The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-07 00:00:00

and, through the agency of the Under-Secretary of
State, by Mr. LAYARD'S reply in the House of
Commons, immediately Parliament shall have been
brought together again in February. The curtness
of the noble earl's note at the close of the late corres-
pondence between the French and English Govern-
ments, it is now being felt every day more and
more vividly on both sides of the channel was in
noway whatever called for, was in no way what-
ever provoked. Nothing could have been at once
more manly in its frankness, or more courteous in
its tone, than the original proposition of his Majesty
the Emperor of the FRENCH. As certainly
nothing could, by possibility, have been at once
more discourteous, or more vaguely maundering, than
the way in which that proposition was responded
to by the English Foreign Secretary. The maun-
dering of it—that is, of the reply—is indicated, in
truth, by what chiefly constitutes its discourtesy.
To express, by a figure of speech, what really and
truly was the course taken at this critical junc-
ture by our Government, it might be said—
That the EMPEROR sent out invitationst
invited,
before banquet—That one of the principal guests inv
before making up his mind whether the invitation
should be accepted or declined, asked, not by any
means circuitously, but very plain, very bluntly,
indeed, to see the bill of fare—and That, having
seen the bill of fare, he said then and not, as he
ought to have done, in mere common decency,
sooner—" Well, no, thank you, I'll stop
at home." And, what makes it worse
as a discourtesy is this—the dishes are just the
old stock dishes that the guests and the intended
host have been lingering over with what appetite
they may, this long while. Here a good sub-
stantial piece de resistance like Italy. Here a very
hot, peppery made-dish like Poland, or like Schles-
! wig Holstein. So that the familiar items upon the
carte having been scanned, and the invitation, after
that and not before it, refused—the one only
conclusion to be arrived at in explanation of the
refusal is, that the Great Guest dreaded seriously
that those old, accustomed dishes, or one or two of
them at least, might in this projected banquet turn
out to have been cunningly poisoned, on the sly.
More than ever, Earl RUSSELL may be quite certain
of this—he will have to prepare betimes for the day
of parliamentary reckoning, when he himself in the
Lords and Mr. LAYARD in the Commons will have
to give the inevitable explanations.

The complex affairs of Schleswig Holstein appear
to be more satisfactory from the last accounts. Much
yet remains to be done, but at all events a right
direction has been taken. The intimation given by
England has evidently acted like magic in the case,
and the delay that has been mentioned to have taken
place is still further significant, inasmuch as it proves
that other Powers concur in the disapproval already
expressed regarding the treaty and extreme mea-
sures suggested. It is said that Prussia and Austria
have given notice of motion about the Deno-
German question ; of course this refers to the
demand for Federal execution, and it is very grati-
fying to notice that the general sentiment is that
opposed to the views hitherto expressed by the
committee on the question. This is as it should be,
for it was high time that some intermediate agency
should be set to work to check the devastating
policy which seemed about to be pursued. These
nations do themselves honour by coming forward
in a determined manner, and resolving on putting
a stop to the hasty decision that was arrived at.
Now at any rate these matters will be taken up i❑
a way more befitting their importance and suitable
to their interests, All things must be done in
moderation if the idea is entertained that the sur-
rounding nations are looking on to criticise or
censure as the case may be. It is always desirable
to meet an opponent half-way, and King CHRISTIAN
has shown good sense in withdrawing the Royal
Patent of the 30th of March. In the proclamation
just published he makes some very wise reflections
on the state of affairs in this emergency. His
address to the Holsteiuers is a very spirited. one, and
can hardly fail to impress them with his determina-
tion to carry through the resolve he has made of
holding his own, even though the odds against him
may be very great, and the wily plans set afoot to
undermine lawful authority may be almost impos-
sible to discover. King CHRISTIAN could not have
spoken out more forcibly than in these words—
" We cannot suffer officials to foster opposition, and
are resolved to put down insurrectionary move-
ments with armed force." This decided tone will,
no doubt, have its effect in convincing the disaffected
that they are not face to face with waverers or
timorous rulers, bnt confronted with men who are
resolved to maintain inviolate their rightful autho-
rity, and to hold their just possessions. At the
same time endeavours are made to conciliate, in-
stead of to irritate, and all possible means are em-
ployed to effect that desired object. A hope is ex-
pressed that when "Holsteia finds herself contented
in constitutional freedom, and the pretext for
foreign interference is thus removed, she will
voluntarily incline to nearer connection 'with the
remainder of the country." It is to be trusted that
the tone of mingled firmness and conciliation
will impress them to whew it is addressed,
and that in this manner the present very unfortu-
nate and critical state of things may be happily
terminated. The resolve of Prince CHRISTIAN to
withdraw the Royal Patent is a very good one, and
cannot fail to be attended with felicitous results. It
is idle to expect that all plans and proposals of this
sort can be curie! out to the letter, and he is often
a wise statesman and a true patriot who finds it
necessary to be firm, and when it is desirable to
unbend a little and resort to measuria of expedi-
ency and compromise.

A too strict adherence to extreme vie ws will
nullify the good t13:41 might otherwise have been
reaped by
Ilse in at B-4 and partial
l
W-
measures. There is no
its tempting what cannot be carried out in all
11110073e5, and therefore the venture which was
Deentaaarittreat Schleswig as altogether a province of
babls
tha J
will bein was hardly a prudent one. It is most pro-
a et_riet adherence to the Treaty of 1852
at
nii
eveattea totpon, and if so something definitewiil
of Denmark, and
distracted state Of
likely that such
the faceofso many int.
ve
things are constantly
10 been done to serve the interests
ttaiikeksteps to alter the present
extreme ingdom. It was hardly
-rests;
occurring
as
vf_
are:: likely to
athill sal and strange
press the weak. This is not ;however
the strong op-
bou: be resorted to in
prove
. that
those
who
have
ee'ree
forward
in sup
the case
posing with Denmark,
"yard, however
tardily or tamely lu her behalf, will sot
suffer their
protests to be put aside nor their retriar.k.
0 to pass
by unheeded. Eirl RUSSELL has for once shown a 1
little good sense in his management of this affair
recently, not sufficient to rectify the errors he fell
into some time back, but yet enough to represent
in some degree the course that the Government
of this great country ought to take. There is
much that suggests itself to the mind when the
claims that appertain to England in this matter are
taken into consideration, and it is earnestly to be
trusted that there will be no backward movement
nor retrograde stops taken, but a steady course per-
sisted in, a course of protest that is firm and un-
yielding, a line of action persevered in before which
the wavering must be d • emoted, and the weak