The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-11 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY, MAY 11, 1865.

The arrival of the Belgian informs us of the final
surrender of the chief Confederate force remaining
in the field. It seems from the official account that
after the disavowal of SHERMAN'S authority, GRANT
offered JOHNSTON the same terms as those -which
LEE surrendered upon. JOHNSTON at first stipulated
that DAVIS and the other leaders of the Confederacy
should have permission to leave the country, but
appears finally to have been compelled to abandon
this condition, and to have surrendered upon
exactly the same terms as his more renowned leader.
It is not surprising
that upon the receipt of this in-
telligence Mr. STANTON should have ordered an
immediate curtailment of the military expenses,
since there is at last a prospect of the conclu-
sion of , the war, but much will depend upon
the spirit in which the Federal leaders will improve
the opportunity. We must hope, though their con-
duct since their accession to power gives little
Founds for confidence, that they will be sensible
of the greatness of their responsibility and the
importance of the occasion. It is a juncture
which especially calls for moderation and mag-
nanimitY—two qualities for which American states-
men are unhappily not generally remarkable. In
the triumphs of their arms the Federals must not
forget that though temporarily victorious they have
not subdued, the people—that there is still a strong
feeling extant in the Confederacy against Federal
dominion—that the old clashing of interests and
struggle for supremacy will be enhanced tenfold
by the bitter memories of the war. All these con-
siderations should make them act warily, and
should induce them to be liberal and courteous
in their dealings with the South. Unhappily as
yet the principal speakers and actors in the North,
with the exception of the two military leaclers,
have endeavoured rather to inflame the angry
passions of the multitude, and to increase the
irritation felt in the South than to soothe away
animosity and party rancour. GRANT and SHER-
MAN have acted in accordance with their reputation
as soldiers, and with the feeling of brave men
who offer to a brave and honourable foe the same
terms which in his position they could accept them-
selves. By so doing they have consolidated
the Federal triumphs, and have temporarily arrested
the effusion of blood. It remains to be seen whether
the civil leaders will have the good sense and right
feeling to imitate their moderation,' a moderation
which has raised their reputation in Europe more

than all their victories. The JOHNSON Cabinet
must treat the Cabinet of DAvis and his associates;
with the same magnanimity that GRANT and SHER-
MAN have treated the Confederate Generals if they
hope to secure their power.

There is enough strength yet left in the Confe-
deracy to make it next to impossible for a country
exhausted in men and money as the North is to
maintain a hostile dominion. Yet the refusal to
agree to the departure of DAVIS, the threats about
confiscation, and the perpetual harping of the new
PRESIDENT on the enormity of treason, are not en-
couraging indications of the future policy at Wash-
ington. It is not by such means as these that the
United States can secure peace and prosperity at
home or respect abroad.

Meanwhile Englishmen cannot but look with
some mortification at the results of a struggle in
which their country has played so poor a part.
Discretion may sometimes be the better part of
valour,' but the excessive discretion of England in
this case may yet bear bitter fruits. After four
years of unparalleled and exhausting warfare, we
may well ask ourselves how far our selfish inaction
has contributed to the slaughter and desolation
' which have so completely changed the face of
America. We have yet to see the extinction of
slavery, which it is more than probable will lift its
head again, but we do see an amount of suffer-
ing, of slaughter, and of destitution for which it
is difficult to find a precedent. Had England come
forward with firmness and promptitude she might
have save saved a million of lives, a thousand mil-
lions of property, and be now rejoicing over the
final destruction of that " domestic institution"
which has been the curse of America. The first
act of the drama is played out, but the prospect is
not such as to relieve the anxiety of the sincere well-
wishers of the States.

The inauguration of the Dublin Exhibition was
in every way a most interesting ceremony; and it is
gratifying to find that it passed off with perfect
success, its brilliancy scarcely dimmed even by those
" weeping skies" to which a popular Irish poet
assures us are due many of the national beauties of
the country. The great aim and end of all the
Exhibitions, of which the Crystal Palace of 1851 was
the precursor and prototype, is to encourage indus-
trial arts, to develope the resources of a country, and
to exhibit the marvels which the 'skill of modern
days, joined to the wonders of commercial enter-
prise, have rendered common. Nowhere are such
objects more desirable than in the sister country,
where the ingenuity and industry of the people alike
need a stimulus which is seldom given to them.
The abilities of Irishmen are undoubted ; and even
Irishwomen are almost unequalled in the beauty
and delicacy of their fairy-like work. The country
is rich in natural products, yet, thanks to the
caprice of the despot Fashion, all these advantages
are comparatively profitless. Ireland, though form-
ing an anxious problem for English statesmen, has
never been brought sufficiently forward to develope
its capacities, and since it is admitted on all hands
that if trade and commerce could be brought to
flourish there they would be the best cure for the
poverty and disaffection of the people, it is the
more to be regretted that efforts like the present
should not have been earlier made. " Better
late than never," however, is a good old motto ; and
we are glad that the Exhibition should have been
opened by no less a personage than the Heir Ap-
parent. We trust the fervent loyalty of his
reception will induce the Prince to repeat this
visit at an early opportunity, accompanied by
that charming and popular Princess, whose
absence was the only drawback to the general en-
joyment. The PRINCE may, if he will, do Ireland
good service by setting the example of an occasional
residence there, and by giving that impetus to trade
which the presence of Royalty is sure to be
stow.

The Exhibition itself is worth a
visit, and the throngs which were present
at the inauguration ceremony, at the ball, and at
the review, in spite of the rain, gave sufficient evi-
dence how highly the loyal Hibernians esteemed the
honour done to them by the royal visit. We trust
the success of this first trip across the Irish Chan-
nel will induce his Royal Highness to repeat the
experiment at an early date with equal satisfaction
to himself and to Ireland.

