The Sun.
London, England, 1862-11-17 00:00:00

THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.

The last day of the Exhibition passed off un-
marked by any particular event. There was an
unusually large attendance of visitors for these sale
days—upwards of 13,000 in al],—a greater number
than on any previous occasion since the selling off
of the goods had commenced. The total number
admitted during the last fortnight has been very
much less than was anticipated, a whole week re-
cording no more than the meagre attendance of a
bad shilling day. In round numbers, the visitors
each week were 45,000, bringing the gross total of
all admitted since the commencement up to
6,207,450, or 177,000 more than the numbers
of 1851, which were 6,030,135. So far the present
display has done tolerably well, and, though the
receipts on admissions during these sale days
have not realized even moderate expectations,
there is still not the least reason to doubt that the
money now in hand will cover all outlays, and no
call of any kind will be made on the guarantors, A
small surplus, however, would have been a most
gratifying adjunct to this success, inasmuch as it
would have enabled the Commissioners to reward
as they wished the zealous and most hearty ser-
vices of their very hard-worked but ill-paid
staff. All of them, from the highest to the lowest,
have been working at almost nominal salaries, in
the belief that, as in 1851, there would be a sur-
' plus at the close, when the example then set of
liberal douceurs in acknowledgment of careful ser-
vice would of course be followed on this occasion.

It is needless to say that all these hopes are at an
end, though, if any disappointment is felt, at least
none is shown amid the satisfaction expressed that,
'in spite of every difficulty and unforeseen discou-
ragement, they have made the Exhibition of 1862
a success which will be fully and kindly appre-
ciated by the country for years to come.

On Saturday, as we have said, there was nothing
to mark the last public day but the fuller attendance
of visitors promenading the nave as of old. The
gloom of the weather made the interior both dark
and cold, and no purchases were going on, for every-
thing worth having has long since found a pur-
chaser. Glass, china, jewellery, costly fabrics, and
furniture have all been disposed of, and so far exhi-
bitors are perfectly satisfied. To-day the work of
sending out the goods will be commenced in every
class. Not much more than a third of the con-

tents now remain in the building, and the arrange-
ments for the removal of these have been so per-
fected during the last fortnight that a few days will
suffice to clear out almost everything. Most of the
pictures in the galleries are down, and a consider-
able number have been removed, especially of the
water•colonrs, Our readers may recollect that soon
after the opening of the building repeated assertions
were made by a contemporary that many of the best
of the water-colours had been irreparably injured
by damp from the walls. It is satisfactory, though
perhaps unnecessary, to add now that this state-
ment was purely a malicious invention, and never
had any foundation. A careful examination of the
works now shows them all to be perfectly in the
same state as when the Commissioners received
them. In fact, so many and so excellent were the
precautions taken to guard against damp in the
walls of the galleries that it was next to impossible
injury could arise from this source. At the time
the misstatements were persisted in, however, they
naturally excited some disquietude on the part of
anxious owners.

N A7IONAL IN7 E.RVEN7 lON IN
AMERICA.

(From the Money Market Review.)
Some people talk very glibly of interfering in
American affairs, and urge the British Government
to depart from the neutral position to which it has
hitherto honourably and rigidly adhered. But such
persons ought at least to be prepared, when they
,
demand the recognition of the South, to define their
proposition. It strikes us we have yet to learn
what " the South" really is. When England is
called on to mediate between North and South it
is necessary to consider very carefully first
—What
is to be the basis of the mediation; and, secondly,
the position, when that point is decided, in which
England would be placed in the event of either the
one or the other of the belligerents refusing the
proffered mediation on the basis proposed. There
is great room to aprehend that the result of and
hasty attempt at mediation, unless North and South
themselves agree to a certain extent, would be to
bring upon the mediator the enmity of one, if not
both the combatants. It is urged, however, that
if England mediates in conjunction with Russia and
France, she cannot suffer in dignity should either
North or South reject the proposal. But if the me-
diation were rejected, would the mediating Powers
be satisfied, or would the next question be—recog-
nition of the South and some sort of coercion ? Now
this is not what the great bulk of the English
nation would either desire or tolerate. AV hat
England desires is, that the Americans them-
selves should take some initiative towards putting
an end to a strife which inflicts such injury on the
commerce of the whole world. Any obviously good
and friendly offices that England could proffer,
either alone or in conjunction with the other Powers
of Europe, to facilitate a negotiation between North
and South, she may willingly consent to, but no-
thing more. It is the clear duty of England not
to budge an inch from her strict neutrality. Her
mediation should not be susceptible of misconstruc-
tion, and should be sought by and not thrust on
either North or South. America, despite all her
vapouring, and all the abuse some of her citizens
lavish on England, has at bottom a greater regard
and respect for the power and opinion of the bottom
a greater regard and respect for the power and
opinion of the mother country than she has for all
the rest of the world put together; and doubtless
it is gall and wormwood for the North to hear that
it is the deliberate opinion of the statesmen of all
parties in England that the result of this was must
be a dissolution of the Union. We must make
charitable allowance, therefore, for any natural ex-
pressions of soreness or impatience that may come
from the other side of the Atlantic.
What does the Emperor propose ?
Ist, That an armistice should take place for six
months.
2d, That the blockade of the South should be
raised.

If the North were to consent to these proposi-
tions, it would be equivalent to throwing away
every chance they have of making good boundary
ckrroniscuicuta with the South. A great change must
come over the spirit of the North, and direful must
be their position, before such terms will be listened
to. We hope our Government, at least, will stand
aloof from the notion of enforcing any such propo-
sition, which would be egregiously detrimental to
the North as belligerents. Before the Powers of
it would
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territory is to
be included in tho secession. If the South would
define the territory within reasonable limits, the
Powers of Europe might suggest it to the North.
This appears to us to be a prime difficulty. If the
Northern Government Were to consent to an armis-
tice with a view to a separation, the very first ques-
tion that would arise would be one of boundary.
We are decidedly of opinion that the good. offices
of the Powers of Europe ought to be sought by
rather than forced on the North. To compel a
peace is a policy that does not suit England or
Russia; yet it might suit France better, in conjunc-
tion with England and Russia, for if France intends
to annex Mexico to her empire, her first object
would be to come to terms with the South for its
peaceable occupation. The South may hold this
eventuality out as a bait to make France precipitate
her recognition, for the possession of Mexico by
France would otherwise be rather inconsistent with
the " Munro doctrine."

Sir J. Trelawny addressed a meeting of his con-
stituents at Tavistock on Thursday evening. After
taking a review of the past session he touched upon
the Americ:o question, in regard to which ho ex-
pressed himself in favour of non-intervention, and
stated that in that, as in other matters of foreign
policy, he was disposed to rely upon our ministers,
and especially upon Lord Russell.