The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-11 00:00:00

SPIRIT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNALS,

TIMES.—The reception given to the Prince and
Princess of Wales in Denmark and Sweden deserves
recognition no less than commemoration at our
hands. The public have already learnt the principal
incidents of this remarkable progress. The succes-
sion of festivities, the exhibitions of rarities, the
display of national characteristics, and all the vari-
ous entertainments which countries so interesting
and so hospitable could offer, have been described
from day to day in these columns, but while we read
the story we should do well to reflect on the popular
spirit which such a cordiality of welcome expressed.
Not only by Kings and Princes, but by all the
people of the land—not only in Denmark, but in
Sweden too, have the illustrious visitors been re-
ceived with a fervour of kindness which no thoughts
of political difficulty were permitted to alloy. The
Princess of Wales is a Danish lady, and the alli-
ance between the royal families of England and
Denmark is of the nearest kind, but the Danes,
nevertheless, are in distress, and they might be
pardoned for believing, though the belief would be
wrong, that their distress could have been averted
by the mere will of this country. At any rate they
probably calculated on obtaining from us more sup-
port than they received, and such disappointments,
however unavoidable, are apt to leave a little anger
behind. Bat no such feeling tinged the welcome
with which the visit of the Prince and Princess was
hailed. Not if English arms had actually preserved
the Duchies for Denmark could Denmark have
shown greater or more affectionate hospitality to
her illustrious guests, while Sweden, with less obvi-
ous incentives to such demonstrations, was equally
forward in displaying them. The extension,
indeed, of the royal tour from Copenhagen
to Stockholm has produced an extraordinary ma•
nifestation of Swedish opinion, and we should be
less sensible than Englishmen are supposed to be if
we did not recognize and appreciate so friendly P
disposition on the part of a noble and distinguished
nation. Sweden was not invited to these cordial de-
monstrations of amity by the claims of a fresh alli-
ance, nor does there subsist between her and Eng-
land that traditional connexion which links us to
Denmark. It might indeed be imagined that modern
Sweden would be rather French than English in
its taste and leanings, but this Royal visit has
shown the affinity of race and congeniality of die.
position preponderate over other influences, and
that in national sympathies the Northmen are
Northman still. Sweden promptly joined handewith
Denmark in giving a welcome to England, and the
desire evinced by all classes of the nation to cultivate
the friendship of Englishmen has been remarkable
and gratifying in the extreme. It is the more re.
mailable, indeed, as being so uninvited. The pre•
sent relations of the two countries, though perfectly
amicable, involve little practical approximation.
The political intercourse is less than it was two cen•
tunes ago, commercial intercourse is comparatively
slight, and social intercourse slighter still. Even
our national passion for travel does not carry Eng.
lishmen in any number to Sweden, nor do the
singular attractions of Swedish field sports draw
many British sportsmen across the German Ocean.
Sweden is less known to us probably than Spain,
and yet there were times when even Spain was of
less importance to Europe and England than this
rugged country of Sweden. If what has happened
once may happen again, we may see the Swedes
govern the destinies of Europe. Twice, indeed,
has this part been theirs, once under Gustavus
Adolphus, and once under Charles XII., and if
the life of Charles Gustavus had been pro-
longed it is possibie that another of such
epochs might have been created. We have
talked little of Sweden lately, but at the great
settlement of Europe, in 1648, she was one of the
dispensing Powers; she counted for as much as we
ourselves did in the Triple Alliance, and in those
days her military reputation eclipsed that of most
other States. Perhaps it was from a recollection of
these traditions as well as on other grounds that the
title of Sweden to participate in European settle-
ments was recognised in 1815; but it will occur to
every reflecting reader that the nation which now
volunteers so hearty an expression of goodwill to
England is a nation the alliance of which has been
valuable in times past, and may perhaps be valuable
in times to cone. These are days when international
acquaintance can really do a good deal. It is not
that popular sympathies overrule political alliances,
but that a people like the English have the power
of effecting much apart from any political transac
tions whatever. We possess in abundance that in
which most countries are deficient—capital. We
have plenty of money, and we are equally ready to
spend or to invest it. Show us a country with strik-
ing scenery, interesting characteristics; attractive
sports, and a genial population, and our gold will
flow there in torrents. Show us a country again,
with mines, minerals, or any other species of native
wealth, and we can find the means by which that
wealth may be developed. Something of this sort
we think ought to flow from the disposition which
the Swedes have shown during this Rayal visit.
In receiving their princely guests they made open
demonstration of their feeling towards England,
and such feelings are precisely those by which
Englishmen are attracted. Perhaps we are a
little unreasonable in our travelling demands, but
we are always allured by civility and goodwill, and
this is what we have been taught to anticipate in
Sweden. Let it not be thought that popular sym-
pathies go for nothing because they are no longer
recognised as ground for war. We did not go to
war for Denmark, but if the Danes will reflect they
will sec that we did everything short of this. When
the question of the Duchies was first constituted by
the demise of the Crown, we were ready to abide
by the Treaty of 1852—more ready indeed than any
other Power. When the dispute broke out we ex•
pressed our opinion of its rights, and we gave Den-
mark advice which, if followed, would have miti-
gated the results of the strife. We did the Danes
one good turn after another at successive stages of
the quarrel, and though no party in the State would
accept the responsibility of advising war, there was
no secret made of the sympathies and feelings of the
people. We consider such sympathies as valuable,
and we look with extreme satisfaction on the na-
tional disposition of the Danes which this Royal
visit has disclosed. The people of Denmark and
Sweden may confidently assure themselves that not
a particle of their friendship has been thrown away.
We have followed step by step the progress of the
Royal pair from capital to capital, from castle to
castle, and from one public assembly to another, and
we have marked the demonstrations of affectionate
welcome with which an English Prince and Prin-
cess sere everywhere received. We have learnt
the feeling entertained towards this country in the
old kingdoms of the North, and there is enough of
Northern blood in us to render reciprocity easy, and
toinsure, we trust, a cordial and advantageous con•
nexion between States so similarly minded and so
amicably disposed.

