The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-17 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—We rejoice to find the House of Lords
returning again to what we must consider to be its
true and legitimate vocation—the promotion of the
sacred interests of peace. Nothing has jarred more
on the public mind than the language which was
recently held by this great Assembly—language
which sounded as if they really considered it their
vocation to appeal to the passions of the multitude,
and place every obstacle in their power to those
who labour in the good work of preventing war,
carnage, and desolation. Our pleasure is increased
by reflecting on the quarter from which this salu-
tary change has come. Among the many admirable
qualities which distinguish Lord Ellenborough
nobody that we know of has ever enumerated any
marked aversion from war. A civilian with the
tastes of a military man, Lord Ellenborough has
generally been inclined to go to war with the first
nation which happened to offend our sense of jus-
tice or of propriety. Even the other day we were
sorry to see him lending his powerful voice to per-
suade his brother Peers that we have no choice but
to rush headlong into the Schleswig Holstein strug-
gle. Now, however, he speaks in a manner worthy
of his own great talents and the Assembly of which
he is an ornament. He asks whether the proposal
of Austria and Prussia for an armistice which was
published two or three days ego is authentic, and
makes that question the opportunity for expressing
a hope, in which we heartily agree with him, that
Denmark will not reject the opportunity offered her,
perhaps for the last time, extricating herself from
the tremendous difficulty with which she is contend-
ing. " I must express," says Lord Ellenborough,
"my earnest hope that the Danes will accept an
armistice on the basis of uti possidetis. I trust we
shall have the happiness to see the great Powers of
Europe assembled in conference with the armistice
first established, and I do hope at the same time
that Austria and Prussia will instruct Marshal
Wrangel not to commit the army to any further
military operations, for it will be a most criminal
act if, while these Powers hold out the hope of a
pacific settlement, they do anything to endanger
the lives of more men than have already fallen in
this unrighteous war." The counsel is wise and
weighty, and whatever Lord Ellenborough may
have to say to-morrow, he can hardly utter any-
thing better deserving the attention of Denmark
or more beneficial to his own party. It is quite
time that some one stepped forward to emancipate
the Conservative party from the stigma, which
they have been so anxious to fix upon themselves,
of wishing to drive the Government and the nation
into the horrors of a European conflict. The con-
stant taunts levelled at the Government for the
poorness of their spirit in submitting to see their
counsel rejected, their mediation repudiated, and
their good offices slighted, have sunk deep into the
minds of the reflecting part of the nation, and they
have come to think that the differences which once
divided Whigs and Tories in this country have
almost all merged into the single division of advo-
eates of peace and promoters of war. Sydney,
Smith calculated that we had been at war 35 mi-
nutes out of every hour since the Peace of Utrecht;
and if we are to accept the present Tories as fair
representatives of the old English spirit of other
days it could not well be otherwise. It is quite
possible certainly for Lord Ellenborough, if he be
so minded, to unite his exhortation to peace with a
condemnation of the conduct of the nation in not
immediately going to war. He may say, " I advise
Denmark to make peace because England is too
mean and too poor-spirited to assist her in waging
war." But we are at present inclined to hope bet-
ter things, and to believe that the effect of really
wise and moderate counsel will not be neutralized
by any such addition. Denmark has now her des-
tiny in her own hands. She can, if she will, emerge
with honour and without irreparable loss from the
conflict ; and if, carried away by democratic or re-
volutionary passion, she refuses to avail herself of
the opportunity afforded her, on her own folly, and
not on our prudence and moderation, must rest the
blame for such results as may ensue. We have given
her all the moral support in our power, and have
brought matters to such a point that Denmark has
still the opportunity of rescuing herself from the
hands of her enemies. Whether she will avail her-
self of that opportunity we cannot yet tell, nor ought
we to be judged by the result, which it is not in our
power to control. Let any one who has felt disposed
to find fault with us for not being more prompt in
enforcing by the sword the opinions which we enter-
tain consider for a moment whether we should have
been nearer our only object—the maintenance of the
peace of Europe and the restraint of violent and law-
less aggression—if we had yielded to the solicita-
tions and taunts of the leaders of the Conservative
party, had threatened instead of expostulated, and
prepared war instead of recommending conferences
and mediations. Is it at all sure that, after all the
expenditure, all the disturbance, and all the panic,
we should be the least nearer the end we have in
view ? France has hitherto remained quiet, and if
she has done little to promote the cause of peace,
she is, as tar as we know, entirely free from the guilt
of inflaming warlike passions. Are we quite sure
that this would have been the case if England had
l'stened to unwise and interested counsellors and
thrust herself prematurely into a conflict with the
whole united power of Germany ? Is it in human
nature that France would have contented herself with
looking on, or merely assisting Denmark by landing
troops on her territory P Is it not rather certain that
she would have seized the opportunity to extend her
frontier to the hhine, and repossess herself of what
she believes to be her natural boundary If this had

