The Sun.
London, England, 1866-07-30 00:00:00

of the river. We give up to the river
itself two acres of land, which now
extend in a very undesirable line for its navi-
gation ; therefore, in every sense of the word,
this is a national work, and in carrying it out we
have in view national objects." The hospital in
which Mr. TITE takes an interest, scarcely secon-
dary to that -which he feels in the Embankment,
will be, he hopes and believes when completed, the.
the finest in Europe. The two works are to go on
together, in order to avoid unnecessary delay in the
completion of the hospital, and will, we hope, arrive
ac an equally satisfactory conclusion.

Saturday was one of the triumphs of our
independent corporations, but the Execu-
tive was not unrepresented on so impor-
tant an occasion. Lord JOHN MANNERS, as First
Commissioner of Works, was present to express
the gratification which he felt in seeing this great
undertaking worthily inaugurated. Turning for
an illustration to that brilliant poet whose verses
afford us either motto or comment for most of
our conspicuous national achievements the noble
lord aptly quoted the lines—

Bid the broad arch the dangerous flood contain ;
The mole projecting break the roaring main :
Back to his bounds the subject sea command,
And roll obedient rivers through the land.
Those honours peace to happy Britain brings—
These are imperial acts,
and worthy kings.
These are the triumphs which were celebrated
on Saturday, for it is the successes of the past that
give confidence for the future; and great as may
be the difficulties which await the engineers, there
is no reasonable ground for doubting that they will
all succumb to skill, science, and perseverance.
The condition of our fine old river has long been
in every way a disgrace to Londoners, and it is
high time for a united and continuous effort to in-
vest him with the honours that rightly appertain to
him. The " imperial work" now in progress is
truly national in its character; we trust, therefore,
it will be carried out in a national and liberal
spirit.

The preliminaries of peace are now exchanged,
and Bavaria is at last included in the armistice, the
consent of Italy as usual standing in the way at
first. The final arrangements agreed upon differ
very little from what has been for some time put
forward as the main features of the war. No doubt
we are now pretty certain to have peace, but it does
not appear that it will be built upon a secure
foundation. In fact, Austria is just now surrounded
by so many complications that it is not only the
remarkable success of the Prussian armies
that has compelled her to make terms of
peace, and bring the war to a virtual conclusion.
From all that we can judge of the affair, it seems
as if the vaunted freedom and regeneration of the
whole of Germany is to end in the chief States
being subject to the rule of Prussia, who is to
carry on a sort of military despotism. If Prussia
were really sincere in her professions about the re-
organisation of Germany we should not find the
Berlin Government so eagerly working out their
schemes of vengeance by excluding Austria
from the new Confederation. The cloven
foot has soon appeared in this grand
undertaking, and assuredly, which it now
seems, the reputation of those who propose it
will eventually render the scheme abortive, and
give ample opportunity for jealousies to creep in
and difficulties to arise. A sort of reign of terror
has been established, and the Prussian KING is in
the ascendant by sheer force of arms. Who, then,
can safely predict for him a career of lengthened
peace and prosperity in the arduous course upon
which he has entered ? The Paris journals seem
to have accepted the peace very cordially, and, in-
deed, they are rather too much in favour of Prussia.
The Constitutionnel states that the conditions of the
armistice are equitable, considering the state of
things created by the war. There is one thing that
is satisfactory in the plans said to be proposed, and
that is, that the territorial integrity of the kingdom
of Saxony is to be preserved. If this be done, it
will be against the wishes of Prussia, but perhaps
that crafty Power thinks it is going too far in
monopolising all things.

The dispute concerning the Frankfort contribu-
tion is still continued, and no progress is made on
either side. The last rumour afloat is that the in-
habitants of Frankfort have been warned that, if
they do not pay immediately the sums demanded of
them, the town will be closely 'surrounded, and no
one will be permitted to enter or leave it. No
doubt the greed of the Berlin Government is such
that they will proceed to some extreme or other
if they are not checked in some way or other.
At any rate, the inhabitants show no sign as yet
of giving in, and we may therefore fairly con-
clude that there is more to be heard of this affair
before it terminates. The episode of the Frankfort
contributions is one particularly characteristic of
the Prussians. Not content with obtaining posses-
sion of the place, they must needs gratify their
spite by imposing contributions, and not satisfied
with compliance to these demands they go on from
bad to worse until they fix upon an enormous sum,
which tries the temper of the inhabitants too far.
Whichever way the case ends it will be a disgrace to
the Prussians, but we hardly think they care for
public opinion either at home or abroad. Prussia
demands the payment of an immense war indemnity
from Austria, so that while we hear on all sides a
great deal of talk about the heavy sacrifices that
she has made for the sake of Germany, we find that
it is her intention to get as much as she possibly
can from all quarters to indemnify her. As it seems,
upon consideration, that nothing would be mate-
rially altered by a prolongation of hostilities,we may
be glad that the war is over, or nearly so; but as to
the assertion that Prussia has done a great work
and rendered service to Germany, we cannot see any
grounds for declaring such a thing. Success is no
proof of merit, though the world may too readily
accept it for such, and time may yet prove that
the Berlin Government is not so powerful as it now
seems to be.

The most continuous good fortune has hitherto
attended the course of the Atlantic Cable, and the
news of its successful issue will afford general satis-
faction. It was no wonder that many regarded
this last expedition with anxiety and apprehension
because of the previous failures and disappoint-
ments, but at the same time these doubts and un-
certainties have added to the satisfaction that was
experienced. We may regard the laying of the
Atlantic Cable un fait accompli by this time, and it
is difficult to overrate the importance and influence
of such an undertaking. It needs no flourish of
trumpets to do it, because it requires no figurative
description of language to describe its merits, but
we may, in sober earnest, dilate upon its advan-
tages and benefits. It is not easy for the uninitiated
to appreciate, to its full extent, the importance of
the
undertaking, and neither can they estimate the
labour required to bring the task to a successful
issue. The care and skill that were demanded of
the workmen were indeed great, and any oversight
on the part of the workmen would have occasioned
disaster to the affair.
sipuatipng
l
People will be at first so
speculating engrossed with
upon the grandeur of
this achievement and delighted at its success that
they will be liable to forget the results of the
work. When New York and London have been _