The Sun.
London, England, 1839-03-27 00:00:00

and the handful of British troopS at his disposal. What,
then, is the conduct of the Central Government at
Washington with reference to this immediate con-
troversy ? Why, it adopts the view of the rights of
jurisdiction asserted by the State of Maine, and declares
that if Sir J. Harvey. shall persist in the construction
which he has already affixed'. to the duties and obli-
gations imposed upon him by the British Govern=
_ment, it will find itself called upon to furnish succours
to Maine, as in the case of' any other State engaged in
justt war with a foreign enemy. The Report of the Com-
mittee on foreign relations•is to the same effect, asserting
in the most ample sense the demands of Maine against
the British Government. But, however steady, austere,

and composed the tone both of the President in his
recent message, and that of the Senate and House
of Representatives in their Reports and resolu-
tions, a most important branch of these transactions
is, that in speaking of the final question—viz., the
ultimate right to the territory now in dispute—they
one and all take care to pronounce their conviction,
that Maine is abundantly justified in the assertion of
her claim to the whole of the said territory:and make
apparent their settled determination to support her in
the maintenance of her quarrel with Great Britain,
even at the risk, and with all the consequences, of a
national war. They have accordingly passed a law
which is not inaptly termed a " War Bill," though its
formal designation is that of a " Law for the Defence
of the United States" (thus considering the Maine
question as one involving hostilities with the " United
States"), by virtue of which law the President is-
-Ist, authorized to employ in aid of Maine all
the naval and military forces of the United States
in resistance to the claim of exclusive jurisdic-
tion over the disputed territory already put forth
by Great Britain ; 2d, to raise 50,000 volunteers
and an additional regiment of mounted riflemen ; 3d,
to increase indefinitely the naval force upon the lakes
and rivers constituting the water communications be-
tween Great Britain and the United States ; 4th, em-
powered to raise a loan of 10,000,000 dollars, and to
apply 1,000,000 thereof to repairing and arming the
coast fortifications. Such are the measures already
with exemplary vigour and promptitude adopted by the
Republic of the United States, and avowedly for an an-
ticipated war with Great Britain. We hear from the
Committee of the American Senate nothing like the
rubbish talked by Lord Palmerston about forbearing
to augment the national armaments for fear of !‘ rousing
the jealousy" of an antagonist Power. The Americans
are not afraid to provide themselves with timely de-
fences, lest they may thereby provoke a foreign enemy
to attack them. No ; they are not such fools, or such
recreant cowards, as Mr. Daniel O'Connell has imposed
upon the British empire in the shape of an Executive Go-
verement. But how is all this to end ? How is it to end, we

say, when the Republic declares beforehand that she
will not yield an inch of the prize contended for, arming
herself vigorously to make good her claims, while Eng-
land humbly trusts to the chapter of accidents, and to
the tender abstinence and compassion of a declared

antagonist? To expect that this country should suc-
ceed in retaining the whole of the disputed territory
would, with such a Government as the present, be to
look for a shower of miracles from Heaven. It must
terminate in a compromise, each yielding somewhat,
unless Lords Howiek and Palmerston have determined
to give up the whole. In this Journal we have more
than once pointed out a district along the Bay of
Fundy, which appeared to us, and still appears, the
best adapted as material for compromise on the part of
the British Crown. The proposal, we obSerye, is at-
tacked, and, we must allow, not without some-justice,
by a New Brunswicker," who writes a,-letter in this
day's Times, and who, with something like transatlantic
exaggeration, compares it to a cession of the whole of
England south of the Thames. Doubtless, there is no
part of New Brunswick that could be named which
some inhabitant of that country would not describe as
worse fitted than any other for separation from the rest
of the province. We should be as well pleased as our
correspondent to retain the whole country, but unhap-
pily that would require a voice more potential than ours
and our correspondent's united.—Times.
After the general, or rather the universal condemna-

tion pronounced on the Metropolitan Police Bill, we
cannot suppose that Ministers will press it forward to its
consummation. Never was a more flagrant violation
of civil and social liberty attempted, than is involved in
this Bill. The time of its introduction, too, is as inop-
portune as its tenour is disconsonant to the policy ex-
pected to be pursued by the parties proposing it. Hi-
therto the Melbourne Ministry have, for the most
part, in justice been exposed only to the charge of
" leavinr, undone those things which they ought to have
done ;"'hut now they are commencing " to do those
which they ought not to do." And the aggravation of
the case is the fact, that already are the signs of
omission quite sufficient to damage a dubious reputation
to destruction, without the aid of those of commission.
If a policy passive of error be aggravated by active
aggression against popular rights, no second opinion can
be entertained of the necessity of a change in the ad-
ministration of affairs. It is not by warding off evil,
but by the accomplishment of good, that any Ministry
can preserve itself in times like the present. The pro-
position of the New Police Bill is most infelicitously
timed. The Ministry feels and
,avows its position to be
insecure, and yet at the very..rnoment when the leader
of the House of Commons announces a contingent re-
signation, a Police Bill is proppsed calculated in its
ultimate effects to lay the whole country bound pros-
trate at the feet of its probable, most probable succes-
sors, the Tories. If we are to have a coalition, let us
have an open one ; but let us not have the dirty, des-
potic work done by those affecting better tugs, while
the open enemies of the public liberty reserve them-
selves for the completion of the sacrifice. The dissec-
tion and exposure of the monstrosities of the Bill we
shall reserve for another opportunity.—Morn. 4 Ivcrtiser:

