The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-19 00:00:00

LO NDON, SATURDAY, NOV. 19, 1864.

We have heard a great deal about the injustice
and illegality of the Confederate proceedings in
having ships of war built in English ports, and
thus infringing the rights and duties of a neutral
nation. Candid and impartial observers, however,
will be inclined to attach a good deal more import
tance to the enlistment of recruits under false prey
tences, especially when such recruits are subjects of
a neutral Power, and when a system of wholesale
enlistment under these circumstances is directly
contrary to the law. There is no comparison as to
the relative importance of ships and men in a
military point of view, since very certainly the one
could not be used without the other; but however
anxious the Confederates may be for a fleet of
Alabamas, the North are ten times more eager for
recruits. They cannot fill their armies with negro
regiments, and white men grow day by day more
reluctant to enter a service in which all the ames
nities of more civilised warfare seem to be alto-
gether thrown aside. The waste of life which
has been going on for the last four years must
be replenished somewhere, and every fresh effort
proves how hopelessly inadequate GRANT'S present
forces are to cope with LEE. When even President
DAVIS directs the greater portion of his address
to urging upon the Secessionists the paramount
duty of joining the ranks, it is not much wonder
that the Northern armies, filled with no such pre-
vailing sentiments, animated by no such unanimous
spirit, and driven by no such stern necessity, should
be waning rather than waxing. Yet LINCOLN is by
no means disposed to abandon the war, and as the 90
days show no prospect of coming to an end, some-
thing must be done to provide food for powder.
Forced conscriptions might be dangerous in the
present temper of New York, and, even if they were
possible, they could not be resorted to often enough
to keep up the steady supply necessitated by the
frequent recurrence of battles in which a loss of
four or five thousand men is thought little of—to
say nothing of the constant drain of life going on
by skirmishing, exposure, and disease. Looking out
for a remedy, it is not surprising that the Washing-
ton Cabinet should have turned its eyes in the
direction of the much-abused British islands, where
strength and spirit are plentiful enough, and labour
to be had for the asking, while the identity of lan-
guage is naturally a great recommendation. It is
true there was the little difficulty about the Foreign
Enlistment Act, but that was easy to get over with
such complaisant friends in the Cabinet ; and the
result of their cogitations has been the establish•
ment of regular agencies in some of our principal
seaport towns, in which the unwary are entrapped,
either knowingly or unknowingly, into the ranks
of the Federal service. This is pretty well for a
country which is so sensitive as to the obligations
of neutrals as to object to unarmed vessels leaving
her shores for a neutral port and a neutral pos-
sessor, and considers itself bound to act upon the
presumed intentions of that possessor, and
the probable destination of such vessels. Com-
plaints have been made, and with good cause, o.
the forced or deceptive enlistment of Irish emi-
grants; but it seems either that the Hibernians have
become more difficult to entrap, or that their num
bers fail to supply the amount required, for English
men are now called in to supply the deficiency. A
vessel has been detained at Liverpool, carrying 200
young men from from Ashton and London to New
York under very suspicious circumstances. They
had been engaged as " glassworkers," a convenient
travelling name; but it is stated that Zwo young
men, who have since left the vessel, assert that they
were offered commissions in the Federal army. 01
course, nothing is as yet certain, and the matter
will be thoroughly investigated before the borough
magistrates, but the affair bears a suspicious appear-
ance as yet. The chief constable of the district
called the attention of the magistrates of Ashton-
under-Lyne, a few days since, to a system which is
said to be carried on of engaging young men to go
to New York on this same pretext of glass works.
Eighty young men left on Tuesday night, and the
chief constable had reason to suppose they were
draughted for the Federal army. It is not stated
whether these eighty formed part of the 200 on
board the Great Western, but the principle is the
same. These young men knew iiothing of the trade
for which they were engaged, yet they were offered
fifteen dollars a month, and this to poor and, in
some cases, penniless men, was of course a power-
ful incentive. What particular sort of "glass
work" it is, is not specified, but requires those en-
gaged in it to have sound front teeth. It is high time
that the matter was looked into, for, according to
a comtnutication which appeared yesterday in the
columns of a csntemporary, these agents are carry-
ing on the system in London itself, advertising in
metropolitan journals under specious pretexts. We
trust the magistrates of Ashton will inquire very
closely into these suspicious proceedings, and that
the Government will show as much commendable
anxiety to preserve the neutrality of England intact
in this case as in the instances of the Alexandra
co
country
ntr
and the rams. Whatever may be the fortunes of
our cotton h
h
a nt
de Should b
s;
i t is certainly
esent t
noto d
thee in
wish
thek ofra
ranks
the
y that s
of this cruel and profitless war.

Meetings are now the order of the day, and no
one can complain of not having sufficient to break
the monotony and enliven the tediusi of this dull
season of the year. Froni whatever cause it pro-
ceeds, it is certain that the C.matrvatives are more
on the alert, and have contrived t collect their