The anniversary festival of the Royal Literary
Fund is always one that attracts attention amid
the hosts of meetings of a similar character. As
society progresses the claims of those who contri-
bute to its highest pleasures and most refined amuse-
ments become more and more recognised; and in
the present day it would be as strange and unusual
to hear literature despised, and to see those engaged
in it treated with scorn, as a generation or two
back it would have been remarkable to find the
profession appreciated, and its members high placed
in hall as welcome guests. Last year the Prince of
WALES presided at this festival, and it is satisfactory
to know that the presence of his Royal Highness was
of material benefit to the Institution, and hence
many deserving cases have been attended to. The
Archbishop of YORK. presided last night, and the
most reverend Primate was eminently successful in
his efforts to further the cause for whose interests
they met. The most reverend Chairman made an
appropriate speech in proposing the toast of the
evening, and he began by saying that he wished it
to be understood that he eschewed anything like
patronising literature. He then went on, in earnest
and eloquent terms, to give an account of the man-
ner in which literature now worked for the good of
the community and the greatness of the land. "It
preached to us, taught us, and made laws for us, or
at all events suggested them ; it worked great
social reforms, and it delighted us with
the contemplation . of fictitious characters ;
and in that way almost pushed the actor who used
to monopolise that function off the stage." The
position of literature at present is indeed one to be
rejoiced at, but as its power and privileges are so
great, so also should its responsibilities be duly
considered. As the Archbishop said, it is most
important that the literature of this country should
be sound, honest, and pure. The influence of
literature is now everywhere felt, and it is impos-
sible to overrate its effects on the community at
large. The consequences of this spread of general
intelligence and cultivation are clearly manifested
in the most favourable manner, and it is
surely not requiring too much to expect that
the public, which _ derives such benefits from
the result, should do its utmost to assist
those who toil for its benefit. Such aid and assist-
ance as this society can offer to the worn-out and
practically incapacitated man of letters should be
regarded not in the light of a charitable donation,
or as a testimonial of pity, but rather as an offering
and a tribute from those whose lives he has amused
and instructed, whose ideas he has elevated, and
whose darkest lives hehas cheered. The Archbishop
truly said that there was no occupation more hon-
ourable than that of the honest and independent
literary man, and the pleasure in being able to think
that you can count on the sympathy of thousands
of readers " so that your utterance would become
part of the world's heritage, and last, in the common
sense of mankind, from generation to generation."
Yet the Chairman wisely turnedfrom the glowing side
of the picture to contemplate the sh-.dy side, which

indeed was the one which was appropriate for the
occasion before them. A man's faculties may not
last, or he may be summoned away before he has
made a due provision for his family. It is in these
cases that this fund comes in appropriately and
works with good effect. . The Archbishop very
properly denounced the theory that he had heard
the other day that all charity was either " useless
or mischievous." All right-minded persons will
agree with the truth of this remark, that the indoor
relief of the workhouse was not " the proper and
only resource of the widows and children of those
who had instructed us, amused our leisure, and im-
proved our lives." It is also very true what the
most reverend Chairman afterwards said, that in
bodily labour a man must desist if he was incapaci-
tated, but in mental labour it was otherwise. The
Dean of Westminster made a very interesting
speech on English Literature, and the evening was
altogether a very pleasant and profitable one. Up-
wards of a thousand pounds were subscribed to the
fund in the course of the evening, which is satisfac-
tory. It is certain that no institution exists more
worthy of support and sympathy, no recipients of
relief can require the aid afforded to them more
than the overtasked labourers of literature stand in
need of occasional and timely assistance, and it
should be considered that to smooth the rugged
road and lighten the heavy burden of some of these
benefactors of their race is an honourable task and
a praiseworthy endeavour. It is a scandal and a
reproach to a civilised country if those who are the
mainstay of its intelligence and the promoters of its
refinements pine in silence and languish in loneli-
ness, or if they fall and perish by the wayside weary
of the march of life, and leave their families to
starve. The Royal Literary Fund is a Society that
represents the claims of the highest kind of labour,
and an enterprising community will be unworthy
of their privileges if it fail to acknowledge its
title to support and encouragement.

Lord GRANVILLE, as Chancellor of the University
of London, presided yesterday at a meeting held at
Burlington House for the purpose of admitting to
degrees those who passed the various examinations,
and of awarding certificates and medals to those
undergraduates who had passed with honours. His
lordship's discourse on the occasion was a very
happy one, and he seized upon all the salient•points
;which ealledler attention; The University of LOtt=
don represents the spirit of toleration, and it recog-
nises the largest amount of religious liberty. This
University has also set the example of viva voce
examinations and of local ones. In short, as the noble
President said, it might declare that the sun did not
set upon its " educational improvements," for these
examinations were now increasing in every direction.
Lord GRANVILLE made an amusing allusion to a
remark that some one had made the other day, to
the effect that he and Lord PALMERSTON did not
like hard work. Now, said the noble lord,
he would not question the justice of the charge
personally, although he had always found that if
he was successful it was owing to hard work ; but
with regard to Lord PALMERSTON the statement was
quite erroneous. "He was the hardest-working
man ever known, and had been so from his youth
upwards, and he would venture to say that none
of the young men around him had, from the age of
16 to 24, worked as hard as Lord PALMERSTON did
now in his eightieth year for the benefit and wel-
fare of his country." All must concur in the
truth of these remarks from the noble lord, and
also in his after observation, that it was owing to
the effects of hard work that Lord PALMERSTON
had gained the respect and confidence of all
" political opinions, and of all classes in the coun-
try." It is a great incentive to those entering on
their career to be encouraged to proceed and in-
cited to exertions by those who are distinguished
among their countrymen, and Lord GRANVILLE'S
speech was in every respect worthy of the occasion.