The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-10 00:00:00

LONDON, SATURDAY, ocr. 10, 1863.

The broad arrow has at lest sped to its destina-
tion at Liverpool. It was affixed yesterday after-
noon to the steam-rams recently completed by
LAIRD Brothers, and still in their ship-building
yard in the great Lancashire seaport. With the
flight of that arrow to the destination so often of
late anticipated for it, the Foreign Secretary may
say at length, in regard to his policy, as one of the
most confused and bungling of living diplomatists,
aleajacta est. How often the noble lord has blun-
dered already as a diplomatist, who shall say ? But,
often as he has done so, he has never done so yet
more flagrantly than in this instance. His notorious
despatch, addressed but a few months back to Den-
mark, in respect to that most vexatious—as it
would almost seem interminable—European grie-
vance, the Schleswig-Holstein difficulty, was a blun
der, in its way, unparalleled (at that time) even by
Lord RUSSELL himself. His muddle of our foreign
poliey a few years back when he unhappily went,
himself, over to Vienna upon a sort of extra-Extra.
ordinary Mission of Diplomacy, is nn incident still
painfully,
.within the popular recollection. It was
more of a failure in its way than even Mr.
GLADSTONE'S well designed but ill executed
expedition to Corfu ! An outline of an
enterprise, sketched though it was by the
hand of an eminent statesman, so indifferently
filled in, shaded and coloured by the tyro fingers of
a mere e.mateur plenipotentiary (as Mr. GLADSTONE
unhappily proved himself to be) that the brilliant
first effect was soon enough destroyed, and the ori-
ginal design all but obliterated. Far more to be
regretted, however, than that lonian Episode in the
carer of the Homeric critic, now her MAJESTY'S
Chancellor of the Exchequer, was the Vienna mis-
sion undertaken—and "botched"—by the sometime
Prime Minister of the realms, then Lord JOHN
since Earl RUSSELL. The recent substitution of
an ELLIOT for the HUDSON at Turin, though
intrinsically a small matter of importance so far
as it can be looked upon as indication of
a change in the Italian policy of the noble
lord Her MAJESTY'S Foreign Secretary—tbat in-
cident, though of itself one of a very subordinate
character indeed, affecting, as it does, rather the
mechanism of administration than the force of the
motive power animating it—has still its sie,nifi-
canoe, nevertheless, because, though a mere detail,
one perfectly en regle, entirely characteristic, mi-
nutely con sistent with Earl RUSSELL'S whole career,
as a diplomatic blunderer. A meddlesome, often a
'nettlesome, disregarder as Foreign Secretary, of
his former Colleague, Lord MELBOURNE'S favourite
'Warning query, " Can't you let it alone ?' For the
life of him, Earl RUSSELL cannot! Come what, come
may, he must be perpetually interfering, obtruding
his assistance, his advice, his positive, and actual
interposition, that is, in act. Addressing an out of
the way gathering of tenantry down in the far
north there at Blairgowrie, only the other day, he
must needs blurt out the wholly uncalled-for and
wholly untenable, declaration that the English in
their sympath ;are Federalists. That was, in itself,
es
a blunder on the part of Earl RUSSELL so gross and
80 gratuitous of its kind, that it is only to be desig-
nated accurately by saying that it was—putting his
foot in it! And now—perfecting his policy of blun-
--
deranow, while Lori RUSSELL is probably exult-
tainlY muttering to himself °lea jacta est (when
thinking of the " broad arrow" just affixed to the
steam rams down at Liverpool), has he r.o prescient
et ense,
'loader, of that arrow being hurled back
himselfa B"aortly after the meeting of the Houses of
Parliament, let ue, say, next February—of its
being hurled back
at him with fatal effect by an
eagle-eyed mark
on the front bench of the
Opposition in the 111itts'e of
Peers
P Has he no an-
tctpat cry thought flitting across his conjectures at
this moment as to
the
probaobulteianlcirdeents of this
next session, that his
perchance then be chantedP to the
quiem may
lemeasure of the
familiar and melodious verse of Lord
nI RON--
44 Keen were his pangs, but keener far to reel
He nursed the pinion that impelled theeetee steel ?"
For it certainly does appear now upon the cards that
that broad arrow affixed by Lord RUSSELL to the
steam rams may, before another half-year has
elapsed, prove the death of his foreign i;
ponY, the
missile likely to prove fatal to the Government.

Earl RUSSELL'S note to Sir ALEX. -
ory
ir ALEX. MALET clearly
and distinctly defines the boundary between ween j Lied-
fiable and unjustifiable interferenceg
°, and in this lies
Holstein ass
the strong point of his ar u
put their veto
upon the duchy of It is true that
The Federal Assembly
independence, and yet have vinduiraing the right of
ted
to such authority, and even excusedca their claim
any
measures issued thereupon. It i quitearbitrary
question, however, when we look to the proceed-
ings relative to the Danish possessions. T
might
uI ehnat.
To carry
their interference into those territories, to dictate
terms to the Danish monarchy, is indeed a strange
proceeding. Our Foreign Secretary has the con-
currence of all independent men when he denounces
this extraordinary line of action, and holds it up to
the scorn and contempt of the nations of Europe.
The arguments put forward in this despatch are
well-known facts, it is true; but then there are occa-
sions when it becomes imperative to remind persons
of circumstances that they may know full well in
theory, but ignore altogether in practice.
Besides,
the reference to certain contingencies sometimes
assumes a significant form, and foretells momen-
tous consequences. The Federal Assembly must
be very . infatuated, not to re-
The cpning of the Social Science Congress is ~ • ignorant, or else very .
-ognbse the . sage which tells
every year a Mater of general interest. The num- th importance of the pas
.....em that
they are assailing the integrity and in-
ber and variety of the subjects touched upon, their dependence
in:imate connection with 01:r social well-being, and bound by f Denmark, which " her MAJESTY ie
the Treaty of 1832 to rt spec 4. " The
the high repute of the men who preside over the meaning of this i
i.
is Patent to all lookers on, much
several !motions, combine to render the annual more in it a •
ppreciated by those who are playing