been the result of our interference, does any one
think that wo should have interference to a good
purpose, or that things would be in a better state
then than they are now, when we have brought
about a proposal for an armistice without removing
any one of the great European landmarks, or so far as
we know, laying the foundation of any future war ?
We have not yet a right to speak as persons re-
moved from the possibility of very serious peril; but
if we escape that peril it will mainly be because
Parliament and the country have had wisdom and
courage enough to disregard the taunts of the war
party and to persevere in the just path in which,
if we have found little to gratify the spirit of na-
tional vanity, we have obtained advantages more
durable and honour lees likely to be tarnished. It
is something that, with a whole country delivered
over to the wildest passions, England has retained
her reason clear and her perception just, and that
by perseverance in good offices she has fairly worn
out the angry and unjust spirits with which she
had to deal. It is something that those Powers
who but a little while ago refused to listen to our
warnings, or, indeed, to accept our guarantee that
the Danish Monarchy would repeal the Constitution
of November, should now of their own accord,
without having been able to possess themselves of
the island of Alsen, or, indeed, of the whole main-
land of Schleswig, offer to enter into a Conference;
and something, also, that the tide of revolution,
which at one moment seemed rising so high in Ger-
many, has been stopped. There are many symp-
toms of a reaction from the exalted and exaggerated
sentiments which alone could gain audience a few
weeks ago; the lesser Powers of Garmany are a wak-
ing to a sense of their own impotence when occupy-
ing a position of antagonism to the two greater
States, and the two greater States are beginning
to appreciate the perilous nature of the task they
have undertaken, and the impossibility of much
longer circumscribing the war within the narrow
limits within which for six weeks of winter it has
been found barely possible to confine it.
POST.—It is scarcely possible to exaggerate the
importance of the questions of international law
which have sprung from the present unhappy Ame-
rican contest. Amidst the difficulties and complica-
tions which have arisen the policy of the Government
of this country has been one of strict and impartial
neutrality, and that policy, being in accordance with
the duty and the interests of this country, can well
afford to 'stand the test of such angry but conflicting
critics as Mr. Roebuck and Mr. Bright. It appears
that the continued emigration from Ireland to the
Federal States hes been associated in many minds
with a systematic plan on the part of the American
Government to enlist British subjects in a foreign
service, in violation not only of our territorial
sovereignty, but of that famous statute of the 59th
of George 111., the real effect of which, in the cases
of the Alexandra and the steam-rams, is still a matter
sub judice. On the one hand, it is said by Mr.
Roebuck that it is most unfair to remonstrate with
the Confederate Government for employing agents
in this country to purchase ships and machinery
whilst Federal agents are permitted with impunity
to forward to the scene of war, not hundreds, but
thousands of Irish fighting men. On the other
hand, Mr. Bright, who sees everything through a
Northern medium, maintains that the exodus is
merely the result of an economic law which must
make every man prefer high wages and prosperity
abroad to poverty and misery at home. Now, in all
probability both these representations are partially
correct, We do not suppose that Federal agents in
Ireland are foolish enough to enlist men with the
express purpose of serving in the American army.
They are far too discreet. Mr. Caird mentioned a
case in which one of these agents publicly adver-
tised for a thousand young men to be employed on
an American railroad at Is. a day, the directors
guaranteeing that, as payment would be made
in greenbacks, the cost of living to these men should
not exceed 12s. a week. Of course everybody knows
what the meaning of such an announcement is—an
attempt, by the promise of high pay, to induce a
thousand of her Majesty's subjects to become food
for powder in a quarrel with which they have no
concern. But Governments and Courts cannot act
upon bare suspicion. There must be prima facie
evidence of an infringement of the Foreign Enlist-

