The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-21 00:00:00

Commence at 7.

.
thwigs he has indirectly elicited a formal contradic.

,ou from the French EMPEROR'S Government

hrough the columns of the Moniteur, A formal

contradiction, that is, of the rumours (originated
solely by Mr. GLADSTONE'S interference) about
the EMPEROR having required the virtual

extradition of GARIBALDI from England,

as a preliminary to the participation by France

n this Dano-German Conference here in

London ! And not only that contradiction of
the statements put forth in this idle rumour, that

explicit contradiction of these statements in behalf

of his Majesty NAPOLEON 111. in the columns
of the Moniteur, but other contradictions here

among ourselves in both Houses of Parliament by

divers of Mr. GLADSTONE'S nwn Ministerial col.

esgues in the Government! The Prime Minister's

denial of the truth of these reports in the House of Com-
mons! Denials of them equally emphatic in the House
of Lords by that new member of the Cabinet, the
Earl of CLARENDON, ostensibly mere Chancellor of
the Duchy of Lancaster, but in reality travelling

Envoy Extraordinary ! A statesman who is prepared
at any moment to open negotiations of the utmost
delicacy, at any crisis in our foreign policy that
may arise, now with this Sovereign, now with

hat, just as the occasion of the moment may seem

the most urgently to require ! Not only has Mr.

GLADSTONE'S vexatious over zeal in the matter of
GARIBALDI'S health, moreover, carried this confu-
sion into the councils of the Allied Governments,
compelling the Moniteur to speak out plainly in
the name of the EMPEROR'S Government, obliging
the Prime Minister of England to do the like in
the House of Commons, and constraining the Earl of
CLARENDON, similaily, in the House of Lords, but—
outside these higher circles in France and England,
there imperial, here ministerial—what confusion
has he not caused, is he not still causing, for
that matter, this Marplot-Right Honourable,
this Busybody-Chancellor of the Exchequer!
Setting the very surgeons by the ears in direct
contradiction of each other Professor FEE-
GUSSON and Dr. BASILE telling tales the most
different that well could be about GARIBALDI'S
health. It is all nonsense, we believe, as to the
precarious state of that health being the one sole
reason for GARIBALDI'S departure being thus sud-
denly precipitated. We are as certain, in our own
minds, that it is just as preposterous to regard that
as the one sole reason, as it is, as it ever has been,
to look upon this abrupt change in the plans laid
down for GARIBALDI as attributable in any way
to an underhand arrangement between the French
and English Governments. The latter proposition
was, indeed, altogether too ridiculous from the very
first mention of it to be seriously argued for one
single moment. And so, with the utmost possible
respect for the highest professional opinion in the
land, we are firmly convinced that the reported
ill-health of GARIBALDI offers no sufficient
explanation for his hasty departure. In
order to recognise the fallacy of which rumours,
it is only necessary, indeed, to glance at the
man himself. Crippled he is by the after effects
of that bullet-wound in his foot the wound
caused not by a French, but by an Italian, bullet.
But as to his health—well, look at him ! Within
the last day or two he is stated to have de-
clared himself up to any exertion of the
kind supposed to be before him, until Mr.
GLADSTONE thus officiously interposed between
the Hero and the Hero-Worshippers! Read
what GARIBALDI'S own surgeon, Dr. BASILE,
says of his patient's capabilities for whatever ex-
ertion in this way might have been required. How-
ever—the over-zealous Minister of the Crown,
here referred to, the one who must needs
interfere in the matter (as if it concerned him in
the least !) has thought otherwise. And so it
has suddenly fallen out that Mr. SEELY and the
Duke of SUTHERLAND, and the rest of the more pro-
minent among the band of Hero Worshippers, have
had their pet plans interfered with all of a sudden
most vexatiously. The transformation of things in
this way being so sudden and so strange upon the
face of it all—seeing that the mover in the whole
matter (the mover in it, moreover, thus, on the sly), is
no other than a Cabinet Minister, and a Cabinet Mi-
nister too, as important as the Right Hon. the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer the transformation of
things has been 80 sudden, we repeat,
end so strange—that constructions the most
sinister, open oat of it all, on both sides of
the Channel, and, for a moment, fairly overshadow
the two Governments! Why can't they leave it alone?
—these public man, eaten up with over zeal—men
like Mr. STANSFELD, Mr. LOWE, and Mr. GLAD -
STONE, Ministers of the Crown, big and little,
good, bad, and indifferent.

MI SS BATEMA N.-L E A 11.-THth
EVENING and EVERY EVENING.—Miss Bateman
will re-appear in her great impersonation of the Jewish
maiden until further notice. In order ,o give due effect to
this most remarkable succes4 of the season, endre,y new
scenery by the celebrated artists Messrs. Uanson and r ons,
and Thompson. New dr, saes and appointments have be. n
prepared for its production.—N. rt. In consequence of the
messing and numerous applications at the Isox-offt :e, ar-
-,ingements have now been •nacle by which Seats m y be ob-
a Fortnight in Advan, e.

ROYAL STRAND THEATRE.
Manager, Mr. W. H. Swanborough.
THIS EVENING, MY PRESERVER.
after which, the l'a cony Scene from ROMEO AND
JULIET. MLses Swanborough and Wilton.
Followed by the Fifth Act of MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S
DREAM.
Concluding with the Great Burlesque, ORPHEUS AND
EURYDICE : Messrs. Honey, Wood, James Fenton ; Mes-
dames Swanborough, Marie Wilton, Hughes, &a
Commence at'.

