The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-01-13

which !, surrounded him. II, heart nnira,ell,d
tons OF Britain hut the veil which Lord Beacons-
held carries wrapped up other national traditions far
which his household sod, cherished and concealed
set. forth England Asian not less tlan European
n3Wer ne means more by this than The simple TACT
European power with Asian possessions, christian
%in To lin What is 81 snssrv and 0 .a.aais s
chief and England Is essentially an Asiac powcr She
W. do not say that Lord B,aconsncld avows Is much
TIM. nor do we venture 10 define how far he deliberately
aud consciously thinks it; but the idea certainly sways
vi, ana .rpss rs roSy 1 found
c sc g@c1' i,oTes ihe t1rSasc Of The shares in
the Queen c England into the Empress India and the
policy of giVns To Turkey all tie support which his col
have lad tier osa "Refc " Lord % Mi Sd Ii:
Minister
Whatever be his motive. there Is no doubt
that the course Of action he has selected Is the
right one. The power Of tho crown in England.
Notwithstanding all its apparent limitations. is
immense, and 1t is SO mainly because it il a
moral power Having secured what seems to
be an almost unlimited influence over the
Queen. Lord Beaconsneld can practically do
Whatever he plcascs provided he takes care to
persuade Parliament and the shopkceping
classes that they will have n show forthc money
they spend. His intimacy with the Queen and
his influence over her are such that marriage
has been talked about between the widow sit
ting on the throne and the widower advising
her. That may all be poor Jest but the moment
gossip Of this sort begins to circulate with ref
crenco to n Sovereign who has been so much
respected as Queen Victoria. it becomes evident
that the Minister is not merely" shcltcring him
sclfbchind her robes. 4" but that as the French
would say. il les chiFonne.
Britain has been thus amusing himself with his
little game OF personal power. and the reaiza-
tion Of his early dreams. the Chancellor Of Rus
STA has been preparing for him a very distaste-
ful little pill. A Berlin telegram to the ran
NAL gazette says that Russia is negotiating
with the other Baltic powers for the purpose Of
prohibiting war vessels Of non Baltic powers
from entering that sea. Should Prince Gort-
chakofI succeed in this plan. il will be the wit
test possible response to Lord Beaconsfeld's
theory of England being an Asiatic power. for
If so. she has no business in the Baltic.
Tho death of Victor Emanuel has been re-
ccivcd with marks Of sincere sorrow by all the
European powers. Most of the courts at once
went INTO mourning and the marriage Of the
King OF Spain has been postponed on account
q il. The question Of where the body Of the
King is to be buried seems to have been finally
decided. The old vault II the Savoy family at
Turin IL to bc abandoned. and the Kings Of
Italy will henccforth be buried in the Pantheon
Of Rome.
When the funeral Is over and the national
sorrow II little mitiea'cd. n not unimportant
question is likely TO arise: How are the debts Of
tho late King to Doe paid? Victor Emanuel was
probably one OF the most impccunious sovcr-
cigns in Europe All his real estate is covered
with heavy mortgages. and his unsecured debts
are said TO reach an immense figure. But it
should be said here that his embarrassed nnan-
cial position was not so much due TO his cxtrav-
agance as to his liberaity. His personal tastes
were very simple. but he gave money away
freely. At the time when the Italian finances
began to be reformed. he struck 900 200 francs
on hs civil list the first step toward rctrench-
mcnt
There IL scarcely any ncws from the world OF
art and music: the season throughout Europe
has not yet fairly recovered from the Christmas
and New Year holidays. NIT.