The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-15 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

Post—No other country in the world has made
the progress that has in the last few years been
realised by Egypt. The trade and the revenue in
the Valley of the Nile are increasing, not only bc..
yond comparison of any other State at the same
uncture, but beyond almost any other example
that we can meet with in the reliable returns of
previous times. Indeed, the sober tables that
emanate from the Board of Trade are evidently
quite astonished at this exception to. their usual
rule of steady and moderate increase. Much of this
rush, so to speak, of Egyptian pro3rerity is due to
the demand which has sprung up for cotton etr'r'
3ut it deca not lit vgether depend
upon that couree. Before the cotton demand arose,
or the American civil war had begun, Egypt was
still one of the most rapidly augmenting countries

in the world. The long rule of old Mehemet Ali
had been productive, on the whole, of immense bene-
fits, although they were countervailed by consider-
able evils. From efter the military events ending
with the settlement of 1840, this prince raised Egypt.
to be a permanently pacific and gradually a civilised
country. He opened to it all the wealth that the
maritime communication between Europe and India
could afford ; and thus Egypt regained, under him,
much of the ascendant that in the middle ages it
had porseesed before Vasco di Gama doubled the
Cape, But he maintained such a restrictive system
of commerce, and so monopolised to the Government
all the departments of trade, that he was said to be
the chief baker, butcher, and corn dealer throughout
his dominions. With his death this cld-fashioned
system broke down. His successors, who have each
had bat a short leese of power, adopted a compara-
tively liberal course, and left trade more or less to