•
ment Act before the alleged agent or his viatineau'of
be indicted for a misdemeanour. The diffintlitYbe
obtaining this evidence was clearly pointed 00 nit
Lord Palmerston, who stated that the GovernMelo
had done all that it could do by having directed t
attention of the American Minister in this COOtr,,o
J
to the subject. Those persons who remember .the
unfriendly spirit which the United States exhibitl
towards this country during the Crimean Warw.'s,
not have forgotten that in 1855 the British Ml,ll,!sh
ter, Sir John Crampton, and one or two Br"ble,
consuls were ordered out of the United StateB 00
cause a German, resident in Philadelphia, had, updea
, preteon
his own authority and for his own profit
to enlist some few wretched Germans for the fire
tish service. The Cabinet of Washington, wituc)off
waiting for a particle of legal evidence, brokeho
diplomatic relations with this country, and thug
showed its perfect neutrality by an act of greoo
one insult to one belligerent. If, at the dietto,
of Mr. Bright and Mr. Roebuck, the British tfri
vernment were to imitate the precedent set by ,`5
Filmore, Mr. Marcy, and General Cass in 184,
Federal and Confederate agents would forthwi`s,
lee ordered to depart the realm, the former on 81ilor
p;cion of enlisting Irishmen, and the latter to
equipping and fitting out ships of war to erulne,
against a State with which this country is at Peallo
Discussions of this kind in the House of ComenerTeth
little good ; they not only tend to irritate uvvo
parties in America, but they frequently throw gr.tof
impediments in the way of the Government sou of
our tribunals. It is obvious that the proviel°ll, to
the Foreign Enlistment Act are amply suffielenvbe
meet the case of recruiting in this country be
American agents, however deficient they may s,
with respect to the Alexandra and the steam VI
The one thing necessary, however, is legal proc'h;
and we have no doubt that when this is obtained t"ii
Government will set the law in motion against
•
offenders, without regard to the sympathies or Pfht,
dilections of either Mr. Roebuck or Mr. Brigpd
The case of the men supposed to have been enl""r,
et Cork by the officers of the Federal cruiser o.eb,
sage will no doubt throw some light upon the 6i/et
ject ; but still there may be no evidence to cone e.;O
the American Government, or any of its agents, vi/he
,
transactions of this kind. It may turn out that iv
captain of a foreign ship, wanting men, tbeAb,
there was no harm in engaging a few needy Jr"ro
men as stokers and firemen, and it may also tufo
out that the individuals who for the last two 9gßet
have regulated the tide of emigration from Irele"6
to New York have reaped enormous profits blio
simple percentage on the passage money paid by t„„
American Government, or by the emigrants thewor
selves. It is quite clear that, so long as the
Irishman has 1100 bounty awaiting him in A11e,r,,101
he will find his way to that favoured land virit.u" r,
considering the chances and hazards of afierce War,
which will be protracted just so long as foreignlllo
cenaries choose to sell their lives and services to
'
highest bidder. We might leave the matter be
ot
but last American mail brings intelligence of the
fese
that a measure has been introduced into Cong1;0
for the appointment of United States emigreer.
agents in the principal ports of Ireland and ist
many. These persons, it is understood, are to aOro,
emigrants either by advances of money or by Po
viding for them a free passage. Should the ~,`",(1
become law, these agents -would be the al°
officers of the United States Uovernment, a 1,,"
to,
such, could not presume to exercise any ftlect'of
diplomatic or commercial, without the sanett°e-
eet
her Majesty's Government. They must be e": 0
consuls or consular agents, and if, holding s.
al
office, they should infringe any of our munie'rd•
laws, the American precedent of 1855 might
vantageonsly followed by their instant disin,to.
from this country. If the Government of Mr. 10,
coin is so rich and so benevolent ae to ciesire teli„rod
vide happy and prosperous homes for the It ish
German peasantry, we could not object to the r
Bence among us of the agents of such good Wt..
but if we find that the Irish peasant must l'i°o,o
young and hearty man, and that Mr. Lieccif to
benevolence does not extend to the shed, °"p9
females and children, suspicion will not unnatursoo
be excited, and then it will not be difficult to nbt
evidence which, upon legal as well as moral greui3fer
will make the Federal Government responsible '
the acts of its agents.