METROPOLITAN POLITICAL; 1:'

SUMMARY.

The Times of this morning, in a leading article on the
subject of the plan lately broached by Ministers in the
House of Commons for the formation of Irish railways,
observes :—We are happy to perceive evident signs of
the coming discomfiture of the Irish railway job. Even
some of the steadiest supporters of the present Govern-
ment have refused to swallow the pill, and the Minis-
terial prints have since taken those gentlemen to task
for their insubordination, in a tone of half supplication,
half menace, which smacks considerably of despair for
the success of this audacious attempt. Lord Brougham
—the stormy peterel of the political horizon—has al-
ready sounded the tocsin of opposition in the House of
Lords ; and Mr. Whittle Harvey's motion for a retur❑
of the names of the Members through whose property
the proposed railroad is to pass, is likely to throw ad-
ditional light on the subject."—The Times contains
another leading article which will be found in The Sun
of this day, under the head of " Spirit of the Public
Journals."
The Morning Post, in reference to sonic articles that
have recently appeared in the Chronicle, suggestive of
further amendments in the " inefficient" Reform Bill,
remarks as follows :—" Everybody knows that the real
unaccomplished object—that one which so greviously an-
noys the Ministerial movement people—is, that the Re-
form Act has not secured the official permanency of the
shabby dregs of the Whig party. This is the real of-
fence of the Reform Act in the sight of the Ministerial
grumblers. They want to serve their own interests—
the interests of the temporizing and the shabby." In
another article on the City Police Reform measure, our
Contemporary states, the" aggression threatened by Lord
John Russell is at once the most unjust and ungenerous
that could have been thought of."

The Morning Herald, commenting on Lord
Brougham's application last night in the Lords for
papers illustrative of the aspect of our relations with
the United States, says :—" It must never be forgotten
that the feeling entertained towards England by the
ultra-democratic party in the United States, is a feeling
of deep hatred—it must never be forgotten that the
possession of the Canadas is the very first object of
ultra-democratic ambition."

The . Morning Chronicle, contains a leading article,
which will be found in The Sun of this day, under the
head of " Spirit of the Public Journals."
The Morning Advertiser, in reference to the amend-
ment of the Reorm Bill, says, " The only matter for
compromising between the Chartists and the rational
body of middle-class Reformers is on the subject ofthe
Extension of the Suffrage, and that of the shortened
duration of Parliaments. On these points we think
Triennial Parliaments would be better than Annual."
For another of our Contemporary's articles, see " The
Spirit of the Public Journals."

THE TAKING OF ADEN.

(From Last Night's Gazette.)
ADMIRALTY, MARCH 26, 1839.

Copy of a letter from Captain Smith, of her Majesty's
ship Volage, to Rear-Admiral Sir Frederick L. Maitland,
dated Aden Back Bay, 22d January, 1839 :
" Her Majesty's ship Volke, Aden Back •
Bay, 22d Jant&y, 1839.
" Ste—l have the honour to inform your Excellency,
that the expedition under my command against this place,
anchored in the afternoon of the 16th instant.
" The same evening I received a letter (No. 1), from
the political agent, informing me that all negotiation on
his part had failed, and that hostilities had already com-
menced. "
On receipt of this letter, I communicated with- Major.
Baillie, the officer commanding the troops, and we_ deter-
mined to lose no time in attacking the place.
" The 17th was spent in drawing up the plan of the attack
and in making the-necessary preparations.
" On the morning of the 18th I weighed with tile squa-
dron 4t to proceed tklt. te..front of the town, which I reached
in •the afternoon, in company with the Cruizer (towing a
mortar-boat) and Mahe schooner.
" On standing in towards the island of Sarah, a fire was
opened on the ship with musketry and several large guns,
when I commenced a partial attack. The Coote (corvette)
and transports not having come up, I hauled 9fr and `an-
chored for the night.
On the morning of the 10th, the whole force; having
arrived, I made the signal to prepare to attack, and the
troops to be held in readiness for landing in two divisions ;