The Sun.
London, England, 1867-09-14 00:00:00

should respond to the invitation, it does not follow
that the visit will mean anything of an extraordi-
nary nature. We have all heard quite enough of
the significance of the Salzburg interview, and sub-
sequently had to wade through protestations and
speeches, notes and circulars, which all set forth
that it meant nothing. Hence it might be as well
to pause before taking another " leap in the dark"
concerning the meaning of this or that Royal
visit or Imperial interview. The French papers do
not think much of the King's speech. The Siecle
expresses itself very ably concerning it, and declares
that the most conspicuous pert of the discourse is
that which is omitted. The chief question is not
alluded to at all—namely, that of Schleswig, and
the chief thing spoken of is the Federal Constitution
of the North. We get only a glimpse of the ten-
dencies of the Prussian Government, " whose real
object," as this writer truly says, is " not to merge
Prussia in a great German unity, but to absorb
Germany into Prussia." With respect to Schleswig-
Hostein affairs are still anything but promising,
and the old game of BISMARCK seems likely to
be played out to the uttermost. Only one
person favourable to Denmark bas been summoned
to Berlin among the Schleswig-Holstein notables,
and that is Herr BRUGER, who has lately been
elected a member of the North German Parliament.
At any rate it is satisfactory to know that he will
protest against the further postponement of the
popular vote in the North Schleswig districts. The
Germans are so very intrusive in pressing their
claims, and the Prussians so arbitrary in their
demands, that it seems almost hopeless to expect that
a very satisfactory solution will be come to of the
difficulty now pending, and perhaps it would be
folly to expect that it would turn out well, when we
remember which is the leading Power in the
transaction, and what are its antecedents.

The usual ill-luck that attends our preparations
seems to wait upon the Abyssinian expedition, but
it is to be hoped that when once the arrangements
have been made that the tide of fortune will turn,
and all go favourably. The last drawback has been
th e pack-saddles that were prepared for the campaign.
Some officers of the Ordnance Select Committee
of Woolwich Arsenal have been in consultation for
the last few days on the subject of providing the
best for the purpose. It was decided that the best
way would be to countermand those which had
been already ordered and prepared for shipment as
unsuitable for the destined purpose. The new ones
are to be the kind designated the " Otago saddle,'
similar to those used in the war in New Zealand.
These have been strongly recommended by well-
informed persons, who have had experience of their
merits, and they have gone through a course of
trial very satisfactorily. At one time another kind
of saddle had been thought of, but these Otago
ones have been proved in the jungle and in actual
warfare, and hence it has been wisely selected to
put off the use of the other one, which has not
been tried as yet for foreign campaigns, and in
this emergency to employ that kind which is known
to be efficacious. Some five or six thousand of the
Otago saddles are to be immediately prepared, and
tenders will be issued for their manufacture by
private contract. The mountain guns and equip-
ment will not be ready before the first week in next
month, and hence it is hoped that little or no delay
will be eventually caused by this change in the
pack and saddle department of the preparations.
At Liverpool the preparations are proceeding
favourably ; the Peruvian and the England left the
Mersey on Thursday, and the remainder leave to-
day. They will complete their shipments at
Deptford, and they will take out a large quantity of
materials of all kinds.

Some correspondence has been published re-
specting the Armenian intervention in favour of the
Abyssinian captives, and this will interest many
who have formed erroneous notions respecting it.
It has been hoped even up to the present moment
that some chance still remains of a pacific result
being attained by this means, but it is not so. It is
evident that the failure has not resulted from the
want of any effort on the part of those con-
cerned, but rather from adverse circum-
stances. The English authorities also did
all in their power to facilitate the en-
terprise. So much has
,been said and written
against the wisdom of sending out this expedition
that it is encouraging to find any one speaking
hopefully concerning it. In a letter signed
" Briton," to the Standard of to-day, some very
sensible views are taken of the affair, and some
true remarks are met with. The writer says that
too much is made of the difficulty, and that cara-
vans are constantly traversing through and through
the country, and that they do not find the " three
hundred miles of jungle" impassable. As for
the unhealthiness of Massowah, it is not salu-
brious during the hot months of the year,
but it is the port to which a considerable number
of the merchants resort, and where Consul CAME-
RON was ordered to return to his residence. It is
wisely added, at the conclusion of this letter, that
"if writers would state what they know of these
matters, rather than what they conjecture, it would
be better for everybody, and as to stopping the ex-
pedition at the creaking of a few frogs and toads, it
has gone too far to recede." We think that the
Government have done well and wisely in perse-
vering in their course, notwithstanding the many
interruptions they have met with from the informa-
tion of those who incline to a do-nothing policy.

The intelligence which is brought us by the
Scotia from New York on the 4th is highly impor-
tant and interesting. The PRESIDENT, in pursuance
of the newer and more vigorous policy which he has
adopted, has issued a proclamation clearly defining
his official position, responsibilities, and duties.
The Constitution, he says, makes him Commander-
in-Chief of the Army and Navy, and binds him,
under a solemn oath, to preserve and defend the
Constitution, which vests the national judicial power
in the Supreme Court and subordinate courts. He,
therefore, warns all civil and military officers to
yield obedience to the laws, and assist and sustain
the national courts in exercising their constitutional
powers, instead of repeating the attempts made in
North and South Carolina to obstruct the action of
the courts. This is plain and 6traightfor ward language,
and it cannot be denied that the constitutional law
is sound. Mr. JOHNSON has always taken his stand
upon the constitution, and, however much his oppo-
nents may chafe and murmur they cannot contra-
vene his statements. The Rldicals, with their suc-
cessive " Constitutional Amendments," make no
secret indeed of their desire to remodel the work of
their ancestors, but the general feeling of the
American public is hardly prepared for that. A
time of violent political passion and strong rivalry,
not only of class or of party, but of race, is not an
appropriate opportunity for re-adjusting the balance
of the political framework. The inconsistency of
maintaining a civil war during four years for
the avowed purpose of preserving the Consti-
tution intact, and then in the very hour of
success wantonly to destroy and to sacrifice the very
objects for which life and treasure had been spent,
is not a little remarkable, but American reformers
have left such paltry considerations far behind. They
have had their own way, thanks to their ascend-