COUNTRY MARKETS.

LYNN—TUESDAY.
i 11 fa/
At to-day's market there was a fair attendance, vr;t„,
average show of wheat, which brought about the prices
last week. 6I
White wheat 44s to 46s / Barley . 3-15
to '3is
Itcd .. 4os to 42s I Grinding ...29s - 00
Beans .320 to 31s I Oats..
Small 34s to 36s I Peas —.i to .'

HULL—TUESDAY.
cllish
At to-day's market there was a fair supply of -I'7.
in
wheat, which farmers held firmly at last week's rate:;tivg
foreign there was still a slow trade doing. Both 03`icl iS
and grinding barley neglected. Beans and peas 0° 01
retail, but no lower in price. Oats more in rcquest,
better sold. no
4s
Wheat.... Old white....per qr.
42 s dtt o A
25- 50 oci
Old red 4os o
a.

„
Nevi white • . ~ - 63
New red .... „
Barley.... English malting 27s Od to c,3'”, 6,1
Grinding 24s Od to „q: O
Saal and Oderbruck . 32s Od to °' Oa
Holstein and Danish 3os Od to 3I: 01
Grinding 2Ss Od to 'I-, 03
Oats English, old
Archangel and Riga, per st 05123,(1 to 0?
Frieslan and Dutch osl3d to 03 i, d
Swedish and Danish 05120 OOP
2, 03
Beans .... English, old, per qr. 4os Od to l'-,, ca
New pigeon 42s Od to 4;' 0(i
New tick. 4os Od to 4,s 63
Egyptian
Peas Foreign 33 boilers ... ..
32530 s 00 da
tt tc 3,
04 ;
0033
n
Grinding
Tares ....Spring —s Od to 34 0d
01
Indian Corn - 00
Linseed, feeding
crushing • 4os Od to d';'s 0
Linseed cakes (Hull) £9 10 0 to £9 '0
Foreign' Bl5 oto 9 v
0 ° 0
Rape cakes 5 10 oto 0
Bones 550 to 1

MELTON MOWBRAY—TUESDAY.
The following were the currencies :—New white ro;
4040 d to 4os Od ; new red, 40s Od to 42s per 36 ost,
beans, 37s to 40s for old; new sorts, 34s to 37s per 0r fot
barley, 33s to 36s for malting, and 29s to 31s per
grinding; new oats, 19s_ to 23s Od per 24 stone; ou'
to 28s.

DIIBLIN—TuEsDAY.
A large attendance. Very few tranaactions in who„iipiv
Indian corn, flour, or oatmeal, but decidedly more
tion to purchase than for a few weeks past.

Foreign Mail Packet List.

MAILS DUE.
Australia and Mauritius, via Southam

10'
gar. 4
.. 1 '

Apton.
via Alarseilles
Brazil and Cape Verde, by British packet. . API :30,
Cape of Good [lope, Ascension, and St. Helena.. M.,°:: 'o'
China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton.NB' 0,
via Marseilles ...DO:.
_ _ _—

Falkland Islands
Gibraltar, via Southampton ........... 1,i330,
India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton Mar' li
via Marseilles Me. 13.
India (Bombay), via Southampton Mar. 0,
via Marseilles Marl 5.
•••• •-.
J. Portugal....
.
Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton var. 0,
via Marseilles Ma' pi,
Newfoundland ..lkr'
Oporto and Vigo
U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. packet.... Alia.'
by U.S. packet.... rll
by Canadian packet.AD ' 10,
W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and Teneriffo .• bier' 11.
Bahamas, via New York MO' 15,
Mexico..
All parts of West Indies, including Chili, Peru, I gar.
California. and British Columbia..

The Paris savings banks during the last foil:pt
received 966,939 f., and reimbursed 883,849 f. The recelo
of the Caisse do Retraites for the Aged during the 614
period amounted to 108,071 f.

London : Prind and I'l4:nailed by WILIAM" A Nj) .i. 0:)
of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at TnE SUN °ince iy
Strand, in the Precinct of the 3avoy, :n the COI'
Mitleleeez.:7Thuraday;Xarch 17, 1801.