The Sun.
London, England, 1869-07-06 00:00:00

-
early on Tuesday morning• Suns) 1. Intelligence from
Japan, the Sandwich Islands, and the South American
coast was in consequence anxiously looked for.
The Hon. W. W. Murphy, of Jonesville, Michi-
gan, after eight years of service as Consul-General at
Frankfort-on-the-Maine, has surrendered his post to W. P.
Webster, of Massachusetts, and is about to make a tour in
Norway and Sweden previous to his return to America.
The Detroit Tribune awards to Mr. Murphy a large measure
of praise for the administration of the important trust con.;
ferred on him by the country, and that praise we endorse.
Frankfort has become the financial centre of the European
continent, and in no other place out of America do Ame-
rican Securities stand in such high estimation. Mr. Mur-
phy did all that lay in his power to uphold and improve i❑
that city the financial credit of the Republic, with what
effect is best shown by the result. We do not pretend to
say that he did snore than aid in effecting this, but wo
assert that that aid was material, as it was given persist-
ently and with good judgment. Nor did his services pass
unappreciated by the Administration at Washington,
who would have gladly retained him at a post where
he had made himself so useful had not other influences in-
te►vened. America has been getting up a more genuine
alliance with Prussia than the sentimental one with Russia.
That North German influence should be great in tho States
is natural when tl►e vastness of its emigration is considered,
and the eminent Minister who now upholds American in-
terests at Berlin has evenundertaken to prove that the poli-
tical institutions of the countries are almost identical. This
attempt we believe to be a positive fact ; though one which
will tax the ingenuity even of a Bancroft to achieve. Count
Bismarck, however, just now, stands out in American eyes
as the most prominent European figure, and we believe
Bismarck, or some of his coadjutors, had the littleness to
make it a point with the Washington Administration to
include Mr. Murphy among the superseded Consuls. Of
course, if the Consul-General was obnoxious to the Berlin
Government, the Washington Government would not
raise so silly a point as to insist on his retention, the more so
perhaps because it was the post of all others below that of
Minister most striven for, and it furnished one more prize
in the Government lottery. The 'cause of offence to the
Prussian Administration was Mr. Murphy's efforts to
shield American residents at Frankfort from having
troops quartered on them, while the city was occupied by
Prussian forces in the German war of 186 G. Frankfort
was regarded as a hostile town, and Mr. Murphy sym-
pathized with the inhabitants, and was, to a certain extent,
their friend and supporter. This was not likely to be
forgotten or forgiven by a Government like that of
Berlin ; but Mr. Murphy has, if ho chooses to exer-
cise it, claims on the Administration at Washington of
no ordinary character. Among these we may mention
that ho was one of those most prominently selected for
denunciation by the celebrated M'Cracken ; and the men
now in power feel much inclined to endorse 111‘Cracken's in-
vestigations, accepting his strictures as an undeniable proof
of merit in the persons he attacked. According to the Detroit
Tribune Mr. Murphy has ix contemplation a work on grape
culture and the wines of the Rhine, and it says his fellow-
citizens in Michigan will receive him back, after his long
absence, with a warm welcome.

The proposed improvements in Portland harbour
(Maine) are going o t in earnest. General Thorn of the
United States Engineers, who is stationed there, has
contracted with Messrs. Morris and Cumming of New
York for an excavat'on across the bar. The work is to be
completed this season. The contract provides for a channel
beginning near Atlantic wharf to deep water opposite the
Breakwater Light, some 300 feet in width, and to have at
least 20 feet of water at mean low tide. This will give a
depth of 28 or 29 feet a' average high tide—sufficient for
the largest steamers of the Allan line, and enable them to
come at once to their docks without difficulty.