itself. A great further development of prosperity
rewarded this liberality, and the increasing demand
for cotton which has since arisen has completed the
present extraordinary impetus to Egyptian trade.
Egypt, as a wealthy, fruitful, and producing coun-
try, has stood the test of time more than any other
country in the world. Our authentic records of it
go back for nearly four thousand years; and we find
it still the same granary of the nations in communi-
cation with it that it is now ; the sons of Jacob sent
thither for corn 18 centuries before the Christian
era, just as we are sending there for cotton 18 cen-
turies after it. The fertility of the Valley of the Nile
has never failed; and nothing but war, which has
been of rarer occurrence in Egypt than in any other
country, has ever interrupted its harvests. Egypt,
too, is remarkable for the characteristic identity that
it has preserved amid all surrounding revolutions,
whether in dynasty or in religion. In all ages of its
history it has been one and indivisible. Whether it
were the old religion still recorded on its ancient
monuments, whether it:were Christianity, or whether
it were Mehometanisra—whether governed by
Greeks, Romans, Arabs, or Turks—the same fruitful
and productive Egypt has still survived, and seems,
strangely enough, to suffer nothing by each revolu-
tion. No country in the world ever approached it
for its intrinsic stability or its imperturbable pros-
perity. The population of the Egyptian Vice-
royalty—another name for a tributary monarchy—
is between five and six millions. The taxation even
before the cotton demand arose, was nearly twenty
shillings a heed ; and the revenue amounted to
nearly £5,000,000. The increase of production
now, of course, yields under the same pressure of
taxation, a considerably larger public income. The
trade of the country, too, is so balanced between the
domestic and the external that it may be said to
rely equally on home and foreign support. Tne
increase of tonnage in ships entered and cleared in
the ports of Alex indria and Su_z appears to have
averaged for some years past about 15 per cent. per
annum. With regard to the increase in our own
demand for cotton, the recent tables of the Board of
Trade furnish rather striking indications. We
have before us the tabular views for the seven
months ending the 31st of July, in the three last
years respectively. In 1862, the cotton importsd
into the United Kingdom from Egypt was
396,000 cwt.; in 1863, it was 560,000 cwt. ; and in
1864 it amounted to 796,000 cwt.—the latter figure
being at the rate of about 1,400,000 cwt., or 70,000
tons of cotton in the whole year. This is equivalent
to 300,000 bales ; which, being sold in Liverpool at
£5O per bale at the least, represent a trade of
£15,000,000 with this country alone in cotton. The
other princieal countries in trading communication
with Egypt are France, Austria, Italy, Tuikey,and
Syria; and the export of cotton from Egypt to these
countries is increasing in a corresponding degree, so
that the national income of Egypt from the sale of
its productions to European countries is becomine,
something enormously large, and quite incalculable
for the future. We are glad to observe that the
counterpart of the picture is not wanting. Egypt is
freely importing British produce in return for the
cotton which we are taking of her. We have before
us the tables of the "declared" value of the produce
of the United Kingdom exported to Egypt during
the first six months of the '_ast three years. This
value for 1862 was £953,000 ' • for 1863 it was
£1,898,000; and for 1864 it was £3,031,000. These
figures are equivalent for the whole year to some-
thing under 12,000,000 in 1862, under £4,000,000
in 1863, and above £6,000,000 in 1864. Although
the balance of trade is still considerably against us
in Egypt, even at the prices at which cotton is
sold by the growers for the Liverpool market, it is
clear that a great reciprocal trade has sprung up
between the two countries ; and this is perhaps the
best guarantee for its darabiiity. The cotton which
has been imported into this country from Egypt,
during the present year, is nearly four times the
amount that has been sent here from Brazil, and
nearly eight times what has reached us from the
United States. It represents, in fact, one-fifth of
the whole import to this country from all parts of
the world, the largest shipments being, of course,
made by India, which has a population 30 times
that of Egypt; but, nevertheless, India sends us no
more than doable of what Egypt sends. The in-
crease and reciprocity of this Anglo-Egyptian trade
is becoming a marked feature in the trade, and even
in the politics, of the Levant.
DAILY NEWS.—The military news brought by
the Nova Scotian includes few items of a positive
character,but such as they are they lead to inferences
not unfavourable in the main to the Federals. Of
Sherman's progress we still learn nothing except
through Southern sources. From their silence, then, 1
as to his being in want of supplies, it may begathered
as a fact that his army had felt no pressure on this
account. This is a most material admission, for it
almost ensures at least his safety. If after being a
fortnight on his routs his troops have been reduced
to no straits in the matter of the commissariat, it is
tolerably clear that the data on which he under-
took his march have proved sound in this respect.
And if the provisioning of his force was thus
secured, nothing but a superior force in the field
could prevent his reaching the Coast, A.:.,cordingly,
the Richmond Examiner of D c. 1 admits that to
reech the coast was in his power. It reports, more
over, that he had safely croseed the Oconee
River, a stream about halt way between Atlanta
and Augusta, upon the banks of which the Rich-
mond papers, as late as the 29th November, had re■
ported him to be detained. 'They do not, however,
mention the date of the despatches from Georgia
which contained this news. It is asserted, indeed,
that Sherman had been kept in check for ten
days upon this line, being opposed by a force in
front and harassed at the same time in flank and
rear. Hood meantime, far from dreaming that he
could follow on Sherman's track with any hope of
coming up in time to aid in his discomfiture, has
his game in 'l'enneesee. Having
crossed
l atyhiee
g outriver of that name, driving before hint
the smaller Federal force commanded by General
Schofield, who retreated in the direction of Nash-
ville, he succeeded in coming up with his opponente
at Franklin, about twenty miles south of that
town. Here the Federals turned and lo ight.
Hood's first attucl was successful, and drove thew
back; but they rallied, and by a vigorous charge
recovered the ground, capturing a thousand prig
soners, and inflicting a loss on their opponents
estimated at 3,000 or 4,000 killed and wounded.
In the night General Schotidd withdrew his troops 1
to within three miles of Nashville, where reinforce-

