The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-09 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY, NOV. 9, 1865.

It is so far satisfactory that the city of Frankfort
should hays made a protest against the overpower-
ing encroachments by the two great German Powers,
and, whether eventually or not the Senate is en-
abled to hold its own for the time being, it is quite
as well to make a stand against such impertinent
intrusion and overweening assumption. The senior
Burgomaster addressed an identical note to the
Prussian and Austrian representatives, in the first
instance, and in this he sets forth the injustice of
the course pursued in the two Great Powers issuing
their mandates in so arbitrary a fashion and incon-
sistent a form, and especially the allusion
made to the impossibility of any further indulgence
being shown to the Senate and the press of Frank-
fort. The authorised declaration announces that
the Senate cannot but regard it as at variance with
the " fundamental laws of the Confederation, and
therefore with right," if one Federal State speaks
to another of " not permitting," and of " not suffer-
ing," and especially of " averting the further con-
sequences of inadmissible indulgence by taking
the matter into its own hands." This is strictly
true in every sense of the word, and no one who
realises the importance of national rights can fail
to appreciate itsoorrectness and acknowledge its
justice. The course lately pursued by Austria and
Prussia is completely unwarrantable, and if con-
tinued will prove totally subversive of the
independence of the Free States of Germany. It
would seem as if the audacious BismAr.ex contem-
plated nothing less than violation of all Federal
rights, and the destruction of all freedom, real or
imaginary, among the smaller Principalities and the
lesser States. How far he would be able to proceed
in his mean and mischievous vocation, and how
much latitude will be given to him for political and
prudential reasons, remains to be shown. Thus for
the present there can be no mistaking the fact that
he has not received the submission which he
requires from the free City of Frankfort, and
has, on the contrary, met with a decided rebuff,

The Nova Scotian brings us intelligence up to
the 27th ult. that there is no very striking news.
The American press is busying itself in comment-
ing upon the correspondence between Earl RUSSEL
and Mr. ADAMS, and, as might be expected, the
remarks are not always very flattering to this coun-
try. We are naturally prepared for a good deal of
bombast respecting the power of America, and it
is rather amusing to notice how completely the
New York journals speak of England and the Eng-
lish de haul en bas. It is only fair to remember,
however, that the American press is by no means
so completely a reflection of the public mind and
temper as our own. It aims at a " sensational"
style, and instead of addressing itself to the
more intelligent and moderate thinkers, it
seeks rather to inflame the popular passions, and
to encourage the excitement of the moment. It
would not consequently be just or reasonable to
suppose that the statesmen at Washington are likely
to show the same unreasoning intemperance and
self-conceit that we find reflected in the columns of
the New York press. The World quietly says that
the general usage in making peace treaties is to sur-
render conquered territories, but that in case of a
war between England and the United States, the
States would take the Canadas and keep them.
"In that way," it adds, "we will secure com-
pensation for the whole of our lasses by the
sham neutrality of England." This is an
interesting piece of information, and in face
of the recent statistics respecting the
Birmingham trades it is rather amusing. Certainly
England's neutrality was in some measure a sham,
but it was a sham of which the Northern States
should be the last to complain. The Times, after
enlarging on the national honour, declares that
" the principles of international law" cannot "be
disregarded," as England in her own interest seeks
to disregard them," without turning every war into
a universal conflagration." Certainly, if statesmen
and politicians generally did not possess more sense
and temper than the writers in the New York press
we should have the tread of armies and the thunder
of cannon never out of our ears. Happily, how-
ever, there are wiser councillors, and perhaps this
general outburst of frenzied patriotism may have
relieved the troubled minds of the victims of Anglo-
phobia. It is rumoured at Washington that the
Secretary of the Navy has directed all available
steam vessels of war to be immediately got ready
for sea ; but this is not authenticated, and we must