forces in greater array than their opponents.
Within the last week there have been two at Essex
and at Worcester, where they have come out in
full force, and where some of their speakers have
distinguished themselves by the display of consi-
derable eloquence in discussing public affairs at
home and abroad: At Malden, Mr. PEACOCKE
made a speech on the American War, which is well
worthy of attention, and may furnish some hints to
those who cling to their old prejudices in the con-
sideration of the circumstances attending the dis-
astrous conflict that desolates the Continent of
America. The hon. member began by stating that
in this war there were matters that materially
affected the honour and interests of England. The
honour is marked in the constant threats that are
made touching the invasion of Canada, and the in-
terests are concerned in the sufferings which the
war has inflicted upon the people of this country.
They who have attentively studied the subject, and
even those who are only partially informed, will
concur in the opinion of Mr. PEACOCKE that " a
more hopeless and purposeless war was never waged
in the history of the human race than that which
rages in America." With respect to the election of
the PRESIDENT, there is great truth in his remark
that little is to be hoped, for those about LINCOLN
are so involved in nefarious and illegal acts that
they will move heaven and earth to secure his re.
election by foul means if not by fair. The truth of
this will now be proved, but in the meantime there
is a fair show of reason in it. It would have been
well, indeed, if three years ago the South had re.
sorted to the measure of calling out the blacks.
This, as Mr, PEACOCKE said, would have been most
effectual, and also the step would have proved
beneficial in other respects. In the first place,
such a thing is virtually an Emancipation Act, and,
besides, it will enable them to carry on the war
with vigour. Mr. BRIGHT will doubtless be very
indignant to hear that loud cheers greeted the
declaration of the speaker that it would be
for the interest of England and the interest of civi.
lisation that the South should succeed. This he
set about to demonstrate in a practical fashion, and
succeeded in showing his meaning that must carry
conviction to the minds of all not hopelessly wedded
to orposite views from partiality, prejudice, and
deeply rooted preconceived ideas, that subsequent
events have not had power to root up or modify.
It is certain that it is no exaggeration to state that
the tone of the United States has been insufferably
arrogant; and also few can deny that a climax has
been reached by the piratical act of capturing the
Florida. This dastardly achievement of an unscru-
pulous and dishonest foe was properly denounced
and forcibly stigmatised by Mr PEACOCKE. Without
entertaining a very particular respect for the
honourable sentiments which actuate the American
people or its navy, he adds emphatically that " any
man of that service will be unworthy of the
epaulettes which he wears, and ought to be con-
demned to social ostracism who does not
promptly resent such a nefarious act."
Would that there was a chance of such
occurring, but judging the present by the past, we
have only too much cause tolear that the man who
so disgraced himself before civilised nations will be
will be welcomed and applauded at home. The de.
generate descendants of the Anglo-Saxon race, who
boast of their skill and foresight, are wanting in
that which is the one thing needful for a powerful
nation—the spirit of rectitude. Mr PEACOCKE'S de•
sire that the States to which the Government of the
United States have accredited their representatives
should refuse to retain these representatives until
due reparation be made, is not likely to prove more
feasible, bat it is, nevertheless, a matter of satisfac-
don to hear any one discourse so boldly on subjects
!hat are generally put aside and smuggled over in-
stead of being denounced in the strongest terms
that language can employ. The hon. member has
done credit to himself and reflected honour on the
country by having the courage to speak out his
convictions, and the more his example is followed
the better it will be for our consistency as a
first-rate Power, bound to uphold the precepts
and practice of that morality which should
characterise all civilised nations. At Wor.
nester, another Conservative candidate for
the approaching election came forward. At all
events no one can say that due preparations are not
being made by that party for the great electoral
strife which will commence when Lord PALMER-
STON gives the signal, and we may fancy some
desponding adherent of the waning splendours of
the present regime, apostrophising the succeeding
apparitions of a hostile form, as did he who asked
of those who raised the curtain of futurity, if the
line before him would last till the rack of doom.
All the proceedings that have taken place in regard
to the association at Worcester fully prove the
verity of the fact, that Mr. ALLSOPP alluded to as
the result of their success, " Union is strength."
This has been shown how many times and oft in
the various political and social endeavours that are
originated and carried out with more or less success.
he result of the efforts of this Society at Wor-
cester is an encouragement to all who persevere
steadily to the attainment of their object, and the
example thus set might with advantage be followed
by some on the other side. The zeal and energy
which the Conservatives and their friends have
displayed in following the advice of their former
leader, Sir ROBERT PEEL, in this matter of regis-
tration, is an earnest of the spirit in which they
are preparing for the fray. Real Liberals, not
those place mongers who take up the name as a
cry that may serve them in good stead, will be glad
to find such energy apparent ; we have had enough
of torpor and suspension in the political world at
home, and either the zeal of their opponents will
push on the Government to action, or else, which
would perhaps he a more fitting retribution, they
may have to give place to those who cannot be
more unwilling, and may prove more capable to
inaugurate the necessary changes that the exi-
gencies of the times may require in the mechanism
and management of the domestic politics of the
country, to say nothing of a foreign policy more
consistent with the dignity, and more congenial to
the spirit of this great nation.

Lord GRANVILLE observed with some truth the
other day that there has been a kind of epidemic
this autumn among public speakers with regard to
national education and public schools, Almost
every orator, politician, or speaker of any class who
has addressed the public within the last few months
has thought fit to touch upon this fashionable topic,
and certainly the occasion on which the noble lord
was then addressing his hearers—the presentation
of certificates and pries to the successful candidates
41 the Oxford Local Examinations—was not one on
which it could be overlooked. The noble earl, who
from his position and his tastes is alike identified
with the cause, went at some length into the diffi-
cult and complicated question, although ho refrained
from committing himself to the support or condem-
nation of any particular scheme. On some points,
indeed, he expressed a-decided opinion, and in most
of these he will be upheld by the common sense of
the country. lie objected alike to the views of Mr
ARNOLD and of Mr LOWE in the extreme length to
which those gentlemen carried them—the one re-
commending a system of national education for the
upper and middle classes, and the other, on the