The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-13 00:00:00

WHAT DOES IT MEAN.

The following advertisement appears in the " agony
column" of the Times :—" All persons affected by
statements in Lord Campbell's ' Lives of Lord
Lyndhurst and Lord Brougham,' and interested in
the pure administration of public justice, arc re-
quested to favour Miss Ralston Shedden by commu-
nication immediately, by letter, with her at 2ro,
Vauxhall-bridge-road, S.W. ; or under cover to
Messrs. Lewis and Lewis, solicitors, Ely-place, Hol-
born, E.C." This, no doubt, is the indefatigable
Miss Shedden who has so often tried the patience of
our judges. But what is she going to do P Appa-
rently she is about to bring an action against some-
body, perhaps the ghost of Lord Chancellor
C ampbell.

FOREIGN NOTES
OUR NEW INDIAN POLICY.

The Ameer of Affghanistan has met with a splendid
reception during his visit to India. " Everything that
could be thought of" was done in honour of this potentate
as he passed through the various cities, from
Peshawur, on the extreme Punjab frontier, to Umballa.
At Peshawur he first saw a review of British troops, and
heard the roar of British cannon; but, much as he
admired breechloading Armstrongs, he did not see his
way to introduce them into his kingdom, on account of
the difficulty about procuring suitable ammunition. He
also had himself photographed, and is said to have gone to
a tailor and ordered English costume for all his followers.
This last action seems to have caused some little tremor.
What if his Highness's retinue should discard the garb of
Affghanistan for the prosaic English costume before reach-
ing Umballa? Sheer Ali is represented as a fine, hand-
some man of middle age, affable in conversation, and
speaking Hindostani fluently. Whilst at Peshawur be
wondered that the English could fight and rough it as
well as Affghans, and yet surround themselves with com-
forts and luxuries at home.

The mail left just before the meeting of Lord Mayo
and the Ameer at Umballa-1,154 miles from Calcutta—
and therefore no details of the interesting occurrence have
arrived. We are told, however, that the preparations
were on a magnificent scale. The new policy of friend-
ship or alliance with Affghanistan was to be inaugurated
in a befitting manner. Money was no object.
Festive preparations had already cost about £50,000,
and the Bombay Gla:.ctte imagined that a few more
lakhs of rupees might safely be counted on. The
Ameer had brought splendid presents from Affghanistan,
and was, of course, to receive magnificent gifts in return.
These have:been prepared in Calcutta, and, according to the
Time4correspondent, "are to be borne on fiftyone trays,
containing the finest Cashmere shawls, richly jewelled
arms, cloth of gold, such as only l3enares can produce,
embroidery, jewels, and Arab horses." As we are led
to suppose that the Arab horses will be borne on trays
the sight will be worth seeing. The Indian Government
has clearly determined to express in the. most unmistakeable
manner its sense of the importance of the new policy.

THE SPANISH CROWN.

Not only has Dom Fernando decisively rejected the
crown of Spain, but he seems to have taken special
pleasure in making his refusal as brusque as possible. It
is not pleasant for a nation to have the offer of its crown
thrown in its face, and the Spaniards are naturally very
wroth with the Portuguese prince. Amongst the people
the excitement is intense. For the Government, the
blunder threatens to end seriously. The Etcndard con-
fidently asserted, in fact, that a Bourbon restoration was
talked of. Queen Isabella's son was to become king,with a
regency. The Liberte, however, denies all this. More than
ever is a restoration of the fallen dynasty impossible. But the
situation is not the less grave. There is a general outcry
against offering the crown to any foreign prince after this
humiliating rejection. There are no signs that it is likely
to be offered to the Duke of Montpensier, who would
certainly accept it, and the Liberte -thinks a republic
looms in the distance.

CLOSE OF THE AMERICAN CONGRESS.
The session of Congress terminated on Saturday. The
House of Representatives, by the large majority of 98 to
25, has declared the sympathy of the nation with the
Cuban insurgents, and has promised its support to the
President whenever he shall think it right to recognise
their independence. The House of Representatives may
congratulate itself upon having deliberately done an act
of incomparable political impudence. It is, indeed, by no
means uncommon for nations to sympathise with rebellion
in other countries, and yet resent all sympathy
with rebellion in their own. The English are
by no means guiltless of this inconsistency. But to
complain of our recognition of Confederate belligerency as
a wrong for which atonement is all but impossible, to
refuse liberal concessions on our part because they are
not sufficiently servile, and yet to express sympathy with
Cuba whilst declaring that our implied sympathy with
the South is irreparable, is without parallel. The Alabama
treaty has not been considered.

