
and startling realities which interrupted his
poetic dreams Alas, that romantici>m Is not
very qulcA At accounts. and that teudalsm, ever
since Don Qulxote, reckons without us host
| Frederick William ~ paroOk too much Of that
contempt for ready cash which ever has been
| the modest inheritance OF the sons of the Cru
saders Tie found. al his accession, costly, al.
| though parsmomousy arranged system OF gov
eminent. and d moderately filled State Treasury.
! In two years every trace of surplus was spent