A convention between her Majesty the Queen, the
King of the Belgians, the Emperor of the French, and the
King of the Netherlands, regulating the orawbacks on
sugars, was signed at Paris, Nov. 8, 1864, of which the fol-
lowing are the principal article,,:—By article 1 the minimum
of the yield of sugars in the process of refining is regulated
provisionally per 100 kilogrammes of raw sugar as follows :
—Nos. 18, 17, 16, 15, of the series of Dutch standards, re-
fined sugar in loaf, 87 kilogrammes ; Nos. 14, 13, 12, 11,
10, 9,8, 7, 85 kilogrammes; below 7, 70 kilogrammes ; in-
termediate shades of colour between two a asses shall belong
to the lower class, Article 2 states that " immediately after
the exchange of the ratifications of the present convention,
steps shall be taken by common agreement, at common ex.
pense, under the joint control of agents named by the four
contracting Governments, end in such locality as may be
mutually ag:eed upon, for making practical experiments in
?.fining of raw sugars, of each clan, and as far as pose
eibte_efelieresetetmieire in order determine their real
yield." The third article declares that the yields fixed by
article 1 shall be modified in accordance with the results ob
tained by the experiments referred to. The fourth article
provides for establishing an exact correlation between the
import duties and the yields fixed in accordance with the pre-
ceding article ; and article 6 states that until articles 2,3, and
4 be carried into execution, the Government of her Britannic
Majesty shall reduce the present drawback on the exporta-
tion of refined sugars by 6d. per English hundredweight.
The yield for sugar-candy may be 7 per cent. less than
that for refined sugars in loaf. By article 9 it is provided
that " crushed sugars,- in crystal or powder, rendered by any
process equal in quality to pure refined sugars, shall re-
ceive on exportation the same drawback as the latter sugars,
upon condition, first, that they be taxed for consumption or
importation with the duties attaching to refined sugars--
secondly, that they bs perfectly clarified and doled, and
equal to the standard samples established by the existing
legislation of Great Britain, which standard shall be obli-
gatory upon such of the contracting parties as may desire to
avail themselves of the option provided by this article. Arti-
cle 10 states that the drawback granted on the exportation
of sugars called bastard, or finers, according to the class
to which they belong, shall not exceed the duties attaching
to raw sugars; and by the next article it is agreed that no
drawback, return of duty, or discharge on exportation, shall
be allowed for molasses, or any kind of treacle or syrup.
Pending the carrying into execution of articles 2 and 3 the
duties on all refined sugars may be 4 per cent. in excess of
the rates fixed by article 13, which states that the import
duties on refined sugars in loaf, and on sugars in crystal or
powder assimilated to refined, imported from onset the con-
tracting countries into another, shall not be higher than the
drawback on the exportation of pure refined sugar. In
France the impart duty shall be 15 per cent, on raw
sugars of Nos. 15 to 18. This per centage shall be reduced
or increased in proportion to the yield, which may be de-
finitely fixed. The duty on sugar-candy may be 7 per
cent. higher than the duties attaehing to other re-
fined sugars. Prices shall be assimilated to raw sugars.
the The
Packagesdlueigyali
stanrooetf (lawesvoisoetdda stated
n(de
(casks,
hankeasr,
nettio
cases,
weight,le l 5
is fixed as follows :
) in countries where
&c,), 13 per cent ;
baskets, 8 per cent; other packages, doubles 4, singles 2
per cent. For beetroot and for sugars imported in packages
other than those used for foreign sugars, the duties shall be
levied on the net quantity. It is moreover understood that
raw beetroot sugars imported from one of the contracting
countries into another shall be admitted for exportation after
being refined, subject to the condition, so far as regards their
importation into France, that they shall not be inferior to
No. 16. By article 18 the respective authorities of the
high contracting patties shall confer together in order to
fix by common agreement the standards necessary for the
execution of the present arrangements, and for revising
them periodically. They also reserve to themselves to agree
as to the steps to be taken for obtaining the adhesion of the
Governments of 'other countries to the arrangements of the
present convention; and in the event of bounties being
granted in the said countries on the exportation of refined
sugars, they will be at liberty to come to an understanding
as to the surtax to be icaposed on the importation of refined
sugars of and from the said countries. The duration of the
convention is by the last article (21) fixed at ten years.
Simultaneously with the signature of the convention, a pro.
tocol was signed stating that the plenipotentiaries of the
high contracting parties declare that it is understood the
convention will became null and void in case the experiment
contemplated by article 2 should not come to a conclusion
within the space of a year from the exchange of the ratifi-
cations. The ratifications of the convention are to be ex-
changed within eight months from the date of oignature,

King Christian in Jutland,

COPENHAGEN, Dec. 11.

