The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-17 00:00:00

on the Federal side to take a partial view of the
matter, and judge all the doings of the Confederates
by the moat strict and arbitrary rules which regulette
ordinary warfare, without taking into account the
very complex and awkward position in which they
are placed, In the first place, they are fighting
against great disadvantages, and have a most un-
scrupulous adversary to deal with. Besides these
drawbacks, Great Britain, under the guidance of
most mistaken Ministers, has completely failed in
rendering that justice which wee, above all things,
to have been expected from a nation of her pre-
eminence. The mischief has been increased by
other States following in her wake, and thus the
Confederates have been hunted from here and driven
from there until there certainly remains everything
to exonerate them from taking the ordinary rules as
their guide and following precedent as their monitor.
Capt. SEMMES has been at great pains to describe the
"situation" in which he is placed, and no one in
fairness can assert that he has exaggerated his state-
ment, or unduly magnified the difficulties by which
he is surrounded. He began by taking it for
granted that the ordinary rules would be observed,
and that therefore his prizes would he safe in a
neutral port. Unfortunately Spain, which was his
first venture, had followed the example of England,
and his prizes were handed over to the enemy,
" illegally," as he very truly terms it, instead of
being warned to depart, it is then very forcibly
put that there could have been no "possible incon-
venience" arising from the permission to prizes to
remain in neutral ports until they had been adjudie
cated. The summary of events here given is very
interesting, and proves very clearly how great has
been the injustice displayed by our Government.
Captain SEMMES describes the state of affairs when A
the war broke out, and demonstrates the difficulties
which have surrounded the course of the Confede-
rates. The orders that refused to privateers the
right of asylum in British ports were an efftctual
stoppage to their procedure, and this was effected
by Earl RUSSELL malice prepense. They could not
be made available in Confederate ports, because of
the blockade, and hence their virtual extinction so
soon as intelligence of the Orders in Council ar-
rived. "Did he or did he not know," asks the
writer of this communication:" that he was dealing
a staggering blow to the Confederate States at the
as playing directly into the hands
ofa m
the
et i
Fmeedt
ehraat he w
Federals."
The effect of this movement was
such that the little Sumter afterwards, assisted by
s
two other small vessels, was left the task of de-
stroying a commerce here emphatically described
as " second only to that of Great Britain, and
which covered every sea." It was absurd for our
Cabinet to keep up that perpetual jargon about
equality and the preservation of a "strict neutra-
lity." From first to last favouritism has been the
order of the day. It has been the Alpha and
Omega of the RUSSELL code of tactics, the guiding
influence of the Cabinet, the ruling spirit of all the ,
steps taken at home and abroad. Who can wonder
that the victims to such unjust conduct should
wax wrathful, and decline to accede to the demand
for acknowledging all fairness and conduct through-
out. Oa the contrary, they have been taught by
grievous experience that the days are past when
England was either a faithful ally or a neutral
Power that could be depended on. All that takes
place is the result of deep consideration as to how

this or that enactment, such or such regulation, will
affect the interests and mar the prospects of one
side of the belligerents. All laws have been strained
to the uttermost, and again very ingeniously waived
to suit the requirements of friends, and through it
all the voices of the statesmen who preside at the
helm of affairs are heard declaring that strict and
impartial neutrality is being preserved, and that
the cone ells of England only seek to do justice
without let or hindrance. Such subterfuges
are quite unworthy of a great nation,
and should be disclaimed and disavowed
by all who take part in her affairs. The
very pretty part which our ,Ministers ure playing
will neither effect their purpose now, nor carry out
As Captain SEMMES
*
theirwarn is
ntentions
the
eh ecroenacfltuesrion of his argument, they
are wrong in supposing that the Yankees are con-
ciliated by their propitiatory cfferings to them. " I
warn her that it is all timidity, and that she will
reap the reward of her timidity in the usual way
—timidity on the part of nations always inviting
further insult and outrage." Nothing can be truer
than this, and everyday's experience serves to con-
firm the validity of the observation. By rendering

it impossible for the Confeeerates to adjudicate
their prizes, the greatest injury has been in-
flicted in many quarters, and there exists
no single reason in favour of such a course. Cap-
tain SEMMES declared that when their diplomatic
disguise is taken from these orders that emanated
from a British Council, there remains proof positive
that they are most " unjust, oppressive, and un-
neutral." It may well be asked to what purpose
we are to incur this odium, and draw down upon
ourselves this reproach. Who is to make up to us
for the loss of respect, the want of confidence, the
tarnished name that will be our portion when the
strife of the New World is over and the people and
nations sit calmly down to take a retrospective
glance at the fitful fever of the war, and com-
ment on the actions of the various parties who
have been directly or indirectly engaged in the con-
troversy. It is quite idle to shut our eyes to the
fact that the present political crisis of ou: land is
a very momentous one. We are not at war, but
we are mixed up in wars, and in neither do we
figure at all respectable. There is nothing but
animadversion passed on the decrees of our judg-
ment, and it is a melancholy fact, a humiliating
reflection that our country, once so dreaded in war,
and so sought as an ally, should now be discredit-
ably engaged in secret contrivances for the further.

ance of views which no statesman dare put openly

forward before his countrymen.
change be wrought in It is time that a
thorough our foreign policy,
or we shall lose the small remaining portion of

prestige that can belong to us after the manner in
which strangers and foreigners discourse on our

doings.

STAR CLUB OF LONDON._—The members of this
club, with a large party of their guests, assembled
last Thursday, at the Cyrstal Palace, for the first of their
simmer entertainments for the present season, it being the
35th year of their holding similar meetings. The next fete
given by the club will bo at Richmond on the 20th July.
THE CIRCASSIAN EXODUS.--The committee an■
nonuce that they yesterday transmitted £l,OOO to
Dr Millingen, as an instalment for the relief of the exiles
from Circassia. The committee cannot we better words,
in renewing their appeal to the public, than those of Sir
Henry Bulwer's despatch of May 3 :—" Still, it would
hardly be fitting for Turkey to seem to beg for this sum,
however great the necessity for it, and however noble and
useful the purpose on which it is to be employed. There
should be something like a movement to aid her. Surely
policy, humanity, public admiration for unexampled valour,
public pity for almost unexampled distress, would come in
to assist a cause to which no heart that has ever felt for
deeds of patriotic heroism could be insensible ?"

REFORM MEETING IN PETERBOROUGH.—On
Wednesday evening a crowded meeting was held in
the Corn Exchange, Peterborough, on the question of par-
liamentary reform. The meeting was addressed by Mr
Whalley, M•P., and other speakers. Resolutions were
passed in favour of the L 6 franchise, and it was resolved to
organise a reform association in thri district. Cheers were
given at the close of the proceedings for Messrs. Gladstone
and Baines. Mr Rankey, one of the members for the city,
sent a letter apologising for his absence from the meeting,