HERALD.—If we are to give credence to reports
from the East the completion of the Suez Canal is
likely to encounter political as well as natsl ob-
structions. After having submitted the case, as
between themselves and the shareholders of the
company carrying on that undertaking, to the
arbitration of the Emperor Napoleon, the Egyptian
Government finds itself saddled with a debt of over

three millions sterling, to reimburse the company
for the restitution of a portion only of the vast con-
cession which was gratuitously granted them. The
Emperor's decision appears to have astonished and
dissatisfied the Pacha and his Ministry ; and an aps
peal is, it is said, about to be made to his justice, in
the hope of obtaining a modification of his award.
This appeal, if made, may doubtless be responded to,
and the decision so much objected to may be revised
and modified, so as to render the sacrifice to be made
less onerous to the Egyptians, even at the risk of
dissatisfying the French shareholders, who have
already accepted with acclamation, as well they
might, the result of an arbitration which at once
provides them with capital not only sufficient to corn.;
plete their undertaking, but, in addition, to replace
a very considerable portion of the funds already ex-
pended. But the disagreement between the Pacha
and the Suez Canal Company, no matter how an.
ranged, is of small importance when compared with
the " difficulty"—to use an Americanism—which
seems likely to arise between both those parties and
the Porte. The Pacha is bound by his engagements
to permit the execution of the canal, in which he
has also a large personal interest as a shareholder;
but the Ottoman Government disclaims all partici-
pation in that agreement, ignores the act of its vas-
sal, and, claiming the right to exercise its power as
suzerain, refuses to consent to any compromise
whatever, and insists on the works
in progress
being at once discontinued, although it is asserted
by M. do Lesseps—and we must suppose with
truth, for otherwise it is not likely that the
company would have been so foolish as to lay
out its money on a work attended with such great
expense without having a sufficient guarantee for
its security—that the necessary assent was
in reality obtained from the Porte before the com-
mencement of operations, through the medium of
the French government, an assertion which is now,