The following is the exact text of the address
presented to the King of Denmark by the deputa-
tion of Schleswigers which waited upon His
Majesty at lidding:—

To HIS MAJESTY lilicG CHRISTIAN IX., ON THE PART
OF THE DANISH INHABITANTS OF SCHLESWIG GREETING.

Sire,—lt is with profound grief that we have received
yoar Majesty's farewell. The force of circumstances has
separated those who have been united for centuries.
Brothers have been torn from brothers. Your Majesty's
Crown ha 3 lost a jewel the preservation of ,which had cost
torrents of blood.

Siro, we have felt the necessity. of oace more greeting our
old Sovereign for the last time. Ancient ties are broken,
and new ones have not yet been established. We are iso-
lated, not knowing what the future will bring us. We shall
long cherish the recollections of the past as of the long series
of years during which we lived under the mild rule of the
Danish Kings. Fortune has given place to disaster, but in
joy as in sorrow we have kept our eyes steadily fixed upon
the throne. We shall preserve oar remembrance of bygone
days, and the D inish people on this side of the Konigsau
will never forget its brothers beyond, for all our recollec-
tions are in common. But the times compel us to direct our
gaze towards the future. In your Majesty's farewell ad-
dress we were recommended to seek consolation at the throne
of Him who holds the happiness of nations and the fate of
kingdoms in His Almighty hand. And we place our hopes
on none other
allowed Should
to exercisei thappen
any that
io thea.
is
once npon the final settlement of our future, we pray your
wishes
of the than
populationo n Him.
a re
Majesty to retain the firm conviction that we shall show
how deeply love to our ancient country is rooted in the
hearts of the population of Schleswig. May God guard
your Majesty I May He protect Denmark, our ancient
fatherland
HIS Majesty replied . _

. _ .
You have told me how bitterly you grieve to be separated
from Denmark and the Danish Royal House, and I pray
you to believe that it has also been mot painful to me to
be placed under the necessity of relinquishing the ancient
Danish Crown-land of Schleswig, united f .r centuries with
Denmark. Of all the cares and sorrows which have been
heaped upon me during my brief rule, nothing has more de-
pressed my mind, nothing weighed more deeply on my heart
than the separation from the brave,faithful, and loyal &hies•
wigers,who have upon SO many difficult occasions constantly
Denmarkgiven the a
moostth be ri 1
Danishlia n t proofs
Royal
House,of fidelity
w h
oa
haven d devotion
cherished t o
no dearer or more zealous wish than to remain united with
thel
wdit o
me
the
re..
qu ltabtote
strength
bow
okingdomth
thatou nwhdei el rlmomaf
yy Providence,
gscievpe t
br sceptre.
But,thtoand you
an
Imy friends, we must
will pray.a to the
Almighty
separation. I thank you heartily for your presence at t:: is
place, and will consider it as an additional proof of your de-
votion to me and the Danish Royal Rouse. My best wishes
and endurance to bear the bitter pangs of
for your future welfare will always be with you. May God
preserve anti bless you all."

An address with 1,098 signatures was also presented to
King Christian the same day from the inhabitants of the
eight North Schleswig parishes which are to be incorpo-
rated with Jutland.

M. do Monnecove, mayor of St. Omer, has just
adopted a commendable measure with respect to the re-
vision of the electoral lists, In order to give the inhabitants
every p:ssibla facility of substantiatiug their claims to a
vote, he has caused printed forms t 3 be deposited in all the
public establishmeuts of the town, for the purpose of being
filled up
by the applicants, with every indication bearing
on each particular. Those arc afterwards examined at once
and with the greatest c're at the Mairia,
Four wild boars appeared three days back in the
ne;gbbourhoad of Chatillor.-le-Roi (Loire.) ; a number of
persons having asset:dila, armed with guns, sticks, and
pitchforks, and accompanied by dogs, a chase was organiae,i,
Two of the animals were at once overtaken and despatched,
while the others escaped into a neighbou:ing wood—th,,y
were, however, pursued and killed after an exciting hunt
which lasted a ecnsideratle time.