The Sun.
London, England, 1867-07-04 00:00:00

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

ring DAY.—Morning, 3h. 27m.—Afternoon, 3h. 51m.
ro-Bionnow.-Morning, 411. 12m.—Afternoon, 4h. 40m.

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LONDON, IHURSDAY, JULY 4, 1867.

The manner in which the Prussians have treated
the Ilanoverians from the period of the Continental
war of last year until now has given rise to just
feelings of indignation, and there has not been the
shadow of an excuse to set up for their harsh and
arbitrary proceedings. From first to last it has
been the same thing, the " old, old story," still of

persecution and oppression, which is ever and again
renewed wherever Prussian authority prevails and
the councils of Berlin have sway. Proofs are being
continually furnished respecting the course pursued,
and the last instance furnished is a notable one,
for it relates to the persecution of the unfortunate
ex-Queen of HANOVER. According to the state-
ment of a Hamburg Correspondent it appears
that the Prussian Government has requested the
QUEEN to accept a new suite of attendants, or else
to leave the province in three days, these attendants
being selected for her by the Government. To this
the QUEEN has announced that she cannot agree to
either alternative, because she cannot change her
place of residence except by the wish of King
GEORGE. It seems as if Count BISMARCK had
resolved not to be idle, and thus, before the me-
mory of one act of persecution has died away,
another arrives to take its place. Why, in the
name of common sense and consistency, do not the
Prussian Government rest satisfied with the immense
successes which they met with last summer, and leave
the unfortunate victims of their triumphs alone ?
The Prussian rulers are in the wrong century of the
world, they should have flourished in those ancient
times when captives were dragged along at the
chariot-wheels of their conquerors, for acts of
courtesy and feelings of generosity are quite un-
known to them, and discountenanced by their rules
and regulations.
The unfortunate inhabitants of Schleswig have
indeed cause to regret the spread of Prussian
authority in their direction, and accounts from
Copenhagen only tend to confirm the unfavourable
impression already entertained of the affair. An
address to the KING has been moved in the sitting
of the Folkesthing, in which the conduct of Prussia
is declared to be quite in contradiction to the pro-
mises formally given. The paragraphs in the
Treaty of Prague, which bear reference to the in-
habitants of North Schleswig, have not been
adhered to in their actual meaning, and it is not to
be wondered at that indignation is felt on
one side, and disappointment on the other.
A separation of the German portion of the popula-
tion from the Danish seems to be about the best
solution of the matter, but the question is whether
it will be agreed to or not by the Prussians.
Another address of a similar nature was brought
forward in the Landsthing, and abundant in-
stances are furnished of the sentiment which pre-
vails in Denmark, and indeed it is a case which
calls for the sympathy of independent nations.

The Fourth of July is always a memorable an-
niversary. Notwithstanding the grievous changes
which the past decade has witnessed in the great
and flourishing country which dates its national
individuality from the Declaration of Independence,
it is still a great annual festival to Americans of
every degree, as it has been since the thirteen
colonies made the world-famous declaration in 1776.
And in truth they have some cause for gratification
as they review the rapid progress of those thirteen
States, and look round upon the position, the
power, and influence which the descendants of the
resolute but few and feeble settlers have obtained
in the civilised world. In wealth, in energy, in
talent of various kinds, in art and science and lite-
rature, America has shown herself to be as rich and
as gifted as the stately kingdoms and empires of
the Old World. The natural vigour of the race has,
it would seem, received fresh impetus from the wide
scope offered to its energies by the pathless forest
and untrodden prairie, and the ambition and enter-
prise of the people has been in keeping with the
mighty forces and the boundless liberality -xith
which nature displays herself to their gaze. Never-
theless, there are, we should imagine, few among
the most fervent admirers of American greatness
who would not admit that the present position of
the United States is full of danger and uncertainty.
The years which have elapsed since the termination
of the civil war have done little to heal the wounds
of the country, or to repair the ravages of the
terrible struggle. Under wiser and more enlightened
legislation we ought by this time to have seen the
cultivation of the vast Southern States reviving,
trade recovering from depression, and hope and
confidence taking the part of anxiety and distrust.
We ought to see civil government once restored to
its supremacy, military power everywhere cur-
tailed, and all parties combining to blot out as far

....
as possible the traces of discord and rivalry. Tha

South cannot, indeed, forget its fruitless struggle,
nor cease to mourn for its desolated homes, but its
people have consented to abide by the issue, and
outwardly at least would be satisfied to resume
their former employments and industries. But in
the present condition of affairs all enterprise is
checked. The Southern people themselves exhausted
their capital in the war, and from the uncertain
and unsettled state to which the Radicals have re-
duced their prospects, it is not to be supposed or
expected that capital will flow in from the North.
The effects of all this are naturally felt Northward
as well as southward, and the Financial Minister
has openly attributed the unsatisfactory state of
the exchequer in part to this cause. The white
population of the Southern States are losing heart
and hope, so much so that they are allowing the ne-
groes to obtain an unstinted majority on the registry.
They waited on hoping for something like justice or
magnanimity; but the continued predominance of
men like ASHLEY and WADE in the national coun-
cils renders the chance of real as well as nominal
reunion every day more doubtful. The only hope
• is that the extremity of the theories advocated by