The Sun.
London, England, 1857-06-02 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY., JUNE 2, 1857.

The Grand Duke CONSTANTINE has come.
And the Grand Duke CONSTANTINE has gone.
H.I.H came on Saturday evening. And H.T.H.
left on Monday morning. It reminds us of the
Hon. VILLIA.m SPENCER'S pretty little poem
" One day Good-bye met How-d'ye-do !" For
this was really very much, indeed, the literal
meaning of the interview between Queen VICTORIA
and
Grand Duke CONSTANTINE.

The contrast presented by the visit of his Imperial
Highness to France and his excursion immediately
afterwards to England—to say the very least of
it—is very remarkable. There the Russian
Prince sojourns for a considerable time. Here
he flits by in a manner the most fugitive. There
he is received publicly—here, privately. There
he traverses the country from end to end, examines
the porta and arsenals, has a superb reception at
Paris, is the guest of the SOVEREIGN at the
Tuileries, witnesses a magnificent review (in his
honour) of some 50,000 in the Champ de Mars,
and lingers among we don't know what courtly
festivities at the Palace of Fontainebleau. Here,
on the contrary, H.I.H. contents himself with a
hurried glance at our seacoast—" comes like a
shadow," and "so departs." Comes—in idiomatic
language—on the sly. Comes, and is no sooner
come than he is gone. Ho never dreams, ap-
parently in our regard, of venturing as far as the
capital. Instead of coming up to London he goes
quietly down to Osborne. He slips in, as it were,
by the backdoor, and that, moreover, after nightfall.
And slips away again from the same secluded
region, and that before cockcrow I The night-
fall is that of Saturday—the cockcrow that of
Monday. It was for all the world as though
His Imperial Highness were availing himself
of the immunities secured by Sunday to those
who chance to be Embarrassed ! The immunities
by which those who outrun the constable may,
for twenty-four hours at least in every week, set
writs and sheriffs' officers alike openly at defiance.
However it was—so it was. The Grand Duke
CONSTANTINE covertly visited the QUEEN at Os-
borne—arriving on Saturday evening as we have
said, and leaving, as we have also said, very early
indeed on Monday morning, that is to say, of
course, yesterday.

Now there must, obviously, be some meaning
in all this. And what is that meaning Is it
not apparent, at the merest glance, at the first
blush, upon the very face of things ? The mean-
ing is simply this--that guest and host, receiver
and received, are alike dubious as to what might
really have been the reception accorded t) the
Grand Duke CONSTANTINE had he ventured further,
in his visit to England, than the Isle of Wight, and
Portsmouth. So dubious were they, that even
there, down at Osborne, it was deemed on all

hands expedient that his visit should be just as
brief as possible. So that Her MAJESTY had
scarcely time allowed her to "welcome the Coming"
before she had to "speed the Going guest." Inso-
much so, that literally we might epitomise this
memorable visit paid by the Russian Grand Duke
to the great Powers of Western Europe, by merely
observing, in reference to his protracted stay in
France and to hi 3 very brief sojourn in England
TRAT is the Long and the Short of it 1"
All this we regard—we cannot help regarding—
as very significant. It proves beyond a shadow of
doubt that the despicable peace patched up with
Russia was a diplomatic humbug, distasteful to

our population. It demonstrates beyond the

roach of cavil the truth that England at least is
sagaciously alive to the folly of this wretched
farce of a Political Compromise. That here, at
any rate, we are not hoodwinked as to the hot-

lowness and instability of this purely temporary
Truce with the Russian Autocracy—whatever may
be the preposterous hallucinations indulged in by
our neighbours on the other side of the Channel.

France may be deluded into the notion, France (in-
credible though it may sound) apparently is deluded
into the notion that the Peace so called, the " Peace"
brought about by the "solemn mockery" of the
Paris Conferences—may be confidently regarded
as in every respect worthy of its designation. But
England most assuredly does not. The difference
of opinion entertained upon this rather important
topic by the two countries may be recognised upon

the instant by whosoever may care to contrast thy
reception accorded there by France and here by
England; to tlu Wolf in Sheep's clothing—to
this Peace-breathing, War-loving Russian Prince--
the Grand Duke CONSTANTINE.

They do these things differently in France I
will be the exclamation of every Englishman who
reads the Electoral Address of the Estriton. His
address we may properly call it, since, though
signed by M. BILLAULT, it bears unmistakeably
the impress of the Imperial hand. We all re-
member how, when Lord PALMERSTON was merely
suspected of having given an opinion on the
Southampton election, the opponents of Mr.
WEGUELIN endeavoured to make capital out of an
alleged interference of the Premier ; and how we
all were amused at his usual luck when he could
make out that ho had been guiltless of inter-
ference, while on that account his candidate gained
all the advantage of his good opinion. At the
present moment, also, one of the most important
election petitions to the House of Commons is that
from West Norfolk, complaining of the interference
of the Lord Lieutenant of the county, and of
other Peers with him, in the West Norfolk
Election. Such is the feeling of Englishmen in
regard to dictation of candidates by any
superior, that it would damage the chances of the
candidate—would ruin him, indeed, were the vot-
ing really free. There can be little doubt that
Lord JOHN RUSSELL owed his victory in the City
to resentment, by great numbers, of supposed
dictation on
the part of the Liberal Registration
Society, and the Manchester School their rejec-
tion by Manchester, to the cry of " League Dic-
tation ;" though both bodies belonged to the
electors themselves, and in former days had done
them.admirable service.
liow totally different, therefore, must be a
Frenchman's idea of political liberty, when the