The Sun.
London, England, 1860-06-16 00:00:00

MOB MELTING OF KINGS.

There are times in the lives of all men when
they have a claim to our pity, and just now the
man with most claim to it is the Emperor of the
French. He is encountering almost irresistible
temptation: But the other day it was arranged
that he should go to Baden Baden to meet the Prince
Regent of Prussia, in order, it was said to renew
the mutual confidence shaken by some expressions
in a private letter which a busybody had got hold
of and taken to Paris. The Emperor must see the
Prince of Prussia, and receive from his own lips the
assurance that no Minister could be authorised to
convey. So the Prince of Prussia arrived at Baden
on Thursday evening, and the Emperor WAS ex-
pected to arrive last night. The story, as told,
affected nobody else, and there was no reason why
the two should not despatch the business in half-au-
hour, and be gone their several ways. But Ger-
many does not give Emperors so scant a measure of
civility. When a great pike comes into her waters
every minnow must come to greet him. There they
all are—such a conflux as one never thought to see
till the Archangel gathered them. The Grand
Duke of Baden, the King of Bavaria, and the Grand
Duke of Saxe Weimar had already arrived yester-
day afternoon. There were expected the Kings of
Saxony,' Wurtemberg, and Hanover, the Grand
Duke of Hesse Darmstadt; the Dukes of Coburg,
Gotha and Nassau. All the Kings, and it is not
said how many other Sovereign Princes, are to as-
sist at the meeting between the Emperor and the
Prince Regent. What can all this mean ? One
certainly has read of the like before. It used to be
said that "history never repeats itself," but an older
authority says " there is nothing new under the
sun." If you open a window in a summer evening
you have a similar result. Moth after moth emerges
from the outer darkness, flies at the candles, wheels
a giddy circle or two, is absorbed in the fiery vortex,
and falls to the table writhing and spinning in un-
availing agony. All these people are just doing
what their fathers did before them. It runs in the
blood. A great English naturalist affirms that
trout inherit from their forefathers a horror of the
hook and a scepticism as to bait. The German
trout love the hook and rise at the coarsest bait.
Nothing deters them. The German crow sees his
father nailed to the barn door, and flies into the
selfsame toils.

The visit of the Prince Regent to Baden is, of
course, casual. He happened to be going there by
the invariable ill-luck that is always taking a cer-
tain class of persons into harm's way. The Empe-
ror of the French, hearing of his visit, invites
himself to share the pleasure of the excursion. The
Prince Regent is afraid that the smaller Powers
of Germany will put an ill construction on the in-
terview, and conclude, in fact, that in return for
the Rhenish provinces the Emperor is about to
present Prussia with a sackful! of little crowns.
Nothing, however, would please the Emperor so
much as a personal interview with the numerous
victims of these morbid suspicions. So they are all
to be present—ostensibly to see that they are not
sold in their absence, but we should think also with
the idea that positive advantages are not altogether
out of the question, The man who can destroy
them can do them good, if he thinks fit. The map
of Europe is disjointed ; landmarks are removed ;
there is giving and taking; a State threatened with
absorption may reasonably plead not only for ex-
istence, but for a modest degree of aggrandize-
ment ; so every crowned head in Germany, except
Austria, is to do honour to the Emperor of the
French. How pleasant it must be to be reminded
of the events not quite two generations back !
Would they like another Confederation of the
Rhine ? The gambling-tables aro opened on that
familiar scene, and principalities are the stake. Is
it to be roulette or rouge-et-noir ? We should like
to see them all put down their title deeds on the
table, and to watch their countenances as the Im-
perial croupier rakes them all into his heap. It is
scarcely possible to pity those who invoke their own
doom, and commit felo de se in the act of dishonest
expectation. The Emperor's feelings can only be
those of a modern sportsman as he enters a
well-stocked preserve, and sees the foolish birds
bustling about on all sides. Let us put ourselves
amon& the bystanders at this new " Conversation
House," as they call the place at Baden, and
bet how many rouleaux the Emperor will win, and
how much small change he will fling back to the
Prince of Prussia. He really cannot help it. "It
is the curse of kings to be surrounded." We need
not say that Austria is delighted. The meeting at
Villafranca was nothing to this, for how could the
Emperor of Austria help the stupidity of his
generals ? Indeed, he made the best bargain he
could, and certainly did not court his fate by
obsequiousness. Nothing, however, but an actual
appetite for self-humiliation could !ming Prussia,
with a crowd of small sovereigns, to attend the levee
of a French Emperor at Baden ! For our part, we
are sorry to see the material of which Central
Europe is composed. We seem to be surrounded
by illusions. They seem to flutter round a substan-
tial Emperor in flesh and blood as the shades gaped
and gibbered about iEneas in the infernal regions.
It is of no use to have even wishes about such people.
they must go their own way, for good or for evil.
If they simply disappear, it can make no difference,
and certainly will not diminish the stock of Euro-
pean virtue.—Times.

THE NORTH ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SlR,—Will you allow me, in reply to numerous
inquires, to state, in very few words, the progress
and present position of this undertaking ?
In answer to the application for a survey of the
seas and coasts on the route of the proposed tele-
graph, made by the deputation which waited on
Lord Palmerston in May last, the following letter
has been received from the Secretary of the Admi-
ralty :

" Admiralty, June 6, 1860.
" Gentleman—ln reply to your letter of this date
requesting to be informed what assistance her
Majesty's Government have decided to give in sur-
eying, the proposed route for telegraphic commu-
nication with America via the Fa o Islands, Iceland,
and Greenland, I am commanded by my Lords Com-
missioners of the Admiralty to acquaint you that
Lod Palmerston was informed that my Lords would
take immediate steps to prepare one steam-vessel
for the purpose of obtaining deep sea soundings cn
the proposed line of telegraphic communication
which they consider will be advantageous upon
general grounds as well as for the advantage of
any company which may hereafter be prepared to
establish such communication with the continent of
America by the route in question; but their lord-
ships are not prepared, nor are the means at pre-
sent available, to enable them to undertake a de-
tailed survey of the costs of the proposed route.—l
am, gentlemen, your most obedient servant,
" W. G. ROMAINE."
It is understood that the soundings referred to in
this letter will embrace the seas between Scotland
and the Faroe Isles, Iceland, Greenland, and
Hamilton's Inlet on the Labrador coast. The ex-
pedition will also on its return take a line of sound-
ings fifty miles south of the outward voyage. The
steamer Bulldog, under the command of Sir Leo-
pold M'Clintock, has been ordered for this service,
and will sail on the 20th inst.
To complete the survey of the whole r.. oute,
:the
steam yacht Fox has been purchased, and Captain
Allen Young, of Arctic reputation, engaged to pro-
ceed in command of her to survey the coasts Where
the cables will be laid. Experienced gentlemen
will also accompany the expedition to determine
the land route. The Fox will sail about the Ist
July next from Southampton.—l am,
sir, yours
respectfully, WM. BEVAN.
6, Old Jewry, June 16, 1860.