THE INSURRECTION IN CUBA.
The Monitar states that the news from Havanna is
decidedly bad. The Spanish troops occupy the cities, and
the sea-coast ; but the insurrection prevails throughout
the interior. General Dulce wants more cavalry and
artillery. It is believed that he will be replaced, and
that a third general; Caballero de llodas, will try his
fortune. Some doubt has been recently expressed touch-
ing the real magnitude of this revolt in Cuba ; but it is
clear that the rising, even if not so successful as the
oniteur alleges, is yet of a very serious character.

THE BELGIAN RAILWAY DIFFICULTY.
The official journals of Paris announce the speedyraturn
of M. Fr4e-Orban to Brussels. Unfortunately, however,
he is not about to leave Paris because his business is
finished. He has been unable to come to terms with the
French Government, and he is about to return to Brussels,
says the Temps, to consult with his sovereign respecting
this yet unsolved problem. The position remains unal-
tered. The French Government desires the ratification
of the conventions with the East of France Company ;
the Belgian Government still declines to concede so

THE' SATURDAY REVIEW" ON AMERICA

(From the Anglo-American Times.)

The Saturday Review is remarkable for the bit-
terness with which it writes on America. The cause-
less hatred of America towards England is gene-
rally dwelt on in any article on the United States.
Of course, those who rely on what it writes believe
that all Americans bate England, and desire that na-
tion's humiliation, for which no effortof the Republic
would be wanting if the opportunity offered. Per-
haps no one in England reads the American press
more than the editor of this paper; it is his busi-
ness to do so; and it is not for mere pleasure that
he wades through journals falling thickly around
him as snow flakes in a winter's storm. This read-
ing is certainly in a measure confined to leading
American papers as it is to leading English papers,
and le has no hesitation is asserting that, with the
exception perhaps of the i'Vew York, Herald, the
itterness of dislike expressed by the Saturday Re-
view and the Pall "lull Gaz,,tt,2 for America has but
few parallels, on the other side of the Atlantic, to-
wards England. Both these London papers are
said to represent the same class, and the only con-
clusion at which Americans can arrive is that this
class is most inimical to their country. The untruth of
the statement, however, so constantly repeated by
the Saturday Review, would be at once seen if its
readers had the opportunity of looking through
files of American papers, or if they paid a visit to
the country, That there is a good deal of national
jealousy we admit ; that there is considerable sore-
ness about England's conduct during the war is
true ; but that Americans so hate England and ear-
nestly desire her humiliation, as represented by the
Saturday Review, is false. We wish we could be-
lieve the statement was equally false that that sec-
tion of English society which supports the Saturday
Review hates the Republic, but we fear it is unde-
niably true that this dislike exists. The Saturday
Review is not unlike the drunken man who asserts
that his companion is intoxicated. Hating the
Republic itself, and writing for those who hate it,
it never ceases to declare the hatred of America
towards England. What is the motive ?—for
although its readers may not know, the Review eau
scarcely fail to know the falseness of these assertions.
Americans oppose to the death oligarchies, and the
Government of England was once that of an oli-
garchy, a form it has been but slowly losing ; hence
it was natural for a Government of the people
to oppose the Government of a class. Both the
Revolutionary war, and that which followed in 1812,
were the work of this oligarchy. The people control
now ; and, worse still, the Republic has been steadily
Americanizing" England, a word which makes the
hair of an old Tory curl with horror, though a
propagandism connected rather with love than with
hatred ; but the ideas of the Republic are even more
difficult to combat than its arms, and it is not sur-
prising that those who see their class privileges invaded
should hate the country whence emanate these re-
volutionary doctrines, not in a merely political way,
but socially. We can then perceive why the Saturday
Review and its readers should bitterly dislike Ame-
rica, should jeer at it, misrepresent it, and endea-
vour to sow the seeds of dissension. It may dis-
cuss it as unfashionable ; something vulgar, illite-
rate ; gross in manner, in taste ; grotesque, when it
apes gentility, and endeavours to spend the money
it has accumulated in " shoddy contracts, and in
striking 'ile." But it must be gall and worm-
wood to perceive how ineffectual such efforts are.
The Republic is walking out of the rank of
first-class powers with a swiftness that appals
them ; and they scarcely know whether to com-
bine against it, or to fall down on their knees
to ask its forgiveness, and alliance. With the spite
is mixed this dread in the Saturday Review class,
which make a strange combination. We desire em-
phatically to deny that the Republic hates Eng-
land ; the aversion of native Americans is much
more towards Ireland. Politically, they may sup-
port the Irish in their demand for redress of griev-
ances, and may talk in a strain of highfaluten,
about " our Irish fellow-citizens ;" but socially
England is regarded with respect, in the hearts of
many, even with love and veneration ; and to old
New England families it must be painful to read
the untruthful assertions of the Saturday Review.