The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-31 00:00:00

ternational law. Hallam and Macaulay have both
emphatically laid down this principle in refer-
ence to our own civil war, and, at least during „
the last fifty years, it has been acted upon by
almost every European Power. When Venice
capitulated the Austrians allowed Manin to depart
in a French steamer ; and although the movement
which was repressed at Aspromonte clearly came
within the scope of the municipal law, Garibaldi ls
residing in security and honour under the dominion
of the Sovereign whose authority he indiscreetly dis-
puted. Mr. Lincoln'S theory, that all communities,
as such, possessed the inalienable right of determin-
ing their own form of government, need not be dis-
cussed. It is more than doubtful if, according, to
the strict letter of the law, whether municipal or in-
ternational, Mr. Davis has violated the Constitution
of the United States. However, for the argument,'
it may be conceded that the secession of the
Southern States was, up to a certain point, techni-
cally an act of insurrection—that is to say, that
until the Confederates in the field were recognised
as the army of a belligerent Power by the exchange
of prisoners and the like they might be regarded as
rebels ; and on this head, as also with respect to the,
claims made in England for the losses sustained by
the Alabama, it is important that Captain Semmes
has been paroled. Indeed, the proclamations issued
by the Northern Generals in the South, since the
surrender of Lee and Johnston, sufficiently admit
the position Mr. Davis's Government held in stating
that persons now taken prisoners in arms will
no longer be dealt with as belligerents ; and it must
be remembered, too, that Mr. Lincoln and gr. •
Seward personally entered into negotiations with
accredited representatives of the Southern President.
There can, therefore, be very little, if any, question
about the law of the case, and none whatever as to
the obvious requirements of policy.' It is, no doubt,
true in the main, as Burke said, that Governments
will be tyrannical from policy when their subjects i
are rebels on principle. That is the situation n
Poland and in Venetia, and the Washington Go-
vernment may attempt to impose it upon the sub-
jugated States of the Republic. It is a costly
system even to Russia, and to Austria a source of ;
weakness and exhaustion ; but that which is just
possible to those Powers would be found to be
wholly impracticable in America. Coercion and
confiscation might answer their purpose for a time ;
but it is preposterous to suppose that six millions of
people can be permanently governed by brute force. -
The Northern fanatics who despise what they igno-
rantly describe as the " humbug chivalry of the
South" are, of course, incapable of exercising all,
political judgment. But there are others who should
know that the Ex-President would be powerless in
exile. In France or England he could scarcely be
to his own State what Kossuth was to Hungary
Lee is unquestionably the Garibaldi of the South,
but on the scaffold Jefferson Davis would become its
martyr. The heroic women of Virginia wouldteacb
her children to hold his name in reverence, and 90
thousands of desolate Southern hearths, and 111,
thousands of bereaved hearts, vows would be mai.°
for another generation to observe and fulfil. It
most idle to ignore the fact that all through 4'2
South the extreme penalty of the law on Mr. Da'ir
would be considered as a judicial murder. The
sentence passed upon him would include a nation,
and in dying he would breath new life into the
cause it fell to his lot to support and suffer for.
Scorn and loathing and bitter hatred might be ee.
trolled for a while, and at the same time
strengthened by subjection to circumstances. But
the reconstruction of the Union under the shade i
the gallows is a wild and ghastly illusion. On tiff,
ground of humanity there is nothing to be said.
justice and expediency are are notconsidered, merel,
certainly will not be entertained. We confess we tit,'" „
not like to look at the indicated action of such
a country as the United States in this light ; 13°
the language held by the President leaves us 11°
alternative. Mr. Johnson has, unfortunately,
to justify before the world an accusation whlci"
is incredible, and the inference is disagreeably
evident. He also, doubtless, seeks to impress
upon foreign powers his own ideas of the force
and firmness of the Government he is adminis-
tering. The execution of the leader of a people
whose gallantry commanded universal admirati°4
would be a defiance of public opinion which might
be acceptable to extreme Republicans. Eur,'N
would have to go back to the latter years of the -1.0,
century to find a parallel deed, and the historier,
incidents of that remote period could move her 71
appreciate the requisitions of a great military on
naval Power. We are afraid that some feeling,°f
:
this kind prevails on the other side of the Atlantic','
but if the Americans will allow themselves time I°',
reflection, they will, we are sure, apprehend that
the conditions of empire have been considerably
modified. There is nothing which the United
States may legitimately desire that England an
France would not wish to see her obtain—recell-
struction on an equitable basis, and the reconcilia-
tion of the divided sections of the community nude',
the revised constitution. But if the America n Be'
public is about to enter again into the family of na-
tions in its entirety, with all the sovereign States 11!
its hands, we may be permitted to hope that those
hands will not be stained with the blood of a falletl.
and captive adversary. Magnanimity is the bes"
evidence of strength, and it also serves to insP
confidence in its exercise.