ROYAL ST. JAMES'S THEATRE, under the
Management of Mr. B. WEBSTER.
Re-engagement of those celebrated artistes, Mr. and Mrs.
C. Mathews. _The greatly successful new Comedy every
Evening.
THIS EVENING, A DAY AFTER THE WEDDING.
Mr. F. Robinson and Miss Herbert.
At a quarter before 8, the THEEsuessul new Comedy b
L. Buckingham, Esq., entitled SILVER LINING:
bin Charles Mathews, Mr. F. Robinson, Mr. Ashley, Mr.
Montague ; Mrs. Charles Mathews, Mrs. Frank Matthews,
Miss A. Cottrell, Miss Wentworth, and Mrs. Stirling.
After which, COOL AS A CUCUMBER. Mr. Charles
Mathews.
To conclude with UNDER THE ROSE : Mr. Ashley and
'Sias A. Cottrell

Commence at 7.

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Marquis'. 26s. per ton. Double.. 21s. per ton.
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JOHN SCOTT, Sole Agent.

rrIHE THtftl) EDITION OF " rHE SUN,"
1 Containing the Latest SPORTING INTELLIGENCE,
Dan he had Every Evening of
G. R. GLhNIE, NETTS AGENT,
No. 4, Connaught-terrace, Hyde-park.

Again the bombardment of Sonderborg has been
thrust upon the attention of the noble earl the
Secretary for Foreign Affairs. Again has Lord
RUSSELL returned a most unsatisfactory reply to
the very natural and pertinent inquiry addressed to
him by the Earl of MaLeassußY. He admits, it is
true, now that the affair has become the common
talk of the day, that the Prussians have acted with
unwarrantable barbarity, he even goes so far as to
declare that the conduct of his revered and cherished
allies " must remain under the reprobation of
civilised nations," but along with this more decided
and straightforward denunciation comes the morti-
fying admission that the English Government has
taken no official steps in the natter ! Such a con-.
fession comes with a very bad grace from the mini-
ster who, a short time since, when pressed for in-
formation on the subject, declared he would not
trust to the accuracy of casual reports, but would
wait for regular official intelligence. It now ap-
pears that such official intelligence is not to be
granted to an ally held so cheap as England. Prus-
sia, the spoiled favourite of our Foreign Office, is
not in a humour to submit to remonstrances, and
lectures especially when the glory of the heroic
slaughter of women, children, and wounded is fresh
upon her. Lord MALXESBURY, in his brief resume
of the matter, reminded the House that the German
papers pretended that there were an arsenal and 1
manufactories, or stores of arms in the unfortunate
little town. It is extremely improbable that they
were not better informed. Thanks to that admix-
ture of the German element in the Danish popula-
tion which has given rise to all these complications,
the invaders are, without doubt, pretty accurately
acquainted with the military arrangements of the
other side. But even admitting this pretext as an
excuse for the bombardment, it offers no miti-
gation whatever to the cruelty of withholding
the customary notice. According to all the
accsunts received from private sources,as well as the
more public channels of intelligence, the twenty-
four hours' warning to nen-combatants, which it is
the recognised practice of all civilised nations to
give, was entirely omitted, and a more general
notice of the possibility of each an event was given
some time before. The Prussians apparently are
not ambitious of being reckoned among civilised
nations, since one important alga of civilisation has
always been that it softens the horrors of war, that
it shrinks from the brutality, the cruelty, the mean
advantage over an enemy which darken the hostili-
ties of savage nations, and bids brave men and
sagacious generals hold honour above success. Our
friends of Berlin, however, are trouble by no such
scruples. They have not changed f r the better
since the days when, as the Earl 0 DERBY the
other night reminded ue, the inh inanity and

'UM SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL 21, 1864.

Lave not the foresight to acknowledge when they
are in the wrong, nor the grace to admit that they
have been grossly deceived. It is not enough to
adroit tacitly that the wrong has been done; we
want something more explicit, more downright,
and more hearty and honest in its tone. The reply
of the Attorney-General to Lord H. CECIL was cer-
tainly about as strange a thing in its way as any-
thing that we can remember. Tire noble lord has
taken up this question with the zeal end assiduity
which have greatly distinguished him this session
in all matters of moment. He made his inquiries
in a decided and straightforwai d style, and he
certainly was not met in a kindred spirit. The
Attorney-General made a most confused and ram-
bling statement, which did not appear to have any
cohereLcy or consistency in it at all, He began by
informing the House that when he used the word
" unquestionable" regarding the said document, he
only meant that as he had never heard anything to
contravene its accuracy, he concluded it to be
a genuine document. It cannot be surprising to
anyone who reads the debate to notice that some
laughter was excited by the avowal of the Attorney-
General that, "in his simplicity," he came to the
foregoing conclusion. To arrive at this opinion,
however, some very remarkable phases had to be
gone through. In the first place he did not hear
any suggestion touching the authenticity of the
document, then lee was ignorant of the form in
which such documents are presented to Congress,
and, lastly he was not aware that an opinion had
been expressed against its validity. Such ignorance
and such credulity continued come very strangely
from one of the legal profession, to say the least of
it. It must appear also that it is not the way to be
successful in discriminating facts to take ail asser•
tions for granted on one side, and not to heed any
adverse opinions on the other. After so unpropi-
tious an experiment the Attorney-General had
better change his tactics on the next occasion. It
is not very creditable to the character of our Go-
vernment that they have not discernment enough
to detect an imposition toned upon them by the
instrumentality of the moat unworthy motives, and
it says little for their public spirit that they cannot
resent such an injury when it is inflicted on them.
If they really were imposed upon it seems extra.
ordinary that they cannot denounce those who
palmed the fraudulent emanation upon them ; it
car. scarcely be that their infatuation has reached to
such a point that they prefer to bo the willing vic-
tims of falsehood rather than the independent states.
men who cast aside all political predilections, and
party prejudices, in order that the majesty of truth
may be vindicated, and right and reason reign
supreme.