The Sun.
London, England, 1852-08-18 00:00:00

Cbentail tut

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 1852.

Query—lf her Ma.reaTv's Ministers had not
seized the American smack in the Bay of Fundy, if
Sir GEORGE SEYMOUR. had not acted thus vigorously
in obedience to the instructions received by him from
the Cabinet, if the DERRY Administration bad not
adventured upon their recently bold policy in refe-
rence to the British North American fisheries, would
not the race of systematic cavillers have yet more
virulently assailed the existing Government ? The
truth is, that those who are so particu-
larly obstreperous in regard to what they
term the precipitation of the late proceedings of our
administrators towards the fishermen of the United
States would have been, under those circumstances,
among the very first to direct the charge of weakne.ts
and of timidity, and of a culpable disposition to con-
cede against the Noble Lord at the head of the Fo-
reign Department. That Noble Lord we ourselves
regarded as most signally injudicious in his man•
ner of conducting the ARTHER diplomatic cor-
respondence. We expressed, plainly enough, the sen-
timents with which we observed,his method of treating
that question—a method which we considered, and
which, moreover, we declared that we considered, at
once timid and vacillating. Happily the Earl of
MALMESBURY appeared to recognise the folly of the
course pursued upon this subject in the first instance,
and this too before the interchange of communications
between the Cabinets of St. James's and Florence had
proceeded so far as to be beyond the reach of repara-
.

tion. Immediately upon the arrival of Sir HENRY
Bor.wEn, at Florence the mistakes into which our ,
rulers had fallen were repaired in a brilliant manner
by that distinguished master of diplomacy. Acting 1
upon a totally different system, acting upon a system
of vigour and promptitude instead of a system of
truckling and hesitation, Lord MALMESBURY has
now boldly adventured upon a line of policy in
regard to the British isTorth-American Fisheries
worthy of the dignity, the power, and, we will add,
also, the inalienable rights of England. Upon the
fortunate fruits of that policy we can rely with the
utmost confidence. Upon this head we are satisfied,
because as yet, whatever has b4en done in this matter
by the authorities of this country, whether in the
Bay of Fundy or in Downing-street, has been
fully in accordance with the stipulations contained
in the treaty cf 1818 a treaty still in
force—a treaty in
,respect to the arrangements of
which there cannot remain one moment's misappre-
hension. According to that treaty the Americans
are expressly prohibited from carrying their fishing
vessels within three miles of any of the coasts of the
British North American possessions. When it is ob-
jected by the advocates of the United States' Govern-
ment that for many years past this prohibition has
been notoriously violated by the citizens of
the Transatlantic Republic—so far from that proving
the Americans less culpable, it only enhances their
guilt considerably, affording, if that were at all ne-
cessary, additional justification to the recent proceed-
ings of the English Government.
Whatever may be the ulterior consequence of late
events in the Bay of Fundy, the responsibility of that
consequence will rest, we are bold to assert, exclu-
sively upon the statesmen entrusted with the conduct
of the United States' Administration. Nowhere can be
detected in these proceedings of the DERBY Cabinet
the evidence of either culpable haste or culpable
severity. If the whole of the future acts of our
Ministers are in any way comparable to the one here
referred to, they will find little difficulty in extending
their popularity in the United Kingdom, and in com-
manding the entire confidence of the: more
patriotic division of the community. Let them ,
proceed upon a principle similar to that
revealed throughout these proceedings in regard to
the North American Fisheries, and they will be
viewed, we believe from our hearts, as:men who have
" deserved well of their country." Brother JONA..
T_HAN across the water may swagger amazingly at the
11?1t, to carry off, if possible, in some measure, the
disgrace of his present position. But we doubt not
that after
etr
a little reflection, his common sense, to say
nothing of his Common
prudence, will triumph over
his vain.gl y,
American and relieve that unlucky bird, the
Eagle recently seen by one Sir HENRY
BULwER, in
capitol at the city of
watasErtating condition, on the
_ n.gton—will be spared the
miserable attempt of
this:cat thaofendc
notti less than England,
cook-a-doodle-do! America, and braggodicioso
we believe, has arrived by
ordnance,o n c l conclusion
negotiation is
soberly-conducted diPlorana
atimes preferable to- a dischartic
to terrible. bloodshed°
act rsee,fearfthu the
athtaatll
leading
expenditure. As a matter-ofs
l
Anglo-Saxons on both sides of the Atlan •
_tic are too
the times of the Crusaders, and far removed from and too
be
seriously involved in:
o f mercantiletheir immediatetracea interests transactions,
to
quarrel for the sake of a possible victory in the Bans, to
solicitous in defiance
Y
or in
the port of New York. As well
of Fundy,
• a firm " fall to" with their
might the partners in
' nce of their customers
themselves and the inconvenience to the detriment of
pounce-boxes and their rulers,
races of both hemispheres.
--
—those customers being no less numerous than the

This is the season for railway reP°rv-4, for directors
or
setting their houses in order, and for affording
their respective shareholders candid explanations as
to the transactions of the past and the prospectsdi of theng to
current half-year. Fortunately they, or at least the
great majority, are enabled to do so on the present
occasion without serious difficulty or inconve-
nience. As a matter of course, railways have
participated in the general prosperity, and
although it could not be anticipated that
the receipts would be as great as during the period
when the excitement occasioned by the Great Exhi-
bition brought every one to town, the receipts, and
consequently the dividends, have, generally speaking,
been very satisfactory—and it is on the future pro-
' ceedings, that discussions have arisen or are likely to
arise on the present occasion.
The great question at the meetings of the London
and North-Western and Great Western Conapanies
, last week was amalgamation or no amalgamation. The
Ilong-continucd hostilities between those great com-
panies have, unquestionably been productive of very