The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-14 00:00:00

he the opportunity, would be as willing as be is
able to defend their rights. Still the complete
overthrow of a nation's hopes cannot take place)
without causing a signal change, and the remarks
of the Dagbladet are most opportune, and well
represent the true circumstances of the case.
That journal contrasts the present visit of
the Princess with the leave-taking of last year,
and points to the moral that is contained in the
"enthusiastic demonstrations," and the " silent
welcome.' Such facts speak for themselves, and
do not need the tongue of 'wisdom to make them
plain, nor the voice of eloquence to make them
memorable. The Dagbladet truly says that in the
expressions of delight at the departure of the Prin•
cess there was a double significance, they were
meant to celebrate not only a personal, but a
national union. Of course, in such a light, the
present moment is in every respect different, there
is the sound of mourning for the voice of rejoicing,
and the bitter feeling of disappointment for the eager
expression of hope. There are no roses to scatter
before her, because they have all been strewn
upon the tombs of the warriors who had fallen.
After perusing this epitome of the national senti.
ment, it remains to us to reflect upon the causes
that have produced such effects, and the actions
whose issues have been such deplorable conse-
quences. Why is it that Denmark is desolated,
and the young Princess returns to find the land
of her birth wrapt in a pall, and the people rem
maining panic-stricken, as it were, in the valley
of the shadow of death. Why have the nations of
the world beheld a spectacle which has renewed the
thoughts of past days of tyranny and oppression in
the history of ages gone by. There can be but one
answer to all these queries, and that is a painful
one to give. The conduct of England has been
the cause, the mainspring, and origin of the offence.
The fact is that nations, no more than
individuals, can play at power ; the strong
must show themselves willing to exert their
strength, or else it will be of no avail to those
whom they may wish to succour. It is very likely
that Earl RUSSELL and his colleagues really thought
that the moral influence of Great Britain would
have some weight in the councils of Europe, but
the event has shown how lamentably he was mis-
taken, and we are left to mourn over his mistake,
while the victims reap the bitter fruits of his inca-
pacity to think and his reluctance to act. This
subject of Denmark is an oft-told tale; but it is
true, and it cannot be too much dwelt upon. If we
are to seek the annals of the past for knowledge
the present teaches us still more and better, bat
people prefer to comment upon subjects not so per-
sonal. It will long be a sorrowful era in the annals
of England that this spoliation of Denmark should
have been permitted ; and indeed the memory of
the defalcation will remain a lasting stain upon
the fair fame of her rulers. To abandon the weak
to the strong is always a base action, but to give
up a people who had reason to trust us was indeed
dastardly, and no plausible explanation of the affair
can do anything to mitigate the nature of the evil,
or to lessen the enormity of the conduct according
to the reader of truth and honour.