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

and, I ,hrough the agency of the Under •Secretary of
State , by Mr. LAYARD'S reply in the House of
Com nons, immediately Parliament shall have been
bronE 7ht together again in February. The curtness
of the noble earl's note at the close of the late corres-
pondel ee between the French and English Govern-
ments, it is now being felt every day more and
more ;idly on both sides of the channel was in
no:way whatever called for, was in no way what-
ever pr ovoked. Nothing could have been at once
more in anly in its frankness, or more courteous in
its tone., than the original proposition of his Majesty
the E iperor of the FRENCH. As certainly
nothing could, by possibility, have been at once
more d 1 scourteous, or more vaguely maundering, than
the wt.,: y 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 ex E ,ress, by a figure of speech, whet really and
truly •was the course taken at this critical junc-
ture b y our Government, it might be said—
That 'the EMPEROR sent out invitations to a
ban qui t—That one of the principal guests invited,
before making up his mind whether the invitation
should', be accepted or declined, asked, not by any
bluntly,
means circuitously, but very plain, very
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,
no, thank you, I'll stop
sooner—" Well,
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 Dano-

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 in
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 be makes some very wise reflections
on the state of affairs in this emergency. His
address to the Holsteiners 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-

Bible 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 "Holstein 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 whom 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 carriel 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 measures of expedi-

ency and compromise.
A too strict adherence to extreme views will
nullify the good that might otherwise have been
reaped by wise and partial measures. There is no
Ilse in attempting what cannot be oarried out in all
14 Phase; and therefore the venture which was
:de to treat Schleswig as altogether a province of
be"l"k Was hardly a prudent one. It is most pro-
able that a
will b • strict adherence to the Treaty of 1852
at all eeisni%tteed
v insisted pue
on, and if 80 something denite will
been done to serve the fi
interests
of Denmark, suav
state
ot t o take steps to alter the present
distracted
the kingdom. It was hardly
thelikelyface
that
s ofilnucallny extinte:eB .would be resorted to in
, but still sa and strange
sts
things are Constantly oecarrin
g ptphoreseiscosags e
that those who have
beh forward efor to
where the strong op-
a
likelrove
the weak. This is not,va
" y p
are Justified d in sup
with Denmark,
however
tardily or tamely in
not Buffer their
protests to be put asicie nor their remarks to pas,
by unheeded. Earl ltusseLL has for one,
shown a
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 ie
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 steps 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 decided, and the weak